28/04/2014 BBC News at One

Inside Aleppo. A BBC team gains exclusive access to the Syrian city

living in danger and fear every day. We have a special report on the

effects of months of indiscriminate bombing which has left thousands of

people dead or maimed. The Syrian government insists when

it drops these bombs it is targeting rebel positions, attacking those who

have chosen to try to take over the country. What they called

terrorists. Human rights organisations say these devices are

completely indiscriminate. We'll be getting the latest from

reporter Ian Pannell who's spent four days in Aleppo.

Also this lunchtime: Police identify "a number of suspects" in an

investigation into alleged sexual abuse at a school linked to the late

MP Cyril Smith. We have identified a number of

suspects from our own investigation, the victims have come

forward, there are a number of new suspects and a wider group of people

we are trying to trace. Five people, including two children

and a nine-week-old baby, have died in a house fire in Sheffield.

US drugs giant Pfizer confirms it has contacted the UK's AstraZeneca

over a possible ?65 billion takeover.

Fresh questions about the economic case for the HS2 rail link, as David

Cameron faces a backbench rebellion in the Commons.

Your name will also go on the list! What is it?

Don't tell him, Pyke, but Dad's Army is to make a return, to the big

screen. Later on BBC London: Talks break

down at ACAS. Will tonight's proposed Tube strike go ahead?

The family who lost a daughter in a crash they now know was staged to

defraud insurance companies speak of their loss.

Good afternoon, and welcome to the BBC News At One.

A BBC team has witnessed the devastating effects of air

bombardment on Syrian civilians, after gaining rare access to

rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Months of attacks with makeshift barrel

bombs have done a huge amount of damage, and Human Rights Watch has

accused President Assad's forces of terrorising the city with what it

says is an "indiscriminate and unlawful air war against civilians".

The ceiling government says the action is targeting terrorists. Our

correspondent Ian Pannell and cameraman Darren Conway spent four

days there, the only western broadcasters to have visited the

city since last year. Ian is now in Hatay in Turkey.

Thank you. It is 12 months since we were able to get into Aleppo City

partly because of the dangers on the ground but primarily because of the

situation with foreign jihadi 's. It has been a while since we were able

to see the destruction we were hearing was taking place. We have

seen the reports but this was a chance to see quite what had

happened for ourselves. Engels to buy darkness and fear. The

heart of Serie A's biggest city. It has become so dangerous drivers must

turn off their lights to avoid attack from above. And even in the

dead of night, the war grinds on. The government insists it is

protecting people, targeting terrorists based in residential

areas. But, often, it is civilians who are hit. Everyone keeps an eye

on the sky, looking for helicopters armed with barrel bombs which are

tossed to the ground. In the last few minutes, another barrel bomb,

perhaps two of them, have been dropped on this neighbourhood. You

can see the incredible amount of damage from months of bombardment in

civilian areas. Many buildings are unoccupied because people have left

the area. Tens of thousands of people are thought to have fled over

the last few months, in a campaign of relentless bombing by the

government, in particular with the use of barrel bombs, oil drums

packed with explosives, shards of metal, dropped from helicopters.

Most of the people who live in these areas have now fled, whole

neighbourhoods are abandoned. Every now and then we see the odd person

running down the road, small children going through rubbish.

Otherwise, people have run to the countryside for safety. The Syrian

government insists when it drops these bombs it is targeting rebel

positions, attacking those who have chosen to taken over the country.

The human rights organisations have said these devices are

indiscriminate, dropped out of helicopters, there is no way of

guaranteeing where they will land. We have spent the last few days

inside this city and what you are struck by is the fact the campaign

pretty much doesn't stop day and night. The truth is, there is almost

nowhere in Aleppo that could be described as safe, on the government

side, certainly not on opposition side.

There is no sign of any end to this. No, if anything, part of the

conflict has got worse. We have heard of the advance of forces in

the south of the country by the Shia militia based in Lebanon. The north

of the country is different. Rebels have started to work together,

setting up a joint operations Centre, launching a concerted attack

against government positions inside the city, particularly in key

government positions. The bombardment has increased. It is

civilians who pay the price of that. What I detected on the ground was a

sense of despair. One man put it to me he now blamed both sides. He had

supported the revolution but he wished both would stop because it

was driving people out of Aleppo and destroying his hometown.

Thank you for that. And you can see much more of that

special report from Ian Pannell on tonight's BBC News At Six.

Rochdale Council has announced an independent review into whether or

not there was a cover-up of allegations of child abuse linked to

the town's former MP, the late Cyril Smith. The claims focus on a

residential school run by the council where several former pupils

say they were abused. The police are already investigating events at

Knowl View School in the 1980s and 1990s, and say that at least ten new

suspects are being investigated. Our political correspondent, Alex

Forsyth, reports. He was a prominent politician and

Rochdale's MP for 20 years. For decades, there have been claims Sir

Cyril Smith sexually abused children. Since his death in 2010,

police have been investigating an allegation he abused boys at this

residential school, Knowl View. Today, they announced they had 11

new suspects and a number of new victims as a result of their

enquiries. They say they will be reviewing evidence of possible

cover-up by the authorities. We are determined to do a thorough

investigation. When we will look at the liability of those who may have

been involved in running those institutions. Rochdale Council has

launched its own review of its role in handling the alleged abuse. They

said that review would be widened stretching from the 1960s up to the

1990s with a new independent QC. He will seek to identify whether there

was a pattern to such abuse, whether the abuse of children was

tolerated, facilitated or promoted by the council or its officers or

staff. The enquiries will focus on alleged long do -- wrongdoing and on

who knew what and when. The same questions are being asked of the

Liberal party. So far, Lib Dem leaders in Westminster have resisted

calls for their own internal investigation.

The police may have said they are opening up a wider investigation

looking decades back into local government, to consider whether

things were hidden. It is appropriate to leave these matters

to the police. Cyril Smith may be a figure from the past but the

speculation surrounding him is very much in the present.

Two women and three children have died in a fire at a house in

Sheffield. The police and fire brigade are trying to find out what

caused the blaze. Our correspondent, Ed Thomas, is at the scene. Ed.

There were no survivors from inside this house. This fire spread

quickly, killing all five people inside. At the moment, police and

investigators have no idea how it started.

Three generations of the same family lost their lives. The blaze ripped

through the terraced home killing two women and three young children.

Neighbours took these pictures as fire fighters were called just after

midnight. The oldest to die here was Shabbina Begum, a grandmother. She

died trying to save her 20-year-old daughter and three grandchildren,

who were nine and seven and died in the blaze that their baby sister who

was just nine weeks old. Hardly can control the emotions. This is a

cousin of the family and said the children's mother and father cannot

compared what has happened. It is a tragedy that will take many years to

raise from our memory. Maybe for some of us they'd be a lifetime we

will not forget. Teams have spent the day looking for clues. Police

officers have searched alleyways and gardens close to the house. This is

a tragic reminder of the devastating effects of fire. Our thoughts are

with the families of those involved in this incident. This morning,

prayers were said in a local mosque for all five who died. Police say

they are keeping an open mind as to how the fire started.

We have also been told the grandmother actually escaped from

the blaze before going back inside the house to rescue her

grandchildren. It was a decision which cost her her life. The

challenge for investigators is to find out what caused the blaze and

caused all this devastation. If it goes through, it would be the

biggest foreign takeover of a UK business. The American drugs

company, Pfizer has confirmed that it's considering making a ?65

billion bid for its British rival, AstraZeneca. Our business editor,

Kamal Ahmed, is here. Why do they want it? There are two

reasons. First, the battle for drugs. AstraZeneca has some very

interesting new cancer treatments, in particular, breast and lung

cancer, which could be very valuable for Pfizer. The second reason is

more complicated, it is about tax. Pfizer is an American company that

makes a huge amount of profit outside America that it does not

want to move back to America and get it taxed in America. A boatload of

money and it thinks, much better to spend that money buying good

businesses around the world rather than take it back to the US and let

it be taxed. A huge amount of money. At the moment, the shareholders in

AstraZeneca I think will be quite positive. Finding new drugs is a

risky business. If Pfizer is saying we will pay you up front for those

new drugs, they will say, I might take the jam today rather than

promises of jam at some point next week. For the politicians, it is

more difficult. AstraZeneca is a British business, Pfizer is an

American takeover. It raises the issue of Cadbury. Will politicians

say they need to protect our research and jobs in this country?

We haven't heard from the politicians yet but it is a matter

of time. Millions of people face travel

disruption, after last-minute talks failed to prevent a 48-hour stoppage

on the London Underground. RMT members will walk out at nine

o'clock tonight, in the on-going dispute with managers over plans to

close ticket offices. The mayor of the Ukrainian city of

Kharkiv has been shot and seriously wounded. He has undergone emergency

surgery, and is said to be fighting for his life. This morning,

President Obama said that the United States will impose further economic

sanctions against Russia, following the detention of international

military observers by pro-Russia militants. Emily Buchanan has the

latest. A warm, spring day in savvy aunts,

it looks so peaceful. But this town in eastern Ukraine is on the front

line of the deepening battle, pro-Russian separatists are

entrenched in the demonstration building. And in the streets, there

is defiance against the government in Kiev.

This woman says, we will take up arms if we need to come if they

pressured the locals, we will stand up for ourselves.

Another feels Kiev doesn't want to make an agreement. She says, I am

really afraid of war. Already turned prisoners of war by Russian TV,

seven international monitors are being held hostage in the city, one

was earlier released on health grounds but the Ukrainians have

disappeared. The US has announced new sanctions against some

influential in Russians. There is a path to resolving this, Russia has

not yet chosen to move forward, and these sanctions represent the next

stage in a calibrated effort to change its behaviour.

Frustration is also building inside Ukraine, amongst supporters of the

Kiev government. This was in the east at the weekend. Now, unknown

gunmen have shot and critically wounded the mayor. Once

pro-Russian, he has become largely loyal to Kiev. Indoor nets, the

local TV station was seized by separatists and is once again

showing Russian programmes. They had been blocked by Kiev. The rebels

appear unstoppable, armed gunmen have taken over the town hall and

police headquarters of another city. Each day, their grip on

eastern Ukraine strengthens and worries grow of a full-scale Russian

incursion. For RAF Typhoon aircraft were deployed today to Lithuania,

they will boost NATO patrols with the aim of reassuring anxious allies

at a time of rising tensions with Russia.

Our main headline... Inside Aleppo - a BBC team gains exclusive access to

the Syrian city where months of bombing has left thousands of people

dead or maimed. And still to come... 17 people die in the US as a tornado

carves an 80-mile swathe of destruction through Arkansas. Later

on BBC London, the number of people using electronic cigarettes has

troubled in two years. But there are concerns about their safety. And

London film-makers show casing their work in New York.

Despite all the stories on the public's anger over the rises in

fuel bills, it seems only half of us have switched energy companies in

the past five years. A BBC survey found that even though the regulator

Ofgem has forced suppliers to simplify bills, many of us still

don't understand how they are calculated. Steph McGovern has more

details. The UK energy market has been

dominated by six companies for the past decade. All of them have faced

criticism about the rising cost of bills and whether they make it easy

enough for customers to understand them. The survey, commissioned for

BBC Breakfast, found that 51% of people in the UK have not switched

energy supplier 76% thought bills were unnecessarily complicated. And

44% do not understand how their bill is calculated. It is here where you

can see how much you have used and how much you are being charged for

it. It is measured in kilowatt-hours. When you are trying

to compare prices between providers, you can look at what you are being

charged per kilowatt hour. you can look at what you are being

charged per On your bill you should also see where your money goes, so

some of it will go to the wholesale cost, the money the companies pay

for the energy. Then there is the cost to transmit it to your house or

business. The Government gets its slice of money in taxes, and that

leaves, give or take some other bits and bobs, the profit. So, let's have

a look at the average profit figure, for the average and bill of ?1300.

Around ?65 of that is profit. The body which represents the suppliers

says the industry is working hard to make it easier to switch suppliers

and find the best deal, with new simplified bills and tariff

structures, and smart metres. At the same time, the regulators are

independently looking at whether the energy market is working.

The Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, says the search for the

Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared 52 days ago is entering

a new phase. He says there is unlikely now to be any debris on the

sea surface - and the underwater hunt for the missing airliner will

be expanded to include a massive area of the ocean floor that may

take up to eight months. A judge in Egypt has recommended the

death penalty for nearly 700 people - including the leader of the Muslim

Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie. At a mass trial, Mr Badie and other

supporters of the ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, faced charges

relating to an attack on a police station last year. However, the same

court also reversed most of another group of more than 500 death

sentences it had passed in March, commuting them to life imprisonment.

The United Nations had condemned the trials.

Victims of crime and vulnerable witnesses will be able to give

pre-recorded evidence in court from today, as part of a pilot scheme.

The Justice Minister, Damian Green, says the measures are aimed at

making the process less traumatic. Our legal affairs correspondent

Clive Coleman reports. This lady was a victim of a violent

sexual assault when she was 17. She faced two trials, with days of

cross-examination in court before her attacker was eventually

convicted. Standing in front of a group of people, answering questions

over small details, at that time it put so much pressure on me that I

even passed out. How did you manage to see the person who pushed you,

his face? Now, the Government has set up a scheme aimed to protect

people from what could be aggressive questioning from a jury, judge and a

leg attacker. This is unprecedented. -- alleged attacker.

In this mock trial, for the first time ever, a jury will be able to

listen to the pre-recorded cross-examination of an alleged

victim, which means that that victim may never have to attend the actual

trial at all. The pilot will cover of vulnerable adults and child

witnesses under 16. This scheme gives vulnerable witnesses the

protection of going through the normal cross-examination, but doing

it in an environment which is much more controlled, much less

stressful. If the pilot is successful, the Government will roll

it out more widely. For victims, that should make the justice system

less intimidating. At least 16 people have been killed

in America after a powerful tornado carved an 80-mile path of

destruction through the state of Arkansas. The tornado was the

largest of several produced by a powerful storm system sweeping

through the central and southern states. Cars, trucks and 18-wheel

lorries were left shredded in its path. Another twister in Oklahoma

killed one person. Jon Brain reports.

The tornado had been predicted days in advance, but that did little to

lessen its impact. The town of Mayflower was flattened in moments.

The rest of the night was spent searching for those trapped and

tending to the injured. It was the scariest thing I have ever been

through in my wife. Me and my wife and dog were in the bathroom. We

Americans are resilient but this is about as bad as it gets. The storm

left a daylight revealed the extent of the damage at Quapaw in Oklahoma.

The US president has pledged help for devastated communities. I want

everybody affected by this tragedy to know that the federal government

is on the ground to help Americans in the com working with state and

local officials. I want everybody to know that your country will be

helping you to rebuild, as long as it takes. This is just the start of

the tornado system. Some states are already taking a severe battering.

The fear is that things will get worse before they get better.

MPs are set to vote on the second reading of the High Speed Rail Bill

in the Commons today. The bill is expected to go through with support

from the Labour Party - but the Government could face a backbench

rebellion. Fresh questions have also been raised about the economic case

for the rail link - after a think-tank questioned how much

benefit it could bring to the north of England. Our chief political

correspondent, Norman Smith, is in Westminster. How worried are they in

Downing Street? There is no doubt there will still be a humdinger of a

tussle for years to come over HS2. But I think we are moving from the

Will it happen to the when will it happen question. The Government will

win tonight, and although there is still the prospect of a legal

challenge, and although critics in this place can still play all sorts

of Parliamentary shenanigans to try to derail the scheme, what has

changed is that there is now a political consensus behind HS2, with

Labour, who, only a few months ago were decidedly iffy because of the

cost, now fully signed up, in part because the big Labour council

chiefs in the north of England have said, we want this line to go ahead.

What that all means is that after the next election, whatever the

result, there will be a government in power which wants to press ahead

with HS2. That means, although HS2 may still be a long way down the

line, years away, it does now seem to be coming down the track.

The Green Party has launched its campaign for May's local and

European elections. The party's leader, Natalie Bennett, said the

Greens were serious contenders - with their largest number of

candidates standing to be local councillors. Ms Bennett also said

she was confident that the party would increase its current tally of

two MEPs. The party is putting up a candidate for every available UK

seat. Plaid Cwmru also launched its

manifesto for the European elections - calling for the Welsh Government

to target skilled migrants from other countries. University

lecturers and doctors could be attracted to Wales as part of a

"migration policy that meets Welsh needs", Plaid Cymru leader Leanne

Wood said. The party's manifesto pledges include the creation of

50,000 Welsh jobs and improvement in public transport links. Recent polls

suggest Plaid Cymru could face losing its only European seat.

They were the Home Guard of Warmington-on-Sea, whose phrases

such as "Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring" and "Don't tell him, Pyke" made

Dad's Army one of Britains greatest TV comedies. And now the likes of

Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson, and Corporal Pike could be making a

comeback - this time on the big screen. Here's our arts

correspondent David Sillito. Some fall set a booby-trapped up

there, sir! IDD, corporal. We first met Captain Mainwaring and the rest

of the Home Guard 46 years ago. At its peak, 18 million would be

watching. What is it? Don't tell him, Pike. Even today's repeats will

always draw an audience. However, Dad's Army without Arthur Lowe or

the original scriptwriters? People are interested, but wary. Because

Jimmy Perry is not going to have much involvement in it, there is a

little bit of trepidation in how it is going to be written, but the

producers and scriptwriters all seem to have a pedigree, so we are

hopeful that it will be done to the right degree of gravitas. So, who

will we be watching in praise of the original cast? Tony Jones is

reported to be in line to be Captain Mainwaring. Till night he could be

the posh but vague Sergeant Wilson. The challenge will be convincing the

fans. No, I do not think it would be a good idea, but I would watch it, I

suppose. It would be very interesting, I would like to see

somebody played Captain Mainwaring, and also Sergeant Wilson, it would

be interesting to see how somebody could replace them. You stupid boy!

Of course, Dad's Army is not alone. Various other classics have been

revived, with varying degrees of success. Classic comedies are

usually classic because of that rare conflagration of script, cast and

all done at the right moment. Capturing that a second time will

always be challenging. Time for a look at the weather.

A variable mix across the British Isles this morning. A lot of low

cloud in many areas. As we come further south, there is the chance

of seeing a bit of sunshine for some. We have already seen some

pretty hefty showers. And I think it will be parts of the south Midlands

and the southern coastal counties, especially down towards Devon and

Cornwall, where there is already a Met Office warning in force, for the

most intense downpours. But as we come further north, northern parts

of Wales, there are a few showers to be had. Also in Northern Ireland.

But not without the prospect of a bit of sunshine. Temperatures across

parts of the Highlands already responding to that sunshine. We

could see the warmest day of the year thus far. In further south,

back underneath that cloud that I was talking about. Some intense

downpours could be around in the first part of the night, but those

will be fading. And then around the coasts surrounding the Irish Sea and

other areas, further inland, there could be some mist and fog. Moving

into Tuesday, grey skies for many, watch out for the visibility. But

then, as we get going, there is a chance of sunshine across central

and Westerns parts, but again, a chance of showers. Again, with some

sunshine, those temperatures will be pretty much close to what we expect

for this time of the year. The middle part of the week is dominated

by low pressure on there will be some fronts around, especially on

Thursday, which is looking to be particularly wet. But that will be

the last of the wet days, because the low pressure then quits, high

pressure comes in from the north, ringing marked changes by the end of

the week. Feeling colder, especially out towards the east. And growers

take note, there will be overnight frosts.

Our main headlines... Inside Aleppo, a BBC team has gained exclusive

access to the Syrian rebel held city, where months of bombing has

left thousands of people dead or maimed. And police have identified a

number of suspects in an investigation into alleged sexual

abuse at a school linked to the late MP Cyril Smith.