Transcripts For WJZ Eyewitness News At 5 20130131

The lady whipped out of her bag this rather wonky white plate. Looks very unpromising but when you turn it around, and you see the painting on the plate, you realize this is very special. Now, the first thing is, this was probably decorated not at meissen. It was made at meissen and then almost certainly it was decorated outside. It is an exquisitely painted image. The quality that comes out of meissen is princely. There was something very specific about the color scheme of this plate. If you look closely at it, heres red, black and green. And this is a scheme we associate with one particular painter. And i told her this was almost certainly from the workshops of a man called meyer, who painted in the town of presnitz. Its almost an extraordinary conundrum that in the first phases of a new art within a few years it reaches the height that it never reaches in decades or even centuries afterwards. So were looking at pcelain painting, already by 1725, as good as it will ever get. There is one of the best bits of painting in miniature on the plate that you will ever see on a ceramic surface. My mother lived in jersey, and she had a very great friend called sylvia macleod. And she was the widow of the macleod of macleod of that time and when she left to be put into a nursing home nearer her children, she gave my mother that as a so it was a fond gift. Yes. Thats an interesting background. It would be interesting to trace that further back. There was, of course a lot of trade between scotland and the continent. After the program was shown, we got a very excited letter from a lady who made a connection with the macleod family, through whom this plate had come, to bonnie prince charlie. She suggested that the portrait of the man on horseback was actually none other than bonnie prince charlie. Now, i would dearly love that to have been the case because i work here at the foundling museum where we have william hogarths very great painting, the march to finchley, which shows the guards marching north to engage with bonnie prince charlies army. So i would love that to be the case but the fact is, the plate is just not quite the right period and besides, gentlemen of the 18th century, they do tend to look rather similar. All i can say is that to a porcelain collector today, that is a little nugget. Whats it worth . Oh, i dont know. If you wanted to buy one of these in a london auction you would probably have to spend somewhere between £4,000 and £5,000 for it. Oh. Thats a lot for a plate, isnt it . Its a little trophy. Well, you know, i only just stopped the cat jumping into the china cupboard the day before yesterday. And now, the china cupboard is shut. So that. Have you thought of budgerie guards . Ive got a parrot. On the roadshow we dont need things to be really very old or anything. For example, those two pictures of pubs that i saw at Bodnant Garden. They were fascinating. I wasnt born when these pictures were painted. This is 1950s pub london, isnt it . Actually, you can almost smell the beer. You can almost feel your fingers getting stuck to that drab, sticky canter. No offense, madame to your cleaning skills. My first thought is, my god, these are brown. The color is sort of an old pint of mild or something. But then, when i looked more closely into them i could see the characterization of the people in it was really colorful. But above all, easily the most interesting pictures i saw all year. Theyre by leslie cole. Signed down there. Leslie cole. Do you know much about him . Not a lot. He was born in swindon, i think. 1910 and was a war artist or part of the war artists in the Second World War. And a very celebrated one, too. The Imperial War Museum has got a lot of his work. Leslie cole really is known for his war paintings. He had an incredible Second World War. He went out with the Royal Marines to europe, i think with the dday landings and covered that and he was in the middle east, and he was all over africa. I think he went to greece and italy. So he covered an awful lot of ground. But he isnt really considered to have done anything terribly interesting after the war. These pictures, i think, prove that wrong. Weve had them for probably, 30 years or more now. And we sit and look at them during our mealtime and often discuss the subject matter and the various characters that we see in the pictures. Can we try that . Shes great, isnt she . How old is she . Shes, what, in her early 30s, would you say . Yes, yes. Shes quite pretty. Doesnt look happy, though. The owners were terrific. First of all they were people who so obviously loved their pictures but more importantly in a way theyd really thought about them. Theyd got right into them and imagined the lives of all the characters in them, and were chatty about it. I just really thought that they responded terribly well, and we were able to have a genuine and fluent conversation about the pictures in front of the camera. The other interesting thing is this piece of screen that theyve got down the counter here. Pubs of this era there was this segregation between the various people and this would be. Between the saloon bar and the public bar . So that was the public bar. This side will be an extra penny on your pint. The posh side. The posh side. Thats very interesting, because these paintings come out of the euston road tradition, and the euston road school was very interested in honest subjects of everyday life. And actually, there were quite a lot of socialists in it, and they were much more concerned with the working man than they were with the posher side of things and the saloon bar. So its very appropriate that it should be the public bar. Its in a great tradition of paintings of cafes or bars. Its very much like manets painting of the bar at the folies bergere. Did you buy them . They were bought at a market in liverpool which was during the 1960s i think, for old money seven shillings and sixpence. And what do you think theyre worth now . I havent a clue to be quite honest. Their familiarity with their paintings and their deep love of them, the comfort that they had with them meets my enthusiasm for them cause i hadnt seen them before then, of course. I just thought they were wonderful. And the heat of that meeting the cool of their familiarity kind of climaxes in the value which doesnt impress them monetarily but it does put a measure on what we think of them. Their Human Interest to us today. Well, put it this way. You could drink an awful lot of pints of beer with the value of these pictures now, i really think. People are after this kind of gritty realism now. Id be amazed if they went for less than £6,000 each. Thats amazing. Really amazed if they went for less. Thats quite something. That day at Bodnant Garden proved to be rich territory. Our ceramics expert, david battie found himself face to face with a familiar object which, at first, had him mystified. And then it all came rushing back. You see, when davids not at the roadshow he loves nothing more than surfing the net. The internet intrigues me for a whole raft of reasons. I love the fact that its a completely new market. I came up for 35 years in auctions. Real auctions. And now, suddenly, people are sitting in their own home, clicking away at a keyboard, putting up objects which are being put on not by professional cataloguers, but by themselves. And blow me, an object i bid on on the internet turned up at bodnant. Do you collect japanese objects . I do, yes. Why do you like japanese things . The intricacy of the articles, how they were made. Its unbeatable, isnt it . Unbeatable when you see the top stuff. Absolutely defies belief. This one youve bought . Yes. Recently . Fairly recently, yes. Where did you get it from . I bought it off the internet. Did you . Yes. I know you did. How do you know . I was the underbidder. You werent. I was. Cant believe that. Its true. Its absolutely true. Youre joking. What a chance i couldnt believe it. I simply couldnt believe this object, which only a matter of a month or so earlier, had been on the internet was suddenly sitting there on the table and i thought, well, maybe its a different one. Perhaps the guy that carved it and inlaid it had done several but once i really looked at it, it was obviously the same one. Well, its a fantastic quality box. Made of boxwood. Boxwood is extremely slow growing and therefore has a very dense grain to it. And thats a socking great chunk of box. Its signed here. Shu oh si. Not known to me. And carved and engraved over all with monkeys playing amongst peach trees, and i have to tell you ive looked at this very carefully and im of the opinion that this was pretty much new when you bought it. Not old. Not old. This is the problem of looking at something on a vdu screen, is that you havent got the object in front of you, and youre not gonna get the same number of pixels off a screen as you do off the object in real life. So its extremely difficult to tell what youre looking at. It is the best piece of modern carving of its kind ive ever seen. It was in the order of £300, was it . Originally. At that kind of price, its worth it. I think, i cant remember now but i think i bid 300 on it. I think that was what i bid. And you leave the bid, of course, and i went off and whatever. Came back and found that id lost it and was actually really fed up that id lost it because i thought it was a very good box. Well, i hope that, sometime in the future ill meet you again on the internet. I will try to avoid you. laughter excellent. And believe it or not, the internet came to haunt david battie again this time, at oxburgh hall. Now whose is the blue and white jug . Thats mine. Thats yours. And where did it come from . I bought that from internet auction. The internet . Yes. How long ago . Less than a year. So i missed it. You did. What did you pay for it . Round about £65. Oh, i want to kill myself because its my family. Is it really . It was sitting there on the table with my name on it. It was mine. I wanted to take it home. But its not allowed. George and abigial. Lovely name, abigial. Batty. Now thats not spelled my way. Im an ie at the end. But we are all descended from the same stock. Just an extraordinary thing to happen, because my names not a common one by any manner of means and i am very interested in the batty family. And so, this wouldve been a real dream to have. I wouldve thought fairly definitely, that this jug was made for this man and his wife, who are george and abigial batty. They owned hinchcliffe mill. And they owned it in 1790. Its pearlware which is not a strong body. Its creamware with a blue glaze to make it a bit more like porcelain. Started perhaps only ten years earlier than this jug, and ran through to the 1820s. Well, i think its glorious. I think a realistic price, if you were to put that in at auction, it would make somewhere like £600 to £800. So youve multiplied your bid by a good ten. So i congratulate you, but i also hate you i think, to me Bodnant Garden is a wonderful setting having driven there in pouring rain the night before and thought we were going to get absolutely drenched in an outside broadcast, but no, it was lovely weather. So you get there youve got this lovely house fantastic gardens, and then the view, which just went on for hundreds of miles almost. Just wonderful welsh scenery. And it reminded me when i saw this bronze heres this bronze indian appealing to the great spirit like this, and just basically the way we were in the american plains. It was lovely. Just lovely. It was a great day. Ever since i first started to learn about sculpture and animal sculpture i literally fell in love with the american western image. Perhaps its from watching too many cowboy films as a child. I dont know, but have you done Much Research on the sculptor . Not really at all. I know he was working the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. Lets try and fill in the gaps if i may. I think, for me, this American Culture is fascinating. I grew up in the generation where people watched black and white cowboy films like roy rogers and that was exciting for me. The whole part of the culture that one learned about at the time. And this sculptor, for example, went to paris and worked alongside buffalo bill in the circus. And rosa bonheur another one who sculpted so it was all part of this extraordinary, exciting culture. Here youve got his name. C. E. Dallin. And dated 1913. He was born in 1861. Had a long life. He died in 1944. But his main work, as you say was the early 20th century. Trained in paris like most sculptors. All good painters and sculptors from america would go to paris in that wonderful epoch of the belle epoque in the turn of the last century. And he became internationally known, but very wellknown in america. Cyrus e. Dallin was a typical american, really. He was born in the west, in utah, and in very reduced circumstances. A mormon family. But he grew up almost in the wild west, modeling animals as a small boy with his hands as you would do out of clay that he found in the rivers. And people realized, this mans got a gift, or the boy has got a gift. So eventually, people clubbed together and sent him east to boston for training. And thats part of the Great American story. Its part of the whole culture and the excitement of america and what they were able to achieve. What i like about it ill get down here. Its got the foundry mark which is a good sign. Gorham founders. Thats stamped in there. Then weve got gorham co. Founders, written in by the sculptor himself in the wax model. And it certainly looks very, very nice. Color, condition. But have you ever noticed this little chap down here . I would need my glasses to see it. Youve never noticed it. I havent. Right. Lets go back up again. The figure 82. He made 107 of this 21 1 2inch cast. So this is number 82. So thats quite exciting. So its a genuine bronze. Excellent. The trouble is, so many of these american bronzes, they make such a lot of money that they often get faked, and thats the one thing one dreads and its actually quite difficult to tell and explain to someone. Ive just luckily seen so many i can get a feeling, almost when i saw its head i knew it was right. The color of the bronze, the surface of the bronze, the patination the general feel. It was a genuine hand, not someone just making some expensive ripoff copy, of which there are an awful lot, im afraid. Outside the Boston Museum of fine art which is a Wonderful Museum is a fullsize figure of this indian chief. I mean, its a very emotive bronze. And i think, in american history, its a very important bronze. So wellknown that this bronze figure, amazing as it may seem to us today was as wellknown as the statue of liberty in its time. It was that important. When you hold these pieces and youre holding something in your hand and you can touch it turn it over and look at it, thats part of the excitement and fun of being on the antiques roadshow. Youre in touch with the object. And you have to touch them to understand them. You cant do it from 100 yards away. You must have it in your hands and talk to it. Well, i have to try and value it, really. I think the only way i can do this is just go like this. I do know that in 2005 at auction in new york cast number 90 made 120,000. Wow. In todays money its £66,000. Thats the same size as this. The same size. And it was cast number 90. Youve got 82. Thank you very much indeed. The market, as we know has become very unpredictable, but i was quite pleased. Ive been trying to monitor the price and see what is happening. And another samesize figure but i dont know what number it was made, really not that much less only a few months later, after the market had socalled crash, so its holding up im delighted to say. Our final selection in this look back at the best finds of this series is truly magical. Its probably one of the most talked about of the last six months and found Paul Atterbury in seventh heaven. I think belfast, a city i dont know very well is a slightly magical place. And it was a day that ill always remember, cause it was a day that i came facetoface with the cottingley fairies story. Now, i suppose a silly question thats been said many, many times is do you believe in fairies. Of course, if we go back a long time in history people did believe in fairies. They felt that there was another type of life out there. And i have always been familiar with a very famous group of fairy photographs taken in 1920. Anyone who has looked at late 19thcentury, 20thcentury history particularly in the art world, cannot but know by heart the story of the cottingley fairies. These extraordinary photographs of children and fairies in a garden environment that appeared on the world in about 1918, in through the early 1920s and took the world by storm. How do you have these . The girl that took one of the first series of photographs in 1917 was my mother. Hang on a minute. So your mother was, what frances griffiths. So the story is that these two children, one aged 16, one aged ten believed there were fairies in the bottom of their garden. And in order to convince their father they took a camera and they took photographs, and that was in july and august of 1917. And those two photographs, as i understand it were those two. Is that right . Thats right. So which is your mother . This is my mother here. Thats your mother. Like anybody interested in that period i know those photos intimately. Ive seen them reproduced so many times, and so, to actually have the real photographs on the table in front of me with one of the cameras that had taken the photographs, and to be talking to the lady owner who is the daughter of one of the children involved, was actually more than i could hack. I didnt really know what to do with myself. And by 1920, it had become a big story, hadnt it . And the world had woken up to the fact that there were fairies and more important there were fairy photographs. And so, this is frances camera. Actually, we thought that was missing until about ten years ago. We thought it had been thrown out, and my grandmother had thrown it out. I was going through the safe about ten years ago, and i found an old brown envelope. I looked inside the envelope and i saw that. I brought the camera to my mum and asked was that grannys camera. So it survived but its pure chance. It is, really, yeah. It was obviously meant to be. And did the photographs reappear at the same time . Just the last couple of years we discovered them. In fact, two we only discovered two days ago before the antiques roadshow. Really . Yes, cause we were looking for stuff to bring here. These are the most important pieces, because these have come directly from that camera. Today, looking at these, its very hard to believe why anybody believed it. You grew up with your mother, frances. Did she ever talk about it . No. She was very ashamed of it. She was ashamed of the deception. So through her life, she knew it had happened, but she said nothing. Until the 1980s. Till 1980s, yes. She discovered then that elsie had told her son, the one that lived in india that she had faked the photographs. And so, when i told my mother that when i told frances that she felt free, then, to be able to talk about it. So did you grow up knowing the story . I did, yes. And i believed that the photographs were real at that stage until it was revealed. Until she actually said they werent real. The early 80s. She never spoke to me about it. They were hoaxes at the time, and most people accepted them as hoaxes ever since. They are cutout pieces of paper stuck on a tree. You dont need to be a camera expert. You dont need to be a fairy expert to tell that. But despite that obviousness most people believed it, or a lot of people believed it. What do you think . Were they cutouts . Those were cutouts. This wasnt. This last one, frances said thats genuine. So to her death, she said that was a genuine photograph. So to her death, she said, this is a real fairy photograph. What do you think . Do you think it is . I do, yes. And you do . Well, im not gonna argue that. I think it is fair to say that the cottingley fairy photographs were worldfamous. Here were 20thcentury images of fairies. And those who wanted to believe appeared to have clear proof actual photographs of fairies with children. What weve got here is something thats extremely rare. I mean, this is a camera thats worth £20 or £30. Its nothing special at all. Add that story this is all gonna be £25,000 £30,000. Who knows . Out there, there are fanatical collectors. Its not the camera, its the images. These are the key. Im often asked what was my favorite roadshow moment and i think the cottingley fairies has to be it because it was so unexpected it was so exciting. It was one of those ones where you start actually shivering it was one of those items where i thought, actually, im not going to get through the filming of this, because it is having such an impact upon me. Paul atterbury revealing a favorite roadshow find. speaking french before we go, just what did happen to that lalique vase we showed you at the beginning of the program . Eric knowles valued it at £25,000. But would it make the grade . We joined owner ann on the big day. Hopefully, itll be solved. But if not well, doesnt matter. It was something we had anyway up the loft, so it doesnt matter but hopefully, itll get sold today. Weve had a considerable amount of interest but you never quite know whats gonna happen until it goes under the hammer. The estimate is £20,000 to £30,000 and we are hopeful it will make that. And its starting to appear on the screen. Well start this off at 12,000, 13,000. 14,000. £15,000 now. 15,000. At £15,000. 16,000. 16,000. 17,000. 18,000, internet bidder. 19,000 in the room. An advance, 22,000. 22,000. 24,000. Thank you with the telephone here. 24. 26,000 now. 26,000. 28 will be next. At £26,000 then. Its in the room and selling here. At £26,000. Are we all done . Its going down at 26. Sold. I cant believe it. Good. Very good. Im pleased for having got the estimate sort of bang on the nail. Im actually sort of delighted for the lady concerned because ive never met her before ive never met her since and something inside also told me that she was quite deserving of it. Ive never had that kind of money before. So its something i need to sit and think about. Ill be investing it later. A lot of money. Fiona who knows . It could happen to you. So well see you again later in the year. Until then, byebye. This is bbc world news america. Funding for this presentation is made possible by the Freeman Foundation of new york stowe vermont, and honolulu, newmans own foundation and union bank. At union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering Specialized Solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. We offer expertise and tailored solutions for Small Businesses and major corporations. What can we do for you . And now, bbc world news america. This is bbc world news america. The war and syria spills over after israeli jets strike syrian territory. Damascus that threatens to retaliate. Playing defense, president obamas choice to lead the pentagon gets a grilling from his former colleagues. To my reference to the surge were you right or wrong . Beyonce betlslts out Americas National anthem to prove she has the pipes to do it live. Welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. Tonight, syria and iran are threatening to retaliate for an israeli air strike inside of syrian territory. The attack took place in the early hours of wednesday morning outside of damascus. The target was believed to be a convoy carrying antiaircraft weapons bound for hezbollah. We have reports on how this could further inflame the region. The explosions are recorded by steering activists seem more powerful than anything the rebels could do. There is a different account of what happens. The government said that planes bombed a military Research Center between damascus and the lebanese border. They said two people were killed in the raid. U. S. Officials say that jets bomb a convoy carrying anti aircraft missiles. You will not allow and we will prevent any attacks for hezbollah to smuggle such weapons from syria. Is israel attacks, it means that such an attempt by hezbollah was made. The contagion from the violence in syria worries the whole region. Syria sits on the middle east religious and political fault lines. They connect the war to all of its neighbors, whether they like it or not. The war in syria is exporting trouble. Its neighbors are seeing a new threats to their security as a result of the slow collapse of the syrian state. This time, israel felt threatened but all of the country sharing borders and some further afield have seen rising tensions and in some places bloodshed because of the war. International diplomacy is deadlocked. That there has been problems in the Turkish Border in recent weeks. There are huge flows of refugees over the jordanian border. Many tensions in iraq at the moment. Lebanon, many connections to syria. The longer this crisis goes on, the more people that it affects the greater the danger. In syria the victims of the latest massacre at aleppo have been buried. Syria is breaking up before everyones eyes according to the u. S. Peace envoy. With 60,000 dead already, there are renewed fears about what could happen to the regimes advance arsenal, which includes chemical weapons, and how that would affect the whole middle east. Breaking up before everyones eyes. I spoke a short time ago with the Washington Bureau chief al arabia. How serious are these threats from iran and syria . I think it is mostly buster. Bashar alassad is not in a position to retaliate. His resources are focused toward the domestic rebellion. How about iran . Iran is in no position to retaliate without dragging the whole region into war. They have serious economic problems. They have a crisis in side of the country. They would not be in a position to attack israel. This is bluster. How do you read the strikes that the israelis conducted against this target . Is israel taking advantage of the unrest to do it needs to do . Do they feel nervous about whats happening inside of syria . This is not surprising. They have been sending signals for the past few days. They have told the americans in jordan and others that if weapons of mass destruction chemical weapons fallen to the wrong hands or given to hezbollah then this would be a gamechanger. The other thing is that they know as everybody else knows that hezbollah has stored weapons, probably including sophisticated missiles in syria in the syrian territory. There is concern within the leadership of hezbollah that the regime may fall or lose damascus and the area around damascus. That is why they may be moving these missiles to store them in lebanon. How nervous do the israelis need to be about what is happening inside of syria . Everybody is nervous. The americans are talking to the israelis jordanians, the turks. There are contingency plans. There are reports that the jordanians and americans are training Syrian Rebels in jordan who might be used in case the u. S. And jordan, maybe israel will be forced to intervene and case chemical weapons fallen to the wrong hand. Do you see things moving fast on the ground . I think that things are moving faster than diplomacy. Damascus may fall. There is deep concern in washington that if damascus falls, assad will continue the fight. A very tenuous situation in syria. That crisis is high on the agenda of the next defense secretary. Chuck hagel was asked about it during questioning about his job. There was questioning by john mccain about the surge in iraq. Or you correct or incorrect when you say it when you said that the search would be the most dangerous foreignpolicy disaster sense the non . The question is right or wrong. I would like the answer of whether you are right or wrong and then you are free to elaborate. Im not going to give you a yes or no answer. Let the record show that you refused to answer the question. If you would like me to explain, i actually would like an answer. What else did we learn from todays hearing a short time ago . He did not do the best job of defending himself. No, it was a fractious hearing and pointless. He referred to the government of iran as legitimately elected. He apologized for saying that israel had arranged a slaughter of its enemies. He was defending his views on iran. On israel, they think he is not friendly enough. In the end, i dont think we learned a lot about him really. In the past, he had expressed traditionally dovish liberal Foreign Policy positions even though he used to be a republican. He was moving back from those same more of what the republican senators wanted to hear. They are learning how fit someone it is for the job. We learn to really nothing about how he would perform the job, whether he knew stuff. Whether he had ideas, what his plans were. All we got was a statement of his position and it struck me that at some exchanges, they wanted to design a gotchsaa moment. They were too concerned and pompous. He started to get an answer, they said, we dont want information. This is the actress, is a bit. This is the senators plane to their own playing to their own constituents. Wendy is long statements are played on their local tv stations and when the people that like the things they are saying. When the long statements are played on their local television stations. I think the deals would have been done behind the scenes. You will get the nomination. They know that. In the end, it is not very enlightening. Lets have a look at some other news from around the world. A 14yearold student is in hospital after being shot in the head outside the middle school in atlanta georgia. A teacher was also wounded suffering cuts and bruises. According to authorities, the suspect has been taken into custody. The New York Times says that its Computer Networks have been targeted by hackers and china beginning when it published a story about the committed wealth of the premier. The new u. N. Report says that israeli settlements in the occupied territories of violate the rights of palestinians. They claim the settlements are systematically driving palestinians off of the land and subjected them to discrimination and intimidation. Israel has responded by calling the report and the u. N. Human Rights Council biased. The French Defense minister says that three weeks of air strikes have left islamist rebels scattered and disarray. Frances military operation to reclaim northern mali has been swift and successful, but the conflict is not over yet. People from the south are joining the battle and many are seeking revenge for atrocities committed during the straight islamist rule. Ready to die for their country these young men appear to go home. For months, they have been training in this camp south of the front line, bruising over what happened last year. And that is when rebels came to their home in timbuktu. They tied up the head of the family and then raped his wife in front of him and then his daughter. They have had training. They might be also working with men like him. In his heart this is something they want to approve of. He would like a vengeance against the hole at the group. All of them are rebels or bandits. When we get to the north, they should get out of our way. They are enemies of the state. This is a highway that unites this area. Now, fear has driven away this group that controls the salt trade. They fled to neighboring countries. I ask what they are afraid of. Of death, he says. Of being killed by soldiers. Nearly three weeks ago just after france intervened, this man saw something he is afraid to speak out openly. The military had arrested three students in islamic dress who had no papers. When i got there, the students had their hands tied behind their back. They were on their knees. One of them said, for the sake of god, do not kill me. And not the enemy, im just a student. One of the military guys said, dont listen to them. They talk amongst themselves and then one said, fire. They shot all three of them in the chest. They drive to them by their feet and threw them into a well. You can see the lines of blood going all the way down. Some of this has clearly been pushed down to hide the bodies. The government will investigate what happened but it is clear that several wells hold secrets. At the bus station everyone has heard of the killings but it is hard to find anyone who confesses of seen them. People are afraid of speaking out. How could this happen in molly . For centuries there were strong centralized states here. Its people usually live in harmony. They had a function democracy. One of the president s closest advisers said that was a facade that is now cracked. Molly, although it was showcased as a strong democracy was from the start a failed state. We look at corruption, no discipline in the army, in an army which is one of the poorest in the world. The talk today is of liberation. The true test of the intervention will be if they can be reunited. Finding those islamist rebels and trying to avoid long term retribution. It could be tougher than the French Military operation so far. You are watching bbc world news america, still to come 70 years after the sacrifices made at stalingrad, we look back at one of the most brutal battles ever fought. The u. S. Navy plans to dismantle the minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the philippine waters. They want to break it up to prevent further damage to a World Heritage marine park. There is no anger over the incident. The u. S. S. Guardian completely stuck on one of the worlds most diverse coral reefs. Initially, the americans wanted to save the ship and remove it intact but they now say the best and safest strategy is to break it into pieces. The main priority is to minimize the risk of further damage. Something the philippine officials have been quick to point out. Our first goal is to remove that and make sure there is no more damage. The reef is a United Nations World Heritage site in the middle of the sea. One of the best diving spots in the world. Marine species congregate around the coral. Sharks turtles, and man to raise our of frequent visitors. The World Wildlife fund believe that this has caused extensive damage. From what we have seen, the damage spans over 1600 square meters. So the research we have conducted has proven that it produces about 200 metric tons of seafood per square kilometer. The destruction of a single square kilometer will greatly impaired the productivity. The government has asked the americans to explain how the ship ended up of course in such an environmentally sensitive area. They have said they will issue the u. S. Navy with a hefty fine, but ultimately the damage has already been done. 70 years ago today, the commander of German Forces at stalingrad surrendered to the soviet army. That proved one of the turning point of the Second World War into the battle is still regarded as one of the most brutal ever fought. As many as a million soldiers are believed to have died during six months of intense urban warfare. This weekend, the city will commemorate the event. We have been talking to some of the survivors. 70 years since the end of one of the worlds bloodiest battles. The memorial remains one of the most symbolic sites in russia. Here come close to a million soldiers died in just six months of ruthless combat. A breathtaking german advance into russia had been blocked at stalingrad. Hundreds of thousands of men died in a brutal urban warfare as the red army refused to yield. Then, once the russian winter set in, fresh soviet forces surrounded the entire army killing or capturing every man. The german commander was forced into a humiliating situation. This man witnessed the surrender, but the images that etched most strongly on his memory are the images of death and a burning river. Everything was on fire. The bank of the river was covered mixed with human heads arms, legs. There are the remains of people who were being taken across when they were bombed. The scale of the loss of life is almost beyond imagination and it all happened in just a few months. All of these gravestones have the same date of death. I did the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943. This weeks anniversary, 17,000 new names have been carved on the monument including the father of one of them. Just five years old, she survived the battle by eating clay while living in a my bank. For 67 years, see she she searched for her fathers body. She discovered it was two miles from her home. They have only started setting up plaques now, 70 years after the battle with my generation dying out and buy mother dead. The memorial is built on a hill that saw some of the bloodiest fighting. Tens of thousands of bodies lying under the frozen earth. Among them, fathers and friends of the few remaining survivors to whom the horrors of that battle seven years ago are still very real. Remembering stalingrad 70 years on. Before we go, we want to give you an update from the world of sports tonight. David beckham has joined the french team on a five month contract. The former england captain said he would donate his salary to a Childrens Charity and took the job in paris after turning down several other officers and other offers. In new orleans, the festivities are under way for the superbowl. A short while ago, it was the players to not getting the attention. It was beyonce who was stealing the show. After being criticized for lip synching at the inauguration of president obama, she hit right back with her powerful voice. It was the show stopping moment on a day of political theater. It was not what it seemed. Yes, that is beyonce possible is, but she now admits that it was prerecorded. Take two was live. An attempt by the senate to make amends and to explain. I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra. It was a Live Television show and a very very important show for me. One of my proudest moments. Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, i did not feel comfortable taking a risk. A multiple choice of explanations and she insisted she had at least some along to the backing track. Then, the burning question would she be singing live at the super bowl . I will absolutely be singing live. I am well rehearsed and i will absolutely be singing live. This is what i was born to do. Determination and redemption. The watching journalists loved it. Will america agree . Well, i was there on Inauguration Day and i thought it sounded pretty good even if it was lips sink. Good luck to her, of course. That brings the show to close. You can carry on watching bbc world news and get updates on our 24 hour news network. Check your local listings and you will find our number. You can find us on twitter. From all of us here, thank you for watching. Do tune in tomorrow. Make sense of International News at bbc. Com news. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the Freeman Foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newmans own foundation and union bank. At union bank our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. We offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. What can we do for you . Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles