02/02/2013 BBC Weekend News

A hero's welcome for the French President in Mali but he warns the

fight against Islamist militants is not yet over. Francois Hollande

tells cheering crowds French troops will stay in the country as long as

they're needed. Ahead of a vote on same-sex

marriage, the Prime Minister comes under fire from his own MPs for

ruling out immediate tax breaks for married couples.

The college student stabbed to death and set on fire in an

alleyway in Blackpool - a man's being questioned by police.

And, in rugby England overpower Scotland to get their Six Nations

Good evening. The French President, Francois Hollande, has received a

rapturous welcome in Timbuktu - six days after French troops helped

recapture the northern Mali town from Islamist militants. But Mr

Hollande warned that the battle was far from won and said French troops

would remain until the West African country's sovereignty could be

assured. Our Africa correspondent Andrew Harding has sent this report

from Timbuktu. Quite a convoy for the French

President arriving here in Timbuktu this morning. First stop, the

ancient mosque. Local dignitaries lining up to thank the man whose

army liberated their town from months of brutal occupation. Then

it's the public's turn. Hollande, they shout, President

Hollande is our hero. Just one week ago, no dancing was allowed here,

no music. Islamist militants forced women to cover all but their eyes

in black. Look at them now. Aren't I beautiful, asks this woman,

before we had to do this, we are free, we are we are proud of France,

she says. It's been an emotional day in this desert town. Mr

Hollande plunging into the crowds. The war has been good for his

ratings back home, but there are risks ahead, here in Mali. The

French campaign here has been quick, successful and wildly popular but

for President Hollande this could be as good as it gets. He now needs

an exit strategy but if he moves too quick, misapbls it --

mishandles it, Mali could be plunged back into chaos. Today, Mr

Hollande tried to strike a balance. He told his troops their job was

not yet done here, but he also urged Mali and its neighbours to

step up and take a much bigger role. The Islamist militants have

withdrawn, for now, but this remains a dangerously fragile

nation. David Cameron's been criticised by

some of his own MPs for ruling out tax breaks for married couples in

the Budget next month. There were reports that the measure would be

brought forward to placate backbenchers opposed to the

introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales - which will

be voted on next week. Our political correspondent Carole

Walker has more. The Prime Minister believes

marriage helps to bind families and communities together. But his plan

to extend it to gay couples is proving hugely divisive for his

party. Many opponents of the idea want him to do more to support

traditional marriages and are disappointed a commitment in the

coalition agreement to introduce tax breaks for married couples

won't be delivered in the coming Budget. On Tuesday, when the vote

comes forward for the redefinition of marriage, I would much rather be

voting for a tax measure that put extra money in the pockets of those

who need it most, rather than voting for something that wasn't in

the manifesto, which is a redefinition of marriage. It's not

the priority. The economy's the priority. Edmond Costello resigned

as chairman of Somerset and Frome Conservatives over the gay marriage

proposals last month and has warned others will follow suit. What, to

me, has been proposed is something that the Conservative Party would

never, ever have even considered in years gone by. And indeed, the

feeling within the party at grass roots and amongst many MPs and

officers, has not changed that opinion. They are very, very upset.

Some in his party believe David Cameron's being swayed by another

relationship, with his coalition partner. Nick Clegg opposes the

idea of tax breaks for marriage, sources say the Prime Minister will

deliver that pledge later in this parliament whilst this Budget will

focus on promoting growth. The Prime Minister believes gay people

should have the same rights as others to get married. If we can

deliver a Bill which allows people who love each other of the same sex

to get married, whilst protecting the freedoms of religious

organisations, then that's a good thing to do and there's room in the

timetable for it. When the legislation to allow gay couples to

marry comes before parliament on Tuesday, David Cameron's likely to

win the day with the support of most Labour and Liberal Democrat

MPs. But dozens in his own party are poised to vote against the

proposals or abstain. It is a free vote. So technically it won't be a

rebellion but could further undermine David Cameron's authority

over his party. Major food retailers and suppliers

are being summoned to an urgent meeting this week after recent

incidents of mislabelled or contaminated meat products. In the

latest case, the Ministry of Justice said it was suspending a

supplier after tests showed pork was found in halal prison food. As

Richard Lister reports, the food standards watchdog is now

investigating whether any of these products have been distributed

elsewhere in the UK. It may not be haute cuisine but

prison food is required to meet religious and cultural needs. About

12% of prisoners are Muslims who don't eat pork for religious

reasons. But tests revealed some halal products supplied to jails

did, in fact, contain traces of meat meat from pigs. All prisons in

England and Wales have now been told to destroy food stocks from

the supplier involved. In a statement, the Justice Minister

Some prisons as well as schools, hospitals and care homes, are

supplied by the 3666 Distribution Company which said it had withdrawn

five halal products. The latest discovery comes less than three

weeks after tests revealed horse meat in some supermarket

beefburgers. The Food Standards Agency says it's up to meat

retailers and suppliers to restore faith in their industry. Er consume

confidence is at risk and we want the food industries together to

step up to the mark on this and to make sure that they can take action,

including some of the major retailers have already announced,

further testing and routine testing of their products to make sure

people can trust that what it says on the label is actually what's in

the food. It's not clear whether any of the contaminated halal meat

was sold in the high street. The FSA has promised a full report on

where it came from and where it ended up.

A postmortem examination on a 16- year-old girl who was murdered in

Blackpool has found she died as a result of significant stab wounds.

Sasha Marsden was found in an alleyway in the South Shore area on

Thursday. Police are questioning a 22-year-old man. Ben Ando reports.

The alarm was raised when flames were spotted in an allyway behind a

row of hotels and guesthouses off the seafront. When residents put

out the fire they realised they found a body and called the police.

The victim was identified as 16- year-old Sasha Marsden, who was

studying childcare at a local college. A specialist crime scene

investigators continued their work at the scene, a postmortem

investigation has revealed Sasha died of serious stab wounds to her

head and face. Police said today that attempts were made to set the

body on fire and this was after Sasha died. The results have been

shared with the family. And specially trained officers are

continuing to support them. Shortly after the body was found, a

man aged 22 and a woman of 20 were arrested nearby. The woman has now

been released without charge. Detectives have been given more

time to question the man. Russia - a long-time ally of the

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - has, for the first time, held talks

with the main Syrian opposition group. The meeting between Russia's

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moaz al-Khatib, head of the

National Coalition, took place on the sidelines of an international

security conference in Munich. Russia says it now wants to stay in

regular contact. 23 people - including ten civilians

- have been killed in an attack on an army checkpoint in north-west

Pakistan. The Pakistan Taliban have claimed responsibility for the

attack, saying it was in response to a drone strike last month.

Twelve attackers also died. A quarter of a million Twitter

users have had their accounts hacked in the latest high-profile

internet security breach. The social networking site is warning

users that e-mail addresses and other information may have been

accessed too. Here's our technology correspondent Rory Cellan Jones.

Under cyber attack, some of the biggest names in the American media

have been targeted by hackers and now Twitter, with a bigger audience

than any of them, says it spotted attempts to breach its defences and

get access to its users' personal information. Overnight, a quarter

of a million users of the service were sent an e-mail selling --

telling them their passwords needed to be changed. In a blog post

Twitter said the hackers were sophisticated. This attack was not

the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it is an isolated incident.

This is what happened when I tried sign into my account this morning,

an instruction to reset my password. Now this is only affected a tiny

minority of 200 million active users. But the response of the

company shows that it sees this as a very serious attack and part of a

wider pattern. While the identity of the hackers

behind the latest attacks is unclear there's been speculation

that the New York Times was singled out because its journalists

reported on corruption in China. With governments now engaged in

cyber warfare it's far from an amateur affair. Hackers are really

up in -- upping their game and companies need to step up to

protect themselves because it's not just kids, it's not just people

interested in making some money out of you, we are also seeing state-

sponsored cyber crime, where other countries are interested in hacking

in, maybe even to your business because of the information they

might be able to steal. Twitter is emphasising that there's no

evidence that the hackers have done real damage, but it's advising

users to think about what it calls password hygiene, choosing

carefully the codes that keep your online life life secure.

Time for sport now. Here is Olly Foster at the Sports Centre. U. The

Six Nations Championship is up and running. England have retained the

Calcutta Cup. They ran in four tries against Scotland, winning 38-

18 at Twickenham. But there'll be no Grand Slam for Wales this year

after they were beaten by Ireland 30-22 in Cardiff. Here's Joe Wilson.

From champions in 2012, to where for Wales? The journey can be rapid

from hero to zero. All it took for for Isle was -- Ireland was to get

the ball to Zebe. He is already famous for fancy footwork. This was

his crucial part in the build-up to Ireland's second try. By half-time

they were ahead by 20 points. This may be the last Six Nations for

Brian O'Driscoll. He remains of being the King in the right place

at the right time. It meant Wales needed something extraordinary.

There was a glimmer when they burst through in the second half. Nothing

for it but to go for it. Throw the dice, throw the ball. Suddenly it

was all Wales. Short-range lunge and try given. The lead down to

just eight and that's where it finished. Wales took some pride in

the fight but earned nothing in another defeat. We will never give

up. A tough match, but we have to pick ourselves up and target some

wins now. So to Twickenham where Scotland were trying to defy

England and to defy history. Decades past between Scottish wins

here and in the current era Scotland recently lost to Tonga but

there is a new coach and new talent. England kept their flewency. Ashton

squeezed over. England ahead by eight at half-time.

Here came an England debut, a man named Twelvetrees. England won by

20 points in the end. They've enhanced their reputation by a

considerable margin. The Women's Six Nations is also

under way and England ran in 12 tries to beat Scotland 76-0 in

Esher. Italy beat France 13-12 in the

other match today. From tries to goals. Lots of late winners and

equalisers on Match of the Day after the news tonight, but I've

got the results coming up right now if you want to find out what

happened in the eight Premier League games today.

Manchester United are ten points clear at the top of the table after

beating Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage. Wayne Rooney scored the

only goal in the second half. Second-placed Manchester City play

tomorrow. Bottom side QPR missed a penalty and drew 0-0 at home to

Norwich. Arsenal beat Stoke 1-0. Marouane Fellaini scored an

equaliser in the 90th minute for Everton against Aston Villa. Moosa

Sissoko scored an injury-time winner for Newcastle against

Chelsea. Jimmy Kebe scored both goals for Reading as they beat

Sunderland. West Ham beat Swansea and Wigan got

a last-minute equaliser against Southampton.

Dundee United are into the quarter- finals of the Scottish Cup after

beating Rangers 3-0 at Tannadice. Hundreds of Rangers fans boycotted

the match in protest after Dundee United voted in favour of Rangers

relegation to the Third Division following their liquidation last

summer. This was their first trip to a Premier League side this

season. Johnny Russell scored two of Dundee United's goals as they

made it into the last eight. Rangers had two men sent off.

Hamilton, Falkirk, Kilmarnock and St Mirren also made it through.

That's all the sport tonight. Thank you very much.

Finally, if you are looking for a beachfront property with great

views and plenty of space you could still have time to put in a bid for

Cleethorpes Pier. It went up for auction today, promising a

nostalgic buyer the chance to purchase their own piece of seaside

history. Andy Gill reports. This is not your crumbling pile of rusting

Victorian ironwork. It is a rare chance to own a genuine slice of

English seaside history. It's a good location. I would make it into

a better restaurant, use it as a view and could attract weddings to

it or make it more upper class, rather than a nightclub. It's part

of the seaside. You know, like Blackpool. Perhaps the council

might buy it, you never know. do what? Leave it as it is.

pier opened on August bank holiday in 173, shall -- 1873. The

auctioneer says three piers have come up for sale in the past couple

of decades. The previous two piers that have been offered on the south

coast have been derelict shells. combination of rich history and

lots of modern publicity failed to produce a sale tonight. Generations

of families who have walked on the pier hold their memories dear but

the price of this pier proved too expensive for this generation of