10/05/2016 World News Today


10/05/2016

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Hello and welcome, this is BBC World News Today

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President Obama will make a historic visit to Hiroshima

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But he will not apologise for the US nuclear attack in 1945.

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The British Prime Minister is overheard describing Nigeria

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and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt"

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We've got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt

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Also coming up: A heartbreaking BBC investigation, finds that more

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than 1,700 migrants have been buried in unmarked graves after they died

:00:45.:00:47.

And facing extinction, how a fifth of all plants

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are at risk thanks to a range of threats including

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President Obama will make a highly symbolic visit

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It will be the first time a serving American president has visited

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the Japanese city destroyed by a US atomic bomb in 1945.

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Let's remind ourselves of the events surrounding

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In December 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States

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On May 7th, 1945, Germany agreed to unconditional surrender,

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On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb to be used

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as a weapon is dropped on Hiroshima in Japan.

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140,000 people died, some instantly,

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others later from the effects of radiation.

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On 9th August, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb

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August 15, 1945, Japan surrenders, ending World War II.

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However, the White House made it clear that during his

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visit Mr Obama would not apologise for the bombing.

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The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue joins me from Washington.

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Gary, another piece of history to add to the Obama Legacy?

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Yes, it is and it will be quite a moment when they sitting American

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president visits Hiroshima. We have had one former president go there

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before, Jimmy Carter, who was president in the 1970s and obviously

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he has been there but a sitting president carries with it enormous

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symbolic power and while the White House is stressing that this is not

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an apology, he will not apologise, he will not revisit, in their words,

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the decision to drop the atomic bomb in 1945, he will in some

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sense recognise the toll that it took on civilians in particular, so

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that will be the message and also one about going forward and shared

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futures etc. That reflects, of course, the fact that Japan and the

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US are now very close allies and President Barack Obama has focused a

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lot of his efforts on the pivot to Asia, as it is often called, and

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they have significant economic and political interests in common and

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that will be part of the trip as well so it will be an enormous

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moment really, it will be an enormous moment for both countries.

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Dr Sheila Smith is Senior Fellow for Japan Studies at the Council

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How significant do you think this is? I think it is tremendous and for

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those of us who have worked on the relationship with the US and Japan

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for many years, it is long overdue. President Barack Obama began his

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presidency very focused on nuclear disarmament and the Japanese people

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have been very strong advocates of the reduction of nuclear weapons and

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so I think you see a little bit of an American and Japanese gathering

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of mines here about the future and what our two countries may be able

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to do together. We know from the White House that he will not make an

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official apology but will his presence there be viewed as a kind

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of a conciliatory gesture? Absolutely. President Reagan went to

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Europe many years ago in an attempt symbolically to put that war behind

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us in our relationship with the European allies and I think for many

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Japanese, especially off at wartime generation, the presence of a US

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president at Hiroshima will be tremendous. I think without saying a

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word, his intent will be very clear. I think for younger Japanese you

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have quite lively debate about whether or not the president should

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apologise for the dropping of those bombs and I think that debate will

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continue long this visit. What do you think is the main reasoning

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behind this? You mentioned Japan and US relations and if there a wider

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message about something like this never happening again? That is

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exactly right. When the President spoke in Prague early in his tenure

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he spoke very openly about the moral responsibility of the United States,

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as the only company -- country having used these terrible weapons,

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to push forward on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. It

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is also true that in Asia at the moment you are looking towards North

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Korea who tested nuclear weapons in January and you are looking at the

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nuclear arsenal of China and their glowing -- in military might and you

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can be a little worried about the nuclear balance. Our president has

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touched on that alliance with Japan in a way that is alarming to many

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Japanese so I think this visit will be very reassuring and will touch

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many Japanese deeply. Thank you very much.

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Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, has called Nigeria

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and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries

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Mr Cameron was caught making the comments as he chatted

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with the Queen at an event to mark her 90th birthday.

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A very satisfactory cabinet meeting this morning when we talked about

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our successful summit. We have leaders of fantastically corrupt

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countries coming to Britain. Nigeria and Afghanistan, wasn't it, the two

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most corrupt countries in the world. This particular president is

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actually not corrupt. He is working very hard. They are coming at their

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own expense! The remarks come ahead

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of an international summit on corruption taking place in London

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later this week. The anti-corruption campaign group

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Transparency International ranked Afghanistan 167th,

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in its 2015 corruption perception index, ahead of only

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Somalia and North Korea. We will discuss this more in a few

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moments with an expert on global corruption. Let us look at some more

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News stories for now: now: Maverick anti-crime candidate

:07:39.:07:44.

Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte has won the Philippine presidential

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elections, following the withdrawal of his

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opponents. Although the official result has not

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yet been declared, his main rival, Mar Roxas, admitted defeat

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after polls gave Mr Duterte Officials in southern Germany say

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a man who killed a commuter and injured three others in a knife

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attack at a railway station suffered from psychological

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problems and drug addiction. They said there was no evidence

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the 27-year-old attacker Eyewitnesses had earlier reported

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that the assailant had shouted Allahu Akbar,

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God is Great, during Nasa's Kepler space telescope has

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discovered what has been described as a treasure trove of planets. Over

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1000 XO planets has been found which Nasa says increases the chances of

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finding a planet similar to Earth. Afghan and US special forces have

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rescued the kidnapped son of Pakistan's ex-Prime

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Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. He was abducted three

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years ago, it's believed Yusuf Raza Gilani was taken

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while he was in his home town But he was found hundreds

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of kilometres away in Paktika Four militants were

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killed in the rescue. Ali Haider's brother,

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Ali Musa Gillani has spoken to the BBC from his home in Lahore

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and described the moment He called himself from an

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Afghanistan number, and he just told me I have US military around me

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and they have rescued me and what are you doing

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and who are you getting in And I replied that we are talking

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to the Afghan ambassador and our military forces and the government

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officials to bring him back, because he was really, really

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confused about who was going to bring him back, because here only

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I am in Bagram Base. Shaaima Khalil is in Islamabad

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and tells us more about what's We now have confirmation

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from the international forces in Afghanistan

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that Ali Haider Gilani operation between US special

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operations forces and Afghan commandos in the eastern

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province of Paktika. We also understand that four

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militants are believed to have been killed during that operation

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and this mission was launched when evidence of terror activities

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was confirmed, We also know now that arrangements

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for Mr Gilani to return to Pakistan are being made

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after some medical checkups. We understand that he was held

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by an Al-Qaeda linked or affiliated group,

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we're not exactly sure which group that is,

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but we do know last year, from his father, former Prime

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Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, asked for Al-Qaeda prisoners to be

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released in return for his son. We also know that there was a video

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in 2014 where abductors had

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asked for ransom. during that rescue mission

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are still going to come in. We are not very clear about how

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exactly that happened but we do know, of course, that Ali Haider

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Gilani was abducted not very far from his house in his

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hometown of Multan which was in 2013, almost three years ago now,

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and at the time he was campaigning for parliamentary elections

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for the Pakistan People's Party. When the news broke today there was

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huge celebrations in his hometown, by family and

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friends and party workers and also at a party rally in

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Pakistani administered Kashmir Let us go back now to that story

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about David cannon calling Nigeria and Afghanistan corrupt and we have

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heard from the Afghanistan Prime Minister who has said he was

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shocked. He spoke through a spokesman and he argued that David

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cannon, who was secretly films, must be referring to Nigeria's past

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notoriety for corruption before his coming to power in May last year.

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The president of Nigeria has been in power for around one year but says

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that his government is deeply shocked and embarrassed by those

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comments and says he must have been referring to the past of Nigeria.

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Well, joining me from our Millbank studio is Transparency

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International's Managing Director, Cobus de Swardt.

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What is your reaction? The way David cannon has been saying this is not

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ideal but how much truth is there in this? Historically Nigeria and

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Afghanistan have had very high levels of corruption that continues

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by the current leadership has sent very strong symbols that they want

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to change that and this summit is the opportunity for those countries

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to sign up to a new era. At the same time, countries such as the UK also

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have to sign up to changing their fight against corruption, as the UK

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and its own overseas territories remain a safe haven for corrupt

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money and a big problem for corruption worldwide. We had the

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relatively new Nigerian President they're saying that his government

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was shocked and embarrassed by these comments from David cannon. How much

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progress has there been in the fight against corruption in these

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countries and we know that this president came to power in that he

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would really fight this scourge. Progress first day starts with very

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clear commitments from the top and we have seen strong signals from the

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Nigerian government and that needs to go further and in addition to

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that there needs to be a common working together. Nigeria cannot do

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this alone. When you do not work together, for example, in stopping

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corrupt money leaving Nigeria and entering the UK, it makes it harder.

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We have seen some progress but clearly not enough. This summit

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would need to bring these countries together in a common commitment to

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prevent corruption and actually create a safe space for those who

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fight corruption and also to tackle and punish those that facilitate

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corruption, such as bankers, lawyers, estate agents, as the

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Panama papers clearly show, as another major part of the global

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fight against corruption. There will be some wondering what a conference

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here in London, with lots of good words perhaps, can realistically

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achieve. What are your hopes? How positive do you think it would be?

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We have no hope for new work. What we are seeking our concrete and

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specific commitments, for example on preventing corruption it is time

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that those countries that participate make very concrete

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commitments to ensure that companies that operate from their countries

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have all the beneficial owners, those that own and control those

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companies in public registers and that people and companies that did

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for public contracts, that we know who they are owned by. We want to

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see very strong commitments on those countries that participate that they

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will protect the space of whistle-blowers and that they will

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protect the space of civil society activists to fight corruption and we

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want to see concrete actions by these countries on tackling those

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that facilitate corruption. This is not that difficult. We can see major

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progress this week but it needs to be concrete actions and the need to

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be actions were those leaders that make them can be held accountable by

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the citizens of their countries. We must and that there. It certainly

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got us talking about it. Thank you very much.

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1,700 men, women and children have been buried in unmarked graves

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after they died crossing the Mediterranean,

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That's what a BBC investigation has discovered.

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There are more than 70 such sites in Turkey, Greece and Italy.

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Over the past two years it is estimated that more than 8,000

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people have died, many lost at sea, with many bodies washed ashore.

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A boat full of Syrians fleeing war land on the Greek island of Lesbos.

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No one on this boat drowned, but one man was crushed to death on board,

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and another died of a heart attack when he set foot on land.

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Both victims were travelling with other people who were able

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There are hundreds more that have either been lost at sea or found

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Their relatives, scattered across the globe, are left

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with a lingering pain that could haunt them

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In the last two years more than 8000 people have died

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On average at least one person each day has been buried

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in an unmarked grave, which you can see by these red dots,

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scattered across Italy, Greece and Turkey.

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More than 70 of these burial sites have been found as part

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This ceremony in Lesbos is one of them, with dozens of bodies.

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Some are recovered when the boats they were on capsized.

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Others washed up on shore days or even weeks later.

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Many relatives of the missing are desperately trying to find them.

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Farouk Bakar has been on such a quest for the last five months.

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His brother and wife died when their boat capsized off Lesbos,

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but the bodies of their four children were never found.

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He has travelled hundreds of miles in Turkey and in Greece, hoping

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to find either proof of life or at least a DNA match

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with unidentified bodies of children buried in Lesbos.

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Local authorities in all three countries have been stretched

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as they try to deal with unidentified dead bodies.

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Because of the large number of bodies found by the Greek

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authorities, they've had to bring in containers like these.

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Sometimes the bodies of migrants stay here for days or

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These containers are on the island of Samos, which doesn't

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Many of those who brave death to reach Europe leave relatives

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behind with the hope of some day seeing them again.

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But those lost along the trail leave a darker kind of longing,

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no longer for reunion - only for closure.

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To Saudi Arabia now where authorities are trying

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to curb the powers of the notorious religious police.

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The new regulation bans members of the Promotion Of Virtue

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And Prevention Of Vice Committee to chase suspects or arrest them.

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Religious police officers are frequently accused

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However, the new decision hasn't been welcomed

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by everyone in the country, as Hanan Razek reports from Riyadh.

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This widely shared video has sparked a debate in Saudi Arabia.

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The woman tells a member of the morality police

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It's one of many incidents where Saudis accused members of the

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committee of abusing their authority.

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It is quite rare to find someone who is willing to speak out

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about their experience with the morality police publicly,

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but we've succeeded to track down a Saudi woman who says she was

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A bite on the hand is what this woman, who doesn't want

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to reveal her identity, says it was the result

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The BBC couldn't verify the incident details independently.

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TRANSLATION: They wrapped my headscarf around me

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and insulted me because I didn't delete the video.

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I started screaming and I tried to get out of

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the car but they locked me and my friend inside.

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I was trying to film again so he bit me.

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Recently the Saudi government, in what some describe as

:21:16.:21:17.

a bold move, decided to curb their powers.

:21:18.:21:22.

work of the religious police means that members of the

:21:23.:21:26.

Committee To Promote Virtue And Prevent Vice can no longer stop

:21:27.:21:29.

people on the streets, arrest them, or ask for their identifications.

:21:30.:21:36.

Many Saudis have praised the decision, saying it will put an end

:21:37.:21:39.

to the violenations practiced by the members of this committee.

:21:40.:21:44.

However, not everybody here is happy about it.

:21:45.:21:49.

Some have taken to Twitter, which is very big

:21:50.:21:51.

in the most conservative of kingdoms, to voice their concern

:21:52.:21:54.

about losing the powers of the Committee.

:21:55.:21:59.

And some clerics weighed into the public debate

:22:00.:22:02.

The new regulation came in a rush and it didn't comply

:22:03.:22:09.

with the core of the governing system, and it violates the

:22:10.:22:12.

committee law that was issued by a Royal decree.

:22:13.:22:21.

For 76 years the Saudi religious police have enjoyed lots

:22:22.:22:24.

of powers over people's day-to-day matters.

:22:25.:22:29.

The new regulation has triggered a big debate.

:22:30.:22:32.

Many here think it is only a beginning of a

:22:33.:22:35.

Scientists have published their first global assessment

:22:36.:22:46.

The new study reveals that there are just under 400,000

:22:47.:22:50.

plant species known to science, and researchers say there

:22:51.:22:55.

However the report also found that a fifth of all plants

:22:56.:22:59.

are at risk of extinction, and face a broad range of threats.

:23:00.:23:05.

Coming into bloom - the beauty of plants on display

:23:06.:23:07.

at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

:23:08.:23:10.

Now, for the first time, scientists here have carried out

:23:11.:23:13.

And it has highlighted some big gaps in our knowledge.

:23:14.:23:18.

One of the things we did in this report was to count how many

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plant species there are, and that was interesting -

:23:22.:23:25.

391,000 we have come up with, and that's addressing four different

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databases to come up with that figure.

:23:28.:23:29.

But this is just scratching the surface.

:23:30.:23:31.

There are thousands out there that we don't know about.

:23:32.:23:34.

We have come behind the scenes here at Kew where the latest new

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Botanists have been heading to far-flung corners of the world,

:23:42.:23:45.

searching through existing collections, and even trawling

:23:46.:23:48.

through pictures of plants on the internet.

:23:49.:23:51.

And they are making new discoveries all the time.

:23:52.:23:54.

This orchid was one of 2000 plants found in 2015.

:23:55.:23:59.

New, too, was this 50-metre high tree in Gabon, and an insect-eating

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But there are also threats, and invasive species

:24:04.:24:14.

like Japanese Knotweed are a major problem.

:24:15.:24:16.

Damaging the environment, they are difficult

:24:17.:24:19.

The report now estimates that there are 5000 different

:24:20.:24:22.

Now that we have got this list and this number,

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it's certainly a bit like know your enemy.

:24:30.:24:31.

We know what we're dealing with, we can then look at them -

:24:32.:24:34.

what is similar, what makes a good invasive - and how can we use that

:24:35.:24:38.

information to have better management practices in place

:24:39.:24:42.

or recommendations, how you deal with them.

:24:43.:24:47.

But while the public enjoy their close encounter

:24:48.:24:50.

with nature, conservationists warn that one in five species

:24:51.:24:53.

This new report, though, will allow scientists to measure

:24:54.:24:59.

these changes to keep track of the future of our plants.

:25:00.:25:01.

We are just getting reports in the last few minutes that the leader of

:25:02.:25:18.

Bangladesh's largest Islamist party has been executed for war crimes.

:25:19.:25:22.

That announcement is coming from the War Ministry in Dakar. The offences

:25:23.:25:28.

committed by him all dates back to 1971 and the Bangladesh liberation

:25:29.:25:33.

war against Pakistan, one of the bloodiest in history. He led an

:25:34.:25:37.

Islami party for 15 years. The tribunal was set up in 2010 and this

:25:38.:25:41.

is one of the verdicts we have been waiting all day to hear whether or

:25:42.:25:47.

not this was going to happen, but it seems that Bangladesh has executed

:25:48.:25:51.

the top Islamist party leader for war crimes committed in 1971. More

:25:52.:25:57.

on the BBC website and all of our channels.

:25:58.:26:01.

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