22/02/2012 BBC News at Ten

A Sunday Times journalist is among dozens of civilians killed and

wounded in the Syrian city of Homs. Marie Colvin was covering a two

week assault by government forces. A French photographer died with her.

This is a desperately sad reminder of the risks that journalists take

to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events

in Syria, and our thoughts should be with her family and friends.

was an eye witness to one of the bloodiest weeks for the besieged

city. Tonight, a tribute from her mother. She was totally committed

to what she did and the importance of telling a story and writing it

and getting it out to the world No matter what. We will be asking if

today's events will help galvanise international opinion. Also, nine

cleared after a multi-million-pound trial in Belfast. The judge

dismisses supergrass evidence. Bringing Somalia back from the

brink on the eve of a London conference, we have a special

report. The talk is about a window of opportunity to stabilise this

country, but will the outside world and will Somalia seize the moment?

And nightclub bouncer gets 35 years for the murder of 19-year-old

Nikitta Grender. She was about to have a baby. And Cherie Blair and

the phone hacking scandal. She has launched a legal claim against

Rupert Murdoch's News Group. What tonight for Manchester City. They

put four goals past Porto to sail into the next round of the Europa

One of the world's most respected war correspondents, Marie Colvin of

the Sunday Times, was among more than 20 people killed in that

Syrian city of Homs today. An award-winning French photographer

also died in the attack by Syrian troops, who'd been shelling the

city for almost three weeks. A British photographer was injured.

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, described the brutal

crackdown by Syrian forces as a campaign of terror. The UN says

more than 5000 people have died in the 11 months of rising against the

rule of President Bashar Al-Assad. Some of the heaviest casualties

have been in Homs, and the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr.

This report contains distressing Today's the shelling of Homs.

Relentless, indiscriminately. It has been like this every day for

almost three weeks. Syria's regime is trying to crush the revolution.

The district of Baba Amr is trying to hold out but only just. Houses

have been reduced to rubble. This was the base of the few foreign

journalists here. Many people died when the building was hit. Among

them, Marie Colvin minus one of the most respected war correspondents

of her generation. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, she described an

attack on a city of cold and hungry civilians. It is absolutely

sickening. Just today shelling started at 6:30am. I counted 14

attacks on a civilian area within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic.

You can't really call it a clinic, it's an apartment. There are

plastic bags hanging from coat- hangers. I watched a baby died

today, absolutely horrific. 82- year-old been hit. -- 8 two-year-

old been hit. Rafa had gone into the chest and the doctor said, I

can't do anything. He kept heaving until he died. That is happening

over and over. No one here can understand how the international

community can let this happen. French photographer, Remi Ochlik,

was also killed, and the Syrian video journalist, Rami al-Sayed.

The deaths were a reminder, said the British Foreign Secretary, that

scores were dying every day. The White House spoke of shameless

brutality in Syria. Such words are welcome in the Homs. But you must

move quickly, Becks this activist. -- says this activist. The British

photographer Paul Conroy was injured. There are efforts to get

him out, with a wounded French journalist. But the ferocious

bombardment is making that difficult. The International

Committee of the Red Cross have called for a humanitarian ceasefire

for the victims of this conflict. The international community has

often seemed paralysed over Syria. The demand for a ceasefire may well

attract support from even those nations which backed the regime.

But with bombs continuing to fall on Homs, the question is whether

the Syrian government is listening. For nearly three decades Marie

Colvin reported from the world's most dangerous places. From Sierra

Leone to Chechnya, she drew attention to the plight of

civilians caught in conflict. Jeremy Bowen reports. Marie Colvin

was a great foreign correspondent. She was devoted to reporting the

news, to shining a light into the world's darkest corners. She wanted

her readers to know the truth. Especially true of powerful people

-- that powerful people preferred to keep hidden. The Middle East was

a speciality. I wish you were there. She believed she was a witness

there to report things that other people couldn't do. She believed in

getting into places where no other people could goal, and then she

would stay there and reported and try and made a difference. Marie

Colvin lost the sight of an eye covering the civil war in Sri Lanka

in 2001. The experience was traumatic but she went back to work.

If you are going to cover a war, you always weigh up the risks. I

had shrapnel in my eye and lost the sight in the left alive. There was

no way to go without taking that risk. Her mother said Murray was

about to leave Homs, and she died doing what she loved. I know she

did. She was totally committed to what she did. The importance of

telling stories and writing it and getting it out to the world No

matter what. That was her life. She told them that she was on a story

that was important and she wanted to finish it and that he would

leave today. That is really hard because it was just one day.

was a generous colleague. In Tripoli a year ago, Colonel

Gaddafi's people ask her to nominate two reporters to interview

him alongside her. Hello, Marie Colvin. She chose me and a member

of America's ABC News. She spoke with the fierce urgency of right

now. She was a warrior for the truth, she was on the front lines

of getting the word out. And the word about the people she was

covering. That was the most important thing for her. On Monday,

she sent me an e-mail from Homs, talking about the powerful plea she

had filed for the previous day's Sunday Times. She wrote,

yesterday's piece was one of those we got into journalism for. They're

killing with impunity here. It is sickening and anger making. Members

of the House will also have seen reports that the talented and

respected foreign correspondent of the Sunday Times, Marie Colvin, has

been killed from the bombing in Syria. This is a desperately sad

reminder of the risks that journalists take to inform the

world of what is happening and the dreadful events in Syria, and our

thoughts should be with her family and friends. In her e-mail to me

from Homs, she had a chuckle about the way she was smuggled into Syria.

She wrote, it was kind of fun speeding across the field on a dirt

bike, as long as you didn't look left to the Syrian post about 200

I'm joined now by our foreign affairs editor, John Simpson. You

knew Marie Colvin well, didn't you? I did. She injected a kind of

glamour into war corresponding, foreign corresponding which is

rather faded out of it. She seemed to me to be entirely in the

tradition of another famous American woman, Martha Gellhorn -

probably the best war correspondent of the 20th century. I am so glad

that when I saw Marie Colvin last, just before Christmas, I told her

that she was in Martha Gellhorn's footsteps and she was very glad.

Can events like today helped to galvanise international opinion?

think it is possible. After all, it has already been suggested that a

house where Marie Colvin was killed was targeted deliberately because

of her phone calls and broadcasts from there. That indicates an army,

that the Syrian army is out of the kind of control of the politicians

that you would expect... Politicians and the feeble Syrian

government. I am sure that is starting to play out. Just this

afternoon we heard Nicolas Sarkozy and -- saying, that's enough, this

regime must go. I think there is going to be an increasing feeling

that only on intervention will get rid of him. Northern Ireland's

first supergrass trial in 25 years has ended with nine men being

acquitted of charges relating to the murder of a loyalist leader 12

years ago. The prosecution was based on evidence from two former

members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, who gave evidence in return

for shorter prison terms. Walking free from court, nine men accused

of being in one of Northern Ireland's most notorious

paramilitary gangs. They celebrated with their friends after being

found not guilty of murder. They were accused of killing a loyalist

rival, Tommy English, during a paramilitary turf war 12 years ago.

His widow, Doreen English, watched today as the nine men accused of

murdering her husband were acquitted. I'm not happy about it

at the minute but we need to get thoughts about it. This was what is

known in Belfast as the supergrass case. It was based on evidence from

two brothers, Robert and Ian Stewart. They recently admitted

their part in the killing but said nine other men were involved. They

were all charged with murder. But the evidence from the Stewart

brothers wasn't believed by the judge. He said the two former

paramilitaries could not be relied upon. They were instead the same

men wearing new suits. So how does the supergrass system work? The

Stewart brothers have to confess all of their own crimes and agreed

to give evidence against others in return they would put in to witness

protection scheme. They were given a reduced sentence for murder. Just

three years. It is rare for former paramilitaries in Northern Ireland

to give evidence in court, in spite of the incentives. The supergrass

system has been tried before back in the 1980s. The problem then was

that many of the cases collapsed and the system was and used again

for more than two decades. The author Chris Ryder reported on the

original supergrass cases. He says the authorities may have to rethink

the process once more. I think it has to be a disaster for them. They

invested heavily in this case. It has cost a vast amount of public

money. Most of these people... the police deny defended their

handling of the case and indicated they would use the same system

A 47-year-old man has been charged with the murders of The Vic had

John Suddards and the retired teacher Betty Yates. Stephen Farrow

will appear before North Avon magistrates court tomorrow, accused

of killing the clergymen and the pensioner.

For the third week in a row, Ed Miliband has challenged the Prime

Minister over his reforms of the NHS in England. The Labour leader

said that David Cameron should ditch the controversial bill, or

risk the issue becoming his poll tax. Nick Robinson joins me now

from Westminster. Three times in a row, Ed Miliband clearly thinks he

is on to something? That's right, in part because there is nothing

that any prime minister hates more than having their own words quoted

back to them in Question Time. Ed Miliband has delighted in reminding

David Cameron that before the General Election he promised no

top-down reorganisation of the NHS. Today he threw back at him words he

had used about a year ago when the Prime Minister promised to listen

to the concerns of the staff in the NHS. He said, change, if it is to

really work, should have the support of people who work in our

NHS. We have to take our nurses and doctors with us. Now he cannot even

be in the same room as the doctors and nurses! We are putting more

money into the NHS. Money that they are specifically... They are

specifically committed to taking out. Let's be frank, money alone is

not going to be enough. We have got to meet the challenge of an ageing

population, more expensive treatment, more people on long-term

conditions. That is why we have to reform the NHS. A couple of weeks

ago there were signs of Tory wobbles on the NHS Bill, which is

still making its way through Parliament. Tonight, the concern is

amongst Conservatives about whether the Liberal Democrats might renege

on the deal made between Nick Clegg and David Cameron to drive the Bill

through Parliament. Why are they concerned about that? A couple of

reasons. First, there is a move among grassroots Liberal Democrats

to get an emergency motion at their forthcoming spring conference to

kill the bill altogether. The other reason is that some people have

been discussing with Nick Clegg the fact that in certain parts of the

country Lib Dem activists are even more angry about the NHS bill than

they were about tuition fees and some are leaving the party in

protest. Both sides of the coalition absolutely insistent that

this Bill will continue, it will go through. But what is striking, with

crucial debates in the House of Lords next week, the Liberal

Democrats leader is talking about this being a listening government.

The message coming from the other side of the coalition is simple, we

have done their listening, now let's get on and make the reforms.

For coming up: The controversy over Olympic ticket sales.

Fans who missed out on the last two David Cameron has warned that the

real threat posed to international security by an Islamic militant

group that controls part of Somalia. Tomorrow, Britain will chair a

conference bringing together international leaders and

organisations. African union troops have recently forced the militants

Al-Shabab out of most of Mogadishu. Andrew Harding has returned to

Somalia to see what challenges remain for the country.

Is this the moment that a ruined city is brought back to life? This

was DRS in Mogadishu in the bad old Today, it is transformed. Whistles,

instead of gunfire. The sound of building and of money. The Islamist

militants who held half the city for years have been driven out.

it is good. Now everything is good. We are feeling peace, and a

comfortable life. Are you optimistic now? Yes. A politician

takes a stroll, unthinkable a few months ago. But almost everything

needs fixing here. Somalis are counting on the outside world.

running water. No electricity. No schools. What we expect from London

is a real plan to reconstruct the city. You want money? Of course.

How much? Money, billions. By it Somalia's along walls are not over.

The front lines have simply shifted outside Mogadishu. These African

union and Somali government troops are now launching new offensives

against the militant group Al- Shabab. It is getting easier

because now we are moving on the open ground. We have more firepower

than Al-Shabab. So, more families are on the move. What you see

coming down the road behind us, heading into Mogadishu, our convoys,

thousands of trucks and vehicles carrying civilians who are fleeing

what they fear is an inefficient -- imminent offensive against Al-

Shabab. Somalis have been running like this for 20 years. It is very

hard back there, he says, no food and we are afraid of Al-Shabab.

Some of those fleeing are getting outside aid now. The Turkish are

here in force and they are urging other nations to step up. There is

nothing to be scared of here. When you come with good feelings and you

want to do some thing for these people, they are ready to welcome

you. Their needs are still staggering. Thousands of families

waiting for aid. The City may be calmer now, a safe haven. But the

politics remain chaotic. Rival clans are vying for power across

Somalia. Two decades of anarchy A former nightclub bouncer was

jailed for at least 35 yesterday for raping and murdering a heavily

pregnant teenager. Carl Whant attacked 19-year-old Nikitta

Grender at her flat in south Wales, before setting it on fire. She was

two weeks away from giving birth. She was 19, in the prime of life,

pregnant with a baby daughter already named Kelsey-May. But when

police were called to Nikitta Grender's flat on February 5th last

year, they found fame that charred, burned-out bedroom. She and her

unborn baby were both dead. Today, the trial's father, her partner,

Ryan Mayes, saw his own cousin convicted of killing them both.

Whant's uncle read a family statement. For others to see our

grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking

thing we have ever had to do. Whant was so special and will remain in

our hearts until we die. -- Nicky devil to stop Carl Whant is a

former nightclub bouncer and former soldier. He had been a close family

member. They were said to be more like brothers than cousins. On the

night of the killing, the men wear out in Newport. Carl Whant's car

was caught on camera. He said he was going to his grandmother's for

cigarettes. Instead, he headed here, too Nikitta Grender's flat. Somehow,

he persuaded her to let him inside. He raped there, stabbed a in the

neck and abdomen and set fire to the place. Because the baby would

have survived if born, he was also charged with trialled destruction.

-- child. This piece of legislation, thankfully very rarely used, is

designed to help protect the rights of an unborn child, H child capable

of being born alive. Kelsey-May undoubtedly fitted that description.

It has been a highly emotional trial and the family still mourn

the loss of two family members. Legal action has been brought by

Cherie Blair against reporters for the News of the World. Lawyers for

the family say they will not be giving any more details at the

moment. June Kelly is with me. Give us the background of the case.

the owners of the News of the World made a second wave of payouts a few

weeks ago there were claims that about 50 times were coming over the

hill. Tonight we have confirmation that Cherie Blair is taking action

against the Murdoch empire. Tony Blair is godfather to one of Rupert

Murdoch's gob daughters. She is not the only person in that circle to

be targeted. We know that Carole Caplin said that she was a victim.

Alastair Campbell has recently won damages. He told the Leveson

Inquiry that he could understand why so many stories appeared in the

press about Cherie Blair and Carole Caplin. On a separate front, it has

been suggested that Charlotte Church and her family are close to

reaching an agreement. Comedian Frank Carson has died at

the age of 85. He had been suffering from cancer. He became a

household name after winning the television show Opportunity Knocks

three times in the 1960s. He was a regular fixture on prime-time

television throughout the 70s and 80s.

Tickets for some of the most sought-after events at the London

Olympics are being made available to thousands of people who failed

to secure them in the first two round of sales. They will be given

an exclusive 24 hour window to buy some of the final tickets when they

We all know how hard it has been to get your hands on our Olympic

ticket. Even test events like today's Diving World Cup at the

aquatic Centre have sold out. Now it is going to be even harder, with

London 2012 deciding to prioritise an exclusive group of 1 million

people who missed out in the ballot last year. All we can do is to keep

going back and say, this is how we are doing it, we think it is as

fair as it can possibly be. Some people will be disappointed but we

will give everybody a chance. Those that have been committed to the

progress longest, we feel should have priority. How will it work? A

24 hour window will be offered to just 20,000 people who were

mistakenly told they had bought tickets last year. A second five-

day window will open for a further 1 million people, who applied but

also missed out. A general sale after that is unlikely because 1

million people are chasing 1 million tickets. That is certain to

lead to more criticism for London 2012. Did you find the process a

little bit frustrating? Yes, we applied for so much, There are six

of us and we didn't get that much. We have had huge problems. Seb Coe

says it has been massively supported and the event will be

fantastic, but I think it could have been done much better. It has

emerged today that the sale in April will include 40,000 tickets

for the athletics. 50,000 tickets will be for the basketball and

30,000 will be for diving. There is no lack of appetite among the

British public to come to Olympic venues like this this summer.

London 2012's ticketing process has left many people feeling angry and

frustrated. That is why they cannot afford any more mistakes. Website

crashers, accusations of secrecy and perhaps too many tickets for

sponsors and the I Ps. All of this has added to pressure on Olympic

bosses. Of course they realise the cost in public confidence if they

raise a hiatus. I think it is all fingers crossed, plus lots of hard

work to make sure it works next time. Despite the problems, filling