27/04/2012 BBC World News

A prominent dissident lawyer in China escapes from house arrest and

posts an online video demanding justice.

Plans to ban foreign tourists from using cannabis cafes are upheld by

a Dutch judge. More pain for Spain as the jobless

total reaches a record high - one Welcome to BBC World News. Also in

this programme: Pakistan deports Osama Bin Laden's

family almost a year after the US raid that killed him. And Europe

prepares to send a spacecraft The Chinese dissident lawyer, Chen

Guangcheng, has escaped from house arrest. Activists say he slipped

out of his home in Shandong province on Sunday. A video of Mr

Chen posted on the internet claims he is free. In it, he demands

justice for himself and his family. Mr Chen has been under house arrest

since 2010. Our correspondent in Beijing, Damian Grammaticas, told

us more about the footage. That online video, posted by Chen

Guangcheng, has been released in which he says that he escaped from

that house arrest that he was under in Shandong province, about eight

hours from Beijing, and he made that appeal in the video a to join

the's premiere Wen Jiabao, with three demands. The first one, that

the violence that had been inflicted on him and his family,

about which there had been many reports, beatings and the like,

that that should be investigated. He names local officials who he

said did that. He calls for the safety of it -- of his family, his

daughter and his wife who have been under house arrest with him. His

daughter was prevented from going to school by local authorities at

one point. He also calls for the government here to tackle

corruption and abuses of power. Direct appeals. What we have heard

from activists who say they were involved in helping him to escape

is that he is in what they say it is 100% safe location in Beijing.

They will not specify where. what are the authorities saying and

doing about it? Saying not very much, but we know what they are

doing. They have already moved to round up some of those who may have

been involved in helping Chen Guangcheng escape from his

confinement. There was one activist, a woman, who said she had helped by

driving him away at the weekend, out of the province where his home

was. There are reports that she may have been detained today. Also

reports from the village that village officials, extremely

angered by the escape, have moved in. There mate well have been

scuffles between the village officials and Chen Guangcheng's

relatives in the village and some of those relatives, his brother and

nephew, appeared to have been taken away as well. Thank you.

Dutch coffee shop owners have lost their appeal against a plan by the

government to ban tourists from entering so-called cannabis cafes.

Soft drugs in the Netherlands are not strictly legal, but they use is

tolerated. Today A judge has upheld a ban designed to cut the number of

Easy-going is most people's idea of the Dutch attitude to soft drugs.

Not strictly legal, but tolerated at least in his most liberal of

societies. But now that seems to be changing, at least when it comes to

visitors. The authorities want them Netherlands's infamous cannabis

cafes to carry it ID checks and ban on residents. It is an effort to

draw tourists -- deter tourists just visiting for drugs. Now

further disappointment for the group of cafe owners who tried to

block the move in court saying it was discriminatory. A judge has

upheld the Government's plan for what some have called a weed pass

to enforce the ban. But the cafe owners have said they will appeal.

In Amsterdam, the city authorities have also been against the ban and

have been seeking a compromise. It is estimated up to a third of all

visitors here come for the cafes and because they are allowed to

smoke cannabis. But the City has many other attractions and many

residents are uncomfortable that soft drugs are no longer an

acceptable way to who attract hard currency. For now, the Government's

plan is to impose the ban in three southern provinces from the

beginning of May and across the country by next year.

We are getting reports of a number of explosions in Ukraine. The

blasts happened and we can show you some pictures. Government officials

say the first blast was caused by an explosive device planted near

essential tram stop. Half an hour later, the second blast happened

near a local cinema. There are also reports of two further explosions

in the city. Walk us through what happened here. What we know now is

that four blasts occurred. The number of people injured is about

14. These are official figures. But no information about people who

died. It would appear to be co- ordinated. Well, police say these

blasts are not accidental. The prosecutors have already opened a

criminal case, calling this a terrorist attack. We understand the

Ukrainian interior minister is on his way to the city. Has there been

any word or, and yet from his department? No, we don't have any

comments from him, but we have some comments from prosecutors and

police. They are not telling us much information. We have probably

got devices going off in three different areas in the city. Tell

us what these particular areas are like. There are four areas, but

witnesses say only three areas are were affected by the explosives and

the first blast went off without any injuries. Fees are territories

where many people gather because one of them there is a bus stations

and another is near a cinema. The territory was near a park where

people often walk with their children and their families. Many

thanks. That story is still developing. We will keep you right

cross developments. Benn joins us with the business news. The big

story is unemployment in Spain. It gets worse and worse.

One in four people in Spain out of work. It seems the problems are

continuing, the highest rate in the euro's Amy Foster

Unemployment in Spain has reached a record high, with new figures out

record high, with new figures out from the national statistics agency.

They indicate that more than 5,600,000 people are currently out

of work in Spain. Nearly 400,000 people lost jobs in the first three

months of 2012. It means that nearly a quarter of Spain's

workforce is now unemployed. The workforce is now unemployed. The

figures came hours after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded

Spanish sovereign debt. Official figures due out on Monday are

expected to confirm that Spain has fallen back into recession. Spain

has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union and it is

expected to rise further this year. Joining me is Ken Wattret, chief

European economist from BNP. Hello. Almost one in four out of work and

this is a double whammy because these people are costing the

government money and they are also not generating any money. How to

see how you reverse this decline. In the short run, it is. The

situation is even worse for youth unemployment, where the ratio is

more like one in two. The problem is that Spain is in a recession.

The recession is deepening so the likelihood is unemployment will

continue to rise substantially further. An additional problem is

that the Spanish government is also running a very large budget deficit,

in the region of 9% of GDP for last year, and the pressure is on to

bring that deficit down and that will have a negative impact on the

economy. Unfortunately the news is likely to get worse before it gets

better. Let's talk about the credit rating downgrade. It is a blow to

the country, but also a blow to the eurozone as a whole. What message

does it send to the governments and the eurozone about how they are

handling this crisis? Clearly there's a problem. The specific

problem related to the downgrade is the issue we were talking about,

the lack of momentum in the economy. The ratings agency was originally

anticipated growth in Spain of about 0.5%. It has now revised its

estimate to something like -1.5 %. That makes it more difficult to put

the public finances in better shape and to do something about the

upward trajectory of the public sector debt, which has been one of

the key issues for the ratings agencies for some time. How does

the euro area deal with these problems at a national level and

how does the euro area convince markets that there is a plan to fix

this? We are seeing some progress here and there in terms of

facilities which are being provided to offer assistance to countries in

difficulty, but there is a bottom- line issue, which is the countries

will have to work their way through very difficult periods in terms of

contracting economic activity and rising unemployment and problems

and the public finances. This is a rolling crisis. You talk about

those facilities available for countries in difficulty. Tim Guy

Pearce said last week the US would not contribute to a whip round. It

says the money is there, it is what they do with it that matters.

has a point. The euro area could do a more effective job in stabilising

the situation and other countries feel until the euro area put its

house in order, they are reluctant to contribute. But the potential

for these problems to its impact on the global economy is pretty large

and it is probably in the interests of the US to take a more proactive

view in providing assistance for up thank you. Her Italy's borrowing

costs have risen sharply. It raised 5.9 5 billion euros from

the sale of bonds. But it was short of targets as Spain's downgrade

spooked investors. Italy has been performing better on the financial

markets after Prime -- the prime minister came to power in November.

It has been hit by increased jitters in the eurozone about its

growth prospects. Barclays Bank is facing a serious

revolt by shareholders at its annual general meeting in London

today. And it's thought that nearly a third of investors could vote

against the company's executive pay plan. James Bevan from CCLA

Investment Management explained why shareholders are so upset.

If they want to get payments over and above their base salary, they

should be reasonable and appropriate levers to allow us to

understand why excess pay is to be made. Or just -- we are not getting

that information. The other issue is that of course but least I in a

great period at the moment, but The South Korean conglomerate

Samsung has overtaken the Finnish firm Nokia as the world's leading

mobile phone maker. Nokia has held the number one slot for 14 years,

with up to 40% of the market, but has seen sales slump and profits

slashed. Samsung, with its Galaxy smart phones, and Apple with the

iPhone, have cut deeply into Nokia's global market share. Our

Seoul correspondent Lucy Williamson looks now at Samsung's changing

Some things just can't be expressed with a text message. At Samsung's

South Korean headquarters, there's always room for a bit of tradition,

even when you're battling for the future of the global

telecommunications market. Samsung employees are known as dedicated

and numerous. The company has known for decades held to win them with

extensive benefits, intense competition and District

Conservative corporate culture. Samsung is used to competing in

fast-paced markets. The company built its name in microchips, but

with a reputation for being more of a fast follower, than an original

creator of mobile devices, how has Samsung risen to such a superpower

status? We are not following any more. I don't know whether it is a

fast follower is the right word. Very often our excellence is under

estimated. All of those good services can't be realised without

having great hardware excellence. We feel very committed to bringing

new innovation. When I say innovation, by not only mean

hardware, but total solutions to market and consumers. As mobile

devices become ever more aspirational, executives here are

following the fortunes of the experimental galaxy note. I'd cross

between a phone and a tablet. As the battle for the mobile market

deepens, the focus here now is on launching and guarding Samsung's

next new weapon. Here the main campus outside Seoul, security is

very tight. There's an electronic ID system for vehicles and security

gates in every building. But there are few things more protected here

right now than this. This is Samsung's new smartphone. Do you

wear it in less than a week and so well protected, it is being

accompanied by 10 security guards on its way to the launch in London.

For those curious about the shape of Samsung's future, if the answer

could lie inside this box. But no, Banks and mining stocks weighing

down the London market. Euro debt concerns heightened by the credit

rating downgrade for Spain, and those unemployment numbers. The

Spanish market is off, around 0.3%. Investors are also bracing

themselves for an Italian debt auction on Friday. The country is

offering around six billion euros in bonds, with borrowing costs

expected to climb above 5.5% for the benchmark 10-year bond.

You're watching BBC World News. Still to come: Europe gets set to

send a spacecraft closer to the sun The US and Japan have reached an

agreement on a historical source of friction between both countries:

America's military presence on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Locals

have long complained about the presence of thousands of US

servicemen there. Under the terms of the deal, some of the US

military contingent, around 9,000 marine, will leave Okinawa and be

redeployed to Guam and other sites. Tomohiko Taniguchi, former

spokesperson for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

explained how the behaviour of individual US servicemen has had a

sway on opinions in Okinawa. North this whole issue started when

a tragic incident, involving a member of the US Marine Corps

raping a girl in Okinawa, so people had legitimate concerns. But, more

than that, there was an agreement between the two agreements, about

to be implemented. Then came a new government which said something

dramatically different. And then a stalemate began to be even greater.

Finally, this agreement is going to give more time and space for both

governments to solve these issues. For the US, there is a significant

degree of opposition from the US Senate. Our Tokyo correspondent

Roland Buerk says both countries are keen to reduce criticism of the

bases, without damaging the ability of the US to project military power

in East Asia. This alliance between Japan and the

US is critical to security in the region, to the balance of power in

Asia, particularly given the rise of China. Japan does rely on the

United States providing basic duty umbrella, this country has its

pacifist constitution, although it does have strong defence forces.

The US defence posture in the Pacific will not be adversely

affected, it should be improved by these changes. A The pop star Lady

Gaga is due on stage in Seoul, for the start of a world tour that has,

as you would expect, sparked controversy. This is the singer

arriving in the country a week ago. South Korea's Media Rating Board

has banned anyone under the age of 18 from attending the concert,

because it says the content is unsuitable for children. Christian

groups have held regular protests against the gig over the past few

weeks. They have described it as "the work of Satan", and have

claimed that it could taint the country's youth. Protesters have

expressed particular concern over what they perceive to be the

singer's "promotion of homosexuality." This is BBC World

News. The headlines. A prominent dissident lawyer in

China escapes from house arrest, and posts an online video demanding

Pakistan has deported Osama Bin Laden's family, almost a year after

his death. His three widows had recently completed a custodial term

for living in the country illegally, a sentence they served in a house

in an affluent part of Islamabad, from where Aleem Maqbool reports.

Four-day Harden's London, nearly a year in Pakistani custody was about

to come to an end. A sudden flurry of to duty activity and the arrival

of the minibus to take them to the airport, had the curtains of the

House twitching. Nothing has been seen of them publicly, and even now

they bordered the two are -- behind the cover of a sheet. Then, the

moment they would have been waiting for, for months. And so begins the

final journey out of Pakistani for the Bin Laden family, three wives

and 11 children of Osama Bin Laden. They take with them secrets of a

love on the run for the world's most wanted man, secret some of

which may never come to light. This passport photo is of the youngest

wife, now in her early 30s. It is from leaks of her interrogations

that we have the most insight into what the Al-Qaeda's did his time

here. Moving from place to place in Pakistan fears before ending up in

the garrison town of Abbottabad where he was killed in an operation

by US Navy seals. It is sense that raid that family has been held. The

Pakistani authorities will be glad to see the back of the family, and

to close another chapter of what was an extremely embarrassing

episode. But they may also have some anxieties about what could be

said by the family now, about their time in this country.

Some breaking news from Reuters, out of Syria, we understand there

has been an explosion in central Damascus. There are reports of

casualties. From a quote from a local TV channel. Officially, the

government is backing the United Nations brokered peace plan as put

forward by Ban Ki-Moon and Kofi Annan as special envoy to the

region. On the other hand, there is still a lot of trouble on the

ground in places like Hama and Homs. The latest, an explosion in central

Damascus. Pakistan has one of the largest

populations of street children in the world. Around 1.5 half million

young people live and work on the streets. More than a third of them

are in Karachi, where local charities say children are targeted

by criminal gangs, and forced into becoming thieves and sex workers.

And they say the authorities are part of the problem.

This 10-year-old boy is a scavenger. He has been sifting through rubbish

all day, and shows me the best of his pickings. What things have you

got here today? I collect plastic bottles, he says, and other things

I can sell on to be recycled. It earns him about 100 rupees a day,

around $1. It is hard work but I get money at the end of the day. I

don't take drugs like the other street children, I just like eating

biscuits. I would like to play football and cricket with the other

children. But people say we are dirty. They chase us away. It makes

me feel bad. He has only been on the street a few weeks. He says he

ran away from home, after being repeatedly beaten by his father.

Grinding poverty forces kids such as these to flee their homes and

they end up in places such as this shrine where they can get free food

one living on the pavements outside. And help is out there. But it is

limited to a few sessions, like this one. Conducted by a local

charity, it teaches Charles basic skills. Many are trying to escape

from a life of prostitution. This centre is also run for street

children. The leader says policies are a major part of the problem.

This is not providing protection to children, police are providing

protection and to the criminals and abusers, they have their own

financial benefits in children's activities and getting cuts from

criminal gangs. That is why the police are not helping the children.

The police deny these allegations. They admit though they do not have

enough resources to provide adequate protection for the

children. As the day ended, this young boy returns to the men who

will take care of him. His future looks grim. He could end up like

these stories, getting high by sniffing glue. Their young lives

twisted by abuse and neglect. It is claimed most will die before their

18th birthday. Europe is to launch a daring

mission to study the sun. A space craft, called the Solar Orbiter,

will lift off later this decade, and move even closer to the sun

than the planet Mercury, which orbits the star.

It is that the centre of everything we know about our solar system, a

ferocious ball of fire, that supply is the basic energy that drives

club on earth. Down the years, we have launched an armada of

satellite to photograph it and understand its temperamental

behaviour. Now comes the most audacious effort to, it is called

Solar Orbiter, developed by the European Space Agency. It will try

to get as close as current technology will allow. Boast of the

spacecraft we have launched to study the Sun do so from just above

the earth. But that is a long way from the staff. 149 million

kilometres in fact. But Solar Orbiter will manoeuvre itself

inside the orbits of Venus and Mercury to 42 million kilometres

from the Sun, NO-SPACE Croft has been so close, and it will need a

special heatshield to survive to pictures approaching 600 degrees.

For scientists, Solar Orbiter will enable them to trace and have

stunned the flow of energy that starts at the Sun and booze out

across the solar system. Much of that energy is carried by magnetic

fields in huge burst of charged particles. Solar Orbiter is special

because it tells us many things at the same time. A mission would have

a small set of to stoat but Solar Orbiter has 10 instruments. We can

take images, and also a sense the environment around the spacecraft

which is ultimately coming from it. The European Space Agency has

signed a contract with British industry to start developing the

spacecraft. Engineers expect to have it ready for launch in 2017.