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can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> allegations about the biggest media group buying and england. we hear that the victims of bombings years ago may have been targeted. >> when you are at the lowest time in your life, someone might listen to you, to think that is beyond words. literally horrendous. >> welcome to "gmt." in syria they paint a picture of

those who suffer as the hands of anti-government protests. president bush here vowed to purge -- president bashir vowed to purge the areas to the south. parliament is preparing to uphold in the margin -- an emergency debate. some relatives of the victims of the london bombings in 2005 say that their phones may have been hacked by a private investigator. up one woman's phone was tapped into while she was missing. but there is evidence showing in the commission sanctioning the decision.

>> the house of this private detective, who worked for "news of the world." police are investigating whether he had acted to the phones of the bereaved relatives of those in the attack. >> i have made my statement. thank you very much. >> what is your reaction to -- >> almost exactly six years on from the bombing, a small number of families have been told by scotland yard that there details were discovered as part of the latest investigation into hacking. this family lost their son in the bombing. the address and phone numbers were in a file. >> we receive personal phone calls from friends and family.

to think that when you are at the lowest time of your life, someone for the sake of a story might be listening to you, it is horrendous. >> there has been a separate development related to the former news of the world director. e-mails were run cover that showed that he derived payments from police officers. a subject that both he and his boss for a fact about that a poll -- parliamentary committee. >> will you do it in the future? there is a clear public interest. what ever you want to talk about. >> of course he went on to become the director of communications for a time. the emergency debate on hacking

will bring renewed questions on the prime ministers and judgment in hiring him. some believe that a public inquiry is the only way to make sure that it never happens again. >> we have an over-familiar relationship with other rupert murdoch newspaper group in particular. only a judge can get to the truth because the politicians have left these families behind >> -- behind. >> the parent company, news international, says that it is cooperating with the the police. >> let's speak with our political correspondent. the shock here in the u.k. is quite understanding, is it not?

>> there is that sense of moral revulsion that we heard from some parliamentarians yesterday. the private investigator at the center of it had to release a statement saying that he was very sorry for any upset that he caused. he attempted to explain this away in the context of the culture. saying that he was under constant pressure for stories. he was not exactly trying to excuse what he had done, but he did try to put the blame on those who were higher up. >> weekend -- we only have to look at the prime minister's questions to see the debate. >> and we are no longer talking about politicians and celebrities. we are talking about terrorist victims, murder victims, having their telephones tapped into.

it is disgusting, what has taken place, and everyone here should be revulsed. let me make a couple points. first of all, there is a major police investigation under way. it is one of the biggest police investigations under way in our country and i hope that it does not involve police officers that were involved in the original investigation that did not get to the truth. but i think that it is important that we have inquiries that are public, independent, and have public confidence. it seems that there are two vital issues that we need to look into. the original inquiry and why it did not get to the bottom of what happened. and that the right hon. gentleman, as he said, a wider look into media practices in

this country. you must not jeopardize police investigations. but it might be possible to start some of this work earlier. i am very happy to discuss this with him, to make sure that we get this right and that lessons are learned from what has become a disgraceful episode. >> i am encouraged that he recognizes the need for a full public inquiry. he is right to say that this can only be fully completed after the police investigation has taken its toll. but that may take some years. as he implied, it is possible to start the process now and take questions through that process. appointing a judge to make that inquiry, making it clear that

there will be witnesses under oath, establishing clear terms of reference over key issues. the culture and practices in the industry. the nature of regulation. also, the relationship between the police and the media. can you disassemble those points? >> first of all, of the issues that i mentioned, the earlier inquiry and the broader lessons about the media, it is not possible to start investigations into the former until the police investigation is completed. there would be a danger of jeopardize in the current police inquiry. responding positively to what he says, it would be possible to make a response on other elements. and i want us to get this right, having discussed it with other party leaders.

too often these inquiries can be set up too quickly without thinking through what needs to be done. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister is implying that this can start moving now. just because we cannot do everything does not mean that we cannot do anything. it is very important that we do so. one year to the day he reported on the inquiry into the treatment by detainee's with criminal cases pending. let me go on, mr. speaker, to ask him about what happens in the meantime. we have said that the b sky b bid should not be dealt with in the way that the culture secretary was dealt with. the prime minister must realize that the public will react with disbelief of next week the decision is taken to go ahead

with this deal at the time that news international is subject to a major criminal investigation and we do not yet know who charges will be laid against. does the prime minister agreed that the bid should be referred to the competition commission to give it the breathing space required? >> let me answer the point about gibson. we established that the inquiry, but it has not been able to make much progress and will not until criminal proceedings are brought to an end. clearly, you do not want to jeopardize a police operation, which will do if you start questioning the witnesses through public inquiry. that is the reason for doing this. believe me, i want to get on with this issue, setting up other elements of the inquiry will only make me happier.

we have followed to the letter the correct legal process. that is what the government has to do. the secretary of state is in a judicial role and he has to follow that. yesterday the leader of the labor party said that this is a separate issue from the important issue that we are discussing today. processes must be followed. off com has the duty to make recommendations about fit and proper persons. this government will behave in a proper way. >> i am afraid that that answer is out of touch with millions of people. the public will not accept the idea that with this scandal, that the government should in the coming days be making a decision outside of the normal processes, to take control of

one of the biggest media organizations in the country. i know that it is difficult but i strongly urge him to send this decision to the proper authorities. this would provide a breathing space for legitimacy and a proper decisions to be made. >> i would say that decision making has been through the proper processes. the first is an issue about morality and ethics and a police investigation that needs to be carried out in a proper way. the other is an issue about plurality and competition under the law. in just 24 hours he has done a u-turn to look good in the common. >> mr. speaker, this is not the

time for technicalities. [lots of yelling] we have said consistently that this bid should be referred to the competition commission. this is the right way forward and the prime minister should speak for the country on this issue, doing what the people want him to do. i hope that he will go from his post and think again. in the interest of the media industry and the british public, all of the bids must be dealt with properly. as well as public inquiry, these were not the actions of a row individual, but part of a wider systematic system of abuses. the public sees a major news

organization in this country where no one seems to be prepared to take responsibility for what happened. no one denies that her phone was tapped. no one denies that it happened on the watch of the current executive of chief international. will the prime minister join me in saying that she should take responsibility and reconsider her position >> first of all, let me deal with this issue of technicality. when you are dealing with bill law, you have to look at the technicalities because there is something called due process that you have to follow. that is necessary for any government and i am sure that he understands that. every one that news international is going to ask themselves some searching questions and they are all subject to what is currently one of the largest police investigations in this country.

i think that we need to let the police do their work. and if they find people guilty of wrongdoing, they should have no problem in making sure that they are prosecuted. >> i do not know if he says that she should stand down or not, but i am saying she should take responsibility and stand down. [yelling] there is a systematic set of the abuses in our country. it is important to democracy and the public that this is sorted out. with that this scandal getting worse by the day, the prime minister has not shown the leadership necessary to day. he has not shown the leadership necessary on b sky b or news international. he has got to do the thing that is most difficult. yet he has to except that he

made a catastrophic error in judgment by bringing andy hoffman into the heart of his machine. [yelling] >> order. i apologize for interrupting. the prime minister should not have to shout to be heard. it is the early disorderly. -- thoroughly disorderly. >> i take responsibility for everything that my government does. what they are doing is making sure that the public, who feels so appalled by what happened, it is quite disgraceful. that is why it is important that there is a full police investigation. is important to have those inquiries so that we can get to the bottom of what happened.

we need to inquire into how we can improve the ethics and morals of the press in this country. that is what this government is doing and we do not have to take actions from him about it. >> there has been an exchange their between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. the pressure on david cameron, to at least say that an inquiry is needed, because one of the people that he employed was his media representative. >> the pressure on the prime minister to grant that inquiry was very steep. which is why he did it straight away. it seems that there is a bit of an argument about when the inquiry will start, but there will now be a public inquiry.

he has a relationship with two former editors of the news of the world. one was employed as the communications secretary. and rebecca brooks, now the chief executive of news international, they have both said all along that it was just of the actions of a few rogue reporters. that has been unraveling for months. but especially in the last few days. they do not think that it is tenable any more for them to say that. which is why the opposition was linking that to david cameron said judgment in being friends with them. >> we heard that there was an exchange of the males between the police and news international -- exchange of e- mail between the police and news international. >> there is suspicion that

police officers were being paid to get information on particular investigations. this exchange took place over the last day or so. we just had an exchange from the police chief saying that these documents included information related to alleged inappropriate payments to a small number of police officers and he is vowing to get to the bottom of that with a new inquiry. >> thank you very much for the update. time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. as more people try to a state food shortages in the horn of africa, tragedy in the red sea. hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have died off of caught fire and sank. they were attempting to get to

saudi arabia to find work. our correspondent is in the sudanese capital. >> i just spoke to a senior in the information commission. he understands that they were all somalis. he is linking this to the crisis we have been hearing so much about in recent days. saying that these people have left their country in a desperate attempt to get to saudi arabia and then they died at sea after their boat caught fire. it is the traditional route across the red sea, particularly for muslim migrants from this area. some of them were stopped, authorities say, as they attempted to make similar crossings. near the place where the boat that subsequently sank set off from. >> the government says -- the

japanese government says they will be holding stress tests on the remaining nuclear facilities in the country. the reactor fallout led to two -- led to two-thirds being taken offline. they crashed in the treacherous eastern mountains of afghanistan near the capital -- a their plane crashed in the treacherous eastern mountains of afghanistan near the capital. amazing pictures coming from the western united states. a massive dust storm engulfed the city of phoenix, delaying flights. strong winds broke trees and electricity poles.

reports from syria said that troops continue to surround the city appeared hanna. activists say that at least 14 people were killed on tuesday. and they attempted to prevent armored vehicles from crossing. troops estimate that as many as 100 protesters have been killed. human-rights groups declare that the syrian government are using brutal methods. the report has been compiled based on those that fled the town and took refuge in neighboring lebanon. good to have you with me, fella. international journalists are not allowed into syria. u.s. spoke to people that have

fled the country? >> correct. we focused on one town in particular. we had not been authorized to enter since the beginning of this crisis. united nations investigators cannot look at the situation, but we were able to get into northern lebanon. this report was conducted with some 50 interviews. they had been in detention and were arrested during the security sweep. >> can you give us a rough idea of the kinds of things that have been happening? >> quite a number of the detainee's told us that they had been subjected to a form of torture where someone is strung up, usually to a bar, held in

painful positions over a long period of time, perhaps able only to touch the ground with the tips of their toes, and then beaten. collector chocks were received to the body and textiles. >> who was receiving this torture? >> we are specifically referring to torture in detention centers run by military security. military security is one of the number of unaccountable military sources said to operate above law, keeping people four days, weeks, even longer, without contact with the outside world, making them very vulnerable to torture. others have been released in the meantime, who had been detained at the moment, including not

only ordinary demonstrators, but human rights activists as well. >> who do you want to take action? >> first and foremost, syrian authorities need to stop practices like this. we are putting our finger on this as we have described crimes against humanity. that is why we are calling on the u.n. security council to refer this to the international criminal court. the action that syrian leaders will understand, keeping them individually and criminally responsible. >> thank you very much for joining me. in the last 30 minutes the prime minister, david cameron, told the house of commons that he supports the holdings of one independent inquiry of phone hacking of investigators working

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