23/05/2016 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.

Our lead story is both concern the Islamic state group.

In Syria, it's launched a number of deadly bomb attacks in two

government strongholds on the Mediterranean coast.

And in Iraq, the army has begun to try and retake Falluja from IS.

We'll talk to BBC Arabic on both stories.

It wouldn't usually be a big story but he only very narrowly beat this

man, who would have been the European Union's first

Jeremy Bowen has been to investigate Kurdish claims that Turkish forces

massacred 100 civilians in Southeast turkey.

And then the last Manchester United has confirmed that Louis van Gaal

has been sacked. Two major stories related

to the Islamic State group In Iraq. A government move to retake Falluja

from the militants has begun. First though to Syria MOVE

because at least 78 people have been killed by a series

of bombs targeting two government strongholds -

the towns of Tartous and Jableh. It's a significant moment -

these are places that have been largely untouched unaffected

by the war. from Jableh in the moments

after an attack. A hospital was among the targets -

and IS has claimed responsibility. Also relevant is that Russia has

a naval base in Tartous and an airbase near Jableh -

it's from there that it's conducted air strikes in Syria

in support of the government. Faisal Irshaid from BBC Arabic has

been helping me on both stories. It's very significant because we

haven't seen these attacks in the past. These two provinces have been

more or less in isolation. The fact that they carried out these

large-scale attacks and we have seen more than 78 people dead and even

according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is really a

large scale. It raises a lot of questions on whether there are

security breaches are not, so whoever carried out the attack was

able to transport weapons from neighbouring provinces without the

knowledge of the Syrian forces. How far is this city from Islamic state

territory? We are talking about more than 30 miles sort is quite far.

Some people are saying that maybe these attacks were carried out by

people in these towns, collaborators of the Islamic state. Even if that

was the case, even if that is the scenario, we are still seeing a

security breach because this was thought to be a stronghold and the

fact it was carried out without anyone noticing is the big thing. We

have seen car bombs and suicide attacks but this is the first time

we have seen here and they targeted a very busy place, hospitals in both

cities, and also one of the suicide bomb attackers targeted a hospital,

which led to the death of women, children and men. We want to talk

about Iraq as well, because the government has begun this push to

take back Falluja from Islamic state. Falluja is highly symbolic

and close to Baghdad, less than an hour away, and also the first city

in a rack to fall to Islamic state. We knew this was going to happen for

a while, what skill of operation Desert? It is quite a big operation,

so since the fall of Falluja to Islamic state in January the

government have tried very hard to take control of the city. It has

been shelled by government forces but the field to take anything. This

time it seems they are determined to take over the city. They launched an

operation called break terrorism and they want once and for all to take

control of the city. They believe that if they take control of Falluja

it will be the first step to taking control of it all from IS. Is anyone

left living in Falluja? This is really a question I have been trying

to answer and we don't know the number of civilians in the city,

some say 60,000, some say 90,000, but we don't know the exact

estimate. The Iraqi government asked civilians to raise the white flag so

that once they enter they can try to differentiate between civilians and

IS operatives within the city. You can get coverage of that story

through BBC Arabic. Watching any of these stories, if you use this

hashtag the tweets come straight to me and I will do my best to get you

answers. Ice will switch to Austria next.

We have a winner in the Austrian election.

Not Norbert Hofer who would have been the EU's first

Instead the independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen won -

This is Norbert Hofer's Facebook page - he has accepted defeat -

and says he is sad, and that he would have taken care

It's a decision which has divided Austria.

Alexander Van der Bellen won the presidential election - just.

He is liberal, pro-EU and wants to welcome refugees.

TRANSLATION: I will represent Austria to the outside,

I will represent us as best as I can.

And again, I will try to stress the cooperative, what connects us.

And of course I want to be an opener of doors for the economy of Austria.

Mr Van der Bellen may struggle to unite his country.

Earlier today, we found his nationalist opponent at home

Regardless of the outcome, Norbert Hofer told us,

What does it say for Austria if you do win?

If I win, I have to try to keep Austria together.

If Van der Bellen wins, he has to try to keep

They may have lost the election, but his Freedom Party has

It is anti-EU, anti-migrant and it gained momentum

No wonder the eyes of Europe are on Austria.

Right-wing parties are gaining ground elsewhere as well -

France, Germany, Denmark, and so is disillusionment

at the established political mainstream.

TRANSLATION: There is a sea change in Europe, many people can't cope

The FPO is the only party that addresses this problem.

He tells us lies and it's not true what he says and it's not good.

The presidency of Austria is a largely ceremonial role -

nevertheless these elections may yet have wide reaching consequences.

This vote has split Austria right down the middle.

It's also exposed again the divisions at the heart

Norbert Hofer came within a hair's breath of winning the presidency

and for many that raises questions not just about the future

direction of this country, but of Europe itself.

I was mentioning our hashtag and we are in Bermuda for BBC world News

saying mailing ballots seem outdated. You are right to highlight

that because the postal votes were the difference. The result was the

other way around before they were counted. Is it outdated? I don't

think so. In the referendum on the European Union postal votes will

certainly be used to list is not uncommon.

Three climbers have have died on Mount Everest,

About 30 others have suffered frostbite or become

This is the first climbing season since the earthquake

Climbers have been taking advantage of good

conditions in large numbers, with nearly 400 reaching the summit

A Nepalese official said snow blindness, altitude sickness

and fatigue are very common health issues at high altitudes MOVE

although most people recover once they descend the mountain.

Navin Singh Khadka, Environment Correspondent

The thing is, what people generally tell me is they use all the energy

up in the quest to reach the summit, and when they come down they are

exhausted, so in some cases people are really exhausted coming down and

by that time many of them will have used their oxygen as well, so coming

down can actually be more difficult and that they suffer. It is an

amazing number of people, almost 402 weeks. Is that what authorities

want? That is what they want because after two years, it is a mountain

destination. Having mountaineers is important for the economy, but

accidents also matter in terms of image and all that but having said

that, these kinds of incidents when people die, the problem is we don't

get an official enquiry and although the government higher liaison

officers to follow the teams very few actually go there, so for

example almost 50 officials were supposed to be at base camp

monitoring, but what I am told by my sources at base camp is only five of

them were doing their work. Others didn't go. Never the less you will

never be able to minimise risk to zero, it is a dangerous mountain and

some people will lose their lives. Yes, and therefore the issue is, are

we seeing many unprepared climbers, so the risk and also tempting

economy and money involved, so many are willing to pay money and go up,

but the issue is, are they prepared and qualified, and we're hearing the

government that they have this criteria that someone will have to

have this experience of claiming such a mountain but it has not been

implemented and I checked with the government officials who said, yes,

we have been thinking about it but it has yet to be implemented and so

you see these risks. Last week we were talking about the problems in

Venezuela, I want to make time to show you this latest report in a few

minutes time. Councillors in North Yorkshire have

approved per fracking to go ahead. Councillors voted 7-4 in favour and

it is the first time councillors and England have approved fracking since

a ban on the controversial technique was lifted in 2012 but councillors

have been criticising the decision. This decision is disastrous for

North Yorkshire. We have seen over the last two days powerful testimony

from local residents and university professors and medical

professionals. The fracking industry effort is allowed to let loose

across North Yorkshire will decimate the countryside and ruin the local

economy and bring health and environmental impact for local

people. North Yorkshire County Council or is today have turned

their back on the wishes of local people to support the oil and gas

industry. We'll come back. Our lead story

concerns the The state group Islamic State

group says it carried on two Syrian cities

in President Assad's The area has been regarded

as comparatively safe we can quickly look at some of the

main stories from BBC World Service. As you expect, BBC Vietnamese

is reporting on President He's lifted a ban on selling weapons

to the Vietnamese government - saying the ban was a lingering

vestige of the Cold War. In Thailand, at least 17 girls have

been killed by a fire The cause of the fire

isn't yet known. A new study says that Lego products

are becoming increasingly violent - with toy weapons included

in 30% of kits. The researchers say it

reflects a broader trend Lego says conflict is a natural part

of a child's development. There's a major political

and economic crisis in Venezuela. Campaigners want the president

to go, inflation is And right in the middle of this -

the President ordered what's thought to be the biggest military exercises

ever conducted in the They were this weekend -

here's Wyre Davies in Caracas. We've never been more prepared

to defend our borders, said President Maduro as Venezuelan

troops and civilian militias this week in Tempe

did operation Independence, exercises to prepare the country

for eminent invasion. Where the threats come from isn't

clear but blaming foreign governments,

the US in particular, for Venezuela's economic

and political crisis is very much But this is a crisis made in

Venezuela and people are suffering. In hospitals with power cuts and

acute shortages, patients told me they could only have operations

if they provide their own supplies. Parents having to buy an ill fitting

mask to keep a sick child alive. Beneath a makeshift

accident and emergency Doctor say the system

is close to collapse. We have power cuts everyday

and we haven't had basic supplies like saline

solutions for months. I often buy medicines

with And the shortages go much

deeper than medicines. Household goods are scarce,

and a country that became so dependent on oil revenues,

it couldn't cope with the price This woman needed nappies

for her child, but didn't know if I queue every single

day, she tells me. These days, there are almost

nothing on the shelves, President Maduro blames the chronic

shortages of food and other basic groups on business

elites and foreign deliberately destabilise his

socialist Government. Either way, these quues

are getting longer, the shortages more acute and a sense

of foreboding even greater. The Government says it

will use the security forces to defend

the Denouncing opposition

protesters as stooges for business interests

at home and abroad. That is where it feels primed

to explode, and international mediators have urged both sides

to talk before Latin America's most unstable nation descends

further into chaos. If you want more background on is

what is happening just that Venezuela into the search on the BBC

website. Bayer is a huge German

pharmaceutical company - and it's made a bid for the US

seeds company Monsanto. If it's successful, this

would create the largest agriculture $62 billion is the

value of the deal. The latest in a series of massive

argricultural mergers. ChemChina is buying

Switzerland's Syngenta. Dow

and DuPont have already merged. Let's talk about what is happening

here. Those are three deals were talking about so can we say there is

a pattern now established? Generally, when we see a lot of

mergers and acquisitions it is because there are some difficulties

in the sector, so with regards to these particular deals we are seeing

companies facing some difficult times in terms of earnings, not as

much in terms of revenue, so they feel good way to try to combat that

is to put their forces together which is why we are seeing some of

these kinds mergers. Difficult economic conditions and as well as

the strong you can -- US dollar. Lots of big mergers proposed and

they don't always go through so what are the obstacles between where we

are and the deal getting done? Regulators are definitely going to

be taking a look at these deals and we have just spoken before about

regulators stepping in and preventing some deals from

happening, so the fact we are seeing so much happening in one sector with

these three big deals announced, there will certainly be a lot of

regulators talking but also, you have to look at the companies

themselves and in the case of Bayer and Monsanto, investors have to be

convinced that if Bill is one thing I want to point out, if you look at

Monsanto and they share price it isn't trading as high as it would

have been given just how money is being offered by Bayer, so possibly

a signal that Monsanto investors are overly infused by the potential of

the deal. Keep us posted, thank you. Japan's central bank governor has

defended his controversial negative interest rate policy which he first

implemented in January this year. He'd signalled that he's

willing to cut rates even We announced in January that we

would actually implement this policy. It is still early May so all

know the impact of the financial market is quite clear already, in

May, but the prices will take some more time. I don't see it will take

one year or two years. It would have a clear impact on the economy soon.

If we judge necessary to achieve the target at the earliest possible

time, we can further ease monetary policy in three dimensions.

Quantity, quality and interest rate. Still enough room to do so.

Good and not so good news for Ryanair.

It is Europe's biggest budget airline and it's a big rise

But it's warning that profits will slow because of as concerns

about terrorism, and because of increased competition.

Here's one expert on the nature of RyanAir's business model.

They want to get 100% capacity if at all possible and over the last year

they reached 93% which was hired I suspect than any other airline. Most

of the rate at around 60-70 and are happy, but what they want is more

passengers per plane because for every passenger they can sell

additional services and they make a substantial part of their profits

from that, such as charging for advance booking and priority seats

and bags which can be very expensive, and they can sell hotels,

cars, insured and some lots of other things. If people hadn't there they

cannot sell them. Suited Booted helps vulnerable,

unemployed and low-income men into employment

by providing interview clothing. This is the story of that charity

and the people it helps. Our clients are all vulnerable so

they can be homeless, they can be long-term unemployed, and we set

them out with a sit, a shirt and tie and shoes before they go to the

interview, so people look good on the outside. I am feeling more

confident. My job is office-based. That is when is your interview? This

afternoon, one hour. With the sit I feel better.

We had the tailoring industry and we know how important this is for

confidence. All these suits are handmade and bespoke. They are just

four weddings, they have transformed lives. It has given me a bit more

confidence. Absolutely! Smash this interview hopefully. It looks great,

doesn't he? I quickly want to update you on the search for the Egypt Air

plane that is missing. There has been a development as Egyptian

officials say they spotted the plane on their radar one minute before it

crashed and the head of the National Wear navigation services has been

speaking to an Egyptian television channel who said they did not see

any swerving by the aircraft before it crashes. This raises the question

of why it wasn't mentioned beforehand. They say if the black

boxes are found intact they will be analysed in Egypt but if damaged

they will be found abroad. We will get you more detail on that but it

contradicts some reports that the plane was swerving a great deal.

Let's have a quick look at what is coming up in the next half of the

programme. We will be talking about this man, Louis van Gaal, sacked by

Manchester United, and a couple more reports and correspondence from

around the world, in a few