:00:11. > :00:15.A video has emerged of US Marines apparently urinating on dead bodies
:00:15. > :00:19.in Afghanistan. The Taliban called it a barbaric.
:00:19. > :00:26.Burma's government signs a ceasefire with the rebels fighting
:00:26. > :00:32.for greater rights for 60 years. Million dollar payout for factory
:00:32. > :00:39.workers unpaid overtime. Welcome to BBC World News. Coming
:00:39. > :00:49.up, tension in the west wing, Michel denies claims of a rift with
:00:49. > :00:57.
:00:58. > :01:03.her husband's advisers. -- Michelle The Afghan president says his
:01:03. > :01:07.government is deeply disturbed by a graphic video which appears to show
:01:07. > :01:11.four American Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters.
:01:11. > :01:16.The US military says it is investigating. The Marine Corps
:01:16. > :01:20.says it has not verified the origin or authenticity of the video but
:01:20. > :01:25.officials describe it as deeply troubling. Our correspondent has
:01:25. > :01:28.been studying the images. The video appeared on line and was
:01:28. > :01:35.picked up across the internet and by television stations around the
:01:35. > :01:39.world. It is pretty grotesque to watch. You see four men standing
:01:39. > :01:43.outside in camouflaged uniform, they look like American troops, and
:01:44. > :01:52.they are standing over three bodies covered in blood, not moving, and
:01:52. > :01:56.the men lying on the ground, dead, have brown skin, bare feet, beards,
:01:56. > :02:02.loosely fitting clothing, they look like Afghans. During the course of
:02:02. > :02:08.the 40 seconds them then proceed to urinate on the corpses. One is
:02:08. > :02:12.heard saying, have a great day, buddy. This has not been
:02:12. > :02:16.authenticated yet, if at all. The US military has been quick to
:02:16. > :02:20.respond. The Marine Corps put out a statement saying we have not
:02:20. > :02:24.verified the authenticity of this video of their the actions
:02:24. > :02:28.portrayed and not consistent with our bodies and indicative of the
:02:28. > :02:31.character of the Marines in hour call. They said they will fully
:02:31. > :02:40.investigate the matter. The Pentagon has put out a statement
:02:40. > :02:43.are much along the same lines. It is unacceptable behaviour for a
:02:43. > :02:51.member of the military. There has been response in America from
:02:51. > :02:55.leading Muslim rights group which says desecration of the dead is not
:02:55. > :03:00.only a violation of US military regulation but the international
:03:01. > :03:06.laws of war and they say that if the video is verified as authentic,
:03:06. > :03:12.it could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians. The US is
:03:12. > :03:17.very worried about stirring memories of the prison at the abuse
:03:17. > :03:21.scandal in Iraq which engulfed the US military in 2004, led to 11
:03:21. > :03:24.convictions. The difference here is that we do not know if this video
:03:24. > :03:28.hadst been verified. It is interesting even without
:03:28. > :03:36.verification US military is responding so swiftly because it is
:03:36. > :03:42.very jumpy about any allegations of abuse by his forces in Afghanistan.
:03:42. > :03:45.Director of Afghan ready and at what has told us how afghans are
:03:45. > :03:53.responding. It is not the first time it is
:03:53. > :04:03.happening way US forces kind of carrying out abuses which is
:04:03. > :04:04.
:04:04. > :04:08.against human dignity, the code of conduct, probably provided. And
:04:08. > :04:17.against the International Convention and the rules of war and
:04:17. > :04:20.how you should treat your enemy and those engaged in conflict. I am
:04:20. > :04:23.interested you use the word disappointed. One Taliban spokesman
:04:23. > :04:27.has said there are many similar videos showing the sort of thing
:04:27. > :04:33.which have not come to light. Do you think people in Afghanistan are
:04:33. > :04:43.going to be shocked, more than surprised, perhaps?
:04:43. > :04:44.
:04:44. > :04:50.Definitely. People to understand this is a war and so many things
:04:50. > :04:56.can happen in a war, and we have always stressed that the recent we
:04:56. > :05:03.want the Afghan government and the international community to add more
:05:03. > :05:10.responsibly is to first show their difference with the insurgents who
:05:10. > :05:16.have killed Afghans in so many ways, and secondly to establish the fact
:05:16. > :05:21.they are here to help us and protect us, and not to anything
:05:21. > :05:31.against the values that is not only important to Afghan people but
:05:31. > :05:34.
:05:34. > :05:40.anyone else on the planet. But we haven't yet forgotten the killing
:05:40. > :05:49.of innocent boys and civilians by the American troops and cutting
:05:49. > :05:56.their fingers and gambling on them. Luckily we have heard news on --
:05:56. > :06:02.news of them being put in trial. The government in Burma has signed
:06:02. > :06:06.a ceasefire agreement with the ethnic Karen rebels in a move to
:06:06. > :06:10.try to end one of the world's longest-running civil conflicts. It
:06:10. > :06:15.is a preliminary ceasefire which means members of the Karen tribe
:06:15. > :06:21.are able to open a liaison office and travel freely. This comes after
:06:21. > :06:28.successful discussions between government officials and senior
:06:28. > :06:33.Karen leaders. Our correspondent has just returned from Burma.
:06:33. > :06:36.It is potentially a very big deal. It is only a first step but the
:06:36. > :06:41.current -- the Karen National Union has not had a ceasefire for 60
:06:41. > :06:45.years, since independence, effectively, and there has been
:06:45. > :06:51.fighting on and off throughout that period. There was a big flat up in
:06:51. > :06:57.fighting close to the Thai border around the time the current Burmese
:06:57. > :07:02.government came to power. -- flare- up. It is a ceasefire, a long way
:07:02. > :07:05.to go before a full-scale peace deal but it is an important first
:07:05. > :07:09.step and the second peace deal the government has signed with an
:07:09. > :07:14.ethnic minority group. They signed another one last month. It is part
:07:14. > :07:20.of a broader process. Encouraging news for Spain and
:07:20. > :07:25.Italy, don't hear that too often. A real big test of investors'
:07:25. > :07:30.confidence. The troubled economy, Italy, Spain, returning to the
:07:30. > :07:36.money markets for the first time in 2012 and it went off with rather a
:07:36. > :07:40.success. The telling government was trying to raise $10.5 billion in
:07:40. > :07:45.terms of selling its debt to investors, Spain doing the same,
:07:45. > :07:51.selling around 12.7 billion euros of debt, they have got what they
:07:51. > :07:58.wanted. The interest rate, the yield investors demand they are
:07:58. > :08:02.paid has dropped. But they are short term, it is not a ten-year
:08:02. > :08:06.solution, it is easier to get higher confidence dealing in the
:08:06. > :08:11.short term. On top of that we should remember the European
:08:11. > :08:15.Central Bank last year made available half a trillion Euros at
:08:15. > :08:19.very cheap interest rates to most European banks so they have had all
:08:19. > :08:22.this money and they have been buying these bonds. Let's listen to
:08:22. > :08:29.what the experts told me about the success of today's actions.
:08:29. > :08:32.borrowing costs have dropped dramatically. The amount they
:08:32. > :08:34.sought is significant and that is good because at the end of the day
:08:34. > :08:39.one of the things we are worried about is how these countries could
:08:39. > :08:45.not raise enough funds. It is early days but this is the good news.
:08:45. > :08:51.They are selling short aid debt, Italy, Spain. If you look further
:08:51. > :08:55.up the Kurth to the Tony apart not a lot has happened in terms of
:08:55. > :08:59.borrowing costs -- up the curve to the ten-year path. I would extract
:08:59. > :09:03.more of the positive rather than negative news.
:09:03. > :09:08.Part of this is investors looking at what the government in Spain has
:09:08. > :09:13.done. At the end of last year, big austerity cuts, and then another
:09:13. > :09:16.round of big austerity cuts. Is this investors looking at Spain and
:09:16. > :09:21.saying perhaps they are putting the lid on the problems?
:09:21. > :09:28.It is not only at the end of last year. In contrast to other
:09:28. > :09:31.countries, Spain has been doing enormous strides. We have to
:09:31. > :09:37.recognise they introduced the famous dead break into the
:09:37. > :09:44.constitution which is a very rare occasion in Spain -- debt break.
:09:44. > :09:47.The yield posterity packages you mentioned as well. The markets is
:09:47. > :09:55.taking some heard from these measures but it is much more from
:09:55. > :10:00.that. We seek liquidity injections from the European Central Bank and
:10:00. > :10:05.positive feedback. The sentiment turned and that makes things better.
:10:06. > :10:12.He mentioned the liquidity. The key to be a success of this is the role
:10:12. > :10:17.of the European Central Bank. Given that financial sector, a cheap
:10:17. > :10:21.loans, hoping it will plant back to back into the bond market. We will
:10:21. > :10:26.be hearing from the ECB later as it holds its first meeting of the new
:10:26. > :10:31.year. Most market watchers are expecting it to hold interest rates
:10:31. > :10:37.are at that record low. We have had two exciting meetings
:10:37. > :10:42.in November and December, two rate cuts and now it is time to see how
:10:42. > :10:46.the economy evolves and how the financial sector evolves and what
:10:46. > :10:49.do you resent crisis is doing. Time for a breather but in the next two
:10:49. > :10:54.months we should see another rate cut.
:10:54. > :10:58.Air Asia is cutting routes to London and Paris as well as flights
:10:58. > :11:02.to India. It is planning to concentrate on its core market. It
:11:02. > :11:06.has blamed the fall in demand from Europe as well as higher oil prices
:11:06. > :11:13.and on top of that they also said the new emissions tax imposed by
:11:13. > :11:18.the European Union has compromised their possibility to offer these
:11:18. > :11:22.first. Could it be the first casualty in a row over the tax?
:11:22. > :11:26.The budget carrier has been facing a lot of pressure as has every
:11:26. > :11:33.airline in the world in terms of rising fuel costs, demand coming
:11:33. > :11:37.from Europe is weaker. They have the emissions taxis. Bass said they
:11:37. > :11:41.cannot sustain it. It has come as a bit of a surprise to analysts
:11:42. > :11:49.although it hasn't -- it has been making profit. They thought it
:11:49. > :11:55.would continue to expand their brand in Europe. At this point in
:11:55. > :12:00.time they say they cannot sustain it, especially for budget carriers,
:12:00. > :12:03.they compete mainly on price. The biggest shake-up in the
:12:03. > :12:10.internet addresses for more than two decades gets under way later.
:12:10. > :12:20.From today it will be possible to register almost any word as a so-
:12:20. > :12:29.
:12:29. > :12:34.called top level domain name. We could have .pepsi. But it is
:12:34. > :12:38.believed the high fees will put off cyber squatters.
:12:38. > :12:44.Greece is now discussing the extent of the losses they are prepared to
:12:44. > :12:48.accept. Private sector credit has agreed to a 50% write-off but are
:12:48. > :12:52.under pressure to make further concessions.
:12:52. > :12:58.The world's top wind turbine maker has announced it is cutting more
:12:58. > :13:02.than 2,300 jobs later today as it battles rising costs. Most are
:13:02. > :13:06.thought to be in Denmark. Managers are under pressure to quit after a
:13:06. > :13:10.profit warning last week. The second in three months and it sent
:13:10. > :13:14.shares to their lowest in more than eight years.
:13:14. > :13:20.Let's take a quick look at the market. In the doldrums really at
:13:20. > :13:30.the moment, despite some of the positive news we have had from
:13:30. > :13:34.Positive signs art of the US. Markets very nervous inside line in
:13:34. > :13:40.these debt auctions in Italy and Spain. That is the recent European
:13:40. > :13:50.markets are higher. The Italian market up. They are liking the debt
:13:50. > :13:51.
:13:51. > :14:01.The Pepsi story, my surname has just got a -- just gone up in
:14:01. > :14:02.
:14:02. > :14:08.smoke! Nike Has agreed compensation in a
:14:08. > :14:11.dispute with workers in Indonesia over overtime. It will pay more
:14:11. > :14:17.than a million dollars after a year of negotiations with trade unions
:14:17. > :14:27.and reflect almost 600,000 hours of unpaid overtime. It will compensate
:14:27. > :14:32.for 1,500 workers at a plant. We assess what the deal could mean for
:14:32. > :14:35.other companies in Indonesia. It is arguable how much of an
:14:35. > :14:40.impact the settlement will have on the Indonesian business plans. It
:14:40. > :14:44.was made out of court. There is no judicial precedent that has come
:14:44. > :14:48.out of this case. What is interesting to note will be what
:14:48. > :14:52.kind of signal this settlement will send to other international
:14:52. > :14:56.companies in the footwear and apparel business here in Indonesia
:14:56. > :15:00.and what they do in terms of elevating the standards of business
:15:00. > :15:05.in the local factories. It is easy for these international firms to
:15:05. > :15:09.say they do not know what is going on on the ground here in Indonesia
:15:09. > :15:15.but the settlement which is significant in terms of $1 million
:15:15. > :15:19.to almost 4,500 employees will certainly raise that issue and
:15:19. > :15:23.already we are hearing from trade union officials, people involved
:15:23. > :15:29.with this case, they are looking to take this sort of case to other
:15:29. > :15:37.companies in the country. You or watching BBC World News.
:15:37. > :15:47.Still to come, all action in the snow. South Korean special forces
:15:47. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:51.Television stations in Pakistan are reporting the President has gone to
:15:51. > :15:56.Dubai for further medical check-ups. A comes amid growing tensions
:15:56. > :15:59.between the military and civilian government. Officials say the
:15:59. > :16:09.President will be back on Friday morning and the trip is not
:16:09. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:19.Pakistan's Armed Forces heading for a showdown. That came a step closer
:16:19. > :16:26.on Tuesday after the Prime Minister sacked the Defence Secretary. He's
:16:26. > :16:29.this man, retired Lieutenant Colonel general Naeem Khalid Lodhi.
:16:29. > :16:33.He's been fired for gross misconduct and illegal action, but
:16:33. > :16:38.this is the latest incident in a growing row between the Government
:16:38. > :16:43.and the Army. It centres on this unsigned memo leaked in October. It
:16:43. > :16:47.appears to show Pakistan civilian leadership asking the US for direct
:16:47. > :16:51.intervention to help weaken Pakistan's Armed Forces. The
:16:51. > :16:56.sacking of the Defence Secretary will only add to the tensions, but
:16:56. > :17:00.Pakistan's Prime Minister has defended his decision.
:17:00. > :17:04.TRANSLATION: Tell me, when we have not stood by our military in the
:17:04. > :17:08.past, we've always supported it. As far as the rules of business are
:17:08. > :17:11.concerned, there should be no violation. The Army's warned of
:17:11. > :17:19.grievous consequences, fuelling speculation in the media and on the
:17:19. > :17:23.streets about what happens next. TRANSLATION: If anything
:17:23. > :17:26.unconstitutional happens, it will be wrong. It will take the country
:17:26. > :17:31.towards instability. It will create more problems. Pakistan already has
:17:31. > :17:34.so many problems. If the constitution is not followed, the
:17:34. > :17:38.consequences could be very bad. Tensions between Pakistan's Armed
:17:38. > :17:48.Forces and politicians are nothing new. But there's no sign of how or
:17:48. > :17:57.
:17:57. > :18:01.You are watching BBC World News. The headlines:
:18:01. > :18:06.The US military is investigating a video which appears to show
:18:06. > :18:09.American marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters in
:18:09. > :18:15.Afghanistan. After decades of conflict in siest
:18:15. > :18:19.Burma, the government has signed a ceasefire with the ethnic rebels. -
:18:19. > :18:23.- south-east Burma. Syria's President's displayed chilling
:18:23. > :18:27.cynicism in his response to the uprising in the country, those were
:18:27. > :18:30.the records of Hillary Clinton who said that Bashar Al-Assad failed to
:18:30. > :18:38.take responsibility for the violence, choosing instead to blame
:18:38. > :18:46.the unrest on an outside conspiracy. First the explosions. Then mayhem
:18:46. > :18:54.in the city of Homs. At the scene of the attack, the dead and injured
:18:54. > :19:04.carried to waiting cars. In just a moment, lives gone, worlds changed.
:19:04. > :19:10.Among them, French reporter, the French journalist who was bundled
:19:10. > :19:13.into a taxi which headed off. The death toll now exceeds 5,000, it's
:19:13. > :19:16.believed. The Arab League monitors were supposed to be in Syria to
:19:17. > :19:22.help stop this. Since they've arrived, the violence has only
:19:22. > :19:27.increased. Now, one of the team has resigned in disgust. Another has
:19:27. > :19:31.also said he might leave. TRANSLATION: I stepped down because
:19:31. > :19:35.I felt I was serving the Syrian regime. I did not feel I belonged
:19:35. > :19:38.to an independent body monitoring the situation. That's why I stepped
:19:38. > :19:44.down. I was giving the regime a greater chance to continue its
:19:44. > :19:49.killing and I could not prevent that. The US once supportive of
:19:49. > :19:54.Arab League intervention is fast losing patience. The Monitoring
:19:54. > :19:59.Mission should not continue indefinitely. We cannot permit
:19:59. > :20:02.President Assad and his regime to have impunity. Syrians deserve a
:20:02. > :20:06.peaceful transition. All that seems to strengthen the
:20:06. > :20:09.hand of President Assad. He appeared in front of large crowds
:20:09. > :20:15.of supporters in Damascus. He blames the violence on what he
:20:15. > :20:20.calls terrorist gangs and shows no sign of backing down.
:20:20. > :20:23.So what now for Syria? The Arab League mission appears to have
:20:23. > :20:29.failed. An international intervention is unlikely. But the
:20:29. > :20:33.protests, the fighting continues and there's still no sign of when
:20:33. > :20:38.or how Syria's bloody conflict will end.
:20:38. > :20:42.Time to focus on other matters now and Aaron is here with the sport.
:20:42. > :20:45.Bad news and bad news. Shall we start with the bad news? The super
:20:45. > :20:49.fight of the century as know doubt it would have been billed probably
:20:49. > :20:57.won't happen at least this year between the two best pound for
:20:57. > :21:07.pound fighters. Yesterday, we reported that may weather taunted
:21:07. > :21:08.
:21:08. > :21:11.his opponent on Twitter to get the fight going for May. But today, his
:21:11. > :21:16.camp have said it probably won't happen for economic reasons - how
:21:16. > :21:21.dull is that - because the arena where it would take place in May,
:21:21. > :21:25.the MGM Grand only holds 70,000 and he wants to fight in a bigger arena
:21:25. > :21:29.or he wants to avoid it. The arena will be ready in June, but
:21:29. > :21:33.Mayweather will be in June serving 90 days for domestic violence, so
:21:33. > :21:38.perhaps not this year at least. familiar story, fights that don't
:21:38. > :21:44.happen. You have got some news on Formula One which is pretty tough?
:21:44. > :21:50.Genuinely bad news for the former Renault driver, Robert Kubitsa. He
:21:50. > :21:54.had a terrible accident last year in a rally car in Italy. He almost
:21:54. > :21:57.lost his arm, so really severe injuries. He's in the process of
:21:57. > :22:02.making his comeback and earlier yesterday he slipped on ice outside
:22:02. > :22:05.his home in Italy, he's broken his leg, so the comeback for Formula
:22:05. > :22:10.One fans of one of the most exciting drivers probably will have
:22:10. > :22:13.to wait for another season. He's the sort who will be back, you
:22:13. > :22:19.presume? You would think so. When he was with Renault, he was very
:22:19. > :22:22.quick and rumoured as a replacement at Ferrari for their second in hand
:22:22. > :22:26.driver so yes, that didn't happen because of the accident now we'll
:22:26. > :22:29.have to wait and see. Good luck to him. Thank you very
:22:29. > :22:31.much. To the United States now, as
:22:31. > :22:35.America's First Lady, Michelle Obama has been denying claims in a
:22:36. > :22:39.new book that she's caused tensions in the White House. In a television
:22:39. > :22:47.interview, Mrs Obama said she was tired of people trying to portray
:22:47. > :22:51.her as an angry black woman making trouble behind-the-scenes. She is a
:22:51. > :22:56.trend-setter, a role model and a working mother. But what does
:22:56. > :23:01.Michelle Obama really think about life in the White House? Speaking
:23:01. > :23:06.to CBS News, the First Lady dismissed claims she'd been unhappy.
:23:06. > :23:09.I love this job. It is a privilege, it's been a privilege from day one.
:23:10. > :23:15.Now, there are challenges with being a mother and trying to keep
:23:15. > :23:18.your kids sane and I worry a lot about that. If there's any anxiety
:23:18. > :23:23.that I feel, it's because I want to make sure that my girls come out of
:23:23. > :23:28.this on the other end whole. But me, Barack, we are grown-ups, all the
:23:28. > :23:33.ups and downs, you know, we take it on. Mrs Obama granted the interview
:23:33. > :23:37.as a new book was making waves in Washington. Written by New York
:23:37. > :23:41.Times journalist, it says relations were strained between the First
:23:41. > :23:45.Lady and her husband's closest political advisers because she
:23:45. > :23:51.allegedly meddled in west wing affairs, a claim she denies. That's
:23:51. > :23:54.been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day
:23:54. > :23:58.Barack Obama announced that I'm some angry black woman. The book
:23:58. > :24:02.says the First Lady discovered a sense of mission in London when she
:24:02. > :24:07.was rapturously received by schoolgirls during a visit on the
:24:07. > :24:12.sidelines of the summit. Now, she looks relaxed and confident, ready
:24:12. > :24:19.to be at his side for another four years, if that's what America
:24:19. > :24:25.decides. South Korean analysts have been
:24:25. > :24:29.warning of what they call military adventurers and in North Korea, the
:24:29. > :24:34.handover of power to Kim Jong-Un has prompted South Korean officials
:24:34. > :24:39.to ask whether their country's military is ready for all
:24:39. > :24:45.eventualities. Lucy Williamson has been without with Korean Special
:24:45. > :24:48.Forces and sent this report. On South Korea's snowy peaks, Special
:24:48. > :24:53.Forces are training to infiltrate the communist neighbours. This
:24:53. > :24:57.drill is simulating a rescue mission. These troops could also in
:24:57. > :25:00.the event of all out war be dropped behind enemy lines inside North
:25:00. > :25:03.Korea. The two Koreas have never signed a
:25:03. > :25:08.peace deal and there are regular military crashes along the
:25:08. > :25:14.demarkation line dividing them. With the sudden change of power in
:25:14. > :25:18.North Korea last month, forces here have been placed on high alert.
:25:18. > :25:22.the wake of Kim Jong-Il's death, the military situation's become
:25:22. > :25:26.very uncertain. No-one can anticipate what is going to happen,
:25:26. > :25:29.but as soldiers wrbgs we need to be prepared for the worst and prepared
:25:29. > :25:35.for combat. The North Korean threat hasn't changed, so the best we can
:25:35. > :25:39.do is be ready. North Korea over the past few weeks has paraded its
:25:39. > :25:44.million-man army in public squares. South Korea with fewer soldiers is
:25:44. > :25:48.offering a different image. A military it wants to be slim and
:25:48. > :25:52.strong. Reliant more on skill than simple numbers.
:25:52. > :25:57.It's rare to be allowed to get this close to South Korean Special
:25:57. > :26:02.Forces. But these are unusual times. The sudden change of leadership in
:26:02. > :26:08.North Korea has meant huge pressure on units like this one to prove
:26:08. > :26:14.they're fully prepared. Even elite soldiers have to begin with the
:26:14. > :26:17.basics. This class, military skiing for beginners. South Korea relies
:26:17. > :26:23.on conscripts, every male citizen is meant to serve for two years, it
:26:23. > :26:27.makes for a steady supply of cheap soldiers, but also means few of
:26:27. > :26:31.them have much experience. As South Korea watches for signs of military
:26:31. > :26:41.change across the de facto border, the camaraderie here on the
:26:41. > :26:43.
:26:43. > :26:48.mountain hides a new tension here this winter. The main stories:
:26:48. > :26:55.The video of what is alleged to be American marines, as you can see