04/01/2012 World News Today

This is World News Today. As racist murderers Gary Dobson and David

Norris are sentenced for their part in the killing of black teenager

Stephen Lawrence, what now for the other suspects still evading

justice? The other people involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence

should not rest easily in their beds.

A winning start for Mitt Romney in the Republican race for the

presidency, but the one-time darling of the Tea Party who came

last pulls out. Tribal violence in South Sudan mean

it's more than 150 people are dirt and tens of thousands flee for

their lives. -- Andy and 50 people are dead.

Also, the new reality for Chinese reality TV. Satellite entertainment

is slashed by two-thirds, tune in force more socialism and less froth.

And it is many more than two by two. Counting the animals, birds and

Hello, and welcome. There were shouts of two down, three to go

outside the Old Bailey today as a judge sentenced to of Stephen

Lawrence's killers to life sentences for their part in his

murder. It was, the judge said, and evil crime motivated by racial

hatred. Moments after sending them down, Mr Justice Treacy urged

Scotland Yard to hunt down the remaining members of the gang

involved in Stephen's London -- murder. The Commissioner warned

that other people involved should not rest easily in their beds.

Stephen Lawrence's name has never been forgotten. Today, finally, a

penalty was handed down for taking his life. David Norris and Gary

Dobson are detained at her Majesty's pleasure. They will not

be released until the late 20 twenties at the earliest. Stephen's

mother reached the end of this trial satisfied by what justice had

delivered, to a point. sentences that happened, it may be

quite a low. But at the same time, the judge's hands were tied. And

for that, as much as he can do, I was very grateful. The court was

packed. The convicted men said nothing when the sentences were

handed down, though afterwards, there was a shout from a supporter

in the public gallery. Shame on all of you. The judge, Mr Justice

He told the two men they may not have held the knife, but they did

The pair were juveniles when they murdered Stephen, and when police

put them under surveillance. Under law, they received lower sentences

to reflect their ages at the time. But several years were added to the

totals because of the racist nature of the crime. And the public

reaction to it. The judge also said he hoped the conviction of David

Norris, he -- here being interviewed by police, and Dobson,

would not result in the case file being closed. Stephen's father said

he hoped the pair would co-operate with police. These people have been

found out. They have realised that now. It is now going to go and lay

down in their beds, and think that they were not the only ones

responsible for the death of my son. And they are going to give up the

other people. The other people involved in the murder of Stephen

Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds. We are still

investigating this case. I would like to take this opportunity, if

anyone has any more information or evidence, even after all this time,

please tell us and we will do the rest. Nine people remain of

interest to police. They include Luke Knight, Neil a court and his

brother Jamie. They have never been convicted of violence despite a

series of allegations. In 1993, David Norris and Neil were said to

have attacked the use. Norris were acquitted and Neil was never

charged. This is Darren Giles. In 1994, he intervened in a nightclub

row that Jamie was having with his friend. Jamie stabbed Darren Giles

in the heart. My heart stopped for about 12 minutes. There was no

oxygen getting to my brain. I do not remember a thing and I was dead

for cold minutes. But Jamie, who has refused to we speak to the BBC,

was acquitted. The jury decided he had acted in self-defence. These

investments -- these incidents do not provide evidence that any of

the three men killed Stephen Lawrence. They denied that and

police have no information to act on currently. The Lawrences left

court this afternoon to begin their return to normal life, but they

expect to meet detectives again next week.

We can speak to the opposition justice secretary Sadiq Khan. If I

can start for the sentencing. The judges' hands were tied, but what

you say to people who think that the sentences seem unduly light?

sat through the evidence over 50 days, he is well aware of the

sentencing guidelines and options open to him. It is not for me to

second guess why the judge reached his conclusion. I think a life

sentence, which is what both men received, with a minimum tariff of

15 years before they can even go to the Parole Board, is one that I

think all basically mean a very long sentence. The words from the

judge, Mr Justice Treacy, urging police to hunt down the others in

the gang. Also very strong words from make police commissioner, but

how realistic is this 18 years on? I have been involved in the

campaign and no Doreen Lawrence pretty well. Over the last 19 years,

there have been periods of huge pessimism and some optimism. Even

when the previous government changed the law to allow the

prosecute -- possibility of a second prosecution, prospects were

bleak. The advances in science, and the fact that the new team after

the Cold Case Review worked so hard, made it possible for two men to be

found guilty. I am optimistic. Science is moving very fast. And we

had the lead -- words of Neville Lawrence, the father, pleading with

the two men found guilty today to search their conscience and come

forward because they know what really happened. You had the

commission of the Met Police say in, there are other people who must

know what happened on that night. Papery they will think very

carefully and come forward and give evidence to the police which will

lead to further convictions. Dobson and Norris were at -- were

to agree to co-operate, how difficult would it be to bring a

prosecution given that they are convicted lyres and murderers?

compelling criterion is to be there has to be fresh evidence. The

conviction is fresh but you also have two eyewitnesses who will gain

nothing for themselves by giving his evidence to the police. The

Police will certainly look into that. Also, we know today the

Metropolitan police have revealed there are other blind of inquiry

they are pursuing. We know that there are 11 people of interest to

the police. Two of them have been found guilty. I am an optimist.

What is important is the words of the judge today. He looked at the

investigating officer in the eye and ask him to make sure that the

Met Police keep open all lines of inquiry and do not close this case.

And I think the family and the British public deserve nothing less.

Given all of the mistakes and errors made by the police, is this

a moment of atonement for the police today? I think so, that is

well put. The Met Police and other institutions, the CPS and the

complaints authority, made queued - - made huge errors and were

culpable from 1993 onwards. The weight that they have been behaving

recently was exemplary. This was a good example of how the British

justice system should work, rather than what we saw in the 1990s.

She was, at one point, the darling of the American right and a

favourite for the Republican nomination for the race for the

White House. Today, after coming last in the Iowa caucuses, Michele

Bachmann pulled out. It was won by a whisker by Mitt Romney. And just

before we came on air, John McCain gave his backing to Mitt Romney.

Get used to this base. A year from now, he could be the most powerful

person on earth. Mitt Romney won here in a photo finish when he took

to the stage for the final boat, they were still being counted.

is a campaign night where America wins. We will change the White

House and get America back on track. Mitt Romney remains the best funded,

the best organised candidate in this race. The favourite. But this

result makes it clear that the more Conservative Republicans are

looking for an alternative. Game on. And that alternative is called Rick

Santorum, who came between -- with eight votes of Mitt Romney with the

support of evangelical Christians. For giving me his grace every day,

for loving me, warts and all, I offer a public thanks to God.

the race moves on, who are the names to watch? There is Mitt

Romney, a businessman who governed Massachusetts with former Senator

Rick Santorum a close sent it -- second. 76 year-old Ron Paul would

slash government spending and end foreign walls. Newt Gingrich, a

former heavyweight in Congress, is hanging on in four. These contests

are charmingly simple. Grassroots democracy in the world's only

superpower. The people of Iowa were voting on values and who could beat

Barack Obama. I am supporting Mitt Romney because I think he has got

the best part -- chance to win the general election. I am supporting

Rick Santorum because of his Conservative stance on gay marriage,

he is pro-life. He does not support gay marriage. For some candidates,

like 6th place Michele Bachmann, I'll let -- Iowa was the last dance.

She dropped out today. Last night, the people of Iowa spoke with a

clear voice. So I had decided to stand aside. And I believe we

should rally around the person that our country, our party and our

people select to be that standard bearer. But others have already

knew -- moved on to New Hampshire, which votes next Tuesday. And there,

just a short time ago, Mitt Romney won the coveted endorsement of John

McCain, the Republican defeated by Barack Obama four years ago. This

nomination is not a done deal, but Mitt Romney is the man to beat.

The rent is warning that tens of thousands of people who half -- at

the UN is warning that tens of thousands of people who were

fleeing for their lives in South Sudan after ethnic buyers there are

in dire need of emergency aid. The violence erupted when 6000 members

of the Lou Nuer tried marched on the town of Pibor, which is the

home of the rival Murle people, who are blamed for cattle raiding.

This is Pibor in South Sudan, remote, undeveloped and home for

crisis. United Nations troops and south Sudanese closes -- soldiers

of protecting a ghost town. Last week, the Murle people who lead

here fled on mass fearing an attack by a rival tribe. A few families

have trickled back but tens of thousands are living out in the

bush. With no one to protect them from an army of men baying for

their blood. These are the Lou Nuer. Around 6000 people have been

attacking the Murle, torching villages and shooting in the people

they find. Rewind to August, and the roles were reversed. Then the

victims were the Lou Nuer. 600 people were killed and dozens of

children abducted. The Vice President of South Sudan tried to

intervene to stop the deadly cycle of revenge attacks. TRANSLATION:

When you talk about someone else's mistake, do not commit the same

attack. You cannot say you were going to revenge or destroy an

entire community. But his advice was not heeded. The Lou Nuer were

too angry to put down their guns. And this is why they are all

fighting, up to steal each other's cattle. These animals are like the

bank. It is how people steal -- have their world, and large numbers

of cattle are needed to pay dowries or manage -- marriage. During some

raids, tens of thousands of cattle are taken. All this violence is

coming in a country which is just six months old. There was euphoria

in South Sudan when it broke away from the north after years of civil

war. But the two new nations could not decide whether Border delay or

how to divide up the money from oil fields, so it was a many -- messy

divorce. The government of South Sudan needs to work hard to prevent

a return to civil war, and also needs to build bridges between

rival ethnic groups. Only then will they have the chance of keeping

We can speak now on the phone to Melinda Young from Save the

Children, who's in South Sudan. You have people on the ground in

Pibor, what is the situation there? We do not have people on the ground

in Pibor. One of our staff members flew him today for a reconnaissance

mission adequate assessment and then flew out. -- add a quick

assessment. People have gone out to the bush of. She saw villages that

had been burnt to the ground. We have still got thousands of people

hiding out in the bush and we are not sure of the casualty numbers

yet, numbers injured and killed. The bill of children that have been

separated from their families. Presumably no help is being allowed

through because of the situation regarding security? Exactly. It is

one of the problems, groups with guns moving through the landscape

postop just physically getting there is hard enough, but

delivering the aid is quite difficult. Thank you.

Now a look at some of the days other news.

Unions in Nigeria have called for a national strike and mass protests

against the removal of a government fuel subsidy. The decision to scrap

the subsidy has already caused clashes between police and

protesters. The federal government says it can make better use of the

money elsewhere. Doctors say surgery on Argentina's

president Cristina Fernandez to remove a cancerous thyroid gland

has been successful. Ms Fernandez flew by helicopter to the hospital

north of the capital where hundreds of supporters held a vigil for her.

Vice President Amado Boudou was put in charge shortly before the

operation. Germany's president, Christian

Wulff, has vowed not to resign despite causing a national scandal

when it emerged he warned a newspaper editor against publishing

a story on a loan he received from the wife of a wealthy businessman.

Germany's president, Christian Wulff, has vowed not to resign

despite causing a national scandal when it emerged he warned a

newspaper editor against publishing a story on a loan he received from

the wife of a wealthy businessman. The Syrian government has told the

US to stop meddling in Arab League affairs after the US said it was

past time for the UN Security council to act as torture and

murder continues in the country. Reports from activists tell of grim

conditions on the ground. The injured often too scared to go into

government hospitals so they are smuggled into Lebanon for treatment.

Our correspondent Paul Wood has been meeting those that have made

it to Tripoli in northern Lebanon in the last couple of days.

The win did from Syria are flowing into Lebanon. -- of the wounded.

They are smuggled across the border. This man was shot by a government

so I per they said. Pet twice, his chances of survival a fifty-fifty.

-- government sniper. For those who make-up, there is treatment in

Lebanese hospitals. No one shows there face, not even a six-year-old

boy. That could mean an knock-on the door for relatives back home.

His family say he was shot as they tried to escape the latest fighting.

This man was also shot at a demonstration. He tells me he does

not believe government promises to the Arab League to allow peaceful

protest. Recent pictures from the city of Homs show that people are

still being killed in their streets. I was hit in the leg, I am told,

people tried to help. One is to drop -- once stood up and was shot

in their head and died instantly. Another was dragged away and hit.

Syrian rebels are smuggling people out for treatment because they say

protesters have been murdered in hospital. One former nurse told us

he witnessed four patients being killed. They shouted, come to see

this spy and they beat him. They stabbed him to death with needles.

The people doing this were doctors and of nurses. The chances of a

peaceful end to this are dwindling. We met a soldier injured in one of

these fire fights. He told me he had witnessed summary executions of

soldiers refusing to should protesters. Some of us shot in the

air, he told me, but one of us just refused to should at all. He laid

his gun on the ground. A security officer killed him there and then.

We cannot independently verified such allegations, but big go a long

way to explaining why the Syrian army has not already split. If that

happened, everything would change. But for the time being, there

remains a bloody stalemate on the streets between government and

protesters. How would you feel if your

favourite soap, talent show or reality dating TV programme was

ordered off air by the government? Well, that's what has happened in

China where the state has ordered satellite broadcasters to cut the

amount of low taste entertainment by two thirds. Instead they'll be

showing programmes which promote traditional, socialist values.

Philip Dodd is director of Made in China, which promotes Chinese

culture abroad and European culture in China. He's also a former

director of London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Is this all about control, is it about end circling Chinese culture

or is it a about the emancipation of people? We need to see it as

defensive. There is a major change in leadership coming. There is

increasing inequality and inflation. The Chinese government wants

harmony. You cannot be harmonious if you have dating shows, talent

shows. It does not responded to the Chinese government's idea of

Chinese culture which will be there glue tying all these desperate

Chinese people together. But will not people miss them? I don't think

this is going to work. On street corners in China, you can buy DVDs.

The Chinese Government cannot really control what the people want.

When it comes to the glue, there has to be political consent as well.

Is that the Chinese government concerned about the wave of

demonstrations around the World? The West has Abu of Chinese society

is calm, but it is full of revolt. Over the next year or so, those are

revolves are going to go more and more. There is not the political

consent that the Chinese government wants. Will it was a resolve those

problems? No. There was an attack on the Westernisation at of Chinese

values. Is there any element of Western values they are allowed to

encourage? The truth is, you can buy a copies of any Western show on

its streets in China. This is more noise-than substance. Two-thirds is

quite a cut. Is there any attempt to clamp down on social media sides

as well? I think there is, but the Chinese live in a push and pull

culture. They will one day, lose the next. The Chinese Government

know they will not win this battle in the long run. Thank you for

coming in to talk to us. If the animals went in two by two,

the keepers at London Zoo would be in for an easy day. Unfortunately,

their annual stock take is not quite that simple. Thousands of

animals live at the zoo and they all have to be counted up every

year. Not too difficult for the big ones but very tricky if you think

about the insects and the small fry. Here's Graham Satchell on a big day

for the zoo. They are counting all the animals at London Zoo.

Welcome to the steamy, humid world of the giant Galapagos tortoise.

These animals are rather easy to count. Ready, Grant? 1, 2, 3.

The llamas are even helping out. Other animals are a little more

tricky. Butterflies. Frigate beetles. Stick insects. He's in

there somewhere. Adrian Walls is totting up the penguins. Come on,

guys. It is not an easy job to count them. With 60 plus penguins,

black-and-white, they all look similar. It is important to know

exactly what we have got so we can input all of the information into

databases, run stock programmes, and make sure we have all the

genetic side of the penguins mapped out in order that, in the future,

we can release vibrant, genetic, good stock back into the wild.

head count at zoos across the world has been going on for decades.

These pictures of London Zoo are from 1940. Accurate global

databases allow zoos to track breeding programmes and effectively

swap and share animals. Some of the animals, like these jellyfish, are

so beautiful, so mesmerising, the last thing you want to do is count

them. But they will be counted along with the rest.

A reminder of our main news. Prison sentences have been handed down to

two white men for the racist murder of the black teenager Stephen

Lawrence, in 1993, a crime which the judge said had scarred the

nation. Gary Dobson was given a minimum sentence of 15 years, and

David Norris 14 years. Stephen Lawrence's father said he hoped the

two men would now turn in the other members of the gang who stabbed his

son. Stephen Lawrence's mother said the sentences were low, but she

realised the judge's hands were tied because the men were juveniles

at the time of the murder. The UN is warning that tens of

thousands of people who are fleeing for their lives in South Sudan

following ethnic violence are in dire need of emergency aid. The

conflict erupted last week when around 6,000 armed members of the

Lau Nuer tribe marched on the remote town of Pibor to the north

east of the capital Juba. Pibor is home to the rival Murelay people

home to the rival Murelay people who are blamed for cattle raiding.

Well, that's all from the programme. Next the weather. But for now from

me and the rest of the team, goodbye.

Good evening. We have had some very wet and windy weather around today.

Tonight, the weather system will shift southwards. Tomorrow's

forecast stays a fairly windy but some sunshine as well. Here is the

weather front moving towards of the Continent. Isobars close together

and the wind direction north- westerly. That will mean that

scattered showers drifting their way so the eastwards on the breeze.

Strongest end up north eastern areas. Some of the showers clipping

the Suffolk coast. And on the heavy side. Through the day, southern

counties seeing more sunshine. The wind will ease off in the western

areas of the country. Again, a better chance of seeing some

sunshine. A brighter day in Northern Ireland, again windy. The

showers in Scotland can fall as snow for some time. But again a