:00:09. > :00:13.Tonight, missing the target. The Major government programme for
:00:13. > :00:17.getting people back to work. Less than 4% of those on the scheme have
:00:17. > :00:22.found long to work, but ministers say it is too early to judge.
:00:22. > :00:27.is over a two year period, so it is on track. I think this programme is
:00:27. > :00:31.doing well, as expected. But those looking for work have been let down,
:00:31. > :00:35.according to Labour, who insist the scheme is already a failure.
:00:36. > :00:41.need responsibility from those on welfare but we need a government
:00:41. > :00:45.taking its responsibilities to get people into work. Also tonight,
:00:45. > :00:49.extensive flooding in North Wales where an elderly woman has died
:00:49. > :00:54.inside a flooded house. The Prime Minister visits one of the worst-
:00:54. > :00:58.hit villages in Devon and promises to be tough but insurance companies.
:00:58. > :01:02.The late MP Sir Cyril Smith should have been charged with child abuse,
:01:02. > :01:06.according to the Crown Prosecution Service. In England's schools, 2
:01:06. > :01:11.million children get a sub-standard education, says the schools
:01:11. > :01:18.watchdog. And why this loan of a treasure from the British Museum is
:01:18. > :01:22.seen as an exciting diplomatic I'll be here with Sportsday later
:01:22. > :01:26.in the hour on the BBC News channel, including Harry's first game in
:01:26. > :01:36.charge of QPR. We will have the best of the action from their match
:01:36. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:54.A major new government scheme to find work for the long-term
:01:54. > :01:57.unemployed has failed to meet a key target. Just 3.5 % of those who
:01:57. > :02:01.joined the Work Programme found a job which lasted six months or more.
:02:01. > :02:10.Labour says the scheme is a mess, but ministers claim that is on the
:02:10. > :02:13.right track. Everything has been going really wrong. Amy is what the
:02:13. > :02:17.Work Programme is all about. Out of employment for years, she joined
:02:17. > :02:22.the scheme almost the first day began in the summer of 2011. It
:02:22. > :02:26.took 12 months to get her job ready. But for the last six, she's been
:02:26. > :02:31.working as a receptionist. They got me loads of interviews and then
:02:31. > :02:35.some work placements. It gave me something on my CV. From that, and
:02:35. > :02:39.where I am now. In a comfortable job where I can easy see myself
:02:39. > :02:43.growing. The idea is radical. Instead of a taxpayer-funded scheme
:02:44. > :02:46.to get the long-term unemployed into sustained work, private and
:02:46. > :02:51.not-for-profit organisations, like the Salvation Army here in
:02:51. > :02:54.Birmingham, are contracted to do it, paid by the state only if they get
:02:54. > :02:58.results. It is a critical part of the Government's plans to reform
:02:58. > :03:03.welfare and boost economic growth. But today we got the official
:03:03. > :03:07.figures for the first full year of the scheme. That has led plenty to
:03:07. > :03:13.question whether the Work Programme is actually working. So what do the
:03:13. > :03:17.figures show? In the first 12 months, 878,000 were referred to
:03:17. > :03:21.Work programme providers. 31,000 of those were employed for at least
:03:21. > :03:25.six months. The Government's minimum target was for 5.5 % of the
:03:25. > :03:30.total to have been helped. Today's figures suggest it is actually 3.5
:03:30. > :03:32.%, with some saying It's even lower than that. Labour leader Ed
:03:33. > :03:38.Miliband says the figures are so bad that more people might have
:03:38. > :03:40.been found work if the scheme didn't exist. These figures show
:03:40. > :03:44.that the Work Programme isn't working, in fact it's a miserable
:03:44. > :03:47.failure. The reason it is a miserable failure is because the
:03:47. > :03:51.government is not showing its responsibilities to make the work
:03:51. > :03:56.available for people. Government ministers remain convinced the Work
:03:56. > :03:59.Programme will hit its targets by the end of the second year. But
:03:59. > :04:03.growth lower than forecast and high unemployment, it has been
:04:03. > :04:07.particularly difficult to get young people into sustainable jobs, they
:04:07. > :04:12.say. However, some private sector firms are accused of costing and
:04:12. > :04:17.have been sent warning letters. Where companies don't succeed, we
:04:17. > :04:20.have the contract set so that other companies can expand to spill that
:04:20. > :04:26.face -- fill that space. So the other companies can take over the
:04:26. > :04:29.contracts if the others don't succeed. Homeless a few months ago,
:04:29. > :04:34.a housing association contracted under the Work Programme recently
:04:34. > :04:37.helped Sammut find a much-needed jobs. He works between 11:30pm and
:04:38. > :04:43.3am washing dishes at a distribution centre in Burton-upon-
:04:43. > :04:47.Trent, a small step for some but a giant leap for him. Look at me, I
:04:47. > :04:52.now have two jobs and a flat thanks to the Work Programme helping me
:04:52. > :04:55.out. Everyone says a job is just a job but it's not, it's a lifestyle.
:04:55. > :05:00.More recent figures will see the numbers on the scheme employed for
:05:00. > :05:04.over six months more than double, putting the Work Programme back on
:05:04. > :05:10.track. For Sam and a million others, it's not about numbers, it's about
:05:10. > :05:18.turning lives around. Where does this leave one of the Government's
:05:18. > :05:24.major reforms? How do you see it and how damaging of these figures
:05:24. > :05:28.today? In public, ministers insist everything is on track but in
:05:28. > :05:32.private there is more concerned. Once you strip away the arguments
:05:32. > :05:35.about which statistics you choose, it's pretty clear that at best
:05:35. > :05:39.there are big teething problems for this scheme. At worst, it's just
:05:39. > :05:44.not working properly. It matters because this is a big experiment.
:05:44. > :05:49.They want to take this idea of taking the private sector and it
:05:49. > :05:52.delivering services and paying them by results, they want to use it in
:05:52. > :05:57.other areas. They want to use it to stop prisoners reoffending, to stop
:05:57. > :06:01.drug addicts going back on drugs. If there are doubts about the basic
:06:01. > :06:05.model, Camber companies deliver? That is a big problem. More
:06:06. > :06:09.importantly, this is one of the Government's big tickets of public
:06:09. > :06:12.sector reforms. This is what this government came into being to do.
:06:12. > :06:15.It's to take people off the unemployment Rowland into work.
:06:15. > :06:19.They want to tackle the benefits bill, they want to deal with the
:06:19. > :06:23.deficit. There's a huge amount at stake. This is a government that
:06:23. > :06:27.wants to go to the next election and so it has reformed education,
:06:27. > :06:34.health and, yes, it has reformed welfare. On the basis of today's
:06:34. > :06:38.figures, that as -- that last issue is very much a work in progress.
:06:38. > :06:42.elderly woman has been found dead in her flooded home in St Asaph in
:06:42. > :06:45.North Wales. Hundreds of families were told it was too dangerous to
:06:45. > :06:49.stay in their homes, as the River Elwy rose to record levels.
:06:49. > :06:53.Torrential rain is expected to ease but there's a continued threat of
:06:53. > :06:58.flooding in the north-east of England and in Northamptonshire.
:06:58. > :07:02.The Environment Agency has issued two severe flood warnings in North
:07:02. > :07:07.Wales and 171 warnings across England and Wales. More than 1000
:07:07. > :07:10.homes have now been flooded. From St Asaph tonight, let's turn our
:07:10. > :07:14.correspondent. The very first people started
:07:14. > :07:18.arriving at this emergency evacuation centre in the early
:07:18. > :07:22.hours of this morning. Tonight, more people are arriving, bringing
:07:22. > :07:26.in gifts of food, clothes, bedding, shoes, anything to help the
:07:26. > :07:32.hundreds of people forced from their homes in the last 24 hours.
:07:32. > :07:38.It has been a testing day in North Wales, and won many people in St
:07:38. > :07:44.Asaph will never forget. A city surrounded. This morning the
:07:44. > :07:49.streets of St Asso have turned into waterways. Its people had to find a
:07:49. > :07:55.way out. Evacuation teams went from door to door trying to help the
:07:55. > :08:03.frail and vulnerable. Their own pictures show best the challenges
:08:03. > :08:08.they faced. 76-year-old Macworld and made it to dry land with his
:08:08. > :08:13.bags full of medication. -- Mike Weldon. The water had reached chest
:08:13. > :08:19.height. They did a great job. They took a window out and pushed me
:08:19. > :08:23.through it. But not everyone can be rescued in time. At another home,
:08:23. > :08:27.workers discovered the body of an elderly woman. Late into the
:08:27. > :08:31.afternoon, people are still being brought out of the houses using
:08:31. > :08:38.lifeboats. The crews of going round door-to-door, just to check that
:08:38. > :08:42.they haven't left anyone out. River levels have now dropped but flood
:08:42. > :08:47.defences were found wanting. Many here want to know how they were
:08:47. > :08:51.overwhelmed. Ultimately, in the face of that level of rainfall and
:08:52. > :08:58.those volumes of water coming down the valley, it is very difficult to
:08:58. > :09:02.see how the defences could have stood up to those. 15 miles away
:09:02. > :09:05.upstream in Rothen, that answer might not please everyone. This
:09:05. > :09:10.escape - that this estate, like so many houses, was built on the flood
:09:10. > :09:14.plain. Over the border in Gloucestershire, this family had
:09:14. > :09:19.been stuck in their home for a day before the fire service could reach
:09:19. > :09:25.them. North in Pickering, more than 50 houses are at risk from rising
:09:25. > :09:30.waters. Nearby, in the City of York, new flood defences helped hold back
:09:30. > :09:34.the full force of the River Ouse. The Prime Minister made his first
:09:34. > :09:38.visit to Devon since the floods there. A deal between the
:09:38. > :09:42.government and insurance companies to ensure affordable premiums is
:09:42. > :09:46.still being hammered out. I'm sure we will do a deal, we are
:09:46. > :09:51.negotiating at the moment. We need to take a tougher approach. It's
:09:51. > :09:55.important that insurance companies do what they are meant to, which is
:09:55. > :09:58.provide insurance to households. We will make sure that happens. Some
:09:58. > :10:02.families in St Asaph are still working out where they will spend
:10:02. > :10:07.tonight. This may have been a once- in-a-lifetime flood, but the next
:10:07. > :10:11.few weeks may be just as hard. Tonight, emergency crews are still
:10:11. > :10:16.going from house to flooded house, to ensure that they have found
:10:16. > :10:19.every vulnerable person in St Asaph. Meanwhile, those forced from their
:10:19. > :10:28.homes have been asked not to return until they've been told it is
:10:28. > :10:32.entirely safe. The former Liberal Democrat MP, the late Sir Cyril
:10:32. > :10:34.Smith, should have been prosecuted for child abuse. That is the view
:10:34. > :10:38.of the Crown Prosecution Service, which has reviewed claims of
:10:38. > :10:42.physical and sexual abuse made by eight men some 40 years ago. They
:10:42. > :10:45.accused him of abusing them as teenagers, but prosecutors at the
:10:45. > :10:54.time took no action as they considered a successful prosecution
:10:54. > :10:58.unlikely. Do you want a man to represent you or do you want a
:10:58. > :11:02.party robot? Sir Cyril Smith was one of the most famous politicians
:11:02. > :11:05.of his generation. But if he was still alive today, prosecutors say
:11:05. > :11:11.the former Liberal MP would be facing jail for indecently
:11:11. > :11:14.assaulting boys. Barry Fitton was one of eight men had told police in
:11:14. > :11:20.1970 that Cyril Smith had sexually abused them as teenagers at a
:11:20. > :11:26.Rochdale children's home. He pulled me over his knee, spanked me and
:11:26. > :11:31.then after that it was, there, there, it had to be done. You will
:11:31. > :11:35.know better not to skip off work next time. We now know that
:11:35. > :11:38.prosecutors and police a letter saying any charges of indecent
:11:38. > :11:41.assault foundered on these allegations, as well as being
:11:42. > :11:45.somewhat stale, would be, in my view, completely without
:11:45. > :11:49.corroboration. Further, the characters of some of these young
:11:49. > :11:53.men would be likely to render their evidence suspect. But prosecutors
:11:53. > :11:57.now say a change in law and attitudes means if the same
:11:57. > :12:01.evidence was presented to the CPS today, there would have been a very
:12:01. > :12:07.realistic prospect that Smith would have been charged with a number of
:12:07. > :12:10.indecent assault. 15 years ago, a high-profile inquiry into abuse at
:12:11. > :12:16.children's homes in Wales prompted victims of alleged abuse elsewhere
:12:16. > :12:21.to come forward. Again, Cyril Smith's accusers were questioned.
:12:21. > :12:24.But again it was decided there was no chance of conviction. In the end
:12:24. > :12:28.of what the revelations about Jimmy Savile that sparked the latest
:12:29. > :12:32.review of the civil slipcase. The current MP for Rochdale says
:12:33. > :12:37.today's announcement is too late. There are serious suggestions from
:12:37. > :12:40.other victims that I've met that Smith felt empowered because he
:12:40. > :12:45.hadn't been prosecuted. He felt empowered to continue to abuse
:12:45. > :12:50.others as well. Tonight, the family of Cyril Smith said it was saddened
:12:50. > :12:54.and concerned by the allegations. And his death in 2010 men to was no
:12:54. > :12:58.longer able to defend himself from them. Greater Manchester Police
:12:58. > :13:01.said investigations were continuing. In a statement, but also expressed
:13:01. > :13:11.sympathy with victims who it said would never now see justice done in
:13:11. > :13:13.court. More than 2 million children in England are not getting an
:13:13. > :13:18.acceptable education, according to the schools inspectorate, Ofsted.
:13:18. > :13:22.It says that in some areas, pupils face a less than 50 % chance of
:13:22. > :13:25.being taught at a good school, and that the gap in educational
:13:25. > :13:35.standards between the worst and best areas in England is completely
:13:35. > :13:37.
:13:37. > :13:42.Two local authorities in Camden in north London children have the best
:13:42. > :13:46.chance of getting in a good primary school. In Coventry they're least
:13:46. > :13:52.likely to get the same. That's according to the Ofsted annual
:13:52. > :13:56.report and it wants to know why. This is Clifford Bridge primary
:13:56. > :14:01.school in Coventry. Placed in special measures in 2011, that
:14:01. > :14:05.means it was considered to be failing. The Local Education
:14:05. > :14:09.Authority brought in Kim Docking from a school in the City doing
:14:09. > :14:12.well. It's a partnership that's bringing results, but she's
:14:12. > :14:16.concerned the bottom ranking in Coventry could undermine her.
:14:17. > :14:21.would never say to a quield, "You are the worst and bottom of the
:14:21. > :14:25.pile." You know the impact that would have on that child and yet it
:14:25. > :14:29.appears to be all right for Ofsted to do that to us. I fail to see how
:14:29. > :14:33.that will get the best out of schools. Coventry City council says
:14:33. > :14:37.it has a programme in place that is already showing progress. This
:14:37. > :14:42.report says across the country, more than two million children have
:14:42. > :14:47.been taught in schools that aren't good enough. Ofsted says that
:14:47. > :14:52.overought schools are improving, but -- overall schools are
:14:52. > :14:55.improving, but standards are widening. For the first time, it's
:14:55. > :15:00.published comparisons, that show a primary school child has on average
:15:00. > :15:05.a 69% chance of being in a good or outstanding school. In Coventry
:15:05. > :15:08.that falls to 42% and in Camden it's 92%. My airing what is
:15:08. > :15:15.happening and making it public, giving this information to the
:15:15. > :15:18.people who really matter, that's parents, and those who use the
:15:18. > :15:23.education system, we hopefully will improve schools and colleges.
:15:23. > :15:29.Parents here had mixed views on how useful the comparisons are for them.
:15:29. > :15:36.As parent, yes, it's definitely useful to find out what's happening.
:15:36. > :15:41.Shall I move to Sheffield? Take my child there? This school is
:15:41. > :15:46.improving through work with the local authority, but the National
:15:46. > :15:51.Union of Teachers Ofsted rankings could force other schools into
:15:51. > :15:54.academies. The former Director- General of the BBC, George
:15:54. > :15:59.Entwistle, is said to have asked for a bigger pay-off than the one
:15:59. > :16:01.he was given, when he resigned earlier this month. The revelation
:16:01. > :16:06.was made by Lord Patten, during questioning by a Parliamentary
:16:06. > :16:11.committee. He said he agreed a pay- off of �450,000 after taking legal
:16:11. > :16:19.advice. The exchanges were testy at times, as our correspondent, David
:16:19. > :16:25.Sillito, reports. The BBC, the buck stops with the chairman and Lord
:16:25. > :16:29.Patten was facing questions about George Entwistle. He said the
:16:29. > :16:35.former Director-General was honourable, but one MP wondered how
:16:35. > :16:42.did that square with him, demanding �450,000. Do you think honourable
:16:42. > :16:51.is the appropriate term to be used? You Noye the easiest thing and I
:16:51. > :16:57.made this point yesterday, is to join in the general trashing of a
:16:57. > :17:03.decent man. I'm not going to do that. But he admitted he had no
:17:03. > :17:07.choice. Sacking him in a claim for unfair dismissal would have cost
:17:08. > :17:16.�530,000. Then it emerged that George Entwistle had asked for even
:17:16. > :17:21.more. How much? Did he have eyes on �670,000 paid to another former
:17:21. > :17:26.boss? Did he ask for a Thompson, two years? No, he didn't ask for
:17:26. > :17:33.two years, but he did ask for more. I think that's for him and his
:17:33. > :17:36.lawyers. Two hours in, his question got around to the commitment to his
:17:36. > :17:40.job. Can we have a copy of your itinerary on a regular basis about
:17:40. > :17:45.the work you do and how many hours you spend and where you're doing
:17:45. > :17:55.your work? Certainly not. Why not? Because I think it's a thoroughly
:17:55. > :18:00.imper nant question. He wouldn't say how many days he worked, but an
:18:00. > :18:04.hour-by-hour diary no. If fault is found with George Entwistle the
:18:04. > :18:07.inquiries will be seeking some of that money back. Coming up on
:18:07. > :18:10.tonight's programme - after the Lance Armstrong scandal, the head
:18:10. > :18:20.of the world anti-doping watchdog says it's time for a wider
:18:20. > :18:20.
:18:20. > :18:24.crackdown across sport. We are saying you have a cheek when you
:18:24. > :18:30.are cheating and if you know you're ever likely to have to give a blood
:18:31. > :18:33.sample. The couple from Rotherham,who had three foster
:18:34. > :18:36.children removed from their care, because they are members of the UK
:18:36. > :18:39.Independence Party, have demanded an apology from the local authority.
:18:39. > :18:42.In their first television interview, they told the BBC that they felt
:18:42. > :18:44.bereft. The council has said it will co-operate fully with an
:18:44. > :18:52.inquiry ordered by the Education Secretary, as our correspondent, Ed
:18:52. > :18:56.Thomas, reports. Indefensible and wrong. Words used to describe what
:18:56. > :19:00.social workers did here in Rotherham. Today, the foster
:19:00. > :19:05.parents who had three European migrant children taken away,
:19:05. > :19:10.because they were UKIP supporters, said they had been left bereft. We
:19:10. > :19:15.can't show their faces and have stkpwieded their voices to protect
:19:15. > :19:18.the -- disguised their voices to protect the identity of the
:19:18. > :19:21.children. You are only humanitarian reason and you love these children.
:19:21. > :19:26.I went from having a baby in my arms to having nothing. When the
:19:26. > :19:31.children were removed, what did social workers say to you two?
:19:31. > :19:36.were shocked. They told us that the policies that UKIP had were well
:19:36. > :19:40.known as racist. Did you give social workers cause for concern
:19:40. > :19:43.with your views on immigration and racism? Absolutely not. We have no
:19:43. > :19:47.strong opinions on immigration. Basically we don't know much about
:19:47. > :19:54.politics. All we know is we agree with UKIP about getting out of the
:19:54. > :19:58.EU. The Labour leader of the council wouldn't speak on camera
:19:58. > :20:02.yesterday, but in a statement council Roger Stone said the
:20:02. > :20:06.council would be open and transparent. He'll give an internal
:20:06. > :20:10.report to the Education Secretary, Michael Gove and also said being a
:20:10. > :20:14.member of UKIP should not present anyone from fostering. All of this
:20:14. > :20:18.is just two days before a by- election here in Rotherham. Some
:20:18. > :20:22.worry this is now becoming a political issue and an issue that's
:20:22. > :20:27.overshadowing the welfare of these children. Children that this couple
:20:27. > :20:31.believe should never have been taken away. I want an apology.
:20:31. > :20:36.Officials lost sight of how they were treating the children. How can
:20:36. > :20:40.politics be an issue? All children want to be in nurtured and loved.
:20:40. > :20:44.To become adults to take their place in society. The couple now
:20:44. > :20:48.want to foster again. As for the children, they're said to be safe
:20:48. > :20:51.and well, unaware of what is happening around them. Tens of
:20:51. > :20:53.thousands of Egyptians have gathered in Cairo for an opposition
:20:53. > :21:01.rally against President Mursi's decision to grant himself sweeping
:21:01. > :21:04.new powers. Opposition supporters clashed with police near Tahrir
:21:04. > :21:07.Square. President Mursi has tried to defuse the crisis by insisting
:21:07. > :21:12.his new powers are limited. But opponents want him to withdraw his
:21:12. > :21:15.decree completely. A lack of blood testing in global sport is sending
:21:15. > :21:20.a dreadful message and encouraging cheats, according to John Fahey,
:21:20. > :21:24.President of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He accused football and
:21:24. > :21:28.other sports of a failure of leadership. Many banned drugs can
:21:28. > :21:30.only be detected by blood tests and the agency wants a radical increase
:21:30. > :21:40.in the number of tests being carried out. Our sports editor,
:21:40. > :21:41.
:21:41. > :21:46.David Bond, has the story. Lance Armstrong is now the toxic symbol
:21:46. > :21:51.of cycling's failure to tackle the threat of drugs, but the fallout is
:21:51. > :21:54.posing serious questions for all sports in the fight against doping.
:21:54. > :22:00.Armstrong showed the gruesome lengths some athletes will go to,
:22:00. > :22:05.an nip lating his own blood to evade detection. -- manipulating
:22:05. > :22:11.his own blood to evade detection. The key is more blood tests, which
:22:11. > :22:17.are more effective in catching cheats using human growth hormone.
:22:17. > :22:20.The head of the agency said without tough action, the battle will be
:22:20. > :22:25.lost. We are wasting our time and letting people through the loop and
:22:25. > :22:29.we're saying you've got an immunity to cheat. If they know that there's
:22:29. > :22:34.a very remote likelihood that they'll ever have to give a blood
:22:34. > :22:37.sample and that doesn't work for any programme. When it comes to
:22:37. > :22:43.blood testing, the difference between sports is stark. For all
:22:43. > :22:49.its problems, cycling is setting an example. Last year, 35% of its
:22:49. > :22:57.samples sent to labs were blood. Athletics too has made strides,
:22:57. > :23:02.with 17%. But many big sports, all of which feature at the Olympics,
:23:02. > :23:07.are lagging behind. Blood made up less than 3% in football, tennis
:23:07. > :23:11.and boxing. Many blame the high costs. We have to keep trying with
:23:11. > :23:16.blood, otherwise we are giving a licence to dope to certain cheats
:23:16. > :23:21.that might be using human growth hormone. When you look at some of
:23:21. > :23:26.the sports, they are rich, they can afford it? Yes. Is that not a
:23:26. > :23:31.failure on the part of leadership in football? I can't argue.
:23:31. > :23:35.it's not just the administrators raising concerns. US Open champion,
:23:35. > :23:38.Andy Murray and Roger Federer, both warned recently about the levels of
:23:38. > :23:43.blood testing in tennis. Those running the sport say they are
:23:43. > :23:46.listening. What we are doing, we do well. But, if there are areas where
:23:46. > :23:51.we think that we could improve things, I think it would be fair to
:23:51. > :23:56.say we would look at the number of samples we are collecting and try
:23:56. > :24:01.to increase that as a proportion in the future. Public confidence in
:24:01. > :24:05.our sporting heroes has been badly shaken by the Lance Armstrong
:24:05. > :24:09.scandal. A doping conspiracy on this scale may never be repeated,
:24:09. > :24:12.but sport can't afford to take any chances. One of the British
:24:12. > :24:16.Museum's most ancient treasures is to be loaned to the United States
:24:16. > :24:18.for the first time. It's the Cyrus Cylinder, which is more than 2,500
:24:18. > :24:24.years old. Historians regard it as the world's first declaration of
:24:24. > :24:27.human rights. It's recently been on loan to the National Museum of Iran
:24:27. > :24:37.and it's hoped that the new loan to the USA will promote cultural
:24:37. > :24:41.understanding between Iran and America, as Will Gompertz explains.
:24:41. > :24:48.It's ten inches long, resembles a corn on the cob and has seen better
:24:48. > :24:51.days, but take a closer look at the Cyrus Cylinder and you'll see the
:24:51. > :24:58.artefact has a message on the surface. Written in Babylonian
:24:58. > :25:04.writing, it is said to be the first declaration of human rights as said
:25:04. > :25:10.out by the first%ian king. Here it is. It was buried under a wall in
:25:10. > :25:13.Babylon, which is now part of modern-day Iraq. It stayed there
:25:13. > :25:17.until 1879, when archeologists from this place, the British Museum,
:25:17. > :25:24.discovered it. They gave it a clean and sent it home to be put on
:25:24. > :25:28.public display. It's an ancient object, with, according to the
:25:28. > :25:34.director, significant contemporary relevance. In this cylinder, in
:25:35. > :25:39.this inscription on a bit of clay, made in Babylon 2500 years ago, you
:25:39. > :25:44.have the first real articulation of the rights of peoples to be free
:25:44. > :25:50.and to have their religions. It is and has remained, one of the key
:25:50. > :25:56.documents in the history of the Middle East. Without that long
:25:57. > :26:00.history, the current situation just doesn't make sense. In 2010 it was
:26:00. > :26:05.lent to the National Museum of Iran, where it was seen by over one
:26:05. > :26:09.million people. Next year it's off on a tour of America. Such activity
:26:09. > :26:15.has become known as culture diplomacy, but artefacts and not
:26:15. > :26:21.politicians are used to improve international relations. Everybody
:26:21. > :26:25.would endorse the ideals that he articulates in the cylinder. They
:26:25. > :26:29.are universal ideals of human freedoms and that's a unifying
:26:29. > :26:35.thing. Which makes sending it fragile, ancient object on a world
:26:35. > :26:39.tour, from the Middle East to the American West, an act of culture