04/11/2012 BBC Weekend News

The US election is on a knife edge, with less than 48 hours to go

before America votes. Mitt Romney targets swing states in a final bid

to attract undecided voters as Barack Obama bids for another term

in the White House. We take a journey through one of those states

to see what will make the difference in the final phase.

Calls for a fresh investigation into child abuse in Welsh care

homes in the 1970s and '80s after concerns the original inquiry fell

short. In Pakistan, the parents accused of

killing their daughter in an acid attack - they tell the BBC they

were angry because she "looked at a boy".

Sebastien Vettel! A brilliant third place! From the back of the field

to the podium for Vettel - although it's Kimi Raikkonen who takes the

Good evening. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have been campaigning today

in seven of the crucial swing states of the US election as they

battle to win over undecided voters. With less than 48 hours to go to

the US election, the latest polls suggest the outcome is still too

close to call. For the first of tonight's reports, here's our North

America Editor Mark Mardell. Onto the stage strolls the best

campaigner in America. Despite his fault, Bill Clinton presided over

good times. His voice still counts. I strongly recommend that we we

elect the next president of the United States, the current

President of the United States, our president, Barack Obama! Are to the

master of emotional appeals, the President almost pleads for another

chance. You may be frustrated with the pace of change, I am frustrated

as well some times. But you know where I stand, you know what I

believe. You know I tell the truth. You know I will fight for you and

your family's every day, as hard as I know how, as long as I have the

President -- privilege to be your president. Some have already heard

the word. Political passion and praise for the Lord overlap at his

Baptist Church. Last week, 20 African-American church is

organised at souls to the polls. Mass early voting for one man.

thank the Lord for putting Barack Obama one more time again, in the

name of Jesus. When she brays, God answers! But Mitt Romney's camp

have faith, as he repeats his message of smaller government of.

We have a promise to take them some people, to redistribute to you, we

have promised to rebuild the economy, attain the growth in

government and restore the principles that made America the

greatest nation in their history of the world. In the same speech,

repeated in every Stead, who can still be undecided? This woman in

Florida, for one, cannot make up her mind. I like Mitt Romney, and I

agree with some other things he says, but there are other issues

that just don't work for me in my life. And then Reg Dean, I didn't

vote for him, -- an den Obama, I didn't vote for him, he has changed

some things, I want to like him and vote for him, but I am not sure.

million Americans have made up their mind and voted early. The

Obama campaign say they are ahead where it matters, but the polls

suggest a dead heat. Candidates I try to make sure that the party

faithful get out and vote, particularly in a crucial stage

like Ohio. Our report will has -- reporter has travelled from

Cincinnati to Cleveland, speaking to voters along the way.

The last - to election day has begun, and we are on a trip through

the one state that could decide the outcome. We left Cincinnati,

heading north through Ohio, the state that likes to pick winners.

In every election in almost 50 years, it has backed the candidate

who ended up being the next president. In many ways, Ohio is

America. If the country were to be reduced to a single state, it would

look a bit like this. We stopped to join apparent braving the weather

in another hard-fought contest. The angry Orange is against the purple

comets. This woman is a working mum with three kids, a swing voter in a

swing state. I cannot see myself going for another four years, so I

see myself voting for Mitt Romney this year. Did you vote for Obama

last time? I did. What is it specifically did you feel he hasn't

done? Everything he said he was going to do. In a polarised country,

most made up their minds long ago. The fight is to persuade the

faithful to bother to turn out. Further north, we stopped in Green

County. It leans Republican, but the Democrats are fighting hard

here. Doris, lives, breathes and dresses Democrat, but even she

concedes that selling Barack Obama is harder this time round. Does it

feel different and four years ago? It does feel different, the reality

is that people now know that this man can do the job, but there are

people out there who seem to think we have given him a magic wand, and

he should automatically have turned things back. Our last stop his

Cleveland, and the industrial north. This is a country struggling to

emerge from the worst recession in generations. Elections are always

about the future, but there is something almost urgent about this

one. After billions of dollars spent and countless hours campaign,

this contest has now come down to a few 1000 votes in at a handful of

key states. While it is possible for either man to win without

taking place back, that looks unlikely. -- without taking Ohio.

This is the last chance to rally the faithful and get out the bird

macro. A we have got to win it for Back now to our North America

Editor Mark Mardell in Wisconsin. What did that makes a difference in

these last couple of days of campaigning? President Obama will

be here tomorrow for a big rally, setting out his vision. One of the

things the men agree on is this is about different visions for America.

In many ways that boils down to the traditional differences between

left and right, who would put up taxes and he would put them down,

but I think it is now about people's gut instinct about who

they want to be the leader of this huge country. But more than that

and perhaps duller than the rhetoric is who is going to turn

out to vote. Mitt Romney's camp say his supporters are more

enthusiastic, President Obama's have a better, more sophisticated

game to get people to turn out. Thank you.

And you can follow every twist and turn of the race for the US

Presidency - including more on key The Children's Commissioner for

Wales has backed calls for a new inquiry into allegations of child

abuse at care homes in North Wales during the 1970s and '80s. Keith

Towler is writing to Wales' First Minister after a victim said the

original public inquiry had uncovered just a fraction of the

abuse that took place. Rhun Ap Iorwerth reports.

Widespread abuse in North Wales care homes centred on the Bryn

Estyn home in Wrexham, catalogued in the Waterhouse inquiry report

published in the year 2000. But one victim from the 1970s said that

because the inquiry was only looking into alleged abuse at the

homes, he was unable to make other serious allegations. Claims are now

being made of children being led to paedophiles across the UK, and one

allegation in particular involves of former senior Conservative

politician. Do Children's Commissioner for Wales City suspect

a group of people were protected by each other's power, enabling the

abuse to continue. People have to be held accountable, however long

ago, people are still alive who were implicated, so the police

should investigate. At the Welsh government says it is concerned

about the allegations and want transparency. A Downing Street

One lawyer who represented Waterhouse inquiry witnesses says

their voices should be heard. important thing for the victims is

that their version of events is herd and investigated, because they

were silenced many years ago when they tried to complain. Speaking

the truth is very important. Children's Commissioner for Wales

says it is easy to be suspicious about why constraints were put on

the inquiry in the late 1990s. For us now in 2012, he says, such

constraints are absolutely unacceptable and that is why he

wants the matter looked at again. The prominent Republican Colin

Duffy has been released from police custody after being arrested in

relation to the murder of the prison officer David Black. Colin

Duffy, who's 44, was detained along with a 31-year-old man in Lurgan

County Armagh on Friday morning. Both men have been released

unconditionally. In Pakistan, a couple arrested on

suspicion of killing their 15-year old daughter with acid have told

the BBC they feared she would bring dishonour on their family. The

couple were arrested in Pakistan- administered Kashmir this week,

following the death of their daughter Anusha, who had burns on

60% of her body. This report from Orla Guerin. You may find some of

the detail distressing. A mother and father in adjoining

cells. Accused of dousing their teenage daughter, Anusha, in acid.

Her crime, looking at a boy. TRANSLATION: He approached our

house. She turned to look at him. I told her before not to do that. I

started beating her, then her mother brought the acid. It left

its mark on her mother, who gives a chilling account of Anusha's

desperate pleas. And Fortune she said, I didn't do it on purpose, I

will not look again. By then, I have three in the acid. It was her

destiny to die this way. The couple say an older daughter had already

disgraced the family. They didn't want to lose face again. Police

showed us the remote village in Pakistan administered Kashmir,

where the attack happened. They say the couple kept their daughter here

for hours, in agony, denying her medical help. Later they told

neighbours that she had attempted suicide. At home, this man pointed

at the Place Mwera Annetta Siddique was committed in the name of on it.

-- the place where an atrocity was committed. I tried to wipe it off.

His other children look for comfort. Too young to understand what

happened to their sister. A girl who was good at school and help

with the housework. She was killed by looking the wrong way. -- for

looking the wrong way. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, is

backing a campaign to ensure workers are paid a "living wage" of

at least �7.20 an hour. He's urging employers to adopt the scheme. Our

political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue is at Westminster for us

tonight. How important is this idea to Ed Miliband? It is an important

idea, part of his central pitch to the voters at the next general

election. We already have a minimum wage in this country, �6.19 an hour

if you are over 21. The living wage is �7.20 outside London, and �8.30

Inside London. We are going to hear what they will become now, around

20 local authorities around the country have signed up to it along

with a 100 businesses also. Ed Miliband things and Labour should

think about sanctions and naming and shaming to have the -- some of

the companies who don't pay it. He stopped short of saying he should

be compulsory. David Cameron has promised to look at the living wage

before the last election, campaigners say there are many

people in Whitehall, low-paid cleaners, who were still not

getting paid it. Syrian opposition groups have

gathered in Qatar for talks aimed at unifying them against President

Assad. Until now, the opposition has been widely regarded as

fragmented, ineffective and out of touch. Despite this new effort,

serious doubts remain as to whether it can transform itself into a

credible force. Jim Muir reports from Doha.

As the conflict deepens, the regime has been shamelessly bombing the

suburbs of its own capital and many other places. The rebels are making

slow advances on the ground, but they lack the shoulder fired

missiles that could bring the regime's planes down. That is one

of the main reasons for this drive to unify the opposition. Because

they are seen as divided and ineffective, the West has been

denying them the kind of practical support that could help the rebels

win. The Syrian National Council has so far been the main umbrella

group for the fragmented opposition. But rebel forces and activists

inside the country have criticised it for being out of touch. Today's

effort to build a new opposition leadership comes after Western

powers cut funding and withheld arms. The hope is that the talks

will eventually lead to a government in exile. We hope, if

the Syrians will find a way to choose their leadership, in this

case the whole world will be behind them to help them. If all this

activity here does succeed in producing a new, credible and

unified Syrian opposition leadership, that could prove a

turning point, the point at which the West and others decide to give

the rebels the help we desperately need to turn the tide on the ground,

where the carnage continues. Every day, around 150 Syrians are being

killed as much of the country is reduced to rubble around them. Even

so, there is not much optimism that the opposition will be able to

overcome its differences. Sport now, and for a full round up

of all the day's action, here's Olly Foster at the BBC Sport Centre.

Sebastien Vettel still leads the Formula One Championship after one

of the best races of his career. He had to start the Abu Dhabi Grand

Prix from the pitlane but, steering clear of numerous accidents, he

made it onto the podium. Lewis Hamilton started on pole but broke

down and that handed victory to Kimi Raikkonen. Here's Nick Parrott.

If Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone wants to make the sport

more exciting, he should make Sebastien Vettel start every race

from the pit lane. The German was there after being disqualified from

qualifying. Fernando Alonso took advantage of the chaos at the start

to move up to 4th on the first lap, and threatening to overtake Vettel

in the drivers' championship. Vettel's cause was helped by Nico

Rosberg crashing. With the safety car out, it his gap between it

Lewis Hamilton closed down. What is he doing?! After stopping for a new

front wing, and set about proving wrong those who say he cannot

overtake. The world champion cut through the field, passing car

after car. The odd bit of luck swung back in his way, with

Hamilton retiring. And others deciding to take part in a

demolition derby. The safety car bunched up the field again,

allowing Vettel to catch Jenson Button to secure third place. Kimi

Raikkonen claimed his first win since 2009, and letters's first

since 2007, but Vettel was the real winner. You have to keep fighting,

that is why we are here. As long as you make sure you do that, it is

impossible to fail. This third place in Abu Dhabi could turn out

to be priceless in his quest for a hat-trick of world titles to stop

There were Premier League matches in England and Scotland today,

Match of the Day 2 and Sportscene are straight after the news, But if

you want to know what happened, then I've got the results coming up

right now. Queens Park Rangers and Reading are still waiting for their

first wins of the season after drawing 1-1 at Loftus Road.

Reading's Kaspars Gorkss scored against his former club, but

Rangers equalised through Djibril Cisse. Both sides remain in the

relegation zone. It was also one-1 at Anfield. Yohan

Cabaye gave Newcastle the lead, but Luis Suarez levelled for Liverpool.

Celtic are top of the Scottish Premier League on goal difference.

The draw has been made for the second round of the FA Cup.still

plenty of non-League sides in there including Dorchester from the

Conference South. They beat League Two Plymouth today. Jake Gosling

scored the only goal at the Avenue Stadium. Full details of the draw

are on the BBC Sport Website. Thank you.

Before we go - Britain's oldest man has been celebrating his 110th