12/02/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas. The BBC

witnesses relief efforts under way in a long besieged city in Syria.

More food and medicines are brought in to the old City of Homs - more

people are getting out. The BBC's Lyse Doucet is there. The buses are

poised here, ready to go in, to take people who are desperate to leave

what has been 18 months of siege. Britain on its highest alert as

winds and torrential rain cause more flooding - with fears that some

flood water could be contaminated. Also coming up: We talk to a doctor

who favours Belgium's planned move to legalise euthanasia for

children. It is wrong, the idea of the child, who decides his own

death. The South African puppeteers who brought Warhorse to life on the

London stage are now adding their magic to a Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hello and welcome. The old city of Homs has become one of the symbols

of the brutal civil war in Syria. The last 18 months, many residents

have been trapped there without any assistance. Today, something

happened - a small aid convoy, in armoured vehicles, made its way into

rebel held areas. Meanwhile, in western Syria the government is

paired to try and drive the rebels out of their strongholds. What could

be the next strategic battle in Syria. At the lists posted a video

they say shows government jets carrying out an intensive series of

air strikes in and around a rebel held town. Revels today blocked

attempts by regime forces and their Lebanese allies Hezbollah to advance

on the town. Capturing this town is important for the government to

secure the main road from Damascus to the North and the coast and to

cut rebel supply lines from Lebanon. As the fighting went on, so too did

the relief operation to evacuate foldable civilians from the old city

of Homs where they have been trapped in terrible conditions -- vulnerable

civilians. Another large group has been allowed out but it is believed

there are more to come. Although the extended truce expires on Wednesday

night, the governor of Homs said it can go on until everybody who wants

to leave can do so. They have joined the millions who have already fled

their homes. More than 2 million have crossed borders, like these at

a refugee camp in Jordan. People here are watching the peace talks in

Geneva closely but don't see much hope. TRANSLATION: Geneva, Geneva.

We have been waiting for that conference to solve our problems but

it hasn't had any benefits for us. They didn't even do anything about

Homs. They can't send any food supplies in to help them. This was

the third day of the second round of talks in Geneva and so far all agree

they have produced very little, but they haven't yet reached a dead end.

How delegation was surprised to find them giving the floor to the other

side, this was not really on the agenda. They were not able to reach

the joint agenda. Left their own devices, it's hard to imagine them

reaching an agreement. The mediator has decided to bring the Russians

and Americans in a day earlier than planned, to try and get them to step

up pressure on their respective allies. But nobody is holding their

breath. There has been some movement in the old city of Homs where more

than 1100 people have been able to leave. But between one and 2,000 are

still believed to be trapped in very difficult conditions. Our Chief

International Correspondent Lyse Doucet has been in the Old City

today - she sent us this report about residents waiting for the aid

to get into them. A rare humanitarian truce is

underway again here. Food, trucks with armoured vehicles bearing UN

logos have gone into the area. And when the food arrives, we understand

that people will start coming out. Buses are poised here, ready to go

in, to take people who are desperate to leave what has been 18 months of

siege, with supplies becoming increasingly scarce. Workers from

the Red Crescent are here in their distinct red jackets. As one as the

United Nations. They are outside what is a reception centre, an

abandoned room which has been used for besieged people, to give them

water, food, medical assistance, even polio vaccinations to people

who have had so little help over the last nearly two years. We

understand, though, that the longer the mission goes on, the more

sensitive and dangerous it becomes. There are opponents who say this is

a means for the opposition fighters to escape. There are those among the

opposition who say that their fighters, when they come out, are

being taken in for questioning. These humanitarian missions, as

noble as they are, cannot escape this. But it is a rare glimmer of

light in an otherwise dark and destructive war. We have one other

development to bring you. Police in the UK are investigating claims that

a British man carried out a suicide bombing in Aleppo. It's thought

Abdul Waheed Majeed, who's 41, drove a truck full of explosives into the

walls of Aleppo prison, which is under the control of the Syrian

regime. If true, it would be the first documented attack carried out

by a British National for rebel forces.

US forces in Afghanistan have strongly criticised President

Karzai's government for planning to release what they call 65 "dangerous

insurgents" from a prison on the Bagram air base - perhaps as early

as this week. The US says that it has evidence that the men were

responsible for carrying out attacks on international troops. It says

their release is a major step backward for the rule of law in

Afghanistan. Here's David Loyn in Kabul.

It is difficult to describe how a grey -- angry the US are about the

potential release of the 65 men, they describe them as dangerous

insurgents in what is one of the most strongly worded attacks on the

Afghan administration I have seen coming out of the American military.

They are really worried that these men, who they have taken off the

battlefield, and returned to the fray. They say other men released

from Bagram in the past have gone back to fighting and the evidence

they have given the Afghan authorities on these 65 include

weapons that were taken off them, sawn off shotgun, a Kalashnikov,

grenade launchers, bomb-making equipment taken off them. One of the

men, who is potentially about to be released, was captured in an attack

on Afghan forces. The fear is that these individuals, about half of

whom were taken in Helmand, could return straight back to the

battlefield. With me is Xenia Dormandy from the

British foreign policy think tank The Royal Institute of International

Affairs based at Chatham House. She's worked at both the US National

Security Council and the US State Department. What do you think is the

message that President cars I is sending here? What is going on is he

is about to step down, there is an election in a few months, and he is

protecting his back. This is about Karzai, you can see that because

most of the opposition, most of the principal candidates running for

president have said they would support a stronger role for the US,

they would sign the bilateral security agreement. This is Karzai

trying to show his independence from the US. But is this a popular move,

disabling will let fighters out of prison? It is a good question. It is

what he leaves the Afghan people want. They clearly want to be

independent, like most nations, they want to show their sovereignty and

independence from the US. What he has done is he has taken it much

further than most Afghans would take it, and you can say this in many of

the votes that have been called in recent elections, the principal

elite, the members of the people who are running to be the new

presidents, they have all said they would sign the bilateral agreement,

continue to work closely with the US. So this is really about Karzai

trying to step away from the perception that he is a pawn of the

US. When you talk about the elite behind in being concerned, do you

think they are worried about loss of aid as well? We have heard from

Republican senators, saying this is a real hammer blow to their

relationship. Absolutely, this is where there is a lot of concern in

the US, this is all about Karzai, not the country. Because the

consequences of not engaging in a productive way with the US, whether

it said this issue, insurgents who are going to be released, or whether

it is signing the bilateral security agreement, the consequences of that

are significant for Afghan security, development and their economy in

terms of international investment. Whoever follows hammered Karzai, do

you think the Taliban are going to somehow get back into power?

Afghanistan has three major challenges. It is to conclude some

kind of political agreement that includes the Taliban, they are a

part of Afghanistan. It has two up with some solution on security, and

it needs to drive forward its economy. Those things are intimately

connected, but what is clear is the Taliban are a part of Afghan society

and therefore need to be brought into the process.

Hurricane force winds are hitting Britain - with forecasters warning

that a month's worth of rain could fall in the next few days - on land

that is already water logged after some of the worst flooding in

decades. The south and west are getting the brunt of the bad weather

- but it's been treated by the government as a matter of national

urgency - and a potential health risk. Here's our Environment

Correspondent Claire Marshall. The new landscape of southern

England. Ground water levels are at record highs row, it could be like

this for months. Look closely, what is in this floodwater? We brought a

microbiologist to once re-home. The Thames is running through this

house. It is a small absorbent pad, that is being soaked in membrane

sulphate... This testing kit has been used in disaster areas all over

the world. It shows a high level of bacteria, ultimately, if you can

avoid it, don't go near it and make sure you take sensible precautions.

It is not just the physical dangers of the floods, it's the mental

pressures. Darren has just heard things might get worse. His street

may be flooded to save another larger area of Chertsey. The last

news we had was that the army were considering putting a complete

sandbag wall down the centre of the road, and flooding these houses even

more, talking one metre, to save others. I can understand that, but

it's not nice to hear when you are fighting day and night. Difficult

decisions are being taken in other parts of the country. In Winchester,

the sandbags will block the river. It will save 100 homes but send

millions of gallons of floodwater elsewhere. In Bewdley, ?10 million

has been spent on defences. They have in built up and are holding for

the moment. Now a look at some of the day's other news. The first

plane carrying supplies to the Central African Republic has arrived

in Bangui. An initial load of 82 tonnes of rice has been brought by

the World Food Programme from neighbouring Cameroon. The fighting

in the country has made it difficult to bring supplies in by road.

A court in Pakistan has ordered the government to reveal the whereabouts

of a campaigner against drone attacks. Kareem Khan disappeared

just days before he was due to testify before European

parliamentarians about drone aircraft strikes on Pakistan.

Activists say he was last seen leaving his house with men wearing

police uniform. The Penguin publishing company has

decided to recall and destroy all remaining copies of a book on

Hinduism. Wendy Doniger's book "The Hindus: An Alternative History" had

been the subject of a legal challenge claiming the text was

offensive to Hindus. The move has heightened concerns over freedom of

speech in India. The far right party of France seems

to be gaining popularity. A study of a thousand French voters has found

that a third say they agree with the ideas of Front Nationale. That total

is up 12% since 2011 - the year Marine Le Pen became the party's

leader. Belgium may soon decide to extend

the right to euthanasia for the very ill -- to children. The Belgian

House of Representatives is due to vote on the issue of mercy killing

on Thursday. The upper house the Senate has already agreed that death

should be an option for children in the advanced stages of terminal

illness, suffering unbearable pain, if they understand what that means

and if they have parental consent. They have been emotional

demonstrations outside Parliament, urging a no vote, with campaigners

arguing that such a law would open the door that no one would be able

to close. If the bill is passed, it will go to the King to sign into

law. That is wrong for any child to

decide upon its own debt. A six-year-old child does not have the

knowledge to do that. It is wrong because of that.

Joining me from Brussels is Jutte van der Werff Ten Bosch, professor

of paediatric oncology at Brussels University Hospital.

Welcome to World News Today. I understand you support this bill,

why is that? And of course, as a paediatric oncologist I am facing

children who are dying irregularly. Fortunately they can sure most of

the children we treat but unfortunately we cannot and

sometimes these children go through extreme phases of pain and suffering

before they die. We cannot always treat that as we would like to. From

that point of view, I can imagine the point of view of the child that

says I do not want to do this, this is too much for me. I choose to die

in a more comfortable way, which has been made possible by euthanasia.

How sure can you be that very young children understand what it means?

Of course, the older the child, the more certain it will be and the

easier it is to be certain of that. Even in younger children, we have a

team with experts in it and among them they are psychiatrists and

psychologists who have been trained to talk to these children to

communicate and, well, I think the community can be certain that we

know that when we draw the conclusion that this children they

once this, then that is what the child really wants. Of course, I can

understand this is difficult to understand for people who have not

worked with this group of children, with children who have cancer,

children who are dying. It is a very specific type of job but we can do

that, we can talk to them. I understand you are looking for the

best possible situation for the children, but some critics argue

that it is very expensive to look after children who have advanced

terminal illnesses and that the pressure of resources on the might

push the wrong decision to be made. I am not making the decision, it is

the patients who are asking for the Tunisia and we are listening to

them. We are therefore the patients and it is not the other way around.

The discussion about resources is much more broad than euthanasia and

children and it is important as well, but it would not concern me in

making my decision. I am listening to the patient and what they want. I

understand that Belgium would not be the first to pass this law, there is

a similar blog in the Netherlands? That is true. What is your

experience or what have you learned from that fact?

We have learned that the law in the Netherlands is not the best law that

there is because there is in a summit of 12 years. That means that

children under the age of 12, they are still not allowed to ask

forgiveness -- euthanasia which I believe is a weakness. We know by

experience that they are not many children asking for euthanasia. It

is uncommon but it has happened in about five cases. Even if it is a

small amount of patients who benefit from this law, for them it is

important that we have this law. Jutte van der Werff Ten Bosch, thank

you for joining us from Brussels. Thank you.

The castaway who says he spent 13 months adrift in a boat is back in

his home country, El Salvador. Jose Alvarenga was found two weeks ago in

the Marshall Islands. He said he got lost in a storm while fishing off

the coast of Mexico in December 2012. Miranda Hurst has the story.

Fail and exhausted, Jose Alvarenga arrived in El Salvador late on

Tuesday. All he could mother was, "I do not know what to say." Jose

Alvarenga was found this on Encke weak two weeks ago and the Marshall

Islands. He claims to have left Mexico for one day of shark fishing

on December 2012. He said he drifted for more than one year and travelled

8000 kilometres. A friend who was with him died on board. He said he

survived by catching fish and birds with his bare hands and drinking the

blood of turtles. The 37-year-old was met in San Salvador by family

members and officials after flying from America. He has clearly been

through a lot. Given the fact that I have worked in migration for many

years, I can sure -- I can be sure that the -- he will go through a lot

more because readjusting will not be easy. The family of his companion CD

won't speak to him to find out how their son died and what happened to

his body. Jose Alvarenga will undergo further checks before being

reunited with his family on a nearby coastal fishing village.

Day five of the Winter Olympics in Sochi got off to an extraordinary

start earlier with the first gold medal of the morning being shared

between two competitors in the Women's Downhill Skiing - the first

time a gold's been shared in the history of the Winter Games.

Let's get more from Ore Oduba from the BBC's Sports Centre in Salford

near Manchester. Good evening, good evening from

Salford and Manchester. A very exciting day five of the Winter

Olympics. It was the first in alpine skiing, a joint gold and it came in

the Women's Downhill Skiing. Amongst the first medals awarded to the

however let us talk about that first. Tina Maze was the 21st rider

to come and posted the same time. She see her moment with her

Slovenian competitor. Also double celebrations for Germany, the

finished ahead of the Austrian competitors to claim victory. That

was in the luge doubles. Elsewhere a gold-medal was one for another

German. He had held a six second advantage before the ski jump before

that ten kilometre cross-country race. I could not go without

mentioning home success for the whole nation. Russia have won a gold

medal in the figure skating. That is their second of the games so far and

comes after their success in the team event. There was a Russian

first and second placed finish. There compatriots taking a silver

medal also. Thank you for that update.

A visual treat for you now, the latest production from the team

behind the international stage hit War Horse.

Now one of Britain's top directors - Tom Morris - has teamed up again

with South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company for Shakespeare's A

Midsummer Night's Dream, which will start its international tour here in

London. Lebo Diseko reports. Finally Cartama asks and jewelled

eyes reflect the Mr Li life of the woodland spirits in Shakespeare's

most popular comedy. The delicate puppets contrast with the giant

flames of Handspring's warhorses also have a magic of their own.

Something that happens when you work with puppets is that you know it is

not alive. The audience know it is not alive but they are going to get

anything out of the story they have to imagine that it is. There is a

big that the audience has to get over if they are watching a puppet

show and I believe that is a profound creation and that in that

moment the odd is give the gift of life to the stage.

It was after the success of War Horse that Tom Morris and his

Bristol company decided to team up with Handspring. This production is

going on an international tour after its run at the Barbican Centre. It

is all a far cry from the workshops in Cape Town where we found the

early days of the creation of these puppets more than one year ago. It

is here that a team of locally recruited craftworkers designed the

puppets for the international stage. As the Shakespeare puppets emerged,

War Horse designs await shipment across the globe. It has brought

them to the small South African company. It is actually quite

incredible and we are humbled by the amount of interest that has been

generated from foreigners. They are now wanting to come to our country.

We get e-mails every single day. At least two or three people telling us

that they saw our show and found out that the puppets were made in South

Africa and can be please come and see your workshop! Back at the

Barbican Centre, they get ready for the opening night. Puppeteers show

off their wonderful designs and magical spirit of the two

Shakespearean thieves, the clownish mustard seed. And the vamp -ish

cobweb. A reminder of our main news: aid

workers and Syria have evacuated more trapped residents from Homs as

well as delivering essential supplies.

The Governor of Homs says 200 people have got out of the city and nearly

200 parcels containing vegetable oil, flour and rice has gone and

took the Syrian people. At that peace talks in Geneva at the

opposition delegation without a transition plan but the government

representatives refused to discuss it.

You can Well, that's all from the programme.

Keep up-to-date on Twitter and Facebook. Next, the weather.

Goodnight. Winds of over 100 mph at the West

coast of Wales Today. We still have hearing warning for wind, meaning

dangerous conditions are likely across the North West