:00:06. > :00:15.Russia and China are accused of letting down the Syrian people,
:00:15. > :00:18.after vetoing a UN resolution condemning the violence there. It
:00:18. > :00:22.comes after one of the worst days since the uprising began, with
:00:22. > :00:27.scores of people killed in the city of Homs - from where we have an
:00:28. > :00:34.exclusive report. We have just arrived in Homs and people have
:00:34. > :00:36.told us of a relentless artillery, mortar, tank and heavy machine
:00:36. > :00:40.tkpupb attack overnight. They're getting off the streets now,
:00:40. > :00:43.fearing that tonight there will be more of the same.
:00:43. > :00:48.A severe weather warning across much of the country, as heavy snow
:00:48. > :00:58.affects roads and airports. And, England beat Scotland in a
:00:58. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:14.rare win at Murrayfield, as the Six Good evening. After one of the
:01:14. > :01:16.bloodiest attacks since the uprising in Syria began 10 months
:01:16. > :01:24.ago, a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian
:01:24. > :01:27.regime has tonight been vetoed by Russia and China. Anti-government
:01:27. > :01:33.activists say at least 60 people were killed by security forces
:01:33. > :01:37.around the city of Homs, others have put the figure even higher.
:01:37. > :01:39.President Obama called it an unspeakable assault. But this
:01:39. > :01:44.evening, Russia and China voted against a resolution which called
:01:44. > :01:47.for an immediate end to the violence. We'll have the latest
:01:47. > :01:50.from the United Nations in a moment, but first our reporter Paul Wood,
:01:50. > :02:00.and cameraman Fred Scott, were smuggled into Homs, from where they
:02:00. > :02:06.
:02:06. > :02:10.sent this exclusive report. Syrian activists are calling it a
:02:10. > :02:18.massacre. The number of dead isn't certain, but if what people say
:02:18. > :02:28.here is true, this is the revolution's bloodiest day.
:02:28. > :02:31.
:02:31. > :02:35.Oh, my God... Suddenly, maybe three hours ago, started, this shelling.
:02:35. > :02:42.The attack began in the early hours. It was a punishing assault on those
:02:43. > :02:45.parts of Homs that have slipped from the regime's control.
:02:45. > :02:54.Underground clinics were overwhelmed. The dead and wounded
:02:54. > :03:00.were brought to the mosques. Homs is bleeding, said one resident.
:03:00. > :03:05.And terrified. Parts of the city are virtually cut
:03:05. > :03:10.off. This was the view that greeted us after we were smuggled in. We
:03:10. > :03:15.have just arrived in Homs and people have told us of a relentless
:03:15. > :03:18.artillery, mortar, tank and heavy machine gun attack overnight.
:03:18. > :03:25.They're getting off the streets now, fearing that tonight there will be
:03:25. > :03:33.more of the same. Why now? The regime is under
:03:33. > :03:39.pressure as never before. From these men, the Free Syria Army.
:03:39. > :03:44.We followed one attack on a base outside Homs.
:03:44. > :03:52.GUNFIRE. After months of being shot at,
:03:52. > :03:58.people are starting to shoot back. They have just a few Kalashnikovs
:03:58. > :04:07.against the tanks and artillery. The attack failed. Perhaps
:04:07. > :04:12.predictably. They could not breach the base. And had to run.
:04:12. > :04:22.GUNFIRE. Still the Syrian Government is rattled and Homs is
:04:22. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:26.paying the price. Tonight, Britain and the United
:04:26. > :04:29.States have sharply criticised Russia and China for vetoing the UN
:04:29. > :04:32.resolution. The American ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said her
:04:32. > :04:36.country was disgusted that the Security Council was being held
:04:36. > :04:42.hostage by two of its members. Our United Nations Correspondent
:04:42. > :04:45.Barbara Plett reports. Anger over the killings erupted in
:04:45. > :04:54.a number of capitals. Here in London demonstraters clashed with
:04:54. > :04:58.police outside the Syrian Embassy. They held protests in Jordan, also.
:04:58. > :05:02.And in Turkey they took aim at the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.
:05:02. > :05:06.Tensions came to a head at the UN Security Council. For days
:05:06. > :05:10.ambassadors have worked on a resolution supporting an Arab plan
:05:10. > :05:13.calling for violence to end and for Assad to transfer power so
:05:13. > :05:18.elections can be held. Up to the last minute there was hope a
:05:18. > :05:24.consensus could be reached. But it wasn't to be. Russia, Syria's
:05:24. > :05:28.closest ally here, cast a veto, supported by China. Russia's
:05:28. > :05:35.ambassador said the resolution was unbalanced and promoted by powers
:05:35. > :05:40.whose real goal was regime change. The United States was outraged.
:05:40. > :05:46.United States is disgusted that a couple of members of this council
:05:46. > :05:51.continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here,
:05:51. > :05:55.addressing an ever deepening crisis in Syria, and a growing threat to
:05:55. > :05:59.regional peace and security. The British ambassador was dismayed.
:05:59. > :06:04.The reality is that Russia and China have today taken a choice, to
:06:04. > :06:08.turn their backs on the Arab world, and to support tyranny, rather than
:06:08. > :06:12.a legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. At the route of all
:06:12. > :06:15.this is a fundamental difference of opinion on this question: How far
:06:15. > :06:18.should the Security Council go to prevent a Government from
:06:18. > :06:23.inflicting violence on its own people and that divide has not been
:06:23. > :06:30.bridged. With diplomacy blocked, the real
:06:30. > :06:34.fear is that only greater violence is left.
:06:34. > :06:39.Let's return to Syria itself and join our correspondent Paul Wood
:06:39. > :06:46.still in Homs tonight. How would you assess the mood, the feeling
:06:46. > :06:52.there, Paul? Well, we are hearing a little bit of gunfire now which
:06:52. > :06:55.people say is the Syrian army firing in to parts of Homs, we
:06:55. > :07:02.can't confirm that. The effect of the bombardment last night was to
:07:02. > :07:07.push the rebel fighters out of one part of Homs and they've now fallen
:07:07. > :07:10.back to another part of the city. I have just come from seeing some of
:07:10. > :07:14.the Free Army commanders, some of the rebel commanders as they
:07:14. > :07:18.describe themselves who say they have seen and their men have seen
:07:18. > :07:24.tanks moving up and artillery moving up to surround this part of
:07:24. > :07:28.Homs and they also claim they have informers within the Syrian
:07:28. > :07:31.military, people who want to defect but haven't been able to, they say
:07:31. > :07:33.there will be an attack on this last part of Homs outside of
:07:33. > :07:38.Government control. No way of confirming that, but there is
:07:38. > :07:43.certainly a sense of a collective holding of breathe here. -- breath
:07:43. > :07:49.here. Many thanks for that, Paul Wood in
:07:49. > :07:52.Syria. Heavy snow has fallen across large
:07:52. > :07:56.parts of the UK, causing disruption on roads and there are warnings of
:07:56. > :07:59.worse to come. The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for
:07:59. > :08:01.much of the country, and about a third of tomorrow morning's flights
:08:01. > :08:10.from Heathrow airport have been cancelled. Our correspondent Robert
:08:10. > :08:14.Hall is in Oxfordshire. Yes, indeed. The weather men and
:08:14. > :08:18.traffic people talked about a dangerous cocktail of snow and ice,
:08:18. > :08:21.that is mixing nicely this evening. It's started pretty well on
:08:21. > :08:25.schedule and followed the track that everybody predicted late this
:08:25. > :08:31.afternoon. It's been falling ever since. It's emptied the roads, but
:08:31. > :08:35.that wasn't the case earlier on. Slithering home on a Saturday
:08:35. > :08:40.afternoon that grew more trying by the hour. We all knew the snow was
:08:40. > :08:45.on its way, but as the first flakes turned to a steady downfall, the
:08:45. > :08:51.landscape changed, drivers fell prey to unexpected hazards on
:08:51. > :08:55.familiar routes. We encountered one of many
:08:55. > :09:00.accidents on untreated country roads. The cold snap was still
:09:00. > :09:05.catching drivers out. Many reached their destinations with tales of
:09:05. > :09:11.journeys cut short. Car going too fast into the trees, a car at the
:09:11. > :09:16.top of the hill there the same. A truck around the corner trying to
:09:16. > :09:25.go up the hill, went sideways. the snow set in disruption spread
:09:25. > :09:29.to the motorways. This was the M54 this evening.
:09:29. > :09:33.He is calling on the ground staff... Sport has also been hit, despite
:09:33. > :09:39.the valiant efforts of ground staff. During the game with Manchester
:09:39. > :09:43.City and Fulham the ref had to halt play so snow could be cleared from
:09:43. > :09:47.markings. In Lichfield Christopher and Emma Bailey found themselves at
:09:47. > :09:55.the whitest of weddings but it never dampened their day. It's
:09:55. > :10:00.amazing. Very cold, though. Can't wait to get in. Matthew Jenkins was
:10:00. > :10:04.repaying the kindness of a local resident who offered hot drinks by
:10:04. > :10:09.personally gritting the high street. I knew it might snow and no one
:10:09. > :10:13.else is doing it, why not? The mild temperatures earlier have preserved
:10:13. > :10:16.salt stocks which are healthier than this time last year, and crews
:10:16. > :10:20.will be working through the night as temperatures fall again.
:10:20. > :10:25.Tomorrow promises perfect winter photos, but the risk of further
:10:25. > :10:29.travel difficulties. The advice to drivers: Spend your Sunday at home.
:10:29. > :10:32.Indeed. And you mentioned the airports there, Heathrow Airport
:10:32. > :10:35.and Gatwick Airport have expected disruption, passengers - it's
:10:35. > :10:39.suggested they talk to their airlines to make sure that things
:10:39. > :10:43.are running or what cancellations there are. As to the roads, well,
:10:43. > :10:47.people with any sense tonight are staying off them and that is the
:10:47. > :10:51.advice as I said, the advice beyond that is if you really have to get
:10:51. > :10:55.about and you saw in that report that we put together, you need to
:10:55. > :10:58.carry a shovel or something to help you get up the tricky bits of road
:10:58. > :11:06.or perhaps to help other people get out of trouble. The watch word, as
:11:06. > :11:09.ever, be prepared. Tens of thousands of people have
:11:09. > :11:11.marched through Moscow in a protest against the Prime Minister,
:11:11. > :11:14.Vladimir Putin, who is standing for the presidency next month.
:11:14. > :11:17.Demonstrators say the parliamentary elections in December were rigged
:11:17. > :11:24.by Mr Putin's United Russia party and they're calling for a re-run.
:11:24. > :11:28.Here's our Moscow correspondent, Daniel Sandford.
:11:29. > :11:32.Today's opposition protests was quiet, steelly, determined. Lacking
:11:32. > :11:40.the passion of December's demonstrations, but the numbers
:11:40. > :11:47.were still huge and the message very clear. We want Russia to be
:11:47. > :11:51.free and we want to have democracy. Something has changed in Moscow.
:11:51. > :11:55.Until recently many of these protesters reluctantly put up with
:11:55. > :12:00.the unfair elections, the flawed legal system, and the corruption.
:12:00. > :12:05.Now they have lost their fear and found their voice. They have shown
:12:05. > :12:09.that even in the departments of a Moscow mid-winter they won't go
:12:09. > :12:13.away until they get what they demand, fair elections.
:12:13. > :12:17.Across Moscow a second huge rally, this one in favour of Vladimir
:12:17. > :12:21.Putin who is aiming to return to the presidency in elections next
:12:22. > :12:27.month. There appeared to be genuine support for him. Though some state
:12:27. > :12:32.companies had ordered employees to go. I am here to support Putin
:12:32. > :12:37.because without him the country will collapse. We should show our
:12:37. > :12:44.support so we came along. On our day off.
:12:44. > :12:47.The man himself insisted the crowd were behind him. It's completely
:12:47. > :12:52.obvious that people simply keen to express support for what we are
:12:52. > :12:56.doing and that is very important to me. I am very grateful.
:12:56. > :12:59.But tens of thousands who turned out again against Vladimir Putin
:12:59. > :13:09.know he will probably become President again but they are
:13:09. > :13:09.
:13:09. > :13:13.keeping up the pressure for a fairer, more honest Russia.
:13:13. > :13:15.The Duke of Cambridge has spent his first day on duty in the Falkland
:13:16. > :13:17.Islands, as an RAF search-and- rescue pilot. The Prince will be
:13:18. > :13:20.providing search-and-rescue cover during a six-week posting, which
:13:20. > :13:28.comes amid rising tensions between the UK and Argentina over the
:13:28. > :13:36.sovereignty of the islands. Now the Six Nations started today,
:13:36. > :13:39.let's catch up with the sport. There was a winning start for a new
:13:39. > :13:42.look England, beating Scotland 13-6 to claim the Calcutta Cup. But
:13:42. > :13:45.whilst it was a first victory with interim coach Stuart Lancaster and
:13:45. > :13:51.captain Chris Robshaw at the helm, it was old hand Charlie Hodgson
:13:51. > :13:56.with the only try of the game. Andy Swiss reports from Murrayfield.
:13:56. > :14:00.It was a day when even the hardiest kilt-wearer must have longed for
:14:00. > :14:05.the thermals, but Scotland's fans flocked to Murrayfield with rare
:14:05. > :14:09.optimism. They are traditionally the underdogs against England but
:14:09. > :14:12.against an England with a new coach, a new skipper and three new caps,
:14:12. > :14:17.what an opportunity. In a scrappy first half it was England that took
:14:17. > :14:24.the lead through Owen Farrell, but Scotland that took control. Time
:14:24. > :14:28.and again they forced England into retreat and into mistakes and two
:14:28. > :14:32.penalties booted them into a deserved lead. But all their
:14:32. > :14:35.promise unravelled in a flash. Parks kick charged down by Hodgson
:14:35. > :14:42.and seconds after the break England were back in front. For Scotland,
:14:42. > :14:47.it was an all-too familiar story of what if. What if the video referee
:14:47. > :14:50.had awarded a close touchdown decision. What if they had shown
:14:51. > :14:54.more composure with several gaping chances, but they didn't and
:14:54. > :14:58.Farrell made them pay with another penalty. It wasn't pretty, it
:14:58. > :15:04.certainly wasn't convincing but for England's youngsters it was a
:15:04. > :15:08.victory to savour. We have come to Murrayfield, won away from home. I
:15:08. > :15:12.think we have to enjoy the moment. Equally, you know, there's been a
:15:12. > :15:16.lot of talk and a lot of things gone on behind the scenes and it's
:15:16. > :15:20.just great. Great for us to get off the mark. Not exactly a classic
:15:20. > :15:28.then, but England won't mind that. Their Six Nations campaign and
:15:28. > :15:31.their new era off to a winning start.
:15:31. > :15:35.New France coach Philippe Saint Andre got his tenure off to a
:15:35. > :15:38.winning start as well, with victory over Italy. It was Les Blues' first
:15:38. > :15:42.game since defeat in the World Cup final to New Zealand and they
:15:42. > :15:45.scored four tries en route to a 30- 12 win at the Stade de France in
:15:45. > :15:49.Paris. If you're waiting for Match of the
:15:49. > :15:53.Day to find out how your team fared this afternoon, now's the time to
:15:53. > :15:56.make a sharp exit as I go through the Premier League results.
:15:56. > :15:58.Leaders Manchester City produced a comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham to
:15:58. > :16:02.move three points clear of Manchester United, who play Chelsea
:16:02. > :16:06.tomorrow. Arsenal picked up their first win
:16:06. > :16:13.of 2012 in some style, with captain Robin van Persie grabbing a hat-
:16:13. > :16:17.trick to help his side to a thumping 7-1 win over Blackburn. So
:16:17. > :16:20.Rovers stay in the relegation zone. And they're joined by Bolton, who
:16:20. > :16:22.were beaten by Norwich. Bottom side Wigan picked up a valuable point
:16:22. > :16:31.against Everton. And there were wins for Wolves, Sunderland and
:16:31. > :16:34.Swansea. It's the turn of viewers in
:16:34. > :16:36.Scotland waiting for Sportscene to turn away now, as we go through
:16:36. > :16:39.what happened in the 5th round of the Scottish Cup.
:16:39. > :16:40.Holders Celtic booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-0
:16:40. > :16:44.win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
:16:44. > :16:53.Aberdeen and Queen of the South have to do it all again after a 1-1
:16:53. > :16:59.draw. Hibs went through at the expense of Kilmarnock. And St
:16:59. > :17:02.Mirren were held by Ross County. Ayr against Falkirk was postponed.
:17:02. > :17:06.Pakistan have the advantage over England after day two of the third
:17:06. > :17:08.and final Test in Dubai. England fell to 141 all out after their
:17:08. > :17:11.first innings and then struggled to repeat the success of yesterday
:17:11. > :17:15.with the ball. An unbeaten century from Younus Khan helped Pakistan to
:17:15. > :17:23.222-2 by the close. That's a lead of 180 heading into day three as
:17:23. > :17:25.England look to avoid a series whitewash.
:17:25. > :17:28.Finally, some good news for Britain's ladies tennis players, as
:17:28. > :17:31.they completed a successful four days in the Fed Cup, making it
:17:31. > :17:36.through to the play-offs for the World Group 2, with victory over
:17:36. > :17:39.Austria. That's all for now. You can see more on all today's stories
:17:39. > :17:42.on the BBC News Channel. And tomorrow morning John Major will be
:17:42. > :17:52.Andrew Marr's guest on BBC1 at 9.00am. From everybody here in the
:17:52. > :17:52.
:17:52. > :17:56.Good evening. It's all been going according to plan, which is great
:17:56. > :18:01.news for the kids amongst us, not such good news if you have to
:18:01. > :18:07.travel this evening across a large spwaeut of England where it
:18:07. > :18:10.continues to snow. We still have anam pwer warn -- amber warning in
:18:10. > :18:15.force. It will continue to snow into the
:18:15. > :18:25.early hours. Already a good covering and widely we see 5-10
:18:25. > :19:05.