22/02/2012 BBC News at Six

A Sunday Times journalist is among dozens of civilians killed and

wounded in the Syrian city of Homs. Marie Colvin was covering a two-

week assault by government forces. A French photographer died with her.

This is a desperately sad reminder of the risks that journalists take

to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events

in Syria and our thoughts should be with her family and friends.

It's been one of the bloodiest weeks in the siege of Homs. Her

boss speaks of a passionate colleague. There's total shock at

the Sunday Times. She has worked with us for 25 years. She is a much,

much-loved member of staff here. A huge personality.

There's mounting pressure for international action. Also tonight:

A nightclub bouncer gets 35 years for the murder of 19-year-old

Nikitta Grender. She was about to have a baby.

For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was

the most heartbreaking thing we have ever had to do. She was so

special and will remain in our hearts until we die.

The controversy over Olympic ticket sales. Fans who missed out on the

last two rounds get another chance. Singing the blues, President Obama

shows off his skills at a White House charity concert.

Later in the sport: We will have the action from Manchester City's

Europa League second leg match Good evening. Welcome to the BBC

News at Six. One of the world's most celebrated war correspondents,

Marie Colvin, was among 20 people killed in the Syrian city of Homs

today. The award-winning French photographer, Remi Ochlik, also

died in the attack by Syrian troops who have been shelling the city for

two weeks. A British photographer was injured. Reacting to the deaths

and the siege of the city, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague,

called it a despicable campaign of terror. The UN says more than 5,000

people have died in the 11-month uprising against the rule of

President Bashar al-Assad. Some of the heaviest casualties have been

in Homs and the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr. Paul Wood

Today's shelling of Homs. It's been like this every day for almost

three weeks. Syria's regime is trying to crush the revolution. The

district of Baba Amr is holding out, but only just. Houses have been

reduced to rubble. This one was the base of the few foreign journalists

here. Many people died when this building was hit. Among them -

Marie Colvin - one of the most respected foreign correspondents of

her generation. Before she was killed, she described an attack on

a city full of cold and hungry civilians. It's absolutely

sickening, just today shelling started at 6.30am. I counted 14

shells hitting this civilian area, Baba Amr, within 30 seconds.

There's a small clinic. You can't really call it a clinic. It is an

apartment. You have plasma bags hanging from coat hangers. I

watched a little baby die today, a two-year-old who had been hit. The

shrapnel had gone into the left chest and the doctor said, "I can't

do anything." That is happening over and over and over. No-one here

can understand how the international community can let

this happen. The French photographer, Remi Ochlik, also

died and the Syrian cameraman and blogger Remi Sayeed. President

Sarkozy said the deaths showed the Syrian regime should go. Britain's

Foreign Secretary said it was a terrible reminder of the suffering

of the Syrian people as a whole. The British photographer, Paul

Conroy, was injured in the blast which killed the others. There are

efforts to get him out, along with the wounded French journalists.

have imagined the scenario so many times over the last ten or 12 years.

Suddenly, it is becoming a reality. It's an impossible thing to

describe, to be honest, yeah. the bombardment of Homs is

relentless. The International Committee of the Red Cross has

called for a humanitarian ceasefire for all the victims of this

conflict. There is growing international support for this

demand. There are too fighters in Homs. They have only Kalashnikovs

against the regime's artillery. Western governments say they will

not arm the rebels, though that may change. Syria's border with Lebanon

- a few refugees have made it out. Many more can be expected as the

violence escalates. The international community has often

seemed paralysed over Syria. The demand for a ceasefire may well

attract support from even those nations which back the regime. But

with bombs continuing to fall on Homs, the question is whether the

Syrian government is listening. Today the Prime Minister led

tributes to Marie Colvin, a journalist who has won numerous

awards for her work. She reported from the world's most dangerous

places for two decades. From Sierra Leone to Chechnya, she drew

attention to the plight of civilians caught in conflict.

Marie Colvin was a rare kind of foreign correspondent - brave

under-fire, but defined by her humanity. Among those paying

tribute today was the Prime Minister. Members of House will

have seen the reports that the talented and respected foreign

correspondent of the Sunday Times, Marie Colvin, has been killed from

the bombing in Syria. This is a desperately sad reminder of the

risks that journalists take to inform the world of what is

happening and the dreadful events in Syria and our thoughts should be

with her family and friends. Marie Colvin was an American who made her

name working for Britain's Sunday Times. A statement from the

Marie Colvin made a specialism of reporting the Middle East. But she

covered most of the major conflicts of the last 30 years. She escaped

death in 2001 in Sri Lanka where she was badly wounded. If you are

going to cover a war, you always weigh the risks. I had shrapnel in

my eye and lost the sight in my left eye. There was no way to go,

without taking that risk. Last year she was among a small group to

interview Colonel Gaddafi. Her editor recalled a determined

reporter. She believed she was a witness there to report things that

other people couldn't do. She believed in getting into places

where no other people could go and she would stay there and report it

and try and make a difference. Tonight, candles were lit in her

memory at the journalists' church in London. Marie Colvin lived by

the motto of the great correspondent Martha Geldhorn.

Marie Colvin, who was killed in Homs today.

A former nightclub bouncer was jailed for at least 35 years today

for raping and murdering a heavily- pregnant teenager. Carl Whant

attacked Nikitta Grender at her flat in South Wales before setting

it on fire. She was two weeks away from giving birth. Jeremy Cooke is

in Newport for us. Yes, this was a truly distressing

case, not only was a young woman killed in the flat behind me, but

the child she was carrying also lost her life. So Carl Whant was

charged with murder and this highly unusual charge of child destruction

and he was fuend guilty on all counts. She was 19 -- found guilty

on all counts. She was 19, in the prime of life, pregnant with a baby

daughter. When police were called to Nikitta Grender's flat on

February 5th last year, they found her in the charred burned-out

bedroom. She and her unborn baby both dead. Today the child's father,

Ryan Mayes, saw his own cousin convicted of killing them both.

us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mar Churchry was

the most heartbreaking thing we have ever had to do. She was so

special. She will remain in our hearts until we die. The killer,

Carl Whant, is a former flight club bouncer and a drop-out soldier. The

judge described him as calculating, vain and devious. He had been a

close family member. Whant and Ryan Mayes said to be more like brothers

than cousins. On the night of the killing, the men were out in

Newport. A pub's CCTV footage giving no clue of the horror of the

coming hours. His car was then caught on camera. Whant had left a

house party saying he was driving to his nan's for cigarettes.

Instead, he headed here to Nikitta Grender's flat. He then raped her,

stabbed her in the neck and then set the place on fire. The case

relied on DNA evidence. Drops of blood were found in Carl Whant's

car and on his jacket. His semen was at the scene of the crime.

Whant tried to explain that saying he had been invited to the flat the

previous evening and that he had consensual sex with Nikitta at the

suggestion of his cousin. Ryan Mayes has denied that. Nikitta

Grender's family regarded this as a double murder. The fact that

Kelsey-May had not been born brought legal complexities. This

piece of legislation, which is thankfully very, very rarely used,

is designed and can help protect the right of vulnerable children.

Kelsey-May fitted that description. For Nikitta Grender's family it has

been a highly emotional family and they mourn two lives lost.

When today's verdicts were announced there were sighs in the

Public Gallery. Carl Whant himself looked impassive but his cousin,

Ryan Mayes, looked shocked and tearful as the judge sentenced his

partner's killer to a minimum of 35 years.

The hotel group Intercontinental plans to create 3,000 new jobs in

the UK over the next three years. The Deputy Prime Minister described

it as a huge boost for jobs across the country.

The High Street retailer, Peacocks, has been sold to Edinburgh Woollen

Mill. The firm had been put into administration and today's deal

means 6,000 jobs should be saved. More than 3,100 staff will still be

made redundant. Cherie Blair has begun legal

proceedings against News Group Newspapers which publishes the News

of the World claiming her phone messages were hacked. Lawyers say

they won't be giving any more details at the moment.

For the third week in a row, Ed Miliband has challenged the Prime

Minister over his reforms of the NHS in England. The Labour Leader

told David Cameron to ditch the controversial bill or risk the

issue becoming his poll tax. Nick Robinson joins me now from

Westminster. Three times in a row, David Miliband thinks he is on to

something? And Ed Miliband, too! Ed Miliband is convinced that this

will be David Cameron's poll tax, that it will be the policy that

does for him what the poll tax does for Margaret Thatcher. What he's

done week in week out is to do something that Prime Ministers

always hate - quote their own words back at them, to say, "You are the

guy who said there would be no top- down reorganisation of the NHS,

surely that is what you are now doing?" The Labour Leader quipped

he couldn't be in the same room this week as the representatives of

doctors and nurses. The Prime Minister's answer is, "You save the

NHS by reforming it, not by opposing reform." If you look at

his face and of the Liberal Democrats around him, you can see

they are not enjoying this. It is presumably more than just Labour

who are against this? Absolutely. A couple of weeks ago we were talking

about Tory doubts about this Health Bill, which is still to go through

the Commons and the Lords. Now, the mutterings are all on the Liberal

Democrats side of the coalition. Next week, the Bill comes back to

the House of Lords, talk of more amendments to water down the

measures on competition. What really is worrying the Liberal

Democrats is this: They have a Spring Conference, there may be an

emergency motion there, they can't rig their conference, and they may

well lose. The Liberal Democrat Leader is telling his own allies

that he is now losing more activists on this issue of the

Health Bill than he was on the issue of tuition fees. It's got

some in Downing Street worried that Mr Clegg may be about to renege on

a deal with David Cameron to back Our top story tonight:

The award-winning Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin is among

dozens of civilians killed in the Syrian city of Homs.

Coming up: Nearly �2 billion of compensation

payments are made to settle claims from the mis-selling of payment

In business, a tie-up is on the cards for a Peugeot and General

Motors. And why banks have paid out �2

billion so far for me selling Fans who missed out in the last two

rounds of Olympic ticket sales are to be given priority when the last

batch of one million tickets goes on sale in April. 20,000 people

will be given an exclusive chance to buy tickets for one day before

the sales are open to about a million others who failed to get

tickets. Our sports editor David Bond reports on the ticket

controversy that's dogged the run We all know how hard it has been to

get your hands on a London ticket. Even test events like today's

diving World Cup at the aquatic Centre have sold out. Now it is

going to be even harder, with London 2012 deciding to prioritise

an exclusive group of one million people who missed out in last

year's ballot. All we can do is keep going back and saying this is

how we are doing it, we think it is as fair as it can be an sure, some

people will be disappointed, but we will give everybody a chance and

those who have been committed longest should have priority.

how will it work? A 24 hour window will be offered to just 20,000

people who were mistakenly told they had bought tickets last year.

A second five-day window will then open for a further one million

people who applied but also missed out. A general sale after that is

unlikely because one million people are chasing one million tickets and

that is certain to lead to more criticism for London 2012. Did you

find the process frustrating? We applied for so much and there

are six of us and we did not get that much. They have had a huge

problem. Seb Coe said it has been supported, it will be fantastic,

but it could have been done better. It is not clear how many seats will

be available for this sort after opening ceremony, but we now know

some of the other events. There will be 40,000 tickets for the

athletics, 50,000 for the basketball and 30,000 for the

diving. There's no lack of appetite among the British public to come to

Olympic venues like this this summer. But London 2012's ticketing

processed has left a lot of people angry and frustrated. That is why

they can't afford any more mistakes. Website crashes, accusations of

secrecy and perhaps too many tickets for sponsors and VIPs. All

this has added to the pressure on Olympic bosses. They realise the

cost in public confidence if there's a hiatus and I think it is

all fingers crossed, plus a lot of very hard work to make sure it

works next time. Despite all the problems, filling the venues has

been the easy part. The harder task now is to ensure that those left

empty-handed don't feel left out. Northern Ireland's first supergrass

trial in 25 years has ended with nine men being acquitted of charges

related to the murder of a loyalist leader 12 years ago. The

prosecution was based on evidence from two former members of the

Ulster Volunteer Force who gave evidence in return for shorter

prison terms. Here's our Ireland Walking free from court, nine men

accused of being in one of Northern Ireland's most notorious

paramilitary gangs. They celebrated with their friends after being

found not guilty of murder and membership of the loyalist UVF.

They were accused of killing a rival, Tommy English, during the

paramilitary putter for 12 years ago. His widow watched today as the

nine men accused of murdering her husband were acquitted. Not very

happy about it at the minute. was what is known that in Belfast

as a supergrass case. It was based on evidence from two brothers,

Robert and Ian Stewart, who were involved in the UVF killings. The

Stewart brothers turned themselves in. They walked into this police

station in Antrim and admitted their part in the murder. They

claimed in court that nine other men were involved. But the judge

did not believe them. He said they were ruthless, unflinching

terrorists and their evidence against the accused was not

reliable. So how does the supergrass system work? For Stewart

brothers had to confess all have their own crimes and then agreed to

give evidence against others. In give evidence against others. In

return, they were put in to witness protection and gained a reduction

in sentence. Instead of a 22 year in sentence. Instead of a 22 year

jail term for murder, they served just three years. A similar

supergrass system was used in the 1980s at the height of Northern

Ireland's troubles, but many of the cases collapsed and it wasn't used

again for more than two decades. The author Chris Ryder reported on

the original supergrass cases. He says the authorities may have to

rethink the process once more. think there has to be a disaster

for... They invested very heavily in the case, they have spent a lot

of money. Most of these people were on legal aid and they have plans to

bring other cases in the future. There was no comment from the

police outside the court, but later in a statement, they said the

system of using evidence from convicted offenders would continue,

and so would the murder investigation.

A 47-year-old man was today charged with the vicar John Suddards and

the retired teacher Betty Yates. Stephen Farrow will appear before

magistrates tomorrow accused of killing the clergy man and the

pensioner. At least seven people have been

killed and dozens wounded during angry demonstrations over the

disposal of copies of the Koran by NATO forces. Protesters chanted

"death to America", smashed windows and burned tyres. There were angry

scenes in the Afghan parliament where politicians demanded speedy

punishment for those responsible. President Karzai has appealed for

calm and American officials have apologised, saying it was a mistake.

The Financial Services Authority has revealed that �1.9 billion has

been paid in compensation to people who were mis-sold payment

protection insurance. PPI, as it's known, was supposed to cover loan

repayments if someone lost their job or fell ill, but many customers

would never have been eligible. With me is our personal finance

correspondent, Simon Gompertz. Is there much more to be paid out

to customers? Yes. This is turning into the biggest compensation bill

the banks have ever faced. It is because they sold the insurers to

people who might not have been able to use it and who were not going to

have it in any case. In order to compensate them, they are having to

set aside �7.6 billion. Of that, we learnt today that and �1.9 billion

was paid out last year. There's an awfully long way to go. The money

is going out at a rate of over 40,000 checks a week and the

average amount is �2,750. The rough estimate is that 3 million people

are affected or in line to get compensation, but it depends how

many cent in claims. A lot of people have been approached by

claims customers, how should customers do this? There was a

warning today from the financial ombudsmen service that people

should not use these claims management firms that have been

advertising widely. The reason is that typically they charge 25% or

more of your compensation as a fee. There's a free route. You can

complain directly to the provider, that is free, and if you are not

happy with their response, you can go to the financial ombudsmen and

that is free as well. Thank you. Sometimes there are downsides to

being president, says Barack Obama. You can't just go out for a walk.

But then there are nights like last night that make up for it - when

Mick Jagger and BB King pop over to the house and belt out the blues.

Steve Kingstone reports from Blues night at the White House. The

main event for America's Black History Month. On stage, BB King

and a rolling stone. In the front row, the first family grooved like

Mick Jagger. And then the show- stopper. With a little coaxing from

Mick Jagger, the President took the microphone.

# Come on. Baby, don't you want to go? The Song, a tribute to his home

town. Music, a survival guide for hard times.

# Sweet Home Chicago. Music teaches us that when we find

ourselves at a crossroads, we don't shy away from problems, which owns

them, we face up to them, we deal with them, we sing about them.

this election year, opponents say he is all showbiz and no substance.

But rooted in the Blues is his campaign message, that after

hitting rock bottom, America is hitting rock bottom, America is

back. That brings us to the weather

forecast. How do you follow that? I won't

sing, but a rainy night in Glasgow last night following -- followed by

a wet day for many of us today. The heaviest rain is clearing but we

have been left with damp conditions. Mild conditions as well because we

have south-westerly winds, which are easing from what we saw earlier

in the day, but they will bring extensive low cloud across western

areas. Temperatures of eight to 11 degrees. These are values higher

than we should see by day at the moment, let alone night.

Particularly Misty in southern and western parts. Allow yourself some

extra time, poor visibility here. Struggling to brighten up, but east

of high ground, we will see some brightness develop. Even if you are

stuck with mist and low cloud and drizzle, temperatures still around

12 or 13 degrees. Parts of East Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia

and into the north-east of Wales and parts of Greater Manchester,

some sunshine. Temperatures of 16 or 17 degrees. 15-17 possible

across eastern parts of northern England and into the north-east of

Scotland, but through much of Scotland and Northern Ireland, a

lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. This patch of rain is a cold front

which will work its way south, clearing the way some cold -- mild

air on Friday. It will arrive in the south-east corner, but we could

see highs of 15. Temperatures will be dropping around -- dropping away

as showery conditions develop. Temperatures will be back to what

they should do at this time of year. High-pressure in charge on Saturday

and Sunday. A lot of dry weather, plenty of cloud, some showers in

plenty of cloud, some showers in the West. Your five-day forecasts

are online. A reminder of tonight's main news:

The award-winning Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin is among