Episode 19 Super League Show

Shirts to do the same. So if de Thaksin Shinawatra's sister wins,

will you accept she has a legitimate mandate to govern?

would say that she gets the first shot at governing the country,

because she has already said she will not work with this or that

party, so the numbers will determine who will form the

government. If any party wins the most number of seats it gets the

first shot. Obviously if it wins an outright majority all these

questions are academic. Dear leader she wins a majority and forms a

government, do you believe that government will, in essence, be

controlled by her brother Thaksin Shinawatra? They are already

campaigning on that - that somehow he will be in control and the

priority will be to whitewash him. She says that she is considering a

general amnesty and that... I think that comes after there has been a

strong reaction against the proposal made earlier by a party

member assigned to do this work that there will be a push to bring

Thaksin Shinawatra back. But she is not saying that. Back I have spoken

to her myself, she says they will be no special treatment for toxins

in a white truck... Does that mean everyone on corruption charges will

be whitewashed? I am asking you to tell me how you would react if

Thaksin Shinawatra was able to come back. I am telling you that if

Perse -- her party came out and said they would whitewash and there

would be a strong reaction against it, so they are now going for a

general amnesty. Airlines are expected to resume

flights between Australia and New Zealand on Monday after a five-day

disruption caused by an ash cloud from Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano

out of Chile. Hundreds of flights were cancelled. Some normality was

restored a few days later but the cash came back again, causing many

cancellations on Wednesday. China and Vietnam have again

pledged to solve their dispute over the South China Sea through

negotiation. Diplomats from both sides met in Beijing on Saturday

but no details of the meeting were released. The countries have a

history of territorial disputes, but they have recently become much

more hostile. The President of Sudan, Omar al-

Bashir, who is wanted by the Criminal Court on crimes against

humanity, arrives in China in a few hours for a state visit. China is

the largest buyer of the country's oil, and they have called the visit

"reasonable". Omar al-Bashir it is standing against charges of war

crimes. The ethnic Chinese population in

Paris say they are being systematically attacked and robbed

of which is driving them to seek greater police protection.

Community leaders say that at least one robbery is being committed

every day, often with violence. This is corroborated by city

officials. This man runs a successful business,

a driving school. He has been viciously attacked twice and had

his nose broken. TRANSLATION: This kind of attack

happens all the time, especially to Asians. My wife had her mobile

phone stolen at least five times. Every day people are being attacked

and beaten. These photographs were taken after the muggings. He showed

me more than 80 police reports of attacks in less than a year. Many

victims don't go to the police because they are illegal immigrants.

The problem has become so bad that thousands of members of this

normally shy community have been out on the streets calling for

tougher policing. They are regularly attacked. Especially

Chinese people - not because of racist reasons, but because

criminals haiminals hartunity to earn money easily because Chinese

people often carry cash - a lot of cash. Many Chinese people run shops

or restaurants so they tend to be relatively prosperous. Officials

say their attackers are often of immigrant descent themselves, from

other communities. What is really shocking is that this is happening

not in the notoriously violent suburbs, but here in Paris itself.

In an area which, until a couple of years ago, was held up as a model

of multicultural harmony. Now the police say they have put more

officers on the streets but budgets are limited. Residents say they are

not here when their owners needed - at night when the streets are

deserted. -- when they are most needed. Victims say the muggings

are becoming more violent and people are fed up with living in

fear. You have news about the apparent

demise of a notorious group of computer hackers?

It is an unexpected development. This is a group of computer hackers

which targeted major websites around the world and has now

announced it is disbanding. It gained attention due to its high-

profile targets and the sarcastic videos on its site. They have not

given a reason for quitting, but they are being investigated by the

FBI and Scotland Yard, which just last week arrested a British

teenager as part of the inquiry. A senior security adviser of an

internet security firm believes they faltered because the pressure

was getting to them. I think it is fair to assume that with he turned

up after going after several major corporations -- heat.... There are

a lot of people looking for them. In the last few weeks, rival groups

on the internet have been annoyed by these guys and have been tried

to find out their identities and reveal them to the public and

potentially to law enforcement. It may be that they heat was getting a

little too hot and they decided to exit.

There have been violent clashes in the Argentine capital of Buenos

Aires following the relegation of the River Plate football club for

the first time in its 110 year history. Fans clashed with riot

police outside the stadium. An ugly end to River Plate's worst-ever

season. These violent scenes at the end of the match reveal a club in

turmoil, on and off the pitch. This was again which River Plate had to

win by two clear goals to avoid the drop in to division before the

first time in their long and illustrious history. -- division B.

The match was held with tight security, and River Plate fans soon

had something to celebrate. A powerful drive just six minutes

into the match suggested that one of Argentina's great first teams

may still pull off a great escape. In the second half the equaliser

came to seal River Plate's fate and plunge them into the second year of

Argentine football. A late penalty miss only compounded the misery --

second here. -- second level. Water cannons were fired into the stands

as River Plate's disillusioned supporters vented months of

frustration at what they see as serious mismanagement by the club's

hierarchy. The violence then spilled onto the streets around the

stadium. Tear-gas was used and riot police were deployed. Some shops in

the centre of the city were attacked and dozens of injuries

have been reported. River Plate must now rebuild - a relegated team

with a damaged reputation. You have been watching Newsday.

The headlines: The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao says that China

will help European countries experiencing financial difficulties.

During a visit to Britain he said that China has increased its

investment in government bonds from some EU countries, demonstrating

Beijing's continuing confidence in the eurozone.

That's all from us from London and Singapore. There is much more on

our website. It has been a day of contrasts

today. For many we have seen some sunshine and it has been the

warmest day of the year so far. 29.2 degrees is the top temperature

in London. Cool and cloudy with rain into Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Temperatures here down to 17 degrees. As we head into Monday

it looks as though the humidity will rise yet again and it will

turn thundery later today because of the heat. We sit with the blue

skies to start across England and Wales to start. Scotland and

Northern Ireland cloudy with some scattered showers abound. We will

start dry across Wales with sunshine and a mild start to the

day. A gentle breeze across Northern Ireland and dry to start.

Across Scotland also largely dry and fairly cloudy for Monday

morning. We have some remnants of the weak weather front across the

south-eastern areas of Scotland. To the south of that the warm air will

push northwards and the two will collide, triggering some heavy

showers through Monday. For most on Monday you can see across England

it is clear, blue skies. 24 degrees the temperature we start with in

London. It goes up from there. We will start the day with some

showers affecting the south-western part of England. These showers will

advance north-east, perhaps pushing into Wales through the day. Then

they showers will break out across south-east Scotland and towards the

north-east of England as well. We will see another spell of showers

pushing up from the near continent. They might have a bit of a

lightning display. High teens across Scotland and Ireland. In

England we could get up to 30 degrees - very hot indeed. The hot

weather for south-eastern England is likely to trigger some showers

as we head through Monday evening. Thunderstorms from the east and

some torrential downpours. They will push eastwards as we go

through the early hours of Tuesday. The yellow and green showing some

intense downpours, and this is where the humidity will be. You can

see 18-19 in the east and cooler for the west - 9-13 degrees. In

Tuesday we will lose the last of those showers in the east. Then we

are into a fresh air mass on Tuesday. Temperatures in the high

teens-mid-20s. Largely dry on Tuesday with spells of sunshine.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 59 seconds

For the rest of the week it will be This is BBC News. The headlines:

The Chinese Prime Minister has said that China will lend a helping hand

to European countries experiencing financial difficulties. During a

visit to Britain he said that China had continuing confidence in the

eurozone and acknowledged that China's trade surplus was bad for

global stability. Rebels in western Libya say they

are consolidating their position near to Tripoli. Rebels in eastern

area say that they are ready to discuss a political settlement with

the government in Tripoli if Colonel Gaddafi and his circle

leave power. The trial of the four surviving

senior members of the Khmer Rouge has begun in the capital, Phnom

Penh. The defendants face charges of genocide, crimes against

humanity and war crimes over the best of 2 million people during Pol

Pot's regime in the 70s. -- the death of.

The Education Secretary has warned that teachers in England and Wales

taking strike next Thursday will harm the reputation of their

profession. Thousands of teachers are expected to walk out over

changes to their pensions. Michael Gove says the action would be a

mistake. They do not look like they are

angry and planning for the ultimate action. Some of the teachers at

this gathering in Surrey know they are on the brink of a mass walkout.

They are among 750,000 workers who believe the march against the cuts

was not enough. They are planning industrial action on Thursday,

which could shut down the school system. It is something the

Education Secretary believes parents will find it hard to

forgive. Let's not have the sort of militancy that will disturb family

life for hundreds of thousands of across the country and will mark a

retrograde step for the profession. It's the dispute is over pensions.

The Government believes that population changes make the current

arrangements arms that -- unsustainable and a new deal on

public sector pensions is crucial, especially if numbers are to adopt

on reducing the deficit. But the teaching unions claimed the

proposals mean paying more in and maybe getting less out when

retirement comes. One has accused the Government of stealing. If the

Government gets away with doing a Robert Maxwell on our pensions,

there will be no honourable teaching profession. Good teachers

will not want to enter the profession because it will not be

worth it. Union negotiators are due here tomorrow to meet with the

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude. For the Association of

Teachers and Lecturers is the first time in over 100 years that its

members have gone on a national strike. But the Government has

little room to manoeuvre on this. Rewriting the pensions funds, it

says, it is a key part of its deficit reduction plan.

That's it from me but now it is time for HARDtalk.

Thailand's divisions are defined by colour. These range jetted

opponents of the current government are followers of former Prime

Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted five years ago in a military coup.

He has since been convicted of corruption and lives in Dubai. But

his shadows still hangs over it Thai politics. Not least because

his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is now leading the main

opposition party into the elections. Though a political novice, she

could beat Thailand's next Prime Minister. She would not sit down

for a HARDtalk into view but I did manage to grab a few words. How

confident are you of winning this election? I am confident. But there

are still more -- two more weeks to go. We have to visit more people.

We have to make sure that our policy has been explained. What is

your basic message to the Thai people? We will help them to

improve the wealth of the country. That is the way to generate income.

Our policy is good for all people. Do you want your brother to come

back to Thailand? My first priority will be to help the country. My

brother would not get any benefits, special benefits. He will get the

same as anybody. I will not set the policy for my family. I was set the

policy for solving pylon's polis -- problems. Many of your supporters

and many of the Red Shirts want to see your brother come home. If you

are the leader, you could do that. I have to do the country benefit

first. Thank you very much. Wander around the streets of

central Bangkok and by day, amid all of the traffic and the high-

rise construction and the shopping malls, and you get a sense of a

fast-growing Asian economy. And yet just one year ago, these very

streets were the scene of a bitter confrontation between protesters

and the Thai army. Just over there you can see a building that is

still under repair, having been burnt out a year ago. More than 90

people were killed in that violence. The question is, could it happen

again? My guest today is the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit

Vejajjiva. Could Thailand's development be derailed by

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, welcome to HARDtalk. Pleasure.

Thailand's recent history has been disfigured by military coups, and

political violence. Do you accept that this coming election is a

massive test of Thailand's commitment to democracy? It is a

test for that. I am confident that the country will prove to the rest

of the world that our democracy is maturing and is resilient. You talk

about the history of Thailand, having troubled political ties. We

have also proven that the Thai economy has been remarkably

resilient. We have turned things around from the impact of the

global financial crisis very quickly. We have got very low

unemployment. All indicators are showing the strength and stability

of the economy. Sure. But the markets are also desperate to see

long-term stability. I would say that right now they are not

convinced. There is uncertainty. There is uncertainty every time

there is an election because there is competition. There is an

atmosphere of uncertainty in the markets. But after the elections

things will become clearer. Yes. An interesting comment. The truth is,

the opinion polls seem to have a clear message in the run-up to the

elections. That is, you enjoy Democrat Party are behind. Why is

that? We are slightly behind. I think we suffer like all government

suffer in times where people face higher prices. They look to the

government to help them. But we are taking our message out. We're

saying that there is a lot we are already doing to help them in terms

of subsidising cooking gas, making sure that diesel price does not get

out of control. At the same time we have got concrete policies to

increase people's income, the minimum wage... Let me stop you

there. You have just mentioned a series of policy which struck me as

reminiscent of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Appealing to the poor. The difference is that you do not

appear to succeed. That is not true. Everybody needs to work for the

people. The poor are the ones who need help first. When we address

the economic crisis a couple of years ago, it was clear that our

programme was designed to help the most vulnerable. Here is what one

very senior Thai politicians said to me about you. He said, the

problem is, Abhisit Vejajjiva never looked comfortable when he is in a

rice paddy. Well... You find it difficult to connect with the poor

rural Thai people. I find that odd. This is the eight election campaign

I have been involved in. I need a lot of people, rural people mostly.

You should have followed me out there. I thought you would come

with me. You will see how we can get. It is not easy when you are

very educated, have that sort of elite background. But I have spent

20 years with the people. As soon as I graduated, I spent a year

working at a university. When I was old enough the first thing I did

was to run for a seat in Parliament. Ever since, all of my work has been

connected with people. That is why it people understand that the

programmes that we have implemented are not the ones they want to lose.

But maybe they want a sense of radicalism that you are not able to

offer. There is, it seems, a feeling in this country that the

gap between rich and poor is simply too wide. You should look at the

numbers. For the first time when we have economic crisis, we have

engineered a recovery for the poor. It seems to me that what is at

stake in these were let -- election is a tide judgement on five

tumultuous years, going back to their 2006 Coupe, then the troubled

history of Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts and everything that

has come over those five years. I would like to ask you, do you

regret any of the things you have done as leader of your party and

Prime Minister with regard to the Red Shirts? Your decision to

confront them? If you look at the to use that I have been through, I

never started these confrontations. -- two years. I offered solutions.

I negotiated. I made solid proposals about early elections at

least three times. Every single time it was turned down because

there was nothing for Thaksin Shinawatra, particularly by the

amnesty, the red shirts, had elements of violence. You have

accused them of terrorism? That was after they engaged with armed

groups of people, firing and watching grenades at people and

officials. But my point is this. I made solid offers about early

elections, about how we might move the country for wit and address the

inequality issue. Every time it was rejected because there was nothing

for Thaksin Shinawatra. The bottom line is, that is what they want on

the top of their agenda. The Red Shirts have been manipulated. We

are trying to engage them into a dialogue. My point about the

violence is this. You talk about the violence of the Red Shirts. Let

us not forget there was also violence in 2008 sparked by the

yellow shirts. They took over two of Thailand's airports. They

besieged and attack the Prime Minister's office. There was a lot

of violence before you came to power. What many critics of your

government says, look at what Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva has done

to the Red Shirts. He has locked many of them are. Look at what he

has done to the yellow shirts. He has not overseen the conviction and

locking up of any of them. This is all according to the due process of

law. I have not interviewed with any of these cases. All I have said

is that they should speed things up. I have instructed the police and

all of the agencies concerned that they should move these cases

forward as best they can. Why do you believe they have moved so much

quicker? The cases against the Red Shirts back in 2007 are probably

more slow or as low as the yellow shirts in 2008. The reasons why

recent cases in recent events have been faster is because most of the

arrests were made on the spot. Whereas with the events of 2007-

hour wait is over stop the investigations need to probe into

the witnesses and so on. Could it be that there are some people

inside the Democrat Party who joined the yellow shirts? Could

that be a factor? I do not think so. I have instructed the police that

they should move ahead. My Foreign Minister has been charged. There is

no discrimination. Let me ask you about a basic truth in Thai

politics. Thaksin Shinawatra was convicted of corruption. He went

into self-imposed exile. Is it not true that Thaksin Shinawatra is

still a spectre who hangs over this country and in particular over your

political future? He has been Prime Minister for 5-6 years. A very

dominating figure in politics. He almost silenced the opposition. He

continues to dominate. Of course there has been some good things he

has done. Those are programmes that I have no hesitation in continuing

his they benefit the people. But that does not take away from the

fact that on his record there are corruption charges and convictions,

accusations of human rights abuse. Accusations of terrorism by some

close to you. Do you believe that Thaksin Shinawatra is responsible

for Quote unquote terrorism? He is responsible for inciting the red

shirts to come. There are good reasons to believe that the

violence that took place was something that he was well aware of

and did not stop. Where does that leave Thailand today? The poll say

that the party Pheu Thai Party led by his sister its may win this

election. That is for the Thai people to decide. They will make

that decision and we will respect We will all respect that decision?

Are you confident that is true. So if Yingluck Shinawatra wins, you

will accept she has a legitimate Mandrake to govern this country?

will say that she has the first shocked -- mandate. She has already

said she will not work with this or that party, so the numbers will

dictate who forms the government. If any party wins the most number

of seats it gets there first shop. If it wins an outright majority

these questions are academic -- shot. Do you believe that if she

wins a majority that the government will, in essence, be controlled by

her brother Thaksin Shinawatra? Well, they are already campaigning

that somehow he will be in control and their priority is to whitewash

him. She says that she is considering a general amnesty and

that it will... I think that comes after there has been a strong

reaction over the proposal made earlier by her party that there

will be a law passed to bring Thaksin Shinawatra back. She is not

saying that... The first thing she assigned on this issue... I spoke

to her myself... She said that there will be no special treatment

bought Thaksin Shinawatra... Does that mean that everybody who is on

corruption charges will be whitewashed? I am asking you how

you would react about the general amnesty. The pure Thai party came

out and spoke clearly that they intended to whitewashed Thaksin

Shinawatra -- Pheu Thai Party. he is allowed to come back, do you

believe the army will accept it? hope that whoever wins the

elections would not put his interests before the people's and

the country's. I would strongly advise against such a move. It

would bring instability and more conflict. It is the last thing

people need. People on their issues addressed. Issues about high prices,

about drugs. We should work to make sure there is a government to

address those issues rather than stick with Thaksin Shinawatra's

politics. You are being diplomatic and entering in your own way, but I

think the people would like an answer - you think there is bound

to be political instability if an effort is made to bring Thaksin

Shinawatra back to this country. think, and I am saying this to the

people of Thailand and the rest of the world, we should not encourage

a government who puts one man's interest before the people's. We do

not want it to happen and we hope on 3rd July the Thai people will

show was it is not what they want. I spoke to the former Thai Prime

Minister on this issue and he said that he hoped that the army would

not intervene in the case of eight Pure type of position victory. --

Pheu Thai Party opposition victory. It was a different situation. I

came out against the group. I was probably the first leader in

Thailand to come out against the coup. So they should not for one

second consider intervention, if Yingluck Shinawatra and the pure

Thai party win this election? is right. Let strengthen our

democracy. -- pure Type party. had the cheek of the army going on

television a few nights ago and saying - this is a quote - I want

to tell the media, do not cause problems for this country. Do you

think that sort of relationship between the military, public life

and politics is acceptable? -- the chief of the military. You have to

put things in perspective. We have an independent commission who is

overseeing it. Why does the army need to run television... We passed

a law that will now set up a commission that will we allocate

these natural resources... This has got to change. You have said to the

army - you will not be a dominant figure any more in the media. Would

you like to take this opportunity to tell the army chief that he

should not be going on television making veiled threats? I think that

is very unfair on what he said. We have got stations and parts of the

media, some people here in Thailand call it a fake media, which are

inciting people to violence. That is the kind of activity he is

warning about. Is that why you close down 13 community radio

stations, which Human Rights Watch said was another egregious example

of censorship in this country? station has been closed for its

political views. Well, they all happened to be sympathetic to the

Red Shirts. So many media sensitive to the Red Shirts are not... It is

a remarkable coincidence - 13 radio stations and all of them were

sympathetic. They were inciting violence against the state. I think

many of them seemed to fall foul of the latest Majesty laws, didn't

they? Me at is part of the Criminal Code and security law. -- that his

our part. Just for those who were not familiar with the majesty laws,

let's remind ourselves - article 112 of the criminal code says that

whether the fames, insults or threatens the king, queen, era

apparent, will be subject to imprisonment up to 15 years. Do you

think that, when we are talking about reforming high society, that

law needs to be looked at and changed? It is certainly being

looked at in the form of making sure that enforcement of that law

is not being abused. I set up a special advisory council to look

into this because I think, in the past, the law had been either

abused or too liberally interpreted. You say you are considering reforms

and you have a committee looking at it, when reporters Without borders,

a campaign group looking at press freedom, they say this law has been

used to target all media that is close to or support the opposition.,

that is not true. You have to look at the context. They're not being

taken to court, they are not being prosecuted because of political

views. It is hard to take your position seriously when so many

independent observers from outside, and I quote ahead of human Rights

Watch Asia, they say that you have become the most fervent sense that

in recent high history. That is not true. When I was in the opposition

are hardly had in the media space during Thaksin Shinawatra's time.

These days you see opposition figures on newspapers, television,

radio all the time. We cannot tolerate comments that incite

violence or violate laws. Is it time, and this law is about doing

damage to the king and his family, is it time to have an open and

transparent debate about the future of the constitutional monarchy in

this country's which is why I set up this special committee. -- this

is why I set up the special committee. That is why. I am

talking about the former Prime Minister - he says that, frankly,

the mark and the people around him are revered and respected, but they

have to learn that respect and it is time to be more open about the

way the monarchy is run. And we are saying that these kind of

discussions are OK. You want a full and frank discussion... To the rest

of the world, first of all you have to make a distinction between

academic opinions and political opinions about the role of the

monarchy and comments that basic week are wild allegations that

caused damage -- that basically our wild allegations. The monarchy has

no self-protection mechanism. We don't want them to be party to

conflict with the people. That is why this law exists. We want to

make sure the law is not abused. The work towards that goal began

during my government. Before we end, let's look forward for a few days.

Neither of us can be sure how this election will turn out. It will

probably be very close. I talked at the beginning about the history of

political instability in this country. Do you fear there may be

more instability? More violence after the selection? I know there

are people who are willing to use violence and cause instability. I

will do all I can to make sure it doesn't happen and I am confident

that Thai democracy and Thai society and the people in Thailand

will Brussels to be resilient. you will do all you can even if you

lose? -- will prove to be. And if you win - you have talked about

reform and your intentions to reform - how profound will the

change be in the next 4-5 years Abhisit Vejjajiva is Prime

Minister? I been I will tackle all the structural issues. Including

the military? Well, the military - you mention that - it is funny.

They have been dominating in some security policies in the south

during Thaksin Shinawatra's years. We changed that and they co-

operated. The work has already begun. I will move the country

forward and tackle the more difficult issues, structural issues.

Once that I didn't have sufficient time in my first termtoo. Five

years, to face. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva - thank you for

Abhisit Vejjajiva - thank you for being on HARDtalk.

Many places have had heatwave conditions and they continue today.

Very humid today, it will trigger some heavy thunderstorms. Scotland

and Northern Ireland is cloudy with patchy rain. A hot it comes

northwards and it will trigger some heavy showers. England and Wales

start hot and sunny. Showers in the south-west. This hot weather

extends up the eastern coast to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The

highs are in the 30s. As we head through Monday evening they

humidity Klein's in the south-east and will draw up some showers. --

she admitted he climbs. Some hail and thunder may be likely from this.