07/03/2012 World News Today

This is BBC World News today. Syria finally allows humanitarian aid

into that devastated District of Baba Amr. The UN's humanitarian

envoy makes a brief visit to Homs and calls for better access for aid

agencies. It's not that easy to deal with some of the concerns out

there but we are working on it. knockout blow. Why can't Mitt

Romney win the fight. Clear evidence of ballot rigging in

Russia's presidential election. was on the verge of crying when I

saw such complete lawlessness but I realised there was no way to stop

Can my nap: Helping some of the world's poorest people but should a

growing economy like India still get aid from Britain.

And, please don't step on my new Billy -- suede shoes. Prince Harry

shows off his reggae routine in Hello and welcome. The United

Nations humanitarian chief has visited the Syrian city of Homs and

the devastated District of Baba Amr. Government forces bombarded the

district for nearly a month, killing dozens. Officials say Baba

Amr was largely deserted today as many residents have already fled to

areas where they can get humanitarian aid.

Before setting off for the troubled city of Homs, the -- the UN

humanitarian chief had a meeting. It wasn't clear whether Valerie

Amos was hoping to see for herself the massive destruction which

besieged Homs for a month. The Syrian Red Crescent has just been

allowed in but not the international Red Cross. It has

been waiting nearby since the last Friday was a huge clear-up

operation has been going on. Valerie Amos also went seat seems

like this. And verifiable petite -- footage showing patients at peak

hospital apparently blindfolded and showing signs of torture. That is

why many people wounded by security forces are not being taken to state

hospitals. This makeshift field clinic is in another quarter of

Homs which has seen much violence. People are patched up as best they

can using any materials to hand. Valerie Amos is also not the only

visitor in town. The lack the Russians, the Chinese want to see

dialogue and the Syrian solution, not regime change imposed from

outside. But as the situation worsens, the Chinese do not want to

get caught out as they were in Libya last year. We have evacuated

most of our workers from Syria. There are only about 100 personnel

left. We will go back to those projects when the situation

stabilises and There are conditions for peace for construction and

development. The most crucial visit will be that of the UN Arab League

envoy, Kofi Annan. He has the stature and experience and balanced

approach that might just succeed against the odds. If he can't do it

probably nobody else can. The dilemma about what can and

cannot be done has been discussed in Washington today during tense

exchanges. John McCain has clashed with Leon Panetta, the US Secretary

of Defence. Can you tell us how long the killing will have to

continue and how many civilian lives will be lost before military

measures we propose. How many more have to die? I think the question,

as you stated yourself, Senator, is the effort to try to build an

international consensus as to what action we do take. That makes the

most sense. What doesn't make sense is to take unilateral action. We

are not divided here and we are not holding back. This administration

has led in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the war on terrorism. We lead in

Libya and we are leading in Syria. Let us look at the day's other

news: Six British soldiers have been killed by a huge explosion in

southern next than a stun. That deaths take the number of British

personnel to over 400 -- Afghanistan. The vehicle has now

been recovered. Prosecuted -- prosecutors in Norway

have a formally charged Anders Behring Breivik who stands accused

of terrorism and premeditated murder of 77 people. He is due to

go on trial next month. The founder of the fresh company --

French company which distributed Silicon gel which was of industrial

strength has admitted the gel had not been medically proved but

wasn't dangerous, he insisted. Apple has just unveiled a new I pat

three which it says will take tablet like this to a whole new

level. It will have a speedier process, sharper screen and an

option for faster wireless broadband access.

Let us get more on the fall-out of the Super Tuesday primaries held

across America in the last 24 hours. No outright winner at all. Mitt

Romney came through but not with a knockout blow to see him through

with momentum or making the obvious contender to take on President

Obama in November. Let us get the latest report.

Smiles from the two leading candidates but this was a deeply

split verdict. In Ohio, Mitt Romney one but only just after a nail-

biting night. And after spending nearly four times as much as his

main rival, Rick Santorum. We are counting at the delegates and it

looks good and we are counting down the days until November and that

looks even better. We have won races all over this country.

Against the odds. When they thought, OK, he is finished, we keep coming

back. The battle for the Republican nomination is set to drag on with

voters torn between Mitt Romney, the strongest challenger, and Mr --

Rick Santorum. How can Mitt Romney clinch the nomination? If he moves

to the right to use -- Europe Conservative votes he might

alienate their Republican centre ground. Rick Santorum could become

his running mate but that would need a big dose of love and

forgiveness on both sides after the bitterly fought campaign. The

deadline is fast approaching. August is the Republican convention

which decides the presidential candidate. Normally, the party has

made up his mind well beforehand. Many Republicans worry that many --

none of the candidates has their charisma to outshine Barack Obama.

Some may even wish for an unknown challenged or to emerge and save

the day -- challenger. Let us discuss the results. With

their spokesperson for the tea- party .net. With me is an is Dorian

of the United States. If I could come to you first, Kevin Jackson.

Who does the tea party support given the for contenders? For the

most part, we were not make an announcement of who we support but

want the process to play out. Many in the organisation, certainly ours,

will not make the announcement until the person wins. Would that

not be a sensible and grown-up thing to do in the best interests

of the Republican Party? Isn't it doing damage to your party?

wouldn't say it is doing damage but it is doing their proper vetting of

the candidate, something that had not occurred when Barack Obama got

elected in 2008. When we look back to looking at the primaries, the

real squeamish thing we will see his on the side of the left and the

Democrats. Barbara Bush says it is the worst Prime re campaign she has

ever witnessed. What do you make of it? Barbara Bush has said that of

almost every primary campaign. But she represents the Romany, a

moderate side. If you look at who voted for Mitt Romney yesterday, it

is people who are over 65 and earn over $100,000 a year and have a

college education. That is my tinnies on a yacht and that wing of

the party. Rick Santorum is attracting independence and

Democrats and those amongst poorer people. The problem with the

process is the longer they delay on spending their money on Barack

Obama, they wear down each other. That is the point, isn't it? You

need to focus all the guns on President Obama and pick somebody

who can realistically beat him? is right on a couple of things. If

the other candidates had faced Barack Obama earlier on, I don't

think either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum... The any person to have

the naughty bits to face a Obama would probably have been newt

Gingrich but he is right in one respect that we are spending time

away from a bomber. I think that is a good thing. -- Barack Obama. At

the appropriate time, we should start bombarding the nation with

the facts about him and I think that is the problem for the left is

that he has no way to run and hide. I will ask the question and I know

the answer, there are no people on the right to are saying now, I

would love to vote for Barack Obama because he has done such a great

job. There are many defectors on his side. Isn't the uncomfortable

truth that the tea party movement has Pete? No, people like to say

that but it is far from the truth. The movement has evolved into

something interesting. We have gotten away from the valleys and

people thing that is the way to judge the movement. But that is

like asking a senior to be judged from a show rather than an album.

Quite frankly, the talk of Capitol Hill on a daily basis... 10, --

team. That is their problem for them. They won the political

argument in 2010 and they got the energy for the Republicans to get

control of the house. But what does it do next? It has to rely and the

establishment. The tea party has not provided us with any serious

presidential candidates. They have peaked politically in the sense

that it now has to rely on the t o p to deliver and it can't. The tea

party refuses to compromise, doesn't it? Tim believes the tea

party has picked because we do not have a candidate but Mitt Romney

should have had be sown at given that he has other Republican

machine behind him for some time. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich...

As far as issues go, but he party is the reason why it politics in

America has changed. We have thwarted much of the legislation.

None of these Candy It's, after this long war, are going to be able

to challenge Barack Obama and is it time to bring in a white knight to

come around from behind a boulder? No one knows who that will be.

Chris Christie, it won't be him. Jet Bush has calculated rightly he

is too moderate for the Republicans now. The any candidate in the last

24 hours who has said they will not rule themselves out his Sarah Palin.

If there is a white knight, it has to appeal to the tea party base and

not someone who moves the Republicans to the centre but can

reach out at a convention. How does the return of Sarah Palin strike

you? I don't think it is a possibility. What will tips this

process more than anything is the selection of the price -- vice-

presidential candidate on the side of the right. Names being kicked

around dark Alan West, and pundits here say that the vice presidential

candidate doesn't have that type of impact but I would disagree. This

election will be so different in so many ways. The other thing people

haven't conceded is that Barack Obama will appear to be stale bread.

Nobody really has a lot of respect for one the vice presidential

candidate. There is not a cabinet position that one nominee they have

I cannot wait for this to shift. That the pattern have to confront

the Republican machine. -- the tea party. The any side we can side

with is the Republicans at this moment. Trust me, that Paul is

coming. Kevin Jackson, we must leave it there. Thank you. Tens of

thousands of people have marched in South Africa protesting against key

government economic policies. The marches, organised by the Congress

of South African Trade Unions, or COSATU, took place in more that 30

town and cities with the largest in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Demonstrators are angry at plans for more expensive tolls on roads

between Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, and also want

authorities to rein in the practice known as labour-brokering, under

which agencies offer workers short- term contracts at lower pay. From

Johannesburg, Milton Nkosi reports. Today is the day the city of

Johannesburg came to a standstill. These protesters are sending a

clear message to government. These scenes are reminiscent of the anti-

apartheid demonstrations of the eighties and nineties, except today,

they are marching against their own government. We are in the centre of

Johannesburg. We are surrounded by thousands and thousands of poor --

of protesters. These big laugh from the Congress of South African Trade

Unions. They are here today to make a statement against the

government's programme of electronic tolling systems. Today,

COSATU is saying, enough is enough. I live in Pretoria. I work in

Johannesburg and I use that route every day. I pay a high tax rates.

It is ridiculous. I cannot afford it. I am here to make my mark.

protest is about the gap between the haves and have-nots. They also

came to protest against labour brokers. They are the

intermediaries who hire staff on behalf of companies, and they do

not want to pay benefits. The police were out in full force to

make sure the match goes slowly and swears lay. Surely this must come

as a wake-up call for the governing ANC? These people are not from the

opposition parties. Opponents of Vladimir Putin have

branded his election victory on Sunday as an insult to the Russian

people. The League of Voters say they'll press on with

demonstrations against him despite his triumph in Sunday's election,

and the detention of hundreds of people at post election rallies.

Daniel Sandford reports. A man walks up to a ballot box and stuffs

them at least 10 ballot papers. One of many examples of intellectual

fraud last Sunday. In the early hours of Monday morning, Moscow's

polling station Number 2247, the election count was going well. The

voter looked close. Observers thought the pars for Vladimir Putin

and his rival looked about the same. It was what we thought just a

technical procedure of counting how many vote on each pile. That is

where it turned out to be very different from hour visual

understanding and our counting. When the chairman formerly filled

in the result, the official count gave Putin twice as many votes. No

matter how many -- how much the observers complained, there were

not able to get it revised. It is stories like this that led Russia's

new monitoring group, the League of Voters, to say it would not

recognise the election result and that it was an insult to society.

TRANSLATION: Our country finds itself in an alarming situation, in

which a large and active part of society had the doubt or refuses to

acknowledge the legitimacy of the parliament and the President.

woman from the polling station were only 230 residents were registered,

but almost 1,000 voters were added to the list less than 24 hours

before the poll. She film them arriving large rooms. The station

recorded one of the highest vote of Vladimir Putin anywhere in Moscow.

TRANSLATION: I was on the verge of crying when I saw such complete

lawlessness. At the same time, I realised there was no law to stop

it. They lead of 30 his estimate that the official 63 % that

Vladimir Putin was awarded was wrong by about 10 percentage points.

They believe he got 53 %. That means he still won the election in

the first round. Should a nation which has its own

nuclear and space programme and a growing economy receive generous

international aid? It's a question being asked about the British

government's policy of donating $450 million to India. The UK is by

far the largest donor, spending nine times more than the United

States does. But as David Loyn reports from the state of Bihar,

Britain's International Development Department says it's moving away

from providing handouts and into investing in the private sector and

public services. This is a scheme to help Indians

apply for Indian government services. It is paid for by British

aid money. It is even paying for a call centre. Estate helpline. This

approach has its critics in India, who said that if Britain wants to

help, I should give money to charity, not to fund Indian state

services. India does not need British aid. There are Indians who

need British aid. One solution could be for the British government

to give aid directly to charities that are active on the ground,

working with people. The complex dilemmas of India need more than

charity. A country of great inequality, and are merging its --

an emerging nuclear-armed superpower, but still home to a

third of the poorest people in the world, malnourished children. Until

recently, the government here Bihar was infamous for corruption. It has

cleaned itself up and welcomes British technical support in making

this work. I think it fulfils a very important role, which other

government programmes does not. It is very worthwhile. In the

countryside, most of these farmers earned less than $1.25 a day, below

the globally defined poverty line. Transports gobble up their costs.

This man's son died of polio. His earnings are Robson's a small

production company emerged to buy his vegetables. It is hoping to win

investment from British aid money. Soon, about half of Britain's large

aid budget to India could going to projects like this. Investing in

vegetable production. It is a radical departure from more

traditional aid priorities such as health and education. It is paid

but not as we know it. The test will be whether it cuts the number

of India's poor. Prince Harry has scaled down his

activities in Jamaica as a mark of respect to the six British troops

killed in Afghanistan. He spent part of the day with the Jamaican

Defence Force, watching them abseil and taking part in target practice.

Peter Hunt sent this report. This was Captain Wales rather than

Prince Harry, at a Jamaican army base. A serving officer had been

told about the latest losses in Afghanistan. At the camp, a chance

for a reunion with a fellow Sandhurst trainee. The Jamaican

army was keen to show the Prince their new tower for training

soldiers in at saving. Prince Harry was meant to be joining in here. In

the words of one of his officials,... The British deaths in

Afghanistan have, understandably, changed the tone of the visit.

Harry still went to the firing range. Anyone with a camera want to

stand at the other end? He is the soldier prince who has recently

qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot, who wants to serve again in

Afghanistan. Last night at a state dinner, the Prince paid tribute to

the woman who is still Queen of Jamaica. She combines all her

virtues as a leader and as the head of state with those of being a

wonderful, caring grandmother. Their grandchildren are utterly

devoted to her. It was Harry the Royal representing his wonderful

grandmother who visited this youth project. Into the groove, he was

soon on to the dance floor. A reminder of our main news:

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, has visited

the Syrian city of Homs, including the devastated district of Baba Amr,

after earlier meeting Syrian officials in Damascus. Syrian Red

Crescent officials say Baba Amr is mostly deserted, with many

residents having already fled to areas where they could get

humanitarian aid. After what has been a pretty cold

day but frequent showers, tomorrow is looking more settled. They will

be brighter skies around. Still breezy but with winds slowly easing,

it will feel milder. High-pressure is starting to build through the

next few days. It will block a lot of our weather fronts. Through

Thursday, we will see a weather front feeding in a fair bit of

Fairly grey skies for Scotland. Damp and drizzly for western