:00:14. > :00:18.Tonight at Ten: MI6 face as police investigation into allegations of
:00:18. > :00:23.complicit and torture. Two Libyan men say they were abducted and
:00:23. > :00:26.flown to Tripoli, where they were tortured in Colonel Gaddafi's
:00:26. > :00:31.prisons. We have a smoking missile in this
:00:31. > :00:36.case. You can't avoid the fact that the British were deeply involved.
:00:36. > :00:42.In a separate case of Binyam Mohamed and another terror suspect
:00:42. > :00:48.tortured abroad, there will be no charges of against MI5 or MI6.
:00:48. > :00:51.Also: Britain's biggest retailers admits mistakes in the run-up to
:00:51. > :00:55.Christmas and reports disappointing sales.
:00:55. > :01:00.There were a lot of promotions, the message did not cut through.
:01:00. > :01:04.A video of US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters
:01:04. > :01:09.draws worldwide condemnation. At the Leveson Inquiry, the owner
:01:09. > :01:14.of the Daily Express reveals his approach to running newspapers.
:01:14. > :01:17.I don't know what the word means, but perhaps I should explain it,
:01:17. > :01:22.ethical. And Mervyn Westfield is the first
:01:22. > :01:26.English player convicted of corruption in cricket.
:01:26. > :01:31.Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC News Channel. Carlos Tevez is
:01:31. > :01:41.struggling to find a new home as AC Milan pull out of talk with
:01:41. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :01:58.Manchester City. Although a deal could still happen.
:01:58. > :02:08.The police have opened a criminal investigation into claims that
:02:08. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:29.British spys were complicit in the Mistreatment of min yam Mohammed.
:02:29. > :02:35.Today the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient
:02:35. > :02:38.evidence to charge anyone. On his return to Britain he claimed that
:02:38. > :02:48.MI5 officers had questioned him between bouts of mistreatment by
:02:48. > :02:49.
:02:49. > :02:54.Today's decision not to press charges will be met with relief
:02:54. > :02:59.here at the Domestic Security Service, MI5, but down the river,
:02:59. > :03:03.the news is not so good for MI6. One case against them has been
:03:03. > :03:09.closed, but today the police opened two now high-profile investigations.
:03:09. > :03:13.Both of those cases centre on Libya, one on this man, Abdel Hakim
:03:13. > :03:16.Belhadj. The BBC was first to report that
:03:16. > :03:21.intelligence files found after the fall of Tripoli last year revealed
:03:21. > :03:27.that MI6 played a role in the transfer of Abdel Hakim Belhadj and
:03:27. > :03:35.his pregnant wife from Asia to Libya. One note, apparently from
:03:35. > :03:39.MI6 officer, Mark Aln congrats a counterpart on the safe arrival of
:03:39. > :03:44.Abdel Hakim Belhadj reminding him that the intelligence behind the
:03:44. > :03:50.transfer was British. Abdel Hakim Belhadj says he was hung from the
:03:50. > :03:53.wrists and beat no-one Libya. What happened to me a shreel. It
:03:53. > :03:55.deserves apology, especially to those who claim to work with human
:03:55. > :03:58.rights. The Crown Prosecution Service said
:03:58. > :04:02.that the allegations in this and the other Libyan case were so
:04:02. > :04:06.serious, that it was in the public interest for them to be
:04:06. > :04:10.investigated by the police. That is rather than part of an
:04:10. > :04:15.upcoming inquiry. Both of the lib can cases are
:04:15. > :04:18.important. The facts, both men were rended kidnapped with their wives
:04:19. > :04:23.in one case there were four children involved and taken to
:04:23. > :04:26.Colonel Gaddafi so he could torture these guys for seven years. We
:04:26. > :04:31.don't just have the smoking gun but the smoking missile. You can't
:04:31. > :04:36.avoid the fact that the British were deeply involved. Speaking over
:04:36. > :04:40.a year ago, the chief of MI6 said that torture was not part of his
:04:40. > :04:44.organisation's business. Torture is illegal and abhorrent
:04:44. > :04:49.under any circumstances we have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
:04:49. > :04:52.If we know or believe action by us will lead to torture taking place
:04:52. > :04:56.we are required by UK and international law to avoid that
:04:56. > :05:02.action. But Britain's involvement in what
:05:02. > :05:05.occurred in these Libyan prisons is now under police investigation that
:05:05. > :05:09.could delay a planned government inquiry, no-one knows where the
:05:09. > :05:14.trail will lead. Gordon is with me now. The point
:05:14. > :05:17.that you made at the end of the report, where could it lead? Well,
:05:17. > :05:22.Abdel Hakim Belhadj who we saw in the report said to the BBC in a
:05:22. > :05:25.statement, that he hoped that the case would not just go to rank and
:05:25. > :05:30.file intelligence officers, but to the ministers who signed off the
:05:30. > :05:33.operations. In the past it has been said that what happened with Libya
:05:33. > :05:38.had ministerial approval, the Foreign Secretary at the time, Jack
:05:38. > :05:40.Straw, said he did not sign off a process of rendition. So you can
:05:40. > :05:45.see how complicated and controversial this could be if it
:05:45. > :05:48.goes up higher. There was meant to be an official
:05:48. > :05:53.investigation into the area of this, does that investigation now fall
:05:53. > :05:57.away? Well, the Prime Minister a year ago -and-a-half ago said he
:05:57. > :06:04.wanted to set up the inquiry to draw a line under the issue. When
:06:04. > :06:08.the police cases closed, the inquiry would start. But the cases
:06:08. > :06:11.closed and two new ones opened. So that leaves the Government with a
:06:11. > :06:16.dilemma, to wait for the new police investigations to close, that could
:06:16. > :06:20.take years, or press ahead without including Libya in the inquiry,
:06:20. > :06:22.that could undermine its credibility. It looks hard for the
:06:22. > :06:29.Government to draw a line under the issue.
:06:29. > :06:33.Thank you very much. Now, tefblgow has admitted getting
:06:33. > :06:36.its promotional strategy wrong in the run-up to Christmas. It
:06:36. > :06:42.reported a drop in sales and billions of pounds were wiped off
:06:42. > :06:47.the value of its shares it expects minimal growth in profits in the
:06:47. > :06:51.coming year. Our Business Editor, Robert Peston, has been speaking to
:06:51. > :06:58.the man in charge of On the High Street, the most famous brand,
:06:58. > :07:03.probably the most feared and admired it is Tesco, but stagnating
:07:03. > :07:09.profits have caused the share price to plummet, 16%, wiping up to �5
:07:09. > :07:13.billion off the company's value. Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer,
:07:13. > :07:16.seemed almost immune to whats with going on in the wider economy,
:07:17. > :07:20.since the recession the sales kept growing and profits kept growing.
:07:20. > :07:24.But not any longer. Philip Clarke, who became the chief
:07:24. > :07:29.executive in March, says part of what went wrong is that the group
:07:29. > :07:34.failed to get in shoppers with generous money off vouchers in
:07:35. > :07:38.December, when many rivals were doing so, but it warned for the
:07:38. > :07:43.time that Tesco invested too little in its British supermarkets.
:07:43. > :07:47.You took over in March, are the problems in the stores worse than
:07:47. > :07:53.you expected? As we have gotten under the covers we realised what
:07:53. > :07:58.we have to do to get back to be leading. That is what the customers
:07:58. > :08:01.expect from Tesco. For decades we have done it. Every business niece
:08:01. > :08:08.to reinvent, this is the start of that pro sest.
:08:08. > :08:12.Here is the measure of the situation. Sainsbury's sales rose 2
:08:12. > :08:17..1%. Whereas Tesco fell 1.3%. Although four a slightly different
:08:17. > :08:21.peter period. Over the last ten years Tesco has
:08:21. > :08:25.raised everybody's game. Everybody has had to improve their offers,
:08:25. > :08:29.the way that they run things to compete with Tesco. Now they are on
:08:29. > :08:32.a roll, as it were and Tesco is faltering.
:08:32. > :08:37.British shoppers are induring a squeeze on living standards worse
:08:37. > :08:42.than anything that they have suffered since statistics became
:08:42. > :08:48.available in the 19'50s, sales also dropped at Argos, Mothercare and
:08:48. > :08:51.Thorntons, but it's not the first time that Tesco has had to mend
:08:51. > :08:55.itself in difficult economic circumstances, Philip Clarke says.
:08:55. > :08:59.As we look back to the big steps that we took, it was when things
:08:59. > :09:04.were getting tough for the economy, when it was getting tough for the
:09:04. > :09:11.customers we invested, when the economy improved we came out
:09:11. > :09:15.stronger. Tesco's boss says it is vital that the British supermarkets
:09:15. > :09:21.become the yengin of the global company's growth. It is a big
:09:21. > :09:25.moment for a 90-year-old business, a test to see if it can re-make
:09:25. > :09:30.itself to avoid long-term decline. The American and Afghan authorities
:09:30. > :09:33.have condemned in the strongest terms a video that appears to show
:09:33. > :09:37.US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters. Hillary
:09:37. > :09:40.Clinton, the Secretary of State, said that the images were
:09:40. > :09:46.deplorable. The US military saying that there is nothing to suggest
:09:46. > :09:49.that the material is not genuine. We have the story. It's an
:09:49. > :09:54.appalling violation, too distasteful to show, but in this
:09:54. > :10:00.video, a small group of US Marines gather around the bodies of three
:10:00. > :10:05.dead Afghans and urinate on them. A who-second video clip that harms
:10:05. > :10:09.the attempt of America to rebuild its image in the Islamic world. All
:10:09. > :10:13.indications are that this is authentic.
:10:14. > :10:17.And a military official has told the BBC that at Lee two of the
:10:17. > :10:22.Marines have been identified. Here in North Carolina. The
:10:22. > :10:26.condemnation it has provoked has been universal.
:10:26. > :10:31.It is absolutely inconsistent with American values with the standards
:10:31. > :10:37.of behaviour that we expect from our military personnel and, you
:10:37. > :10:39.know, the vast, vast majority of our military personnel, especially
:10:40. > :10:45.the Marines that they hold themselves to.
:10:45. > :10:50.This is not the first time that the US troops have been accused of
:10:50. > :10:53.breaching the rules of the war, but containing the damage to its
:10:53. > :10:56.reputation is harder. This man said that US troops have
:10:56. > :10:59.been committed a crime and should leave the country.
:10:59. > :11:03.Their President has demanded an investigation.
:11:03. > :11:07.The biggest fear is that this will damage the prospect of peace talks
:11:07. > :11:11.within the insurgents, but the table says that the political
:11:11. > :11:15.process is separate and still stands.
:11:15. > :11:20.Tens of thousands of American troops have served in Afghanistan
:11:20. > :11:24.and Iraq over the last ten years. As in every conflict, there have
:11:24. > :11:29.been times of excess and moments of abuse. We asked a military veteran
:11:29. > :11:32.to look at the video, at how unusual this really is.
:11:32. > :11:36.These sort of things happen in combat zones. They are not supposed
:11:36. > :11:43.to happen, but you are in a position in war where you have to
:11:43. > :11:48.kill people that is onsight and quickly have to make a decision.
:11:48. > :11:53.The way that people cope with that, tends to be to dehumanise the enemy.
:11:53. > :11:58.Whatever the facts of the case it will harm America's reputation
:11:58. > :12:05.overseas, but it is unlikely to have the impact that past scandals
:12:05. > :12:08.now have. US troops have pulled out of Iraq.
:12:08. > :12:14.There is removal from Afghanistan under way. Don't expect a change in
:12:14. > :12:18.policy. British Gas has announced an
:12:18. > :12:24.immediate reduction of 5% in its standard electricity prices. The
:12:24. > :12:29.company is not reducing its gas prices. Yesterday EDF said it would
:12:29. > :12:35.cut the cost of gas by 5% next month and Scottish & Southern
:12:35. > :12:39.Energy has promised similar price cuts for household gas from March.
:12:39. > :12:45.Richard Desmond, the owner of the Daily Express group of newspapers
:12:45. > :12:50.says he does not understand the word ethics, he was giving evidence
:12:50. > :12:55.to the Leveson Inquiry for press Strarpbdz.
:12:55. > :13:01.-- standards. He apologised for coverage on the McCann family but
:13:01. > :13:06.insisted that his paper was not the only paper to blame. He owns the
:13:06. > :13:10.Daily Express and the Daily Star, Channel 5, OK! Magazine and a
:13:10. > :13:14.couple of TV porn Channels, today he came to the Leveson Inquiry to
:13:14. > :13:17.answer questions about the newspaper regulation and his
:13:17. > :13:22.paper's coverage of Kate and Gerry McCann. His sometimes rambling
:13:22. > :13:25.evidence started badly. Did he get involved in ethical questions
:13:25. > :13:29.himself, he was asked or leave that to editors.
:13:29. > :13:33.Ethical, I don't know what the word means. Perhaps you should explain
:13:33. > :13:39.what it means, ethical. The McCanns were paid more than
:13:39. > :13:41.half a million in damages by the Daily Express and the Daily Star.
:13:41. > :13:47.Today, Richard Desmond apologised but then added this.
:13:47. > :13:52.They were happy, as I understand in articles being run about their poor
:13:52. > :13:57.daughter because it kept it on the front page. I think it was own when
:13:57. > :14:03.new lawyers came along that we were working on a contingency, that is a
:14:03. > :14:06.fact. I'm sorry. Richard Desmond, I will interup the,
:14:06. > :14:10.that is a grotesque characterisation. Your paper was
:14:10. > :14:14.accusing the McCanns on occasion of having killed their daughter. Are
:14:14. > :14:18.you saying that they were sitting there quite happy, rather than
:14:18. > :14:21.entirely anguished by your paper's behaviour? I'm sorry. Please, think
:14:21. > :14:26.about the question before you answer.
:14:26. > :14:30.His answer, a repeat of what he had said, adding that every paper had
:14:30. > :14:34.been doing the same thing. On regulation he explained why the
:14:35. > :14:37.Daily Express no longer belongs to the voluntary press complaints kigs.
:14:37. > :14:42.-- commission. I felt it a useless organisation
:14:42. > :14:46.run by people who wanted tea and biscuits and phone hackers. It was
:14:46. > :14:52.run by the people that hated our guts.
:14:52. > :14:57.He showed just how much he hates the rival Daily Mail, which he
:14:57. > :15:06.called negative and disgusting. Awkward, then when this happened.
:15:06. > :15:10.Looking further on in your statement, Mr D egar... I'm Desmond.
:15:10. > :15:14.You have me wrong. He is the fat butcher.
:15:14. > :15:19.He told one journalist after the inquiry it had been terrifying.
:15:19. > :15:24.This gave a rare insight into the thinking of a normally publicity
:15:24. > :15:30.shy media mowing ul. Coming at the end of two days after executives
:15:30. > :15:34.faced tough questioning about exaggerated head lines intrusions
:15:34. > :15:38.into privacy the use of private investigators, questioning so tough,
:15:38. > :15:45.that the former editor of the Daily Express said it was like being put
:15:45. > :15:53.Cashing in on bad play. The first English cricketer to admit spot-
:15:53. > :15:57.fixing during a game. 12 months ago the people of Tunisia
:15:57. > :16:02.forced their President to resign, as they demanded democratic rights
:16:02. > :16:06.and freedom of speech. The first uprising of the Arab Spring began
:16:06. > :16:11.when a young market trader set fire to himself to draw the world's
:16:11. > :16:15.attention to his country's problems. A year later, despite democratic
:16:15. > :16:17.elections hundreds of Tunisians are using the same drastic form of
:16:17. > :16:27.protest. Our correspondent Wyre Davies travelled to Tunis. His
:16:27. > :16:35.report does contain some distressing images. In the last 12
:16:35. > :16:42.months, at least 130 people have set themselves on fire in Tunisia.
:16:42. > :16:48.Last January, Hosni poured petrol over himself and lit a match. He
:16:48. > :16:54.survived and is being treated here at this burns unit in the capital.
:16:54. > :16:58.Hosni told me he deliberately copied the actions of Mohamed
:16:58. > :17:04.Bouazizi, the market trader whose self-immolation began the
:17:04. > :17:10.revolution a year ago. Unlike Bouazizi Hosni hasn't become a folk
:17:11. > :17:17.hero and bitterly regrets what he's done. "I was jobless and desperate.
:17:17. > :17:21.The whole country seemed to be on fire, soy set myself alight too.
:17:21. > :17:27.But I've destroyed myself psychologically and physically.
:17:27. > :17:30.I've also destroyed my family. " Despite a stable political
:17:31. > :17:38.situation, the state of the economy means more Tunisians are setting
:17:38. > :17:45.fire to themselves. An employed father of three is engulfed by
:17:45. > :17:51.flames. He died from his injuries two days ago.
:17:51. > :17:54.They are mostly young men from poor, rural areas with basic education.
:17:54. > :18:00.Most importantly, they are desperate, out of work and have
:18:00. > :18:05.little prospect of employment. Another young man fights for his
:18:05. > :18:08.life in the burns unit. The BBC has been shown previously unpublished
:18:08. > :18:12.figures, which show that in the year since last January's
:18:12. > :18:21.revolution, there's been a staggering five fold increase in
:18:21. > :18:26.the number of self-immolations. lot of people think that they may
:18:26. > :18:33.solve problems doing the same things than Bouazizi, but it's not
:18:34. > :18:38.true at all. There is dramatic conconstituency -- consequence of
:18:38. > :18:43.this act so please stop doing this. They may be afford the honour of
:18:43. > :18:47.being buried in a martyr's grave. But these men's families are no
:18:47. > :18:54.better off. This desperate act is in danger of overshadowing the
:18:54. > :18:58.revolutions many other successes. The businessman Asif Nadir has
:18:58. > :19:02.appeared at the Old Bailey where he's pleaded not guilty to 13
:19:02. > :19:08.counts of theft from Polly Peck International, the British based
:19:08. > :19:13.company he built into a conglomerate in the 80s. It's
:19:13. > :19:16.alleged he stole �33 million. The 70-year-old, who spent 17 years in
:19:16. > :19:21.Cyprus returned to Britain in August last year saying he now
:19:21. > :19:25.wantsed to clear his name. Thames valley Police have launched
:19:25. > :19:28.a murder inquiry after an Oxford University tutor was found dead.
:19:28. > :19:31.The body of Professor Steven Rawlings, who taught at St Peter's
:19:31. > :19:38.college was discovered at a property in Southmoor late last
:19:38. > :19:42.night. A 49-year-old man, arrested at the scene, is in police custody.
:19:42. > :19:46.Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting 3,500 jobs, that's reduces the size
:19:46. > :19:51.of its investment arm. The bank, which is almost entirely owned by
:19:51. > :19:54.the taxpayer, is also shedding a thousand jobs at a subsidiary,
:19:54. > :19:57.Ulster bank. RBS was warned today by the Government not to pay
:19:57. > :20:04.excessive bonuses. Our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym,
:20:04. > :20:09.has the details. The Royal Bank of Scotland's saga has had many twists
:20:09. > :20:13.and turns over the last few years. The end of an era for British
:20:13. > :20:18.banking, some of the biggest names go cap in hand to the government...
:20:18. > :20:26.Sir Fred, who's 50, will receive more than �650,000 per year for
:20:26. > :20:29.life... On the brink of collapse under the boss Sir Fred Gdwin the
:20:29. > :20:33.bank was rescued with taxpayers money. Three years on, it's
:20:33. > :20:37.adjusting to a new reality with more cut backs. RBS has not
:20:37. > :20:41.specified exactly where the job losses will be, but it seems likely
:20:41. > :20:47.the vast majority will be here in the heart of the City at RBS's
:20:47. > :20:50.investment banking operations. The main reason is that RBS will pull
:20:50. > :20:54.out of some of its riskier financial trading. It wants to
:20:54. > :21:00.focus more on traditional High Street and business banking. Nearly
:21:00. > :21:04.a thousand jobs will go at its Ulster bank subsidiary, some in
:21:04. > :21:08.Northern Ireland, some in the republic. The union is not happy.
:21:08. > :21:12.When the announcement was made, the bank did not give great detail.
:21:12. > :21:18.There's huge uncertainty, but also aerning. Staff feel they've made a
:21:18. > :21:22.contribution to this bank. They feel let down. More than 4,500 job
:21:22. > :21:26.cuts have been announced today across the RBS group. That means a
:21:26. > :21:32.total reduction of 34,000 since the bail out in 2008. So it's an
:21:32. > :21:35.awkward time to be deciding on bonuses. Last year, RBS bonuses
:21:35. > :21:39.totalled �950 million. There's strong political pressure for a
:21:39. > :21:45.much smaller figure this time. Given the fact that we all bailed
:21:45. > :21:48.out RBS and own RBS, it would be outrageous if RBS awarded itself
:21:48. > :21:51.lavish bonuses. It would be incomprehensible to everybody in
:21:51. > :21:55.the country. RBS has already indicated bonuses will be quite a
:21:55. > :22:01.lot lower than last year, in common with most other banks. Some
:22:01. > :22:04.analysts point out that the payouts which are made will be on merit.
:22:04. > :22:09.They have relatively low basic salaries and they get commission.
:22:09. > :22:12.It's not just a sum of money that's handed over simply for nothing at
:22:12. > :22:18.all F you've done the work, made the money for your company, then
:22:18. > :22:22.you get a share of it. To keep the bank turning over and generating
:22:22. > :22:28.ridesing profits, RBS is down sizing and trying to get back to
:22:28. > :22:32.banking basics. The process won't be easy.
:22:32. > :22:36.The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, has been charged by a court in
:22:37. > :22:41.Turkey of invading the privacy of five children after secretly
:22:41. > :22:46.filming orphanages there. She was charged in her absence and faces a
:22:46. > :22:53.potential jail term of 22 years, if convicted. The Duchess made an
:22:53. > :22:57.undercover trip to Turkey in 2008 for an ITV programme.
:22:57. > :23:01.Mervyn Westfield has become the first English cricket player to be
:23:01. > :23:04.conviblgted -- convicted of corruption in the game. Westfield
:23:04. > :23:10.admitted accepting a cash payment in return for bowling badly during
:23:10. > :23:15.a match against Durham, back in 2009. The England and Wales Cricket
:23:15. > :23:18.Board have offered an amnesty to players who reveal offers of
:23:18. > :23:25.bribery in the past. Our sports news correspondent, Andy Swiss, has
:23:25. > :23:30.more details. He was a largely unknown cricketer, until this.
:23:30. > :23:36.Mervyn Westfield's opening over in a county game for Essex. He bowled
:23:36. > :23:41.poorly, but only now do we know why. He'd received �6,000 for agreing to
:23:41. > :23:48.bowl so badly he'd concede 12 runs in the over. Information invaluable
:23:49. > :23:52.to an unscrupulous gambler who can put money on it, a practice known
:23:52. > :23:55.as spot-fixing. Westfield didn't keep his promise, conceding only
:23:55. > :24:00.ten runs. He arrived at the Old Bailey today charged with ruption
:24:00. > :24:04.and in a brief and dramatic appearance he pleaded guilty. The
:24:04. > :24:08.first such case and a wake up call for English cricket. We must be
:24:08. > :24:13.ever vigilant to. Use a metaphor, we need to make sure as a sport
:24:13. > :24:18.that our windows are closed, the doors are locked and the alarm is
:24:18. > :24:22.on, so that if somebody is tempted to find a way of manipulating a
:24:22. > :24:27.betting market they look somewhere else. Spot-fixing is casting a
:24:27. > :24:31.shadow over the sport. Only last year, three Pakistan players were
:24:31. > :24:36.jailed in an international scandal. Once again cricketing corruption
:24:36. > :24:43.has been exposed here in a Criminal Court. What this case shows is that
:24:43. > :24:47.it's a problem at every level of the game. County cricket is
:24:47. > :24:51.traditionally low key, but the match under scrutiny was televised
:24:51. > :24:56.in Asia, the largest betting market. One former cricketer told me other
:24:56. > :24:59.koufpbty players could be tempted. The top players, international
:24:59. > :25:03.players, the players that have Indian Premier League contracts are
:25:04. > :25:11.on half a million plus. Some of the county players, not regular players
:25:11. > :25:15.in countsy teams are on it's 30,000, �40,000 and may be tempted to take
:25:15. > :25:19.an easy pay day with these kinds of things. Mervyn Westfield was warned
:25:19. > :25:25.he could face jail when sentenced next month, as English cricket
:25:25. > :25:27.faces a threat to its integrity. Newsnight's starting on BBC Two in