26/09/2012 BBC World News


26/09/2012

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The violence in Syria. Two bombs strike in the military headquarters

:00:12.:00:20.

in Damascus. The correspondent for Iranian press TV is shot dead.

:00:20.:00:23.

South African politician Julius Malema is released on bail charged

:00:23.:00:27.

with money-laundering. She is definitely done with Harry.

:00:27.:00:33.

JK Rowling tells the BBC now she is -- why she is writing for an adult

:00:33.:00:38.

audience. I don't want to go mechanically back into that world

:00:38.:00:42.

and Pickup the N's and say, we can sell this. It would make a mockery

:00:42.:00:49.

of what those books were. -- pick up the end ups.

:00:49.:00:57.

Workers walkout in Greece since the first general strike since the

:00:57.:00:59.

coalition government came to power in June.

:00:59.:01:06.

And good use for Lloyds - it is back in profit after the first six

:01:06.:01:16.
:01:16.:01:18.

Syrian state television has reported a statement from an

:01:18.:01:22.

official military source reacting to a major explosions that have

:01:22.:01:25.

targeted the Army and Air Force buildings in Damascus. The

:01:25.:01:30.

statement said no senior military personnel were injured in the blast

:01:30.:01:35.

near Umayyad Square. It said the two explosions were as a result of

:01:35.:01:42.

a car bomb and one in the general premises of the building.

:01:42.:01:46.

In the heart of Damascus a major military building blazing out of

:01:46.:01:50.

control. This act of the studio, which we cannot be independently

:01:50.:01:53.

verified, shows the heavily-guarded General Staff headquarters

:01:53.:01:59.

apparently stricken by the bomb blasts. Shooting broke out

:01:59.:02:04.

immediately after the explosions. Officials said security forces were

:02:04.:02:08.

chasing what they called terrorists in the nearby area. Diplomats said

:02:08.:02:12.

troops were conducting house-to- house searches. The whole of

:02:12.:02:16.

Damascus was shaken by the blasts, which went off just as the morning

:02:16.:02:21.

rush-hour was starting. They were the biggest explosions to have

:02:21.:02:27.

happened in months. Western parts of the city but paralysed as the

:02:27.:02:32.

security try to contain it. Syrian state TV was the first to report

:02:32.:02:37.

the blast but then there was a silence on the outcome. But

:02:37.:02:41.

reassuring words from the Information Minister. He said none

:02:41.:02:46.

of the Military Command staff were injured and everything was normal.

:02:46.:02:50.

With the violence worsened in and around 150 people being killed

:02:50.:02:55.

every day, Syria dominated the UN general Assembly discussions in New

:02:55.:02:59.

York. The French are among those growing impatient at action to halt

:02:59.:03:04.

the carnage. TRANSLATION: Without further delay,

:03:04.:03:08.

I ask the United Nations to give the Syrian people now the support

:03:08.:03:11.

they are requesting, and in particular, that the liberated

:03:11.:03:18.

areas be protected. But there's still no appetite in the West for

:03:18.:03:25.

the kind of intervention this would require. Arab military intervention

:03:26.:03:31.

is equally unlikely, though someone to see it. The relentless violence

:03:31.:03:35.

is destined to go on. It is now engulfing all parts of the country.

:03:35.:03:39.

But the regime will not give way and the rebels will not give up.

:03:39.:03:45.

The outside world does not have an answer.

:03:45.:03:48.

The man who could arguably be described as the most controversial

:03:49.:03:52.

figure in South African politics at the moment is, once again, in the

:03:52.:04:00.

spotlight. That is Julius Malema, former Duke -- former leader of the

:04:00.:04:08.

Querrey. He has appeared in court charged with money laundering. --

:04:08.:04:14.

leader of ANC Youth League. I asked him what reaction there had been to

:04:14.:04:21.

the charge. The surprise is, certainly amongst the crowd, but it

:04:22.:04:27.

was only one charge relating to laundering. We believe it links to

:04:27.:04:36.

his family trust. It had money put in it by businessmen. He has been

:04:36.:04:44.

posted bail, 10,000 rand. That is about $1,000. Will this be seen by

:04:44.:04:48.

his supporters as... I know it is a criminal case, but nonetheless, a

:04:48.:04:52.

partial victory, and as much as we were expecting a wider raft of

:04:52.:05:00.

charges to be laid, weren't we? It is early days and it is entirely

:05:00.:05:05.

possible further charges will be added. It is also possible to

:05:05.:05:11.

people will say, look, this is another find that this prosecution

:05:11.:05:15.

has been rushed at the last minute because of political pressure and

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they have not got their case together properly. But it will be a

:05:19.:05:23.

long, slow process, and presumably the details will come out sooner or

:05:23.:05:28.

later. With anti-austerity strikes getting

:05:28.:05:33.

under way in Greece, there is a wide scale strike. The Spanish

:05:33.:05:39.

capital Madrid is getting, again. But there were protests again last

:05:39.:05:47.

night. -- getting calm again. And protesters charged the government

:05:47.:05:51.

building, angry at the government's ever stricter spending cuts. Let's

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have a look for you now in the heart of Athens, Syntagma Square. A

:06:00.:06:04.

general strike and it is public and private sector. It will last for 24

:06:04.:06:08.

hours and it is the first of this scale since the current coalition

:06:08.:06:14.

government, led by the Conservative, Antonis Samaras, came into power

:06:14.:06:20.

back in June. Aaron is with me as we consider the pickle the

:06:20.:06:24.

government is in. They have got paid general strike on their hands

:06:24.:06:28.

so it is clear what people think about further cuts. They don't

:06:28.:06:35.

Institute the cuts and they can -- if they don't Institute the cuts,

:06:36.:06:41.

they can wave goodbye to the bail out. Yes. That is just it. Here is

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the problem - we are already hearing the Finance Ministry has

:06:46.:06:50.

approved this new austerity package, worth some $15 billion. But is

:06:50.:06:55.

still has to go to the collision for approval and to, very

:06:55.:07:03.

importantly, the international physically testing Athens and

:07:03.:07:06.

giving them a report card to see if they can do all they can to get

:07:06.:07:10.

this chance of bail out money. 31 billion euros. Without it, they

:07:11.:07:14.

cannot pay visible servants and their salaries. And things like

:07:14.:07:23.

that. So it is very important for Athens. But Spain is quieter today

:07:23.:07:27.

after those rather violent protests last night with rubber bullets

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being fired. What we saw in Spain and Athens, the markets do not like

:07:32.:07:38.

it. It is what makes them rather jittery. And this is off the back

:07:38.:07:42.

of the eurozone mess. And the yield, the cost of borrowing for countries

:07:42.:07:48.

like Spain, and like Italy, they are on the up, and a higher these

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costs go, it basically signals that investors are not confident. But

:07:54.:07:58.

Spain is at the epicentre at the moment of the eurozone debt crisis

:07:58.:08:03.

because tomorrow we get the 2013 Budget on the table and the Newbury

:08:03.:08:09.

structural reforms. They are on the table as well. -- the new

:08:09.:08:13.

structural reforms. On Friday, we get the final results of the stress

:08:13.:08:17.

test of the Spanish banking system and we already know the eurozone

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collectively have promised 125 billion euros of a bail out. Sorry,

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$125 billion. What we are hearing is that the Prime Minister wants to

:08:30.:08:33.

put this out on the table officially with further cuts before

:08:34.:08:38.

he then puts his hands up officially and says, OK, we will

:08:38.:08:43.

need a full-blown bail out. So that is what we are hearing first.

:08:43.:08:48.

done deal first? Absolutely. Because he has said there is only a

:08:48.:08:51.

certain line he will cross in terms of what measures and conditions

:08:51.:08:56.

come with a certain bail out. Let's listen to the experts I have been

:08:56.:09:03.

talking to this morning, starting with Greece. The growth outlook has

:09:03.:09:07.

deteriorated. The actual growth numbers we are seeing are worse

:09:07.:09:12.

than implied in the initial projections for the second bail out.

:09:12.:09:16.

This austerity package itself has been delayed considerably. It

:09:16.:09:20.

should originally have gone through in June, so the delay of reforms

:09:20.:09:24.

and of state sales means the outlook is now a lot worse. So even

:09:24.:09:29.

if they managed to get this through, as is looking likely, after a lot

:09:29.:09:34.

of bargaining between the coalition partners, it could still not be

:09:34.:09:39.

enough and more austerity is likely to be required. That is going to

:09:39.:09:42.

increase tensions within the coalition, and the risk is, it

:09:42.:09:46.

could only be a matter of time before that government collapses,

:09:46.:09:50.

and then you could be faced with the anti-bail out party that is

:09:50.:09:54.

riding high in the opinion polls, threatening to get back into power.

:09:54.:10:00.

And that is a big worry. While I am talking to you, we are seeing the

:10:00.:10:04.

live pictures from Athens. A big Greek promise and a move that was

:10:04.:10:09.

supposed to underpin the reforms and be the big money raised it was

:10:09.:10:12.

Greig privatisation, but we are hearing hardly anything at all has

:10:12.:10:19.

been done. -- Greek privatisation. Like everything with the reform and

:10:19.:10:24.

austerity programme, there has not been much going through. There have

:10:24.:10:29.

been delays and hold ups. This compares the situation and then the

:10:29.:10:34.

markets are getting jittery again. And all of the sort of... Tuna, we

:10:34.:10:38.

saw some relief after the actions of the central bank in Europe. --

:10:38.:10:48.
:10:48.:10:50.

you know. That needs to be activated and with these worries in

:10:50.:10:53.

Greece and Spain, the markets are getting jittery and we could see

:10:53.:10:59.

tensions rising. We will keep a cross that. Let's move on. Lloyds,

:10:59.:11:04.

the largest insurance market, has cashed in on a quiet spell for

:11:04.:11:08.

natural disasters because today it announced a profit of just over

:11:08.:11:14.

�1.5 billion, over $2 billion. But is in stark contrast to last year,

:11:14.:11:18.

which was the second most expensive on record for insurers, with claims

:11:18.:11:22.

of almost $21 billion, and that followed the severe floods in

:11:23.:11:27.

Australia and Thailand, the earthquake in New Zealand as well,

:11:27.:11:32.

of course. And Japan's devastating earthquake. This year has been

:11:32.:11:36.

virtually disaster-free. But the eurozone crisis is an ongoing

:11:36.:11:44.

challenge for Lloyds. A little earlier, I spoke to a member of

:11:44.:11:51.

Lloyds about how what was affecting his business. The eurozone crisis

:11:51.:11:55.

is affecting the European economy and the global economy. It is

:11:55.:11:59.

affecting people's confidence, and so it is more challenging for us to

:11:59.:12:04.

make a return on those investments and governments have reduced

:12:04.:12:09.

interest rates to virtually zero. It is difficult to find asset

:12:09.:12:13.

classes to invest in. It presents a challenge but also an opportunity.

:12:13.:12:18.

We are in the business of risk and helping people manage it. On the

:12:18.:12:21.

Continent, Europe and in Spain and Greece, people still need to manage

:12:21.:12:26.

their assets and we are there to help them. That is the boss of

:12:26.:12:30.

Lloyds of London talking about the negatives of the eurozone but there

:12:30.:12:34.

are also positives. It is important we talk about the governments

:12:34.:12:38.

handling the crisis but also how corporates are handing it. Thank

:12:39.:12:43.

you. Thank you for watching BBC World

:12:43.:12:49.

News. Plenty more still to come, including, JK Rowling speaking to

:12:49.:12:57.

Will Gompertz about her first book for adults. And a mention of Harry.

:12:57.:13:01.

At least seven people have died in Indonesia in a collision between a

:13:01.:13:05.

ferry and a cargo ship. A spokesman for the transport ministry said 200

:13:05.:13:09.

made crew and passengers had been evacuated from the very and it is

:13:09.:13:15.

not yet confirmed how many were on board. -- 208 crew. Rescue workers

:13:15.:13:19.

are still looking for the missing. The ferry links Java and Sumatra

:13:19.:13:23.

islands. Scientists who have spent two and a

:13:23.:13:28.

half years investigating marine life have claimed to found more

:13:28.:13:32.

than a million and a half new species of plant and. There are

:13:32.:13:42.

some amazing pictures to go with it. Out of the deep, these dazzling

:13:42.:13:46.

discoveries. You are looking at plankton, microscopic plants and

:13:46.:13:51.

animals that drift through our seas and oceans. They might be small but

:13:52.:13:56.

they are vital. They produce the oxygen in every second breath we

:13:56.:14:00.

breathe. They take carbon-dioxide out of the atmosphere and there are

:14:00.:14:06.

at the base of the food chain, so if there is no plankton, there is

:14:06.:14:10.

no fish in the ocean. More things we have to understand more about to

:14:10.:14:17.

understand how the Russian works. This boat is moored up after a two-

:14:17.:14:21.

and-a-half-year voyage of discovery all over the world. The aim of the

:14:21.:14:26.

scientists on board, to take the pulse of the planet. What they

:14:26.:14:30.

found surprised them all. Scientists thought there were

:14:30.:14:35.

30,000 different plot that species. In fact, there are one and a half

:14:35.:14:39.

million. We always thought ocean biodiversity is lower than

:14:39.:14:43.

diversity on the land but knowing now that there is something like

:14:44.:14:47.

1.5 million, it basically brings biodiversity in the ocean up to

:14:47.:14:53.

raise similar level as that on land and in the forests and so on.

:14:53.:14:56.

team collected tens of thousands of samples and there are still being

:14:56.:15:06.
:15:06.:15:07.

analysed. Among the strangest, this, the drop, cover and hold. It is the

:15:07.:15:16.

world's long this creature, up to 40,000 metres long. -- the

:15:16.:15:22.

siphonophore. They reveal a whole new underworld -- underwater world

:15:22.:15:32.
:15:32.:15:41.

which scientists say can teach us This is World News Today. The

:15:41.:15:45.

headlines: Agreed to bomb's target the Army and Air Force headquarters

:15:45.:15:50.

in Damascus. Syria's information minister say

:15:50.:15:55.

all commanders escaped injury. Julius Malema has been charged with

:15:55.:16:03.

money laundering and released on The former chief executive of News

:16:03.:16:07.

International is appearing in court along with the British Prime

:16:07.:16:11.

Minister's former director of communications Wendy Coulson. They

:16:11.:16:15.

are due at London's Old Bailey with five other journalists from the

:16:15.:16:20.

defunct tabloid to face charges linked to the investigation into

:16:20.:16:23.

phone hacking. We can speak to our legal affairs Correspondent at the

:16:23.:16:30.

Old Bailey. Two of the biggest names. Just to be absolutely clear

:16:30.:16:34.

about this, there were two Casey's before the court this morning. One

:16:34.:16:39.

of them related to charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of

:16:39.:16:45.

justice and the defendant in that case, Ms Brooks, husband, her

:16:45.:16:52.

former PA and four other former employees of News International

:16:52.:16:57.

employed in various capacities. That was one set of charges. That

:16:57.:17:01.

relate to the concealing or allegations of concealing or

:17:01.:17:05.

evidence from the police or indeed removing evidence from News

:17:05.:17:09.

International. That was one set of charges. In addition to that There

:17:09.:17:14.

are another set of charges which are based on conspiracy to

:17:14.:17:21.

intercept voice mails. Eight defendants in that case, including

:17:21.:17:26.

Ms Brooks, Andy Coulson, former director of communications at

:17:26.:17:33.

Downing Street, and a raft of other senior editorial staff at the

:17:33.:17:37.

former News of the world and the private detective Glenn Mulcaire.

:17:37.:17:42.

Both cases were before the court this morning. All we can really

:17:42.:17:47.

report is that directions were given in both of those cases that a

:17:47.:17:50.

proposed trial date of 9th September next year, one year's

:17:50.:17:55.

time, has been set. Even that is only a proposed trial date. It was

:17:55.:17:59.

a very crowded it dock at the Old Bailey with the people I have

:17:59.:18:05.

mentioned in it, and each of those people, when it was put to them,

:18:05.:18:10.

whether they could identify themselves, they spoke simply to

:18:10.:18:13.

identify themselves. All of them were then bailed. There will be

:18:13.:18:18.

another hearing on 12th December but because of the reporting

:18:18.:18:23.

restrictions that is all I can inform you about.

:18:23.:18:27.

We all have to grow up and move on eventually. That seems to be the

:18:27.:18:30.

message from the writer of the most famous children's books of recent

:18:30.:18:34.

times. JK Rowling's first book aimed at an adult readership is out

:18:34.:18:41.

on Thursday. She has been talking to our arts editor.

:18:41.:18:47.

They you are, reasonably successful children's author, characters

:18:47.:18:54.

people quite like. Why change horses and courses?

:18:54.:18:57.

Because this is the thing I wanted to write next, it is not very

:18:57.:19:02.

complicated. I had the idea, I knew I would love to write it, so that

:19:02.:19:06.

is where it all started. I did not sit down to write this novel, no

:19:06.:19:11.

part of me felt, got to prove, I had nothing to prove. I don't mean

:19:11.:19:16.

that in an arrogant way. I certainly did mean that I cannot

:19:16.:19:23.

improve as a writer, I certainly don't mean, coming from a place of

:19:23.:19:28.

self-satisfaction. Harry Potter it truly liberated me. It liberated me

:19:28.:19:34.

in the sense that there is only one reason to right now, for me, if I

:19:34.:19:38.

genuinely have something I want to say and want to publish it. Why was

:19:38.:19:41.

it the thing you wanted to write next?

:19:41.:19:46.

The truth is the idea just came to me and I just had that almost

:19:46.:19:48.

visceral reaction when you are excited about something and you

:19:48.:19:55.

know you want to do it. I could go back and say, well, it plays into

:19:55.:19:59.

certain areas of my life. It is quite a personal book, things I

:19:59.:20:05.

think about a lot. It is personal in the sense that it deals with

:20:05.:20:10.

broad themes that have affected my life in a very real sense, poverty,

:20:10.:20:17.

for example. Their attitudes depicted in this book -- there are

:20:17.:20:22.

attitudes. I found myself suffering from these at a formative time in

:20:22.:20:26.

my life. Did you have those experiences that

:20:26.:20:32.

you project onto your characters? I wouldn't want to go there too

:20:32.:20:38.

much. I will say, as is well documented, I have had my issues

:20:38.:20:44.

with mental health, have been depressed, in my teenage years I

:20:44.:20:49.

had issues with anxiety. The Casual Vacancy is a story set

:20:49.:20:53.

in a small English town in which a rough council estate becomes a

:20:53.:20:58.

divisive issue in a community riven with pate, prejudice and exclusion.

:20:58.:21:04.

Expletives are bound -- with hate. Do you worry children who are fans

:21:04.:21:07.

of yours will be on an internet site where you can download these

:21:07.:21:14.

books? I hope that we have made it really

:21:14.:21:21.

clear this isn't a book for children. I have been open about

:21:21.:21:25.

the themes, we have talked about what the story is about, I would

:21:25.:21:28.

think parents could make a clear choice.

:21:28.:21:33.

It might not be the parents making the choice.

:21:33.:21:40.

With children, well, I suppose I would have to ask why have kids got

:21:40.:21:46.

access to the internet a yard downloading things I would be even

:21:46.:21:50.

more worried they would be downloading.

:21:50.:21:55.

There is something of Dickens about this book.

:21:55.:22:03.

I am very flattered. When I did start writing it I was aware that I

:22:03.:22:09.

was doing a contemporary version of what I love, which is a big, fat, a

:22:09.:22:13.

nineteenth-century novel set in a small community. To panic step --

:22:13.:22:17.

to an extent, swear words notwithstanding, that is what The

:22:17.:22:21.

Casual Vacancy is. What do you aspire to as a writer? To get

:22:21.:22:26.

better it would be great. I think you are working and learning until

:22:26.:22:36.
:22:36.:22:36.

you die. I can say with my hand on my heart I will never write for any

:22:36.:22:41.

reason other than I'd burning we wanted to write the book. A couple

:22:41.:22:45.

of the Harry Potter books I knew that they needed another year.

:22:45.:22:49.

Towards the end? One towards the beginning and one towards the end

:22:49.:22:53.

that I felt that about. I had to write on the run. There were times

:22:53.:23:01.

when it was really tough. I read them and I think, Oh God, maybe I

:23:01.:23:11.
:23:11.:23:11.

will go back and do a director's cut, I did know. -- I do not know.

:23:11.:23:16.

As a writer, you have created a portfolio of characters which

:23:16.:23:21.

connect with millions, maybe billions, of people. An

:23:21.:23:25.

extraordinary extreme -- achievement. Surely you cannot

:23:25.:23:35.
:23:35.:23:37.

leave them be. It was murder saying goodbye, but

:23:37.:23:43.

where Harry's story is concerned I am done. Now, if I had a fabulous

:23:44.:23:48.

idea that came out of that world because I loved writing it, I would

:23:48.:23:55.

do it. But I have got to have a great idea. I don't want to go it

:23:55.:23:58.

mechanically back into that world and pick up a load of odds and ends

:23:58.:24:03.

and the them together and say we can sell us. -- and glue them

:24:04.:24:07.

together. It would make a mockery of what those books were. They kept

:24:07.:24:12.

me going through rough times so I don't want to betray them. Maybe a

:24:12.:24:19.

sidetrack. I am not sure. A sidestep, we will see. Very

:24:19.:24:26.

difficult to say how angry I felt that my five-year-old daughter's

:24:26.:24:34.

school was no longer a place of complete security from journalists.

:24:34.:24:39.

On Leveson you gave a moving account about what happened to you.

:24:39.:24:42.

Do you think it will change anything?

:24:42.:24:45.

It is a massive question for our culture. We have got to get it

:24:45.:24:49.

right. I believe in the freedom of the press passionately, but having

:24:49.:24:56.

been on the receiving end of some dubious, illegal behaviour, how do

:24:56.:25:02.

the cleaners up? I do not know. I hope and pray it does change things.

:25:02.:25:07.

-- clean this up. It is toxic what has been allowed to go on. Thank

:25:07.:25:14.

you very much. Very interesting stuff. It is

:25:14.:25:18.

understood to of the five terrorism suspects facing extradition to the

:25:18.:25:22.

United States from the UK have asked the High Court to block their

:25:22.:25:27.

removal. The two suspects have filed an application to stage their

:25:27.:25:32.

extradition. We cannot say at the moment which of the five suspects

:25:32.:25:34.

they are but campaigners on their behalf have launched a private

:25:34.:25:39.

prosecution against them to get the case heard in the UK, rather than

:25:39.:25:43.

in the US. Obviously we will keep a cross that story for you.

:25:43.:25:47.

Here in the UK the worst September storms for 30 years have blown

:25:47.:25:52.

through the country. One part of Scotland, in fact, it caused quite

:25:52.:25:56.

an unusual sight. Gale force winds and torrential rain combined to

:25:56.:26:04.

blow what was he sand filled foam off the North Sea and into the

:26:04.:26:06.

street of Aberdeen. Severe conditions have been causing

:26:06.:26:11.

flooding, disrupting rail and ferry services in much of Scotland, but

:26:11.:26:17.

not like this everywhere. For one little chap there in Aberdeen this

:26:17.:26:21.

invasion looked like nothing but great fun.

:26:21.:26:25.

New pictures of the missing 15- year-old schoolgirl Medhin stammer

:26:25.:26:30.

and her 30 world maths teacher had been released by police -- 30-year-

:26:30.:26:39.

old maths teacher. -- Megan Stammers. An investigation into

:26:39.:26:42.

their relationship had been going on for several months after they

:26:42.:26:48.

were spotted holding hands on a school trip. Just to remind you, if

:26:48.:26:54.

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