05/12/2011 World News Today

This is World News Today,. At last, a deal. Angela Merkel and Nicolas

Sarkozy announced their plans for EU treaty change. TRANSLATION: This

package shows we are absolutely determined to do everything we can

to keep the euro stable. A victory, but a poor one pulled a

bout of near cutin's party wins national elections in Russia, but

with a big drop and questioned about fraud, what does this mean

for another presidential term? Are your diamonds ready Queen --

clean? A leading charity withdraws from the diamond -- Kimberley

Process saying it is outdated and a failure.

The fight to save the world's second largest rainforest. We

report from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And jumping from the page to the stage, and now, the big screen. The

book War Horse gets a Steven Welcome. After months of delay and

prevarication, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy today finally

announced a joint plan to secure the eight year-old up after crisis

talks in Paris, they announce the details which announced a treaty

change and sanctions for states to break the strict new deficit will.

Eurobond are off the table. It is a victory for Angela Merkel, but she

still has to prevent -- persuade other European leaders.

This was the start of a crucial week for the eurozone, with key

summit. The curtain-raiser was here at the Elysee Palace, with a

meeting between the leaders of France and Germany, the two most

powerful country in the eurozone. They embraced and called for a new

treaty which would insure that overspending never happened again,

with automatic sanctions for those countries who broke the rules. The

two leaders wanted to stress their determination to do what was needed

to fix the crisis. TRANSLATION: Of Our Will is to go on eight faults

March to week establish our confidence in the euro and the

eurozone. -- go on a march. We are aware of the seriousness of the

situation and the responsibility that lies on our solders.

German Chancellor said she would prefer that all 27 members of the

European Union signed up for a treaty change but would accept it

if it was limited to countries in the eurozone. We are open to

changes for the changes for the 27, but also 17 eurozone members if

necessary. We are absolutely determined to keep the euro as a

stable currency and an important contributor to stability. The two

leaders want an agreement by March. They had by signing up to a tough

deal on spending limits, it will make it easier for the European

Central Bank to help the country's struggling to finance their debts.

What has been agreed? These two leaders are set on arguing for an

EU treaty, although many details remain unclear, will there will be

strict budget limit. Deficit will not be able to exceed 3% of GDP,

and there will be automatic sanctions for those who break the

rules. Entrance, there is huge concern that these changes will

impinge on national sovereignty -- in France. Those sanctions will

rely on Brussels. The opposition fears that any oversight of budgets

in European Court will weaken the will of Parliament in France.

in the euro, expecting discipline, but not mean we lose control of our

own economic policy. It a European summit to decide on Friday to seek

treaty change with the backing of all 27 members, then Britain as

well will have to give its support. Some countries may decide to hold

referendums. Asked about the likelihood of that in Britain, the

Prime Minister said he did not think the issue would arise.

approach is very simple, we have legislated now so it is impossible

for a British Government to pass power from Britain to Brussels

without asking the British people in the referendum first. At a

summit later this week, the French and Germans will seek approval from

the other European Union members for treaty change. The big question

is how long will all this take, and whether it addresses the

fundamental problem of debt and low growth.

Let's go to Paris and speak to our Correspondent there. Prior to this

meeting today, Angela Merkel and Sarkozy were divided on issues. How

much ground has President Sarkozy given? If you listen to the

Socialist Party in France, he has given quite a lot of ground. We

have had a statement saying he has given ground on automatic penalties,

the eurobond, and the role -- the role of the European Central Bank.

In the words of the European -- the Socialist Party, he has surrendered

to the might of the German Chancellor. You have to put this in

the context of an election battle which is already under way. And the

timing of this treaty, March, as President Sarkozy says, that is

just a munched -- a month before they go to the polls. There is a

time-frame for the President witches important. On the front

page of one of the highbrow newspapers here in France, one in

three people say they would like the return of the franc, and that

tells you how much Euro-scepticism there is in front at the moment.

had been pushing for the ECB to be the lender of last resort. The

wording that came out today it was that the ECB can step in a more

forcefully, what does that mean exactly? The new head of the ECB

said last week there was important sequencing or graphic --

choreography, if you want. They want to get the longer term picture

right first, and other things flow from that. Confidence flows

backward, said the head of the bank. We have already seen that happening

today. Italian yields have fallen below 6% for the first time in

weeks, the market have responded positively. It you get the long-

term picture right, it will have done that pressure will lead it,

yield prices will go down. When that with austerity packages we

have seen in Italy, Spain and Greece recently, we have a response

from the politicians, a response from the banks. The one unknown

factor, it comes back to the front page of the newspaper, is what the

people may commit. A lot of things that have happened in the eurozone

in recent months are pretty on constitutional in terms of

technocrat government. That opinion of the people has not been tested.

Once the austerity missions kick in in the next few years, we will see

what people make of it and how much appetite there is for the eurozone

in these countries. Let's speak to the journalist,

author and commentator John. 0 eurozone meltdown averted today?

That evening. One of the curiosities of this long-running

crisis is that failure is playing for everybody to see. Market's

collapse, riots take place on the street. It is very tangible when

leaders do not get it right. It is much harder to determine went

leaders do get it right, when they do come to agreement, because such

is the nature of various European institutions that this will be a

slow burn. Whether it takes referendums or parliamentary

approval in either that 17 or 27 countries, this is not going to

happen overnight. Are their most fundamental task, Angela Merkel and

President Sarkozy today, was to avoid that Ovett failure. Italy is

now out of the danger zone, in tandem with what Mario Monti has

been saying. Absolutely, Italy and Spain, the yields have been coming

down. Anything can still happen over the next few months. It is not

as if they have waved a magic wand and all these economic problems

have gone. We really are going to get into an interesting new phase.

I am sure this agreement will come into being roughly, give or take a

few weeks, around my option. The bigger question is, what -- around

March. But what will public opinion think of short-term austerity, not

just that, but fundamentally a whole new way of being? And also

members of the population, rightly or wrongly, the advent of the

European Union was not just European integration, it was the

perception of a better lifestyle and that has been put on hold for

countries around the union. AUC it as a victory for Angela Merkel

today in terms of what has been agreed? -- book you see it as a

victory? How would you react to Eurosceptic commentators who say

their aim -- she may be shoring up her position domestically at the

expense of the eurozone? Indubitably, she has one. I do not

think German commentators will say this is a victory, it was just

avoiding defeat. There is a different criticism of Germany

which is fundamentally it economic stability, indeed success, over the

last few years, has been to create a Chinese style a surplus and get

other people to buy its goods or currency which was fundamentally

devalued, because the German economy is so much stronger than

the others. That was for the past. It is a new situation, and Merkel

is very much there first among equals, even with the French. In

many ways, those countries that wish to state in the core of the

European Union are going to have to accept it, with it -- whatever the

gripes of commentators and opposition politicians.

Let's have a look at the other news. The man who used to lead Ivory

Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has appeared before the international crime of

human right at the Hague. He is charged with crimes of humanity. He

is the first former head of state to be tried since the court's

inception in 2002. Large quantities of radioactive

water have escaped from the crippled figure she met nuclear

parts in Japan and state -- some may have leaked into the Pacific.

45 tons of water was found at side of a purification device at the

weekend. Scientists have discovered that

people's and need for sleep might be linked to their genes. They find

that people carried a variant of a certain gene required almost 30

minutes more sleep each night than others. British and German

researchers found that almost a 5th of the people in Europe carry that

very and 18. The American -- that a variant team.

The American space energy Nasser has discovered another planet that

may have water in liquid form. It lies in what is known as the

habitable zone around a star. Scientists are excited because it

is the first planet to a 7 -- resemble Earth in its size and

orbit. Thousands of protest and it's up on

-- thousands of protesters are on the streets of Moscow this evening

demanding honest elections after Vladamir Putin won the election but

with serious questions about fairness. United Russia one but

with a significantly smaller share of the vote. Mr Putin is running

for president in March with the hope of returning officer for a

decade. In Moscow today, they were

rebuilding the Kremlin. But Russia's most powerful politician

has a tough job ahead. Trying to restore his own popularity. In

parliamentary elections, Vladamir Putin's party received a surprise

setback. It was victorious but with less votes than last time and it

will have few MPs. Mr Putin was clearly an amused by the result. It

is the latest sign that Russians may be losing patience with him.

And here is another. Last month, Vladamir Putin was booed and hissed

when he put in an appearance at a martial arts fight. The Russian

Prime Minister intends to run for president again next spring. It was

not an encouraging start to the campaign trail. Vladamir Putin is

still expected to win the presidential election next March.

But these signs in a drop in support will be a worry for him as

he prepares to launch his campaign to get back into the Kremlin. There

was more criticism today. International observers said Mr

Peter and's party had had an unfair advantage in the election. The vote

was slanted in favour of the ruling party. As evidenced for the lack of

independence for the election administration, the partiality of

most media, and the undue interference of State authorities

at different levels. But these people do not agree. It is the

Kremlin ponds and -- gremlin sponsored youth movement. Their

party to mark the end of the elections and to support to tempt

and President Medvedev. His -- Vladamir Putin's challenge is to

get the wider population on side. The deputy director of transparency

International in Russia joins us now, you have seen demonstrations

this evening. Is the writing on the wall for Prime Minister Vladimir

Putin? I have just come back from the demonstration, which took place

in the centre of Moscow. I would say it was the biggest

demonstration in Moscow in the last, I don't know, the last 10 years,

probably. How much of a threat is this for United Russia, and what

examples have you got about the electoral process been flawed?

this is just, well, this is not the end of Vladamir Putin whatsoever.

That is for sure. This is just a signal for him that he is losing

his popularity he used to have. Last elections were, well, people

were just ignoring them, more or less, and just agreed with whatever

results was drawn. This time, it was not so. But if you are talking

about fraud during the elections, we should be looking at the broader

picture, not only on the day of the elections, but also on the previous

work which has been done. There was a lot of mist use of administrative

resources. Have you submitted reports to the upright is about

that? Had you raised this at an official level and what response

did you get? Yes. We have sent quite a number of complaints,

starting from the complaint in particular issues, for example, a

city mayor was promoting the United Russia party ought the principle at

school was promoting that party. Misusing their administrative

resources and positions as officials. We did not at any

responses so far. This mare, for example, he was fined for a small

sum of money for -- by his prosecutor office. As a final

thought, if you strip away all of the result that you think are

questionable, would this invalidate united Russia's a win today? It is

really hard to estimate exact numbers. They will not have the

majority Paul Shaw, and they will be be probably at the same level as

the Communist Party, that is our estimation. Also, there are two

parts of the fraud. The fraud which has been taking part -- taking

place during the whole campaign, when it TV ads of the opposition

party were taken away from the airwaves, when officials were

promoting parties. And also the frauds that had been done during

the election days. Reports have been, on the internet, a lot, and I

hope the parties have would submit as complaints. The problem is,

independent observers cannot submit complaints, only political parties

Thank you very much for joining us. Eight years ago, we saw the

creation of the Kimberley Process, a government-led certification

scheme designed to eradicate the trade in conflict or blood diamonds.

Today, one of the charities involved in setting it up says it

will walk out. Global Witness claims some of the governments

involved in Kimberley have no interest in reforming it.

These are diamond field tos in Zimbabwe. They are among the

richest in the world and were taken over by the Zimbabwe military.

Exports have been suspended following reports of human rights

abuses. Earlier this year, the Camberley process, set up to stop

diamonds are funding some of Africa's most brutal civil wars,

allowed to Zimbabwe to start exporting from here again. Global

Witness has said this is like Diamond on the ring. They say the

scheme is a failure. Christine Gordon has written

extensively about the diamond industry and is an observer of the

Kimberley Process. She joins me now via webcam.

On what grounds do you think the Kimberley Process has now stalled?

It is not so much stalled, reforms that have been asked for several

years now appear to be going nowhere. That appears to be why

Global Witness has pulled out. The Canberra process had these flaws at

the very start, but there has been a universal frustration with the

failure to close the loopholes in the Kimberley Process, in

particular, the capacity to trade diamonds from the point of origin.

Has the Kimberley Process never worked efficiently? Yes, I would

say it has never work to officially as it should be able to do.

people buying diamonds now, thinking the our ethical diamonds,

could well be purchasing stocks that have been traded for...?

and the jewellers Brander their diamonds so you have a better idea

of where they are coming from. But there are a lot of diamonds were

people do not know where they have come from. The point of the

certification is that the diamonds are certified with up -- with a

country of origin. His is Zimbabwe the critical country here? It is

not only about Zimbabwe. It is in part, because there has been so

much diamond smuggling. Conflict diamonds from Zimbabwe have been

sold in Antwerp. Many loopholes have remained in place. Smuggling

in general, the loopholes do remain. They are big enough, not that huge

quantities of diamonds can get through, but that quantities from

Zimbabwe can they get through. There are serious issues here.

Thank you very much for joining us. Major international talks aimed at

tackling global climate change have entered a second decisive week in

South Africa. 194 countries are taking part in negotiations to

rescue the only treaty on curbing future emissions of greenhouse

gases. One of several proposals is to pay countries to protect the

forests which play a crucial role in absorbing greenhouse gases. The

Congo Basin forms the world's second largest tropical rainforest

covering an area bigger than Spain. Our Africa Correspondent Andrew

Harding has travelled to the Congo where the army have now joined the

fight to save the jungle. In the green heart of Africa, more

than 1 billion it square miles of rainforest. But will it survive? --

1 million square miles. Congolese soldiers at now guard one corner of

the rainforest, but they are battling against many different

elements. We lost 12 what Rangers this year protecting the park.

managing to win this battle? Yes, we have to, there is no other

choice. For now, poverty, the lack of roads, conflict, have all kept

huge powers of the Forest out of reach. But Africa's economy is now

booming and the Forest is now at risk. You can say do not build

roads or create economic activity. You have it to identify the most

fragile and by a diverse place and try and protect that. -- In by a

diverse. Like this. A project to make fuel efficient and stoves. It

could halve it the number of trees cut for charcoal. It is part of a

giant plant to protect Congo's rain forest and our planet. A Prime be -

- a plan being debated this week could see billions are being poured

into the Congo. But it is complicated. It will be that

nothing is done as we expected. will be chaos? Yes. For now, the

poorly funded are made us what it can. Call got needs it more outside

help. But this is a tough place for anyone to operate. -- Congo. The

idea is to pay Congo to employ its soldiers to protect the forest. But

it is proving to be slow, risky and chaotic. The motivation is there.

Bigger money may be coming. But the fight to save this rain forest is

War Horse, the story of the relationship between a young

English boy and his horse during the First World War, has become one

of the most popular British plays ever staged. Now it's been made

into a Stephen Spielberg movie. The film had its world premiere in New

York last night. Tom Brook reports. It was a big night for Stephen

Spielberg, the launch of War Horse. It is a story that has resonated

for one of Hollywood's most celebrated directors. People see an

animal like this and they see it, they see how we forget our

animosity, are hatred and are issues with each other. We turn our

full attention on to helping the horse. You can see the healing that

takes place. He has kept the integrity of what it is. It is epic,

very beautiful, horrifying, I was very moved. I lost myself in it

completely. The success of the whole production it depended it not

only on their talent of the horses, but also on the little-known

British actor charged with carrying the picture. I was playing a tree

on the stage production. I was working in commercials. Getting

this part is something I did not even contemplate. The bigger

question is, cannot War Horse get Hollywood's top of ward? -- the top

award. A reminder of our main news. The

leaders of France and Germany say they want a tough new treaty to

restore confidence in the eurozone. After meeting in Paris, Nicolas

Sarkozy and Angela Merkel said they wanted the treaty agreed by March

next year and they'd accept one signed just by eurozone members if

they couldn't get the approval of the full EU. That is it from the

We have had a wintry feel to the weather for 24 hours. Tomorrow will

quieten down for some of us, many places will be dry it with sunshine.

The wintry showers continue through the night, especially across

northern and western areas. As a result the tempters will drop below

freezing. The Met Office have put out warnings about ice on Tuesday

morning. We will see some showers at towards the north and west but

not so many by the afternoon, they will fade away. For many places

will be sunny but cold, and then maybe the odd shower creeping

towards the Midlands. Most places on the south coast will be dry,

further rain showers across parts of south-west England and Wales

through the afternoon. Still quite breezy, the breeze coming in from

the north and west through the day. Cloudy skies around parts of

Cardigan Bay. For more than Ireland, a few showers, not as many as

Monday but there will be a couple towards the north and west, and

still a possibility of wintry showers for western Scotland but