15/05/2014 World News Today

This Is BBC World News Today With Me, Philippa Thomas.

Grief and anger in Turkey as people come to terms with the

Demonstrations across Turkey as anger grows at pictures

of an aide to the Prime Minister apparently kicking a protestor

A Sudanese woman has been sentenced to death for marrying a Christian

We'll be talking to a human rights campaigner about her case.

With just one week to go before voting starts

in the European elections, our correspondents measure public

With 28 countries, plenty of differences. One thing coming

through is a desire for change from the right, left and centre. There

must be reform of the way the EU works.

President Barack Obama joins September 11th survivors

and rescuers at the dedication of the memorial museum

Protests have been taking place in cities across Turkey

following the country's worst-ever mining disaster.

More than 280 people are now known to have died at the coal mine.

Rescue workers are trying to reach scores of others

In the western city of Izmir, police fired tear gas and water cannon

Earlier, Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, visited the area

The mine is located in the west of Turkey near the village of Soma.

It's part of a large industrial complex with the entrance to this

We can see a 3D image of the valley and here's the mine

entrance where BBC correspondents have been watching events overnight

These are live pictures from the mine now, where the rescue or

retrieval effort is being focused and where the relatives of those

Let us get the latest from Roger Schmidt shunned Arnie.

It is all happening in the area over my shoulder where all of those

people are and the lights are. For most of today, the mine entrance has

not been that busy. In the last couple of hours, more and more

people, search teams and relatives. Ambulances which have been idle have

been moving in. We no one ambulance left with one body on board. Two

ambulances left after which we think may have had bodies on board as

well. It seems the search teams are able to get two more of the miners

still unaccounted for. The problem is it has been more than two days

since the disaster and more than a day since anyone was brought out

alive and the chance of there being any more survivors is very slim

indeed. It means that even more grief is to come for this area, the

mining community. My colleague has been spending time with some of

those people affected. At the cemetery in Soma, the coffins kept

coming to an area they call the martyr's plot. Relatives consumed by

grief. They wept for victims of what some are calling industrial

homicide. This woman lost her nephew. He was 26 and had just

become a father. The mine is dangerous, she says. But there are

no other jobs. Of course, we are angry. With the people at the top.

The graves are being filled here one by one. This community is saying

goodbye to husbands, fathers and sons. For some, the grief is

compounded by anger, by a belief that all of this could have been

avoided by better safety standards at the mine. This man survived the

disaster but told us he has lost 30 friends. He helped to save three

colleagues and tried to save more. TRANSLATION: I went home to see my

kids after I got at. But then I went back to the mine to help my friends.

I cannot feel happy I am alive because hundreds dead. The huge loss

of life has sparked anti-government protests which have spread to

several major cities and towns. This was Izmir two hours from Soma. The

anger here will be hard to quench. And it is not helped by this, these

images show and paid to the Prime Minister kicking a protester in

Soma. Critics say it is a case of the government once again showing

contempt -- these images show an aide to the Prime Minister. At the

cemetery, prayers for the victims. Some families are still waiting for

bodies to bury and this human tragedy is becoming a political

crisis. Talking about a political crisis, we

know it is a tragedy for the community and a flash point for the

country. The question is, will it be a tipping point for the Prime

Minister, Erdogan? Pictures like the one we just saw do not help.

If people there are blaming anybody, are they blaming the

government, the people who managed the mine? They are not necessarily

blaming them for what has happened post the disaster. Although

relatives of people still unaccounted for telling me they are

angry with the authorities for not giving them more information about

the process of recovering the bodies. There is that anger. Here

and further afield, there is anger in various cities, as we have seen

with the process today, about the comments made by Prime Minister

Erdogan when he visited Soma yesterday -- the protests. He made

comments that seem to suggest that he thought mining disasters were to

be expected in the mining industry. He referred back to a mining

disaster that had taken place in England in the 19th century. That

has really angered a lot of people. They say he is being insensitive and

is detached from the hardship these people are facing. Then there is

also his political opponents who have taken this opportunity to ask

questions about the government's policy over the last ten years of

privatising the mining industry. It is an important industry in Turkey.

Many suggest the privatisation has left it and unsafe industry. There

are figures that bear it out. It is worth 1.2% of the economy, mining.

More than 10% of work-related accidents in the last year in Turkey

work in the mining industry. There are real questions to be asked about

mine safety and that is reflecting on the government. We can see all of

the people behind you still waiting and watching the scene of the rescue

operation. Thank you very much for the live update.

Reports from north east Nigeria say there's been another attack

by suspected members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.

Explosions have been heard in the town of Gamboru Ngala,

the scene of a massacre last week in which 300 people were killed.

An eyewitness said blasts were heard early in the morning and

people who tried to get out of the town were forced to return home.

It's now a month since more than 200 schoolgirls were

A 27-year-old Sudanese woman has been sentenced to death

Authorities consider Dr Maryam Yahya Ibrahim to be a Muslim because that

The BBC has these exclusive images of her.

She is eight months pregnant, but she's to be given 100 lashes

when she recovers from childbirth for marrying a Christian

and then she is sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy once her

The BBC has these first pictures of the protest outside court,

showing Muslim women chanting ?no to the repression of women?

and men holding signs saying, "It is my right to believe what I want.?

Jehanne Henry is a Sudan specialist in the Africa

Welcome. It is quite a lot to take in. Is this shocking even within

Sudan, do you think? Well, the adultery aspect of it is not

unusual. In fact, it is rather commonplace across Sudan. The

apostasy part of it is quite shocking. There have been apostasy

charges brought against people in recent years. The issue is noted

especially around the time of South Sudan's succession. But it has not

been... The execution has not been implemented since 1985 in a very

famous case. We fully expect and hope that in this case as well the

Court of Appeal will set aside this conviction. It goes completely

against the Sudanese constitution which contains protection for

freedom of religion and other basic protections. Sudan has also ratified

numerous international human rights treaties. This is a contradiction

within Sudanese law and this case really provides a flash point for

that and highlights it. The adultery charges, however, are not

particularly unusual in Sudan. Across the country, it is very

common for adultery charges to be brought against women and girls,

often when they attempt to, for example, seek a divorce or if

someone in their family or community, usually a male member, is

upset with them. Reason, they can bring the charges in a vendetta.

There are also many examples when women and girls who have been raped

then face charges of adultery. This case of... Yes? To get to the core

of it, she has said in court that she is a Christian, she does not

believe she has changed religion. The issue at the very heart of it is

her right to define her own religion. Absolutely. For the

apostasy part of the case, that is absolutely correct. There is a basic

protection for this in Sudan's constitution. However, this

particular provision in the criminal law which allows for apostasy

charges to be brought for cases in which a Muslim renounces Islam, that

provision of the criminal law is influenced by certain Islamic

principles and the penalty is also influenced by certain Islamic

principles. The penalty is death. It is a very shocking example of the

application of this provision of the law in a case and it is very

important that we focus on what is going on. It really does reveal the

internal contradictions in Sudan's criminal system and the fact that

many of its provisions run counter to its own constitution. Thank you

for joining us. Now a look at some

of the days other news. Relatives of people missing

after a ferry capsized in Bangladesh have been gathering

near the accident site. At least 200 passengers were

on board when it sank At least nine people are known to

have died, but Reports say the ferry sank

in stormy weather. Beijing has accused Vietnam of

turning a blind eye to anti-Chinese demonstrations after hundreds

of protesters stormed a factory. At least one Chinese worker died

and more than 100 were injured. Reports say the mob hunted

down Chinese nationals at the steel mill which is actually

owned by a Taiwanese firm. The protests were triggered

by China's decision to drill for oil in disputed islands

in the South China Sea. A video's been posted online

of an Al Jazeera reporter who is on the 107th day of a hunger strike

against his detention in Egypt. Abdullah Elshamy has been held

since August without charge. Meanwhile, the trial of three

other Al Jazeera journalists They have been accused of aiding

terrorists and spreading false news. It's emerged that an ex-politician

seeking re-election and a convicted paedophile are among people who have

asked Google to remove information The requests follow

a European court ruling which said people could ask for irrelevant or

outdated pages to be removed because It looks as if the second round

of Afghanistan's presidential election will be a face-off

between these two men. Abdullah Abdullah took 45% of the

vote in the first round and his main The second round will take place

in the middle of June. There is also some controversy about

the way the first round was run, as David Loyn reports from Herat.

And There is growing anger in many places in Afghanistan of the process

of dealing with fraud in the election. Six months on, voters

still have traces of the indelible ink that showed they voted. . They

were some of the voters who were taken out of the current because of

claims of fraud. They said they will fight to the death to have their

votes counted. Their votes were not counted. Elsewhere, there were fake

votes which were counted. There is no doubting the anger here. They

will say they voted at considerable risk to their own lives and the

votes were taken away from them. Whether the system will answer their

complaints is a more complex question. Much of the process to

consider complaints were held in public. Some of the fraud

allegations were obvious. There are results which were handwritten, and

duplicate election papers. They have not looked at the reports of us, as

of yet. This is not right. They need to do that to complete her job. Is

this enough to push you over 50% in the first round? Wouldn't make that

much a difference? It is more than that. A large turnout in the polls

has given them more pressure to deliver a fair result. This man, a

veteran, said he will head to the hills and pick up a rifle once again

of the election is not sorted out. It is not an idle threat. It is a

country where the damage of war can be seen all around.

There is just a week to go until voting begins in the European

elections for more than 750 MEPS, who will then shuttle between their

home countries, Brussels and Strasbourg and who, between them,

will represent more than 500 million European citizens. And it looks as

if the next parliament will contain more Euro MPs than ever before who

actually oppose the way the current union works. In the latest of our

special reports on Vote 2014, Matthew Price is in the Danish

capital Copenhagen, but first, we go to Chris Morris in the Greek

There is just a week to go until voting begins in the European

Buffeted by the strongest wind in the European Union, Greece is still

feeling the wind. Some voters are not impressed by the anti-austerity

programme. We have schools without books, hospitals without equipment.

While the government says a coroner has been turned, there will be a

huge anti establishment vote, to the hard left and the extreme right. It

is hardly surprising giving the pain they have lived through economic lay

in the last couple of years. But what about where you are? Here in

Denmark, people are also fed up with the government and it is heading to

a massive swing of support to this group. This is the People's party in

Denmark. They believe European Union rules are eroding traditional Danish

values. Their message seems to resonate. I want to be a member of

the union, but I think that it's too much power in the European Union. I

like the European Union, but there are problems. Denmark flies the

oldest flag in the world. It is a small but proud country. The

national public broadcaster, the broadcaster the says attitudes

towards the European Union are changing. Nobody wants to leave the

European Union, but from time to time, you can see people expressing

their distrust of it. Most Danish people believe the European Union

brings economic benefits to the country, but that is increasing

worry about the cost of it. They are also wanting it reformed. That

feeling is even stronger in Greece. Most voters need the European Union

to help the economy grow. But they feel disconnected beyond their

control. Anti-austerity protests continue. They do not have the

fervour of recent years, but very few people want to leave the

European Union or the euro. They want Europe to do more help. I

believe that a large part of the Greek debt should be vetted. With 28

countries, there are a lot of differences, but one thing which is

coming through is a real desire for change, from the left, the right and

even the centre. The general message seems to be that there must be

reformed to the way the European Union works.

A leading medical journal has admitted that two of its articles

exaggerated the harmful side effects of statins ? the drugs which many

people take to reduce cholesterol. Seven million people in the UK alone

take statins to combat heart disease. The articles, which were

published in the British Medical Journal, are to be investigated.

This is a bitter pill to swallow for one of the most respected of all

medical journals. It has had to make failing to spot a basic error in two

articles on statins and taking seven months to put it right. The editor

said her response had been speedy and she denied the affair was

embarrassing. Both articles referred a single sentence referring to

another paper and misinterpreted the information from that paper. The

exaggerated the extent of the side-effects of statins, compared to

the side effects. The controversy about the articles in the British

Medical Jornall has sown confusion up about the safety of statins. 7

million people in the United Kingdom take them. They prevent 7000 fatal

heart attacks and strokes each year. The benefits are undisputed. But the

article criticised plans to extend that use to most adults in the link

in the 50s. They said the benefits would be the British Medical Jornall

now admits that information was wrong. Statins can cause muscle pain

and trigger type two diabetes, but E expert on it said the exaggerated

the risk twentyfold in the journal and that would set to progress

panic. People who are on me not want to take them any more than people

who have not yet started to take them may now not want to take them.

There could be unnecessary hearts heart attacks and strokes as a

consequence. Clearly had some side of aching joints, but they have

subsided. How he is confident about statins, he feels the controversy

may keep other people. It is confusing for the public in general.

If people are taking statins and the then here there is a potential

problem with them, then clearly, they are going to think twice about

it. Doctors say people at high risk of heart disease and stroke should

continue with statins. But the debate about whether healthy

continue with statins. But the debate about whether middle-aged

people should take them is set to continue.

To an event now that changed America and the world. Almost 13 years on

from 9/11, a museum commemorating the terror attacks has opened in New

York. It tells the stories of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the

city when hijacked aeroplanes destroyed the World Trade Centre.

Buffeted by the strongest wind in the European Union, Greece is still

The president has been speaking to the families of the victims. 3000

innocent souls, men and children of every race and creed from every

corner of the world. We can touch them names and hear their voices. We

can glimpse the small items which speak to the beauty of their lives.

A wedding ring, a dusty Helmut, the shining badge,. Here, we tell the

story. The museum tells the story of those who died and those who

survived. It also tells how the world has changed since the tank.

The BBC was given a tour of the museum. My wife was killed. To see

this happen, it is amazing and gut wrenching at the same time. It

brings back all the emotions of that week. The museum is filled with

thousands of artefacts. There are huge wins in tiny ones. A slipper, a

wallet, a driving licence. It is the ordinary things that everyone

carries around as part of the private possessions. Today in this

place, they become suddenly very powerful. The attacks appeared out

of the radicalisation of people in the Middle East. It tries to explain

where the terrorists came from, what do they believe. It tries to

obviously make sure that we do not think that all Muslims are

terrorists. It was interesting for people who do not know all that much

about Muslims around the world. But I feel that did not represent that

well enough, I think people are more likely to come out thinking that

Muslims represent a threat, rather than being appreciated that there

was just a very small group extremists. This is a museum for the

future generations. Thank you very much for being with others.

warm day than I was yesterday. Lovely warm weather on the way

tomorrow. A lot of dry and sunny weather. The warrant has been

drinking with his area of high pressure, covering the bulk of the

United Kingdom. We have some cloud and rain