14/01/2014 World News Today

This is BBC world news today, with me Philippa Thomas. Egyptians are

being urged to vote yes to a new constitution endorsed by the

military. We are watching the turnout and the turbulence, we will

have the latest from Cairo on day one of the vote.

When all the votes have been cast it looks certain to be approved by a

comfortable majority. But the key issue is the turnout.

President Hollande tells packed news conference this is not the place nor

the time to discuss his alleged affair, private means private says

the French President. Also coming up, how the booming

property market in London is directly affected by economic and

political crises from Spain to south Asia. We will talk to the man

charting the impact of global affairs on property prices in the UK

capital. Poor fellow shot dead lying in all directions. The horrors of

World War I, in the words of the soldiers themselves, now their

diaries are being published on-line. Hello and welcome, Egyptians are

voting on a new constitution which could pave the way for the head of

the army to run for President. This is the first vote Since the elected

President Mohammed Morsi was he overthrown in July. The Muslim

Brotherhood has been named a terrorist organisation since then

and its supporters are boycotting the referendum. Since voting nine

protestors have been killed. In central Cairo an eager queue before

the polls opened. This is the third constitutional referendum in as many

years. And many hope it will bring an end to turmoil and unrest.

This woman, a housewife, who was one of the first in line. She told us

she would have queued all night, because the constitution will help

Egypt overcome a crisis. I want to for all the people in Egypt to come

now and say yes and this is the best for our country. It is the first

time Egyptians have gone to the polls since their elected President,

Mohammed Morsi, was ousted last July. He was removed by the army in

a popular low-backed coup. The military wants this vote to endorse

his removal. There is steady team of people coming to cast their ballot

and more queueing to get in. The referendum is a key test for the

authorities. They say the constitution represents the new

democratic Egypt. Now when all the votes have been cast it looks

certain to be approved by a comfortable majority. But the key

issue is the turnout. Especially for the army chief, General Abdel Fattah

el-Sisi, barely visible in the throng as he inspected a polling

station. A convincing result in the referendum could kick-start a

presidential bid. He's already shaking hands like a politician. The

constitution bolsters the economic and political power of the military.

It allows military trials for civilians. But it also promises

improved human rights. People were arrested because of these posters.

Opponents say they have been silenced and harassed. Putting up

these posters calling for a "no" vote, has meant arrest and terrorism

charges for seven political activists. Moderate Islamists say

the authorities are giving voters no option. As long as they are pushing

to one direction, which is one choice only, only "yes", it is not a

referendum or not a democratic process at all. You won't vote? We

will not vote. And supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood are not voting

either, they have been protesting in several locations. The organisation,

now declared a terrorist group, has called for a boycott cott of the

vote, saying the constitution is stained with blood. If it is passed

as expected, it may harden the divisions here, not heel them. We

have a Middle East expert with the Brooksings Institution and the Royal

United Services Institute and he joins us via webcam from Cairo.

Thank you for being with us on world news today. We heard Orla there

talking about the turnout being key, what is your reading of the way the

turnout is looking and how high it would have to be for the general to

run for President? It is a little bit early to say what turnout

actually looks like, keeping in mind that most of the coverage we have

seen thus far is really on Cairo. It is not around the country. Polling

has stopped for today, it is 9.00, tomorrow is still another day, it

will be a full day and I suspect we won't really be able to tell what

turnout is like until tomorrow. Some people are comparing turnout at

certain polling stations and parts of Cairo today, with what it was in

2012, but there are different numbers of polling stations this

year as well. So I think it is early for us to start talking about

turnout. In terms of what is required I don't really know if

that's the correct question. Regardless of turnout over the next

couple of days, I think that General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has made his

calculation and will follow through with it regardless of the turnout.

It has been hard to put it mildly, to campaign for a "no" vote, there

has been repression of that campaign? Absolutely. This is

something that people need to be very aware of, that while there

isn't any evidence of ballot box stuffing and things like that a fair

vote, this definitely is not. The last few days has seen people get

arrested for campaigning for a "no" vote, and being released eventually,

but still being arrested for campaigning in that fashion. The

apparatus, state TV and private TV has been very, very clear about its

only presenting one side of the argument, which is to vote for a

"yes" vote as opposed to a "no", a "fair" referendum it can't be

called. Do you have a view on whether this constitution is better

for the people of Egypt than the last one they were presented with?

There is some marginal differences there are some points about rights

that are in this new constitutional draft that weren't there in 2012,

the military has at least the same amount of protection and autonomous

position that it had in 2012 as well. That is not particularly

different. There are a couple of adjustments there, I don't think

much in the way of that either. You still have military trials for

civilian, you still have basic autonomy for the military, from the

executive and so on. And the articles are not really the issue

here. For me the process is far more important, and incidentally people

are not voting on this constitution, yes, no or boycott, on the basis of

the articles. That accounts I think for a small proportion of the

Egyptian population. People who are boycotting and generally boycotting

because either they don't recognise the legitimacy of the process that

brought the vote forward in the first place, that accounts for the

brotherhood and their allies, or they are voting "yes" as a sign that

they support the military and they oppose the Muslim Brotherhood and

looking for a more stable situation in Egypt. There hasn't been a

referendum in Egypt over the past three years it has come near a "no"

vote. "Yes "presented as the next stage of doability. Over the last

few years a huge number of voters want exactly that. Thank you very

much for joining us. Thank you. The French President, Francois Hollande,

has faced hundreds of journalists at his first news conference since a

magazine accused him of having a secret affair with an actress. But

that is not quite the situation it seems. This was his annual

conference in which he spoke in great detail about the French

economy and the Press Pack chose to pose just a single question, on

whether his official partner remains the French First Lady. The glamour

of the big screen, Julie Gayet, the French actress who has stolen the

heart of the President. Cast in this drama as the femme F atale. Today it

was Mr Hollande's turn in the spotlight with the annual meeting

with the press. The official subject was the economy, cuts of 50 billion

years in public spending -- euros in public spending. But the big

question, what will become of the First Lady, Valerie Trierweiler.

TRANSLATION: Everyone in their private life goes through difficult

periods. It is true, these are difficult moments, but I have one

principle, private matters should be dealt with privately, that's the

same for everyone concerned. So this is not the place nor the time to

discuss it. But so long as the confusion surrounds the First Lady's

position it is likely these questions will continue. Valerie

Trierweiler is still in hospital, still "resting". We don't know how

many of these secret nights there were, but photographers who tailed

Mr Hollande, on his moped, say no-one ever tried to stop them.

TRANSLATION: We were there every night, the President was in an

apartment without any security. Even outside. I even saw the President

walk around the block. The public and the private, boundaries blurred

by the unnecessary risks Mr Hollande is said to have taken. Right now it

is the President's judgment that is being debated, not his choice in

women. Now also in Paris for us, the French cultural commentator. Thank

you for joining us, when President Hollande gave his non-answer,

answer, at the news conference, was that appropriate to French ears? It

was certainly not surprising. We didn't expect him to suddenly open

his heart to the French people. We did expect, perhaps a statement,

before the press conference, just to clear the way, a way to clarify his

position. But because his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, is still in

hospital, that was deemed not the right moment to actually issue that

statement. It did, however, and that's probably the most interesting

point on that topic, during his two-and-a-half hours of press

conference, that he would clarify his personal situation before going

on an official visit to Washington. That is in three weeks time. We

should know very soon if indeed Valerie Trierweiler remains France's

First Lady. Will the public mind or care whether he goes alone to

Washington? No, of course not. And perhaps, you know, perhaps he

regrets having introduced his partner to the nation at large. She

could, probably should have remained in the shadows. It would be easier

for him, also don't forget that the concept of First Lady is viewed as

an American concept in France, and doesn't have any clear status and is

a very ill-defined position. It depends on the President in exercise

whether to give the first partner any staff or any public function.

And yes, let's get to the issue that may well matter more to the French

people themselves, much of this lengthy news conference was about

the economic programme for the country and we're talking about cuts

in public spending, cuts in taxes, is this what was expected or does

that come as something of a shock? I'm very glad you mentioned the most

important part of his press conference. Because he had prepared

a lot for the third press conference of his presidency. And yes, he did

announce some interesting policies. You know, there has been talk that

for a long time that he's not a socialist really, but a social

democrat. I think that was the first policies, Social Democratic policies

that he was announcing for the first time since being elected to power.

Indeed he has announced 15 billion euros of cuts in public spending.

But also a big chunk of social charges that are quite hefty in

France and paid by employers that would be simply scrapped. So a lot

of things. He also talked about Europe, he talked about

unemployment, about anti-semitism in France and also about military

operations in Mali and Central African Republic. Let's give you a

brief look at some of the day's other news. Reports from south Sudan

say at least 200 people have died in a ferry accident. They boarded the

overcrowded boat while trying to escape fighting in the city. Rebels

loyal to the former deputy President claim they have since captured

Malakal from Government forces. A new survey of lions has found they

could face extinction in west Africa, fewer than 400 are left in

the region. The research was carried out in 17 countries, from Senegal to

Nigeria, taking more than six years. With fewer than 250 lions of

breeding age left, there are concerns the entire population could

disappear. A doctor in northern China has been given a suspended

death sentence for stealing new born babies and selling them to child

traffickers. The obstetrician convinced the parents that their

babies had serious health problems and should be cared for by the

state. Paraded in front of a courtroom, Dr Zhang Shuxia was

convicted of selling seven infants to a child trafficking ring. She

received a suspended death prison, usually changed to life in prison

after two years of good behaviour. It was at this hospital where the

respected obstetrician had lied to new parents, telling them their new

borns were seriously ill. If they handed their children over to the

state, families were told, the babies would receive the expensive

medical care they needed. When police broke up the ring, seven

healthy new borns had already been sold, leading to multiple arrests.

And several triumphant home Cummings, as police returned the

abducted children to their rightful parents. All except one child, sold

for just $165, abandoned by the traffickers. Some outraged Chinese

citizens argued that the doctor should die for her crimes. In this

country where child trafficking is relatively common, a suspended death

sentence is too lenient, they said. The Nigerian authorities say 30

people have been killed by a bomb explosion in the north eastern city

of Maiduguri. The blast ripped through a packed market in t early

afternoon, causing panic as people tried to flee the scene on foot and

by car. Some reports suggest the bomb was planted in a motor Rick

saw, or a sack abandoned by a stall. The Islamist group, Boko Haram said

it carried out the attack. The British Government has ordered an

urgent investigation into whether the UK was involved in deadly raid

on a Sikh temple in the Indian city of Amritza in 1984. Recently

unclassified documents suggest that an SAS officer advised Indian

authorities prior to the storming of the Golden Temple where hundreds

died. The storming of the Golden Temple in the area angered Sikhs

around the world, who blamed Indian troops for violating their holyist

shrine. Now documents released under the 30-year rule, apparently show

the British were involved. One Foreign Office letter says "with the

Prime Minister's agreement, an SAD officer has visited India and drawn

up a plan, which has been approved by Mrs Gandhi". There appears to be

a typing error that should read SAS. The letter warns it could increase

violence in India and warns it might also therefore increase tension in

the Indian community here. Particularly if knowledge of the SAS

involvement were to become public. Some MPs believe all the evidence of

British involvement must now be released. I think there are further

documentation, what we want is a full, candid, disclosure of all

explanations so we can get to the bottom exactly what happened here.

Even after 30 years Sikhs here in Britain want to know the truth about

what happened at Amritza, we are told neither David Cameron or the

Foreign Secretary, William Hague, were aware of the documents

suggesting Britain's involvement until they were published. But that

they do understand the very legitimate concerns that will be

raised by the revelations. At the largest Sikh temple outside India,

in Southall west London a community leader welcomed the Prime Minister's

decision to ask the cabinet secretary to investigate. This is a

holy place. For any religion, it is a heart-breaking thing. These things

do not go out from your mind. It is not a small thing. That is why if

the truth has come out, at least people know. Last year David Cameron

became the first serving British Prime Minister to visit the Golden

Temple. He is keen to focus on the historic and cultural ties with

Sikh, but now he's under pressure to uncover more about Britain's role in

an event which is seared into their history. London is a property hot

spot, viewed by many around the world as a safe bet when it comes to

real estate, now a new study has found that conflicts, turmoil and

general instability outside the UK have a direct impact on the price

paid for bricks and mortar here in the British capital. The study was

put together by the Business Cool of the University of Oxford, they found

that property here recorded the largest increases. The same patterns

can be seen with troubles in Egypt and Greece, another part of their

research looks at London's wealthiest areas, places like

Knightsbridge, the study concluding that China had the biggest impact on

the city's highend real estate prices. Instability in Russia and

Libya also pushed prices up in London's premier property market.

With me is a representative from the Business School of the University of

Oxford. You co-authored the report, we know about the idea as property

as a safe haven and safe investment, you go beyond that don't you? That's

right, our launching off point is London is not a big non-know lithic

eptity but composed of many little region, because we all live in parts

of London, we don't live in the whole place. You can link and map

particular parts of London to particular foreign countries, either

by using things like the language, the principal language spoken in the

regions or the share of residents that originate from those countries.

That is our launching off point for this particular thing. Some of the

research that you have come up with, for example, looks at southern

Europe, Italy, Spain, Greece and normally people talk about maybe the

Chinese or Arab money, but southern Europe and the euro crisis features

highly? One of the ways to think about this is when political

uncertainty went up in Spain, the prices came up in London across the

board, but specifically regions linked to Spain, such as high-income

areas, such as St John's Wood, would have appreciated. But areas like

King's Cross would have appreciated at the same time, they have also a

high share of Spanish residents. So it is an uncertainty, as you say, in

southern Europe, because it is a large factor in the real estate

prices. It is not just the real estate priority, looking at the

Shard in London, it is owned by Qatar, but you have also looked at

lower income areas, and they are still influenced by nationalities

who tend to cluster. Absolutely, that's right. You do see the usual

effects that you would have expected to see in Mayfair or Knightsbridge

or the popular areas and wealthy areas, but you also see effects in

areas which are also inhabited by clusters of regional communities.

One of the reassuring things of the research is we show the effects are

not permanent. One of the things people tend to think about safe

haven effects, that they push prices up and prices stay up forever. That

is not the case. When political uncertainty rises prices go up, when

the uncertainty dissipates prices go back down over one or two years.

That suggests a pattern of people moving their capital in and out of

London and not taking up residence in London. Which means you get back

to what Londoners say that a lot of homes are not actually homes? That I

suppose is a very true statement that you are making there. Another

way to sort of portray that, perhaps, is the fact that while

these effects are temporary on the prices of houses. It reaches the

local community which is the internationalisation of London,

which perhaps is a very nice thing about this. It is fascinating,

London is one of those global cities, thank you very much for

coming to talk it all through with me.

Now it was called the war to end all war, those who fought it lived

through brutality that was almost impossible for families back home to

imagine. But now, for the first time, many of the diaries written by

soldiers written on the frontline are being published by the National

Archives here. 300,000 pages of personal testimony released so far.

A picture of the war itself. "Here I sit outside our headquarters' trench

in the sun. All should be nice and peaceful and pretty what it actually

is, is beyond description. Trenches, ammunition tool, caps et cetera, et

cetera, everywhere, poor fells shot dead are lying in all directions."

Thousands of war diaries, 1. 5 million separate documents. Once the

fodder for authors and researchers, now they are available for the first

time at the click of a mouse. "The order to retire was at last given...

" These are the last days of the men in a giant army, the attacks, the

food, the horrific casualties, neatly typed on to official military

forms and stored away for decades. The names carved on to our local war

memorials are the most obvious reminders of the war, all of us will

have a direct connection with somebody who served in this

conflict. The hope is that these diaries released into the public

domain will give more and more people the opportunity to follow a

personal trail. This is Operation War Diary, under way at a school in

Southampton. Students reading the unseen documents are tagging names

and events, adding to their own knowledge and improving the

archive's search engine. They talk about their supplies from the battle

for their cooking. From the sounds of it they are getting quite annoyed

because their supplies aren't reaching all the way through. It

just shows you what happens behind the scenes and how these men

actually lived and what the quality of their lives were at that time.

You read it and you take it in but when you then have to specifically

point out things, it again just immerses you even more. Holes where

shells had struck, branches torn off trees by the explosion. Everywhere

the same hard, grim, pitiless sign of battle and war. I have had a

belly full of it. Ghastly, absolutely ghastly.

The eyewitnesses have left us, but they survive through the curling

pages of their final observations. Just time to remind you of our main

news, Egyptians are voting on a new constitution that could pave the way

for the head of the army to run for President. It is the first vote

since General El-Sisi overthrew Egypt's elected President, Mohammed

Morsi in July. Muslim Brotherhood supporters are boycotting the

referendum. And we have been reminded on the programme that it

has been very difficult for those opposed to the new constitution to

air their views in public. Thank you for joining me on World News Today.

Much more cloud across the country, outbreaks of rain for