12/12/2013 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Zeinab Badawi.

The interpreter who got it so very wrong at Nelson Mandela's memorial

service says he suffered a schizophrenic attack on stage. He

suffered from hallucinations. Thamsanqa Dyantyi stood side by side

with world leaders, including President Obama. South Africa

insists there was no security threat. Bangladesh executes an

Islamist politician found guilty of crimes against humanity during the

1971 war of independence. Also coming up. The number of women with

breast cancer around the world rises, but a new study does reveal

some promising news. And two films - 12 Years a Slave and

American Hustle - receive seven nominations apiece for Golden Globe

awards. They are a curtain raiser for the Oscars.

Hello and welcome. Concern has been raised about the potential failure

of proper screening at the memorial service for mental -- for Nelson

Mandela. The man accused of faking sign language at the memorial

service for Nelson Mandela has said he has schizophrenia, and saw angels

at the event. Thamsanqa Dyantyi, who stood alongside world leaders

including President Obama on the stage, said he sometimes reacted

violently to his condition. Here's our Africa Correspondent Andrew

Harding. Sharing the stage with Barack Obama, a man who now says he

was in the middle of a schizophrenic episode. It was his erratic sign

language that first raised concerns. Experts described it as gibbering.

When the BBC tracked the man down to his Soweto home today the

34-year-old said he was not a fraud, he was simply ill. While I

was speaking I had a breakdown. I saw angels. They were coming from

the sky. Photos proved that he had often worked at vestiges events. He

says his illness has made him violent in the past. Today an

official insisted world leaders had not been in any danger. You

embarrassed about what happened? Nail I am not and I have no reason

to be. But the scandal is an awkward distraction. As crowds queued for a

second day to see the body of Nelson Mandela. It may seem like a

relatively minor incident but inevitably people are making

comparisons between Nelson Mandela and the current leadership. The

revelations lead into a broader sense that South Africa may be

losing its way. Joining me from Maryland outside

Washington is former Secret Service Agent to President Barack Obama, Dan

Bongino. He also served under George W Bush and his new book is called,

Life Inside The Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent

Walked Away From It All. Failure of proper screening, do you think? I do

not think there is any question. I just want to make sure that the

general public understand, because he was not properly screened, he

literally was a fraud, does not mean that he was an imminent threat to

the president. But there has clearly been a failure. But if this man is

mentally ill and he himself has said he can act in an on-board it will

way, do you think that that fact should have been made known? I am

sorry about that. The line has sailed from Maryland. I do not think

that we can restore it. But we did here he felt they had been a failure

to properly screen the sign interpreter at that Nelson Mandela

memorial service. But the South African government insisted there

has been no security breach. In Bangladesh, the Islamist

opposition leader, Abdul Kader Mullah, has been executed. He'd been

found guilty of crimes against humanity during the 1971 war of

independence. The Supreme Court had cleared the way for Mr Mullah's

execution after judges rejected a last-minute appeal. Security had

been stepped up throughout Bangladesh after the ruling, and

this has led to violent protests by his Jamaat-e-Islami party

supporters. With me is the BBC's World Service South Asia Editor,

Ethirajan Anbarasan. What was he accused of actually doing during the

War of Independence? He was accused of carrying out mass murder and rape

in the suburbs of Dakar. When Bangladesh was trying to get away

from Pakistan. The gym party were opposed to breaking away from

Pakistan. So this tribunal was set up by the present government. They

had pledged to try all those Bangladeshis accused of carrying out

atrocities. Tens of thousands were people -- of people were killed in

1971. This is the first execution after the courts found him guilty of

carrying out atrocities. How effective was this tribunal? How

transparent was it? There has been controversy about this, there is no

doubt. Jamaat-e-Islami says it was a political elite motivated trial. And

they did not follow proper procedures while carrying out the

execution. The human rights people have said it fell short 's of

international standards. -- fell short. The trial was said not to be

up to international standards. But they're obviously web crimes

committed and they must be a large body of opinion in Bangladesh that

feels that they must have been justice. But now that he has been

executed, what will the result we? As soon as the execution was carried

out hundreds of people gathered to celebrate in the city centre. These

people had been demanding the death penalty for Mr Mullah. So this trial

did have widespread support because many Bangladeshi people had lost

relatives. But how it has been carried out is the question. Soon

after the execution there were classes -- clashes in some parts of

Bangladesh. It is expected that there will be tensions. There is a

political protest going on by the main opposition against the

elections. They say they do not want to take part in elections under the

present government. We have another protest by Jamaatee Islami. Thank

you very much for explaining all that. Now some other news in brief.

The Spanish government has insisted it will block plans for a referendum

on independence for Catalonia. Catalan separatist parties agreed to

hold the vote in November next year but the Spanish justice minister

that it will not take place. The highest court in Australia has

overturned a law regarding same-sex marriage.

It ruled only federal legislation could redefine the marriage laws. It

shatters the dreams of same-sex couples married in the territory in

the past week. And the ongoing political crisis now in Thailand.

The leader of the opposition party was in court today to face murder

charges in connection with the military clamp-down when he was

Prime Minister three years ago. Abhisit Vejjajiva denied the charges

and was granted bail. More pressure was piled on the government of

Yingluck Shinawatra. Demonstrators cut electricity to her office and

demanded that police leave. Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok. Today the

opposition leader was in court facing a charge of murder for

ordering the use of lethal force against protesters trying to bring

down his government when he was Prime Minister three and a half

years ago. Back then it was supporters of the current Prime

Minister who were on the streets of Bangkok. They had occupied parts of

the city centre. He ordered the army to clear them out using weapons by

direct the other protesters. He always argued it was necessary

because of armed elements among the protesters. There were certainly

some present, court here on camera. -- court on camera. But most of

their weapons were improvised. Most of the big tins of army gunfire were

unarmed protesters. In 2010 you ordered the army to use lethal

force. That is because there was unarmed insurrection. The only

violence that erupted at first was because the government brought in

the red shirts. But this time the government can its supporters to one

stadium well away from the centre of Bangkok. When clashes occurred it

stopped its supporters from holding any rallies. Today 's

anti-government movement still holding out, unmoved by the primer

Mr's offered this week of an election. Some of them tried once

again to break into her office, cutting the wire and eventually the

power. But this is all symbolic. She is not there. For all their talk of

establishing a rival administration is still a long way from their goal

of restructuring plan and's physical system although their actions have

certainly weakened it. It has not been a bad 12 months for

president Putin of Russia. He has put pressure on Ukraine to prevent

the defining a trade deal with Europe. He has met Pope Francis,

been voted for the most powerful person in the world and got his

ninth degree lap belt in tae kwon do. A lot for him to talk about at

his annual state of the nation address as our correspondent

explains. Always a grand Kremlin occasion, the

President of Russia's vision of the year ahead, on occasion where

President Putin outlines where he is taking Russia. For the Ukraine he

said he would no pressure on the president to back out of a deal to

secure closer ties with the European union. The latest news is that the

Ukrainian president may change his mind again. President Putin said

there was no rivalry between Russia and the European union over the

Ukraine but other side say he's on the lookout to defend what he sees

as Russia's vital interests. Like the Arctic north, increasingly a

zone of geopolitical attention because of its rich resources onto

the ice and the trade routes opened up by global warming. Just this week

Mr Putin ordered plans to upgrade Russian military bases there to

protect Russian claims from foreign interference. Also this week Mr

Putin out of the blue declared he was abolishing respected Russian

news agency. It is shocked staff who had no idea but it was coming.

Perhaps it was relatively objective coverage of the UK -- of the

Ukrainian protest which seal their fate. In the Kremlin today is an

Putin said there was nothing wrong with conservative values which

distinguish between good and evil. Increasingly his message seems to be

that he once Russia to offer the world an alternative standpoint

which challenges what he sees as Europe and America's over liberal

attitudes. Some news now from a jet where we are feeling about a car

bomb attack in the east of the country. -- eejit. It was detonated

beside the Suez Canal. -- Egypt. There have been a string of attacks

since the ousting of the Prime Minister in July.

Figures out today say there have been an increase in the number of

women diagnosed with breast cancer across the world. That's partly down

to changes in lifestyles like greater alcohol consumption and a

rise in obesity. The World Health Organisation says since 2008 the

number of cases has increased by more than 20%. Breast cancer now

represents one in four of all cancers in women globally. There's

also positive news from a study which suggests that a particular

drug can almost halve the number of breast cancer cases in high risk

women after the menopause. Our health correspondent Branwen

Jeffreys has the details. In the abnormal cells of breast

cancer. Some women have a greater lifetime risk. A family history of

the disease or some change which can act as a warning sign. This women

saw her mother go through cancer treatment but now she is delighted

there's hope for high-risk women like herself. For five years, she

took the tablet and as part of the trial she did not know whether it

was the tablet or the placebo. When I heard about the trial, I wanted to

go on it and when I heard the results, I was absolutely amazed

because it is fantastic. Women with a risk factor and who had gone

through the menopause where included in this trial. But every one of

those in high-risk women, they would usually be 43 cases over five years,

but in those women get in those women getting the drug, it fell to

20 with virtually no side effects. A reduced risk of 53%. One of the

doctors told me the research came about through seeing how the drug

was working. We have used this to treat breast cancer and we have seen

in women using this, the risk of developing a second cancer was

significantly lower. It is already one of the most successfully treated

types of cancer but this research is another step towards preventing it

in women whose families have often been devastated by the disease. With

the results of the trial revealed, she knows she has help other women

and no charities want guidelines for the NHS review. They see this

research has shown the drug can make a difference to high-risk women,

saving many the mental and physical ordeal of the fight with breast

cancer. Nelson Mandela's legacy as the

greatest South African of the modern era, some say ever, is assured. And

as clouds in Pretoria pay their respects to him and file past his

coffin in deference and grief this is all in stark contrast with the

widespread discontent about the current leadership of South Africa.

Our South Africa correspondent Nomsa Maseko has been looking at why many

are fed up with Nelson Mandela's successors as leaders of the ANC

including President Jacob Zuma himself.

This is not what Nelson Mandela wanted for his people. A township in

northern Johannesburg established in 1995, one year after South Africa's

first democratic elections. People here feel let down. They were

promised so much more when Nelson Mandela came to power. Let us build

the future together and forge a better life for all South Africans.

This woman has been living here for 15 years. She tells me that she is

still waiting for the host provided by the government, fresh drinking

water and electricity. That is what she voted for. Home video of recent

trouble in the township. It had been brewing for months. There's a lot of

anger here. I am angry that the government are just setting. The

toilet does not flush, everything is very bad for us. The ANC can do

nothing for the people. It is not just the failure of government to

deliver basic services that is fuelling discontent. The scandal of

President Jacob Zuma spending public money on his private home has

angered many. I think there's a sense of burning rage at the of

society, and the marginalised, the wrist to anger. If we do not help

this, we can imperil the reconciliation. They there's little

doubt that many South Africans are angry that their lives are not

getting better as promised by Nelson Mandela and the ANC, but the

question is, will become their discontent by turning their backs on

the party? Maybe not in next year's collection but there's a growing

realisation they must act urgently to avoid losing support.

The preparations are well underway for Nelson Mandela's funeral ends

Sunday. -- on Sunday. Our correspondent has stopped along the

way. This is still a place of extreme

poverty. When I first visited here during the days of apartheid, it was

an independent homeland, a place where the white government could not

black people they did not want leading in white South Africa. One

of the consequences of that action was to strengthen the position of

Nelson Mandela's ANC. It was always a stronghold of the party and from

the 1980s onwards it would become a launching pad for the rebellion.

This would culminate in the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and then

the elections which took place in 1984. 20 years after Nelson

Mandela's election, there have been improvements to people's likes here.

Electricity provision and new schools, but also protests against

the authorities because people feel their lives have not changed enough.

None of that has been directed against Nelson Mandela. He is not so

much a global icon here but a local hero. How do you feel about the

death of Madiba? I am still very sad because he is gone and he gave us so

much. We are as we are now because of him. He gave us freedom. He

showed us a lot of things and still does a lot of things. Now he is

gone, how do you feel about the future of South Africa? Even the

president, I am not sure now. I am sure that it will... I am not sure.

Gauging the opinion on the Eastern Cape Wear Nelson Mandela's funeral

will take place. It's that time of year again, the

film awards season in Hollywood. The Golden Globe nominations are

announced today. A film about slavery in America and another about

con-men in the 1970s feature heavily. 12 Years a Slave and

American Hustle both picked up seven nominations each. The Golden Globes

are often seen as a guide to which films will do well at the Oscars.

Let's discuss these nominations with a film critic for screen

International. Run through the nominations, Best film, Best actor

and so on. I don't have them in front of me! I cannot really list

them like that for you. We can go through some things you would like

to ask me? 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen, a British director for that

film and hugely praised. I think Steve McQueen had the reputation

among our people and now he has made the epic of the year, and

emotionally wrenching film about the most important issue in American

history. How could this not get the nominations. The awards are

absolutely logical this year, at least the nominations. And then a

completely different film, American hustle. -- American Hustle. That

also got seven nominations. I think it is fantastic. It shows that

profound human foolishness can have a grace about it. Bravely,

corruption, lots of sex. Audiences can laugh in the cinema about things

they can do nothing about in real life. It is fun and when it is done

well, the audience and the awards respond. I am convinced that Amy

Adams will get the Academy award for the role. She is fantastic. There

are some surprising omissions, and I am thinking about The Butler. That

is glaring in its mission? Awards people tend not to vote for producer

of scientific dead, hardly wine scene would probably not get any

awards. -- Harvey Weinstein. It is completely overshadowed. What about

Idris Elba nominated for best actor for the film about Nelson Mandela

which premiered in London on the day it was announced he had dry? This is

the film of the moment. I think it is likely he will win the award.

Robert Redford is also nominated, and otherwise it might have been

seen as his year, but Idris Elba is the favourite.

Thank you for taking us through the nominations and that is all for the

programme, Next the weather. But for now, goodbye.