14/07/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Philippa Thomas.

Women will be bishops in the Church of England after a vote today

The vote comes 20 years after the first women priests were

We'll ask what it means for the global Anglican Church.

As the firing continues between Israel and Gaza, the UN says

17,000 Palestinians from Northern Gaza are sheltering in schools.

We look at one of the biggest maritime salvage

operations in history, as efforts begin to re-float the

Victory for Germany - the side celebrate becoming

the first European team to win the World Cup in the Americas.

Centuries of tradition have been overturned with a vote by the Church

It's an issue that has deeply divided the church for decades.

Just two years ago, a similar vote failed by the narrowest of margins.

Today, both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prime Minister

To remind you, it's 20 years since the Church of England first

One in five within the Church of England are now women.

The first female bishop is likely to be ordained next year.

Mark Easton reports from the church's governing body,

The leadership had asked for restraint and sensitivity,

but those who have been campaigning for decades could not disguise

In fact, even the archbishops of York and Canterbury could not

20 years since the first women priests, the established

church has finally agreed that woman can also be bishops.

I have been campaigning for women in the church -

not just for women to be ordained, but to be respected and valued.

This is such a wonderful thing that has happened.

The crucial vote, when it came, was overwhelmingly in favour - no

The motion has been carried in all three houses.

The watchword today has been ?unity?.

The Church of England searching for a way to reconcile traditional

religious beliefs and contemporary liberal values - profoundly held,

This woman from Canterbury was among those who feared Synod was

Have we said that the Bible doesn?t matter anymore and

But many others thought the church was broad enough to

The church now needs the different and special gifts of

women in holy orders, not because of justice, but because of our need as

The yes vote is a triumph for the deal-making skills and

strategic thinking of the Archbishop of Canterbury - Justin Welby is

The compromise was found with the help of professional mediators

Opponents will be able to request a male bishop, with an ombudsman to

The first female bishop could be named by the end of the year

It may seem perfectly unremarkable nowadays, but the idea of a woman

CoE vicar was hugely controversial just 20 years ago - The Vicar of

Ladies and gentlemen, your new vicar.

It was a change church leaders agreed in 1992 by just one vote.

The first women were ordained in 1994,

but it was more than a decade before Synod paved the way for a vote on

women bishops and in 2012 the ruling body voted down the proposal -

The then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said the Church of

This famous picture shows the anguish of one supporter.

Dr Paula Gooder was all smiles this afternoon.

The tone in this Inner Chamber last time was really difficult and very

The tone this time was very much more welcoming and accepting.

?One church, one faith, one Lord?, the hymn says, but this was

a historic vote to keep the Church of England together, to reconcile

For international reaction let's go to the United States and speak with

the retired Bishop of Maine, the Right Rev Chilton Knudsen.

She joins me via webcam from the town of Bath in Maine.

How significant step is this for the church? It is a major step. I am

thrilled that have enormous compassion for those who are

distressed about the change. This is as -- this is an adventure. It is

stepping out in faith. Baptism is the sacrament that invites everyone

into the church in equal partnership. England is following

were others have led. There are Anglican women bishops around the

world, so what do you think this might signal to others? That's

right. There have been Anglican women bishops for a number of

years. I believe the evidence is solid that the ministry of women as

bishops has been blessed and has been a blessing to the church. What

would your advice be to the first woman ordained here as bishops?

There has been resistance, there are a feelings. There may be some who

don't woman -- don't want women bishops about them still.

Absolutely. The realistic viewpoint is that this legislation is not

going to solve the concerns. It is simply going to open the door to

another step in reconciliation and adventure. My three pieces of advice

on any sister bishop he is a lack did and appointed anywhere in the

Anglican Communion for the first time, first of all, keep a strong

prayer life. That is where your sense of occasion comes from.

Secondly, have a good support system of people who will listen to you,

walk with you and tell you the truth and help you put yourself forward in

a centred and focused way, even as lots of emotions stirred. Thirdly, I

think it is important to keep your sense of humour and your sense of

balance. Many things may be complicated and difficult, but often

times the mere passage of days makes things look better and look easier.

Do you think this will change the way women are regarded at other

levels in the church as well? It is certainly made prayer that ways in

which we regard women in every sphere of our lives will be elevated

by this decision. Women need everywhere in the world to be

affirmed, valued, acknowledged, there are gifts split to use for the

welfare of the whole community. Thank you for your time.

Well, let's cross to your riverboat took place at the General Synod.

Robert Pigott is there. I'd believe you expected the vote to go through

this time, not without a lot of heavy pressure, though. That's

right. The pressure has been building steadily on the General

Synod here. There has been an increasing alienation from the

church and society, so people that the church serves have been

embracing radical equality for years but it has been seen to be dragging

its heels. It seems that the church is the signal that it now wants to

be part of mainstream society. The other main thing that has been

building over the years is the idea that the church has been alienating

part of its membership, so the concern of a lot of people here are

in favour of women bishops is that the traditionalists who did not want

to serve under them would be cast out. The fact that they have been

reassured by extra concessions, they have been placated with today's

decision. Have you heard any members of the church say they will leave

over this, or are the compromise is enough? I think those who have

wanted to leave have already done so. There was a considerable group

from the high end of the church who left when women priests were

ordained for the first time 20 years ago. I think the numbers who would

want to leave over women bishops have already done so. The Pope set

up a special wing of the Catholic Church for Anglicans who wanted to

make that decision. I don't really think there are many more people to

go. There is this mood that there will be a place for them, and

honoured place in Anglicanism for them. There will be a special effort

to reinforce that you. The numbers who believe will be very slight, I

think. 17,000 Palestinians from Northern

Gaza have taken shelter in schools, according to the United Nations,

after Israel said it would start targeting the area with airstrikes.

A week of rocket and missile exchanges has now left more than 170

Palestinians dead. So far there have been no Israeli fatalities. Jeremy

Bowen has spent the day in Gaza. This is a typical street in Gaza

city, not too poor or densely populated by local standards.

Typical, too, because it has been bombed more than once. CCTV in the

street last Saturday saw a group of men chatting on a front step. They

were also under Israeli surveillance. When the Israelis kill

them with a missile, the camera copyright. -- cut out. When we

arrived soon afterwards, the family and neighbours were shocked and

angry. Israeli military said they had killed three Palestinian

fighters. Today, the place where it happened, the force of the explosion

can be seen clearly. The Israelis had their target, you can see the

shrapnel marks on the pavement. Sitting with this tab polonaise now

is where the three men were sitting. They were killed instantly. Just a

few doors up, on that step, were three other men, neighbours in their

50s. They were killed to. --, too. They were just in the wrong place at

the wrong time. Back in Gaza, a Palestinian human rights campaigner

said Israel's strategy of hitting the homes of wanted them guaranteed

that innocent people would die. They know they have committed war crimes,

crimes against humanity and deliberately intending to destroy

houses with civilians living in it. That is clearly illegal. The

bombardment went on this morning. Israel has been accused of not

distinguishing between military and civilian targets in Gaza. The

Israeli government says that if Palestinian civilians die, it is the

fault of her mass. We are dealing with the South. They are at terror

group that reducing its own people and its own civilians to hide

weapons and missile launchers and should on Israeli citizens. Israel

calls them terrorists. Until the cease-fire comes, it looks as if

there will be many more civilian funerals, too.

Bowen has spent the day in Gaza. As salvage operations go, it doesn't

get much bigger or more expensive than this one. The cruise ship the

Costa Concordia has now been lifted about a metre above the seabed,

where it came to rest in January 2012, in the final phase of an

extremely delicate operation. 32 people died when the vessel struck a

reef off the Italian island of Giglio and capsized. From Giglio,

the BBC's Matthew Price reports. Looking out from the ferry to Judeo,

you cannot miss the Costa Concordia. It is no longer a place

of dreams, but that twisted, rusting wreck. At first light, the salvage

engineers still did not know for sure that their audacious floating

operation would work. Today we find that if the calculations were

accurate, based on the assumptions. The weather is good and everybody is

ready. For two and a half years this cruise ship has lain for lawn. Its

bars and cafes saturated, lifeless, with much of the ship only

accessible to divers. No longer. In September they pulled it up right.

Today they pumped air into giant flotation tanks welded on the

sides. Inch by inch, the Costa Concordia rose. Early afternoon, a

grubby water line out. -- stood out. This is the biggest maritime salvage

operation ever conducted. On board that ship, 32 people died, including

a five-year-old girl. It was winter when the ship capsized. Passengers

scrambled for safety after it hit rock is. Most of the 4,000 on board

made live. The captain is on trial for manslaughter. This ship is about

to embark on its final journey, taking with that the hundreds of

salvage workers who have made decide on their home for the last two

years. The Costa Concordia put Judeo on the map, but few here will be sad

to see it go. Germany is still celebrating

after its team's World Cup win - the first since East and

West Germany came together. A quarter of a million people packed

into the centre of Berlin last night partying into the early hours

after Germany beat Argentina. Tomorrow even more people are

expected to line the streets of the capital to greet

the homecoming players. This is the moment that hundreds of

thousands of fans and that the World Cup had been won. There was dazzling

in the streets in Berlin. Germany, we're champions! We are champions

excavation Mark this is exciting, this is exciting. And today, the

clean-up. Down came the sponsors banners, ready for the victory

parade tomorrow, when the World Cup winners will appear at the

Brandenburg gate. Maybe with the Chancellor, Angela Merkel. She was

in the changing room in Rio when they came off the field. She has

tied herself to the success of the national side. World champion, the

papers are full of football. But there is the morning after the night

before, so the -- some reflection. They say that victory is about

showing that Germany is in the top flight of nations. When West Germany

one the World Cup in 1954, the team came home by train. They won it in

1974 and 1990. Last night was the first time a united Germany had won

it. Four times champions, and are there lessons for British football?

The British league is the best in the world, but that is because they

have all of these foreign stars. Sometimes you forget to put your own

people into the team and give them experience, so they can be really

experienced on the national level as well. The victory celebration was

the modules. And it will be allowed tomorrow -- it was the modules.

Germany is European football's success story.

Germany was in fact so confident it would win the World

Cup that it pre-printed a run of five million stamps commemorating

its soccer victory - before the final game even took place.

Just hours after Germany's victory, the country's

German Finance Ministry presented a new stamp honouring the new

"during the last few days, before the outcome" of the final.

when Germany hosted the World Cup, made in 2006

"but the plans got shelved as Germany didn't reach the final."

Do we notice how much we take animals for granted, from food to

A documentary being released in the UK tomorrow argues that

The film, called "The Ghosts in Our Machine", follows

the photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur as she documents animal stories

across the US, Canada and Europe over the course of a year.

I am joined by the director and producer of the film, Liz Marshall.

Why The Ghosts In Our Machine? The ghosts are those animals that are

often hidden from view. The film aims to eliminate their stories.

There individual stories. -- to eliminate. As we are individual eyes

animals and think of them as individuals. The truth is, there are

billions of animals affected wee chap within the machinery of the

modern world. -- which arch wrapped within the machinery of. When we

think about eating meat slaughtering animals for their photo where, are

bit animals -- are the elements that might surprise viewers in this film,

you think? There are lots of surprises. They are hidden, these

industries which use animals, and they are hidden from view. The

subject, in and of itself, is rather surprising to the vast majority.

Which kind of industries are you thinking of? Entertainer, in theme

parks and zoos, for example, a subject that which is -- a subject

that we cover. And animals used for biomedical research.

Joining me from Coventry is the film critic, Scott Jordan Harris.

Do you think this documentary is persuasive? It has some very

disturbing images that will affect anybody who sees it. My only concern

is that it does not fully acknowledge the nuances of the

debate that those images throw up. I did not feel that the difference

between animals being used for medical testing that might save

lives and the difference between animals being used in entertainment

and performance is sufficiently acknowledged. Although those behind

the film might not think there is a difference between testing in

animals and seeing them in a marine park, for example, many of the

viewers will. I wonder if it will preach mainly to the converted. Your

thoughts on that? This is a consciousness-raising film about a

very tough subject. I think that we both agree that animals used in

industry is a subject that we would rather not look at. And the film is

an entry point, using the power of cinema, to persuade the viewer to

actually look, to see them, the animals. We cover all of the

different industries. We are not creating at Hauraki that dogs are

more important than cows -- we are not creating a hierarchy.

Collectively as a society, we are finally getting to the place where

we can recognise that some animals are more significant... You are not

ranking them in terms of intelligence in the animal kingdom?

The film is trying to unpack that notion that there is a hierarchy,

and it is not suggesting that animals should have the same rights

as humans. The argument about rights pertaining to animals is very

complex. And the film does not go there. Rather, the film is saying

that this is a morally important subject, that we need to pay

attention to, and it is presenting it and making an Aga meant for the

case that we need to pay attention, we need to start listening to this.

Scott, you were struck by that argument about animal rights and

human rights, and how we should put them together. That is, I think, the

crux of the film. That is what most people will find most disturbing. I

was sad that that was not explored with the same rigour that it is in

films like blackfish, animal-rights documentaries of recent vintage. The

main thing, I hope that this helps people to go out and look into the

issues themselves. You do not hear both sides of the argument in the

debate but you will see an oft that you want to research it for

yourself. -- PC enough. -- you see enough. Do you think that people are

somehow being blind? It is a polemic statement and you obviously feel

passionate about it. It is moral -- it is more of a philosophical

conversation opener about something that people do not want to pay

attention to. We are all complicit. It is a self reflexive title, The

Ghosts In Our Machine, it is a big subject that deserves our attention.

I would say that the time is now, on the heels of the green,

environmental movement, and we are starting to recognise it seriously,

that there are other species beyond ourselves, that matter.

The South African novelist and Nobel Laureate, Nadine Gordimer,

The anti-Apartheid campaigner, and close friend to Nelson Mandela,

wrote 15 novels as well as short stories and works of non-fiction,

many of which dealt with the moral and political issues

South Africa faced under white minority rule,

and the challenges it continues to face today.

There have been spectacular scenes on the streets of Paris as France

celebrates Bastille Day. Troops gathered on the shops of easy to

mark 100 years since the beginning of the First World War.

Traditionally there is a grand military parade followed by

fireworks across France. Bastille Day marks the storming of the

Bastille prison which started the French Revolution in July, 1789. And

some pictures that have just come along. These must be good. Dog

owners in California put their pet dogs on the water. You can see them

surfing. The waves are not massive so there were not many wipe-outs.

And it is hard to judge how much the contestants are enjoying it, but

apparently, we just had to bring that to you. That's all from us here

Over the next few days temperatures are going to climb, but humidity

will increase as well. For most of us on Tuesday it will be dry. The

remains of a weather front still potentially across the south-east,

first thing in the morning. That could produce some showers, but

behind it, some breaks