:00:15. > :00:19.Tonight America stakes a big leap into the Syrian war. But is it too
:00:19. > :00:26.late to influence what is a regional and sectarian conflict,
:00:26. > :00:31.touching all across the Middle East. And with almost 100,000 believed
:00:32. > :00:36.dead is offering guns to the rebels really part of the solution.
:00:36. > :00:42.With arms pouring in from Russia, Iran and the gulf states, it won't
:00:42. > :00:49.win the war, but it does give America a bigger stake. The Assad
:00:49. > :00:54.regime steps up the propaganda war, showing off the foreign fighters
:00:54. > :01:01.and jihadis they say are part of the rebellion. Europe is having a
:01:01. > :01:07.war on their borders with the same kind of Madrassahs that the Salafis
:01:07. > :01:16.and others have on your border. best days of our life, what do you
:01:16. > :01:20.make of the school assemblies we all loved to hate.
:01:20. > :01:24.Good evening, when the poet William Butler Yeats wrote the best like
:01:24. > :01:28.all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity, it
:01:28. > :01:33.was his native Ireland that Yeats had in mind. Today's political and
:01:33. > :01:36.sectarian struggle in Syria might just as well fit the bill. The
:01:36. > :01:41.Obama administration remains divided on how far to go to aid
:01:41. > :01:44.Syrian rebels. Guns will be sent but not of the type or number the
:01:44. > :01:48.rebels want. Meanwhile Hezbollah, Iran and others and the jihadis
:01:48. > :01:54.fighting with the rebels are indeed full of passionate intensity. With
:01:54. > :01:58.Obama's red line on the use of chemical weapons now apparently
:01:58. > :02:02.crossed and the shift towards arming the rebel now being taken,
:02:03. > :02:06.supported by Britain and France, what on earth are we getting into
:02:06. > :02:10.here. We begin tonight with our diplomatic editor. Why are the
:02:10. > :02:14.Americans doing it now? I could almost say do you want the spin
:02:14. > :02:17.doctor's answer, the diplomat's answer or the hard-nosed realist
:02:18. > :02:21.answer. The spin doctor's answer is the President was never going to
:02:21. > :02:24.undertake such a thing lightly. During the past few weeks the White
:02:24. > :02:28.House and other agencies have been reviewing the evidence of chemical
:02:28. > :02:30.weapons use and they have come to this view as a result of which they
:02:30. > :02:35.believe policy response is essential. The diplomat's response
:02:35. > :02:39.is coming as he is to the G8 summit in Northern Ireland on Monday, he
:02:39. > :02:44.wants to try to kick this diplomacy into a different gear, to energise
:02:44. > :02:47.it. People have been meandering about this issue of will there or
:02:47. > :02:51.will there not be this Geneva 2 peace conference, trying to bring
:02:51. > :02:55.people to the table. He wants to give the Americans more of a lever,
:02:55. > :02:58.if you like in that discussion. And energise that discussion. The hard-
:02:58. > :03:01.nosed realist, and I must say some of the people I have been talking
:03:01. > :03:06.to this week inside the system seemed to tend to this view, is
:03:06. > :03:11.that America has seen things developing in a most unwelcome way
:03:11. > :03:16.in the region in the past week or two. Yes there have been reports of
:03:16. > :03:24.use of chemicals in warfare, also the victory of the Assad forces
:03:24. > :03:29.backed by the Hezbollah forces in the town of Qusair, lead them to
:03:29. > :03:35.believe that Iran and Hezbollah could make big gains and want to
:03:35. > :03:39.bring this to conclusion on terms that America cannot sit idlely by
:03:39. > :03:47.when there is the potential for such a big win. That is what lies
:03:48. > :03:52.behind today's announcement. As an intensifying conflict that
:03:52. > :03:55.has already claimed 93,000 lives. Now, while saying it is still
:03:55. > :04:03.saying it is working for a peace conference, America will send guns
:04:03. > :04:11.to the opposition. What we have been able to do is develop
:04:11. > :04:14.relationships, find individuals, like the General of the S NC, that
:04:14. > :04:21.we can target the assistance towards, it allows you to get
:04:21. > :04:25.assistance into the hands of those who need it, but also protections
:04:25. > :04:29.against those who you don't want to receive the material. The White
:04:29. > :04:34.House says it is dispatching weapons because President Assad's
:04:34. > :04:38.regime has used chemical weapons, including sarin nerve gas. The UK
:04:38. > :04:44.and France agree, but Russia, which has been arming the Syrian
:04:44. > :04:48.Government for decades finds the evidence flimsy. TRANSLATION:
:04:48. > :04:51.reference is made by our partners on the alleged chemical weapon
:04:51. > :04:58.usage by Syrian forces were not supported by the necessary
:04:58. > :05:03.convincing facts. But what difference will this make? The
:05:03. > :05:08.Syrian opposition has called the US move largely meaningless. Little
:05:08. > :05:15.wonder. In places they already have anti-aircraft missiles like this.
:05:15. > :05:19.That are able to take on regime air power. More widespread still are
:05:19. > :05:25.modern anti-tank missiles, all believed part of a multibillion
:05:25. > :05:30.dollar Saudi and Qatary programme of supply. Even the stock seized
:05:30. > :05:34.from Syrian army bases, like this ammunition storehouse, dwarf what
:05:34. > :05:39.the Americans may be planning to send. But it does mark a more
:05:39. > :05:49.interventionist position. Some of the other options being studied at
:05:49. > :05:51.
:05:51. > :05:57.the Pentagon include attacks on key regime bases. But in order to avoid
:05:57. > :06:00.destroying the defence systems it could be done with warships in the
:06:00. > :06:04.Mediterranean or using other countries' airspace. Another
:06:04. > :06:09.concept put forward by the French is for a no-fly zone. Once again it
:06:09. > :06:15.would be a big task to do it across the whole of Syria, but if a safe
:06:15. > :06:20.haven from declared in the rebel held northern areas, a no-fly zone
:06:20. > :06:24.above them could be enforced, with fewer air strikes, along with
:06:24. > :06:28.fighter patrols and patriot anti- aircraft missiles already deployed
:06:28. > :06:33.in Turkey. None of these options particularly appeals to the White
:06:33. > :06:38.House. But major regime advances perhaps towards Aleppo, or large
:06:38. > :06:44.scale chemical weapons use might trigger them. Can the Americans
:06:44. > :06:48.exert strong influence short of such action? Probably not. Regional
:06:48. > :06:52.actors and sectarian acts are increasingly powerful. These
:06:52. > :06:58.fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement caused outrage
:06:58. > :07:03.among many Sunnis by an act apparently of symbolic triumphism.
:07:03. > :07:10.They unfold on the minuter receipt of a Sunni mosque a banner harking
:07:10. > :07:14.back to the 1400-year-old schism between the sects. In Cairo
:07:14. > :07:18.yesterday an assembly of Sunni religious scholars urged men across
:07:18. > :07:28.the Arab world to go to Syria to fight against a Government they
:07:28. > :07:32.
:07:32. > :07:37.regard as infidel. To sustain this religious battle, the leader of
:07:37. > :07:42.Hezbollah insisted the armed units will continue their fight in Syria.
:07:42. > :07:46.TRANSLATION: We are more determined to confront this plot and develop
:07:46. > :07:49.this confrontation. We will be where we need to be and what we
:07:49. > :07:59.started we will take the responsibility of continuing it. We
:07:59. > :08:02.do not need to explain more. Assad regime's recent success on
:08:02. > :08:06.the battlefield with Hezbollah and Iranian help has given the US a
:08:06. > :08:14.power political reason to get more involved. Whatever the evidence on
:08:14. > :08:18.chemical weapons use. Since 2004 Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other
:08:18. > :08:26.countries have considered themselves in a proxy battle with
:08:26. > :08:29.Iran for influence in the Middle East. So, I really do believe that
:08:29. > :08:37.the United States and other interested powers should weigh in
:08:37. > :08:44.on the side of people who don't want to see a Hezbollah, Iran
:08:44. > :08:50.Nexsus in the Middle East. It is all centered on Syria right now.
:08:50. > :08:55.is these actors, Hezbollah, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar leading
:08:55. > :08:59.among them that are now feeding advanced weapons, cash and people
:08:59. > :09:05.into the Syrian caldron on a grand scale. It is questionable how far
:09:05. > :09:11.the new American supplies might alter this dynamic.
:09:11. > :09:13.Until earlier this year my guest was Barack Obama's White House
:09:13. > :09:17.Coordinator for Arms Control and weapons of mass destruction
:09:17. > :09:21.terrorism. And we have a Syrian writer and broadcaster. Given our
:09:21. > :09:24.experiences in Iraq, people will want to know just how compelling
:09:24. > :09:31.this evidence on chemical weapons being used by the regime really is.
:09:31. > :09:35.What is your assessment of that? Well, the American, British and
:09:35. > :09:40.French Intelligence Services have all reached the same conclusion. I
:09:40. > :09:47.think the most compelling evidence is based on physiological samples
:09:47. > :09:52.from rebel soldiers who have been exposed to sarin. This is blood and
:09:52. > :09:55.urine and hair samples and so forth. That is fairly conclusive. What is
:09:55. > :09:59.less conclusive, because the information haven't been made
:09:59. > :10:02.public is what information London, Washington and Paris has,
:10:02. > :10:07.indicating that chemical weapons were used under orders from the
:10:07. > :10:11.Syrian Government. They say that such information exists but for
:10:11. > :10:16.obvious reasons they haven't made it public. President Obama said
:10:16. > :10:20.very famously that would be a red line, and we also hear that perhaps
:10:20. > :10:25.150 people have died as a result of the use of chemical weapons. But
:10:25. > :10:30.you know with 93,000 dead, you might think that should have been a
:10:30. > :10:34.red line and perhaps what is happening as senator McCain is
:10:34. > :10:39.suggesting is too little too late? I think it is too early to tell if
:10:39. > :10:44.it is too little too late. Clearly an infusion of weapons earlier in
:10:44. > :10:51.the conflict would have had more of an impact. But as it was said at
:10:51. > :10:55.the top of the show as the Syrian Government has demonstrated that it
:10:55. > :10:59.is capable of launching effective military operations and as the
:10:59. > :11:03.opposition seems to be on the back foot, I'm sure there was some
:11:03. > :11:13.pressure on Washington to try to demonstrate that it is willing to,
:11:13. > :11:18.or trying to influence the outcome. On what has unfortunately become a
:11:18. > :11:22.proxy war with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah supporting on one side,
:11:22. > :11:26.and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US and Europe on the other side
:11:26. > :11:29.calling for Assad to leave. terms of the difficulty for the
:11:29. > :11:31.administration or anyone getting a grip on this. How much bearing did
:11:31. > :11:36.the thought that it could be Afghanistan again, we could give
:11:36. > :11:38.weapons to one side and they will end up using them against us or our
:11:39. > :11:42.allies. The questions of the jihadis getting their hands on the
:11:42. > :11:47.weapons, is that the reason they are not getting anti-aircraft
:11:47. > :11:50.weapons for example? Yes, I think that is the prime row reason. I
:11:50. > :11:55.think the administration is starting cautiously by providing
:11:55. > :12:03.small arms and anti-tank weapons. Which even if they do end up in the
:12:03. > :12:07.hands of the jihadis won't really pose much of a threat. And if we,
:12:07. > :12:11.if this trial work well. If people feel confident that the weapons are
:12:11. > :12:17.in the hands of forces that we have confidence in and they are being
:12:17. > :12:22.used properly then I think the pressure on, not only the US, but
:12:22. > :12:25.also the British and the French, to follow up with more sophisticated
:12:25. > :12:29.weapons that the rebels clearly need in order to fight the Syrian
:12:29. > :12:32.air force is going to become much greater. I see this as a cautious
:12:32. > :12:36.first step, but I don't think it will be the last step.
:12:36. > :12:40.I just wondered how you see this. Do you see it as in any sense a
:12:40. > :12:44.game-changer, politically it might be, but in terms of weapons perhaps
:12:44. > :12:49.not? Syrians have become so cynical from what they have heard in the
:12:49. > :12:54.past two years and three months. I have called them the loneliest
:12:54. > :13:03.people in the world, because this revolution, which started out as we
:13:03. > :13:09.all know peacefully. I was met with such harsh violence and besiegement
:13:09. > :13:14.and military aircraft attacks from cities that left half of Syria in
:13:14. > :13:19.rubble and five million people displaced, either externally or
:13:19. > :13:22.internally in great, great difficulty, catastrophic difficulty.
:13:22. > :13:26.Syria feels that these promises that keep being made are never
:13:26. > :13:32.really fulfilled. We have heard these noises before from the White
:13:32. > :13:35.House about red lines. And even now your guest in the United States is
:13:35. > :13:39.saying that they will start cautiously if they are going to arm
:13:39. > :13:44.and they won't give anything like what is needed. Do you think that
:13:44. > :13:49.could be too late in the end, that the Assad regime will hold on?
:13:49. > :13:54.problem is that intervention has happened in Syria, and it has
:13:54. > :14:00.happened by Russia. We are at the mercy of Russian air force bombing
:14:00. > :14:06.us, we are also at the mercy of constant arming and financing by
:14:06. > :14:11.Iran, which calls Syria to, -- causes Syrians great shock and
:14:11. > :14:16.outrage and calls us a province of Iran. And Hezbollah's entry into
:14:16. > :14:20.Qusair and the way they have been used as snipers and as torturers is
:14:20. > :14:25.really very serious. But because of that, you talked about the great
:14:25. > :14:33.hopes that you had at the start, but where we are now obviously
:14:33. > :14:37.nobody wants to be in this has become a sectarian war including
:14:37. > :14:40.outside players, not just the ones you mentioned, but the Saudis,
:14:40. > :14:44.Qatar, we heard the Egyptian clerics talking about Sunni
:14:44. > :14:48.fighters should go. It has become the thing most people dreaded,
:14:48. > :14:53.which is the sectarian war. I still don't see it as a sectarian war. I
:14:54. > :14:58.see the major actors as sectarians, and one of the great myths that the
:14:58. > :15:03.world has held about Assad is that he was some how secular because he
:15:03. > :15:10.wore a tie and had lived in London and had an English wife. The point
:15:10. > :15:19.is that as a Syrian who has lived throughout Syria's modern history,
:15:19. > :15:22.including the pre Ba'ath period. I know there was no sectarian before
:15:22. > :15:28.Iran became a strategic partner of the Assad regime, both father and
:15:28. > :15:32.son. That has led to the fact we have heard of Hezbollah, and proxy
:15:32. > :15:36.of Iran saying that he will continue to fight a sectarian
:15:36. > :15:40.battle. Let me bring in you on that, that must give the White House
:15:40. > :15:44.great pause for thought. That it is, there are clearly these outside
:15:44. > :15:48.actors, but if it becomes Sunni versus Shia, then there is perhaps
:15:48. > :15:53.no solution, not only there, but the spillover for Jordan and for
:15:53. > :15:57.Lebanon in particularly, it could be horrendous. I think part of the
:15:57. > :16:02.motivation for being more directly engaged is to try to influence as
:16:02. > :16:08.much as one can those forces in the opposition that the US thinks are
:16:08. > :16:14.not secular, that are not extremist, that would be more tolerant of what
:16:14. > :16:17.in Syria is a real mixture of different groups. And that's part
:16:17. > :16:23.of the motivation. You are never gob to go able to completely
:16:23. > :16:28.control the outcomes in these kinds of situations. If the US did
:16:28. > :16:31.nothing that would create a feel for the Islamist forces. You know
:16:32. > :16:35.the players in Washington extremely well, do you think that the
:16:35. > :16:38.administration is really quite divided about this, because it is
:16:38. > :16:46.so difficult, between those who would like to do much more and
:16:46. > :16:50.those who would actually like to not have another messy foreign war?
:16:50. > :16:53.I think President Obama has been absolutely determined to avoid not
:16:53. > :16:56.getting drawn into another conflict. That explains why the US has been
:16:56. > :17:01.so reluctant to take even the first step. Now a combination of events
:17:01. > :17:05.have put him in a position where he feels that he has to at least do
:17:05. > :17:11.this first step. As I said earlier the risk of course is once you take
:17:11. > :17:16.the first step is becomes even more difficult to disengage. And the war
:17:16. > :17:20.promises to go on for a long time. My guess is that not only for the
:17:20. > :17:26.US but for US allies, Britain and France, this is going to be the
:17:26. > :17:29.beginning of what will end up being a much greater involvement. Not
:17:29. > :17:33.necessarily direct military action, even use of air force, but much
:17:33. > :17:40.greater involvement in terms of arming and training the opposition.
:17:40. > :17:45.Briefly, I know you want to come in there? All I want to say is this,
:17:45. > :17:50.that Obama for obvious reasons wanted to be isolationist on the
:17:50. > :17:54.Middle East, coming after Bush, but he was so isolationist when it came
:17:54. > :18:01.to Syria that he allowed a conflict that could have been stopped from
:18:01. > :18:05.the very beginning to escalate to such an extent that now, without
:18:05. > :18:11.prop armying and without proper anti-aircraft missiles, which no-
:18:11. > :18:16.one has been promised, nothing will happen.
:18:16. > :18:21.Now, one of the arguments the Assad regime has been using to prevent
:18:21. > :18:24.foreign aid to the rebels is simple, fear, if you give guns they may be
:18:24. > :18:28.used against you one day, just as they were in Afghanistan. To
:18:28. > :18:33.bolster the argument, the Government in Damascus has been
:18:33. > :18:43.making a great deal of propaganda over the called foreign fighters
:18:43. > :18:44.
:18:44. > :18:50.and jihadis they captured during the fighting. Traditional song at
:18:50. > :18:54.the grand mosque in Damascus. And the magnificent place of prayer.
:18:54. > :19:03.Today it is the setting for a ceremony. Muslim and Christian
:19:03. > :19:13.leaders sit together here. With Syrian mothers who have lost their
:19:13. > :19:18.sons in war. And still grieve. But this isn't a private moment, the
:19:18. > :19:23.cameras have also been invited. And other mothers from Tunisia as well
:19:23. > :19:27.as fathers. Their sons are also involved in Syria's war. But they
:19:27. > :19:35.have been fighting for the other side. Many have been captured and
:19:35. > :19:45.put in prison. Parents have come to Syria to find their sons. And to
:19:45. > :19:46.
:19:46. > :19:56.say a very public story. TRANSLATION: Please forgive me, I
:19:56. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:04.didn't know my son was coming here, our sons were brainwashed. Mothers
:20:04. > :20:08.are brought together from countries on opposing sides, it is carefully
:20:08. > :20:18.choreographed for the cameras. But there is no denying the grief is
:20:18. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:30.genuine. TRANSLATION: They arrested our sons at the border. They didn't
:20:30. > :20:35.do anything. I know my son, he wouldn't kill anyone. Her son Sami
:20:35. > :20:38.is one of thousands of foreign fighters who have joined battle
:20:38. > :20:45.with Syria's rebels in their fight against President Assad's forces.
:20:45. > :20:51.Hundreds have come here from Tunisia. The mother's cause was
:20:51. > :20:57.taken up by civil society activists at home. In this five-star hotel in
:20:57. > :21:01.Damascus they argue over details of a joint declaration. Tunisian
:21:01. > :21:06.lawyers want due process for the prisoners. But the Syrians in this
:21:06. > :21:13.room see a much bigger opportunity. They want to get all foreign
:21:13. > :21:16.fighters off the battlefield. This man is a Syrian businessman with
:21:16. > :21:19.close ties to President Assad's family and has made this his
:21:19. > :21:24.mission. His burning ambition is to bring delegations from around the
:21:24. > :21:30.world to his door. His secret weapon, he knows this is also
:21:30. > :21:38.Europe's growing worry. Europe today is having a new Pakistan on
:21:38. > :21:44.your border, with the same type of Madrassahs that are being made by
:21:44. > :21:49.the Salafi and Wahab by, it is on your border and a real crisis and
:21:49. > :21:54.problem, it is the transit in Turkey and the incubation of the
:21:54. > :22:02.Muslim Brotherhoods in Turkey for all those fighters in Europe and
:22:02. > :22:07.they will be coming back to Europe. This war is causing anxiety in
:22:07. > :22:10.Europe. This week a group of European Parliament members arrived
:22:10. > :22:14.in Damascus. Only hours after a double suicide bombing in the heart
:22:14. > :22:17.of the capital. Politicians mainly from far right parties came to
:22:17. > :22:21.inspect the damage. They were invited here by the Syrian
:22:21. > :22:26.Government. For Europeans, like this Belgian senator, foreign
:22:26. > :22:30.fighters at the top of their agenda too. These are the potential
:22:30. > :22:35.terrorists of the future. If they come back to our country they will
:22:35. > :22:40.be the qaed militants and they will fight their -- Al-Qaeda militant,
:22:40. > :22:43.and they will fight their jihad on our European soil. It is a very,
:22:43. > :22:48.very big threat for all European countries, not only for Belgium.
:22:48. > :22:54.What chance of resolving this as we speak, it looks like there will be
:22:54. > :23:00.more arms coming into Syria, more fighter, not less? It was a very
:23:00. > :23:06.stupid decision to lift the ban on weapon deliveries to Syria. The
:23:06. > :23:10.weapons we will deliver to Syria to the called Free Syrian Army, but
:23:10. > :23:15.also to Al-Qaeda and so on, will be used within a few months, within a
:23:15. > :23:23.few years, on European soil. So I think it was a very niave and
:23:23. > :23:30.stupid decision. Syria's war is regarded as a Jihad or holy war by
:23:30. > :23:35.Islamist groups worldwide. It is not just places long regarded as
:23:35. > :23:42.breeding grounds for militancy. Even Swedish is being spoken on
:23:42. > :23:51.Syria's battlefield. "pack your bags and come to Syria", this
:23:51. > :23:54.fighter says. Many Europeans are, including some British nationals.
:23:54. > :23:58.Growing concern over the potential security threat posed by large
:23:58. > :24:02.numbers of European jihadis was raised in meetings last week among
:24:03. > :24:10.European home affairs ministers. There may be common interests, but
:24:10. > :24:15.it is quite another matter to make common cause. This businessman has
:24:15. > :24:19.taken his message to Syria's state TV. So far his plan has brought
:24:19. > :24:25.mothers here to Damascus, civil No Such Thing As Society activists,
:24:25. > :24:27.even from a country with -- civil society activists, even from a
:24:27. > :24:33.country with no diplomatic interests here. There is a growing
:24:34. > :24:43.war of words. So will this kind of initiative ever work? Will the
:24:43. > :24:48.other side even listen? All sides talk about the need to end a bloody
:24:48. > :24:54.war, now in its third year. But on one side the west is now focusing
:24:54. > :25:03.on arming what it calls a "moderate" opposition. On the other,
:25:03. > :25:08.fighters from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq are blacking Damascus. --
:25:08. > :25:11.backing Damascus. The west is still dealing with the reprecussions of
:25:11. > :25:19.arming Islamist fighters in Afghanistan a decade ago. This time
:25:19. > :25:24.it has been drawn into a vor text far harder to control.
:25:24. > :25:29.We all suffer them or in my case try to skip them where possible.
:25:29. > :25:34.School assembly is one of the strange rituals of British life.
:25:34. > :25:38.When a columnist asked on social media of people's memories from
:25:38. > :25:48.school assemblies, he was overwhelmed with replies. What was
:25:48. > :26:00.
:26:00. > :26:04.the magic something that made it so Remember school assembly? I think
:26:04. > :26:08.this headmaster has been hitting the staff room coffee. Funny that
:26:08. > :26:14.you should all be so tired. When you wake up you will remember that
:26:14. > :26:18.you saw a film about ants. Not even Ofsted expects teachers to be this
:26:18. > :26:28.mesmerising. But what do you do if you don't have this kind of sway
:26:28. > :26:36.
:26:36. > :26:40.How did all this get going? There has been a Twitter storm, or
:26:40. > :26:45.at least gust, ever since journalist Rhodri Marsden
:26:45. > :26:50.reminisceed on-line about how his school day once began. I was
:26:50. > :26:54.listening to Thought for the Day on Radio 4, I had a memory of a school
:26:54. > :26:59.assembly I was in, where the headteacher recited a story he had
:26:59. > :27:03.clearly heard on Thought for the Day an hour early. It was a serious
:27:03. > :27:13.observation but I made it on Twitter. I suddenly was replied to
:27:13. > :27:18.
:27:18. > :27:23.with all the fantastic stories of Getting the kids' attention just
:27:23. > :27:27.isn't a problem when movie star Will Smith is in the house, or hall.
:27:27. > :27:31.Earlier this year he dropped in on this school in south London. What
:27:31. > :27:35.I'm saying to you is this, the exams you are about to take are
:27:35. > :27:43.probably the most important exams you will ever take. But what is
:27:43. > :27:53.assembly like when he isn't around. Now, go quietly to your lessons.
:27:53. > :27:53.
:27:53. > :28:00.Steven Smith, where are you? See me later! I do a few things, like I
:28:00. > :28:05.have done an assembly around a mobile phone. I always, once a year,
:28:05. > :28:09.recite Phenomenal Woman, by Maya Angelou that the pupils enjoy. I
:28:09. > :28:12.spend a lot of time thinking about it and preparing for it. I try to
:28:12. > :28:16.make it relevant. If something happened over the weekend in this
:28:16. > :28:21.community or in the world I would talk about it in assembly. Just
:28:21. > :28:23.between us is it a bit boring, is it interesting, what is it like?
:28:24. > :28:28.think it is really interesting because basically we are all
:28:28. > :28:32.together as a community. And it just really uplifts your morning,
:28:32. > :28:35.if you have a bad morning you can come in, the assembly will make you
:28:35. > :28:40.happy and not give up because you have had a bad morning. You can
:28:40. > :28:44.continue to go on and not struggle. Is that true, you get a lift?
:28:44. > :28:54.is a sense of community, everyone is together in the hall. We are all
:28:54. > :29:03.
:29:03. > :29:08.One time I actually got up and sang during assembly individually.
:29:08. > :29:13.you invited to? Not entirely. So I got in trouble there too. But I was,
:29:13. > :29:18.for a while, I was quite whole hearted in assembly. Of course
:29:18. > :29:22.obviously it was a good opportunity to flick bits of paper, preferably
:29:22. > :29:28.when the teachers weren't looking. Or maybe slap the boy next to you
:29:28. > :29:38.with a ruler. You know, there were infinite possibilities. The
:29:38. > :29:38.
:29:38. > :30:54.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 75 seconds
:30:54. > :30:58.Those were the days! Any way, let's That's all for this week, Jeremy is
:30:58. > :31:04.here on Monday. We leave you with our very own sue Lloyd Roberts, who
:31:04. > :31:09.we learn this evening has been awarded an MBE for services to
:31:09. > :31:14.journalism. Here she is sneaking into Homs in Syria, undercover,
:31:14. > :31:18.right at the start of the conflict in 2008. The only journalist here
:31:18. > :31:24.to view the protest firsthand I noted another significant
:31:24. > :31:31.difference. Back in March, when they began, the protestors called
:31:31. > :31:36.for reform, then they called for the fall of the regime. Today as
:31:36. > :31:41.the name of each atrocity and massacre carried out by Assad's
:31:41. > :31:51.army and thugs is called out. The crowd respond by calling for the
:31:51. > :31:58.
:31:58. > :32:01.There is uncertainty about the weekend weather. Especially when it
:32:01. > :32:05.comes to Sunday. It is breezy and windy across southern I can't
:32:05. > :32:09.remembers, there will be plenty of showers around. Around this area of
:32:09. > :32:13.low pressure as it tracks eastwards. The problem for Sunday is this area
:32:14. > :32:17.of low pressure and how far north it will take its rain. Now the
:32:17. > :32:21.detail for Saturday. From the word go, sunshine and showers, along the
:32:21. > :32:25.spread of rain in Scotland. Further showers moving across England and
:32:25. > :32:30.Wales in the afternoon. These could be in the form of-y Joan pour,
:32:30. > :32:33.merging to give longer spells of rain here too. It is windier the
:32:33. > :32:38.further south you come. Southern coastal counties could see fewer
:32:38. > :32:43.showers compared with elsewhere. It means more in the way of sunny
:32:43. > :32:47.spells. Windy, yes, in the south west, in fact gales possible around
:32:47. > :32:50.the exposed coasts in south-west England and Wales. Some sunshine
:32:50. > :32:54.inbetween the showers. A scattering of showers around in Northern
:32:55. > :32:57.Ireland too. They may merge to give longer spells of rain and 13
:32:57. > :33:01.degrees in Belfast at this stage of the afternoon. A wet afternoon
:33:01. > :33:04.through western parts of Scotland, especially to the north of Glasgow.
:33:04. > :33:09.A few showers around elsewhere. We will keep a few showers going into