12/03/2012 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Wilcox.

Rising tensions between Afghanistan and the coalition as the 16 Afghan

victims of a US soldier are buried. The Afghan parliament calls for the

attacker to be put on public trial, in Afghanistan - US officials

promise a full and thorough investigation.

This is not who we are and the United States is committed to

seeing that those responsible are held accountable.

Allegations of a massacre in the city of Homs in Syria as the UN

calls on the international More civilian casualties on a

fourth day of violence between Israeli forces and Palestinian

militants in Gaza. Also coming up in the programme: As

the South African government admits that 80 per cent of state schools

are failing. 20 years on from the end of apartheid, why is education

for black children still so poor? And he danced, he ran and he messed

about on the beach - is Prince Harry the British royal family's

Hello and welcome. In the villages of Kandahar in Afghanistan, they've

been burying their dead today. 16 victims, nine of them children, of

an American soldier, all shot in their homes in the early hours of

Sunday. Hillary Clinton called the attack 'inexplicable', adding 'this

is not who we are.' Local elders though told the BBC that there

would be no further protests, as long as the man responsible for the

killings was brought to justice. From Kabul, the BBC's Quentin

Nine children have now been buried. Translation macro if he did this

deliberately, he should be punished, otherwise it would raise many

questions. The Taleban would benefit and become stronger.

come and Inverdale went to the House of Muslims and massacred

children and women? I feel very sad. Even I am ready to go to the side

of the Taleban to fight against these foreigners.

We know that the killer was a regular soldier who was working for

Special forces. 11 years in the army, he was fully armed and

wearing night-vision goggles when he carried out the attack. He was a

guard at the base, making it easier for him to come and go from the out

past -- the outpost in Kandahar. He left the place at 3am local time.

He walked to these nearby villages and there he travelled from door to

door, some were locked. But he made his way inside one home. There, he

gathered together the family and killed all 11 with a single bullet

each. Then five more in another two houses, the children were mostly

toddlers. President Obama was shocked and saddened by the

killings which he said were not representative of US military

forces. In a call to President Karzai, he promised a full

investigation. This will not affect the mission in Afghanistan for the

United States. The mission is going to suffer and it is very tragic,

but it would be far greater a tragedy to let this affect what we

are doing for the country. In Kabul, others are more sceptical.

President Karzai called the the gimmick -- killings unforgivable.

Many are talking about the damage to relations with America.

Senior officers are questioning whether this attack was pre-planned

and did others know what the soldier's intentions? The Afghan

people are asking an even simpler question? Why did a long serving

American soldier, and I of Afghanistan, commit such a bloody

act? Let's speak to Michael Semple,

until last year a fellow in the State Building and human rights,

Afghanistan Pakistan programme. He joins us from the States. After

such carnage, is the one positive that there hasn't been mass

demonstrations that we saw perhaps after the burning of the holy books

yet? In Kandahar, people already have suffered so much that they do

not have the confidence and the guts to go out and protest. The

public order problem is not quite as grave as it was during the

previous crisis, but there is a lot of damage to be dealt with. What do

you think the long-term impact of this is after the book-burning?

Will it have a very deleterious effect on the relationship between

the Coalition and the Afghan authorities which will not be

resolved? The first people that were going to exploit this are

those Caliban who are involved in preparing the spring offensive.

They know that everyone in Afghanistan today has seen TV

images of young bodies being taken for burial. They will now be using

it those in their propaganda videos to persuade the fighters to go out

and create further mayhem later. Those are the people who were

exploited. In terms of the relationship with the Afghan

authorities, they have little option but to co-operate with the

United States because they are struggling to have some kind of

Garrity and stability of the on the US drawback. What else can they do?

We saw the demand for justice for the perpetrators of the book

burnings. We have heard calls for the soldiers to be tried in

Afghanistan in public, but that will not happen, will it?

Absolutely, if I had had an opportunity to give some advice in

the years of people sitting in Parliament, I would say call for

something that is likely to happen. Calling for something which is not

going to happen will create further frustration. This will not happen.

He went completely bonkers according to an eyewitness, this

man had a nervous breakdown. Is there any sense that President

Karzai will be able to sell that to people in Afghanistan, that this is

just one at lone rogue individual who just went berserk? There is a

real question as to whether it you will be able to sell that to

President Karzai himself. Afghanistan is the land of

conspiracy theories. When they rock night raids conducted by the US,

multiple versions of them circulate. In a strange way, that also

explains why the reaction has been somewhat muted, because even if

this is the first time that we have seen someone go berserk like this,

stories like this have frequently circulated. The difference was the

previous ones were invented whereas this one was real. NATO advisers

have not gone back into the ministry's following the book-

burning. Does this delayed that return yet further? Again there is

an issue of what can people do? Some of the mentors who were

working inside the ministry's were not necessarily doing important

jobs, but an awful lot of them were doing vital jobs. As the US moves

towards a draw down, it involves more co-operation with Afghan

counterparts rather than less. There is no way the US can do what

it must over the next two years by hanging out in their own bases and

going out on patrol by themselves. They will have to work closely with

the Afghans, trying to piece together the trust which has been

badly hurt by the incident of the book-burning and now this massacre.

Thank you very much for joining us. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki

Moon has described attacks by the Syrian Government on its civilian

opponents as "shameful" and accused it of failing in its duty of

protecting its own people. Speaking during a meeting of the UN General

Assembly, Mr Ban called for unity from the international community to

persuade President Assad and the opposition to end the violence and

start negotiations. Deeply disturbing images said to be

from the Syrian town of Homs. Evidence of a massacre by pro-

government gunmen, including children. Damascus blamed on the

terrace. There is no disputing there is a -- this month-long siege

has left neighbourhoods bombed-out. Such scenes have spurred calls for

the world to act yet piloted the impotence of the deeply divided

Security Council. This council has so far failed. At this special

session called by Britain, Western states denounce the brutality of

the regime, but they were countered by Russian warnings about the armed

resistance. TRANSLATION: There is no doubt that the Syrian

authorities bear a huge responsibility for the situation,

but one should not ignore the fact that for a long time they have been

fighting combat units such as the so-called free Syrian army and

extremist groups including Al-Qaeda which have lately committed a

series of murderous to act -- murderous acts. Russia also spoke

about an agreement. The Americans are also watching these

developments closely. We took no to the fact that this past weekend in

Cairo, the Arab League and Russian minister agreed on the necessity of

We believe that now is the time for all nations, even those who have

previously blocked our efforts, to stand behind the humanitarian and

political approached start out by the Arab League. Even if the

Security Council could finally agree to something on paper,

getting changed on the ground would still be a daunting task. Now a

look at some of the day's other news.

At least 100 people have been killed and hundreds more are

missing in South Sudan after renewed ethnic violence. Armed

attackers from the Murle ethnic group stole thousands of cattle

during raids in Upper Nile state. Violence between the Murle and Lou

Nuer peoples have left thousands dead since South Sudan became

independent last July. There's been a deadly raid in the

Iraqi capital Baghdad. Gunmen killed at least nine people when

they stormed a row of goldsmiths at a market. Police said some of the

attackers shot at passers by while others stole jewellery from the

shops. The head of Brazil's Football

Association has stepped down from his post. The man who led the

Brazilian Football Confederation for 23 years had been under

pressure to resign under corruption allegations which he has denied.

Here in Britain a High Court judge has decided that a man with what's

known as "Locked-In Syndrome" should have his case decided by the

court. Tony Nicklinson wants doctors to be able to end his life.

He is physically paralysed from the neck down although his mind remains

Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza have clashed for

a fourth day in a row, in the worst cross-border violence in over a

year. At least 23 people have been killed and dozens wounded by

Israeli air strikes since Friday, while two Israelis have been

injured by rockets fired from Gaza. The violence was sparked by

Israel's killing of a top Palestinian militant leader on

Friday. From Jerusalem, Rupert Another day and another funeral in

Gaza City. This time it is for a 65-year-old man and his 35-year-old

daughter. More than 20 people have been killed here since Friday. It

is now the worst violence between Israel and Gaza in three years.

Like these two, more casualties are civilians. A ragged cheer and a

pool of blood marked the spot where they were killed this morning,

caught in an Israeli counter-strike. A few minutes' drive away, the

debris of another fresh bomb site. The smell of burning is still

pungent in the air. Israel says it's only striking back

at militants who are firing rockets out of Gaza, but that is not the

weight things work and last night, one of their missiles hit this

house in the North of Gaza where 30 members of the same family were

sleeping. Amazingly, no one was killed in this destruction. 25

members of that family are in hospital, including nine children.

The man who owns the house does not deny he supports the militants. One

of his sons has been killed fighting the Israelis. TRANSLATION:

I have another two sons and I am ready to sacrifice them as well.

After what the Israelis have done, I will keep resisting more strongly

until the last drop of blood. above the Israeli drones circle.

Their powerful cameras hunt for militants, ready to call in a new

strike. This began on Friday when Israeli missiles Tora Park this car.

Inside was the leader of a Gaza militant group. Israel says an

attack by the group is imminent and the Killen justified. Since then,

militants in Gaza have hit back, sending more than 130 rockets into

towns and cities in southern Israel. In response is where has brought

out its latest high-tech answer to the Gaza rockets. It is called the

iron dome and its job is to shoot down the rockets before they can

hit Israeli towns. The iron dome missiles may make Israelis feel

safer, but on both sides of this conflict, a new generation is

growing up learning to hate an enemy that it has never seen.

Yossi Mekelberg is Associate Fellow of the Middle East Programme at

Chatham House. Hamas itself is not involved in is, is there a risk

that this could escalate into something more serious? 22 people

have already been killed. It always starts with more limited operations,

in this case targeting two leaders from the smaller group. The

response is firing into Israel of rockets, which is series, but the

Israelis reacted disproportionately and we have more than 20 people

killed. There is pressure on the government and they must protect

These two groups, are they being sanctioned and armed by Hamas

choice mack are the Independent ques mack it is Hamas pos mac

There is a process... There is almost an opportunity to start the

process with Hamas and by having this kind of tit-for-tat, it is

almost an opportunity for the Israelis to say, you see? You are

seeing that even though country macro is being attacked by rockets

from Gaza, there is an element of Be ironed and system is being able

to take out these rockets as they take over. Correct. A signal to

Hamas that we are looking at Iran. The talk is about Iran, if it is

going to happen, we are still looking at what happens in Gaza or

in Lebanon and preparing a case of all in Iran. If you think this

would be an opportunity the to attack, we would -- we are prepared

for this opportunity. Where do you think we stand in the time frame

for attack against Iraq. --? The I have also been hearing that he has

been influenced by his father. Explain a bit about that and

whether that represents a much more hawkish prime minister now than a

Netanyahu is more of a PR person than the Statesman. Last week it

was celebrating the victory of the saviour of the Jewish people from a

Persian ruler, to this way you are having a strong reek of the saving

of the Jewish people back in Persia, many many many years ago. More

importantly is this beach in a -- is his speech. The minute that

Israel, a Jewish leader, talks about Iran in relation to Nazi

Germany and Auschwitz, he locks himself into not a very big

diplomatic space. If this is the same analogy it means either Iran

stops their nuclear programme or there will be a war. This is very

dangerous. Thank you. In South Africa, almost 20 years after the

end of apartheid, the state education system is so poor that

5,000 children are switching to private schools each year.

Ministers admit that 80% of state schools are failing, with appalling

infrastructure, a shortage of teachers and appalling exam results.

Getahead High School, and low-cost private school in Eastern Cape.

Most of the children are black and good results and discipline are a

top priority, but far from been children from the elite, their

families are scraping together the thousands of dollars in fees, let

down by state schools. Need 17- year-old Panjwayi and his aunt,

Nokwezi. His parents are dead. She cares for him. Swapping their nice

flat in a house in a township in order to send him to private school.

She is among a growing number of adults are worried that strikes and

insecurity of undermining state schools. There is no security for

the children. We find out that others are doing drugs, carrying

weapons at school. Another day, another class. About half a million

youngsters now go into schools like these, a dramatic response in a

country where half of all youngsters leave without a

secondary school certificate. Affordable private schools are

being established right across South Africa. 5,000 children are

making the switch every year, and yet the irony is, many of their

parents are teachers from struggling state schools. This is

Khumzi Madikane, their principal in the school in the Eastern Cape, but

despite his best efforts, the head teacher struggles with appalling

conditions at his state school. This is a typical example of a

toilet that we have in the school. Latrine system. What impact does

the poor are infrastructure have? The port infrastructure on the

school makes the teachers not to be so interested in teaching in this

school. Good afternoon, class. Absenteeism and staff shortages are

faced by many state schools. By its own admission, the government says

80% of them of failing. Nearly two met for decades after the end of

apartheid, corruption, maladministration and neglect are

taking their toll on the classrooms, turning the poorest into an

underclass, as more black families opt for private education instead.

His reputation was that of the party prince so some palace

officials might have been forgiven for feeling a little nervous about

how Prince Harry would shape up on his first official solo trip abroad.

Pretty good seems to be the general opinion. The third in line to the

British throne visited Belize, the Bahamas and Jamaica to mark the

Queen's Golden jubilee, before flying onto Brazil on behalf of the

British government. How carefully reined in was Harry by his PR team?

Or is Harry quite naturally turning into the royal family secret

weapon? In a moment we'll discuss the Prince's Progress with royal

biographer Ingrid Seward, but first those images that will be making

the royal household very happy. has been an emotional trip, 10, 12

days, I am exhausted, but the warmth of the reception of every

single country we have been two has been utterly amazing. -- we have

been too. He cheated! Honest! need every match! Me and you!

have to check, I might be busy! Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief at

Majesty magazine. He has not put a salt wrong? No. -- foot. I know

this sounds pompous but the army has made Prince Harry and that is

what his brother has said. It has given him the confidence. You would

never believe that somebody as a brilliant as Harry lacked

confidence but he did and having that background and then going off

on this trip, I think he feels that he can do anything, and he has.

have to be a performing monkey, and that can be quite difficult to do

sometimes when your energy levels are down. Not another photo

opportunity! But he seems to do it naturally. In the way that his

mother did as well. You could not be taught that rapport with

children. There seems to be quite a lot of his mother about him.

Obviously he is his mother's son, but he does seem to enjoy it. I am

not saying he will forever! But that is infectious. He is very

charming. He has always been very charming, he has just been a bit

naughty! Who are his advisers? Some reports are that Prince William has

been in daily contact with him as well. Who other backroom boys?

William and Harry share an office in St James's Palace, so he has a

small team there, and I am sure William has been on Twitter with

him. I don't know if William has been very busy in the Falklands.

is probably quite envious of where his brother has been? Absolutely!

What about the long-term prospects for somebody like Prince Harry.

When you look at Prince Andrew, for example, he had a pretty bad press,

maybe does not have the same ease of manner. Is there the risk that

the spare to the air of the throne can fall into bad habits if he is

not carefully managed? There is very much a risk and we are not

seeing it now because Harry is so dedicated to his Army career and

whether he stays in the army, we do not know. He probably doesn't know

either. There is always the risk that he will have all the goodies

and not have the responsibility and I think that had we need to have a

defined role. What it will be, we don't know. His relationship with

the press, which Prince William shares with him, is extremely

wearing, but do you think he has relaxed on that as well? Apparently,

he has relaxed. He has been very charming to the press on this trip

and Harry naturally doesn't like the media, nor does William,

because they still blame their mother's death on the media, with

quite good reason. Henry is one of the boys. There is no point were

picking on a few people saying it is their fault. He has been very

wide and has made friends with the people on this trip with him, which

is great. Ingrid Seward, thank you. The main news: The Afghan

parliament has passed a strongly worded resolution about the killing

of 16 civilians by a US soldier. He said people had lost their patience

with the actions of foreign troops and that the soldier must be tried

publicly in an Afghan Court, which is pretty unlikely given immunity

from prosecution that the United States demands. That is it. From me

and the rest of the team, goodbye. On Monday we had warm sunshine for

some of us, but much more cold and cloudy conditions elsewhere.

Tonight we will see a lot of cloud around but tomorrow we will start

to break the cloud up. All the while, it is staying drive

underneath a big area of high pressure. The weather system is out

in the Atlantic. On Tuesday, we will see a lot of cloud around. The

cloudiest weather will be across the north and west of the country.

To the east of the Pennines, we should see brighter spells.

Slightly more cloud for the south- east corner compared to Monday. As

a result a few degrees down on what we have had in recent days. Lloyd

winds across the country. Cloudy skies across the south and west of

the country -- like winds. Across Wales, where we have got cloudy

skies, the temperatures will struggle and for Northern Ireland,

it is going to be overcast but dry. The Western Isles of Scotland will