02/01/2016 BBC Weekend News

Tensions rise in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia executes 47 people

In the kingdom and beyond, there are protests after a prominent

Some British soldiers who served in Iraq from 2003 could face

prosecution for war crimes, including unlawful killing.

Parts of Scotland prepare for more flooding, as heavy rain moves in.

And England make a solid start to the Second Test

against South Africa, in Cape Town.

There's heightened tension across the Middle East tonight

after Saudi Arabia executed 47 people for terrorist offences,

including a high-profile Shia cleric.

Nimr Al-Nimr was involved in anti-government protests

during the Arab Spring and had criticised the rulers

His death has sparked an angry reaction in Shia majority countries,

including Iran, while the US State Department says his execution

risks exacerbating sectarian tensions.

Our Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly has more.

As news of the execution of Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr spread,

protesters took to the streets in Saudi Arabia's Shia city

of Khatif, an act of defiance in a kingdom where public dissent

And Shia anger is spreading in the Middle East.

In neighbouring Bahrain, the protests were angry

Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr was a leader of the Shia religious minority

in Saudi Arabia with the Royal Family see themselves

Rivalry between the two branches of the faith is ancient and it

dangerously divides the Middle East to this day.

As the Saudi authorities cracked down during the Arab Spring on Shia

attempts to bring pulls for political reform

into the kingdom itself, Sheikh Al-Nimr was arrested.

He had defied the Saudi authorities to prove their charge

that he was acting on behalf of Iran, the leader of Shia Islam

and regional rival for power to Saudi Arabia.

Tehran said Saudi Arabia supported extremism abroad while suppressing

And from the website of the country's Supreme Leader,

Ayatollah Khomeni, came this comparison between official

execution in Saudi Arabia and the murderous beheadings

This ancient faultline is a dangerous division

Sunni fighters are pitched against Shia in conflicts from Syria

TRANSLATION: I think Saudi Arabia made a big mistake when it executed

Al-Nimr as it will fuel existing sectarian violence in

Saudi Arabia's execution of Nimr Al-Nimr will deepen those

The BBC understands one of those executed in Saudi Arabia

was involved in the murder of freelance Irish cameraman,

Mr Cumbers had been on assignment working with the BBC's

Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner who was seriously

Adel Al-Dhubaiti was originally sentenced to death in 2014

for his role in several Al-Qaeda attacks.

Some British soldiers, who served in Iraq from 2003,

are being warned they could face prosecution for war crimes,

The head of a Ministry of Defence unit, which is looking

into allegations that some civilians were mistreated during the conflict,

says there'll be discussions with prosecutors about whether there

Claims of mistreatment of Iraqis by British personnel have been rife

in the aftermath of the Iraq war, so much so the Government set up

a team to investigate historic allegations and today its head said

"There are serious allegations that we're investigating

which incorporates homicide, where I feel there's significant

evidence to be obtained to put a strong case before the Authority

This historic allegations team is costing a total of ?57 million

and is examining more than 1,000 cases.

It's not due to finish its work until the end of 2019.

Lawyers representing alleged victims say it's taking too long

They were established in 2010 and we're now at the beginning

of 2016 and there's not been a single prosecution as a result

So when we look at it like that, there isn't much to indicate that

we're going to get very far any time soon in terms

The Ministry of Defence says it takes all allegations of abuse

or unlawful killing very seriously, but the vast majority of those

in the armed forces conduct themselves professionally

Some have expressed frustration at continued claims against military

personnel and doubt over the sheer numbers.

The British Army has an incredibly effective disciplinary system,

chain of command, which makes sure this kind of thing does not happen

Occasionally, it will happen, but our system prevents

That's why I say that thousands of cases just couldn't happen.

Critics say fear of future prosecution could prevent soldiers

The Defence Secretary has criticised ambulance-chasing law firms.

Two previous public inquiries have already looked at claims against UK

Now, almost 13 years since the war there started, the military

is still having to confront this dark side of its involvement.

Increases in rail fares came into force today in England,

Scotland and Wales, with prices rising by an average of 1.1%.

That's the lowest increase since 2010, but campaigners say

the service is so poor in some places customers may be surprised

Happy new fare, rail users travelling today after recent

festivities and paying slightly more after the annual price hike.

It's the smallest increase in fares since 2010,

regulated tickets, which account for around half of those sold

and include season tickets, go up by the rate of inflation, 1%.

But some leisure fares can go up by more.

It's good that the railway now does go up broadly from revenues,

from ticket revenues, the day-to-day running cost

So what that means is that the money from Government is able to go

to investment, continuing to renew the infrastructure,

but also to deliver better and better improvements

in the capacity for passengers and freight users.

The rise means an annual season-ticket between Guildford

and London, which was ?3,400 last year, goes up by ?32.

One of the largest fare rises is on the Cheltenham Spa to London

route, going up by almost ?100 to ?9,800.

This year's increase has also pushed the price of a season-ticket over

the ?10,000 mark for the first time, for workers travelling

between Birmingham and London on Virgin Trains.

It the service was better then it would be more acceptable,

but we travel quite a lot on the train and it's the bain

of our lives them being incredibly expensive, especially

They do go up every year and it's hard to understand why all the time

because the service doesn't get any better.

I think they're a bargain, quite frankly.

I mean, it's easy to get about, either within the city or from city

to city, I wish we had the same thing in the United States.

1%, I guess, given overall growth in inflation doesn't seem that bad

The Government says it's done away with inflation-busting price rises

until 2020 and points to new stations and new carriages

But many commuters, preparing to pay more for their return to work

after the Christmas break, say that any price rises

Phillip Norton, BBC News at Paddington Station.

A hacking group that targets so-called Islamic State websites,

says it was behind the cyber-attack on the BBC this week.Many

of the Corporation's services were taken offline for several

A group calling itself New World Hacking,

In parts of Scotland, England and Wales, people

are bracing themselves for yet more flooding,

as another belt of wet weather moves in.

A warning of heavy rain has been issued for central

and North East Scotland until Monday night, along with dozens of flood

Ballater in Aberdeenshire was badly flooded over Christmas,

Catrina Renton is there for us tonight.

Are they preparing for the worst where you are? It's not the

intensity to have rain this time but its prolonged nature that is causing

concern with more rain falling on what is already saturated ground.

It's communities like this one here that were so badly hit by Storm

Frank earlier in the week that could be affected again. Around 200 homes

here were flooded on Wednesday into Thursday last week. So you can

imagine today there have been massive preparations, enormous

sandbags been put out around the town, almost waist height, the

sandbags, in the hope of minimising any damage that could happen this

time. Now, behind me, you can see where the efforts are being

coordinated this evening, between the emergency services, the council

and electric companies. They are preparing for the worst, but of

course, hoping for the best. Now, that Met Office amber be prepared

warning is in place until 9 o'clock on Monday evening and there are 22

flood warnings in place from the Environment Agency across the

north-east of Scotland and Perthshire. So people here once

again bracing themselves for what the weather might throw at them this

time. Many thanks. Here is Olly Foster

with the day's sport. We'll start with cricket

because England have made a good start to the second Test

against South Africa in Cape Town. They are already 1-0 up in the four

match series and ended the first Ben Stokes will return to the crease

tomorrow morning on 74. In Cape Town, plenty of

awe-inspiring sites. South Africa once towering giants of the game,

but their peak it seems almost behind them. Little wonder 12,000

England fans made the trip. The hosts still rated the world's best

but England here finding little to fear.

That was until Alastair Cook found an edge. Rabada, one of South

Africa's next generation. Having dismissed the England captain,

others were proving rather more sub born, this took Hales to a half

century. South Africa needed inspiration and it was Rabada once

again providing them with the lift. This time to see off Compton. That

was the ball before the tea break, this the ball after.

South Africa's new playing like South Africa of old. But like them,

it wasn't to last. Root on his way to 50, Stokes was going even

further. Test cricket's most picturesque venue, it was England

offering plenty to admire. There was only one draw in today's

eight Premier League matches. All the goals are coming up on Match

of the Day straight after the news, but if you want the results,

then here they come. Arsenal are two points clear

at the top of the table. Laurent Koscielny scored

the only goal in their win The Gunners had been level

on points with Leicester, but they slipped up

at home to Bournemouth. Manchester City are only three

points off the top after coming Goals from Yaya Toure

and Sergio Aguero inside the last 10 minutes secured a 2-1

win at Vicarage Road. They had a penalty saved

against 10-man Bournemouth. Wayne Rooney scored

Manchester United's winner against Swansea, their first

victory in six weeks. In the relegation places,

Sunderland beat bottom club West Brom beat Stoke 2-1 in injury

time and Liverpool went down 2-0 An 89th minute goal

from Leigh Griffiths gave Celtic a 1-0 win over Partick to move three

points clear at the top In the Tayside Derby,

Dundee beat Dundee United 2-1 Nick Ross scored

the deflected winner. Dundee are up to seventh,

United are 11 points adrift Elsewhere, Inverness

beat Ross County. Saracens have stretched their lead

at the top of Rugby Union's They made it eight wins out of eight

this season with a 26-6 victory over They scored four tries,

three of them penalty tries, They are now sox points

clear of Exeter. There were also wins for Gloucester,

Newcastle and Sale today. In the Pro 12, Edinburgh completed

the double over Glasgow to move Phil Burleigh scored

the winning try. 14-11 the final score

at Murrayfield. A win that also saw them clinch

the 1872 Cup that the Scottish Adrian 'Jackpot' Lewis is the first

man through to the PDC World Championship darts final,

both semi-finals are being played It's the first to six sets

and though Barney, a former PDC Champion, fought back from 5-0 down,

Lewis came through 6-3. The defending champion,

Gary Anderson, takes on Jelle The rival BDO World Darts

Championship started today The women's tournament takes

place alongside the men's and the defending champion

Lisa Ashton, the Lancashire Rose, came through her first round match

against Paula Jacklin. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. Hello there. More wind and rain in

the next few days. The heaviest rain not where it's been for the past few

weeks. We have an amber rain warning from the Met Office but it's eastern

areas of Scotland, the rain really adding up in the next few days and

leading to some flooding. Low pressure bringing all the rain.

The rain continues in the north-east of England and in Scotland and it

will be replaced by a bigger area of low pressure from the Atlantic

bringing rain into the south-west overnight. There will be a gap in

the rain. We should turn more showery in the

afternoon tomorrow. A hint of sunshine for south-west England and

Wales. The showers could be heavy and thundery. It stays wet in the

afternoon across East Anglia and much of northern England. The rain

fall amounts not particularly high across Cumbria. Wet for most of the

day for Northern Ireland. Not much again for Northern Ireland and

Scotland. The rain continues to add up the

risk of flooding which is greater by Monday as it stays wet and windy in

eastern Scotland. Snow in the mountains, rain for north-east

England. Showery and brighter elsewhere, although a lot of heavy,

maybe thundery showers in South Wales and southern England. A very

unsettled picture over the week ahead. Lots of showers to begin the

week, persistent rain in the week,