14/11/2011 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Zeinab Badawi. Focus on Syria -

Arab leaders toughen their stand against Bashar Al-Assad in the face

of continuing pro-democracy protests there. Jordan's King

Abdullah tells the BBC President Assad should change the political

system and hand over power. If I was in his position, if it was me,

I would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the

ability to change the Status Quo. The new leaders of Greece and Italy

start forming their new governments, as Germany warns Europe faces its

biggest challenge since the Second World War.

Shock in Germany, the authorities warn of a new far-right extremism,

as they investigate a Neo-Nazi group behind a string of racist

murders. Also in the programme. The rich

elite in China, create a new line in jobs. Women millionaires in

China seek protection. We report on the rise of the Chinese female

bodyguard. And rebirth of a bigone era on the

silver screen, the new silent films Hello and welcome. Syria's

isolation on the international stage is becoming more apparent by

the day. Over the weekend, Syria was suspended from the Arab League

and today, King Abdullah of Jordan became the first Arab leader to

openly call for the resignation of Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, King Abdullah called for wide-

ranging political change and then a handover of power. The authorities

in Damascus accused other Arab nations of shameful and malicious

interference. From Cairo, Jon Leyne reports. As the violence in Syria

continues, the world is losing patience. These images appear to

show more brutal attacks on opposition protesters in the city

of Homs. Yet more evidence that Syrian tanks have not been pulled

back from the streets, as the government promised to do.

So now there's growing pressure on President Assad himself. In an

interview with the BBC, King Abdullah of Jordan became the first

Arab leader to urge him to step down. If he has the interests of

his country he would step down. He would create an ability to start a

new phase of Syrian political life. Syria's response has been an

element theatrical show of defiance. People were encouraged onto the

street at the weekend to protest against the Arab League's decision

to suspend Syria. Angry mob as tacked the embassies of Qatar,

Saudi Arabia and Turkey, three countries that have taken a very

tough line against Syria. It's just leading Syria into more isolation

than ever before. At the European Union, Britain joined other

countries in voting for new sanctions against Damascus, mainly

targeted at key figures around President Assad. It's very good

that the Arab League are taking a leading role on this crisis. It's

very important in the European Union that we consider additional

measures to add to the pressure on the Assad regime. There's evidence

the sanctions are beginning to bite. Though these queues for gas may be

the result of the Syrian government trying to starve out opposition

supporters. This evening, Syrian opposition figures have been at the

Arab League in Kaio discussing how to coordinate the -- Cairo

discussing how to coordinate a fight against the government.

They're proposing a mission of 500 military and human rights observers

to monitor the situation inside seer ya. It will be seen as the

last test of the Syrian government's good faith. Everything

suggests the other Arab leaders are already looking beyond President

Assad's time in charge of Syria. For years the Arab League has been

seen as a bit of a cosy club of Arab autocrats and dictators. In

recent months it's taken two of the most decisive moves in its 66 years

of history. The Arab League was founded in 1945 by Egypt, Syria,

Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. With the suspension

of Syria, the league now numbers 21 members, stretching from Asia to

Africa, with a combined population of almost 350 million people. In

March the Arab League voted in support of a no-fly zone over Libya,

that led directly to a UN Resolution and the subsequent NATO

intervention there. Now the suspension of one of its founding

members suggests the Arab Spring may be pushing the Arab League away

from its more traditional and cautious approach. One of the

strongest voices to come out against the Syrian government is

Jordan. My colleague Lyse Doucet has been speaking to King Abdullah

of Jordan, and she joins us here to tell us more about what he told her.

Arab leaders not renowned for talking out against one another,

are they, what did King Abdullah tell you? Arab leaders are still

very worried about what's happening inside Syria and what will happen

in the region. You saw in that piece, the hint of what comes after

in the post Bashar Al-Assad era. The king knead clear today, A, they

don't know where to move next, how to make it happen. He said any

intervention inside Syria was like opening a Pandora's box. This is

what he had to say about what the regime itself thinks of it. Syria

is a case in isolation. You'll see more violence continue in Syria

unfortunately. If you were looking at it from the Syrian regime's

point of view, with all that's going on, as a regime, they're

still in a fairly comfortable position. They will continue to

play different groups off against each other. I think you continue to

see more of the same going into Syria. But he's opened a bit of a

Pandora's box though. Talk about Syria, about the democratic deficit

elsewhere in the Middle East, not to mention Jordan itself.

Indeed. He was anticipating that, when I asked about his talks about

President Assad. He spoke to him twice this year. He said well, "I

offered help to Syria, even though, he said the Jordan story is not

perfect. He likes to maintain he is part of the Arab Spring, in the

sense that he has responded to the protests on his street. The critics

say, and I asked him this, that he has been promising reform since he

came to power in 1999. He's had nine, ten governments, all of them

tasked with this and it hasn't happened. What is the problem? Is

he choosing the wrong people? Who is not committed to reform? As for

the way ahead, he said he, like everyone else, can't be certain.

Nobody can predict. Usually at the end of the year, we all like it

make predictions for the next year. If you list ton my predictions at

the end of last year, what 2011 would be like, I was way off the

mark. I don't anybody in the Middle East can predict what's going to

happen. I will say that I think what we see as an Arab Spring,

we're not even halfway through it yet. This is going to be tumultuous

changes for the Middle East for at least the next couple of years.

Anything can happen. It's often said in the region that the

monarchies, be it Jordan, Morocco, be it the gulf shake Doms, they

have a buffer. King Abdullah is in his third government this year. He

can respond by saying he's doing his best. He will have to do

something even about the monarchy. No-one on the streets of Jordan is

calling for the monarchy to go, but there is a concern he has to move

faster, if he is going to satisfy the demands on his street because

the whole region is watching what happens in Jordan and neighbouring

countries. We are all watching too. Thank you

very much. Now let's look at some of the day's

other main developments: The Norwegian who confessed to the bomb

attacks in July that killed 77 people has appeared in open court

for the first time. There had been concerned about whether he would

use the appearance as a platform to promote his extremist views. Today

he tried to give a speech justifying his actions describing

himself as a commander of the resistance movement, but he was cut

off by the judge. The Japanese economy is growing

since the first time since the tsunami in March. It's expected

from July to September with consumer spending also growing. One

reason was a boom in sales of energy efficient appliances and

people tried to save electricity amid the nuclear disaster.

An inquiry into how the whole of the UK media behaves has opened in

London, after a phone hacking scandal, that led to the closure of

one of the country's biggest selling newspapers, the News Of The

World. Lord Leveson said that while press freedom was fundamental to

democracy, his inquiry would focus on a simple question - who guards

the guardians? The aclaimed Nigerian writer

Chinhua Achebe has refused to accept one of the highest honours

for the second time. When he declined the honour in 2004 he

complained that his homeland was being turn nod a bankrupt and

lawless land. Turning down the award again, Mr Achebe said the

same problems weren't still being addressed. The soy yeses Soyuz

rocket has successfully taken off, heading towards the International

Space Station. The mission follows a string of failures but is seen as

crucial in rebuilding Russia's space programme. A similar cargo

rocket crashed after lift-off in August.

Now Germany is once again ringing alarm bells over the future of

Europe. The German Chancellor says Europe is facing its biggest

challenge since the Second World War. She's at the centre of

attempts to hold the eurozone together in the wake of the euro

crisis. Our Europe correspondent, Matthew Price, reports from

Brussels. They've changed the guard in Italy and Greece, out with

Silvio Berlusconi and George Papandreou, in with the grey men.

In Rome today, Mario Monti, the new Prime Minister, was being hailed as

the man to save Italy and by extension the euro. He's an

economist, a respected university President, he knows how Europe

works. He was a commissioner for a decade. And he's a staunch defender

of the euro. Today one of his former students gave this

assessment: Given the present emergency he is playing an

important role and can be the right man at the right time, at least for

a little while. Financial markets also seemed relieved. But for how

long? Here in Brussels, Mario Monti's appointment has been

broadly welcomed. He's seen as a can-do man. During his time at the

commission here, he was known as Super Mario. Yet, in becoming Prime

Minister, the fundamentals in Italy haven't changed. They still have

record levels of debt and interest rate payments on the money that

they borrow. In Greece too, there's a new leader on the block. Lucas

Papademos is also referred to as a technocrat, an economic expert felt

to be uninfluenced by public pressure. Yet in the Greek

Parliament today, it was clear that may not be possible. The opposition

hinted at political problems to come. It could derail Greece's next

slice of bail out funding. The important point is the euro is

still in crisis. Listen to Germany's Angela Merkel today:

TRANSLATION: Europe is in the middle of what may be its toughest

hour since world war two. We mustn't be discouraged by that. We

must tuck seed -- succeed in getting Europe out of this crisis.

She knows the problem now is trust or lack of it. Germany is the only

euro country investors see as truly safe. Italy and Greece may have

changed the guard, but they and others remain under huge pressure.

The German authorities try to be vigilant about the activities of

far-right sympathisers, they impose heavy penalties on them. In the

last week, rather last week police in Germany uncovered a new right-

wing extremist cell responsible for ten racist murders, including eight

Turkish immigrants. The group, the National Socialist Underground, had

been operating undetected for years. Detectives said their

investigations have led to re-open the cases of other unsolved racist

An apartment building in a small town in south-east journey, blown

up and burnt out earlier this month. This is where the police found

evidence of a violent crime spree which has shocked the nation.

Officials believe members of a neo- Nazi group called the National

Socialist underground, were responsible for at least 10 murders

over more than a decade. A video which showed gruesome images of

several of the victims was found at the scene. It is a chilling story

that has dominated the front pages on when the German Chancellor spoke

at the annual conference today, there was only one topic to start

Terrorism coming from the far right is a shame for for our country. We

will do everything to investigate these incidents and make sure

justice is done -- shameful for our country. The killings have become

known as the kid that the murders. Nine of the victims were ethnic

minority business owners, who ran Turkish kebab stalls. The 10th

victim was eight Police woman. A neo-Nazi gang is suspected of

carrying out bank robberies and this bombing in an immigrant

neighbourhood in the City of Our job now is to find out whether

there is a wider network, a larger operation behind the suspects and

on what scale the group has been organised. Two of the suspects,

seen here during a bank robbery, are already dead. They committed

suicide in a mobile home earlier this month. But what secrets have

they taken with them? Any resurgence of violence on the

extreme right is obviously a sensitive issue here in Germany.

Other political questions are already being asked, notably about

the role of the domestic intelligence service. If they did

not know anything about these people, why not? But if they did,

why didn't they take any action? The German media are now reporting

that the suspects may have evaded capture for more than a decade

because they may have been working as informants. Troubling questions

Matthew Goodwin is an expert on the far right, and he joins me via

webcam from Manchester. Broadly speaking, can you say that far-

right activities are on the increase across Europe? These

recent events take place against a backdrop of Norway and the far

right has been very much in the headlines since then, but one of

the things that is really important to avoid is an alarmist reaction to

these types of events and say that this is evidence that far-right

terrorism or violence is on the increase. The problem we have is

that unlike Al-Qaeda or or inspired terrorism it is hard to track acts

of right-wing violence or right- wing terrorism across time and

across Europe. So even though our instincts tell us this is on the

increase, the data and information is lacking. Given we have been

talking about Germany, where the authorities are traditionally more

vigilant because of their history, one to make of activities there

with the uncovering of this extremist sell? Any event of this

nature in Germany will be viewed with a greater sense of

significance given their national history. But Germany has always had

quite a militant and active right- wing extremist scene. It has been

smaller than in other countries and more closely monitored that it has

always been there, much in the same way that most European states have

a fringe extreme-right movement that to varying degrees is prone

towards violence, or the ballot-box strategy, or conflict within

minority communities. It is not the case that Germany is on the cusp of

a major wave of terrorism but the risk is always there. You mention

Al co-leader, so do you think that there is an argument that the

authorities across Europe -- Al- Qaeda, -- and they have exploited

the vacuum somehow? While we have done over the last 10 years is

focus heavily on our Cader focused -- Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism and

have focused resources on countering radicalisation. Some

might legitimately question this in the after Mark's -- aftermath of

Norway and in Germany whether we prioritised one form of extremism

at the expense of others. That is not just the far right, there is

republican dissidents and, animal rights extremism, left-wing

extremism. We need to think about this challenge more holistically.

Matthew Goodwin, thank you very much.

The rise of China's wealthy elite has been well reported in recent

years. What may be less well known is the fact that women make up a

third of the country's millionaires. However, in China, as elsewhere in

the world, there's growing resentment over the widening gap

between rich and poor. So many of these women millionaires are now

seeking personal protection, and that's led to a growing demand for

female bodyguards, as Martin Patience reports from the southern

Out of uniform, they would not stand out in any crowd. But these

women are a changing face of China. Mixing brains withdrawn, they are

graduates training to be bodyguards. One successful entrepreneur founded

the training camp. She came up with the idea after being mugged twice

Having a female bodyguard is a bit like having a sister watching out

for you. We can share a room, and she can work as my secretary. If it

was a man, people might get the wrong impression. This woman earns

up to $100 a day. Like her colleague, she is highly trained to,

but she not only wants to protect her clients, she wants to learn

I see how independent women can be. They are often better at their jobs

than men. My family are very proud of me. China's growing economy is

generating enormous wealth. The number of billionaires in the

country has doubled in the last two years. But not everyone has shared

in China's boom. The gap between rich and poor is widening, which is

creating envy and resentment in society. Many of those with money

are seeking protection. As China has developed, it cities have been

transformed. Business has become more cut-throat however. We were

out with the client for the day, and she is escorting a wealthy

entrepreneur too late business meeting. The client is the head of

an investment company. She says she feels safer with personal

Some of my friends have been involved in disputes and the number

of them have been kidnapped. It can At an upmarket jewellery store, the

client likes to have a bodyguard at hand. China may be a country

growing richer, but anger is building amongst those missing out.

That is putting the wealthy elite The last time a silent movie got an

Oscar, it was the first Oscar ever, and that was all the way back in

1927. Well, now two new films are quietly making a bit of a splash.

The French film, The Artist, is rapidly becoming a favourite for

the award season. And a second silent film set around a young

Louis Armstrong made a debut at the London Jazz Festival. The screening

includes a live score written by Wynton Marsalis. In a moment we

will be asking if the silent film is making comeback, first let's

I'd like to carry on watching that, but I can't. I am joined by the

film critic from the Observer, Jason Solomons. A I found it

absolutely charming. It is not exactly silent, we have to say,

because there is lovely music in it. In the old days, silent films were

not silent either. There was a pianist at the front either making

it up as he went along because there were no scores provided, so

there was always sound and that is where the new silent movies have

come through. Music is actually crucial to them. Sound design is

crucial, so they are silent in a way but very clever and modern,

which is why her have no problem watching them. It's not old

fashioned. It is not like we are missing out on modern technology.

It is very evocative, and I should say before people start getting in

touch with us, we are calling Liliana strong by the American

pronunciation. -- calling him at Luis Armstrong in the American

pronunciation. The thing the film is a bit of a flash in the panel

will be part of a wider phenomenon? I think it must be a wider trend.

It is not as if producers got together and said they needed

silent films. There are independent film-makers who are frustrated by

the mainstream. Independent audiences are frustrated with the

mainstream. The multiplexes are not giving we what she wanted you are

not a 17-year-old boy. A throwback to the old way of going to the

cinema is finding people engaging with the story and with acting,

almost in its purest form. There are no special effects or they are

very tiny. You're getting story telling in its essence and bacon

salad around the world. It is a business proposition they will be a

hit -- and if they are selling they Let's see another one of the silent

films, But The artist. I think it is very likely to win a Best Film

Fabulous, isn't it? Did you like it? The it took the world by storm

at the Cannes Film Festival. Everyone who has seen it has been

bowled over. It is about the magic of movies. My French film-maker

friend, no one has heard of the start there or his co-star, but by

the end of February when the Oscars are out I think they will be

household names. This film is an unstoppable hit. I am not a huge

fan of the whole charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton era. This is not

slapstick. This is elegant. Yeah, it is set in 20s Hollywood and is

about Hollywood and the talking pictures coming in and ruining the

silent era. But they are about to get their revenge. We all like love

stories, don't we? Jason, thank you very much. That is all from the

programme. Next the weather. We have a rather Kraupp -- cloudy

forecast for the next few days. Misty and murky tonight and it will

lead to a great start tomorrow morning. Not especially cold for

most places and we are expecting a frost-free night. The weather

continues to be dominated by an area of high pressure across

Scandinavia and with the south- easterly winds they will drag in

the cloud. The mist will lift as we go through the morning and there

will be breaks towards the West with maybe a few more in the

southern counties of England. Beware we have the overcast skies,

temperatures will struggle. Eight or nine degrees across the North of

England and East Anglia. And given the brightness through the south-

west we might get highs of around 12 to 13 degrees. We have brighter

spells across the west of Wales and through Cardigan Bay. A little

cloudy further inland. For the Isle of Man declared war break doesn't

get of the afternoon but still breezy conditions and temperatures

sitting at 10 degrees. North West Scotland, a favoured spot, but like

Monday, around the Moray Firth, mist and fog is stubborn to clear