08/02/2012 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox. A fifth day of

shelling of Homs, the heaviest bombardment yet to.

Syrian opposition activists say at least 40 people have been killed as

government guns continued to pound the city. It is not clear what

exactly the Syrian army is targeting. But civilians are

bearing the brunt, and most of them are inside, just as we are.

brooch in the latest endgame? Greek political leaders meet to try

and ratify a tough new austerity measures.

Violent protests in the Maldives after the president is forced to

resign at gunpoint. Also coming up in the programme: is

this a provocation? Argentina says it will make a

formal complaint to the UN after Britain since one of its most

sophisticated warships to the disputed Falklands.

And the shocking allegations of the mystery behind the kids in the life

of a catwalk model. -- behind the glitz in the life of a catwalk

model. Hello and welcome. Syrian security

forces have pounded the city of Homs for a fifth day in a row.

Opposition activists say it is the heaviest bombardment yet, just a

day after President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready for dialogue to

end of violence. Activists say at least as many as 50 people may have

been killed. Turkey is preparing its own diplomatic initiative to

try and end the bloodshed. Our correspondent has spent several

days inside the besieged city. It began at dawn. For a fifth day,

Homs is pounded. Some said it was the worst day of shelling. The

casualties are mounting. The people here both fear and expect those

tanks and ground troops to move in at some point. Most of the people

who have died here have been killed because they went out onto the

street. It is not clear what exactly the Syrian army is

targeting. But certainly, civilians are bearing the brunt, and most of

them are inside, just as we are. They have not been out to play

since the uprising began. Their mothers in despair. The outside

world will not help us, she says. But God's vengeance will come down

on the Syrian President. The Kalashnikovs of the Free Syrian

Army can do little against tanks. They hope the regime's forces will

crumble from the inside. The Syrian army's morale has collapsed, says

an officer who defected just a week ago. They know they are killing

civilians. They want this bloodbath to stop. The prevailing mood here

is one of despair. People feel trapped, and they believe no one is

coming to help. A look at some of the day's other

news. European air safety officials are to inspect the entire fleet of

Airbus A380 Super jumbos, more than 60 aircraft, for cracks in wing

components. Cracks have been found in several planes following a

decision by the European Aviation Safety Agency last month to order

checks on the 20 aircraft with the highest mileage.

Police in the Somali capital Mogadishu say a suicide car bombing

has killed at least nine people. The blast took place in the

government district. The Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab told the

BBC it carried out the attack. Her the Sudanese President Omar al-

Bashir has launched a new regional authority in the war-torn region of

Darfur. It has been set up to oversee a peace agreement for the

region, which has been in conflict since 2003. But the body has

already been rejected by the main rebel movements.

A top English football manager, Harry Redknapp, has been found not

guilty on two council tax evasion. Along with the former chairman of

Portsmouth Football Club, Milan Mandaric, he was accused of

concealing payments of almost $300,000 during his time as manager

at Portsmouth. Noise from motors on busy

commercial shipping lanes can cause chronic stress for Wales. The

results have come from a study carried out following the 9/11

terror attacks in New York. The attacks led to a drop in maritime

traffic and gave researchers an opportunity to investigate whether

sound pollution was a cause of stress for Wales.

Let's return now to the bombardment for his fifth day in a rope on the

besieged city of Homs. Many residents say it is the worst

bombardment they have experienced in the past week. We can speak now

to Adomah, who joins us from Homs. -- Omar. What is happening there

tonight? In the middle of the day, the Assad army and security force

were shelling us with rockets and tanks. Also, many heavy weapons.

There are reports, also, of militias loyal to Bashar al-Assad

carrying out killings as well. Can you confirm that? Yeah, that is

true. They killed the three families in one neighbourhood.

are finding it very difficult to hear you. What about infantry from

the Syrian army? Have they moved into the area where you are? No...

They are just shelling us from faraway, targeting the civilian

houses. And what are conditions like for people inside these

suburbs, which I think are largely Sunni? Do most houses have

electricity and other power, or has that been cut off? There is no

electricity, no more food, no more medical supplies. There are no

words. We are lucky to stay alive. There is no food. There is no water.

There are a lot of snipers surrounding the area. People are

trying to give some medical supplies, some food.

Thank you for joining us on the line from Homs, which has

experienced its fifth day of bombardment by Syrian forces.

Coalition party leaders in Greece are thought to be close to

announcing a deal on a new austerity package that could help

prevent a default on Greece's debts. It is expected to be based on

conditions set up by the European Union International Monetary Fund.

They include a 20% cut to the minimum wage, as well as further

cuts to pensions, which have already been hit hard. It would

also see a further 15,000 jobs being slashed from the Civil

Service. Proposed measures have been provoking angry protest by

Greek unions, but the owner -- EU and IMF say without the deal, they

will not sign off the bail-out, without which Greece would default

on its debts next month. Let's get the latest from our correspondent

in Athens. This meeting has been delayed over the past 24 hours. Do

we think political leaders are about to reach some sort of deal

finally? All the signs are there that a deal is imminent. The party

leaders of the coalition and prime minister have been locked for four

hours in talks in the Prime Minister's office. It is a freezing

night in Athens, and we are all waiting for some kind of

announcement. There is an indication that they are edging

closer towards a deal. We had an announcement that the Eurozone

finance ministers will meet in Brussels tomorrow evening, probably

to sign off on the deal that will be reached here. The deal has been

imposed by the EU and IMF in order for Greece to get access to these

vital EUR130 billion of international loan, but they are

difficult conditions. Some of the cuts being proposed will go down

badly on the streets of Athens among an extremely austerity weary

nation, which has been living on austerity for the last two years.

They can't take much more. Where do we stand on the private sector

haircut of 50%? That is a condition for this bail-out deal also to be

reached. Parallel assessment negotiations have been going on.

Greece wants to negotiate with the private creditors, mainly European

banks, to write off at least EUR100 billion of Greek private debt.

Those negotiations have been going well, there were then put on hold

while the bail-out negotiations were continuing. But we think both

sets of public and private negotiations will be signed off at

the same time. That would significantly lighter and Greece's

debt burdens and reduce the debt to 120% of GDP from 160% at the moment.

This is all trying to avoid a catastrophic default by Greece

which could happen in the next few weeks, when this country has to pay

bond redemptions which it cannot afford. So it is urgently in need

of the bail-out money by mid-March, which is when the bond redemptions

are due. A disorderly default by Greece could spread contagion

throughout the Eurozone and would again raised questions about

whether this country can maintain its place within the Eurozone

itself. Scuffles have broken out in the

Maldives between police and supporters of the former president,

forced to step down earlier this week. Mohammed Nasheed was the

Maldives' first democratically- elected leader. He says he was

removed from office at gunpoint. The BBC's Andrew North is in the

Maldives capital. There is now a crowd of several

thousand supporters of the former president out on the streets of the

capital. This is just after a rally. Many of them are chanting "it is a

cup". Our military is corrupted! Feelings are running very high.

People are saying their democracy has been taken away. And the former

president says the new President, the man who was his vice-president,

should now step down and they should be an investigation. He says

he will not give up. He will keep fighting. And as you can see, large

numbers of people seem to agree. They have come out on the streets

to protest. But it is not clear whether this is a real fight back

or just the last gasp for President Mohammed Nasheed and his supporters.

There has been another twist in the race for the Republican

presidential nomination in the US. The former senator for Pennsylvania,

Rick Santorum, has won the latest three contests to choose a

candidate to run against President Obama in November. Mr Santorum was

declared the winner in Colorado, Minnesota and misery. The result is

seen as a blow for the Republican front-runner, Mitt Romney.

Rick Santorum was savouring victory. He is a former senator, and claims

to be the standard-bearer of American social and religious

conservatism, the man who should challenge Barack Obama for the

presidency in November. Voters in Missouri and Minnesota and Colorado

agreed with him. He won all three states. Your votes today were not

just heard loud and wide across the states of misery and Minnesota, but

they were heard louder across the country forced up his is a long-

shot candidacy. He lacks money and organisation, but he won some real

momentum here. For the front-runner of the Republican nomination, Mitt

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, this has been a

worrying turn of events. This was a good night for Rick Santorum. I

congratulate him and wish him the best. We will keep campaigning, but

I expect to become our nominee. Romney has wealth and a powerful

campaign machine at his command, but he is struggling to win the

affection of the Republican Party. After his speech, this. Someone

tried to throw glitter all over him. The secret service had to intervene.

These results seem to tell us that Republican voters across America

seemed to be divided on who their candidate for the presidency should

be. Mitt Romney may be the front- runner, but social and religious

Conservatives do not seem to like the look of him. There are still

many contests to go before the nomination is settled on, and

voters seem to be telling Mr Let's get some analysis on this by

former CBS senior correspondent Tom Fenton. Some have said their wheels

have come off. Is that oversimplifying things. This is a

setback. You have to remember we are early in the game right now. At

this point Mitt Romney has 107 delegates. Newt Gingrich has 36,

Rick Santorum who has now coming up fast, has 45. Ron Paul has 47. The

OECD -- you need 1144. It was pretty meaningless. A give some

momentum to Santorum. And what it does also is it changes their

strategy for our people. They had focused on the President, he has to

fight off Santorum and Gingrich. where do we think it went wrong?

Mitt Romney was the clear favourite in one of these primaries. Does it

go back to the line he made about he was not being very concerned

about the extremely poor? That seems a major gaffer any

presidential candidate. This three states that we just saw, this is

the Conservative base. Romany does not play well with them. -- Mitt

Romney does not play well with them. Moderate has become a much dirty

word. Compromise is a deadly sin. So they are beating up trying to

prove that they are more Catholic than the Pope. His Rick Santorum

seen by many as the person most obviously opposite to what

President Obama represents? I think that would be true. He is very

Conservative. More so than Newt Gingrich. He's had a colourful

private life that has some influence on the Republican base

which tends to be socially Conservative. And talking of Newt

Gingrich, he says he has pledged to continue right through until the

convention. But has he got the funds to do that? He has got

several big givers. There were several core conditions which

allowed the creation of Super packs, political action committees.

Unlimited funds can going to them. They're supposed to be arms-length

from the candidates. As long as there are no direct contact with

the candidate? It is a complete farce. They have millions of

dollars and they are mostly... long way to go. March 6th. But that

might not be it. As the 30th anniversary of the

Falklands War approaches, Argentina is to make a formal complaint to

the United Nations about Britain sending one of its newest

destroyers to the seas around the islands. Argentina's President

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has also complained about the posting

of Prince William to work doesn't air and sea rescue pilot in the

islands. Officially on the Falklands as

Flight Lieutenant Wales, working as a search-and-rescue pilot, Prince

William's presence has upset Argentina. It's country's President

made clear last night. It is the 30th anniversary of the war in the

Falklands coming up. Addressing supporters including veterans of

the conflict, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner accuse their

UK of military allies in the islands. The senti modern destroyer

to the heir to the throne. So Argentina is making a formal

complaint to the unit -- United Nations Security Council. HMS done

was is the newest and most powerful ships and the Navy's fleet. But

officials here say she is simply replacing another vessel which had

been on patrol in the same area. Although Argentina may disagree,

the MoD insists that it climate of HMS dot was to the Atlantic is a

matter of routine. Likewise Prince William's deployment as a search-

and-rescue pilot. But it is clear the Falklands are better defender

than they were in 1982 when Argentina invaded. It would be very,

very difficult to retake the islands now if we lost them. We

have to make sure that Argentina is never tempted to invade. We do not

have to be in a position to have to retake them. So heavily --

investing heavily and defending them is the right policy. The UK is

treading a careful line over these windswept islands to make sure the

war of words doesn't escalate while underlining that it is up to the

islanders themselves and not Argentina to determine their own

future. Lisa Watson is the editor of

Penguin News and she joins us from Port Stanley. You may appreciate

the arrival of HMS topless but he accepted is a provocation to

Argentina? -- HMS dauntless. Argentina would see anything as a

provocation. Everything has been pitched up high. I really do not

know what is going to happen next with Argentina. But the President

said her approach would be peaceful and she describes -- described the

militarisation of the island's as being too much. Why was it

necessary to have a future king attending just around the 30th

anniversary of the Falkland war? can speak for a wide Prince William

is deployed here at the moment. I can only presume that if he had

been sent to other countries where the situation were tense as well,

other countries would complain of his presence. Presumably a man has

to chop -- to his job somewhere. The rescue work year as extremely

important to the Falklands, we have a number of fishing vessels around

the Falklands and they help with those, I suppose, were every goes

there will be complaints. He say that with a smile, but it is not

just only fishing vessels around the islands. If there are oil

exploration rigs which must make one the Saudis furious given the

potential riches around the islands -- the capital of Argentina.

don't doubt that it does make them angry. As far as we are concerned

this these belong to the Falkland Islanders. Really it does not

matter what we do, the President becomes angry. She objects that we

license fishing vessels to fish around the Falklands sort of

cautious could object to something to something else where she fills

Argentina is losing out. There seems to be more regional support

for Argentina's stance here. Even chilly isn't allowing fishing there.

Do you see are at sea change year regarding the future of the

islands? Chile and the other South American Islands are part of

another governing body. That is not tunnelled institution. It wasn't

around in 1982. They are supporting each other in the same way that

their European Union would support each other. Is there a change and

that? I do not think there is. Ate the request had been made 10 years

ago they would have supported it. Do you ever think this is a little

but you tell? It depends on what question you are asking. Is what

you tell? Is it you tell to want to remain a British citizen?

absolutely not. It may be seen as sentimental but it is not, it is

very practical. It has a very good relationship with Britain. Britain

supports us and our desire to run around Government. We have our own

elected representatives and without the support of Britain we would

find that very difficult. We are a small population and we need some

kind of support to choose the wrong Government. It is BT are.

Many seek modelling as a glittering and lucrative profession but the

reality can be pretty different. The fashion industry is largely

unregulated and as workers models have little protection.

Models are the glamourous, unattainable silent faces of

fashion and now they want to be heard. Walking the runway as as

sought-after job but the work that goes into creating these images can

be long and hard. We've have crafted a model's Bill of Rights.

They have pressed for better working conditions because of what

she has witnessed over 15 years. saw first-hand how the industry

lacks financial transparency and encourages eating disorders and

even tolerate sexual abuse in the workplace. Models are independent

contractors under US law so they can to form a trade union. To bring

models together, Susan Scafidi who has been helping with the campaign

says models need protection. backstage privacy policy so the

women who are changing are not having photographs of themselves

appearing on the internet. A policy not our hire young girl's father

runway. A policies says there's a place that you can call F something

happens that the 4-Show and you are not comfortable with it. Nobody can

be a poster that. Fashion is a multi-billion pound business in New

York. In such a competitive field, can an alliance of models really

make an impact? One chronicler of the fashion world wonders how you

can regulate an industry which is so subjective. It is one of the few

industries where someone can some - - summoned a decision is a naughty

you simply a modular can nothing else. It is very hard to say what

is discriminatory and what is not. The entire industry is based on an

-- a very discriminatory practice. Sara Ziff says worker's rights

should extend to models to. They beautiful images that we produce

and her business should be backed up by some moral code behaviour.

public may see models as having it all but many start out as teenagers

and an adult world. The question is whether the fashion industry will

take kindly to this push for better conditions.

One piece a breaking news: Fabio Capello has quit as the England

football coach according to the FA. Freezing rain causing problems with

by some parts of Scotland and later into northern England. Tomorrow it

is just another cold day across much of the UK. These weather

fronts push further south and the shift from freezing rain to snow.

For tomorrow morning, and icy start for the morning. It could prove to

cause problems for many. Her 3 o'clock in the afternoon it is a

cold rain, temperatures barely above freezing. Some snow

developing. For the south of all of that, plenty of cloudy again. Parts

of south-west England, a few holes and that clowned and some sunshine

coming through it as we have seen today. South of wills it is really

dry. To the north it is wet. The snow in the higher ground

developing. For Northern Ireland it is damp but it is mild air here.

The mild air with us in Northern Scotland but quite damp in parts of