08/02/2016 BBC News at Ten

Growing concern for the plight of thousands

of Syrian refugees trapped at the Turkish border.

Tens of thousands are trying to cross into Turkey but the border

remains closed as conditions get steadily worse.

Most have fled their homes in the city of Aleppo,

where Russian bombing raids have been carried out,

If Aleppo falls, then the misery won't just be contained

there in Syria and here in Turkey, it will be Europe's problem too.

We'll be reporting from Turkey - where more talks were held today -

on trying to contain the refugee crisis.

Also tonight: The Prime Minister outlines the biggest reform

of prisons in England and Wales since Victorian times.

The latest on Storm Imogen - which has hit southern England

and Wales - with thousands of homes without power.

We return to an embattled village in Ukraine

one year after the ceasefire deal, where the fighting

And - how Beyonce stole the show - with a super-charged

Later on BBC London: Criticism for the filmmakers who blew up

And the Met considers using eagles to protect the capital

There's growing concern for the plight of thousands

of Syrian refugees trapped at a crossing on the Turkish border.

Most of them have fled from the city of Aleppo where Syrian government

forces have been making gains - helped by Russian air strikes.

Turkey - which has already accepted more than two million refugees

from Syria - is now providing food and shelter

for tens of thousands of people on the Syrian side.

Chancellor Merkel of Germany, who held talks in Turkey today,

said she was 'not just appalled but horrified' by the suffering

From this side of the border, Syria's Vaughan looks distant,

contained. On the other side of the fence there is this. Today, hundreds

more joined the thousands who have already fled Aleppo. Turkey, which

has let in so many, is resisting letting in more, except the sick and

wounded. This man and two of his children woke up in this Turkish

hospital, days after their home in Aleppo was flattened by an air

strike. He only realised this morning that the five-year-old was

still alive. I could not believe no one was killed, he told me. We know

the weapons used. We know the cluster bombs and the massive

destruction they caused. It has been five years and I did not think we

would be hit. What have these children done? Tomorrow, he will go

for surgery. The battle for the Aleppo

countryside is still underway, and the regime is winning. The air

strikes are relentless. President Assad's forces gained more ground

today. Russian firepower speeding their advance. Getting into Turkey,

even if it is to this tin roofed hut surrounded by Phil is worth paying

for. This man gave money to people smugglers. His family are sick and

hungry but it is better than the constant threat of air strikes.

TRANSLATION: The Russians have no mercy, they attack humans and

animals with stones. Russian air strikes in Syria are red death.

Massacres everywhere. Marketplaces and cafes have been targeted. The

Syrians are being killed but no one cares. Here on the Turkish side of

the border, the war feels very far away but it is not. The Syrian

regime is on a winning streak with the help of Russian bombs. That has

caused people to flee in their thousands but there is worse to

come. If Aleppo falls, the misery will not just be contained here in

Turkey and therein Syria, it will be your's problem as well. Tonight,

Syrian families without shelter and children carrying schoolbags are

trapped in the No Man's Land. Turkey says they will be allowed in when

necessary. Until then, here they wait. There is no going back.

The battle for Aleppo could prove be a turning point for the government

Three years after Syria's eastern half fell to rebel forces,

The battle for Aleppo could prove be a turning point for the government

Syria's largest city is now the focal point of a war

where Russian forces have helped the Syrian government to regain

Our diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendal is here

Thank you. It is hard to overstate how dramatic this turn of vents in

northern Syria could turn out to be. A week ago, it looked like new

Syrian peace talks were underway. Now we are back to military might,

more refugees, more devastation and a possible

shift in the balance of power. Camps on Syria's side of the border, now

at full capacity say the United Nations, even though everyone

expects the flood to increase. Worrying for Turkey you cannot cope

with more refugees and for Europeans. In Ankara today, Turkey's

Prime Minister and Germany's Chancellor voiced their alarm.

TRANSLATION: Nearly 30,000 people have amassed near our border. We

will meet the needs of our Syrian brothers as usual, we will take them

in as necessary. We have been very clear on this matter. TRANSLATION:

In the past days we have become not just alarmed but appalled by the

human misery that has unfolded for tens of thousands of people, caused

by bombardments originating mainly from the Russian side. And this is

the onslaught which is prompting people to flee. A ferocious

pounding, including an intense Russian aerial bombardment, all part

of a major Syrian government assault on rebel strongholds in and around

the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. This map shows how President Assad's

forces have steadily tightened their grip on Aleppo. The red area shows

what they controlled back in September and this is what they

control now, leaving the centre of Aleppo virtually surrounded. A key

town in the north, Aleppo is an important prize, but as refugees and

rebel fighters head north to the Turkish border, the bombardment is

also making a terrible humanitarian crisis worse. All this leaves

diplomacy in disarray. Modern delegates last week pulled out of

talks saying they could not negotiate when President Assad and

his backers were bombing them. President Putin insists the attacks

are aimed at what he calls terrorists and says he still wants a

peace deal but it does not look like that. Instead, the intensification

of the war may mean the Russian leader has concluded he is likely to

get what he wants by military means. Calculating that if the opposition

is crushed then the outside world will have to accept President Assad

and his forces as the only viable way, along with the Kurds, to

counter so-called IS jihadists. So, what we are watching could be a

shift to turn the tide of the Syrian war. The opposition squeezed between

a pro-government advance from one side and pressure from so-called IS

jihadists on the other. With little sign that outside powers from

Europe, the United States or outside the Gulf can do very much to

intervene. Thank you.

For the first time in more than 20 years, a British prime minister has

David Cameron described the failure of the current system in England

and Wales as a "scandal" and he outlined his plan to create

-- reduce reoffending and give governors more control of their

budgets. David Cameron this morning walking

into a prison system where violence is rising, murders are at record

levels, and the number of prisoners reoffending after their jail time

remains stubbornly high. A system that sometimes

works, but often doesn't. We need a prison system that doesn't

see prisoners simply as liabilities to be managed, but instead potential

assets to be harnessed. But the failure of our system

today is scandalous. 46% of all prisoners will reoffend

within a year of release. And current levels of prison

violence, drug-taking and self-harm Violence and drugs are simply part

of life in Brixton Prison which we filmed in today,

although it is better than some. While it's not unusual

for a Prime Minister to make a speech about crime,

it is unusual for one to commit himself so strongly to prison

reform, which is perhaps why in the 21st Century so many inmates

are still held in Victorian jails. At the prison's radio station,

I met Ensley, back in for his second He said it wasn't prison that had

failed to stop him committing further crimes, rather what had

happened after he was released. I couldn't sort my housing out so,

for me, that is what actually really led me to reoffending,

I felt like I wasn't getting any David Cameron said today he wants

a 21st Century prison system, These inmates in Onley Prison

were learning bike maintenance. He wants prison governors to have

more power to run their jails as they see best, and staff to get

bonuses where reoffending But prison reformers say he's

ducking the biggest question - should there be fewer people

in prison in the first place? I think he has to look at the first

principles and what the purpose What are the outcomes

that we would expect? Right now, they are failing

and that is seen in reoffending Among other things,

the Prime Minister wants to look at a new kind of tag,

to track some offenders They would keep their jobs outside

jail and only go into prison All part of what David Cameron's

promising will be, in his words, Daniel Sandford, BBC News,

in Brixton Prison. Mark, I suppose people watching

might suppose that claiming to have the biggest reforms since Victorian

times is quite a claim? What I think I would say is the government have

certainly given itself a challenge. Prison is expensive, too many

prisoners reoffend and the government wants to solve both those

issues at the same time, to cut costs and improve the performance of

our prison systems simultaneously, as the Prime Minister put it today,

my government is one that can do with -- more with less. Canny square

the circle with prisons? Since coming to power, the Conservatives

have talked a lot about increasing local control, increasing

competition to push up standards without pushing up the cost of the

prison system. We got more of that today in what is a very wide-ranging

speech but some would argue that the Prime Minister has sidestepped the

important issue, the very high numbers of people inside prisons. We

have one of the highest incarceration rates in Western

Europe, twice what the Germans do. Prison governors will say it is only

when we deal with the chronic overcrowding in our prisons that

they can deal with what the Prime Minister said is the scandalous

failure of our prison system. Thank you.

The father of Private Cheryl James, a teenage soldier found dead

at Deepcut army barracks in Surrey in 1995, has called for a

thorough analysis - of new forensic evidence saying it suggests

that she might not have killed herself.

Cheryl was found with a gunshot wound to her head.

Our home affairs correspondent June Kelly reports.

Cheryl James passed out from the Army in the summer of 1995.

This footage was filmed by her family.

Six months after she joined up, they were told she was dead.

Cheryl, in the weeks before she was fatally injured at Deepcut

with a single bullet wound to her head.

It was a month after her 18th birthday.

Today her father Des James described how she seemed to thrive

in the military and was like a poster for the Army.

He and his wife Doreen have always questioned whether their vivacious

teenager would have taken her own life.

She was one of four recruits to die at Deepcut.

In a dramatic development, the family's barrister,

Alison Foster QC - in the middle - said, "There was now pathological

evidence which showed that the shot which killed Private James may not

The barrister for Surrey Police, John Beggs QC - here in the front -

described this claim as "extremely speculative".

He was involved in highly-charged exchanges with Cheryl's father

when he questioned Mr James's criticisms of the police inquiry,

at a time when the Surrey force was also investigating the murder

Des James said, "I have lived through this, I know what went on."

The police barrister put it to Cheryl's father,

"Did it ever occur that you yourself might have been distracting

Surrey Police from what they thought were more pressing matters?"

The coroner stepped in and stopped this line of questioning.

The name "Deepcut" has come to represent a dark episode

in the modern history of the British Army.

For years the families of the soldiers who died have been

fighting to find out what happened at this base.

Now with this first new inquest, Cheryl James's death will be

examined in detail in a public forum.

Des James said he was not aware of claims that Cheryl had spoken

about shooting herself and wanting to leave the Army.

A man in his 50s has been shot dead in Dublin in what police

believe could be a reprisal for the attack at a boxing weigh-in

The attack happened just before eight o'clock.

Our Ireland correspondent Chris Buckler is in Belfast.

That police cordon remains in place outside that hotel. A man was shot

dead in that attack. Detectives are also at the scene of another murder.

Both killings are linked to guns, gangs and crime in Dublin and there

will be pressure on the police, not just to find those responsible, but

also to prevent further violence. What's seen as a gangland feud

is fuelling fear in north Dublin. Tonight, a man has been shot dead

in his home and it is understood the police believe this latest

attack is in retaliation Their concern that there

could be more violence Armed officers made themselves very

visible, patrolling the streets But they couldn't

prevent another killing. On Friday, gunmen armed with assault

rifles disguised themselves as police officers to

enter a Dublin hotel. A weigh-in was being held

ahead of a boxing match, but those gathered were forced

to run for their lives David Byrne, who had

links to criminal gangs, Apparently, his shooting

was itself revenge. And just days after the attack

at this hotel, there are concerns that this feud between

gangs is escalating. Detectives say they are

investigating all claims, including suggestions

that the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA could

have been involved. And they are studying pictures,

including a photograph taken of gunmen fleeing, one

of them dressed as a woman. But tonight their focus

is on another murder scene, A brief look at some of the day's

other news stories: 12 men, who sexually exploited

a vulnerable teenager in West Yorkshire, have received

jail sentences of up to 20 years. 11 of the men were convicted

of raping the girl in Keighley The claim by Downing Street -

that thousands of migrants in Calais could to travel to the UK

if Britain left the EU - have been dismissed as blatant

scaremongering by critics. It was claimed that a vote to leave

the EU would allow French politicians to abandon

the arrangement which lets UK border Gas has started coming onshore

at a major new plant in Shetland. The Laggan-Tormore project

is a ?3.5 billion pound development It's expected to provide 8%

of all the UK's gas needs - enough to power around

two million homes. Storm Imogen has brought high winds

and heavy rain to parts of southern

England and Wales. Roads have been closed,

there are delays to flights, and rail and ferry services have

been heavily disrupted. Winds in the most exposed areas hit

nearly 100 miles per hour. With them came waves more than 60

feet high - or 19 metres. More than 19,000 homes

are without power in the Midlands, Coastal areas have faced

the worst of the bad weather, as Duncan Kennedy has

been finding out. From Devon to Dartford,

southern Britain and Wales felt their most powerful

storm of the winter. The seas drenching

everything that came close. Just like in Aberystwyth,

where mountainous waves churned This is Barton-on-Sea

near Bournemouth. As you can see, the waves

are actually trundling The winds are knocking us over,

it is hard to stand up. In some places here,

it registered wave heights of 14 metres, and it's been going

on like this for several hours. 19,000 homes had their

electricity cut off today. Many here mistakenly thinking

that winter had passed. Never seen it like this before

and the wind is so strong. The winds brought damage to many

places, like this wall collapse in Worcestershire, which seriously

injured a four-year-old boy It basically hit two children

in the process of collapsing and they were very quickly removed

from under the initial rubble and was treated on scene

by Ambulance Service personnel. Tonight, train services

are still disrupted, with everything from flooded tracks

in Wales, to fallen trees Tomorrow's timetable is also

likely to be affected. Roads have been blocked

and bridges closed. And ferry services from P,

Brittany Ferries and others The storm may have peaked,

but the seas remain high Duncan Kennedy, BBC

News, in Hampshire. Ceasefire monitors in eastern

Ukraine say they've seen an increase in the level of violence in some

areas over the past week. It's nearly a year since the Minsk

agreement was signed - to try to bring peace

between the Ukrainian government Our special correspondent

Fergal Keane has been reporting on the conflict since it began

almost 18 months ago. He's returned to the embattled area

around Donetsk airport, including the frontline

village of Pisky - abandoned by all but

a handful of its residents. War is always a story

of dispossession. Here on the front-line, Ukrainians

hope to reconquer lost territory. And a handful of civilians

haunt the dangerous lanes These are the winter lines at Pisky,

one of the most fought-over villages And where we came last May,

to meet a remarkable couple, Anatoliy, the beekeeper

and his wife, Svetlana. They refuse to abandon their home

and precious garden. We have come back to find out how

they are coping. The second winter of the war has

brought despondency. You seem much angrier and much

sadder about the situation There are only 18 people left

here out of a pre-war Conditions are much harder

than when we last visited you. Their neighbour has moved from one

abandoned house to another She cares for her 53-year-old

mentally and physically disabled son Endurance isn't a habit,

it is what left when there Since our first visit

nearly two years ago, the demonstrations and civil

disorder gave way to all-out war. More than 9,000 people

have been killed, more The front-line is dividing

communities and families. Every night in rebel-held Donetsk

the sounds of battle echo. And it is here we met Tatiana,

the daughter of Svetlana and Anatoliy,

the beekeeper of Pisky. Her job as an engineer

vanished with the war. Now she makes and sells

dolls for a living. You must worry a lot

about your parents in Pisky? This is what passes for peace

in the beleaguered towns These are the survivors

of the Soviet empire's collapse, who watched elites get rich

and the powerful make war. A war whose grip reaches into

the minds of the old and the young. Elyena, her son, Alexei, 25,

and who has a muscle-wasting disease, and six-year-old Sonya

survived the shelling of their home. Before that, Elyena tried

to hide the reality of war What do you do when there's

shooting and bombing? Everybody waits for the next move

from Moscow or Kiev. Fergal Keane, BBC News, eastern

Ukraine. In America the race

to the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations reaches

a crucial early test tomorrow There's still a great deal

of uncertainty in the opinion polls following last week's

first outing in Iowa. Let's join our North America editor,

Jon Sopel, in Manchester, What will you be looking at? I think

it is the key people emerging on the democratic and the Republican side.

The Republican side, Donald Trump is still in front, but he was in that

position in Iowa and ended up coming second. Beneath that, you have a

whole pile of people who are trying to be the establishment candidate.

One person said to me, "You have Donald Trump on top and a bowl of

spaghetti underneath." On the Democratic side, it is more

straightforward. Hillary Clinton versus Bernie Sanders. This should

be Clinton strong territory, it is where Bill Clinton became the

comeback kid in '92, where Hillary Clinton won in 2008. According to

the polls, Bernie Sanders is way out in front and should win this state

easily. All of which means this race is going to go on and on. You

mentioned so many candidates on the Republican side, is it possible at

this stage that that list will increase? Yes. This evening, a

significant intervention from Mike Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New

York City coming out and saying he is considering his options, perhaps

running as an Independent saying I find the level of discourse and

discussion an insult to voters. That complicates an already complex

picture if he is going to throw his hat into the ring. Jon Sopel there.

The US primaries aside - possibly the biggest political

statement of the past week happened at the Super Bowl,

the most-watched American television event of the year.

The headlines were made not by the champions,

the Denver Broncos, but by the singer Beyonce,

whose politically-charged performance at half-time

was a protest againt racism and police brutality,

as our correspondent, James Cook, reports.

With more than 100 million Americans watching, Beyonce chose to make

There were defiant fists and berets reminiscent of the militant

Black Panther movement, born in the racial turmoil

After the performance, some of the dancers held a sign

He was shot dead by San Francisco police in December, reportedly

because he refused to put down a knife.

Beyonce's new video hammers home the message.

And having grabbed America's attention, the artist has now

She is harnessing history to reshape her brand.

It is incredibly significant for a woman of her stature,

a woman who is an international superstar to have "Black Panthers"

behind her and really speak to what is a problem

in the African-American community, which is police brutality.

But for others, like Rudy Giuliani, speaking on Fox News,

Talking to middle America, when you have a Super Bowl,

Let's have decent, wholesome entertainment and not use it

as platform to attack the people who put their lives at risk.

This intensely-political performance has certainly

The Super Bowl was a reminder that this country has not

At times, Beyonce seemed to be asking a question of her fellow

James Cook, BBC News, San Francisco.

Newsnight is about to get under way over on BBC Two.

Tonight, we're in New Hampshire where momentum is gathering

for Bernie Sanders ahead of tomorrow's vote -

as I ask Hillary Clinton what she makes of it all.

That's starting now over on BBC Two, 11pm in Scotland.

Here on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.