20/08/2012 BBC World News


20/08/2012

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Welcome to BBC World News. Also in this programme: Burma plans legal

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reforms to end all media censorship reforms to end all media censorship

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in what has been one the world's most secretive regimes. Plans for

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an overhaul of the welfare system The wife of one of China's most

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prominent politicians has been given a suspended death sentence

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after a court found her guilty of murdering a British businessman. Gu

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Kailai admitted to poisoning Neil Heywood in a hotel room last

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November. The death sentence is expected to be commuted to life

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imprisonment - which could mean up to 14 years behind bars. Damian

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Grammaticas sent this report. The murder of Neil Hayward plunged the

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Communist Party in China into crisis. Now it is attempting to

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contain the fall-out. Many believe the guilty verdict was directed

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from the very top. Gu Kalai was scared before - spared the full

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death penalty. She was spend a minimum of 14 years in jail. Judges

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accepted her claim. She had had a breakdown and was not in full

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control of her actions. She had confessed to killing the British

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businessmen, fearing he was going to harm her son. She poisoned him

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in this hotel last year after a huge property deal went sour. Her

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husband, Bow, once tipped to become one of China's top leaders later

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this year, has been suspended by the party. Did he know about the

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crime or the cover up? Was he involved in any way? The death

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triggered the biggest political scandal China has seen in decades

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with the regulation -- allegations of abuse of power at the highest

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level. It is hoped this verdict will put the lid on that, just as

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it prepares for its leadership transition this autumn when a new

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generation will take power in China. What's become one of the bloodiest

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labour disputes in recent South African history is coming to a head

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- with miners at the Marikana pit near Johannesburg being told that

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they could be sacked if they don't return to work. The original

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dispute was over pay and conditions. It then led to a number of violent

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clashes, which left strikers and some police officers dead. Last

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Thursday, 34 miners were shot dead by police, who say they were acting

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in self-defence. Some workers have turned up for the shift so far. Our

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correspondent says many are waiting to hear from union leaders. Lonmin

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says 30% of workers have arrived for work. Those who have not

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pitched up for work and now starting together elsewhere because

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they want to be addressed by union leaders. We also understand the

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Inter ministerial committee, they have now concluded their meeting.

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We are expecting a press conference soon. This is gathering so much

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international attention. We have heard from Jacob Zuma declaring an

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official day of mourning. Authorities are very aware of the

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attention. They are very much aware. That is why the inquiry commission

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needs to be appointed as soon as possible. That will be little

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consolation for the mine workers who have died. He wants answers as

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soon as possible. What is happening at the moment where the process is

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still ongoing? There is another scene in which 259 mine workers,

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who were arrested on Thursday shortly after the shooting where

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the mine workers died, they are appearing in court for various

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charges, including armed robbery and public violence. They are

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demanding to see - is never the wives have arrived in court and are

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demanding to see their husbands. -- the wives have a right in court.

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Lawyers for Pussy Riot will appeal to the conviction. On Friday, the

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three women were sentenced to two years in jail after staging an

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anti- Vladimir Putin post -- protest in a Moscow cathedral.

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South Korea's ruling Conservative Party has picked its candidate for

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the presidential election. She is the daughter of the country's

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former dictator, who was assassinated in 1979. Should she

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win the vote, she will become South Korea's first female leader. The

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Duke of Edinburgh left hospital earlier after spending five nights

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being treated for recurrence of a bladder infection. He has been

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discharged from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary a few hours ago. Now all

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the latest business news. I spoke earlier about the protesting and

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the controversy regarding the Lonmin mine. It is a massive

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platinum producer, it isn't it? different prices and two different

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directions at the moment. Platinum prices are on the up. The prices

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have hit a six-week high. They are touching almost $1,400. Lonmin

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shares keep falling. Today they are around the 5% mark. They continue

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trading at the moment in London. It is of the back of a 15% fall. Six

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consecutive days, we have seen the shares sliding. One issue is the

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share price. Another is the prolonged dispute. The chief

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executive is seriously ill in hospital. It has the most pressured

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balance sheet probably in the sector. It will probably need to

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refinance its debt and may need to raise $1 billion on the market. It

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is only worth 2 billion. I put all those issues to the experts earlier.

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I'm think the City is beginning to factor in the fact it is very

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likely Lonmin will have to come back to the equity markets. Even

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before this, it was relatively tight on its banking covenants.

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With little production or less production coming out of the mind

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at the moment when they told us how much production may expect to have

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lost. As the strike goes on, they lose more production and more

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revenue. In the end, if things go on like fact, there comes a point

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where there will breach the banking covenant and raise equity before

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them. They do not want to get to that point. Unless they can

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forecast how the strike will develop, that is probably the

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likely direction. Let's talk about commodity prices - in particular

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platinum prices. They have been low due to the slump of the car

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industry. We have seen the price creeping up of the back of this.

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Could it keep pushing prices up in one direction and that is higher?

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It will certainly push it up higher. Whether that is a structural or

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secular trend Orsett tickled trend remains to be seen. -- a cyclical

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trend. There is certainly not growing demand for this. Jury is

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the other big market for platinum and that is not growing strongly

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either. -- jewellery. It is all about supply and demand. The reason

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it is up at the moment is because Lonmin in South Africa. That

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produces all of the world's platinum - all of the Western

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world's platinum. You are taking out supplier that and even if

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demand stays the same, you would expect demand to go up a bit.

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Production from the Lonmin minds will come back again. -- mines

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macro. When they go back into production, unless there is a

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fundamental shift in the world economy, you would expect to see

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the price come back down again. this becoming a pattern or trend in

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South Africa? We have seen very similar labour disputes at mines

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macro in that country. Does this highlight broader problems with a

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labour relations in South Africa? It is not only South Africa. It is

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actually a lot of the world which have seen disputes arise recently.

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There have been disputes in Peru, in West Africa, East Africa,

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Central Africa as well. Not only South Africa. Of all these

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countries, it has the largest and most developed mining industry. It

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is the mining industry with the most complicated labour relations

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as well. These are very interwoven with more general sub African

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National political complications and tensions as well. -- South

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African. Its most obvious and a significant and is the largest in

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South Africa. Tensions are brought up in South Africa and encompass

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Africa generally and a lot of the developing world. This could

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certainly be make or break me -- week for Research In Motion, the

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company that makes the BlackBerry. It has unveiled a new version. It

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is hoped it will create enough sales to revive its fortunes.

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Shares have lost three-quarters of their value. The blackberry has

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fallen behind its rivals like the iPhone. -- BlackBerry. There are

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pockets of people for whom the BlackBerry is very popular. At the

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moment, for a lot of those people, the next purchase will probably not

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be a BlackBerry. They need to have the device that is ready for its

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six has -- existing users when they come to buy a new mobile phone

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saying, I'm going to get a new BlackBerry instead of an iPhone or

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Samsung or what ever. Greece is expected to make a �3.8 billion

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debt repayment to the Central Bank today. Last week it auctioned off

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short-term bonds which it expected to use to make the payment. Greece

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is under extreme pressures. The Prime Minister is expected to ask

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for a two-year extension to the deadline that international lenders

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have set when he meets the lenders of Germany and France later this

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week. BAA is to say it will sell Stansted Airport after losing an

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appeal against the competition ruling. In 2009, the company was

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ordered to sell both Stansted and Gatwick airport, plus either

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Edinburgh or Glasgow in Scotland. Sylvester Stallone muscled his way

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to top of the US box-office over the weekend. His film debuted at

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number one, making $29 million on that weekend. The sequel elbowed

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out the Bourne Legacy, which took second place on its second weekend

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with $70 million. That is it. Sylvester Stallone back in the big

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box office charts. Fancy it? Nur Tatar. I mean, yes, I would love to

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see it. -- no. Tony Scott, who is famous for Hollywood hits like Top

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Gun or Days of Thunder has died in Los Angeles. His death is being

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investigated as a suicide. The younger brother of Ridley Scott

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Tony Scott was born in North Shields but made his name in

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Hollywood. Top Gun launched him into the top flight as well

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respected action movie director in 1986. Working with Tom Cruise again

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on Days of Thunder. There were rumours top than 2 might soon go

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into production. -- Top Gun. Denzel Washington was another actor he

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often worked with. He produced Pelham 123 as well. It was

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producing he had focused on in recent years, often working with

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his elder brother, Ridley Scott. They worked on prime-time

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television dramas as well as the big screen hits. Tony Scott parked

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his car on a well-known Suspension Bridge in Los Angeles. Witnesses

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said he jumped to his death into the harbour below. A coroner said

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he left a note in his car and added there was nothing to suggest it was

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not suicide. There were many tributes to his life and work in

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the film industry. He was just an incredibly stylistic director. If

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you look at his movies from his debut to the last movie, the

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evolutionary style is phenomenal. For a director to keep pushing

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himself visually and stylistically is amazing. On Twitter, some well-

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known names left accolades. Stephen Fry was deeply saddened to hear

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about the news. The fine film-maker and the most charming, modest man,

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:15:46.:15:50.

And, there were many more tributes to him. We have rules that are not

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open to interpretation. From Hollywood to around the world. He

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was married and had twin boys. He You're watching BBC World News.

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Still to come - with nine days to go until the start of the

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Paralympics, Britain sets a tough target for its medal haul. And how

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two storms triggered some unusual weather and a rare sight on Lake

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Michigan. Britain's debate with Ecuador over what should happen

:16:23.:16:30.

next to the founder of Wikileaks, Julien Assange, has widened. Now a

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group of South American countries is backing Ecuador's stance.

:16:33.:16:35.

Ecuador says that the UK threatened to remove its London embassy's

:16:35.:16:38.

official status and send police to arrest Mr Assange, who is facing

:16:38.:16:40.

extradition proceedings to face sexual assault allegations in

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Sweden. Now the UNASUR regional group says it supports Ecuador in

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the face of British colonialism. Our correspondent, Will Grant, has

:16:51.:17:01.
:17:01.:17:04.

more. As Mr Assange's reporters were making their feeling known

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outside the embassy, across the Andes there was a similar show of

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unity. In Ecuador's second city, foreign ministers from across South

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America attended a hastely assembled meeting to discuss what

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Ecuador the British wrath against its integrity at the embassy in

:17:26.:17:32.

London. It was thought the British could illegally enter the embassy

:17:32.:17:39.

to arrest Mr Assange. Britain was then accused of colonialism.

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TRANSLATION: The decision was unanimous. Other countries put

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their differences aside. Coming quickly on the heels of what was

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seen as a heavy handed approach when it came to Argentina's claim

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on the Falklands, the episode has done further to -- done little to

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further the British reputation. The last point on the document

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presented by the member states calls on members to continue the

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dialogue and negotiation to find a mutually acceptable solution. With

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Mr Assange still holed up inside the embassy in London and the

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British authorities saying they will arrest him the moment he steps

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outside, finding any solution is going to be complicated. Thousands

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of people have been ordered to leave their homes in northern

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California. There are a number of buildings which have already been

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destroyed by wildfires. High winds are helping to spread the flames.

:18:42.:18:46.

It's still no clear what begun the fire. Officials say it is likely

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that they were caused by lightning strikes. You can get in touch with

:18:51.:19:01.
:19:01.:19:07.

me and the team on Twitter. This is BBC World News. The headlines - a

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Chinese court has handed down a suspended death sentence to Gu

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Kailai, the wife of the disgraced politician, Bo Xilai, for the

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murder of a British businessman. South Africa's striking miners face

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dismissal if they don't return to work after a week of violence in

:19:23.:19:33.
:19:33.:19:41.

which dozens were killed. People who receive welfare payments in

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Australia won't be given cash in the future. Instead, they will have

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to use a pre-paid card. The government says it wants to ensure

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that the money is spent on the right things and protect the

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vulnerable. But critics say that it stigmatises claimants. Duncan

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Kennedy has travelled to Alice Springs to see new scheme in action.

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Is this the future, the basic card? Barbara Shaw is one of those forced

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to accept the card, with three young children, half her monthly

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welfare income now has to be spent using the card, which Barbara says

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is an insult. It's actually stigmatising the people and I guess

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I feel that way as well. If you don't - if you have a basic card

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you have treated differently. a second-class citizen? Yeah. In my

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case definitely. Barbara must now use Government-approved shops and

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can only buy essential supplies with the card. Everything from food

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and soap to electricity and rent. No alcohol or gambling is allowed.

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She says people stare and whisper when she uses it, knowing she's on

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welfare. What do you think about her having to use it here? I feel

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very uncomfortable. Despite the objections, especially in the

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poorer and more rural areas, the Australian Government is now

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rolling out this programme across much of the country. It believes

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it's leading the world in terms of allocating welfare payments to the

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more vulnerable in society. Even if there is some shame attached to it.

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So controversial is the new card, there have been street protests.

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Critics say the cards amount to state control over family budgets.

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But they have their supporters like Karen Tremain, a single mother of

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two, who uses one voluntarily, because she says it helps her

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manage her limited income. wouldn't be in the situation that

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I'm in now and I would have lost my house and my kids and I would

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probably be on the streets. Yeah, it's the best thing I've ever done.

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The Government says it has a duty to put people on cards, especially

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when children's welfare is at risk. I've had a lot of clients where

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it's stopped an eviction. They can actually decide where their

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payments are to go into the priority needs and they know that

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they are going to go to be paid. Families still get some cash, but

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most income comes through the cards. Supporters say it's the new

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responsible way of managing state benefits, but opponents like

:22:20.:22:23.

Barbara believe it's a patronising intrusion into private family

:22:23.:22:33.

business. No sooner have we said farewell to the Olympians of 2012,

:22:33.:22:36.

than the Paralympians prepare to take to the pool, track and field.

:22:36.:22:40.

Members of the British team are due to arrive at their training camp in

:22:40.:22:43.

Bath in south-west England, and the Games themselves will begin in nine

:22:43.:22:48.

days. They have a tough task ahead, with a target to win at least 103

:22:48.:22:53.

medals. Earlier, I spoke to former Paralympian swimmer, Marc Woods,

:22:53.:22:56.

from our studio in Salford in the north of England and asked him if

:22:56.:23:03.

the medal target brought too much pressure. There's always some

:23:03.:23:07.

pressure, but the individuals won't feel that, because they'll be

:23:07.:23:10.

focused on what they've got to deliver and 103 is only one more

:23:10.:23:14.

than what we won in Beijing, so you would hope we have stepped forward.

:23:14.:23:20.

I think we can do 103. Where's our strongest event? Where are we

:23:20.:23:24.

likely to see most the medals - track, field, pool? Well, I'm

:23:24.:23:27.

slightly biased, because I'm a swimmer, so I will be say swimming.

:23:27.:23:34.

We tend to pick up a fair number of medals there. Across the sports, as

:23:34.:23:39.

you say, track and field and the equestrian team is very strong. We

:23:39.:23:43.

are looking for our first gold in the sailing. Across the board we

:23:43.:23:49.

have some great athletes. mentioned you are a swimmer. You

:23:49.:23:53.

are rather modest. You are a four- time gold medalist. It's great

:23:53.:23:57.

having you talking about the atmosphere, but I manage this time

:23:57.:24:02.

it will be a little more lively, because of the success of London

:24:02.:24:07.

2012? Absolutely. Everybody's really enjoyed the Olympics and now

:24:07.:24:10.

the Paralympics brings something different, but quality of sport as

:24:10.:24:15.

well. We have got the huge heritage about paralympic sport. We kind of

:24:15.:24:20.

invented it and we have been growing it in terms of the media

:24:20.:24:22.

coverage and the general public awareness and now it looks like it

:24:23.:24:26.

will sell out, so it's a great opportunity for athletes from

:24:26.:24:31.

around the world to really enjoy top-quality sport in some great

:24:31.:24:34.

facilities, with people who really want to be there. Do you think this

:24:34.:24:40.

will set the bar even higher for the rest of the world for Rio 2016?

:24:40.:24:45.

Absolutely. I think it will be very tough to follow. I'm sure Rio will

:24:45.:24:50.

do their best to do that. They have a very strong team generally and

:24:50.:24:56.

have been growing their sports in Brazil. The atmosphere in the

:24:56.:25:06.
:25:06.:25:07.

venues around London, it will be electric. Burma's Information

:25:07.:25:13.

Ministry, says it's ending all cenorship of the country's media.

:25:13.:25:17.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Department said as of Monday,

:25:17.:25:23.

reporters would no longer have to submit their work to state censors

:25:23.:25:27.

before publication. During nearly five decades of military rule in

:25:27.:25:30.

Burma, censorship applied to everything from newspapers to song

:25:30.:25:38.

lyrics. To Libya and 3 supporters of Muammar Gaddafi have been

:25:38.:25:41.

detained in connection with two bomb attacks in Tripoli on Sunday.

:25:41.:25:48.

It was a year that the regime was facing its final days of control.

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Our reporter joins us from friply. Rana, a year on, but signs of

:25:53.:26:03.

support for the Gaddafi rulers? Certainly, given the car bombings

:26:03.:26:10.

that we saw yesterday, they claimed the lives of two people. We have

:26:10.:26:14.

heard from officials blaming it on Gaddafi supporters, although this

:26:14.:26:19.

hasn't been independently verified. In reality, no-one has - no group

:26:19.:26:23.

has really claimed any of these incidents, whether in Benghazi or

:26:23.:26:30.

Tripoli. Of course, there are still some people in Libya that do

:26:30.:26:35.

support Muammar Gaddafi, even though he has been killed since the

:26:35.:26:38.

uprising and there's a network of support on some level, but I don't

:26:38.:26:45.

think a lot of people believe that it's deeply rooted to the extent

:26:45.:26:49.

where they can change things around. That's given what happened last

:26:49.:26:57.

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