:00:09. > :00:14.This is BBC World News Today with me, Katya Adler.
:00:15. > :00:19.Controversy amid the celebration as four Frenchmen return home from Mali
:00:20. > :00:21.where they were held at gunpoint for three years.
:00:22. > :00:25.The men were captured by Al-Qaeda militants and held hostage in the
:00:26. > :00:29.Sahara desert. Did France pay a multi-million dollar ransom for
:00:30. > :00:32.their release? Chinese police now call Monday's car
:00:33. > :00:42.crash in Tiananmen Square a terrorist attack. Five people are
:00:43. > :00:46.arrested. Also coming up. Rare video from the
:00:47. > :00:48.front line in Syria, evidence that Iranian soldiers are supporting
:00:49. > :00:57.Assad's forces despite Tehran's denials.
:00:58. > :01:02.And the stars of British and Irish music await the winner of this
:01:03. > :01:09.year's Mercury Prize. Could David Bowie become the oldest winner yet?
:01:10. > :01:22.We will take a look at the nominees.
:01:23. > :01:27.Fellow and welcome. The French government has denied that a
:01:28. > :01:32.multi-million dollar ransom has been paid for the release of four men who
:01:33. > :01:35.were held hostage by gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda leader. They were
:01:36. > :01:40.kidnapped three years ago in the north of Niger were a French company
:01:41. > :01:46.runs a uranium mine. A French newspaper claims the French
:01:47. > :01:53.government handed over $27 million for their release.
:01:54. > :01:58.They spent over 1000 days in captivity, in constant fear of their
:01:59. > :02:02.lives in the baking heat of the African desert. Their wives and
:02:03. > :02:10.loved ones have lived every day of that torment. Their homecoming was a
:02:11. > :02:15.tearful celebration for them and, perhaps, for the whole country. They
:02:16. > :02:23.have followed every twist of this story. When Thierry Dol, Daniel
:02:24. > :02:30.Larribe, Pierre Legrand, Marc Feret were seized in the northern -- in a
:02:31. > :02:38.Northern town of Niger, Francois Hollande was still a minor
:02:39. > :02:46.politician. These negotiations have been long, difficult and intense, he
:02:47. > :02:54.says. We must express gratitude to the president of Niger. We now have
:02:55. > :03:00.to win the release of the other still being held. On the first night
:03:01. > :03:03.of freedom, the men slept on the floor, said the foreign minister, it
:03:04. > :03:08.will take time to readjust. The questions motoring to how their
:03:09. > :03:18.release was secured. The newspaper Le Monde says 20 million euros was
:03:19. > :03:22.paid from a secret fund. But report echoes earlier comments from a
:03:23. > :03:30.member of the family 's group that a ransom was paid. At least seven
:03:31. > :03:38.other French hostages are being held by Al-Qaeda linked groups. President
:03:39. > :03:52.Hollande has said his government does not ransom hostages.
:03:53. > :03:56.As we heard there, the homecoming of these four men was some welcome news
:03:57. > :03:59.for Francois Hollande on what is otherwise a miserable week for the
:04:00. > :04:01.French leader. He's now officially the most
:04:02. > :04:07.unpopular French president on record. His approval rating stands
:04:08. > :04:11.at just 26 per cent according to the latest BVA poll, the worst score for
:04:12. > :04:16.a French leader since it began polling 32 years ago.
:04:17. > :04:20.French political commentator Anne-Elisabeth Moutet joins me from
:04:21. > :04:37.Paris. What is going so wrong for him? He
:04:38. > :04:41.has slapped many taxes on the French, and they have been
:04:42. > :04:46.increasingly badly received. First, there was a feeling he was taxing
:04:47. > :04:51.the rich, then a feeling he was taxing the entire middle classes. He
:04:52. > :04:55.does not seem to be able to make his mind up about practically anything.
:04:56. > :05:06.The only evidence of decisiveness was when he went to war when Marley
:05:07. > :05:19.was threatened by jihadists. -- Mali. Le Monde, which are not -
:05:20. > :05:27.which is not newspaper on the right, is saying a ransom has been paid.
:05:28. > :05:37.Do you think that is credible? Officially, it no longer pays ransom
:05:38. > :05:44.is, the French government that is. Would he be so desperate? In one
:05:45. > :05:48.word, yes, I think this is something they have been considering for weeks
:05:49. > :05:59.and months. There is the real tragedy of the hostages, but it is
:06:00. > :06:05.well known that we have always paid. France does now that part of Africa
:06:06. > :06:09.are quite well but it would have been part of genital negotiations.
:06:10. > :06:15.Tipping the balance would always have had to happen. We are looking
:06:16. > :06:24.at these disastrous poll ratings for Francois Hollande, but is this not
:06:25. > :06:30.actually more of a crisis for French politics in general? Or middle of
:06:31. > :06:38.the road politics. President Sarkozy, just before he left power,
:06:39. > :06:44.he had 30% approval rating. The National front is doing incredibly
:06:45. > :06:49.well. Is this a general crisis in French politics? There certainly is
:06:50. > :06:59.a general crisis in mainstream politics. President Sarkozy was
:07:00. > :07:08.unpopular, yes, but for different reasons. But Francois Hollande, even
:07:09. > :07:14.in his own party, he is being increasingly questioned, by the left
:07:15. > :07:24.of his party as well. He is questioned by his green allies. But
:07:25. > :07:31.mostly, he is questioned by everyone because he is incapable of sticking
:07:32. > :07:34.to a decision. Whether it is the 75% supertax, or the ecological tax
:07:35. > :07:46.which was withdrawn last weekend, or the tax on savings, or any kind of
:07:47. > :07:51.decision. He looks at things and if it does not work too well, it is not
:07:52. > :07:59.even scientific, he will take things back. He was a fairly efficient head
:08:00. > :08:10.of our party when the party was in a position. But this republic is not
:08:11. > :08:19.geared for compromise. You always have to bang your fist on the
:08:20. > :08:29.table. I am sorry to interrupt, it was a pleasure to talk to you.
:08:30. > :08:38.Return to China. China's national broadcaster, CCTV, says police have
:08:39. > :08:42.confirmed that the calf ration - car crash and fire in Tiananmen
:08:43. > :08:46.Square on Monday was a terrorist attack. Five suspects have now been
:08:47. > :08:52.arrested. It is now clear this was no accident
:08:53. > :08:59.but a terrorist attack say Chinese police. They say the Jeep was driven
:09:00. > :09:03.by a man, his wife and his mother who deliberately crashed the vehicle
:09:04. > :09:08.and died when the ignited petrol inside it. Two tourists also lost
:09:09. > :09:16.their lives. After the incident in Tiananmen Square, police cleared
:09:17. > :09:24.away the evidence. They now say the vehicle had licence plates licensed
:09:25. > :09:31.in the western region of Xinjiang and they found knives and a banner
:09:32. > :09:41.inside it. Five suspects have been arrested. They were detained within
:09:42. > :09:49.hours of it happening. In Beijing, there are still extra police checks
:09:50. > :09:57.in place. The name police have given for the driver of the Jeep indicates
:09:58. > :10:07.he may be from China's minority Uighur people. There is a fielder
:10:08. > :10:18.mean OBR security clamp-down in Xinjiang. -- there is a fear there
:10:19. > :10:22.may be a security clamp-down. Alim Seytoff is a spokesman for the World
:10:23. > :10:24.Uighur Congress. He joins me from Washington.
:10:25. > :10:33.Was this a terror attack by the Uighur minority? We are not exactly
:10:34. > :10:42.sure of what took place. The Chinese government claims this was a
:10:43. > :10:47.terrorist attack, but without independent evidence, it cannot be
:10:48. > :10:57.accepted as fact. In the past, the Chinese government have attempted to
:10:58. > :11:03.link Uighurs with acts of terrorism. On the day, when foreign news
:11:04. > :11:12.agencies went to report, they were detained by Chinese police. This was
:11:13. > :11:19.a terror crime scene, that the government claimed the scene
:11:20. > :11:26.immediately. -- cleaned. So far the government is saying... Sorry, the
:11:27. > :11:31.government is now saying that in the car they found extremist banners and
:11:32. > :11:35.knives and that the three people in the car, their names suggest that
:11:36. > :11:45.they could have been from the Uighur men are pretty -- from the Uighur
:11:46. > :11:59.minority. Yes, the name suggests that the meal is a Uighur -- male is
:12:00. > :12:10.a Uighur, but this raises more questions than answers. Why would a
:12:11. > :12:19.man bring his own wife and his mother to do such an act? If he did,
:12:20. > :12:28.there were witnesses that he was honking his horn while he drove into
:12:29. > :12:35.the crowd. The Chinese government claimed that they found jihadist
:12:36. > :12:42.banners in the car. But the whole car was burned and individuals
:12:43. > :12:46.inside burned to death, and we are surprised that a banner survived
:12:47. > :12:53.such a fire. Questions are being raised. Briefly, could you just tell
:12:54. > :13:09.us a little bit about the Uighur minority. There is definitely an
:13:10. > :13:18.rest in the western province where the Uighur are half the population.
:13:19. > :13:22.Yes, there have been a lot of protests against the Chinese
:13:23. > :13:29.government's brutal rule. In one instance, in July of 2009, Chinese
:13:30. > :13:39.security forces attacked and killed hundreds of Uighurs. Unfortunately,
:13:40. > :13:49.Chinese also died and the government called it a terrorist incident. The
:13:50. > :13:54.Chinese government used 9/11 to crackdown on the Uighur people,
:13:55. > :14:09.labelling of eager people as terrorists. -- Uighur people. Since
:14:10. > :14:15.the new president took power, several hundred Uighur people have
:14:16. > :14:21.been executed. The Chinese government's ethnic policies have
:14:22. > :14:26.basically failed but instead of addressing the legitimate grievances
:14:27. > :14:34.of the Uighur people, the government has introduced more depression and
:14:35. > :14:42.pointing -- more repression and pointing the finger of blame at the
:14:43. > :14:45.Uighur people. The court in London where two former editors of a
:14:46. > :14:47.British tabloid newspaper are facing charges related to phone-hacking has
:14:48. > :14:51.been told that three journalists on the same paper - the now-defunct
:14:52. > :14:54.News of the World - have pleaded guilty to similar charges. Rebekah
:14:55. > :14:56.Brooks, and David Cameron's ex-spin doctor Andy Coulson, are accused of
:14:57. > :14:59.conspiring to intercept telephone voicemails. A warning, this report
:15:00. > :15:05.from Tom Symonds contains flash photography.
:15:06. > :15:12.Former tabloid editor, former media executive. For Rebekah Brooks the
:15:13. > :15:18.fight for her reputation and possibly her liberty has started for
:15:19. > :15:24.real. Andy Coulson, once a spokesman for David Cameron, arrived
:15:25. > :15:29.separately. But Rebekah Brooks was seated alongside Andy Coulson in the
:15:30. > :15:34.dock. Some defendants were accused of phone hacking, some of paying
:15:35. > :15:41.public officials for stories. Some from hiding evidence from police.
:15:42. > :15:47.Rebekah Brooks was accused of all three. The prosecutor denied that
:15:48. > :15:50.the trial would be an attack on the freedom of the press but he said
:15:51. > :15:54.journalists were not entitled to break the law and there was no
:15:55. > :15:58.justification for them to get involved in phone hacking. When
:15:59. > :16:02.public officials took payments for stories, he said, it is not the same
:16:03. > :16:08.as a conscience driven whistle-blower. Where there is a
:16:09. > :16:12.payment there is a crime. And on allegations of hiding evidence from
:16:13. > :16:18.police, there can be no justification for anyone interfering
:16:19. > :16:22.with the police enquiry. The revelation in 2011 that murdered
:16:23. > :16:28.schoolgirl Milly Dowler 's phone targeted lead to News International
:16:29. > :16:32.admitting widespread hacking. This trial is about who knew it was going
:16:33. > :16:38.on. The prosecution says it has built a case licking Glenn
:16:39. > :16:43.Mulcaire, the private investigator contact that the newspaper called
:16:44. > :16:49.on, with Ian Edmondson, a News of the World desk editor. It is claimed
:16:50. > :16:55.his name appears in Glenn Mulcaire' notebooks. The money is followed to
:16:56. > :17:01.the man in charge of keeping the financial records. And that the
:17:02. > :17:08.phone hacking continued after Rebekah Brooks's successor, Andy
:17:09. > :17:11.Coulson, took over. For the first time we can reveal that three other
:17:12. > :17:18.journalists, Greg Miskiw, James Weatherup and Neville Thurlbeck
:17:19. > :17:25.pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hack phones. Glenn Mulcaire has admitted
:17:26. > :17:30.new hacking charges. The defendant left court tonight having been told
:17:31. > :17:37.that this complex case will continue with further prosecution statements
:17:38. > :17:42.tomorrow. Now a look at some of the day's
:17:43. > :17:45.other news. Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have
:17:46. > :17:51.captured one of the last remaining strongholds of the M23 rebel group.
:17:52. > :17:56.Officials say the town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border is now back in
:17:57. > :18:00.government hands. It's the latest in a string of Congolese army victories
:18:01. > :18:04.against the M23, which took up arms last year, allegedly with Rwandan
:18:05. > :18:07.backing. Police in Egypt have detained Essam
:18:08. > :18:10.el-Arian, the fugitive deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's
:18:11. > :18:13.political wing. He is expected to go on trial next Monday accused of
:18:14. > :18:17.inciting the killing of ten protesters during clashes last
:18:18. > :18:19.December. Mr al-Arian's detention sparked angry protests by some
:18:20. > :18:25.students at Cairo's al-Azhar University.
:18:26. > :18:29.President Putin has beaten President Obama to the title of Most Powerful
:18:30. > :18:34.Person in The World, as ranked by the US business magazine, Forbes.
:18:35. > :18:37.Its annual list penalises the American leader for what it calls
:18:38. > :18:40.his "lame duck period" during the US government shutdown and says the
:18:41. > :18:47.Russian president has solidified control over his country, after 12
:18:48. > :18:51.years dominating the Kremlin. Now, to an extraordinary insight
:18:52. > :18:55.into the role Iran is playing in the Syrian conflict. Officially, Tehran
:18:56. > :18:58.says it is assisting Damascus by sharing its "experience" by sending
:18:59. > :19:04.advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards. But now we can
:19:05. > :19:08.show you pictures of Iranian fighters on the front line. The
:19:09. > :19:11.video was captured by an Iranian cameraman, who had been embedded
:19:12. > :19:23.with the Revolutionary Guards. His camera was later obtained by rebels.
:19:24. > :19:28.The BBC's Yalda Hakim has more. This story begins in September when
:19:29. > :19:32.a group of Syrian rebels said they had captured video footage after a
:19:33. > :19:35.battle. They said it proved that Iranians armed forces were on the
:19:36. > :19:41.ground in Syria and supporting the Assad regime. The captured footage
:19:42. > :19:44.was filmed by a cameraman embedded with Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
:19:45. > :19:51.Its authenticity has been verified by BBC experts. In this segment of
:19:52. > :19:56.the footage the cameraman is being driven to the Iranians will it in
:19:57. > :20:01.southern Aleppo. The man sitting on the right-hand side is a
:20:02. > :20:06.Revolutionary Guards commander. He is relaxed and humorous. But he
:20:07. > :20:08.nevertheless has an ideological view of the Syrian conflict and the role
:20:09. > :20:31.of Iran in it. The captured footage shows the
:20:32. > :20:37.Iranians instructing and organising a new pro-regime militia known as
:20:38. > :20:40.the National defence Force. But it seems the body are not just been
:20:41. > :21:01.trained on the ground in Syria. And the Revolutionary Guards are not
:21:02. > :21:03.just providing training. They also engage in behind the lines combat
:21:04. > :21:39.operations. The sun rises over Aleppo. But this
:21:40. > :21:45.will not be a peaceful day. Reports are coming in that a force of rebels
:21:46. > :21:52.is moving in on a nearby regime stronghold known as the poultry
:21:53. > :21:56.farm. This is a military emergency. Two truckloads of fighters head to
:21:57. > :22:04.the poultry farm as fast as they can. There are about 40 fighters now
:22:05. > :22:12.gathered here and all these men know that an attack is coming. The leader
:22:13. > :22:17.leads his men out of the base to secure the right-hand flank of the
:22:18. > :22:22.battlefields. At first glance the remaining group look well equipped
:22:23. > :22:36.for a fight. They spot movement on the horizon. But there are far more
:22:37. > :22:43.than just three rebels. This footage was filmed by the rebels cameraman.
:22:44. > :22:45.It shows the rebel force both outnumbers the Iranians squad and
:22:46. > :22:48.has much heavier weapons, including this tank. The Iranians are heading
:22:49. > :23:08.into an ambush. The others tried to retreat but it
:23:09. > :23:22.is too late. These are the last images that were filmed. Two days
:23:23. > :23:27.later Revolutionary Guards commander is buried with military honours in
:23:28. > :23:31.Iran. It is final confirmation of his important role in the
:23:32. > :23:35.Revolutionary Guards. In spite of continued denials of military
:23:36. > :23:48.involvement, this story has shone a light on the covert war of Iran in
:23:49. > :23:51.Syria. Here in Britain, rock and pop stars
:23:52. > :23:55.are right now attending the Mercury Prize ceremony, which celebrates the
:23:56. > :23:59.best new album by a British or Irish band. Among the contenders is David
:24:00. > :24:13.Bowie, who could become the oldest ever winner at 66.
:24:14. > :24:17.But the favourite to scoop the award is Laura Mvula, who just a year ago
:24:18. > :24:27.was working as a receptionist for the City of Birmingham Symphony
:24:28. > :24:33.Orchestra. With me is Sam Wolfson, Executive Editor of the music
:24:34. > :24:40.website Noisey.com. The Mercury Prize is seen as cutting edge. The
:24:41. > :24:47.very new in British and Irish music and bands. Who can we expect to win
:24:48. > :24:54.and in your opinion would they deserved to win? I think David Bowie
:24:55. > :24:59.is in with the good shot. That is reflect off quite as safe list
:25:00. > :25:03.overall. He probably does not need the prize-money! If you look at past
:25:04. > :25:11.awards that money has really changed the lives of young artists at street
:25:12. > :25:15.level. So there is a question of whether these awards are doing the
:25:16. > :25:22.job that they should or that they claim to do, which is to be urgent
:25:23. > :25:29.and reflective of British music It is judging process in mystery. We do
:25:30. > :25:33.not find out who the judges are until the awards are actually handed
:25:34. > :25:38.out. Presumably so that they do not come under pressure from individuals
:25:39. > :25:44.or record labels. But there have been some complaints about this It
:25:45. > :25:47.is a good idea in the sense of if you look at the Oscars and the
:25:48. > :25:52.financial pressures put on the judges, but when the list was come
:25:53. > :25:58.out you find it is quite a narrow group. From rock back ground,
:25:59. > :26:04.middle-aged, Normandy. It does not seem that they could find the next
:26:05. > :26:13.kind of new scene, the young scene on the street. Well you are an
:26:14. > :26:16.expert on what is new in Britain and Ireland. Where did you go if you
:26:17. > :26:24.want to hear cutting edge and the new front line? I think Kim Krool,
:26:25. > :26:31.he is from south London and is speaking to a new wave of young
:26:32. > :26:37.people at the moment. Swindall, that is a mixture of grime and jazz.
:26:38. > :26:41.There are records that are proud of their political connections. And
:26:42. > :26:47.these guys just do not seem to follow that line.
:26:48. > :26:51.That is all from us on the programme. Next the weather. But for
:26:52. > :27:01.now from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.
:27:02. > :27:07.No sign of the weather settling down in the next few days. We have a
:27:08. > :27:11.weather front crossing the country right now which has brought rain too
:27:12. > :27:12.many areas. It is reaching the