12/07/2013 Newsnight

The Taliban tried to silence her, but today Malala addressed the

world. So let us wage a global struggle against it literacy, d

illiteracy, poverty, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are

our most powerful weapon. But were the politicians really listening,

we will ask Pakistan's ambassador to the UN, a pioneering Saudi film

maker and a minister educated in Bangladesh. After the wife of

Alexander Litvinenko is denied an inquiry into her husband's killing

she says she will fight on. And then...The Whole Alan Whicker

island. There is too many. remember the original travelling

man. The two superheros from Seattle here to tell us how to

protect the streets of London. Good evening, Malala Yousafzai had

a 16th birthday she will never forget, nor one the UN will ever

forget. Will her moving, powerful speech at the General Assembly in

New York become the movement in history by changed the fortune of

girls and young women denied an education, or will the passion and

fervour she's trying to imbue in world leaders dissipate like so

much else. The Taliban tried to deny this feisty teenager not only

an education but her life. In a moment we will discuss what it

would take to educate girls, not only in Pakistan, but around the

world. From the Swat Valley in Pakistan,

via a Birmingham hospital bed, to the United Nations in New York.

This has been the extraordinary journey of Malala. Last October her

life was nearly cut short by an aSAS san's bullet, after she had --

assassin's bullet, after she had written a BBC Urdu blog about

education. With only a faint sign of her injureies, she spent her

16th birthday like no other. She reflected on why she was there.

Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead, they shot my friends

too. They thought that the bullet would silence us. But they failed.

And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists

thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But

nothing changed in my live exSeptember this. Weakness, fear,

and hopelessness died, strength, power and courage was born.

speech was about defiance but also forgiveness and non-violence. She

saw herself in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

not even hate the Taliban who shot me, even if there was a gun in my

hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him. But here is

a reminder of what Malala and her many supporters are up against.

When a reporter who had grown up in Pakistan recently returned there

for Newsnight, she interviewed a hardline Mullah who runs a girls'

Madrassah, he made it abundantly clear that Malala is now regarded

as a dangerous figure. TRANSLATION: She talked about being open-minded

and liberal, on the Internet. She said there is no need for the veil,

and she always spoke against Islam, that is why the west like her. She

crossed Islamic boundaries, and that is wrong. Today at the UN

though Malala was undeterred by her opponents, instead she confidently

argued for the need for universal primary education. The full extent

of that problem has been revealed in a UN paper to mark Malala Day.

57 million children are kept out of school, of those 28 million live in

the world's conflict zones. Nigeria, Pakistan and Ethiopia are the

countries with the worst records. But Malala's main concern is for

young girls like herself. Her message, "empower yourselves".

us pick up our books and our pens, they are our most powerful weapons.

One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.

Education is the only solution. Education first, thank you.

Joining us now from New York is Pakistan's ambassador to the UN,

here in the studio is a Labour MP and Shadow Minister for

International Development and a Saudi Arabian film director.

Ambassador first of all, was today embarrassing for Pakistan or a

reason to celebrate. Because it doesn't show the country in a

particularly good light? There was no embarrassment it was a cause for

sl operation as a matter of fact. I sat through that session and I

enjoyed every moment of it. Many in the audience were moved to tears

because of the passionate words Malala used. Very few people know

that Malala was a national icon before she became an international

icon. She was a celebrity in Pakistan before she was shot. So

what I want to tell you is what comes out of this day today is

noblity of Malala. Her readiness to forgive and I think that in

Pakistan we are proud of her. She sums up the essence of Pakistan, no

embarrassment add all. On the BBC Urdu on-line traffic and social

media, by the end of the day 70% of the comments on this BBC traffic

was negative to Malala, words like "prostitute", "cursed woman", some

of it so offensive it couldn't be kept up. Isn't it insurmountable in

Pakistan to change these attitudes? It is not, when Malala is waging

this struggle and people in Pakistan are waging a struggle for

education, against violence, against extremism, you should give

credit to the state of Pakistan and to the people of Pakistan. Let me

tell you that the dynamic, the dialectic here is between violence

on the one hand and education on the other. You know the person who

shot Malala he was preaching violence, he wanted to put across

his point of view through coercion, Malala used another vehicle,

education. And the whole of Pakistan stands for that. I want to

ask you, Malala is not in Pakistan now, when and if she will go back

is a matter for the future. What is your Government doing now to make

sure that every girl, for example, in the Swat Valley, can go to

school safely. Because many don't? We are doing whatever we can. There

is a war going on, there is war against terrorism. I think that's

the root cause of all the violence that has proliferated throughout

Pakistan. We have to fix this. We have to staunch this violence which

is spreading. Let me tell you that Malala said something very profound,

her voice has been heard, but because of her today here in the

United Nations, she want that the voices of other victims all around

the world should be heard. Let me tell you that Pakistan in this

regard is proactive. Terrorists threatened there would be no

elections, we went ahead and held elections, they said there should

be no polio campaign, we went ahead and conducted a polio campaign. We

went ahead with vaccination. So you have to compliment the genius of

the people of Pakistan and their resill yeoints in -- resilience in

the face of threats and violence. Malala said it is about educational

opportunities at every level. You made a pioneering film about a

young girl, and by a large education at school is good for

young women, but at every level. What happens in Saudi is it is not

about equal opportunities after school it is about segregation, it

is about not being able to drive a car. How much needs to change

across the world for opportunities for women? Well yeah definitely

there is so much to change when it comes to women. It is amazing to

see young girls like Malala who is coming and voicing their opinion

and they have this sort of confidence. And I hope in places

like Saudi, where they have a very heavyweight when it comes to

politics and it comes to the economy in the Middle East. Because

Saudi is moving away from being a very conservative state and more

moderate and they are opening up. Can you put pressure on Pakistan?

don't know if we can put pressure, I don't know I'm not a politician.

But I feel like Saudi is a leader in this, a leading country. It

leads by example and it is very important to see it opening up.

we have to say that it leads by example but you can't drive in

Saudi? I can't drive, but next year I start. The doctors can't work in

hospitals treating men, this is the problem. You set up this huge

expectation in Saudi for young women going to school and then the

problems start? Now it is an exciting time in Saudi Arabia, it

is a moving and changing society. The pressure comes, I unwhat Mr

Ambassador was saying, it is a pressure -- I understand what Mr

Ambassador was saying, the pressure comes from conservative forces that

can't accept change, it is very difficult for them to move away

from those conservative values. What can you do to politicians in

this country when they are handing out international aid, sub-Saharan

Africa has a dreadful record for girls in school. Don't you have to

be tougher about the way aid is calibrated and the demands you make

for that aid? What Malala has symbolised is a form of

international leadership that says to world politicians this is a

rallying cry. If you don't sees this moment then it will be too --

seize this moment then it will be too late for millions of girls

around the world. This is a very important time, including the

western Governments like here, to show leadership and put women's

rights and empowerment and human rights at the heart of the agenda

and set govern ance. We are about to withdraw from Pakistan and the

requirements we were making in terms of the women's issues have

been lessened on the way out of Pakistan? We have a huge aid budget

to Pakistan. Afghanistan, I mean? Absolutely. And that sets a huge

challenge when we engage in peace processes women's voices are not at

the heart of the debate, violence and sexual violence is used as a

weapon of war against women as well as in these sorts of cases.

ambassador was talking about the Swat being a warzone, literally

just now with terrorism. But is this about poverty, is it about

culture, is it about religion? is about a number of issues. The

first one is it is about certain groups, extremist groups, trying to

hijack the agenda. We need to create the space for women like

Malala to be safe and secure so that they can speak up as she is

doing for their countries. There is a great tradition in the sub-

continent of women speaking up and fighting for their rights. Our

Governments need to empower and support them. Do you think it is

about poverty, culture or religion? I think it is all mixed up, I don't

think there is a clear answer. That is the pure reason. I think it is a

lot of the religious practices are mixed, especially in Saudi with

social and tribal practices and all tangled and people sometimes don't

distinguish, they don't know what is like social, what is the

religious and what is all that. But certainly in places like Pakistan

and Saudi Arabia to a certain degree it is very tribal. There is

a pressure on the individual and from the collective. People cannot

take personal choices and stuff like that. Just to finish with you,

you honoured and said that it was a tremendous moment and an honour to

be there in front of Malala. Will women's freedom, freedoms now be

made a priority for the Pakistan Government after today? It has been

a priority, let me tell you. It remains a priority of the new

Government under the leadership of Mr Sharif. Let me also tell you and

let me reassure you that there are millions of Malalas in Pakistan,

there is a Malala in every house in Pakistan. Because we represents our

spirit, the spirit of Pakistan. Yes, I was listening to you, there are

three problems, of course there is illiteracy and there is poverty and

terrorism. This is a very, very vicious brew, we are pitted against

it. We are mobilising all our resources to fight this menace. But

Malala's missage is larger than that. It is not -- message is

larger than that, it is not just Pakistan, it is the poverty and

marginalisation of girls around the world. Thank you very much indeed

all of you. At the very last minute the Home Secretary, Theresa May,

today denied the widow of the poisoned MI6 consultant, Alexander

Litvinenko, a public inquiry into his death. After his murder in

London seven years ago relations between Britain and Russia became

very strained as the finger of blame was pointed at two men from

Russia who hus a meeting with Mr Litvinenko. Sir Robert Owen, the

coroner had requested a public inquiry to look at secret evidence

relating to the Russian state's involvement in the killing. In what

Marina Litvinenko called a political decision the Home Office

blocked it. Earlier today I spoke to her and asked her for her

reaction to the news. First of all we were waiting for this news a

long time. It was supposed to be the 1st of July we were waiting for

the news, whether or not we would have the public inquiry. Then it

was 9th of July and no news. When we went in the morning to the

courtroom we were just not sure what we were expecting. And the

coroner said it is only 10. 15 and he received the news the Government

declined our request for public inquiry. What do you feel about

that kind of treatment? I was surprised. Is this the way to treat

people in a court or why did the news come so late? For me it was

still more questions to my lawyers why it has happened? Of course they

can't answer me because it is probably not the first time but it

is not very often happened to people. It is not very often

happened to people that the Home Office phones an hour before being

due in court to say there will be no inquiry? There was no

explanation. No explanation at all? No. Your coroner believed only at a

public inquiry could some of the evidence come out about your

husband's connections with MI6. What kind of connections were they

with MI6? He was consulted for information about Russian organised

crime. So it wasn't a case that this was no James Bond agent?

Absolutely. I think his job, like a consultant for MI6 started for two

or three years. The coroner felt you absolutely had to have a public

inquiry for particular evidence to be revealed. What was that

evidence? The first time we listened about this evidence was

December last year. It was quite special for us, it was the first

time in an official way that was said this is evidence of the

Russian state behind this crime. Before we can talk about this but

we could not prove it. After February and May it was the first

time coroner said he can't go through because he wasn't able to

use this evidence. Do you feel safe on a day-to-day basis in London?

did feel safe even before Sasha died. For us it started to be home,

for our son who was just six years old, and now he's 19, he has spent

most of his life here. It is difficult to say is he English or

Russian? When Sasha died I received this question almost every

interview, "do you feel safe"? It is difficult to say. Would you feel

safe if you were in Russia? For the last 13 years I have not been in

Russia. It is quite a long time much every time when we discuss

whether or not I would be safe if I deciding to I don't know really.

What has been the impact of all this on you personally? I came

because of my husband. I support his decision to go to England and

when I lost him I was just like what do I have to do, what is next?

The decision to go through and just find this truth probably is keeping

me strong. Have you enough fight in you, enough money, enough

everything to keep going until you find out the truth? You know

probably I will look at Sasha and what he did for us and what I

remember about him. I know what he would do if it was happened

something to his friend or to us. It makes me feel I have to do this.

I have to do this because it is of his name, of his memory and I have

to have some kind of, not finish, but finalising and I can't say to

relax, but to be sure for myself I did everything for him. Thank you

very much. Rohan Bewick, who died today at the

age Alan Whicker who died today brought the world to people for

themselves. Interviewing notorious people to the fabulously rich and

wonderfully strange. Many travel journalists have tried to fill Alan

Whicker's perfectly polished shoes. Whicker's World was the last word

in cosmopolitan travel and elegant broad kags. It had the music,

broadcasting. It had the music, so what if it dropped the apostrophe

from time to time, that is how urbane and sophisticated it was.

And, of course it had one of the most singular front men in the

business. Often imitated, almost amputated, but never duplicated.

There is always something awful out there just beyond the shadows, or

something unspeakable about to happen in some sinister dungeon.

wanted to write and travel. And journalist being seemed to be the

way. There was a lot of romance about being a correspondent which I

eventually became, which was the target. Alan Whicker joined the

BBC's Tonight Programme from Fleet Street, like others since he was

glad to quit the inky streets for late night news programmes at the

corporation. As I stroll along with an independent air! Unlike many in

television Alan Whicker could actually write. Commemorated in

song and suicide the casino, sugar- cake charming or seductively wicked

dominated this incredible village. While over the hill the Monte Carlo

beach, while not a beach and not in Monte Carlo. There he is in these

exotic places and he takes you with him. He was incredibly inclusive,

he knew he was there on your behalf and he was having fun, didn't

pretend he wasn't having a jolly good time and staying in great

hotels. We don't do that any more, of course. But he did it on behalf

of the viewers. The long-running Whicker's World kicked off at the

country pile of reclusive billionare J Paul Getty, who

thoughtfully installed a pay phone for guests. Alan Whicker maintained

you could do anything as long as you did it with charm. You seemed

seem a melancholy man, your normal expression is not normally a happy

one, you often seem so miserable people must believe your money has

not brought you happiness? suppose that's the effect I suppose

of responsibility. Alan Whicker also encountered the dictator of

Haiti Papa Doc Duvalier. You have had the worst international press

of any President I have known. got away with a lot but it was

partly this attitude which is charm, authoritativeness, and a refusal

really to compromise. You could see that in his garments. I mean he

dressed everywhere, it might be in Alaska, he could be in Haiti, and

he would dress like some old fashioned bank manager who had once

been a major in the army. He didn't change at all. A problem people who

are fast disappearing off the face of the earth. A race who one might

say are losing...That Changeless persona was famously sent up by the

Pythons. Where only reality is missing...Hello, Alan Whicker here.

And by the man himself. Hello I'm sitting here in Sam Suhimo to

salute the city break. I'm always voted the luckiest man

in the world, the one everyone envys because I never do work. I go

to wonderful places talking to attractive girls all the time, no

wonder, it is the best job in the world. They blow my cover! There

have been some strange sightings in London this week. Linked to the

fact that the capital has been hosting a symposium for people with

superpowers, not literally but people think they have a superpower

role in fighting crime, keeping communities safe. They see

themselves rather like Special Constables but not in such mundane

uniforms. In fact they also describe themselves as costumed

activists. Felix Stone and his wife came over to London from Seattle to

offer advice about keeping the streets clean rather than mean.

Phoenix Jones, and Purple Rain, real identity unknown are roaming

the city. So to test out their geek credentials, we took them comic

shopping at superhero Mecca Forbidden Planet. Do you have Bat

Girl Vol12. They headed for two of got tham City's finest, Bat Girl,

but unlike fans, Phoenix Jones is a triple black belt and semi-

professional martial arts fighter. So he and his wife are living the

dream. Wearing body armour on nightly patrols, breaking up

drunken punch-ups, occasional low getting stabbed, allegedly pepper

spraying protestors, something he denies. It sound like an average

day in the Seattle police force rather than a costumed vigilante.

Yet the city attorney has called him "deeply misguided" and he has

once been arrested for assault. Why does Phoenix Jones do it? Here is

the man himself, with Purple Rain at his side. Where are you on the

streets? You know I think it is time for citizens to really stand

up and defend themselves and what we believe in. It is always a good

time to look out for your brothers and fellow citizens, that is what

we represent. Give us an example of how you intervene? For the most

part when we are out we are wearing cameras so we are able to collect

video evidence when crimes are taking place. We go and we

deescalate the situation. We help the victims if necessary if they

need first aid, we call 911, or here 999 and get the police.

have done some superhero work on the streets? We have patrolled but

not run across crime yet. streets of London are not giving

you what you want at the moment. Why not just call the police?

call the police. I think it is important to note that we don't

want to take the role of the police, the police have a job that is very

important. When the police show up it is cool to have video evidence.

Do they like you? The police in Seattle like us now, not when we

start. What has changed, how do you operate with the police? We operate

before they get there. When they show up I give a video and write a

police report and testify in court if I have to. You are not wearing

your mask because we are law- abiding people and a you don't have

to, are you not threatening? really, people in Seattle know what

it is, they have come to understand and respect what we do. They are

not offended by it. You are really channelling something else, are you

superheros or vigilantes it is more? No.It is about Night Wing

and Bat Girl, it is more about that than anything else isn't it? No, so

a lig lantity is somebody who exacts their own form of --

vigilantly is someone who exacts their own form of justice, what we

do is something different, you hurt someone we stop you and hold you

accountable for the laws that the citizens vote for. I have never

hurt anybody on patrol, I have been hurt been I have never hurt anyone.

Are you trying to get something going here, or are there superheros

hiding in the twilight area of London that we don't know? There

are a couple of guys we have been hanging out with and teaching them

cool stuff. On the streets with this amazing stuff on, are you

reasonably protected when you are out there, you have been stabbed?

On the streets of Seattle I have armour and bulletproof vests, it is

not useful here. We have stab- resistant plates. People know you

in Seattle, do they run for the hills when they see you? Usually

when we are out there people want to shake our hands and give us

high-fives, they are happy to see us. People will laugh when they are

having a fight they laugh at as you and instead of fighting each other,

we are doing our job. Is this about responding to things that have

happened to you in the past is it a way of dealing with things? Some

people have coping mechanisms, other people decide to be a leader

or champion of something. We decided instead of a bad thing

happening to us we stand for something. When we go out there we

tell citizens it is time to stand up and defend each other and

believe in something. You better get going, thank you very much

indeed. Time for tomorrow morning's front pages, two front pages Malala

on the front of the Times and the That's about t I will be back on

Monday. The Russian agency responsible for Kremlin security is