Browse content similar to 14/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Five Royal Marines are charged with murder over the death of an | :00:06. | :00:12. | |
insurgent in Afghanistan. They now face a court martial. It is the | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
first murder case involving British troops in the Afghan conflict. | :00:16. | :00:19. | |
Former BBC executives confirm Jimmy Savile was questioned decades ago | :00:19. | :00:26. | |
about rumours of sexual abuse. The government says former defence | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
chiefs could be banned from contacting ministers after claims | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
:00:38. | :00:41. | ||
that rules on lobbying have been Start the cameras. | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
And the Austrian skydiver whose leap to earth was watched by | :00:44. | :00:46. | |
millions around the world, as he jumped from the stratosphere into | :00:47. | :00:56. | |
:00:57. | :01:11. | ||
the record books. Good evening. Five Royal Marines | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
are facing a court martial after being charged with murdering an | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
insurgent in Afghanistan last year. It is the most serious allegation | :01:18. | :01:24. | |
faced by British troops since the mission began there in 2001. The | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
Marines were arrested last week in the UK, after video footage was | :01:27. | :01:34. | |
found on a laptop computer. Our defence correspondent reports. | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
The alleged murder took place in Helmand last year, when 3 Commando | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
Brigade one their fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The incident | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
only recently came to light but the Royal Military Police obtained a | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
video stored on a laptop. It followed what has been described as | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
an engagement with an insurgent, an exchange of fire, and it is | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
believed the video shows British military personnel are discussing | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
what to do with a wounded and captured man. The Ministry of | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
Defence is giving few details but it is being urged to spell out what | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
happened for the say core of morale. It has to be made very clear, very | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
quickly, why these charges have been brought exactly because if | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
that is not made clear rapidly, then it will have a very corrosive | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
effect on the morale of other soldiers fighting there. If the key | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
question is whether the Marines broke the rules of war. In | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
Afghanistan, British personnel have to follow a strict rules of | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
engagement which dictate when they can open fire, but they are not | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
made public. They are also banned by the Geneva conventions to insure | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
the humane treatment of those captured in battle -- also abound. | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
The case is now in the hands of the director of service Prosecutions, | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
independent of the military command. He is expected to order a court | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
martial, overseen by a civilian judge and advised by a military | :03:02. | :03:09. | |
panel, without a jury. If found guilty of murder, the court has a | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
power to sentence up to life imprisonment. The court is open to | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
member of the public. However, with matters of national security, as | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
with any trial, with the in the military environment or civilian | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
law, the matters may be heard in private if they are of the | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
sensitive nature. Unlike Iraq, where there had been serious | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
allegations of abuse, there have been few question so far of the | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
conduct of British military personnel in Afghanistan. | :03:41. | :03:43. | |
Commanders and politicians had hoped they would leave with their | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
heads held high but this incident threatens to undermine and damage | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
reputations. And Jonathan Beale is here now. | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
Clearly very serious charges, but what are the broad indications? | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
The immediate concern for commanders on the ground is the | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
safety of British troops, and that is why we have not been told | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
exactly where this incident took place. What will be the reaction of | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
local Afghans and the response of the Taliban? It is not as if the | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
Taliban Abbe a new rules of law but it is important for British | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
soldiers to be seen to be taking the moral high ground. The bigger | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
issue is the mission itself. The Chancellor recently asked why | :04:25. | :04:30. | |
British troops would be spending another two years in Afghanistan. | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
There are genuinely a lot of people asking why they are staying there, | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
why they are putting their lives on the line when there are questions | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
about the mission. Equally people will be asking that question and | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
say, why are they fighting and dying when the soldiers can end up | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
in a court of law and they can face murder charges? This will fuel that | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
debate as to whether the mission is worthwhile, and that is why the | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
Ministry of Defence are taking these allegations is seriously. It | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
is not just about the reputation of the five Royal Marines, it is about | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
every Bideford has served and is serving in Afghanistan, and about | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
the success of the mission -- everybody who has served. | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
It emerged today that BBC executives questioned Jimmy Savile | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
in the 1970s about allegations of sexual abuse involving young girls. | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
A former head of Radio 1 said he asked the former presenter about | :05:23. | :05:33. | |
:05:33. | :05:35. | ||
rumours of abuse, but Savile For six decades, Jimmy Savile led a | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
double life. He was a TV and radio star and his accusers say, a | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
paedophile, who preyed on vulnerable teenage girls. More than | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
once, it seems, figures in authority looked into his | :05:48. | :05:54. | |
activities but took no action. Among them, a senior BBC executive, | :05:54. | :06:02. | |
a boss at Radio 1 in the 70s and 80s. He said this this week: One of | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
my colleagues reminded me. On one occasion she was in the office with | :06:06. | :06:12. | |
me, and I asked: What's all these rumours we hear about you, Jimmy? | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
And he said, that's all nonsense. It is easy now to say, how could | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
you just believe him? There was no reason to disbelieve him. He is the | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
sort of man who attracted rumours. That sounds like a casual | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
discussion, but another executive said the meeting was formal, and | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
they had been asked to attend as a witness. There were other missed | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
opportunities. A former police officer said he reported big | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
complaints of a nurse at Stoke Mandeville in the 1970s but was | :06:44. | :06:51. | |
told to drop the allegation. In 2007, Surrey Police questioned him | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
about alleged child abuse at his school. And the Sunday Telegraph | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
claimed a 15-year-old Dancer on Top Of The Pops committed suicide in | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
1971. But it can be hard after so many years to get to the truth. For | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
instance, the Sunday Telegraph quoted a former bouncer at adults | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
or in Leeds, where Jimmy Savile was manager in 1958. The bouncer is | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
quoted as saying that Johnny's -- Jimmy Savile faced a court | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
appearance for interfering with young girls but that the case was | :07:26. | :07:31. | |
dropped after he paid off the police. Today, the balance has said | :07:31. | :07:34. | |
Jimmy Savile did not pay off the police but the girls' families. | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
Either way, if he had been exposed back then, it may have finished his | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
career. It could have nipped this in the but because he would have | :07:43. | :07:50. | |
been disgraced. The club would have sacked him straight away because of | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
bad publicity and that would have been the end of the story. Instead, | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
the police account of Jimmy Savile's victims has now reached 60, | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
over the past 60 years. The Austrian skydiver Felix | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
Baumgartner has jumped from a balloon 24 miles above the earth, | :08:05. | :08:15. | |
smashing an altitude record that had stood for more than 50 years. | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
He become the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
before landing safely with a parachute. Pallab Ghosh watched the | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
drama unfold. Stand-up on the exterior step, keep | :08:24. | :08:32. | |
your head down. A salute and then a fall to earth like no other. | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
and the angels will take care of you. He is falling faster than the | :08:37. | :08:44. | |
speed of sound. 840 mph. Smashing the sound barrier. No one knows | :08:44. | :08:53. | |
what effect that will have on the Then something goes wrong. Felix is | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
spinning. Unless he can stop spinning, blood will rush to his | :08:57. | :09:05. | |
head and Felix may die. Using his experience, he regains control. | :09:05. | :09:15. | |
Then there is another problem. adviser... It is misting up. Felix | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
cannot see his instruments. He does not know how high he is or when to | :09:20. | :09:27. | |
pull his shoot. His experience helps him again. Safety first. He | :09:27. | :09:37. | |
:09:37. | :09:43. | ||
Mission in control, jubilant. His The dangerous part of the mission | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
over, plain sailing the rest of the way. It is way more difficult than | :09:48. | :09:56. | |
everything I have done so far and I think I am done. Felix forced to | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
his knees, in celebration and exhaustion, after the jump of his | :10:01. | :10:09. | |
life. If you want to see the whole of | :10:09. | :10:18. | |
that job on earth -- a job to earth, you can do it on the BBC website. | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
The government says former military leaders could be banned from | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
contacting ministers and officials if an investigation shows they have | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
been abusing their access. The Sunday Times secretly filmed | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
retired officers appearing to offer to help arms companies gain access, | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
and win contracts. They deny any wrongdoing, but Labour is calling | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
for a wider inquiry. Our political correspondent reports. | :10:39. | :10:45. | |
They have been in the heat of battle, directing troops, but today | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
next six former military officers have come under fire of a different | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
time -- kind. Accused of trying to influence how the government awards | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
defence contracts. Those in senior ranks cannot work in the private | :10:57. | :11:03. | |
sector until two years after they have stood down. This former | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
commander of the naval fleet says rules are there to be broken. | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
have to be slightly careful. There is no reason I cannot see ministers, | :11:13. | :11:20. | |
but there is some criteria on that. How do you get round that? Yes, you | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
just basically ignore it. Ignore it? Yes. And a former lieutenant | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
General, Sir John Kiszely, president of the Royal British | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
Legion, suggested he could use Remembrance services to gain access | :11:33. | :11:40. | |
to ministers. I am waiting for the Queen standing... And we are | :11:41. | :11:47. | |
working for this company... Royal British Legion says it is | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
investigating. Sir John Kiszely denies any wrongdoing and there is | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
no evidence any of the former officers named by the Sunday Times | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
broke a new rules, but the Defence Secretary said the allegations are | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
damaging and he may restrict the access that former officers have to | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
current staff. If they are abusing that access for commercial purposes, | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
then we will have to tighten it up or shut it down a. A few months | :12:13. | :12:17. | |
before becoming prime minister, David Cameron predicted lobbying | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
would be the next big scandal waiting to happen. In the coalition | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
agreement, both parties said they would introduce a new register | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
doosra greater light on lobbying activities. The MoD said any | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
lobbying by former members of the top brass has been ineffective but | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
pressure is growing for the government to introduce new rules | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
are more quickly. They need to be stringent, there needs to be | :12:43. | :12:50. | |
careful gathering of information and regulating of lobbyists. The | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
revelations today are pretty damning and seedy and it seems to | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
be the case that senior military officials had been willing to lobby | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
on behalf of the defence in the street. Tonight, as former senior | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
officers fight for their reputations, there are calls for a | :13:05. | :13:14. | |
wider look at you influences government policy, and why. | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
David Cameron is to sign an historic agreement with Scotland's | :13:16. | :13:18. | |
First Minister tomorrow, granting the Scottish parliament powers to | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
hold a referendum on independence. The Prime Minister will travel to | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
Edinburgh to meet Alex Salmond, following months of delicate | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
negotiations. Our Scotland political editor is in Edinburgh | :13:27. | :13:36. | |
now. This is remarkable achievement. In | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
January, the proposal was put forward by the UK government that | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
they would put a legal underpinning to the referendum because they want | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
to end the uncertainty. David Cameron believes the uncertainty | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
itself is damaging and he wants to give legal backing to that a | :13:52. | :13:58. | |
referendum. Alex Salmond has the mandate. We will have a referendum | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
by 2014 and a single question, Independent's only, with no talk of | :14:03. | :14:09. | |
devo max, but there is a clear thing as well. When the two leaders | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
tomorrow agreed regulations for their referendum, they are also | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
agree in implicitly and almost explicitly that they will be bound | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
by the outcome, that they will respect and endorse the outcome of | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
the referendum, whatever it is. Zimbabwe is preparing for a | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
presidential election amid growing concern that President Mugabe will | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
try to prevent a free and fair vote. After a violent election campaign | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
four years ago, Mr Mugabe, who is now 88, was forced into a power- | :14:36. | :14:42. | |
sharing deal. Andrew Harding has this report from Harare. | :14:42. | :14:48. | |
Busy, calm, almost normal. For four years, Zimbabwe has enjoyed a | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
political truce. The economy has stabilised. Instead of higher | :14:53. | :15:01. | |
inflation, the American dollar. But trouble is looming again. 88-year- | :15:02. | :15:08. | |
old, and attending a colleague's funeral, President Robert Mugabe is | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
campaigning for re-election. He makes it sound benign. We will be | :15:13. | :15:20. | |
given to the election soon. Let people vote the way they want to. | :15:20. | :15:28. | |
Do to others as you would have done unto you. But Zimbabweans remember | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
be horrific state-sponsored violence that accompanied the last | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
campaign, and today with the generals responsible still very | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
much in power, they wonder how much has changed. It is worrying that | :15:40. | :15:45. | |
the same people who were in control seemed to be in control today. The | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
army is still very much involved and that is the most worrying | :15:49. | :15:55. | |
aspect, the militarisation of the process. It is never easy to gauge | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
the level of fear in any society but it is revealing to come to a | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
small town like this in Zimbabwe and simply try to talk to people | :16:03. | :16:12. | |
about politics. Sick and tired of ZANU-PF. Do you think it is | :16:12. | :16:19. | |
dangerous to say that in public? Yes. Very dangerous. There is a lot | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
of intimidation. Do you think people are watching this now? | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
They are. The man who hopes to defeat President Mugabe next year | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
sounds confident that a new constitution will finally ensure a | :16:33. | :16:42. | |
free and fair election. No one wants a repeat of 2008, no one | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
wants to reverse this country's fortunes to them. Across the | :16:47. | :16:55. | |
political divide. But his ZANU-PF prepared to give up power? Mugabe's | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
bitter rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, it would not be allowed to win, so it | :17:02. | :17:10. | |
says our political correspondent. That result would not be acceptable. | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
What do you mean by "he will have trouble, Morgan Tsvangirai"? | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
were just not accepted. Isn't that clear? -- we were just not accept | :17:23. | :17:31. | |
it. The so a nation is sliding towards another showdown. | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
Tennis, and Heather Watson has won the Japan Open. It is the first | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
time a British woman has won a WTA singles title since 1988. The 20- | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
year-old from Guernsey beat Chang Kai-Chen from Taiwan, describing it | :17:43. | :17:50. | |
as one of the best days of her life. It was a disappointing day though | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
for Andy Murray, who lost the final of the Shanghai Masters to world | :17:53. | :17:57. |