31/07/2011 BBC Weekend News


31/07/2011

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 31/07/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

A major crackdown on anti- government protestors in Syria -

:00:05.:00:11.

over 130 people are killed. Fighting across Syria has made this

:00:11.:00:15.

one of the deadliest days since the uprising began. Britain calls it an

:00:15.:00:19.

assault on the Syrian people. Crucial talks in Washington on

:00:19.:00:29.
:00:29.:00:34.

America's debt crisis. Political leaders say a deal is close.

:00:35.:00:37.

Here, a political row on health spending. The Government denies

:00:37.:00:39.

Labour claims that reforms will mean poorer areas lose out.

:00:40.:00:42.

Ian Bell scores more than 150 for England after a controversial

:00:42.:00:52.
:00:52.:00:58.

reprieve on the third day of the Good evening.

:00:58.:01:01.

More than 130 people are reported to have been killed across Syria in

:01:01.:01:04.

one of the most violent days since the anti-government uprising began

:01:04.:01:07.

there in March. In one city, hospitals were flooded with

:01:07.:01:09.

casualties as tanks smashed through protestors barricades and opened

:01:09.:01:14.

fire. Both Britain and the United States have condemned the violence

:01:14.:01:17.

in Hama, calling it an assault by the Syrian Government on its own

:01:17.:01:21.

people. Our World Affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley has

:01:21.:01:31.
:01:31.:01:32.

the latest. The assault began at first light.

:01:32.:01:39.

The Syrian regime of bringing war to a city of 700,000. Witnesses say

:01:39.:01:42.

the tanks moved in from several directions, smashing through

:01:42.:01:45.

makeshift roadblocks put up by protesters, and firing

:01:45.:01:52.

indiscriminately. For weeks, the military had been surrounded Hama,

:01:52.:01:55.

which has seen some of the biggest demonstrations since the protests

:01:55.:02:02.

in Syria began. Today, a clear message from the regime on the eve

:02:02.:02:09.

of Ramadan that they will not tolerate more unrest. We started

:02:09.:02:19.
:02:19.:02:19.

hearing some artillery shots from all directions. And bombing. And

:02:19.:02:27.

sometimes we heard, the like, anti- aircraft shooting against people.

:02:27.:02:31.

Hospitals were swamped. Doctors appealed for blood. Here, a race to

:02:31.:02:37.

get one man to treatment. Hama has a history of resistance to the

:02:37.:02:42.

regime. It is a city still scarred by a massacre in 1982, when the

:02:42.:02:46.

regime killed many thousands and destroyed whole neighbourhoods, to

:02:46.:02:51.

put down an Islamist are rising. Foreign Secretary William Hague

:02:51.:02:57.

said he was appalled by today's storming of Hama. American

:02:57.:03:00.

officials call it a last act of utter desperation. The uprising

:03:00.:03:06.

began 4 and a half months ago. Even before today, other 1,500 civilians

:03:06.:03:11.

had been killed, as well as hundreds of security forces. 12,000

:03:11.:03:15.

people have been arrested. But for all of the force the regime has

:03:15.:03:20.

been using, it has been unable to crush the protest movement. There

:03:20.:03:24.

has been no prospect of outright victory for either side. Ramadan

:03:24.:03:28.

was a chance for protesters the Gabba against the Government, but

:03:28.:03:32.

the Government has a willingness to use all of its force within the

:03:32.:03:36.

cities. The most likely outcome is the protesters will arm themselves,

:03:36.:03:44.

like they did in Libya. President Bashar al-Assad has made promises

:03:44.:03:49.

of reform, but they have been drowned out by the sound of his

:03:49.:03:54.

regime's guns. This has been one of the bloodiest days in serious since

:03:54.:03:59.

the uprising began. The violence has not been confined to Hama. The

:03:59.:04:02.

authorities and the protesters are in a deadly test of wills for the

:04:03.:04:06.

future of the country. Our correspondent Jim Muir is

:04:06.:04:10.

covering events in Syria from neighbouring Lebanon. Pretty strong

:04:10.:04:13.

comments from Britain and the United States today on the events

:04:13.:04:18.

in Hama. Do those have any kind of influence on Damascus?

:04:18.:04:21.

Well, I think international pressure may be playing a role on

:04:21.:04:25.

Hama, because it is such a special case because of the massacre there

:04:25.:04:30.

before. There have been statements from the Turkish Prime Minister Mr

:04:30.:04:37.

Ed again, saying there must not be another Hama. -- third began. They

:04:37.:04:41.

could get away with it in 1982, because they did not have the media

:04:41.:04:46.

then that we have today, the same technology. Today, it seems the

:04:46.:04:52.

tanks have pulled back -- pulled back, so they may have drawn away

:04:52.:04:57.

from that confrontation in Hama. We are told by people on the ground

:04:57.:05:00.

that the city is in the hands of its inhabitants, as it has been for

:05:00.:05:04.

the past few months. So despite this attempt to advance and the

:05:04.:05:08.

bloodshed of today, it does seem as though they have drawn back from

:05:08.:05:11.

trying to overwhelm the city altogether. That could be a sign

:05:11.:05:14.

that they are sensitive from the very strong pressures from the

:05:14.:05:18.

Americans, and the French, the Europeans are threatening more

:05:18.:05:22.

sanctions. It is things like economic pressures that will begin

:05:22.:05:27.

to tell, because the economy is in very severe trouble, and that could

:05:27.:05:32.

be one of the Achilles heels of this very tough and ruthless regime.

:05:32.:05:38.

He said it has gone on and on, it is four and a half months. You get

:05:38.:05:42.

the impression the protest movement is running out of steam?

:05:42.:05:47.

No, it is the classic situation of the irresistible force of their

:05:47.:05:51.

protest movement that is slowly gaining ground and the immovable

:05:51.:05:55.

object of a regime which is absolutely refusing to budge. What

:05:55.:05:58.

it is doing is offering so-called comprehensive reforms but they have

:05:59.:06:03.

no credibility as far as the people of the opposition are concerned. So

:06:03.:06:07.

it looks as though it will go on for some time, it will be cracks

:06:07.:06:10.

within the army or the economy that could be the thing that eventually

:06:10.:06:14.

brings the Government down. Jim Muir, thank you for joining us.

:06:15.:06:17.

In the United States, Democratic and Republican leaders are reported

:06:17.:06:20.

to be close to reaching a deal which could end the deadlock over

:06:20.:06:22.

raising the country's borrowing limit. Politicians have until

:06:22.:06:25.

Tuesday to reach an agreement or risk the country defaulting on its

:06:25.:06:27.

debts. Our North America Editor Mark

:06:27.:06:32.

Mardell is in Washington. What kind of deal might this look

:06:33.:06:36.

like? I think we are very close to a deal

:06:36.:06:40.

with the political elite, the President, the White House and the

:06:40.:06:44.

leaders of both parties. And we have to remember the reason we are

:06:44.:06:48.

in this crisis, that could affect the whole world's economy, it is

:06:48.:06:52.

because when the Republicans won the elections last year and took

:06:52.:06:55.

control of the House of Representatives, they said we are

:06:55.:06:59.

not going to let America borrow any more money, because the reasoning -

:06:59.:07:04.

- the reason is it is spending too much. Let's deal with that first.

:07:04.:07:08.

This would give them around three trillion dollars of cuts in stages,

:07:08.:07:13.

some agreed that and some to be agreed in November. They are pretty

:07:13.:07:17.

close to that deal. So essentially everything is at

:07:17.:07:21.

stake, which is why they are haggling up to the last minute?

:07:21.:07:25.

Yes, and the fly in the ointment is what the parties will think about

:07:25.:07:28.

that. There will be many Democrats who think that these cuts are far

:07:28.:07:33.

too deep and will affect the poor, affect programmes that are very

:07:33.:07:37.

important. And probably more of the difficulty, the Republicans,

:07:37.:07:41.

particularly those backed by the Conservative tea-party movement,

:07:41.:07:47.

think the cuts are not deep enough, and some of them say, actually, the

:07:47.:07:51.

problem is we are deep in debt, and you don't borrow more money when

:07:51.:07:55.

you are in debt. So they would be willing to risk the sort of

:07:55.:07:58.

economic crisis that some are warning would end sue if the debt

:07:58.:08:03.

ceiling isn't raised, or rather than do a deal. They don't want a

:08:03.:08:07.

deal at all. It will be a tense few days.

:08:07.:08:10.

Mark Mardell, thank you. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury

:08:10.:08:14.

has dismissed calls to scrap the 50% tax rate for top earners. The

:08:14.:08:17.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and former Chancellor, Lord Lamont,

:08:17.:08:20.

have both said the rate should be cut. But Danny Alexander today

:08:20.:08:24.

called it a "cloud cuckoo-land" idea.

:08:24.:08:28.

We set out in the coalition agreement, it is something that we

:08:28.:08:32.

as Liberal Democrats pushed hard for, that the Government's first

:08:32.:08:35.

priority in tax reductions would be for people on low and middle

:08:35.:08:39.

incomes, those families working hard to make ends meet. Anyone who

:08:39.:08:43.

thinks we will shift our priority to reduce the tax burden for the

:08:43.:08:46.

wealthy as another think coming. That cannot be the right priority

:08:46.:08:52.

for the country at this time. A political row has broken out over

:08:52.:08:55.

health funding in England, with Labour claiming that poorer areas

:08:55.:09:00.

would lose out to more affluent ones as a result of reforms. The

:09:00.:09:03.

Government claims this is misleading as the overall NHS

:09:03.:09:07.

budget is going up. The Health Secretary must be

:09:07.:09:11.

getting a bit sick of all the criticism. Doctors, nurses and even

:09:12.:09:15.

some government ministers pushing for a rethink on his reforms.

:09:15.:09:19.

Labour are claiming that the change to the way the NHS is funded will

:09:19.:09:27.

harm the poor and help the rich. Figures calculated by health bodies

:09:27.:09:30.

in Manchester say that less well- off parts of England, not just

:09:30.:09:34.

Manchester, but Liverpool, Tower Hamlets, will lose out when funds

:09:34.:09:41.

are allocated, while richer areas will benefit. The Government is not

:09:41.:09:46.

taking into account health and -- health inequalities, as it used to

:09:46.:09:51.

in allocating money. Inevitably, if you don't take health inequalities

:09:51.:09:55.

in to account sufficiently, poorer areas lose money. Labour believes

:09:55.:09:59.

the Government are vulnerable are the NHS. The Health Secretary has

:09:59.:10:03.

had to delay or change some of the big reforms planned to the services

:10:03.:10:07.

in England. Andrew Lansley knows that if he wants to stage a

:10:07.:10:11.

political recovery, he cannot take the latest criticisms lying down.

:10:11.:10:16.

We are increasing the budget in England. Everywhere is saying that

:10:16.:10:21.

the budget increase of at least 2.5% -- is seeing. And we are

:10:21.:10:24.

making sure that we build from a position of better performance.

:10:24.:10:28.

although the way money is being handed out within the NHS is

:10:28.:10:32.

changing, the overall about it every part of England is going up.

:10:33.:10:36.

The NHS Primary Care Trusts in they are less well-off Tower Hamlets

:10:36.:10:41.

will see an increase in its funding, which is very similar to the rise

:10:41.:10:45.

seen in Surrey this year. And in future, the Government says local

:10:45.:10:48.

authorities will get more money to help improve the health of people

:10:48.:10:52.

living in deprived areas. At the Health Secretary will try to prove

:10:52.:10:56.

-- push through bigger changes in the autumn, but these will be

:10:56.:11:00.

examined closely by the opposition and professional bodies that are

:11:00.:11:03.

still worried that the reforms could make the health service worse,

:11:03.:11:09.

not better. It is now a year since Pakistan was

:11:09.:11:12.

hit by the worst floods in its history, with millions of people

:11:12.:11:18.

affected by torrents of water. Almost 2000 people were killed and

:11:18.:11:23.

the flooding and another 3,000 injured. In all, more than 1.7

:11:23.:11:28.

million homes were destroyed. Today, amid this year's monsoon, many

:11:28.:11:32.

families are still struggling, with little help from the authorities.

:11:32.:11:36.

Aleem Maqbool reports from one of the worst affected parts of north-

:11:36.:11:40.

west Pakistan. The rainy season is just starting

:11:40.:11:48.

again. As harmless as the water looks now, it is failing the people

:11:48.:11:54.

here with dread. It has brought back the memory of the images like

:11:54.:11:57.

these from last year, and the heaviest rains ever recorded,

:11:57.:12:02.

wreaking havoc across Pakistan. Nearly 20 million people were

:12:02.:12:08.

affected. This village in Charsadda or was one of the first places the

:12:08.:12:12.

floods struck. People here had no warning of the disaster that was

:12:12.:12:17.

coming their way. Villagers say a massive wall of water came through

:12:17.:12:21.

here from that direction and hit the village. It destroyed a lot of

:12:21.:12:26.

the houses and also caused a lot of death. In fact, one year on, they

:12:26.:12:32.

still haven't found all the bodies of those who were swept away. This

:12:32.:12:36.

lady did manage to find her two teenage daughters, but it took days.

:12:36.:12:41.

Their bodies had been carried more than three kilometres away by the

:12:41.:12:45.

force of the water. Her family has been able to rebuild part of the

:12:45.:12:50.

house that was damaged, but she remains consumed by grief.

:12:50.:12:54.

TRANSLATION: Of my life was shattered. Without my two girls,

:12:54.:13:03.

living has no meaning any more. spite other massive aid

:13:03.:13:09.

mobilisation, many are still living in tents -- off a massive aid

:13:09.:13:13.

mobilisation. This man and his family lost their home and in the

:13:13.:13:17.

desperation of saving themselves, all of their belongings as well.

:13:17.:13:25.

They are trying to get their lives back on track. TRANSLATION: The

:13:25.:13:29.

last eight we received was six months ago, when we got some basic

:13:29.:13:33.

food rations -- aid. Since then, we have relied on charity from local

:13:33.:13:37.

people. Whether it is through their grief for their homelessness and

:13:37.:13:43.

loss of livelihood, millions are still struggling from last year's

:13:43.:13:48.

floods. Bat, the UN wants, makes them even more vulnerable as their

:13:48.:13:55.

new monsoon season starts -- bat, the UN warns.

:13:55.:13:58.

Time to get the latest board with Olly Foster.

:13:58.:14:04.

A century from Ian Bell has helped England build a very big lead in

:14:04.:14:08.

the second Test against India, but he was involved in a very

:14:08.:14:12.

controversial incident at Trent Bridge. He was given out and then

:14:12.:14:22.

climax, the English batsmen needed to set the pace. Andrew Strauss was

:14:22.:14:26.

perhaps too eager, chasing one from Sreesanth with his team still in

:14:26.:14:31.

arrears. Ian Bell was bright and breezy from the off, seemingly free

:14:31.:14:35.

from pressure. He rapidly move his side into the lead and himself to

:14:35.:14:42.

aircraft the 50. After the interval, Kevin Pietersen picked up the bat

:14:42.:14:47.

on and drove the attack. Bell caressed his way to a fine century,

:14:47.:14:52.

among the best he has scored at Test level. Kevin Pietersen

:14:52.:14:58.

eventually went but England almost survived a further loss up to tea

:14:58.:15:02.

until a bizarre incident. Eoin Morgan as she and he had four runs

:15:02.:15:07.

but the ball was not dead. -- assumed. India removed the bails,

:15:07.:15:13.

with Ian Bell departing for tea. In fact, he was departing run out, to

:15:13.:15:19.

his, his teams and the home crowd's constellation. But peace broke out

:15:19.:15:29.
:15:29.:15:33.

over the crumpets, as he re-emerged. Ian Bell on 150 before being

:15:33.:15:38.

permanently out. Morgan followed him and the injured Jonathan

:15:38.:15:41.

Trott's earnings were short but England have already built a high

:15:41.:15:48.

Jenson Button was given a cake last night ahead of his 200th Grand Prix

:15:48.:15:51.

and he got a big bottle of Champagne today after winning in

:15:51.:15:56.

Hungary. Lewis Hamilton was heading for victory but was penalised by

:15:56.:15:59.

the stewards for dangerous driving and finished fourth. The wisdom

:15:59.:16:04.

inside that Helmut comes from 11 years in Formula One. It served

:16:04.:16:08.

Jensen Button well today after winning his first grand prix five

:16:08.:16:12.

years ago also in the wet. From the start, he was all over Lewis

:16:12.:16:17.

Hamilton. Both were catching the Sebastian Vettel. His lead from

:16:17.:16:21.

polar lasted just five laps. Hamilton passed first. Jensen

:16:21.:16:25.

Button got his dodgy spot on. Fresher tyres and Sebastian Vettel

:16:25.:16:31.

watched him go through as well. Anything could happen. Hamilton was

:16:31.:16:36.

feeling the heat and lost control. And at the lead. As he spun his car

:16:36.:16:41.

back in the right direction, he almost caused an accident. The

:16:41.:16:44.

stewards view of that could cause him the race. He didn't find that

:16:45.:16:50.

for a few laps, though. Enough time to go wheel to wheel with Jensen

:16:50.:16:54.

Button for the lead. Great racing until the stewards handed down

:16:54.:16:59.

their punishment for that spinner. His brother watched Hamilton take

:16:59.:17:04.

his drive-through penalties. Have 11th race in 11 years, Jensen

:17:04.:17:08.

Button, but it could be an important one. Perfect going into

:17:08.:17:13.

the summer break. His victory puts him firmly in the chasing pack but

:17:13.:17:19.

Sebastian Vettel's second place sees him stretches champion lead.

:17:19.:17:22.

Great Britain's swimmers have signed off from the World

:17:22.:17:24.

Championships in Shanghai with another gold medal. Liam Tancock

:17:24.:17:26.

successfully defended his 50 metres backstroke title taking the teams

:17:26.:17:30.

tally of golds to three for the championships. Only two have come

:17:30.:17:34.

in the pool though. Hannah Miley also took silver today in the 400

:17:34.:17:38.

metres medley. Golf, and Englishman Simon Dyson

:17:38.:17:41.

has won the Irish Open. And the Women's British Open went to the

:17:41.:17:43.

world number one and defending Champion at Carnoustie. Yani Tseng

:17:43.:17:48.

from Taiwan finished on 16 under par. Four clear of the field. It's

:17:48.:17:52.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS