28/05/2013 BBC News at One

government forces. Opposition activists in Syria say they have

documented the deaths of 200 men, women and children in what they say

is one of the worst massacres of the war. There was a black cloud of

smoke covering the village. could not see anything. Fire

engulfed the village. All you could hear was the screaming of men, women

and children. We will be getting the latest from our correspondent.

Also this lunchtime, it comes as the EU backs a British and French pushed

to lift the sanctions which prevents weapons being sent to the rebels.

This is a strong signal to the Assad regime that it needs to engage in

the political process. Spending cuts for seven government

targets as the Chancellor tries to find savings of �11 billion.

Counterterrorism officers are investigating an attack on prison

officers at a top security prison near York. The publicist Max

Clifford appears in court on charges of indecent assault.

He says the claims are completely false. Warnings that one in five

High St shops could close in the next few years.

Later on BBC London, four gang members are found guilty of killing

this 15-year-old boy. And what will Crystal Palace do with the cash

windfall after their promotion to BBC News at one. The European union

says it will not renew an arms embargo against the Syrian

opposition which was due to expire on Saturday.

The Foreign Secretary William Hague said it would send a strong message

to the regime of President Assad but opponents say will only increase

sectarian violence in the country. As the fighting continues,

opposition activists say they have documented what they say is one of

the worst massacres of the civil war in which more than 200 men, women

and children were killed. The Syrian government said the action was

against terrorist fighters. In a moment we will hear more about

the negotiations in Brussels but first, this exclusive report which

does contain graphic images which you may find disturbing. Rebel

fighters in the North get ready to attack. What motivates these men is

revenge. Using rockets they have captured from one military base,

they bombard another. This attack is retaliation for what they believe is

a brutal massacre in the west of the country. It is a conflict which is

increasingly violent, sectarian and seems unstoppable. Attacks like this

are taking place across Syria as the rebels grows stronger and so does

the government was a response. The truth is, there are no real winners

here, just losers. Syria is consumed by war. But what happens in this

town appears to be one of its darkest hours. Unverified footage

shows the army attacking the area in early May, after rebel gunmen killed

a number of soldiers. Neither side disputes this took place. But what

happens next is. This leaked video, apparently filmed by pro-government

fighters shows the troops in the town square. State media says they

killed 40 terrorists. Locals talk of a frenzied assault where Alawite

militias killed the Sunni population. We met two women who

escaped. They say they are too afraid to show their faces. Their

story is matched by others we have spoken to. There was a black cloud

of smoke covering the village. You could not see anything. Fire

engulfed the village. All you could hear was the screaming men, women

and children. They describe soldiers and pro-government militia coming to

their village. They say men and boys were rounded up and killed. We have

had to stop the video here. It is graphic and appears to show a shop

in the town full of the bodies of men. I ran down the road and saw 20

to 30 men laying on the ground all shot up. Then I saw my husband and

father-in-law. They were laying on the ground shot in the head. There

was nothing left of my husband's face apart from his mouth and nose.

It was hideous. The rebels then moved on to a neighbouring town.

This video apparently shows the members of one family or killed. It

is to violent to show. Mothers and women slumped on a bed. An entire

family slaughtered in one house. What more can I say? There was so

much blood. Those who escaped and our refugees

trapped inside their own country. We cannot be sure what happened. But

what does seem beyond doubt is many innocent people were killed without

any possible reason. While nations placed their faith in diplomacy, the

country is soaked in the blood of its own children.

On the diplomatic front, the UK and France had called for the EU arms

embargo to be dropped. The Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has

no immediate plans to send weapons to Syria. After long talks, EU

foreign ministers have allowed the current embargo to run out at the

end of this week with a review to take place in August.

Behind the smiles in Brussels, hours of tough negotiating and eventually

the decision Britain and France had pushed for, the lifting of the EU's

embargoed on member states supplying weapons to the opposition. Not

immediately and targeted, the Foreign Secretary insisted. We would

only take the step of sending arms in company with other nations in

carefully controlled circumstances and in compliance with international

law. It is thought this is the type of weapon most likely to be

supplied, portable anti-aircraft missiles. They are seen as the

potential game changer in the skewed balance between the government and

rebels. There is the fear they could end up in the hands of extremists.

President Assad's army was 220,000 strong but today depleted through

desertion and defection. He has 400 combat aircraft. And 4000 tanks. The

main Free Syrian Army is thought to have 30,000 fighters in the field.

Britain and France argue that strengthening the rebels militarily,

creating something of a more level battlefield could force President

Assad to negotiate. A sofar impossible ambition. Today,

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister argued the opposite, even though his

government continues to arm the regime. He said lifting the arms

embargo directly damaged the prospects for the peace conference

which is currently being organised. No one is underestimating the

diplomatic challenge of bringing off a conference in Geneva next month

which could produce results, even with the pressure of an ever more

dire humanitarian crisis being generated by the conflict.

humanitarian crisis is growing. The only way to stop that is to try and

agree a political settlement for the future. In this volatile mix, with

its daily cost in lives, would weapons from the EU provide more

flexibility as Britain maintains or add fuel to the fire? The debate is

likely to intensify. Our world affairs correspondent who

brought us that first report is back from Syria and is with me now.

Having seen what you have seen, what is the risk of more weapons being

sent into this region? I think there are risks and challenges. If you put

weapons into Syria, who would you give them to? Who do you trust? Can

you guarantee they will not fall into the hands of extremists? The

truth is the rebels have consistently been out manned and

outgunned. You would have to put in significant heavy weapons to tip the

balance in their favour. The truth is the armed opposition has made

advances on the ground but the government has responded and

responded with increasing strengths. Both sides believe they can win this

conflict and in that situation what you do to change that? The clear

risk is it leads to more civilian deaths. The United Nations says

80,000 people have been killed. The opposition say as many as 90,000. It

is civilians who paid the ultimate price here and pay that price

disproportionately to everyone else the risk of putting more arms and

there is it leads to more violence. Both sides believe they can win and

civilians die. There is much more information and

analysis on the situation in Syria on the BBC website.

Here, the Chancellor has agreed to cuts of 10% in seven Whitehall

departments ahead of next month's spending review. Communities,

energy, Justice, Northern Ireland as well as the Treasury, Cabinet office

and Foreign Office will face more cuts. George Osborne wants to reduce

spending by �11.5 billion. Even with these cuts he has defined a further

�8 billion. For months now they have been

fighting over money here in Whitehall over how much government

departments will have to spend in 2015. They have got until the end of

June to sort it out but today we have learned that seven of those

departments have agreed to cuts. don't think any Chancellor in

history has made this much progress with still a month to go. I think

people were saying you will not be able to get the agreements from

these departments from some of these ministers. Actually, we have got

ministers like Ed Davey and Eric Pickles all agreeing to substantial

savings. Plenty of other ministers have not agreed like Vince cable,

Theresa May and Philip Hammond. are still battling hard and

sometimes publicly for their budgets.

I will be making the case very strongly supported by business that

we need to invest more in training, science and innovation and business

support. One row seems to be resolved. The Chancellor dropped

heavy hints there would not be any new cuts to welfare. Labour are not

impressed. His priority should be growth in 2013 instead of trying to

second-guess what he cannot predict. He needs to start focusing on

repairing the economy. The Treasury says it has to cut the budgets --

has to set the budgets in April. There is still plenty of work to do

here. The departments mentioned today, many of them are relatively

small spenders. The Chancellor still has to find up to �8 billion in

savings. It means the big questions remain unanswered. Where will the

most sensitive cuts come and what affect will they have won services?

We can speak to our political correspondent Norman Smith in

Westminster. How big a mountain does George

Osborne have two climb? The word from George Osborne's people is that

they believe they are making progress. Part of today's

announcement was a bit of finger wagging and naming and shaming of

ministers who have not yet signed on the dotted line. It seems Mr

Osborne's task has remained harder because he is setting up this

financial mountain kitted out in what looks like a straitjacket of

his own making, namely, the government's decision to exempt vast

areas from cuts such as the NHS budget which will be safeguarded,

the schools budget, the overseas aid budget and now we learn that the

welfare budget will be protected from the year 2015/16. That means

60% of government spending is off limit for further cuts. That means

the pain will have to be concentrated on a relatively small

number of departments and those departments are some of the most

politically sensitive such as the MOD and Armed Forces, the Home

Office including police and counterterrorism. It seems to

continue the mountaineering analogy that George Osborne is still in the

fiscal foothills of K2 of savings he to achieve. Thank you.

The counterterrorism unit is investigating an attack on two

prison officers by three inmates at a maximum security prison near York.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon and lasted for four

hours. Our correspondent Ed Thomas is there now. What do we read into

the involvement of the counterterrorism unit? A fuller

picture of what happened here is starting to emerge. That includes

the investigation from the counterterrorism unit. We know the

first phone call was made at 4:30pm on Sunday. The counterterrorism unit

has confirmed that phone call described a hostage situation. Three

inmates were involved, two men aged 35 and one man aged 26. None of

those inmates were serving sentences connected to terrorism. This whole

incident lasted for around seven hours before prison officers in riot

gear brought it to an end. The officers who were attacked were a

male and female officers. They were both treated in hospital. They were

said to be hurt but are now discharged from hospital and

recovering at home. It is worth bearing in mind that this is a

maximum security jail. It receives category a and category B

prisoners. They are the most dangerous in the country. The

counterterrorism unit is trying to find out what motivated the inmates

and whether it is connected with Islamic extremism.

A tenth man is being questioned in connection with the murder of Lee

Rigby last week. The two main suspects are still in hospital and

are yet to be interviewed. Our correspondent is at Scotland Yard

for us now. Ben, where are we with this investigation? Well, so far,

detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command here at Scotland

Yard have arrested a total of ten people. The first two to be arrested

were the two suspects who were shot by armed police in the immediate

aftermath of the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby. They're still in

hospital. Detectives say they won't be questioned until doctors have

discharged them. Elsewhere, we've had a further number of arrests. One

man, a 50-year-old, arrested yesterday in south-east London is

still being questioned. A 22-year-old man arrested in North

London on Saturday, was late last night released on bail. Two other

people were released without charge, two women who were arrested a -- of

days after the killing. And four other men, also arrested in south

London, so far have been bailed. This investigation, they are still

describing it as complex and fast moving. In other developments, there

have been investigations continuing into the defacing of two war

memorials in Central London. Police are scouring CCTV and we've been

told by the national memorial trustees that Lee Rigby's name will

be placed in an army war memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in

Staffordshire. Thank you very much. It's just after 1. 15. Our top

story: Opposition activists in Syria say more than 200 people have died

in what they say is one of the worst massacres of the war. Still to come:

Why they're growing trees in America to burn for electricity in the UK.

Later on BBC London, we meet one of the rising stars of the climbing

world, who's hoping the sport might become an Olympic event. And the new

exhibition that uncovers Shakespeare's hidden connection to

Shakespeare's hidden connection to Shakespeare's hidden connection to

The UK is already the world leader in online retail sales. That's

according to the Centre for Retail Research. But it says the impact of

ever larger numbers of customers turning to the internet is

increasingly going to be felt in our high streets. It claims 62,000 shops

may fold in the next five years, which is the equivalent to one in

five hive street shops. The centre's latest report warns employees could

be hit with the risk of 316,000 people losing their jobs. Our

correspondent is in Wolverhampton to examine how this is likely to impact

the shops and high streets there. A damp and bleak morning here in

Wolverhampton. Fitting when you think of these dire predictions

forts future of High Street centres like this one. The general economy

doesn't help much. But what makes life here particularly challenging

is the fact that many of us are choosing to take our business

elsewhere. The storm clouds are lingering over

Britain's high streets. The weather doesn't help, but fierce competition

from out of town retail parks and online shopping mean we've already

seen multiple casualties. Some shops which have survived for generations

are already retail history. They've been forced to go out into the

larger shopping areas where they can get free parking. Online, it's not

quite the same. You're not exactly sure what you're getting. If you

come into town and look in the shops, it's your choice then.

the shops are just going. Do you shop online? No. I wouldn't. I

wouldn't entertain it, no. doesn't, but many of us do. That's a

challenge for a family jewellery business trading on the High Street

here since 1847. Here they understand that the retail game has

changed. The new mission statement is to offer the customer the choice

of any way, every way to shop. need to be able to offer our clients

the opportunity to buy online, on mobile, real-life, in the store,

click and collect, all of the options. It's up to us to provide

prot ducts which will then secure them working out how it suits them

to buy from us. We've been in the game a long time. I'd be

disappointed if we didn't make it through to the next 50 years.

retail landscape, then, is facing a revolution. The businesses which

survive and thrive are likely to be those best able to adapt to the new

reality. The High Street in five years' time will be smaller than

they are now. I think the shops will be better. There'll be more

independent shops and more for people to do when they visit.

reality here in Wolverhampton, and across the country, makes it clear,

that it's not easy. Many shops are already empty and many more are

struggling to survive. We'll end up with the high streets

we deserve, at least the ones we're prepared to pay for. What is certain

in places like this is the competition from out of town retail

parks and online services means that the pressure is well and truly on.

Jeremy, thank you very much. Max Clifford has appeared in front

of magistrates charged with 11 historic counts of indecent assaults

against girls aged 14 to 19. He denies all charges.

This report contains some frash This report contains some frash

photography. The man so often behind the story,

this morning was the story. That meant fighting his way with his wife

past the cameras to get into court. Max Clifford's answer -" We're

bearing up. I'm not guilty." He was arrested in December, charged last

month. This brief appearance in front of magistrates was the start

of the court process. It was over in minutes. Max Clifford stood in the

dock and confirmed his name, wearing a dark blue blazer and white shirt,

he listened while all 11 charges were read to him and each time,

quietly he said "not guilty". Max Clifford is accused of a pattern of

sexual offending dating back decades in. Total he's facing 11 counts of

indecent assault. The charges involve seven alleged female victims

who were between 15 and 19 at the time. It's claimed the assaults

happened between 1966 and 1985, but no further details have yet been

made public. These are historical allegations which cover the period

during which Max Clifford developed his formidable reputation as a

celebrity public relations advisor. Since his arrest, also in the glare

of publicity, prosecutors have said there is sufficient evidence to just

charging him. Max Clifford told reporters this morning he had been

kept in the dark as to the identities of those making

allegations. His case has been passed to Southwark Crown Court for

a hearing expected next month. Thousands of trees in the USA are

cut down to be burnt to make electricity here in the UK. This is

because wood is considered a renewable source and power stations

can add subsidies from the Government for using it.

Environmentalists argue the policy The forest plantations of the

south-east USA, they're mainly grown for construction timber, but some of

the trees will be burned to make electricity in Britain. It's all

because of EU rules to increase energy from renewable sources to

combat climate change. Governments consider wood burning to be

renewable power. We leave the bigger trees to continue to grow and add

more value. That allows the smaller trees to be used for outcomes such

as energy and pulp and paper. Georgia also boasts natural swamp

forests, full of rare species like the swamp canary. These forests are

also being felled. Environmentalists blame Europe's policy of subsidising

wood power. This is a misguided policy which will do little, if

anything, to address climate change but has the potential to do great

damage to the environment in the south-eastern United States.

firm admits that some swamp trees are used here, but only low grade

logs. Next stage is for the trees to be turned into wood chips. They are

dumped here on this mountain of wood. It is the massive scale of

this operation that's so -- that so alarms environmentalists. The wood

chips go into this giant drier and they're made into pellets. Tens of

millions of tons will be heading across the Atlantic. New rules are

due to ensure this industry doesn't damage the environment, but wood

burning is likely to become the biggest source of renewable energy

in the UK and the subsidies that drive the trade won't get dumped any

time soon. Cricket now and England are close to

securing victory in their series against New Zealand needing just two

wickets on the final day of the final Test. Chris broad got them off

219 for eight chasing a target of 468 runs before rain forced an early

lunch. Now earlier in the programme we

heard the latest on the investigation into the killing of

Drummer Lee Rigby. His death has highlighted the work of the charity

Help for Heroes. He was wearing one of its tops when he was killed.

Today hundreds of cyclists, including 50 injured servicemen, set

off from Paris to London to raise money for the charity and to pay

The soundtrack to the sendoff came from the French military, but this

was an event dedicated to British troops. Many of the cyclists are

former soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including triple

Paralympic Silver Medallist John Allen Butterworth. Waving them on

their way was the Duchess of Cornwall as part of her first solo

appearance at a public event abroad, just the week after a death -- the

death of a British soldier on home soil. We also have a special word

for the memory of Lee Rigby killed last week in London, I know that he

was deeply linked with Help for Heroes. Be sure of our support in

this fight against barbarism. the sixth annual bike ride through

the French battlefields to be organised by the charity and

supporters sado-nations remain crucial as British troops prepare to

leave Afghanistan next year. There are thousands of wounded soldiers

that need support for a long time. If there's a good thing that comes

out of Woolwich is that it will never be off the radar screen.

that's a legacy that Lee has left behind for the ongoing support

they'll need for the rest of their lives. Maybe that's a small comfort,

hopefully, to his family. Despite security worries, following an

attack on a French soldier over the weekend, the riders set off for

London in good spirits, with none raising concerns about their safety.

The organisers say they want the focus to be on the fundraising and

the physical challenge by these cyclists, as they begin their

350-mile journey. eastern England was covered in

sunshine, today it's pretty much covered in cloud, as are many

central and increasingly northern areas of the British Isles and that

cloud is also now producing some quite heavy outbreaks of rain. We

started off with some sunshine this morning to the north of Norfolk and

around the wash. Here we got up to 17 Celsius, but as you can see, the

rain is now encroaching further north. There are darker areas in it,

indicating herrier pulses of rain. Our temperatures have slid down.

This afternoon they're around 14 or 15 here. Rain across the south-east

of England too. For the heaviest down pours we need to head further

west. The West Country and particularly eastern parts of Wales

in for heavy rain. Thunldery showers for Devon and Cornwall. You should

get sunny spells in between. Better for Pembrokeshire. There will be

rain later. For Northern Ireland, scattered showers, heaviest in the

west, where they could turn heavy and thundery. Scotland, not faring

badly today. The south-west has more cloud and outbreaks of rain. In the

north-east, highs of of 17 or 18 degrees. We head through this

evening and overnight into Wednesday. We'll see rain brushing

across Northern Ireland for a while. Quite a wet story for Wales before

the rain comes to sit across the south-west bit end of the night.

Also rain stretching across East Anglia into the north Midlands.

That's persistent through this evening and into tomorrow morning.

Perhaps big totals here before it finally slides away further south.

For Wednesday, well, it's pretty much an east/west split. ? The east,

outbreaks of rain, cloudy and murky. Temperatures are struggling around

11 or 12 Celsius along the North Sea coasts. Further west the best of the

sunshine and I think the top temperatures across south-western

Scotland, South Wales and the south-west of England. As for the

rest of the week, I can't promise you it will be entirely dry, but it

will be drier than Tuesday and Wednesday and hopefully,

temperatures will start to recover a little as well. Still gloomy to the

east on Thursday. Some showery outbreaks of rain in the south-east.

Again, in the west, plenty of sunshine and our healthiest

temperatures, 19, 20 degrees possible in some spots. Friday,

finally something warmer perhaps returning to central and southern

areas of England as we start to pull in air from the south. A bit

brighter as well. We could see highs of 19 or 20 for Cardiff and London.

Lots going on in the outlook. The website is the place to go for all

website is the place to go for all the details.

A reminder of our main story: Opposition activists in Syria say

more than 200 people have died in what they say is one of the worst

massacres of the war. It comes as the EU backs a British