:00:06. > :00:12.Five Royal Marines are charged with murder over the death of an
:00:12. > :00:16.insurgent in Afghanistan. They now face a court martial. It is the
:00:16. > :00:19.first murder case involving British troops in the Afghan conflict.
:00:19. > :00:26.Former BBC executives confirm Jimmy Savile was questioned decades ago
:00:26. > :00:28.about rumours of sexual abuse. The government says former defence
:00:28. > :00:38.chiefs could be banned from contacting ministers after claims
:00:38. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:44.that rules on lobbying have been Start the cameras.
:00:44. > :00:46.And the Austrian skydiver whose leap to earth was watched by
:00:47. > :00:56.millions around the world, as he jumped from the stratosphere into
:00:57. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:13.the record books. Good evening. Five Royal Marines
:01:13. > :01:18.are facing a court martial after being charged with murdering an
:01:18. > :01:24.insurgent in Afghanistan last year. It is the most serious allegation
:01:24. > :01:27.faced by British troops since the mission began there in 2001. The
:01:27. > :01:34.Marines were arrested last week in the UK, after video footage was
:01:34. > :01:39.found on a laptop computer. Our defence correspondent reports.
:01:39. > :01:43.The alleged murder took place in Helmand last year, when 3 Commando
:01:43. > :01:48.Brigade one their fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The incident
:01:48. > :01:53.only recently came to light but the Royal Military Police obtained a
:01:53. > :01:58.video stored on a laptop. It followed what has been described as
:01:58. > :02:00.an engagement with an insurgent, an exchange of fire, and it is
:02:00. > :02:04.believed the video shows British military personnel are discussing
:02:04. > :02:08.what to do with a wounded and captured man. The Ministry of
:02:08. > :02:13.Defence is giving few details but it is being urged to spell out what
:02:13. > :02:18.happened for the say core of morale. It has to be made very clear, very
:02:18. > :02:22.quickly, why these charges have been brought exactly because if
:02:22. > :02:28.that is not made clear rapidly, then it will have a very corrosive
:02:28. > :02:31.effect on the morale of other soldiers fighting there. If the key
:02:31. > :02:35.question is whether the Marines broke the rules of war. In
:02:35. > :02:40.Afghanistan, British personnel have to follow a strict rules of
:02:40. > :02:45.engagement which dictate when they can open fire, but they are not
:02:45. > :02:49.made public. They are also banned by the Geneva conventions to insure
:02:49. > :02:54.the humane treatment of those captured in battle -- also abound.
:02:54. > :02:58.The case is now in the hands of the director of service Prosecutions,
:02:58. > :03:02.independent of the military command. He is expected to order a court
:03:02. > :03:09.martial, overseen by a civilian judge and advised by a military
:03:09. > :03:13.panel, without a jury. If found guilty of murder, the court has a
:03:13. > :03:18.power to sentence up to life imprisonment. The court is open to
:03:18. > :03:22.member of the public. However, with matters of national security, as
:03:22. > :03:28.with any trial, with the in the military environment or civilian
:03:28. > :03:32.law, the matters may be heard in private if they are of the
:03:32. > :03:37.sensitive nature. Unlike Iraq, where there had been serious
:03:37. > :03:41.allegations of abuse, there have been few question so far of the
:03:41. > :03:43.conduct of British military personnel in Afghanistan.
:03:43. > :03:48.Commanders and politicians had hoped they would leave with their
:03:48. > :03:53.heads held high but this incident threatens to undermine and damage
:03:53. > :03:58.reputations. And Jonathan Beale is here now.
:03:58. > :04:00.Clearly very serious charges, but what are the broad indications?
:04:00. > :04:04.The immediate concern for commanders on the ground is the
:04:04. > :04:08.safety of British troops, and that is why we have not been told
:04:08. > :04:13.exactly where this incident took place. What will be the reaction of
:04:13. > :04:17.local Afghans and the response of the Taliban? It is not as if the
:04:17. > :04:21.Taliban Abbe a new rules of law but it is important for British
:04:21. > :04:25.soldiers to be seen to be taking the moral high ground. The bigger
:04:25. > :04:30.issue is the mission itself. The Chancellor recently asked why
:04:30. > :04:34.British troops would be spending another two years in Afghanistan.
:04:34. > :04:38.There are genuinely a lot of people asking why they are staying there,
:04:38. > :04:42.why they are putting their lives on the line when there are questions
:04:42. > :04:47.about the mission. Equally people will be asking that question and
:04:47. > :04:51.say, why are they fighting and dying when the soldiers can end up
:04:51. > :04:56.in a court of law and they can face murder charges? This will fuel that
:04:56. > :05:00.debate as to whether the mission is worthwhile, and that is why the
:05:00. > :05:05.Ministry of Defence are taking these allegations is seriously. It
:05:05. > :05:09.is not just about the reputation of the five Royal Marines, it is about
:05:09. > :05:13.every Bideford has served and is serving in Afghanistan, and about
:05:13. > :05:15.the success of the mission -- everybody who has served.
:05:15. > :05:20.It emerged today that BBC executives questioned Jimmy Savile
:05:20. > :05:23.in the 1970s about allegations of sexual abuse involving young girls.
:05:23. > :05:33.A former head of Radio 1 said he asked the former presenter about
:05:33. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:39.rumours of abuse, but Savile For six decades, Jimmy Savile led a
:05:39. > :05:44.double life. He was a TV and radio star and his accusers say, a
:05:44. > :05:48.paedophile, who preyed on vulnerable teenage girls. More than
:05:48. > :05:54.once, it seems, figures in authority looked into his
:05:54. > :06:02.activities but took no action. Among them, a senior BBC executive,
:06:02. > :06:06.a boss at Radio 1 in the 70s and 80s. He said this this week: One of
:06:06. > :06:12.my colleagues reminded me. On one occasion she was in the office with
:06:12. > :06:17.me, and I asked: What's all these rumours we hear about you, Jimmy?
:06:17. > :06:22.And he said, that's all nonsense. It is easy now to say, how could
:06:22. > :06:27.you just believe him? There was no reason to disbelieve him. He is the
:06:27. > :06:31.sort of man who attracted rumours. That sounds like a casual
:06:31. > :06:36.discussion, but another executive said the meeting was formal, and
:06:36. > :06:40.they had been asked to attend as a witness. There were other missed
:06:40. > :06:44.opportunities. A former police officer said he reported big
:06:44. > :06:51.complaints of a nurse at Stoke Mandeville in the 1970s but was
:06:51. > :06:57.told to drop the allegation. In 2007, Surrey Police questioned him
:06:57. > :07:04.about alleged child abuse at his school. And the Sunday Telegraph
:07:04. > :07:08.claimed a 15-year-old Dancer on Top Of The Pops committed suicide in
:07:08. > :07:13.1971. But it can be hard after so many years to get to the truth. For
:07:13. > :07:19.instance, the Sunday Telegraph quoted a former bouncer at adults
:07:19. > :07:23.or in Leeds, where Jimmy Savile was manager in 1958. The bouncer is
:07:23. > :07:26.quoted as saying that Johnny's -- Jimmy Savile faced a court
:07:26. > :07:31.appearance for interfering with young girls but that the case was
:07:31. > :07:34.dropped after he paid off the police. Today, the balance has said
:07:34. > :07:39.Jimmy Savile did not pay off the police but the girls' families.
:07:39. > :07:43.Either way, if he had been exposed back then, it may have finished his
:07:43. > :07:50.career. It could have nipped this in the but because he would have
:07:50. > :07:55.been disgraced. The club would have sacked him straight away because of
:07:55. > :07:59.bad publicity and that would have been the end of the story. Instead,
:07:59. > :08:03.the police account of Jimmy Savile's victims has now reached 60,
:08:03. > :08:05.over the past 60 years. The Austrian skydiver Felix
:08:05. > :08:15.Baumgartner has jumped from a balloon 24 miles above the earth,
:08:15. > :08:18.smashing an altitude record that had stood for more than 50 years.
:08:18. > :08:21.He become the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall
:08:21. > :08:24.before landing safely with a parachute. Pallab Ghosh watched the
:08:24. > :08:32.drama unfold. Stand-up on the exterior step, keep
:08:32. > :08:37.your head down. A salute and then a fall to earth like no other.
:08:37. > :08:44.and the angels will take care of you. He is falling faster than the
:08:44. > :08:53.speed of sound. 840 mph. Smashing the sound barrier. No one knows
:08:53. > :08:57.what effect that will have on the Then something goes wrong. Felix is
:08:57. > :09:05.spinning. Unless he can stop spinning, blood will rush to his
:09:05. > :09:15.head and Felix may die. Using his experience, he regains control.
:09:15. > :09:20.Then there is another problem. adviser... It is misting up. Felix
:09:20. > :09:27.cannot see his instruments. He does not know how high he is or when to
:09:27. > :09:37.pull his shoot. His experience helps him again. Safety first. He
:09:37. > :09:43.
:09:43. > :09:48.Mission in control, jubilant. His The dangerous part of the mission
:09:48. > :09:56.over, plain sailing the rest of the way. It is way more difficult than
:09:56. > :10:01.everything I have done so far and I think I am done. Felix forced to
:10:01. > :10:09.his knees, in celebration and exhaustion, after the jump of his
:10:09. > :10:18.life. If you want to see the whole of
:10:18. > :10:20.that job on earth -- a job to earth, you can do it on the BBC website.
:10:20. > :10:23.The government says former military leaders could be banned from
:10:23. > :10:27.contacting ministers and officials if an investigation shows they have
:10:27. > :10:30.been abusing their access. The Sunday Times secretly filmed
:10:30. > :10:34.retired officers appearing to offer to help arms companies gain access,
:10:34. > :10:39.and win contracts. They deny any wrongdoing, but Labour is calling
:10:39. > :10:45.for a wider inquiry. Our political correspondent reports.
:10:45. > :10:47.They have been in the heat of battle, directing troops, but today
:10:47. > :10:52.next six former military officers have come under fire of a different
:10:52. > :10:57.time -- kind. Accused of trying to influence how the government awards
:10:57. > :11:03.defence contracts. Those in senior ranks cannot work in the private
:11:03. > :11:07.sector until two years after they have stood down. This former
:11:07. > :11:13.commander of the naval fleet says rules are there to be broken.
:11:13. > :11:20.have to be slightly careful. There is no reason I cannot see ministers,
:11:20. > :11:26.but there is some criteria on that. How do you get round that? Yes, you
:11:26. > :11:30.just basically ignore it. Ignore it? Yes. And a former lieutenant
:11:30. > :11:33.General, Sir John Kiszely, president of the Royal British
:11:33. > :11:40.Legion, suggested he could use Remembrance services to gain access
:11:41. > :11:47.to ministers. I am waiting for the Queen standing... And we are
:11:47. > :11:51.working for this company... Royal British Legion says it is
:11:51. > :11:55.investigating. Sir John Kiszely denies any wrongdoing and there is
:11:55. > :11:59.no evidence any of the former officers named by the Sunday Times
:11:59. > :12:03.broke a new rules, but the Defence Secretary said the allegations are
:12:03. > :12:07.damaging and he may restrict the access that former officers have to
:12:08. > :12:13.current staff. If they are abusing that access for commercial purposes,
:12:13. > :12:17.then we will have to tighten it up or shut it down a. A few months
:12:17. > :12:21.before becoming prime minister, David Cameron predicted lobbying
:12:21. > :12:26.would be the next big scandal waiting to happen. In the coalition
:12:26. > :12:31.agreement, both parties said they would introduce a new register
:12:31. > :12:34.doosra greater light on lobbying activities. The MoD said any
:12:34. > :12:37.lobbying by former members of the top brass has been ineffective but
:12:37. > :12:43.pressure is growing for the government to introduce new rules
:12:43. > :12:50.are more quickly. They need to be stringent, there needs to be
:12:50. > :12:54.careful gathering of information and regulating of lobbyists. The
:12:54. > :12:57.revelations today are pretty damning and seedy and it seems to
:12:57. > :13:02.be the case that senior military officials had been willing to lobby
:13:02. > :13:05.on behalf of the defence in the street. Tonight, as former senior
:13:05. > :13:14.officers fight for their reputations, there are calls for a
:13:14. > :13:16.wider look at you influences government policy, and why.
:13:16. > :13:18.David Cameron is to sign an historic agreement with Scotland's
:13:18. > :13:22.First Minister tomorrow, granting the Scottish parliament powers to
:13:22. > :13:25.hold a referendum on independence. The Prime Minister will travel to
:13:25. > :13:27.Edinburgh to meet Alex Salmond, following months of delicate
:13:27. > :13:36.negotiations. Our Scotland political editor is in Edinburgh
:13:36. > :13:39.now. This is remarkable achievement. In
:13:39. > :13:44.January, the proposal was put forward by the UK government that
:13:44. > :13:48.they would put a legal underpinning to the referendum because they want
:13:48. > :13:52.to end the uncertainty. David Cameron believes the uncertainty
:13:52. > :13:58.itself is damaging and he wants to give legal backing to that a
:13:58. > :14:03.referendum. Alex Salmond has the mandate. We will have a referendum
:14:03. > :14:09.by 2014 and a single question, Independent's only, with no talk of
:14:09. > :14:12.devo max, but there is a clear thing as well. When the two leaders
:14:13. > :14:16.tomorrow agreed regulations for their referendum, they are also
:14:16. > :14:20.agree in implicitly and almost explicitly that they will be bound
:14:20. > :14:24.by the outcome, that they will respect and endorse the outcome of
:14:24. > :14:27.the referendum, whatever it is. Zimbabwe is preparing for a
:14:27. > :14:32.presidential election amid growing concern that President Mugabe will
:14:32. > :14:36.try to prevent a free and fair vote. After a violent election campaign
:14:36. > :14:42.four years ago, Mr Mugabe, who is now 88, was forced into a power-
:14:42. > :14:48.sharing deal. Andrew Harding has this report from Harare.
:14:48. > :14:53.Busy, calm, almost normal. For four years, Zimbabwe has enjoyed a
:14:53. > :15:01.political truce. The economy has stabilised. Instead of higher
:15:02. > :15:08.inflation, the American dollar. But trouble is looming again. 88-year-
:15:08. > :15:13.old, and attending a colleague's funeral, President Robert Mugabe is
:15:13. > :15:20.campaigning for re-election. He makes it sound benign. We will be
:15:20. > :15:28.given to the election soon. Let people vote the way they want to.
:15:28. > :15:32.Do to others as you would have done unto you. But Zimbabweans remember
:15:32. > :15:35.be horrific state-sponsored violence that accompanied the last
:15:35. > :15:40.campaign, and today with the generals responsible still very
:15:40. > :15:45.much in power, they wonder how much has changed. It is worrying that
:15:45. > :15:49.the same people who were in control seemed to be in control today. The
:15:49. > :15:55.army is still very much involved and that is the most worrying
:15:55. > :16:00.aspect, the militarisation of the process. It is never easy to gauge
:16:00. > :16:03.the level of fear in any society but it is revealing to come to a
:16:03. > :16:12.small town like this in Zimbabwe and simply try to talk to people
:16:12. > :16:19.about politics. Sick and tired of ZANU-PF. Do you think it is
:16:19. > :16:24.dangerous to say that in public? Yes. Very dangerous. There is a lot
:16:24. > :16:29.of intimidation. Do you think people are watching this now?
:16:29. > :16:33.They are. The man who hopes to defeat President Mugabe next year
:16:33. > :16:42.sounds confident that a new constitution will finally ensure a
:16:42. > :16:47.free and fair election. No one wants a repeat of 2008, no one
:16:47. > :16:55.wants to reverse this country's fortunes to them. Across the
:16:55. > :17:02.political divide. But his ZANU-PF prepared to give up power? Mugabe's
:17:02. > :17:10.bitter rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, it would not be allowed to win, so it
:17:10. > :17:17.says our political correspondent. That result would not be acceptable.
:17:17. > :17:23.What do you mean by "he will have trouble, Morgan Tsvangirai"?
:17:23. > :17:31.were just not accepted. Isn't that clear? -- we were just not accept
:17:31. > :17:36.it. The so a nation is sliding towards another showdown.
:17:36. > :17:41.Tennis, and Heather Watson has won the Japan Open. It is the first
:17:41. > :17:43.time a British woman has won a WTA singles title since 1988. The 20-
:17:43. > :17:50.year-old from Guernsey beat Chang Kai-Chen from Taiwan, describing it
:17:50. > :17:53.as one of the best days of her life. It was a disappointing day though
:17:53. > :17:57.for Andy Murray, who lost the final of the Shanghai Masters to world