21/01/2014 BBC News at Six

out. Thousands of prisoners were starved, beaten and executed.

Investigators say the victims looked like they had been in concentration

camps. The pictures of starved bodies were evident, I mean were

reminiscent of the pictures one saw that came out of Auschwitz and

Belsen after the Second World War. Also tonight, we will have the

latest from the peace conference. The UK economy is growing faster

than any other major European country, a new report out today. The

thousands left without power after the Christmas storms. MPs say energy

company bosses are complacent. The FA charges West Brom striker,

Nicolas Anelka, for his controversial gesture after scoring

a goal. A warning to pet owners after a mystery disease kills more

than a dozen dogs from Cornwall to County Durham. Tonight, on BBC

London. Security measures are to be lifted on six terror suspects, one

had plans to attck the capital. And, NHS bosses reveal a plan to save

1,000 more lives a year in the capital with earlier diagnosis.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC's news at six. As international

diplomats gather in Switzerland for a conference aimed at ending the

conflict in Syria, there are claims that Syrian government forces are

guilty of torturing and executing prisoners. It comes in a report by

three former war crimes prosecutors, they were commissioned by Qatar,

which backs the rebels. They have examined 55,000 images smuggled out

of the country. The disturbing photos show injuries to 11,000 dead

prisoners. The Syrian government has denied claims of abuse. Our

correspondent, Paul Wood's report contains some graphic images. Tens

of thousands of people have disappeared in Syria's jails, many

tortured to death, according to the opposition. They say there is proof

of that in these disturbing images. A military photograph Erekat logged

some 11,000 deaths in custody. He defected, taking the whole library

of abuse with him. It shows body after body, beaten, emaciated. The

injuries were repeated time and time again. The brutal beatings of half

starved people. The pictures of starvation, of course starvation

itself can be used as a means of torture. The pictures of starved

bodies were evident. I mean were reminiscent of the pictures one saw

that came out of Auschwitz and Belsen after the Second World War.

The photos are in a report, commissioned by Qatar, which backs

the rebels. It was written by some of Britain's leading war crime

lawyers. They say such evidence would support findings of crimes

against humanity against the current Syrian regime. Such evidence could

also support findings of war crimes against the regime. I've seen a lot

of this evidence, it is compelling and horrific. It is important that

those who perpetrated these crimes are one day held to account. All

that doesn't all go for the peace talks here in Montreux, where

President Assad's representatives are due to arrive shortly. President

Assad is hardly likely to want to negotiate his own exit, if that

leads to an appearance at the Hague. He has made it clear all along he he

believes these talks are about anything but the transition of

power. For the opposition, that is the main order of business here.

Most of the rebels actually doing the fighting inside Syria aren't

represented in Montreux. Most too want an Islamic state, not a

democracy. Some rebel groups are part of al-Qaeda. They will fight

on, whatever happens in the talks. Meanwhile, President Assad seems to

be winning. No-one really expects a peace deal in Switzerland this week,

but perhaps it's hoped a durable ceasefire might emerge. That's

something the UN could never achieve in three years of Syria's civil war.

Paul Wood, BBC News, Montreux. Our diplomatic correspondent, Bridget

Kendall, is in Montreux where the peace talks are taking place.

Bridget, with all these allegations, what hope is there for these talks?

Well, the expectations have been kept incredibly low. It's been so

incredibly difficult to get the two delegations to agree to come here,

and to orchestrate all the other people as that spectacular row over

whether or not to I invite Iran yesterday showed us all. If they can

keep the two delegations from shouting at each other or dramatic

with a walk out by one other another the organisers would think that was

positive, let alone any real positive breakthrough on the

political side. I think the UN, who is in charge here, what they really

want to see are some kind of concrete steps on the ground that

would help the humanitarian situation in Syria. All those

millions of displaced people, who are trapped or short of food. I

think what may be the focus, are some small steps, if they could get

the two sides to start some sort of dialogue for temporary truces or

temporary corridors to let humanitarian aid through. If they

were able to do that in the next few days they would consider it a real

achievement and something they could build on in the future. A year ago

they warned the Chancellor, George Osborne, that he was "playing with

fire" over his austerity policies. Today The International Monetary

Fund says the UK economy will grow faster than any other comparable

European country. The IMF says growth this year will be 2.4%,

that's a lot higher than it ises previous forecast. Britain, back at

work, the economy growing again.s perhaps a surprise though to the

influential International Monetary Fund, which was warning recently

that the Chancellor was playing with fire by not easing off on spending

cuts when our economy was flat as a pancake. Is George Osborne smug that

he ignored the IMF's council? We had some advice to avoid taking the

decisions in Britain. We rejected that vice. We rejected the quick

fixes and easy options. By working through our plan we are delivering

economic security for the hard-working people of this country.

That is reflected in the good news today. Although we don't yet have

the official figures, growth last year was probably around 1.8%. At

the end of 2013 the recovery accelerated. That is why the

Government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget

Responsibility, and now The International Monetary Fund, are

expecting growth this year 2014 of 2. 4%. Many economists think they

are piano pessimistic. The Bank of England expects growth of 2.8%. The

US bank Citi is expecting the kind of growth we enjoyed in the boom

years. 3. 2%. Gratifying as it is that we are growing again there may

be bumps in the road. Too much of the UK's recovery is arguably based

on consumer spending, shopping, rather than investment and is

vulnerable to rises in interest rates. There is a disturbing

widening in the deficit between what we buy from the rest of the world

and what we sell abroad. The Labour Party wonders with when we will

enjoy the recovery in our pockets. After three years of flatlining, any

growth is good news. For most families, with their living

standards still falling, this is no recovery at all. If we start to see

businesses investing more and selling more abroad, and growth is

therefore sustained, will it be back to the good old days? The UK economy

is picking up. That is a good thing. We should be realistic about the

growth we can expect for the future. We're not back in the world that we

were before the financial crisis when the UK and other western

economies had a world of easy money, cheap imports and confidence that

has now gone. Therefore, underlining growth rate is going to be weaker.

Unlike economies doing worse than us right now, Britain's national income

is still less than it was at the time of the 2008 crash. Our recovery

is real, but it will be some time yet to we are again as rich as we

were before it all went so horribly wrong. Robert Peston, BBC News.

Power distribution companies have been accused of "utter complacency"

by MPs over their response to the power cuts during the Christmas

storms. Around three quarters of a million homes and businesses were

affected. This morning, the company bosses faced tough questions from

MPs. Our industry correspondent, John Moylan, reports. It was one of

the stormiest periods in decades, which left hundreds of thousands of

households without power over the festive season. But why had it taken

so long to restore supplies? David Smith runs the industry trade body

the Ken Livingstone energy Networks Association, he couldn't say exactly

how many homes had been hit. As the trade body, we're now three weeks

after this problem, you can't tell us how many customers were without

power for more than 24-hours? I will have it buried in my head. I will

tell you that figure as soon as it comes into my head. Apologies, I

don't have it off the top of my head, Chairman. In fact, customers

lost power right across the UK, most were in the south. 46 o 0,000

households had supplies interrupted in the south-east and eastern

regions. A further 338,000 inle central and southern England.

134,000 households were hit in the South West, south Wales and the

Midlands. SSE covers parts of Scotland and southern England. It

was a massive event. I heard it quoted elsewhere it's the stormiest

since 1969. Certainly we haven't seen damage like this in the south

back from the early 90s or even back to the great storm of 1987. Had the

firms done enough contingency planning? UK Power Networks covers

the south-east and eastern England? There is a combination of the

severity of the storm, the national nature of the storm, with - You had

a robust plan in place, you feel that planned work? Absolutely, yes.

The MPs were unimpressed. Not least with confused plans for an emergency

information number, but also with the levels of industry compensation.

?27 for customers who were without power for 48 high pressure hours.

It's an absolute pittance. The companies under the spotlight here

at Westminster are not exactly household names, yet they own a very

important part of our energy infrastructure which carries

electricity to our homes. They can be very profitable. They are, for

the most part, foreign owned, up until now they have escaped this

sort of scrutiny. Not any more. I have to conclude that you're

exploiting your privileged monopoly position you displayed a neglect to

your customers which I found absolutely astonishing. Thank you

for coming in. The Liberal Democrat row over sexual harassment moved a

step closer to the courts today after Lord Rennard, the man at the

heart of the crisis, said he is taking legal advice. He's been

suspended after refusing to apologise to women who claim they've

been sexually harassed by him. Lord Rennard denies doing anything wrong.

Our deputy political editor James Landale is in Westminster. James,

this seems to be going from bad to worse for the Lib Dems? Yes, it is.

It certainly doesn't stop. The prospect of legal action is very

possible. It's not inevitable. Lord Rennard, the Lib Dems say he should

apologise over allegations of sexual harassment. He is refusing to

apologise, because he denies the allegations. The Lib Dems have

launched another inquiry into whether he is bringing the party

into disrepute by -- disre-Bute by failing to apologise. Lord Rennard

has formally instructed a barrister to look at whether or not that

decision to hold another inquiry is lawful. His supporters say that

could lead to legal action potentially perhaps seeking an

injunction to try and stop this second inquiry into overturn his

suspension from the party. There is talk of a legal blood bath some are

saying, look, this could lead to an awful lot of Lib Dem linen being

washed in public. In response to that the Lib Dem leadership are

standing firm. They say it changes nothing. Nick Clegg, in the last few

minutes, told a meeting of his parliamentarians the judgment was

the right one to call for an apology. It was the right we are in

the right direction. We stand by that judgment. So, for now, it looks

locked into some kind of confrontation. We're not quite there

yet. Lord Rennard hasn't started legal action yet. There are many in

the party pushing for mediation. This still has some way to go.

Dozens of people convicted after a you poker station protest five years

ago have had their convictions quashed. The demonstrators blocked a

railway line close to the Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire in 2009,

but Appeal Court judges ruled their convictions were unsafe because they

were based on the evidence of an undercover police officer, Mark

Kennedy. A a man's been jailed for a minimum of 27 years for murdering

his ex-girlfriend in what the judge described as a "savage and sustained

attack." Michael Cope, who's 28, strangled and beat mother of two

Linzi Ashton at her home in June last year. Manchester Crown Court

heard she suffered 108 injuries in an hour-long attack. The West

Bromich Albion footballer, Nicolas Anelka, has been charged by the FA

for making a controversial gesture after he scored a goal last year.

Anelka has denied the charge saying the gesture called, quenelle, is

anti-system, not anti-Semitic. Here's our sports editor David Bond.

The Quenelle has long cause controversy in France, and now it is

doing so in England. Nicolas Anelka has just been served with DFA's 34

page case against him. The FA said it was charging the player with

performing a aggravated -- performing a gesture which was an

aggravated breach. If found guilty, he faces the FA's new minimum five

match ban for racially aggravated offences, introduced this season in

the wake of the John Terry and Luis Suarez race rows. His club say they

will continue to pick him until his case is over. For me, the guy is a

very good professional, a very good person. For me, I need Nicolas

Anelka. Anelka's actions have pitched those in charge of English

football straight back into another unwonted racial controversy. By

charging the striker with a racial offence, the FA is hoping to send a

message, but the issue of anti-Semitism is complex and quite

different from any case they've had to deal with in the past. In France,

much of the row has centred on this man, the French anti-establishment

comedian. He denies his trademark Quenelle sign is racist, but his

shows has been banned, and he has convictions for anti-Semitism. Is

there now a risk of this becoming a major problem here in the UK? These

things have a habit of spreading. Anti-Semitism is not special on its

own. It's just another form of racism. If Anelka had made an

anti-black Chester, there would be uproar here. We don't see why

anti-Semitism should be treated any differently. Anelka has until

Thursday to answer the charges against him, but it could be weeks

until he discovers his fate. What we do know is English football has once

again become the high-profile forum for a debate on the toxic question

of race. Our top story this evening.

On the eve of the biggest diplomatic effort to end the Syrian conflict,

shocking pictures it's claimed show torture by government forces.

And still to come: She's got nothing left to prove on the track. Now the

world's most successful athlete sets her sights on the Winter Olympics.

Later on BBC London. The brain tumour patient misdiagnosed five

times by doctors, and how paying for a scan saved her life.

And one of the West End's oldest cinemas under threat. Campaigners

fight a plan to turn it into a hotel.

The bad weather and flooding that has battered much of south-west and

southern Britain has left a lot of farms covered by floodwater. Close

to 1000 square miles in England is flooded as a result of the bad

weather. In Somerset, a lot of productive farmland has been lost.

More than 43 square miles of land has been flooded in that county

alone. Jeremy Cooke reports from the Somerset Levels, where farmers are

fearing a disastrous year. The meadows and wheat fields of

Somerset, deep underwater. James Winslade's farm is one of many

flooded out for weeks on end. How much of this is underwater?

Everything bar a tiny little strip. Everything, including this property

here. A massive problem, and for James, a new one. Flash floods here

are common, but now, for a second year running, there's been standing

water on the farm for weeks. Crops are rotting in the ground. The grass

to feed 600 head of cattle are ruined. Many farmers blamed the

build up of silt in drains and rivers which stops the flow of water

off the land, and they want more action from the Environment Agency.

Cleaning the river out. Everybody knows what needs to be done. Just do

it. They are trying. The Environment Agency is doing all it can to get

the water off the field and back into the rivers. These pumps have

been going flat out day and night for weeks now, but every time the

water level starts to drop, the rains come again, and that means the

farmland all around here is still underwater. With the scale of the

problem across the country, it is a question of cash. Some ?45 million

of public money has been spent on dredging and wheat clearing in the

past 12 months. But the protection for communities comes first. The

priority at the moment is homes and businesses. Much of the farmland we

see is natural flood plain, so we have to recognise the reality of

nature working to use the flood plains in the way they always have

done. The reality for farmers is is -- is if they want better drainage,

they may have to pay for it themselves. A tough message for

those who have already lost thousands, and whose land is already

deep in flood. A postmortem examination has found

that a yachtsman from Warwickshire who was murdered in the Caribbean

was hit and then fell or was pushed into the sea, where he drowned.

Police in St Lucia are questioning three men about the death of Roger

Pratt, who was killed defending his wife from robbers. Mr Pratt and his

wife Margaret were halfway through a year-long sailing trip when their

boat was attacked. The number of 20 to 34-year-olds who

have not yet flown the nest has grown by 25% in the UK in the last

18 years, according to official figures. There were more than three

million 20 to 34-year-olds living with their parents last year. It's

thought higher hurdles to get on the housing ladder and the struggle to

find a job have meant many of the younger generation stay in the home

they grew up in. Dog owners are being warned about a

mysterious disease that has killed 13 dogs across the UK in recent

months. The illness, thought to be a condition called Alabama Rot, causes

kidney failure. The highest number of cases has been in the New Forest.

Duncan Kennedy is there for us now. I'm with seven-year-old Lola here, a

German Schnauzer, who's been happily running around this beautiful part

of the forest for the past hour or so, and luckily not picking up any

of those tail tail lesions of -- on her feet which are a sign of Alabama

dropped. Sadly, other dogs have not been so lucky. They've picked up

those legions and gone on to suffer kidney failure. It has been deeply

upsetting for owners. The signs were going up in the New Forest today,

urging dog owners to be wary of the new disease. It follows the death of

at least six dogs here, and perhaps another seven in other parts of

Britain, causing great distress to their owners. It's a picture of my

little boy, Barney. John trigger was one of them. His dog became ill

after a walk in the forest. Within five days, Barney was dead. I was

heartbreaking. He was the most precious thing in the world to me. I

miss him. Vets believe the disease is something called Alabama Rot. It

was first seen in the United States 25 years ago, causing kidney

failure. If you see a skin wound on your door, don't just leave it.

Ordinarily you might leave it for 24 or 48 hours. Don't do that. Get your

local vet to check it out. The disease first surfaced a year ago is

when bet nosed -- when vets noticed a cluster of dogs dying around the

New Forest. But now they have been cases elsewhere. Whilst vets now

think they know what this is, they don't know where it is coming from.

Some of the owners we've spoken to believe it is coming from the water

supplies in the ground and the rivers here, but the Environment

Agency say they have tested the water and they cannot find any

contamination. With 8 million dogs in Britain, Alabama Rot is still

very aware -- still very rare. The advice now - be vigilant.

She's been described as the most dominant athlete in world sport.

Last year, American wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden won every global

title at every distance - from the 100 metres to the marathon. Now

she's swapping sports to compete at the forthcoming Winter Paralympics,

in what will be an emotional return to the country where she was born.

From her training base in the US, our sports correspondent, Andy

Swiss, reports. Across the snowy wastes of Utah,

Tatyana McFadden prepares for the latest chapter of one of sport's

most remarkable stories. Born with spina bifida and left in a Russian

orphanage, she walked on her hands until she was six, when she was

adopted, brought to the US, and introduced to sport, with now

extraordinary results. Last year, McFadden won every wheelchair racing

title at every distance, from the 100 metres to the marathon,

including London. Athletics has never seen such sweeping domination.

Now, with her first full winter as a cross-country skier, she's only

poised to qualify for the Sochi Winter Olympics. She traces her rank

rentable drive to her childhood. Life is a battle. Whether you put

that in sport or your personal life, it makes me who I am. It's just my

personality, that will to live. As an athlete, it makes me a stronger

and more focused person. Eddie McFadden was the American who

adopted Tatyana. Without sport, she believes her daughter wouldn't even

be here. When the hospital told me she would not live long, I thought,

maybe there's something I can do to keep her alive. So we tried sports.

Each one she tried, she loved it and was good at it. McFadden's career

has already brought success. She is just one here at the US national

championships, but her desire to compete in Sochi is about more than

just medals. She told me she is now met her Russian birth mother, and

for the first time in Sochi, she will watch her compete. I hope she

is proud. She's seen me all over Russia on Facebook and Twitter. I'm

really excited. Just ten days after Sochi, she will be off to defend her

London Marathon title, an athlete whose sporting journey is

never-ending, it seems. What an inspiration.

Time for a look at the weather. The problem was fog, but this

evening, rain is on the menu, moving ever eastwards as we speak. Some

heavy rain on the cards through this evening, spreading west to east.

Some snow up over the Grampians and the Southern uplands, the Northern

Pennines. Later in the night, things will clear to the west and

temperatures will ease down. It could be a rather damp start to the

day across eastern counties of England. This could be the scene in

rush hour. Some uncertainty about how quickly that rain will edge its

way eastwards. Some snow on the Grampians and the Pennines. That

will gradually ease away. Skies will brighten for most of us. Some

sunshine and a scattering of showers around. Later in the afternoon, we

could see a line of heavy showers pushing into parts of western

Scotland. The last of the overnight rain clearing away from the far

north-east, and most of us should have some sunshine tomorrow

afternoon. It could well be that rain clings onto easternmost areas

of England. But for most of us, it will brighten up. Temperatures in

the sunshine not doing too badly. Tomorrow night, one line of showers

crossing many areas, and then a bigger line of showers as we go

through to Thursday morning. A bit of snow up on the high ground of

Scotland and northern parts of England. A cold day on Thursday,

despite some sunshine. A chilly start the day on Friday, with a

touch of to the east, then wind and rain from the east.

That's all from the BBC News At Six. On BBC One, we