:00:00. > :00:07.The increasingly desperate plight of civilians caught in Syria's civil
:00:08. > :00:12.war, cut off from food and medical supplies.
:00:13. > :00:15.Rare footage from inside rebel held areas where people are trapped by
:00:16. > :00:25.the fighting, with the shops running out of food.
:00:26. > :00:29.TRANSLATION: If they want to attack us with chemical weapons, then just
:00:30. > :00:32.do it, but can they make them with the smell of bread so we can die
:00:33. > :00:35.happy? We'll be looking at what progress
:00:36. > :00:37.has been made towards resolving the conflict.
:00:38. > :00:40.Also tonight: Shameful - a coroner rules neglect contributed to the
:00:41. > :00:42.deaths of five elderly residents at a care home in Sussex.
:00:43. > :00:45.Police protection for moderate British Muslims after they are
:00:46. > :00:47.targeted in a video by Islamist extremists.
:00:48. > :00:49.For sale off the coast of Brazil - one of the biggest offshore oil
:00:50. > :00:52.deposits ever found. And could Andros Townsend lead the
:00:53. > :00:58.next generation of England footballers?
:00:59. > :01:02.On Sportsday, Andros Townsend signs a new four-year contract with
:01:03. > :01:04.Tottenham Hotspur. He's also told the BBC he took Roy Hodgson's joke
:01:05. > :01:29.as a compliment. Good evening.
:01:30. > :01:32.The desperate plight of civilians caught up in Syria's conflict is
:01:33. > :01:36.causing increasing alarm among aid agencies tonight. Food supplies in
:01:37. > :01:39.rebel held areas of the capital, Damascus, are close to running out,
:01:40. > :01:44.and the International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on all
:01:45. > :01:48.sides to allow them in to help. The Syrian army has told the rebels to
:01:49. > :01:51.surrender or starve. The situation is so desperate that an influential
:01:52. > :01:56.Muslim cleric has issued a religious ruling allowing people to eat cats
:01:57. > :02:01.and dogs. The BBC has had access to rare footage shot inside one of the
:02:02. > :02:12.areas cut off from outside help. Paul Wood reports.
:02:13. > :02:20.Surrender, or starve. That is what the Syrian military calls its tactic
:02:21. > :02:26.of besieging rebel held parts of Damascus. This is how the regime has
:02:27. > :02:30.been shelling this suburb in recent weeks. Encircled and cut off, no one
:02:31. > :02:44.can get out and nothing can get in. One family's struggle for existence
:02:45. > :02:48.was filmed by an activist. Conditions are so desperate that a
:02:49. > :02:55.cleric has ruled people can eat cats and dogs. This 11th -year-old boy
:02:56. > :03:04.and his nine-year-old sister have seen many friends die.
:03:05. > :03:08.TRANSLATION: My dream is to go back to school and play with my friends.
:03:09. > :03:12.We had a slogan, one for wall, and all for one, but I don't think that
:03:13. > :03:16.can happen now because half my friends are dead. We are bored of
:03:17. > :03:19.this. If they want to attack with chemical weapons, then do it. But
:03:20. > :03:26.can they make them with the smell of bread so we can die happy? His
:03:27. > :03:29.mother, who asked not to be identified, says she cannot face
:03:30. > :03:37.what they might have to do to survive.
:03:38. > :03:41.TRANSLATION: I would rather die than eat cats and dogs. Two weeks ago I
:03:42. > :03:44.saw the head of a cat in the Street. Just imagining the picture
:03:45. > :03:50.of people eating cats make me sick for the whole day. There is little
:03:51. > :04:02.comfort on a trip to the market. A few radishes and leaves, all that is
:04:03. > :04:07.left to sell here. For children already ill, the shortage of food is
:04:08. > :04:11.deadly. Activists say they are starting to record the first deaths
:04:12. > :04:23.from complications caused by malnutrition. Tens of thousands of
:04:24. > :04:35.people are affected in Damascus. Several areas are worse than others.
:04:36. > :04:40.They have been cut off for months. Here, on Wednesday, the government
:04:41. > :04:49.told noncombatants, women, children and elderly men that they could
:04:50. > :04:54.leave. But shelling began as one group crossed no man's land. We are
:04:55. > :05:00.helpless, says this man, having been turned back. All that we have is
:05:01. > :05:07.God. Several thousand escaped, but many more remained behind, unwilling
:05:08. > :05:11.to risk this. The UN Security Council has just passed a resolution
:05:12. > :05:15.instructing all sides to allow humanitarian supplies to cross front
:05:16. > :05:19.lines. That is not happening in the suburbs of Damascus. But the
:05:20. > :05:24.international community may have reached the limit of its influence
:05:25. > :05:27.in Syria, able to get access to weapons inspectors but not for aid
:05:28. > :05:36.to desperate people whose food is running out. The family share their
:05:37. > :05:41.one meal of the day. A handful of lentils has made a thin broth and
:05:42. > :05:49.some bread. In four or five days they say the little that they have
:05:50. > :05:55.will be gone. Bridget Kendall is here. What
:05:56. > :06:01.progress on a diplomatic solution to end the misery we saw? On the face
:06:02. > :06:05.of it, there has been progress. Chemical weapons inspectors say they
:06:06. > :06:08.are able to get on with their job, and the Syrian regime is talking a
:06:09. > :06:13.prospect of a peace conference in Geneva although others are saying it
:06:14. > :06:17.is too early to talk about that yet. But over the last few weeks, Syrian
:06:18. > :06:22.diplomatic diplomacy, the process of diplomacy has been turned on its
:06:23. > :06:26.head. Just a few weeks ago, the United States was contemplating air
:06:27. > :06:32.strikes on Syria. They went from bad to a piece deal over chemical
:06:33. > :06:35.weapons, which some of Syria's neighbours is just legitimising
:06:36. > :06:40.President Assad and will do nothing to stop the conflict, the bloodshed,
:06:41. > :06:44.the misery we saw in that film. Today we got the measure of the
:06:45. > :06:49.anger and frustration countries like Saudi Arabia are feeling. Saudi
:06:50. > :06:51.Arabia announced it was refusing to take up its rotating seat on the UN
:06:52. > :06:56.Security Council, shocking everybody, saying it was partly in
:06:57. > :07:01.protest at what is happening in Syria. It is a symbolic gesture but
:07:02. > :07:03.it is a good measure of the divisions and frustrations around
:07:04. > :07:07.Syria and just how complicated it will be to solve the conflict.
:07:08. > :07:10.A coroner has ruled that neglect contributed to the deaths of five
:07:11. > :07:13.elderly people at a residential home in Sussex. She said there was
:07:14. > :07:17.institutionalised abuse throughout Orchid View Care Home and nobody did
:07:18. > :07:20.anything about it. Some residents were given overdoses or the wrong
:07:21. > :07:25.medication altogether, left dirty, distressed and unattended. The Care
:07:26. > :07:30.Quality Commission also came in for criticism. It had given the home a
:07:31. > :07:37.rating of "good". Duncan Kennedy reports.
:07:38. > :07:44.Mothers, fathers, parents and grandparents. The elderly residents
:07:45. > :07:50.who went into a home of care, only to suffer pain and neglect at the
:07:51. > :07:54.hands of their carers. The 19 who died lived at the Orchid View home
:07:55. > :07:58.near Crawley. The inquest heard residents were not given pain
:07:59. > :08:05.relief, were locked in rooms and had injuries left untreated by staff,
:08:06. > :08:09.who were drinking tea. Lindsay's mother was among those who suffered.
:08:10. > :08:15.She was given an overdose of her own drugs and had her medical notes
:08:16. > :08:20.shredded to cover it up. Every days seemed like a battle in trying to
:08:21. > :08:27.get the care she needed. Having read and listened to the other evidence,
:08:28. > :08:33.it is amazing that anyone came out of Orchid View alive. The coroner
:08:34. > :08:39.condemned the home and its management. She said residents were
:08:40. > :08:43.found naked, one in pain with his catheter twisted. Others were left
:08:44. > :08:48.soiled in bed. Another had a fractured ankle that took staff days
:08:49. > :08:55.to discover, and some even have their wounds dressed with Seller
:08:56. > :08:57.tape. The scandal came to light when the administrator turned
:08:58. > :09:03.whistle-blower. Her manager had ordered her to shred medical notes.
:09:04. > :09:07.Morally, I know I did the right thing but personally I have not
:09:08. > :09:11.worked for two years and the case has had a huge impact on my life.
:09:12. > :09:14.However, I would not want to dissuade anyone from doing the right
:09:15. > :09:20.thing in future if they see vulnerable elderly people being
:09:21. > :09:22.abused and neglected. The coroner also criticised the Care Quality
:09:23. > :09:30.Commission for not acting sooner to close Orchid View. Tonight, the CQC
:09:31. > :09:34.said mistakes were made. One of the things I am going to do is to
:09:35. > :09:38.personally oversee a review of the actions we took and what we can
:09:39. > :09:42.learn from that, and build that into the new way of inspecting services.
:09:43. > :09:47.The home is now under new management and has a different name, but for
:09:48. > :09:51.the coroner what went on here was heartbreaking. She said there was
:09:52. > :09:57.institutional abuse, a place which had, from top to bottom, been
:09:58. > :10:01.completely mismanaged. The coroner said all of those involved in Orchid
:10:02. > :10:05.View should be ashamed. This was a story about residents denied the
:10:06. > :10:11.committee and respect, who had a home, but not the care.
:10:12. > :10:14.Well, the Health Secretary has expressed his concern about the care
:10:15. > :10:17.of the elderly, not just in terms of protecting them from abuse but also
:10:18. > :10:20.from loneliness. Jeremy Hunt described as a source of national
:10:21. > :10:25.shame that 800,000 people in England say they are chronically lonely.
:10:26. > :10:26.He's urging families to take more responsibility, as Mark Easton
:10:27. > :10:39.reports. Loneliness is a matter of life and
:10:40. > :10:44.death. For people like Ron, who has experienced a profound sense of
:10:45. > :10:48.isolation, the evidence is chilling. A lack of social relationships is as
:10:49. > :10:55.dangerous as smoking, obesity or high blood pressure. It is awful.
:10:56. > :11:03.You seem to have no purpose in life any more. It was terrible. I was not
:11:04. > :11:10.eating properly. I felt nobody cared, to be quite honest. He is not
:11:11. > :11:14.alone in his loneliness. This Sunday a poll for BBC Two is faith in the
:11:15. > :11:21.world week suggests almost half of image people feel lonely sometimes.
:11:22. > :11:24.Evidence that older people suffer chronic loneliness was described by
:11:25. > :11:31.Jeremy Hunt today as a source of national shame. If we are to tackle
:11:32. > :11:36.the challenge of an ageing society, we must restore and reinvigorate the
:11:37. > :11:40.social contract between generations. Uncomfortable though it is to say
:11:41. > :11:45.it, it will only start with changes in the way we personally treat our
:11:46. > :11:49.own parents and grandparents. But is he right to suggest Britain should
:11:50. > :11:52.adopt an oriental approach, with families rather than the state
:11:53. > :11:57.looking after the old? Research done in a few years ago suggests that in
:11:58. > :12:02.Japan, two thirds of their elderly live with their children. In Italy
:12:03. > :12:08.it is 40%. Here in Britain it is only 15%. But come to this lunch
:12:09. > :12:13.club, and you will find that many older people say they do not want to
:12:14. > :12:18.live with their children. I have one son who lives in Northampton. He
:12:19. > :12:24.wants me to live with him but I don't want to. You don't want to? My
:12:25. > :12:29.granddaughter wants me to live with her, but I have my own life and I
:12:30. > :12:36.want to do what I want to do. You are 92 and happy? Yes. Research
:12:37. > :12:41.finds that in Eastern Europe upto 30% of the elderly are lonely. In
:12:42. > :12:45.southern Europe it is up to 20%. In Britain and other parts of northern
:12:46. > :12:50.Europe, between three and 10% of older people are lonely. I heard how
:12:51. > :13:01.older men had set up a club to counter isolation. It is called the
:13:02. > :13:08.keys are's club. It is about countering loneliness? Without a
:13:09. > :13:12.doubt. An ageing population means loneliness is a challenge for our
:13:13. > :13:16.society, irresponsibility to be shared between families, communities
:13:17. > :13:19.and charities, as well as the state. -- a responsibility.
:13:20. > :13:21.A number of British Muslims who've spoken out against Islamist
:13:22. > :13:24.extremism are being protected by the police because of concerns for their
:13:25. > :13:27.safety. They've been warned that they could be targeted by members of
:13:28. > :13:30.the Somali jihadist group, Al-Shabab, after they were named in
:13:31. > :13:32.a video which encourages attacks in the UK. Al-Shabab has claimed
:13:33. > :13:35.responsibility for the recent shopping mall siege in Kenya that
:13:36. > :13:49.left 67 people dead. June Kelly reports. Those who had been at
:13:50. > :13:55.Friday prayers at one central London mosque today heard the message that
:13:56. > :13:59.terrorism has no place in Islam. The imam preached that as a direct
:14:00. > :14:03.response to the news that he is decided in the latest video by
:14:04. > :14:08.Al-Shabab. He has been visited the police because of concerns over his
:14:09. > :14:12.safety, but he is defiant. I am not worried about this death threat. I
:14:13. > :14:16.am bent to continue with my good work, speaking against terrorism and
:14:17. > :14:20.extremism, and speaking for fairness and justice for everybody in the
:14:21. > :14:25.world. I will continue. The Al-Shabab video focuses on Islamist
:14:26. > :14:30.attacks and the people who have spoken out against them. This imam
:14:31. > :14:36.on the left is one of the number of leaders criticised. Also depicted as
:14:37. > :14:40.a traitor to Islam is Mohammed Ansar, a film-maker and journalist.
:14:41. > :14:44.He has recently been filming this BBC documentary with the now former
:14:45. > :14:50.leader of the far right English Defence League Tommy Robinson, who
:14:51. > :14:54.also appears in the Al-Shabab video. Now, both these men have been told
:14:55. > :14:59.there is a threat to their safety. So, what precautions has the
:15:00. > :15:05.film-maker put in place? We have had security people around, we have had
:15:06. > :15:09.lots of briefings, changed locks, reinforced security, had police cars
:15:10. > :15:14.stationed at our premises, and we have regular patrols checking on us.
:15:15. > :15:18.Yes, we take it very seriously. In the video, a masked man speaks about
:15:19. > :15:26.Joe right, 's who have travelled from the UK to Somalia to fight with
:15:27. > :15:29.Al-Shabab. They were accompanied by many Somali brothers from London,
:15:30. > :15:36.Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham... It was Al-Shabab which
:15:37. > :15:41.was responsible for the attack on the Westgate centre in Kenya. Last
:15:42. > :15:43.night, the BBC reported on how one of the gunman involved in the
:15:44. > :15:49.massacre here grew up in Norway. Well I've tidied, Al-Shabab is a
:15:50. > :16:02.terror network with a global reach. -- like Al-Qaeda. Now, it is
:16:03. > :16:05.expected to be one of the biggest deals in the history of the oil
:16:06. > :16:10.industry, affecting the future of global fuel supplies. On Monday,
:16:11. > :16:14.Brazil will auction rights to the Libra oilfield, discovered off the
:16:15. > :16:18.coast of Rio de Janeiro. It is thought to contain up to 12 billion
:16:19. > :16:22.barrels of oil, and would make Brazil one of the largest producers.
:16:23. > :16:28.The firm which wins the auction stands to make up to ?740 billion
:16:29. > :16:31.from the proceeds. As Wyre Davies reports, many Brazilians are worried
:16:32. > :16:37.about selling off a major national asset, and about where the money
:16:38. > :16:40.will end up. Ozil is about to join the big league, and anyone who is a
:16:41. > :16:47.player in the oil business is heading south. -- Brazil. Beneath
:16:48. > :16:51.these waves is the Libra field, one of the largest offshore deposits
:16:52. > :16:56.ever found, and Brazil is selling the rights to develop the area, but
:16:57. > :17:01.with some tight strings attached. This is Brazil's new frontier. The
:17:02. > :17:05.figures are mind boggling, the opportunity is almost endless. When
:17:06. > :17:11.the Libra field goes on stream, it will produce an extra 10 million
:17:12. > :17:15.barrels of oil every day for Brazil, worth trillions of dollars for the
:17:16. > :17:20.national economy. Just to the north of Rio de Janeiro, in this fishing
:17:21. > :17:24.village, or oil is taking over. Big multinationals and contract as are
:17:25. > :17:29.queueing up for their share of the windfall. Big British companies are
:17:30. > :17:36.well established in Brazil, including BP. Also, the lesser-known
:17:37. > :17:42.BG Group. They are not bidding for the rights to the Libra field, but
:17:43. > :17:48.many smaller UK supply firms, like the Swire Group, say they have to be
:17:49. > :17:54.where the oil is now. The North Sea is on the downside, every day, there
:17:55. > :17:56.is less oil and gas, so the companies are not looking at Africa
:17:57. > :18:03.and South America as the future, because their business is going to
:18:04. > :18:10.shrink. -- if those companies are not looking... Thousands of workers
:18:11. > :18:14.are coming from poorer parts of the country to work on the oil
:18:15. > :18:16.platforms. But there are concerns about the experience and
:18:17. > :18:25.infrastructure present in the country. A strike by oil workers
:18:26. > :18:31.opposed to the involvement of foreign companies in the petroleum
:18:32. > :18:36.industry has disrupted production. But the head of Brazil's national
:18:37. > :18:43.oil agency insists the country's state dominated sector can cope with
:18:44. > :18:47.the huge challenge. Everything is happening in the correct place, so
:18:48. > :18:53.we are confident that everything will be OK. Oil has always proved to
:18:54. > :18:58.be a blessing and a curse. Here on the impoverished fringes of one
:18:59. > :19:03.region, some improvements are finally being made to people's
:19:04. > :19:11.lives. But what Brazil does with the windfall from the Libra auction will
:19:12. > :19:14.be watched very closely here. The Defence Secretary says he is
:19:15. > :19:20.concerned that legal action against the MoD is having an impact on the
:19:21. > :19:24.ability of servicemen to carry out duties on the battlefield. He was
:19:25. > :19:28.reacting to a report by a think-tank which says legal claims brought
:19:29. > :19:37.under the Human Rights Act are sapping the ability of Britain to
:19:38. > :19:39.fight wars. Caroline Wyatt reports. Over a decade of fighting in
:19:40. > :19:46.Afghanistan and Iraq has taken its toll. Soldiers' deaths there have
:19:47. > :19:50.led to legal battles back at home over equipment or decisions made in
:19:51. > :19:55.the heat of battle. Iraqi and Afghan detainees have also launched claims
:19:56. > :19:59.against the MoD. Now, a report says applying human rights law to
:20:00. > :20:06.soldiering is affecting the front line. We have got Lance Corporal 's
:20:07. > :20:09.and left tenants taking very difficult decisions, taking them at
:20:10. > :20:16.night, when they are afraid, when they are under fire. -- Lance
:20:17. > :20:20.Corporals and lieutenancy. Second-guessing what a lawyer or a
:20:21. > :20:23.judge might say in a few years' time stops them thinking about what they
:20:24. > :20:29.should be thinking about, how to get home alive. The report says the MoD
:20:30. > :20:35.has fought over 6000 cases in the past year, putting aside ?130
:20:36. > :20:38.million out of its budget to pay for them. It employs more than 300
:20:39. > :20:45.lawyers to do battle in court. The Policy Exchange report expresses
:20:46. > :20:48.widespread concerns from commanders and politicians alike. The Secretary
:20:49. > :20:51.of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, has said he remains
:20:52. > :20:58.concerned about the challenge to combat unity arising from these
:20:59. > :21:01.judgements. Sue Smith disagrees. Her son was killed when his Snatch Land
:21:02. > :21:10.Rover hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. He was 21. His lawyer argued the MoD
:21:11. > :21:16.breached his human rights and should have provided better protected
:21:17. > :21:19.vehicles. They were not allowed to let it continue because there was no
:21:20. > :21:23.way anybody could challenge it. For myself, it needed to be challenged,
:21:24. > :21:28.because they should have the right to life, right to protection. Her
:21:29. > :21:31.lawyer insists the Human Rights Act does have a place on the
:21:32. > :21:35.battlefield. What I would like to see coming from this is a
:21:36. > :21:43.recognition from the MoD that they have to put safety on the agenda, as
:21:44. > :21:48.one of the considerations when we go into war. For British troops, the
:21:49. > :21:54.Afghan war may soon be over, but for the opposing armies of lawyers, the
:21:55. > :21:57.fight is not yet done. The Scottish national party says that if the
:21:58. > :22:01.Scottish people vote for independence, it would introduce a
:22:02. > :22:04.cut in energy bills. The Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon,
:22:05. > :22:08.said the cuts would allow the Scottish government to save
:22:09. > :22:17.households about ?70 each year. James Cook reports. Perth is power
:22:18. > :22:22.city. The River Tay gave birth to an energy giant, SSE, which is now
:22:23. > :22:28.leading the charge to push up prices, a problem for politicians.
:22:29. > :22:31.The SNP had already rejected Labour's plan to freeze bills, so
:22:32. > :22:38.what would they do, as the clock ticks down to the referendum?
:22:39. > :22:42.Delegates, I can announce to you today that an SNP government in an
:22:43. > :22:47.independent Scotland will remove the cost of energy-saving measures and
:22:48. > :22:53.the warm home discount from Energy Bill 's. She said that would cut ?70
:22:54. > :22:57.off the average bill, but of course, the money has to come from
:22:58. > :23:01.somewhere. Is it not at the basic level taking money out of budgets
:23:02. > :23:07.for schools and hospitals to save the energy companies? Right now,
:23:08. > :23:11.people find this out of their pockets, through the energy bills.
:23:12. > :23:15.It is not progressive, because it hits you whether you are very highly
:23:16. > :23:21.paid all only paid. It is very regressive. How does this go down on
:23:22. > :23:26.the high street in Perth, where 2500 people work for just one energy
:23:27. > :23:31.firm? We get lots of promises from politicians, but does it happen? No,
:23:32. > :23:34.I do not think it would make a difference. I believe it should not
:23:35. > :23:38.be part of the energy cost, it should be some other form of
:23:39. > :23:45.taxation, whether national, income or local. As Scotland prepares to
:23:46. > :23:48.vote on independence next year, the SNP is trying to bridge divide, to
:23:49. > :23:56.be on the side of the consumer, without scaring off big business.
:23:57. > :24:00.The England player Andros Townsend has tried to defuse the race row
:24:01. > :24:06.prompted by comments by the manager, Roy Hodgson, describing the comments
:24:07. > :24:10.as a condiment. Townsend is England's write new hope, for the
:24:11. > :24:21.World Cup in Brazil and beyond. -- as a compliment. His debut was a
:24:22. > :24:31.rare explosion on the national stage. It's saw him hailed as
:24:32. > :24:35.England's next great hope. Being at the centre of a racism storm was not
:24:36. > :24:39.something Andros Townsend was expecting. Today he told me he took
:24:40. > :24:46.the team talk as a compliment. It has been a week to remember. It was,
:24:47. > :24:53.in a way I was going home on Friday night, watching the game over and
:24:54. > :24:55.over again, watching the gold. The last time fans were this infused
:24:56. > :25:01.about an England player was Wayne Rooney, blasting on the scene for
:25:02. > :25:09.Everton at 16 years old. Why do players like these, round so
:25:10. > :25:14.infrequently? At his old club, the players elite performance plan has
:25:15. > :25:20.been around for a year. The aim of the plan is to get players closer to
:25:21. > :25:27.10,000 hours of high-level coaching by the age of 18. Here, they say it
:25:28. > :25:29.has got to start earlier. You see nine-year-olds playing with the
:25:30. > :25:35.wrong size pitch, the wrong size ball, all of those fundamental
:25:36. > :25:38.things. It is really sad. If that is the feeder system for the elite
:25:39. > :25:45.programme, and it is letting us down. There is no argument about
:25:46. > :25:49.that. The FA says it is working hard to develop better practice for
:25:50. > :25:52.children, children who idolise these foreign Premier League stars, who
:25:53. > :25:57.have helped it to become arguably the best league in the world. But
:25:58. > :26:03.many believe it is at the expense of the national side. Everton's manager
:26:04. > :26:09.is not one of them. It is easy to say we have it does not matter where
:26:10. > :26:12.you are from, the players who play is the best ones in the squad. We
:26:13. > :26:18.need to make sure the British players are the best ones in the
:26:19. > :26:21.dressing room. The Premier League is adamant that their system means
:26:22. > :26:28.England fans will enjoy plenty more good nights, and on a more regular
:26:29. > :26:34.basis. That is all from us. Newsnight follows on BBC Two.