11/04/2012 World News Today

There's collapsing support for the two main political parties. Raymond

AU Brack dies in Paris at the age of 97.

Fierce fighting is continuing for a second day between Sudanese and

South a Sudanese protesters. They are reported to have taken control

of a large board a tame -- border town in Heglig. The African Union

has demanded South Sudan withdrawal from the airfield. -- withdraw.

This is far more than just a squabble over oil. The fighting is

South Sudan says the fighting began when his troops were attacked from

the air and on the ground and they were merely defending themselves.

We are not interested in escalating the situation. The people of south

Sudan and the people of Sudan have no interest in getting into a plea

to kit -- politic war. A few weeks ago, negotiators from both

countries signed a non-aggression pact following talks. That delve --

that deal now seems worth less. Fighting between people from the

areas now known as Sudan and South Sudan dates back hundreds of years

but intensified during Africa's longest civil war. South Sudanese

voted in a referendum for a peace deal. Its separation left key

issues unresolved and intensive negotiations have lit -- made

little progress. Sudan and South Sudan have fought

back from the brink times before. This pattern of occasion clashes is

likely to continue. The seriousness of this fighting in Heglig means a

return to outright war is a step closer.

I am joined by a ambassador Wellens and press attache at the Sudanese

embassy. The African Union has called on

your forces to withdraw from Heglig. Why aren't you? Esme clarify one

thing. It is not Heglig, it is the corruption of the name. It belonged

to the self. The only reason why it is... We are not saying that we

would want to keep it, but we will not allow any aggressive forces to

be based there. We have to stop aerial bombardment and that is the

reason we are not occupying it. We are not claiming it by force. It

would be negotiated as it has been previously. Let us make that clear.

Her you were the aggressors in that and they are just reaction? They

are occupiers. The African Union issued a statement today saying

that it will not allow the occupation of the leak by a South

Sudan and calls for the immediate withdrawal. Is that an error in

terms of the actual location? problem is historically this has

not been put into perspective. They know that. The Court of Arbitration

in the Hague in 2009 placed Heglig in Sudan. You accept that, do you?

We accept that they should do with straw. In a sense, Khartoum cannot

be allowed to accept the PCA and they want to be the judge and not

to the victim. What we are saying is these issues need to be resolved

peacefully. Neither side is talking at the moment. It cannot be allowed

to be the springboard of attacking our population. There has been

aerial bombardment which the -- which has to stop. We are

requesting that the Sudanese Government stops the bombardment.

Hillary Clinton has placed the blame fairly and squarely on the

shoulders of Sudan in terms of harassment and bombardment as well.

There is no harassment or bombardment on the side of the

Sudan. They have not crossed the border and occupied parts of

southern Sudan. Have you been engagement in aerial bombardment of

south Sudanese forces? Of course not? -- of course not. Why should

we do that? We have a mature and responsible manner and have

sacrificed the 5th of the population and the 4th of the

landmass to get peace for the two people. Can we save that a place

was bombed yesterday and five people were killed. Is that not the

Sudan Armed Forces? You are denying that? We repel of the attack. Why

do you bomb the areas? What is happening is that the southern

Sudanese have got two battalions in the north and they have not

withdrawn them, they have not decided to implement the

demobilisation. You are both guilty of arming militias and that has

been clearly documented or do you deny that? If what is happening is

these forces should have been demobilised and that did not happen.

Are you still arming militias which are fighting in the south and do

you accept you are arming militias as well? Our position, it is unfair

to ask. There are two battalions are in our territory. Yes or no?

am saying, no. We have been respecting the territory of Sudan

and halting to agreement what we have signed. They have not held to

their books and therefore they are not able to answer. The truth is we

need to go back to peace. They need to stop bombarding. This has been

dragging on for the last month. Ban Ki-Moon is calling for political

leadership on both sides. Why aren't you negotiating? This

follows a civil war where hundreds of thousands of people have been

displaced. Why can't you sort this out? You are both dependent on oil

and at the moment, it is one long continuous battle. This is the most

reasonable thing to say. It is going through a transitional period

from a guerrilla army and from people who have been fighting in

the Porsche and have been fighting for cabinet positions. In order to

establish proper Government in which the army is controlled by the

civilian Government... They are not fit for Government at the moment?

If they are in a transitional position. We think it should

continue. We have to get into a guerrilla mentality. Is it

predicated on guerrilla tactics? have the most disciplined and we

have shown that to the world and Khartoum knows about that. Our army

is very disciplined but they would not accept being aggressive all the

time. For the sake of all the people in Sudan and self Saddam,

were you get back to the negotiating table? -- South Sudan.

Of course. If they don't withdraw, our army will force them to

withdraw. So, it is war? necessarily. It is not necessary.

It is their delegation who left from the meeting. They should come

back to the table. Paying due both. -- thank you both.

So could he forces his area have continued shelling opposition areas

using tank and artillery fire. State TV said they will stop on

Thursday morning while remaining on a lead. Kofi Annan travelled to

Iran to ask for their support in pressure rising at Damascus to

abide by his peace plan. Many have taken refuge in Turkey. Fergal

Keane sent this report. Waiting for news from the country

they fled. This is an area where arrivals are processed before being

sent on to other camps. We didn't meet anybody who expressed optimism

but a few were willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Is there

going to be peace? TRANSLATION: I hope for that but they have talked

before and it has come to nothing. I do hope for peace. From here, you

can see Syria. It is calm but other parts have become precarious in the

past few days. Syrian forces had fired across, hitting Refugees.

Here, shooting to stop solders from Inside Syria, the last days have

seen a furious fighting. In Homs, troops have pounded opposition

districts with tank fire and mortars. No sign here of any

military withdrawal. In parts of the city, there is little left to

fight over. The activist filming this burning shopping-centre calls

out, "are you watching Kofi Annan? Where is the international

community?" such images have accompanied Kofi Annan. He is

insisting on the possibility of a ceasefire.

If everyone respects it, by 6 o'clock on Thursday 12th, 6 o'clock

in the morning of Thursday 12th, we should see much improved situation

on the ground. As tanks were on the move in Homs,

Kofi Annan could only hope and -- in the assurances he had been given.

This evening, the Government insisted it would stop fighting

tomorrow that it reserved the right to retaliate if attacked.

I am confident my Government is committed to his plan bet at the

same time, since the violence, I can only guarantee our side. I

cannot guarantee the violence from the armed groups and those

countries harbouring them. Be the Free Syrian Army refuses to

believe anything the Government TRANSLATION: I do not believe our

forces will stop shooting because the other side will not stop. If

the other side stopped the Syrian people would march on the

President's palace on the same day. This means the regime want stop.

is possible that the violence across the border may died down

when the deadline runs out tomorrow morning. But there is no likelihood

of a permanent cessation. Of the regime and opposition believe this

is a fight to the finish. That is the logic that has undermined the

Kofi Annan mission from the start. A senior Middle East adviser is

with us now from Washington. Kofi Annan stoically continuing with his

optimism. How important do you think his visit to Iran was today,

given that it is one of Syria's strongest allies? It was important

that Kofi Annan visited Iran. Syria is one of Iran's strongest allies.

I find it unlikely that he will get Iran to budge in any meaningful way,

she performed. The Arabs Spring and the dear little -- you political a

lining that is taking place Zeynel has left Tehran feeling very

uncertain about its place in the region. One of the few certainties

that Iran has is its close alliance with the Al Assad regime in Ceri

and they don't want to jeopardise that in any shape or form. In many

ways area is around's on a strategic ally in the Arab world

left. They will continue to fund such area, they will continue to

provide military equipment. In many ways, Iran is acting as something

like a lifeline for Ceri up. Syria is depleting cash reserves as this

fighting goes on. They do not want to be on the losing side. We have

seen some action from Sept -- Russia and China. I think Iran

understands that there is always one winner here and that is the Al

Assad regime. That is the only group that they can imagine winning

this. They cannot imagine a loss here because of the Toulouse, the

uprising, the people taking part in the uprising, I so turned off by

what Iran has been doing. Their chance on the streets of Damascus

and other cities had been debt to Iran. The other aspect of this is

that we have seen as sectarian element in this fight as well. We

are starting to seek guitar and Saudi Arabia and Turkey form of

something that looks like a Sunni Axis verses Iran which is leading a

Shi'ite axis. This is not entirely as Sunni verses Shi'ite battle.

This is a battle for power. there is a Sunni majority in Syria.

I absolutely right. There is a majority Sunni population. The

conflict as it goes on it is taking on increasingly sectarian tones in

Ceri and that is troubling for Syria. It is also troubling fireman.

Ceri are. They do not want to take on the default Shi'ite power in the

sectarian battle. But they are targeting people like you and other

commentators. Looking ahead over the next few days, there was no

mention in the Ministry of Defence of Syria of the Kofi Annan peace

plan and their remaining on alert. How optimistic are you that there

will be fighting tomorrow? I think of anyone is able to cobble some

Sutton deal together it will be Kofi Annan. He is the superstar of

peacemaking. However, I cannot see any kind of diagram in which the

interests of Syria, the Government and the interest of their activists

come together. He has talked about the position in which Bashar al-

Assad can stay NPower. I am afraid this is going to continue and I am

afraid this peace plan seems to be destined for failure. Thank you

very much for joining us. For thousands of people it had

initially threatened to be a terrible reminder of the tsunami of

2004. The initial quick with a magnitude of 8.6 m people running

from buildings, many fleeing from vehicles. The first quick to place

off the coast of Aceh were tens of 1000 died eight years ago. And

elect was issued for the area. Relief came were a few hours later.

This report from Rachel Harvey. The terror on their faces speaks

volumes. They know all too well what an earthquake and two. In Aceh,

the 2004 tsunami is not ancient history. The memories are still

fresh, still painful. You do not forget the loss of more than

200,000 lives. Antedate the Earth issued another powerful reminder of

this region's volatile foundations. The response - visceral fear. But

this time there was purpose within the panic. A mass movement to

higher ground and the safety, Moss, one of the few buildings to survive

their sunny seven years ago. Local knowledge learned from bitter

experience. The same reaction in the West Coast. Locals guiding

holidaymakers to safety. The heard the siren, followed the signs, knew

what to do. Lessons have been learned. Today's earth cake was

hugely powerful, felt as far away as Bangkok and southern India. So

y'know tsunami this time? In 2004, the one tectonic plate slipped

beneath another displays and a huge volume of whether -- water. Today's

earthquake was lateral. But less likely to spill huge waves.

Nevertheless expose the issue -- the decision to issue an alert was

justified. You never know what kind of earthquake it is. This is when

you analyse the data are arriving all over the world, you can find

out what kind of earthquake it was, what the mechanism was. But when

they sent a warning that, they have no idea of that. No room for

complacency and no sign of it in action. Just help for those who

could not help themselves. Increasingly urgent warnings. A

desperate prayer, and this time, tragedy avoided.

Greece's technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has called an early

General Election Fahmy sex. The election will be the first since

the debt crisis exploded at the end a 2009, dragging the country into

its worst recession since the Second World War. There was talk of

the spawning it a little bit, but the feeling was that Greece is

going through such intense pain at the moment with the austerity

measures, such deep financial changes that the filling was it was

the right moment to give the voice to the people here in order for a

Government to be elected with a proper mandate in order to put

through the changes that Greece needs in order to continue

receiving international bail-out money. Today look as Aberdeen last

the Prime Minister family requested that Parliament be dissolved and he

is now making their exit from the political scene for now. He has

headed an interim Government here in Greece since November last year

when he took over from happen draw. Last month, after much haggling

here behind the scenes in Greece, Greece managed to secure the second

bail-out. That bail-out was worth 130 billion euros. It was reached

after the country reached a separate deal with private

creditors, European banks and hedge funds to write off at least 50% of

the debt that there eight owed by the Greek Government. Now with the

task done, with Greece avoiding bankruptcy, Lucas Papademos went to

see the present this morning and has formally announced that they

election will be held on Sunday May 6th. One to the chances of them not

forming a coalition. The polls suggest there has been a slump in

support for the Conservatives. it is possible. There is a real

fragmentation of the votes this time round. That is because the two

main parties who have been in Government pushing through the

austerity measures have lost a lot of popularity. Those austerity

measures are deeply unpopular, it is the most punishing austerity

programme in modern history. So they are likely to lose ground to

the smaller parties that are running on and the austerity plans,

they are riding on a wave of social discontent. The opinion polls show

there are five parties, it could contain 5 - 99 parties after the

elections. That will mean any party would have difficulty forming an

effective national Government, let alone a Government that can steer

this country through the worst recession in its modern history.

Their EU and IMF wants to make sure her crease Alexa Government which

will stick to the austerity programme in order to honour its

commitments, but with the anti- austerity programme parties gaining

ground, that does appear possibly in doubt.

France's mourning the death of Raymond Aubrac, one of the

country's last great resistance heroes whose exploits, together

with his wife Lucie, became the stuff of legend. He was 97.

He was one of the earliest members of the Resistance and one of its

last survivors. He began in Lyon, setting up an underground network

and then liaising with another emissary as the created what became,

as the Secret Army. But in 1943, disaster struck as they were

arrested together by the Gestapo at this House in Lyon. One died after

torture, Raymond Aubrac survived. Our spartan my memory is after a

couple of hours interrogation, you are brought back into your cell in

the evening. You know it will go on the next morning. You do not know

whether you will be able not to talk. A more grammar awaited. A few

weeks later, he was able to skate on the Germans, thanks to a daring

attack mounted by his wife Lucie on the convoy carrying him to jail.

Resistance fighters to alongside the first up and shot the driver.

The three remaining German soldiers jumped out of the truck and began

running. But they were surrounded, three of them were killed. One was

wounded and one managed to escape. And 14 prisoners were freed,

including myself. Raymond and Lucie Aubrac escaped to London. All live

longways after their while, was a dying in 2002. They were happy to

talk about the wartime role, inspiring new generations with

their tales of devotion and a sacrifice.

The day of Raymond Aubrac at the age of 87. -- the death. -- at the

Hello, we had fairly widespread showers across the UK today. As

some were outlook for tomorrow, again sunny spells and scattered

showers. The reason for the showers is low pressure sitting turn north-

east, driving colder air down from the north. As the April sunshine

gets to work, the cold air will last and the warmth from the ground

will cost the shower clouds to build and develop. It is through

the mid- morning and early afternoon that we will have some of

her heavy showers. Through tomorrow morning, much of England and Wales

will have these heavy downpours. But as usual they are hit and miss.

Between the showers, lengthy spells of sunshine. Some places may stay

dry altogether. Western areas of Cornwall and western fringes of

wills, inland, we are likely to see frequent heavy downpours. The odd

rumble of thunder likely. In contrast, over Northern Ireland and

much and are then Scotland, and dry outlet for their stay. Sunny skies