:00:06. > :00:10.The bonus backlash - politicians blame each other for allowing the
:00:11. > :00:14.Royal Bank of Scotland payout. The bank's chief executive is under
:00:14. > :00:24.pressure to turn down his near �1 million bonus amid a war of words
:00:24. > :00:28.over who approved the deal. This pays for Stephen Hester, the bonus,
:00:28. > :00:33.was set by the board of RBS under the arrangements that were put in
:00:33. > :00:36.place by the previous Government. It is a disgraceful failure of
:00:36. > :00:40.leadership by the Prime Minister. He had been promising action
:00:40. > :00:45.against excessive bonuses, excessive pay, and now he has
:00:45. > :00:48.nodded through a �1 million bonus. After Government pledges to curb
:00:48. > :00:49.bankers' pay, we'll be looking at how embarrassing the RBS deal is
:00:49. > :00:53.for the Chancellor. Also tonight:
:00:53. > :01:00.In Syria, rebels claim another suburb in the capital as the death
:01:00. > :01:03.toll from government violence increases. This is another section
:01:04. > :01:07.of the suburbs of Damascus which has slipped out of the control of
:01:07. > :01:10.President Assad. The only way he can enforce his authority is by
:01:10. > :01:14.sending in his men and using their guns and bullets.
:01:14. > :01:17.A warm reception for Harry Redknapp at tonight's Spurs game, while in
:01:17. > :01:20.court he insists he's paid a fortune in tax.
:01:21. > :01:26.Anguish in Pakistan after thousands are given faulty drugs that have
:01:26. > :01:36.already killed 100 people. And a glimpse of how the Olympics
:01:36. > :01:36.
:01:37. > :01:40.opening ceremony will look. We want something that touches people in a
:01:40. > :01:50.way that feels important to us and feels like it will transfer to
:01:50. > :01:55.Coming up in Sportsday, Andy Murray's search for his first Grand
:01:55. > :02:05.Slam title goes on, after he was beaten in the Australian Open semi-
:02:05. > :02:13.
:02:14. > :02:17.Good evening. A war of words has broken out about
:02:17. > :02:20.who approved the deal which allowed the head of the Royal Bank of
:02:20. > :02:24.Scotland a bonus worth nearly a million pounds. Stephen Hester has
:02:24. > :02:27.been awarded the payout on top of his salary at the bank which is
:02:27. > :02:30.mainly owned by taxpayers. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called
:02:30. > :02:34.it a disgraceful failure of leadership by the Prime Minister
:02:34. > :02:38.and called on him to explain why he had allowed it to happen. But the
:02:38. > :02:46.Government is blaming Labour for drawing up the deal when it was in
:02:46. > :02:50.power. Here is our chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym.
:02:50. > :02:52.Royal Bank of Scotland, its future matters to all of us. There is �45
:02:52. > :02:57.billion of taxpayers' money invested in the bank following the
:02:57. > :03:03.bail out in 2008. That is why there is a big row over the boss, Stephen
:03:03. > :03:08.Hester, being awarded a bonus of �963,000 in shares, on top of a �1
:03:08. > :03:13.million salary. People will not understand how someone can get a
:03:13. > :03:16.whacking great bonus like that when running a state-owned concern.
:03:16. > :03:19.is a disgraceful failure of leadership by the Prime Minister.
:03:19. > :03:24.He has been promising action against excessive bonuses,
:03:25. > :03:28.excessive pay, and has none nodded through a �1 million bonus. Stephen
:03:28. > :03:32.Hester was brought in to head RBS five the then Chancellor Alistair
:03:32. > :03:36.Darling, after the Bank nearly collapsed. He had worked his way up
:03:36. > :03:40.to the top of the banking ladder. A country house in Oxfordshire is
:03:40. > :03:44.among the fruits of his success. Two years ago, he told MPs his own
:03:44. > :03:49.parents disapproved of his pay packet. If you asked my mother and
:03:49. > :03:55.father about my pay, they would say it is to hide. What is his
:03:55. > :03:59.performance record? A year ago, the RBS share price was 40p, now it is
:04:00. > :04:04.around 27p. He has reduced risky lending by �600 billion since
:04:04. > :04:08.taking the job. He oversaw �68 billion in lending to UK companies
:04:08. > :04:13.in the first nine months of last year, and has successfully sold off
:04:13. > :04:17.16 businesses to reduce the size of RBS. Stephen Hester's bonus this
:04:17. > :04:21.time is half of what it was a year ago. It is all in shares and he
:04:21. > :04:25.will not be able to sell them for another couple of years. There are
:04:25. > :04:28.some in the City who feel this is a sensible way to reward and
:04:28. > :04:32.incentivise a boss in an industry as challenging and competitive as
:04:32. > :04:37.banking. There was a range of opinion amongst City workers I
:04:37. > :04:42.spoke to. These people are in a powerful position. They can create
:04:42. > :04:47.jobs and put the bank back on track, so I think it is worth it. They
:04:47. > :04:51.want talent to do that job so there has to be some incentive. It has
:04:51. > :04:55.been a controversial issue and he probably did not deserve it, given
:04:55. > :04:59.that it is a state-owned bank and has not been performing very well.
:05:00. > :05:04.So how are bonuses worked out? The final decision is made by the RBS
:05:04. > :05:08.board. It consulted shareholders, including UK financial investments,
:05:08. > :05:12.which manages the state of the taxpayers. That body is in regular
:05:12. > :05:16.contact with the Chancellor and today Mr Osborne gave his view.
:05:16. > :05:19.They were determined by the board of RBS under arrangements set up by
:05:19. > :05:22.the previous Government and the alternatives of either a larger
:05:22. > :05:25.bonus of the kind he got a couple of years ago, or the British
:05:25. > :05:28.Government taking over the running of RBS and putting even more
:05:28. > :05:33.taxpayers' money at risk, I think would have been worse for the
:05:33. > :05:36.British people. As to how generous RBS has been with the bonus award,
:05:36. > :05:41.it will be easier to judge once the other big banks reveal what they
:05:41. > :05:44.are paying their bosses. Hugh Pym joins us from outside the
:05:44. > :05:50.Treasury. You have the Government and Labour blamed each other for
:05:50. > :05:53.the payout to Stephen Hester. How awkward is this for the Chancellor?
:05:53. > :05:58.The Treasury tonight is sticking to its line that it always made clear
:05:58. > :06:02.that it wanted a lower bonus this time round for Mr Hester than last
:06:02. > :06:06.year, and below �1 million. The Prime Minister and Chancellor have
:06:06. > :06:10.made that publicly known. That is what the board has come up with,
:06:10. > :06:14.and a bonus which is 60% and no more of what Mr Hester is entitled
:06:14. > :06:19.to. But Labour has let it be known that if it was in power it would
:06:19. > :06:22.have blocked the bonus completely. I think this row will rumble on as
:06:22. > :06:25.private sector banks over the next few weeks unveil their bonus deals,
:06:25. > :06:30.which may raise more questions about whether the Government has
:06:30. > :06:32.any influence over bonus policies. The week began with a Government
:06:32. > :06:36.initiative to give shareholders more power to curb boardroom pay
:06:36. > :06:43.and has ended with a bank where the majority shareholder is the
:06:43. > :06:47.taxpayer allowing a bonus which is controversial to say the least.
:06:47. > :06:50.In Syria, activists are claiming the army has launched renewed
:06:50. > :06:54.assaults on several cities. More than 60 people are believed to have
:06:54. > :06:58.been killed across the country. The United Nations Security Council has
:06:58. > :07:02.just finished a meeting discussing a draft report -- resolution which
:07:02. > :07:06.called on President Assad to hand over power. Jeremy Bowen reports
:07:06. > :07:11.from the Damascus suburb of Saqba, another area where the grip of the
:07:11. > :07:15.Assad government appears to be weakening.
:07:15. > :07:22.To find out the strength of the opposition, drive into the suburbs
:07:22. > :07:26.of Damascus. It is only in the last five days, locals said, that the
:07:26. > :07:32.Free Syria Army has been openly on the streets here in Saqba. They are
:07:32. > :07:34.in other districts near by, too. They are mainly defectors from the
:07:34. > :07:42.State Army. They said they were protecting the people who were
:07:42. > :07:51.about to hold a funeral. One of them showed off his old army
:07:51. > :07:58.identity card. They looked well established, with sandbag firing
:07:58. > :08:02.positions. Everyone was on edge. For 10 months, the regime's forces
:08:02. > :08:08.have been cracking down hard on Friday protests. This commander
:08:08. > :08:12.said he had been a general in the Syrian government forces. A man
:08:12. > :08:22.interrupted to praise the Free Army. Then, something no one wanted to
:08:22. > :08:22.
:08:22. > :08:29.hear. Security are here. Where? Don't be afraid, said the general,
:08:29. > :08:38.our resistance is strong. Some of them got ready to fight. Stay with
:08:38. > :08:42.me, he said, don't be afraid. Sentries were sending information
:08:42. > :08:46.in by phone. They all seemed to know what their jobs were, going to
:08:46. > :08:56.their positions. Others moved deeper into Saqba, where the
:08:56. > :09:05.
:09:05. > :09:12.It felt as if every man in Saqba was there. Her big send-off for
:09:12. > :09:18.someone who had been killed by the security forces. -- a big send-off.
:09:18. > :09:26.Across Syria, funerals are a focus for opposition. They chanted, oh,
:09:26. > :09:30.God, you are all we have, oh, God, we are your men. This is another
:09:30. > :09:34.section of the suburbs of Damascus which has slipped out of the
:09:34. > :09:38.control of President Assad. The only way he can enforce his
:09:38. > :09:45.authority here is by sending in his men and using their guns and their
:09:45. > :09:50.bullets. And for a moment, that is what they thought was about to
:09:50. > :10:00.happen. It shows the tension. Even with the Free Syria Army close by.
:10:00. > :10:05.It was time for us to go. He warned about snipers ahead. Getting out
:10:05. > :10:10.was not easy. The Free Army control a surprisingly big area but it was
:10:10. > :10:15.surrounded. All this does not mean the President is about to fall. He
:10:15. > :10:19.has his own strong support and heavy weapons. But the regime's
:10:19. > :10:25.forces cannot be everywhere at once and the power of the opposition is
:10:25. > :10:28.growing. The Ministry of Defence has
:10:28. > :10:31.announced that a soldier serving with the 1st Battalion the
:10:31. > :10:35.Yorkshire Regiment has died after suffering a gunshot wound while on
:10:35. > :10:41.patrol today in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. His family
:10:41. > :10:45.has been informed. New figures from Spain show that
:10:45. > :10:48.nearly a quarter of the workforce is unemployed. The total number of
:10:48. > :10:51.people out of work reached 5.3 million in the final three months
:10:52. > :10:55.of last year. There was more positive news elsewhere in the
:10:55. > :11:00.eurozone, with optimism that Greece will reach a deal with private
:11:00. > :11:04.creditors over the weekend. But at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
:11:04. > :11:07.the international financier George Soros issued a warning that the
:11:07. > :11:14.eurozone's current problems could lead to the destruction of the
:11:14. > :11:18.whole European Union. The good news here in Davos is that
:11:18. > :11:21.they think the euro is probably going to survive, but some here
:11:21. > :11:26.think the way the leaders are going about saving it will be bad news
:11:26. > :11:35.for Europe's economy. People like George Soros, the billionaire
:11:35. > :11:40.investor, for example. This German insistence on austerity could
:11:40. > :11:47.destroy the European Union. Are you saying now that it will survive,
:11:47. > :11:51.but it won't... It will survive but it will destroy the European Union?
:11:51. > :11:56.That is right, unless the Germans actually see reason. The German
:11:56. > :12:06.Finance Minister today to go different view. I don't agree with
:12:06. > :12:12.George Soros. Not surprisingly. And I would like to tell him, if you
:12:12. > :12:19.want to create more growth, you can't deliver this only by spending
:12:19. > :12:24.more public money. In Spain today, unemployment went over the 5
:12:24. > :12:29.million mark, to more than 23%. For some, Spain shows the cost of
:12:29. > :12:32.relying on budget cuts alone to fix the euro. Others say the problems
:12:32. > :12:36.go deeper and recovering from a debt fuelled property bubble was
:12:36. > :12:40.always going to be tough. People here know there is no magic wand
:12:41. > :12:44.for fixing the eurozone crisis, all the problems with Europe's economy.
:12:44. > :12:47.They give some credit to the German Chancellor for moving as far as she
:12:47. > :12:53.had. But they don't want the change of mood in the financial markets to
:12:53. > :12:56.take away from the need to do more. I don't think we should ever for a
:12:56. > :13:01.second be complacent about it. I think some of the structural issues,
:13:01. > :13:06.the solidity of the euro base, need to be continuously improved. They
:13:06. > :13:09.have done a lot, no question, but there is still work to be done, and
:13:09. > :13:14.unless that is done, the international support rallying
:13:14. > :13:17.around a comprehensive solution will not come. One way or another,
:13:17. > :13:21.nearly everyone here is living with the legacy of the financial crisis
:13:21. > :13:25.but the news today that the US economy grew at an annual rate of
:13:25. > :13:35.nearly 3% at the end of 2011 was a reminder that some are suffering
:13:35. > :13:37.
:13:37. > :13:43.Harry Redknapp told police he had never been a tax fiddle, and was a
:13:43. > :13:48.giver, not a taker. A taped interview with detectives was
:13:48. > :13:53.played to Southwark Crown Court today. The 64-year-old said he
:13:53. > :13:57.would not risk everything for what he called a few quid. Both he and
:13:57. > :14:06.Milan Mandaric deny two counts of cheating the public revenue. James
:14:06. > :14:12.Pearce reports. This evening, back in more familiar territory, a
:14:12. > :14:16.football ground, taking Tottenham to Watford in the FA Cup. The
:14:16. > :14:18.fanfare of a big sporting occasion is so different from the
:14:18. > :14:24.circumstances in which Harry Redknapp has found himself this
:14:24. > :14:30.week. This morning, he was once again in court for the end of the
:14:30. > :14:35.first week of evidence in his trial. The charges date back to 2002, when
:14:35. > :14:39.Harry Redknapp was working at Portsmouth, with the club's former
:14:39. > :14:45.chairman Milan Mandaric. Mandaric paid money into an account of Harry
:14:45. > :14:49.Redknapp in Monaco, which was named Rosie47, after his dog. The
:14:49. > :14:53.prosecution claimed that the offshore bank was used to avoid tax
:14:53. > :14:57.on a bonus paid by the chairman to his manager. The jury heard
:14:57. > :15:07.recordings of interviews with the police, in which Harry Redknapp
:15:07. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:14.The jury was told that Harry Redknapp is a man of hitherto good
:15:15. > :15:19.character. They heard him concede during one of his police interviews
:15:19. > :15:26.that he should have told his accountants about the existence of
:15:26. > :15:32.Herriman Turn, -- of Rosie47, but he simply thought that there was
:15:32. > :15:38.not any tax to pay on it. Redknapp told police that he had paid �1
:15:38. > :15:42.million in tax the previous year, and that saving another �20,000 or
:15:42. > :15:47.�30,000, would make little difference to him. I am not the
:15:47. > :15:53.cleverest, he said, but I'm not stupid. The trial will continue on
:15:53. > :15:57.Monday. Coming up tonight - Murray's marathon match, but after
:15:57. > :16:05.five sets, he just fails to win through to the final of the
:16:05. > :16:10.Australian Open. In Pakistan, a major health scandal is unfolding
:16:10. > :16:13.which has already claimed the lives of more than 100 people.
:16:13. > :16:17.Contaminated medicine has been handed out to patients with heart
:16:17. > :16:24.conditions who were too poor to pay for their own health care. It has
:16:24. > :16:28.led to panic in Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, where 40,000
:16:28. > :16:34.people are thought to have been given the drugs. The owners of the
:16:34. > :16:39.pharmaceutical companies involved have been arrested. Grief for a
:16:39. > :16:49.much loved father and grandfather. The latest victim of the free heart
:16:49. > :16:51.
:16:52. > :16:58.drugs which have cost so many lives. Relatives from Pakistan and Britain
:16:58. > :17:02.gathered today to say a last goodbye to Ashiq Hussain. He was
:17:02. > :17:09.absolutely lovely, he was smiling until the day he passed away. He
:17:09. > :17:16.always said, I am fine, don't worry about me. He never ever complained
:17:16. > :17:21.once in those days that he was in hospital. It was the poor who
:17:21. > :17:25.received the suspect drugs - 46,000 needy patients. They got the
:17:25. > :17:31.tablets here, at the Punjab Institute for Cardiology, in
:17:31. > :17:36.December. Within weeks, some were dying. Initially, doctors suspected
:17:36. > :17:43.dengue fever, not faulty drugs. Patients were not warned until 11th
:17:43. > :17:47.January. In this episode, we have learned our lesson, and God forbid
:17:47. > :17:54.if it happens again, we will be much quicker. Many patients have
:17:54. > :17:59.died. Yes, I know. Do you think they could have been saved? It was
:17:59. > :18:04.possible, but I think we acted as quickly as possible. But not
:18:04. > :18:09.quickly enough to spare these casualties, in a crowded ward,
:18:09. > :18:12.across town. Doctors say these patients are improving, but it
:18:12. > :18:16.could be weeks or even months before they recover. For now, all
:18:17. > :18:21.they can do is treat their symptoms, because they do not know the exact
:18:21. > :18:25.cause of their illness. The suspect heart drugs are still being
:18:25. > :18:30.analysed at laboratories abroad. The patients here are crying out
:18:30. > :18:36.for answers, and for justice. One man gave us his prescription for
:18:36. > :18:41.the drug companies that have left him bedridden.
:18:41. > :18:47.TRANSLATION: They should hang them publicly in the squares, like they
:18:47. > :18:54.do in Saudi Arabia. The patient will die, leaving children behind -
:18:54. > :18:58.what will happen to them? Those left behind, like the relatives of
:18:58. > :19:08.Ashiq Hussain, a wondering if anybody will ever be held to
:19:08. > :19:12.account. Justice can be elusive here, especially for the poor.
:19:12. > :19:16.Doctors say this tragedy could be repeated, because of a lack of
:19:16. > :19:26.regulation, and because state hospitals are compelled to buy the
:19:26. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:35.cheapest drugs. This time, they In Egypt, 10,000 people have
:19:35. > :19:38.converged on Tahrir Square in Cairo to mark the first anniversary of
:19:38. > :19:43.the so-called "Friday of Rage". The gathering began with Friday prayers.
:19:44. > :19:46.It commemorated what was one of the bloodiest days of the uprising,
:19:46. > :19:52.when security forces battled protesters, killing and wounding
:19:52. > :19:55.hundreds. The founder of the French company at the centre of the health
:19:55. > :20:01.scare regarding the breast implants has been charged with causing
:20:01. > :20:05.involuntary injury. The 72-year-old has now been released on bail. More
:20:05. > :20:10.than 400,000 women around the world are believed to have received
:20:10. > :20:15.implants made by the company. It has now stopped training. Queens
:20:15. > :20:19.Park Rangers has received what it has described as a may this. It was
:20:19. > :20:23.reportedly addressed to Anton Ferdinand, and is said to have
:20:23. > :20:27.contained a bullet. Tomorrow, QPR play Chelsea for the first time
:20:27. > :20:33.since John Terry was charged with racially abusing Ferdinand in a
:20:33. > :20:37.Premier League match last October, a claim he denies. He came so close,
:20:37. > :20:42.but despite a terrific performance, Andy Murray is a lot of the
:20:42. > :20:47.Australian Open, losing to the defending champion, Novak Djokovic,
:20:47. > :20:52.in a nail-biting semi-final which lasted almost five hours. Djokovic
:20:52. > :20:58.will now take on Rafael Nadal in will now take on Rafael Nadal in
:20:58. > :21:02.the final. So, would this finally be his moment? Andy Murray emerged
:21:02. > :21:10.to feverish expectation. A new year, new hope that he will get that
:21:10. > :21:16.elusive Grand Slam. But in the first sector -- first set, it was
:21:16. > :21:21.the same old frustration. But the famous mental strength of his new
:21:21. > :21:31.coach, Ivan Lendl, seem to rub off, and Andy Murray's game was suddenly
:21:31. > :21:35.
:21:35. > :21:38.scaling the heights. He seemed re- energised. He won the next two sets.
:21:38. > :21:46.Murray now had a remarkable victory in his sights. But back came
:21:46. > :21:51.Djokovic. Both players pushed themselves to the limits. From 5-2
:21:51. > :21:58.down, Murray came roaring back, but after nearly five hours of pure
:21:58. > :22:02.theatre, he finally faltered. For Djokovic, a mixture of exhaustion
:22:02. > :22:06.and elation, for Murray, another Grand Slam disappointment. He
:22:06. > :22:10.Grand Slam disappointment. He believes he is getting closer.
:22:10. > :22:16.I will take away tonight is that it has taken a great performance from
:22:16. > :22:21.him, he was so dominant in the Grand Slams last year. I am happy
:22:21. > :22:25.about that. But Andy Murray's misfortune is to be up against
:22:25. > :22:29.three of the greatest-ever players. He lost to Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon,
:22:29. > :22:34.to Roger Federer in Australia in 2010, and Judge Djokovic last year.
:22:34. > :22:38.So, will he ever get his hands on that elusive Grand Slam trophy?
:22:38. > :22:42.Mentally, he was up, he was never moping and whining. I thought it
:22:42. > :22:47.was a tremendous performance. Watching that Today has convinced
:22:47. > :22:53.me that he will win a Grand Slam. Murray's next big chance will be
:22:53. > :22:59.the French Open in May. That Grand Slam title is so near, and yet,
:22:59. > :23:03.agonisingly, still so far. In exactly six months' time, the
:23:03. > :23:10.London Olympics' Opening Ceremony will be under way. The show cached
:23:10. > :23:18.event will be called the Isles of Wonder. -- showcase event. It will
:23:18. > :23:25.involve 15,000 volunteers and a group of NHS nurses. Dan Roan has
:23:25. > :23:29.the details. This is what London has to live up to. The opening
:23:29. > :23:32.ceremonies at the last few Olympic Games have reached the highest of
:23:32. > :23:36.standards, setting the tone for the Greatest Show on Earth. Several
:23:36. > :23:43.hundred people have already auditioned to be part of the
:23:43. > :23:48.curtain raiser in lust and -- in London. This is the man they are
:23:48. > :23:52.trying to impress, Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle, who has
:23:52. > :23:56.to deliver an Opening Ceremony the nation can be proud of, on a budget
:23:56. > :23:59.of �27 million. You should be able to do a spectacular show for that
:23:59. > :24:03.amount of money. But more importantly, we want to make
:24:03. > :24:09.something that touches people, in a way which feels important to us,
:24:09. > :24:14.and feels like it will transfer to people. The last time London had a
:24:14. > :24:18.show case like this was at the closing ceremony in Beijing, where
:24:18. > :24:23.buses, Boris Johnson and David Beckham took centre stage. Now, it
:24:23. > :24:29.is time for another of the nation's famous exports. The sense of humour
:24:29. > :24:32.is unique about us. Everybody remarks upon it. Following a
:24:32. > :24:42.personal intervention from the Prime Minister, the budget for the
:24:42. > :24:43.
:24:43. > :24:53.ceremonies has doubled. The giant bell, the largest in Europe, has
:24:53. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:58.been specially commissioned. It is all a far cry from the last time
:24:58. > :25:03.London staged the games, in 1948, when the Opening Ceremony centred
:25:03. > :25:06.on a military band and the release of some pigeons. This time, an
:25:06. > :25:10.estimated audience of 4 billion people will be watching, and no
:25:10. > :25:14.detail can be overlooked. This is where the result of all of that
:25:14. > :25:18.planning and preparation will be unveiled to the world, the Olympic
:25:18. > :25:24.Stadium, where, in exactly six months, the Opening Ceremony will
:25:24. > :25:29.get under way, and London's moment will finally have arrived. The
:25:29. > :25:35.ceremonies in Athens, and at the football World Cup in South Africa,
:25:35. > :25:39.were orchestrated by a brick chick. I think an Opening Ceremony can do
:25:39. > :25:44.one of three things. It can reintroduce a city to the world. It
:25:44. > :25:48.can reaffirm the world's perception of a place, like Beijing, or it can
:25:48. > :25:52.completely reinvent itself, a little bit like we did in Athens in
:25:52. > :25:56.2004. Of course, shedding some light on the Olympics ceremony is