17/01/2014 World News Today

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

The fallout from the Edward Snowden affair:

President Obama says he will change US spying operations. He defends the

intelligence community but accepts there is potential for abuse in the

way data is gathered. Heads of state and government, with whom we work

closely and on whose communication we depend, should feel confident

that we are treating them as partners and the change of the

ordered do just that. The wife of Shashi Taroor, a

high-profile Indian politician and former UN official, is found dead in

a hotel in Delhi after rumours of his infidelity. -- changes I have

ordered. Also coming up:

His first visit to the First Lady after those affair allegations,

France's President Hollande visits his partner in hospital.

And as Egyptians await the results of the referendum on a new

constitution, polls suggest strong backing for the army chief. We ask

why some prefer rule by a strongman to democracy.

Hello and welcome. The revelations by the former CIA contractor Edward

Snowden about US intelligence operations caused controversy at

home and abroad when it emerged that millions of phone calls and email

traffic were being monitored, of both private citizens and leaders of

allied nations. In the past few hours, President Obama has responded

to these concerns. He said surveillance had helped America

repel threats for decades but he accepted there needed to be checks

and balances to make sure the liberties of ordinary people were

not sacrificed. Rajini Vaidyanathan sent this report.

Protecting the public or prying into their private lives? The US

government has been collecting the details, phone calls and Internet

use of millions of people but have they got the balance right? After

months of consultation, and criticism, the president's promising

change. I have approved a new presidential directive for our

intelligence activities, both at home and abroad. This guidance will

strengthen executive branch oversight of our intelligence

activities. It will ensure that we take into account our security

requirements but also our alliances, our trade and investment

relationships, including the concerns of American companies, and

our commitment to privacy and basic liberties.

The way personal data is stored and accessed will change. The president

has ordered a 60 day review into the process. The issue was thrust into

the spotlight after this man, former intelligence contract Edward

Snowden, wheat details about the US government's surveillance schemes.

His disclosures also revealed that foreign nationals and leaders were

being monitored. There were claims that even German Chancellor Angela

Merkel's phone had been bugged. The US says it will no longer was to

conversations of friends and allies. Opinion polls suggest that while the

majority of Americans are comfortable with the mass collection

of data, they're not completely against it if it is needed to

protect the country against terrorist threats. -- are not

comfortable. I think it is fine if it is for national safety. Business

or national security. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to

worry about. Have to get used to it. It is a big, wide world and we have

always looked at other people to see what is going on generally. I think

it is wrong because it is privacy and we have that right as citizens

to have privacy. At the same time, it could be helping good terrorists.

I think it would rather have my own privacy. -- helping catch

terrorists. Protesters say that the president has not gone far enough to

protect the liberties but the White House said surveillance is still

misery to deal with the threads America faces a a post middle of the

world. Germany was just one country that

was unhappy about the phone tapping of the Chancellor Angela Merkel

about intelligence services. Let's get an idea of what kind of reaction

I've been in Germany. We can go to our correspondent in Berlin. The

Germans were very cross when those funds tapping revelations came

about. They going to be a bit happier? I don't think much

happier, entered. Expectations were low within the Government and

certainly from the opposition, the left and the Greens. One MP tonight

said, "my expectations were low and they have not been met. " All are

focused on this paragraph in the resident's speech. " The leaders of

close friends and allies must know that if they want -- I want to learn

about an issue I will pick up the phone and call them rather than

conducting surveillance. " A newspaper after that was made noted

a caveat, except in urgent issues of national security. This same

newspaper, a centre right newspaper, in other words, said that the

foreign minister is often but the foreign policy may still have our

friend listening in on the phone. That is the tone of the reaction and

not, if you like, from the usual suspects. People who are naturally

or often anti-American. From government circles. Expectations

were low, no sign that those low expectations have been exceeded.

Behind-the-scenes, Stephen, what kind of things do you think the

German Foreign Ministry, the German authorities, are going to be sent to

Washington, in the light of this? Well, they have already said, Angela

Merkel has, to President Obama and Washington that she was shocked by

the news that her phone was being bugged. She said it reminded her of

the Stasi. That has all been said. The tone since then has been, " --

has been, look, the transatlantic elation ship between Europe and the

United States is crucial, certainly to Europe, and we move forward, they

would say, to make sure that is not broken irreparably. In other words,

they do not like what has happened but they make the best of it.

Thank you very much, Stephen. Lets talk to Stephen Vladeck, a

national security law expert from the American University. He joins us

from Washington. It seems as though the devil is in the detail, when you

look at what Obama was saying? That is exactly right. The president had,

I think, a number of very nice rhetorical flourishes about the

importance of rejecting Agassi, the importance of staying on good terms

with our friends and partners overseas. -- of protecting privacy.

So much that he is leaving out is what happens next, how much is

Congress going to have to say, how much of this is going to happen by

executive order and how much is going to be something where six

months from now, we're still having the same conversation?

What do you think will happen in Congress? You think they will try

and steal back the activities of the NSA to try to introduce greater

checks? This is the big fight in Congress right now. This was about

that Congress has been having for most of the last six months, long

before President Obama ever gave his speech today. There are at least

some groups, some constituencies, that are very much inclined to scale

back the NEC's collection authorities to take a bite out of

how much data via collecting on Americans and foreigners. -- the

NSA. There is a bill that has been introduced that would go a long way

in that regard. There are also plenty in Congress who really are

inclined to tweak at the margins, to maybe impose a few more checks and

balances on these programmes, little more oversight, but to actually not

change the authorities. I would have expected the president to see a

little more about which of these positions he favours, in his speech

today. Instead, it seems that he is leaving it for Congress to see which

side have more votes. There were two aspects to the

allegations that Edward Snowden brought about. The revelations,

rather. The one was about how much of an infringement on the civil

liberties of American cities has been and how much -- American

citizens and how much they have upset allies and that is a different

matter. Can I ask you about that from? To what extent do you think he

has assuaged the concerns of foreign powers like Germany? As you say, the

devil will be in the detail. There was more in the President's speech

about foreign relations and assuaging Angela Merkel and other

partners overseas. For example, I think the president said quite a bit

about not engaging in foreign intelligence collection simply

because we can only engaging in foreign intelligence collection when

there is a specific nationals based need to do so. Now it is going to be

a question of how often that is going to be utilised. Or we going to

see the same degree of surveillance but with better justification? Does

this in fact represent a drawing down of not of the volume of

surveillance but the identity of those who are being surveilled. The

president seems to suggest that he is going to want better, tighter

controls on this programme. It remains to be seen whether that will

in fact happen. The fact that he has acknowledged

that there is potential for abuse in both the targets of who has their

phone tapped, Angela Merkel example. Do you think he has perhaps nodded

in the direction of the critics? There is no doubt that this is a nod

in the direction of the critics but the real question for us going

forward is whether it is anything more than a nod. The president

certainly suggest that he understands the objections, both at

home and overseas, that he realises the quite negative impact they are

having on American foreign policy and our partners in Europe. Again,

things the real question is going to be, and this has been the case time

and again with this president, how much is actually going to follow

from these beaches, from these very lofty, you know, progressive visions

he offers in his national security speeches. -- from these speeches.

And how much signifies nothing. Thank you very much for your

analysis. In Thailand, the political unrest is becoming increasingly

volatile. Many people have been injured in an anti-government

protest in Bangkok. An expose of device was thrown from a top of the

building and the target was the leader of the anti-government

protests. He was unhurt. He will not give up. And he still

pools enthusiastic crowds, though somewhat smaller now. He kept up his

microphone street march for a fifth successive day, trying to maintain

some momentum. -- marathon on street march. After months of this, without

movement on either side, violence has become an everyday occurrence.

Here, close to Thailand's most prestigious university, he narrowly

avoided injury when an explosive was thrown, apparently from the second

story of a nearby building. Newly 30 protesters and guards were injured.

There was gunfire at a protest site north of Bangkok also. But at the

military office, outside the city, the Prime Minister said there was

still no dialogue between the two sides. My door is open for

negotiation every time. I would like to ask for the protesters. I think

they can open the way. So I think someone can find a way to talk.

The cheery faces they show on their marches are deceptive. There is

intense hostility towards the Prime Minister's family, here, stirred up

by weeks of fiery speeches. I asked her whether she believed it would

help if her family retreated from politics. Nobody wants to stand but

I told you that this is the job that I have to respond. If I do not

respond just because somebody complain about me and I stepped

back, I do not think what will happen with the democracy of channel

and dumber -- of Taiwan. We have to keep democracy.

So Thailand lurches towards a general election disrupted by

endless protest and one now unlikely even to produce a new government. It

is a frighteningly uncertain outlook for a once stable and promising

country. Unrest in Thailand.

President Hollande of France has made his first visit to see his

official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, in hospital, seven days

after she was admitted there. His visit comes at the same time that

the French magazine, Closer, printed more claims about President

Hollande's private life, linking him romantically with the actress, Julie

Gayet. The magazine is facing legal action from Miss Gayet, who's

seeking damages for the invasion of her privacy.

The BBC'S Christian Fraser is in Paris and brought us up to date a

short time ago. We are told that it started as far

back as 2011, which would suggest it was ongoing during the presidential

campaign stop we are also told that they were using two apartments in

Paris to hide this secret affair and we are also told that during the

summer last year, President Hollande gave his excuses to avoid a summer

holiday with his official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, so that he

could head off to join up with Julie Gayet. Lots and therefore the press

to get their teeth into, which will come as a disappointment, of course,

to the palace, who are trained to contain the story. Interestingly,

they put out a statement today that he had been to the hospital where

Valerie Trierweiler is being treated for the first time since she was

admitted last Friday. Robert went to stop the rumours that he had

abandoned her but the timing is very significant, coming just hours

before the publication of Closer magazine. Also, in the official

statement, no denial of the latest revelations in Closer magazine.

Police in the Afghan capital Kabul, say a suicide bomber has blown

himself up near a restaurant popular with foreigners and government

officials - killing at least thirteen people. There are reports

that the explosion was followed by bursts of gunfire. The Taliban have

now claimed responsibility for the attack. Excavation work is under way

at a mass grave recently discovered by construction workers in northern

Sri Lanka. Four more human skulls have been

discovered there, bringing the number of skeletons or partial

skeletons that have been found to 31. It's the first such site to have

been unearthed and examined in the island's former war zone since the

war ended in 2009. After nearly three years of conflict

in Syria, President Assad's government has said for the first

time that it is prepared to agree a cease-fire with the rebels. It's

asking Russia to organise a suspension of hostilities in Syria's

largest city, Aleppo. The move comes after a meeting between Syria's

foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem and his Russian counterpart in

Moscow. Well, another Arab country in the midst of upheaval - though

fortunately not as violent - is Egypt.

Egyptians are waiting for the result of a referendum on a proposed new

constitution to replace the one introduced under the Islamist

government in 2012. The authorities say turnout was over fifty percent

and that the new constitution was approved with a clear majority. They

also say the result is a test of how people backed the removal of the

former President Morsi. Many think it will encourage the army chief and

Defence Minister Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to run for President in the

forthcoming elections. The revolutions of the so-called Arab

Spring in countries like Egypt saw the fall of the strongmen like Hosni

Mubarak and Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, also other authoritarian

regimes like the Asaad one in Syria is obviously under strain. -- Assad.

To discuss this issue further, we're joined by one of the world's leading

experts on the Middle East, Professor Roger Owen who's recently

published a book "The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life". He

joins me now from Harvard University.

How come one strongman, Hosni Mubarak is removed through popular

will and now there is popular support for him to be replaced by

another military strongman, General Al-Sisi. Popular will is right. It

was a mass movement in the streets. The people, when they come to the

fore in now way then quite quickly they have to be shepherded towards

elections and it's not surprising if one thinks of the French model under

Napoleon that a military leader feels enough is enough and people

should be tidied away, a referendum should be established and you have a

controlled democracy after that. Are you suggesting that you need some

kind of transition period after you have had the fall of one of these

presidents for life, a long-standing authoritarian rule, you need a

transition period? No, it is difficult. You go via a constitution

with the people and their representatives involved in the

constitution and is a great deal of difficulty and confusion because you

go to basics and say what country are we and what role should religion

play and after a while that is deemed by the power and the state to

be too unruly and then you get an authoritarian intervention. Does

that suggest stability is more desirable than real democracy with

Democrats running in elections if the democracy is a bit messy and

chaotic and violent as we have seen in a Ratko? Well, that is true. And

particularly when you have so many people involved and old grievances

and all kinds of new alliances it becomes untidy and there is a desire

by a large number of people for stability rather than a continuation

of what they regard as a messy popular process. Now we have Syria

coming up and everyone is focusing on these forthcoming talks, the

Americans urging Syrian opposition to attend the talks and we have had

the possibility of a cease-fire discussed, how do you see Syria, how

do you analyse that in the framework, Bashar al-Assad, is he

good as a former stability to stop Syria deteriorating into sectarian

violence which many fear? Well, the Arab world is so divided at the

moment and most people who have studied it will say 2013 was as bad

as it could get. We are seeing some kind of move back from that, a sense

one cannot go one simply with this language of good and bad, for me or

against me, and we have to find some middle ground and even Assad's

advisers have decided it has gone too far and you cannot continue to

try and address people as though they are evil forces from outside.

Quickly, John Kerry has said there's no future for al-Assad in Syria,

that doesn't preclude his staying there in a transition period. That

remains to be seen. It is up to him. I think he will hang on but in his

own community they have decided that he should step aside or step up but

he would be replaced by something -- somebody like him and possibly from

his own family. Professor, thank you very much. Thank you for your

analysis. Reports from India say the wife of a well known cabinet

minister, Shashi Tharoor, has been found dead, following reports that

he was having an affair. Indian media say Sunanda Pushkar's

body was discovered at a hotel in Delhi. It comes just one day after

the couple were embroiled in controversy over a series of Twitter

messages that appeared to reveal his alleged infidelity. The couple

insisted they were happily married, blaming "unauthorised tweets" for

the alleged scandal. Our correspondent is in India and joins

us now. A sad situation. Not only known inside India but also to many

of Earth in international circles, give us the background to this

tragedy. Absolutely, he is a high-profile politician here in

India but also the candidate for the top post in 2007 when he fought

against Ban Ki Moon at the UN. The couple, high-profile, well-known,

she is very glamorous, outspoken and a strong lady giving media

interviews until early this morning when she was telling the media she

had more to say on this Twitter controversy which erupted this

week. The couple did come out and say they were happily married and

intended to remain like that but he also said she was ill earlier and

was hospitalised and requested the media to respect their privacy, that

was one of the controversies, the role of the media, social media

pressures on the couple because it was so high profile and surrounding

the controversy. Thank you very much indeed for filling us in on that

story in Delhi. The death of a Japanese soldier who refused to

accept the end of the Second World War has been announced.

Hiroo Onoda, who was ninety-one would not surrender after the War

ended and hid This is the moment in March 1974

when Lieutenant Onoda finally walked out of the Philippine jungle. 29

years after the end of World War II. For nearly three decades, he

resisted all attempts to persuade him the war was over. Leaflets were

dropped from the air, messages poured cast over megaphones, all to

no avail. Finally, his wartime commander flew to the Philippines,

walked into the jungle and ordered Lieutenant Onoda to surrender. Many

years later, he explained why he resisted so long.

Every Japanese soldier was prepared to death but as an intelligence

officer I was ordered to conduct gorilla warfare and not to die, I

had to follow my orders. In Tokyo Lieutenant Onoda was met by

cheering crowds. At the bottom of the steps, his father and mother.

The last time they saw their son he was 22 years old. Now, he was 52.

This surrender made headlines around the world anti-was welcomed home as

a hero. The Japan he returns to had completely changed. The emperor was

no longer the God he promised to die for and Tokyo had become a massive

metropolis, 20 million people. He did not like it at all. In year

later, he headed to Brazil where he bought a cattle ranch. He came back

to Japan often, at 90 he was still teaching schoolchildren his secrets

of survival. Lieutenant Onoda was the last relic

of another age. To some, a fanatic, to many more a hero.

A extraordinary tale. A quick look at some other stories.

Here in Britain the Queen's granddaughter Zara Philips has given

birth to a baby girl. Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne and also

an internationally renowned horse-rider. You can see her here,

at Prince George's christening. Her own new baby will be sixteenth in

line to the throne. And another of the Queen's

grandchildren Prince Harry - who's fourth in line to the throne - is to

take up a new role with the army. He's returning to London, where

he'll help organise major commemorative events. Prince Harry

has spent more than three years flying Apache helicopters.

A reminder of our main news. President Obama has announced a

series of reforms to American spying operations at home and abroad. In a

speech in Washington, he called for an end to government control of bulk

phone data from hundreds of millions of Americans. He also told the

leaders and citizens of US allies that his country would no longer

eavesdrop on their private communications.

That is it. Next is the weather. Enjoy your weekend. Goodbye.

Hello, more rain to come in a forecast with the worst of the

weather over the weekend perhaps likely to be on Saturday. A spell of

more wet weather in the south and west. Quieter by sender, sunshine

and showers. But for the time being, an area of rain in the south-west

will nudge towards us over the next few