13/04/2017 Outside Source

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

Donald Trump accused Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons -

Their West, mainly the United States, is hand in glove with the

terrorists, they fabricated the entire story.

This means the governments of America, Russia and Syria

all have completely different explanations of what

We'll go through what we can say with any certainty.

This is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb

Today they used it for the first time ever - in Afghanistan.

A European court has ruled there were serious failings

in Russia's handling of the Beslan school siege in 2004.

We'll hear from our correspondent in Istanbul ahead of the Turkish

If the vote is yes, President Erdogan will become

If you have points you want to pick up on you can contact us on social

media. On every edition of outside source

we pull together all the elements of all the most relevant stories. One

of our reporters has been speaking about -- Bashar al-Assad has been

talking about the alleged chemical weapons attack.

Stage one, the propaganda, stage two, the military attack, that is

what we believe is happening. Only 48 hours between the play and the

attacks, no investigation, no concrete evidence about anything.

The only thing was allegations and propaganda and then a strike.

was fabricated to justify US military action.

Multiple sources suggest over 80 people died.

Independent tests on some victims show the presence

It's also important to note that this new Syrian claim

contradicts this Russian account of what happened.

According to the objective data of the Russian airspace

control, Syrian aviation struck a large terrorist warehouse

that housed a warehouse making bombs, with toxic substances.

BBC Arabic's Presenter is Rasha Qandeel.

She watched the full interview and told me what she thought.

It puts Bashar al-Assad between Russia and the United States. That

puts a limit to what Trump will go for it in the next attack, if

anything will happen in air strikes. If it is not a chemical attack it is

above the line, anything below that is in the eyes of Bashar al-Assad

permitted and can be talked about. It puts them in between Russia and

the United States, three different versions of what happened. He did

not offer evidence to back up his claims. No, he did not, but he

considers that the two countries that carried on the tests are not

independent part of the story. He considers Turkey carrying on the

tests, saying there were traces of sarin on the victims, he is saying

it is not an independent test and analysis. I want to show the viewers

another clip from that interview. Bashar al-Assad talked about the

broader issue of whether Syria has chemical weapons. We give up our

arsenal three years ago. Even if we have then we would not use them. We

have never used our chemical arsenal in our history. He made a deal with

the Russians to hand over his chemical arsenal, presumably that is

monitored at the time? There was no way that this could be monitored the

way it should have been monitored, but Rex Tillerson was quite sharp

and criticising Russia in failing to monitor the attack, or the

dismantling of Syrian arsenal when it comes to chemical weapons. From

2015 until today there are several allegations of chemical attacks. On

the ground there is no concrete evidence that this arsenal was

dismantled at all. The interview today is putting Russia in a very

critical position in front of the international community, especially

after Russia vetoed the UN Security Council resolution if you days ago.

This is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb that the USA has.

This was huge interest to my colleagues in the BBC newsroom and

Afghanistan. Let us just reiterate what is being

said. This is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb and it has

just been used for the first time in a conflict. You can see the province

where it was dropped on the Afghanistan. Also, this picture is

the one that the US defence Department has supplied to

illustrate what the weapon is like. Let us bring in a BBC correspondent.

Thank you for being with us. Lots of people will be watching and

wondering why have the Americans decided to use the snow?

There is two reasons. One is the level of frustration with the fact

that this is a conflict that has bogged down in America for 15 years.

There are still 9000 American forces bear, a lot of Nato forces there as

well. They are ostensibly there to help train Afghan local forces, but

they are suffering heavy losses and are unable to hold territory that

they take from the Taliban and other insurgents. The reason that this

bomb was used in this particular place is because this is where

so-called Islamic State, or an offshoot of Islamic State, is said

to be entrenched, in this vast complex of caves and tunnels, which

link the Afghan border to Pakistan. They are apparently able to move

with impunity from place to place and escape being detected or

contained by Allied forces on the ground. This bomb was dropped

because the shock wave apparently is so huge that it can actually

penetrate the ground and kill anybody inside those tunnels. Their

commander of US forces in Afghanistan said that it was the

right munition to use in this case. Was wasn't him who made the decision

or would that have gone all the way to the White House?

This is a very good question. We simply do not know the answer. The

White House itself, spokesman Sean Spicer, batted away that question,

said ask the Pentagon, Donald Trump was asked directly if you moments

ago, he said, we know what has happened, I have given my commanders

sweeping authority, that is why we are doing well, but not answering

the question, did you authorise the use of this weapon or not? There is

a certain amount of evasiveness coming from the White House at the

moment and we are not really sure why.

We will be talking later in the programme as well.

13 years ago, 330 people died in the Beslan school siege.

Today a European court found that Russia mishandled the crisis.

First let's look again at what happened.

Beslan is a town in the south west of Russia.

It's not far from the Chechen border.

These are pictures from September 2004.

Chechen rebels took more than 1,000 people hostage at the school.

They wanted Russian troops to pull out of Chechnya.

Three days later Russian security forces stormed the school.

By the time the operation was finished, about

By the time the operation was finished, over

This is one woman who was taken hostage with her two

TRANSLATION: At the beginning, I was telling my children

and the other kids, don't worry, the authorities will save us.

The children started asking, haven't they decided yet?

I said, no, it is difficult because they need to

When I came around after the blast, one daughter was sitting by my side.

When I touched her, I found there was a hole in her head.

I saw her wound but I did not realise that no one

All the attackers were killed except one man.

Now a Russian inquiry into the siege is still ongoing.

But it's already found officials acted in a lawful manner.

And police officers were either given amnesty or acquitted.

That prompted hundreds of survivors and relatives of victims to take

a case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Here's the court posting online that it had

found serious failings in the Russian

It also awarded more than $3 million in compensation.

Here's the lawyer who brought the case giving her reaction.

The victims will be relieved and pleased that they have been

vindicated. It is a strong judgment. Russia failed to undertake an

effective investigation. The Government has been ordered by the

court in a rather unusual step to reinvestigate, particularly into the

use of force, which is the thing that the applicants were most

concerned about, because that was what caused the deaths.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford has the latest from Moscow.

I asked the president was man -- I asked the President's sportsmen what

he thought of the ruling, he said it was not acceptable. -- spokesperson.

They said they would appeal the ruling, they said the ruling of the

court did not match the evidence that was presented by the Russian

Government. In a while we will hear from a

correspondent in North Korea amid speculation the country could be

preparing for another nuclear test. The Education Secretary Justine

Greening has defended plans to push ahead with new grammar schools

in England - saying she wants to create schools that

are "truly open to all". In a speech this morning,

she said she wanted grammar schools to serve more children

from disadvantaged backgrounds. Selection in new 21st-century state

grammar schools will add to the options available to young people to

make them -- to help them make the most of their talents. I don't

accept the arguments from those who critique clamorous and selection

while simultaneously ignoring those parents. On the one hand they call

for new grammar schools, on the other hand they have nothing to say

about the ones that we do have. They are not listening to the choices of

parents when we know how oversubscribed grammars are.

This is Outside Source live from the BBC newsroom.

Syria's President Assad says reports of a chemical attack by his forces

last week are 100% fabrication and there was no order

Two women charged with assassinating the half-brother of North Korea's

leader, have appeared in court in Malaysia.

The two suspects are accused of smearing a deadly toxin

They have said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank.

BBC World Service reports that heavy rain and strong winds have reached

the East of New Zealand's North Island.

The country has been hit by the worst storm

More than eight thousand homes are without power and fallen trees

Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan are three of the biggest banks -

and they've just delivered results for the first three

Profits are up by a whopping 17% at Citi

and by the same amount at JPMorgan which made nearly $6

It's because their trading floors are getting busier

Two things that are doing well for the banks, one is the rise in

interest rates, resulting in the fact that we are seeing more money

coming in from lending, the other is trading, the trading desks are doing

really well. The stock market has been trading at all-time highs.

Banking stocks particularly happy doing extremely well.

We now know that the passenger who was dragged off a United flight

on Sunday suffered concussion, a serious broken nose, sinus damage

And today the family gave a press conference.

Just treat us with respect, make us feel that you care. I must say I

don't believe it's limited to the airline industry. I think corporate

America needs to understand that we all want to be treated in the same

manner, with the same respect, the same dignity, that they would treat

their own family members. If they do that, wouldn't it be great? Will

there be a lawsuit? Yes, probably. Very, very probably.

It has been a difficult time for all of us, particularly for my father,

and we are grateful for your support.

What happened to my dad should never have happened to any

human being, regardless of the circumstance.

We were horrified and shocked and sickened to learn what

had happened to him and to see what had happened to him.

Surely a certainty there will be legal action?

We can expect legal action. The lawyer is already hosting a press

conference with the daughter of the person involved, the person removed

from the plane, David Dao. The question is what happens on the

other side? Will United airlines get support either publicly or privately

from other airlines because what is at stake is this policy that we have

seen banks airlines about overbooking, and whether if somebody

has a ticket, they can essentially be ticked off a plane. This is the

business question that concerns the airline industry. Of course they are

also facing not just potential lawyers, but potential federal

scrutiny. There is a congressional lawmakers know talking about this

question of over again. It was interesting to hear the

lawyer brother that much further out to issues of how corporate America

behaves, all from that one incident on a plane. I am guessing some

people would push back at that and analysis.

At the moment if you think about who is in the White House as well, you

have got a businessman, so it will be interesting to see, given how

pro-business the current administration seems to be, whether

or not that flies. But public sentiment was certainly stirred by

this incident, so much so that it had a knock-on effect on United's

share price. The question is, going forward, doesn't have any wider

significance? That is harder to prove that on the case of

overbooking it will be a scrutiny that the airline industry as a whole

does not want to address because for them, and sold seats, seats that are

left empty, cost them money. Three days to go until Turkey's

referendum on expanding He'd gain the power to appoint

ministers, to prepare the budget, choose the majority of senior judges

and to enact certain laws by decree. And for good measure he'd able

to announce a state of emergency Our correspondent said it was

difficult to find any promotion of a no vote. I have been talking to him,

I wanted to know if this was evidence there is a far greater

infrastructure behind the Yes campaign.

It certainly does. The Yes campaign, the Erdogan campaign, overwhelmingly

dominates. The billboards, posters, airwaves. And it is in vast swathes

of the country that you will struggle to find no posters. That is

more serious for no campaigners, some of whom have been attacked, set

upon by angry mobs, they have had their posters removed by police.

There is clearly an attempt by the Yes campaign, the Government

campaign, to drown out the alternative, but what is quite

extraordinary when you speak to those surveying, it is impossible to

call thus, it polarises this country. One side of the country

reviews President Erdogan with a depth of devotion that I have never

seen for another Democratic leader. The other side of the country

believes he has ruined what is left of Turkish democracy, they see him

as authoritarian, locking up dissenters and journalists, and

moving away from a secular constitution. The fact that this is

becoming referendum on President Erdogan is why it is so polarised

down the middle. This may already be over, decided by

the Turkish diaspora who voted last Sunday?

That vote has increased this time since the last time Turkey voted,

which was the general election in 2015. There has been a bigger

increase in parts of Europe like Germany and Holland. That is where

it is thought there are more Erdogan supporters. They are older

immigrants that were guest workers who went over in the 1960s in 1970s

from Turkey and they are more focal in support of Erdogan. If that

thought is higher that would suggest a higher vote for President Erdogan

and the pressure for the No campaign is trying to get people to come out

in in Turkey because if there was a high turnout in Turkey, that could

benefit the No campaign, according to surveys. There is normally a high

turnout, 80-85%, if it is higher, it's making people who absolutely

want to stop Erdogan in his tracks. It'll be a fascinating race on

Sunday and we will continue to watch this year and across BBC World News

and the BBC Channel. If you are online I advise you to go

and read Mark's comprehensive article on that referendum. You can

find that on the news app and the website.

Nasa has revealed it's discovered an underground ocean

The BBC's Science Editor David Shukman has the story.

A spacecraft sailing around the rings of Saturn.

This is animation. But this is a genuine photograph. One of countless

stunning images gathered over the past 13 years of the mission, sites

that are totally new to the human eye. More surprising either moons

around Saturn, more than 60 of them, but this one, covered in ice, is the

most astonishing, because beneath its cracked surface we know know

there is an ocean, and blasting out of it are great jets of water,

containing exactly the kind of chemicals that are needed for life.

The reason it is so exciting as it is no thought of as one of the

places in the solar system where life might be able to form. We have

got water, heat, organic material, and deaf people want to go back.

Saturn, with its rings, is perhaps the most striking of planets. -- and

because of that people want to go back.

The spacecraft stands nearly seven metres tall. It set out in 1997,

arriving at Saturn in 2004, it has been studying the planet ever since.

Now comes the most spectacular stage of all as the spacecraft orbits

inside the famous rings. We know know they are made of pieces of ice

and rock, ranging from tiny specks, to lump the size of houses, and

flying this course will give as unprecedented use of the rings, and

of Saturn itself. -- view the Mac. Jeremy Bowen has arrived on set in

the newsroom. If you have any questions on about the interview

with President Assad or his recent trip to Iraq, you can contact him.

We will talk to him in a few minutes.

Just before the top of the hour there will be a detailed look at the

UK forecast, but know a look at stories around the world. In the