30/08/2011 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten: Gaddafi's remaining forces are given until Saturday to

abandon their fight. On the road to Sirte, Gaddafi's

home town, his supporters come under fire from rebel fighters.

Gaddafi. The rebels say zero hour is quickly approaching, time is

running out. We report from the scene. What will happen when the

Gaddafi forces have nowhere else to retreat to and perhaps have to make

a last stand? In Tripoli, growing frustration as banks restrict the

flow of cash amid food and water shortages.

New details of how Gaddafi's wife and close family fled to aljeer ya.

Also on the programme: Why homeownership in England could be

heading for the lowest levels since the 1980s.

In Syria, more anti-government protests, amid reports of torture

and violence by troops. After the storm, thousands of

British people stranded in the US, because of flight cancellations.

And tributes to the pioneer who rebuilt the code breaking colossal

of Bletchley Park. In Sportsday at 10.30pm, the latest

transfer news. We hear from Jessica Ennis, who settled for silver at

Good evening. Those fighters still loyal to Colonel Gaddafi have been

warned to surrender by Saturday or face all-out assault. The National

Transitional Council says talks for a peaceful resolution are going on,

but time is running out for the remaining Gaddafi loyalists mainly

in his home town of Sirte. The Council's military chief said zero

hour was quickly approachingment for the latest tonight we join

Jermey Bowen in Tripoli. The -- thanks. Anti-Gaddafi forces

say they have a good idea about where the Colonel may be hiding.

They're not saying whether or not they think he's in Sirte, which is

a town of about 100,000 people, but it is their next big military

target. They're advancing on two fronts from the east and from the

west. Our correspondent, Paul Wood is with them and he's just sent

this report. Village by village, the rebels

advance towards Sirte. They plan to be there by Saturday to back up the

leadership's ultimatum. Thousands of Gaddafi loyalists there have

until then to surrender. Or the rebels will attack.

This settlement still flies the old regime's flags. The rebels soon see

to that. This is the Western approach to Sirte, there's a

pinscher movement, they're coming from the east too.

The rebels have been leapfroging forward, another 20 or so miles

over the past day. This is the most forward position they have. If they

go over the brow of the hill behind me, they say, they invite incoming

fire from the Loyalist forces. And though the loyalists are abandoning

their possessions, there seems to be no panicky flight. NATO even

believes Colonel Gaddafi is directing things. The Gaddafi

troops that we see are not in total disarray. They are retreating in an

ordererly -- orderly fashion. It's the ability that he still displays

to command and control troops' movement and weapon movements and

the deployment of these weapons. The rebels aren't sure that Colonel

Gaddafi's really in charge. Members of his family have already fled to

Algeria. His whereabouts are unknown. Even so, they worry that

die-hardz in Sirte will never give up, because they have blood on

their hands. We don't expect that Gaddafi has soldiers any more. It's

some of the troops that have no way, unless they fight. They know that

they killed a lot of civilian peoples. In villages which have

just changed hands, they're preparing for the Muslim feast of

Eid. Over the holiday, there'll be more talks with Sirte's tribal

leaders. The rebels say a deal is being blocked by Loyalist troops

and perhaps, if NATO's right, by Colonel Gaddafi himself. What's the

truth, there are just a few days left to avoid a bloody battle for

Sirte. Those events around Sirte show this

is not over and it won't be until Colonel Gaddafi is off the scene.

Here in Tripoli, it was calm most of the day. It's getting lively now.

A lot of traffic on the streets. People getting excited about the

impending Eid festival tomorrow and even a bit of celebratory fire

going up into the air from heavy weapons down there near martyrs

square. Ordinary people here have, I think, been trying to work out

just what exactly normal life could be without the dominating presence

of Colonel Gaddafi and his family. Suspicion and insecurity are never

far away in Tripoli, so it's remarkable how calm the city seems

now. This is a way into Tajoura. Sorry mop-head say the children,

using a nickname inspired by Colonel Gaddafi's hair, that might

have put their parents in jail two weeks ago. So the Libyans are now

ready to be part of the world? are all the time part of the world.

We never been out, but someone left us out. But not everyone's happy.

This woman wants her salary. There's two million in there, she

says. We need a good system. We're tired. Everyone else queuing at the

bank, all state employees, want to get paid. Her impatience angers the

men. "shut up. Don't talk like that. We'll get everything in the end."

He says. "I won't shut up. I'm hungry. I want my money." She

retreating to an alleyway. It's been three months since we were

paid. The women were sympathetic. "I'm divorced. My salary's 400.

I've got three children. They can't wait." The men said they were happy

with a diet of revolutionary euphoria. We don't need money. We

don't need water, just freedom. Other Arab revolutionaries in

Tunisia and Egypt were just as happy when they toppled their

dictators. More than six months later their excitement about the

future has been lost in life's daily struggle. Freedom from fear

makes you feel rich if you're just out of prison like Mahmoud Abdullah

Al-Tarhouni. He was arrested in early March after organising the

first anti-Gaddafi demonstrations here. He doesn't want Colonel

Gaddafi dead. He wants him to see their triumph. I want him to see

how Libya will be without him, without his sons. We will building

this country. I want him see that. During the last six months, these

streets were always tense, sometimes frightening, and

sometimes very violent. Now you can feel the relief that the Colonel

has gone. But they face really big challenges, because for 40 years

Colonel Gaddafi has taken away all the conventional institutions of

government and that means that in many ways, they have to start again

from scratch. That is going to be difficult. I don't think those

strains are too far below the surface, as we saw today. There

could be some relief in sight for those people who at least want

their salaries paid. The UN has announced that nearly �1 billion of

Libyan dinars, which were printed in Britain, but never sent because

of sanctions, will now be delivered to this country.

Jeremy, the day's brought some interesting news, interesting

details about how some members of the Gaddafi family made it to

Algeria. Yes. It seems that there were six armoured Mercedes

limousines that sped through the central part of this country. They

came from an area which was controlled by one of the biggest

tribes. They drove down to the Algeria border and there they were

given sanctuary and there Colonel Gaddafi's daughter gave birth

shortly after, to a baby daughter. I think that what is significant

about all of that is the fact that they were able to move in such a

conspicuous convoy through a large chunk of the central part of Libya

and going down to the frontier, which shows that the rebel forces

here still have quite a bit to do, before they can control this very

large country. Jeremy, thank you very much. Jermey

Bowen, our Middle East editor in Tripoli.

Some of the day's other news: A shortage of new homes, rising

prices and tough lending conditions are likely to leave a generation

locked out of the property market, according to the National Housing

Federation. It predicts offer the next decade, homeowner shn in

England will fall to the lowest level since the 1980s. Hue pim has

the details. Building homeownership, some would

see that as a cornerstone of the economy N England, at least, there

are predictions a downward trend will continue. Ten years ago, more

than 70% of householders owned their own home. Now the figure has

fall ton 67%. Today it was forecast that would slide below 64% in ten

years' timement There are two key questions which have been raised

again in the housing debate: The first one focuses on prices and

access to mortgages, are homes affordable? House prices have

fallen, 18% since the end of the boom in 2007. Whereas the average

first time buyer deposit was 10% then, nowadays 20% is the average

required by lenders. That's proved to be a nightmare for grant and

Megan. With a young family they're December froit buy a home W high

rents and other bills to pay, they can't save enough for a deposit.

Everything is too expensive for us to allow that extra bit of money to

not be used on everything that we've already got. So it's all

needed, every penny. It's just gone before we even think about putting

something away. What -- one of Mrs Thatcher's aims was to boost

homeownership. This presentation marked the millionth Council house

sale. After Labour came to power Tony Blair and John Prescott set

ambitious targets for house building, which proved hard to meet.

The question is still being asked - are we building enough new housing?

In the year before the banking crisis, nearly 170,000 homes were

built in England. But in the latest financial year, that had slumped to

not much more than 100,000. Planning regulations have come

under scrutiny. Rural campaigners say you need them to protect the

green belt, but house builders say they've slowed up new development.

The sector as a whole has sufficient land on which to build

at current levels. If the Government wish us to step up

activity, to meet the demand that's out there, then the land supply

coming through the planning process will have to increase. So are we

becoming too obsessed with homeownership and building more

just so people can own their own house or flat? Is it sensible to

expand mortgage borrowing? There are some countries, France and the

Netherlands, for example, where a smaller proportion of people than

the UK own their own home and more are happy to rent. We need people

to be more accepting of renting. For that to happen, we need rented

accommodation to be better suited to people looking for a long-term

home, more security and higher quaplt of both the property and the

management of the property. Ministers say they are trying to

boost house building, but it's clear there are deep-set problems

A Royal Marine from 42 Commando has been killed in Afghanistan. The

marine was hit by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in the Nahr-e-

Saraj District of Helmand Province. His family has been informed.

A cabinet minister has been photographed leaving Downing Street

holding a confidential document welcoming the decision by President

Karzai of Afghanistan not to seek re-election. The briefing paper,

carried by International Development Secretary, Andrew

Mitchell, said the UK should publicly and privately approve the

decision. His department said the paper was not highly classified.

Violence is continuing in Syria, despite President Assad's recent

pledge at the United Nations that the crackdown had ended. Government

forces are reported to have killed at least seven people in the latest

protests, including a 13-year-old boy. A report by Amnesty

International claims that at least 88 people have died in detention in

the past four months and that torture is widely used. Our special

correspondent Allan Little has the story, which does contain some

strong images. Despite the danger the protests go

on. This is Damascus today, the Muslim holy day of Ei d but that

did not stop the killing. In the city of deria security forces

opened fire. Opposition groups say four were killed. Three others died

elsewhere in Syria. But there is also killing in secret.

Amnesty International say 88 have died in police detention, often

after torture. This was a 43-year- old doctor, he was arrested in May

after a visit to America. A fellow doctor saw him in detention. Three

days later he was dead. His eyes were gouged. His genitals were

mutilated. Electrical shocks over his legs and feet. This was one of

seven men who denounced the regime at this demonstration in May. He

was arrested the next day. He was dead ten days later. His face was

so badly disfigured that his family recognised him only from a tattoo

on his arm. Amnesty International's obtained video and photographic

evidence taken by the families of the dead after the bodies were

returned to them. We have seen some of it, too. It shows mutilations

and injuries so graphic, so appalling, that we can't broadcast

them. We have at least 3,000 names, said to be 12-15,000 detained in

the country at the moment, we know torture has been widespread over

years and it's got much, much worse. Most people are held in detention

incommunicado. It's likely more people, sadly, have died in custody

as well. Ten of the 88 in today's report were under 18. This was a

15-year-old, he was arrested in April. A fellow detainee later

released saw him beaten by security officials, and covered in blood.

TRANSLATION: When I heard the child screaming

loudly and pleading for help they hit him with a gun on the back of

his neck and he collapsed. Afterwards he was hit with a sharp

metal sword. He was hit repeatedly on his back. The boy fell

unconscious from the severity of the beating.

His body was returned to his family in June. His funeral stirred grief

and rage, despite western condemnation and strengthening

economic sanctions it was one more fatal reminder of what Syria's

security state will do to crush opposition. Coming up on tonight's

programme: A mixed performance for Team GB at the World Athletics

Championships, so what does it tell us about London 2012? In the United

States thousands of British travellers are stranded in the wake

of Hurricane Irene. Airlines are struggling to cope with the backlog

of people whose flights were cancelled. Normal service has

resumed at the airports affected, including New York, but passengers

have been warned to expect long delays, as Laura Trevelyan reports.

Dealing with the devastating aftermath of Irene. In upstate New

York this community, like so many others along America's east coast,

is trying to clean up after the worst flooding in living memory.

The storm left destruction in its wake, and massive delays, too.

Nearly 14,000 flights were cancelled. All New York's airports

were closed and now airlines are trying to reschedule two days of

cancelled flights at a time when planes are already full because

it's the end of the summer holidays. Teachers Daniel and Sian have been

stuck in New York since their flight was cancelled on Sunday,

packing and repacking their bags. Now they've missed the first day of

school. We were very anxious and frustrated and we have spent the

last few days on the telephone to Virgin, filling in appeal forms

online, desperately trying to get an earlier flight. It's a real pain

not not being there on the first day when everything gets up and

running. But overall, the fact that we are going back soon means that

relatively speaking it should be OK. New York is a favourite destination

for British holiday-makers. There could be up to 10,000 here right

now. The airlines are putting on extra flights back to the UK to

clear the backlog, but for those stranded by Irene the wait feels

too long. Lyn Spencer is moving hotels in Manhattan yet again.

She's been told she can't get a flight to the UK until September

10th. Lyn's far from home and feeling isolated. I've been a

little bit tearful two or three occasions because when you are not

sure, when you can't get through to people, when you are waiting for e-

mails or waiting for a phone call and it doesn't necessarily come,

then you do get a little - you start to panic a little bit. First

of all you think it will be OK, but as time passes and then you think

you might be here for another ten days, it becomes a little bit

worrying. Along the east coast Americans are still reeling from

Irene's impact. Cancelled flights are among the many consequences of

the storm's wrath. Police searching for a registered sex offender,

who's wanted in connection with the murder of a pensioner, have issued

new CCTV pictures of him. 47 year- old Graeme Jarman, seen here at a

Sainsbury's store in Yarm in Cleveland last Wednesday, went

missing two days before 77-year-old Judith Richardson was found dead at

The Russian state owned energy company Rosneft has signed a

multibillion dollar deal with America's Exxon Mobile. Police in

South Africa have used stun grenades and water cannon against

demonstrators supporting the leader of the ANC's youth wing, Julius

Malema. The clashes took place around the ANC headquarters where

Mr Malema was attending the first day of a disciplinary hearing for

allegedly bringing the party into disrepute.

One of Britain's biggest hopes for next year's Olympics, Jessica Ennis,

has been reflecting on her failure to win gold at the World Athletics

Championships in South Korea. She failed to retain her heptathlon

title after what she called a big disaster in the javelin. Team GB

had been set a target of seven medals at the championships. Our

sports editor David Bond considers how realistic that now looks.

Even here in Daegu Jessica Ennis' profile seems to be the rise for

the poster girl of London 2012 these championships were supposed

to be a formality, another step on the road to Olympic gold next

summer. This could decide the gold medal... It didn't work out that

way. Having failed to build up a big enough lead on day one, she

produced a poor performance in the javelin, throwing way short of her

best. That gave Tatyana Chernova a huge lead going into the 800 metres.

Ennis needed to beat the Russian by nine seconds to win gold. Despite a

brave run, Ennis had to settle for silver. I am not going to beat

myself up too much. It was a strong performance and it was just one -

unfortunately I ran poor in it. With expectations high for Britain

coming into these championships, Jessica Ennis was one of the firm

favourites to win gold. But her silver medal is the latest setback

for a team who have so far proved a little disappointing.

At the halfway mark of the World Championships Britain are 14th in

the medal table, with two silvers and a bronze. But the target was to

bring home seven medals and although Britain could yet have a

strong finish, it's not going according to plan. That's left

coach feeling the heat. Mo Farah narrowly missed out on gold while

other strongly tipped athletes have failed to live up to expectations.

It's not all bad news, though. Andy Turner won bronze despite finishing

fourth because the winner of the the 110 metres hurdles was

disqualified. I wouldn't write off our hopes. I think we are going to

do well. It's people you don't expect to get the medals here will

get the medals. No one talked about me to win a medal out here. So I

think we should expect the unexpected. Jessica Ennis didn't

take too long to put her disappointment behind her. With the

pressure mounting on track Anfield ahead of 2012 they'll hope they'll

have something to smile about at the end of these championships.

Colossus was the world's first modern computer, famously used to

break German codes at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

The man who led the campaign to rebuild Colossus and save the

Bletchley Park site for the nation was Tony Sale, who's died at the

age of 80. Mr Sale, a gifted engineer, enjoyed a remarkable

career, which included several years as a scientific officer at

MI5. Rory Cellan Jones reports. War-time and in the battle break to

German codes scientists at the secret Bletchley Park establishment

build a new weapon, the world's first modern computer. 50 years on,

one man set out to rebuild it. is Colossus. It took Tony Sale 14

years to piece together Colossus, scouring the country for spare

parts from old telephone exchanges. But he was determined to bring back

the machine which played a vital role in shortening the war against

Hitler. Before Colossus it was taking them about six to eight

weeks to break a message from the German high command. That was far

too long. Colossus suddenly reduced this to six hours. Proudly we

present George... As a young RAF officer in the 1950s Tony Sale had

shown engineering skills, later he joined MI5 where his skills were

employed to detect Russian spies during the Cold War. In retirement

he throw all his energies into the campaign to stop Bletchley Park and

its secrets fading into oblivion. Colossus for Tony was the project

of all projects. He wanted to rebuild that first programmable

electronic computer. In many ways, to pay proper homage to the people

who worked at Bletchley Park and operated it during the war. Last

month when the Queen visited a refurbished Bletchley Park Colossus

and the man who brought it back to life got special attention. Tony