15/01/2013 BBC World News

Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: Pakistan's Supreme

Court orders the arrest of the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf

on corruption charges. France keeps up its military action

against Islamist rebels in Mali after the UN backs its intervention.

The European Court of Human Rights rules that a Christian woman did

face religious discrimination when she was not allowed to wear a cross

at work. And, it may be the most advanced

fuel efficient passenger yet in the world but airlines are getting

worried about a bumpy ride for the Hello and welcome to our new

studios here in the heart of London. We are now in the BBC's new

Broadcasting House and the world's newsroom. We start in Pakistan

today where the Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of the Prime

Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15 others over corruption charges.

denies taking a bribe in 2010 whilst he was Minister of Water and

Power. This couldn't come at a more tense time in the country. A cleric

is leading protesters in the capital with demands for reforms.

Our correspondent is following the story in Islamabad and was in the

crowd of protesters when they found out about the arrest warrant.

Certainly for the Government Pakistan's beleaguered Government,

it really couldn't be worse. This case has been going on for more

than a year. It involved not only the Prime Minister, Raja Pervez

Ashraf, but 15 other officials. They're all accused of corruption

in the establishment of power plants and this was at a time when

the Prime Minister was Minister for water and power. Now the arrest

order was given this morning. We were down among the demonstraters,

the anti-Government protesters who have massed on the approach road to

parliament. I can tell you when that news broke there was euphoria.

There was wild cheering, people were jumping in the air and hugging

each other. I saw men weeping and others kissing the ground. They

certainly interpret this as a signal that things are going their

way, even though, of course, Pakistan's Supreme Court is an

independent institution. The protesters would see this as

further evidence that those in Government in Pakistan are corrupt,

that's their main complaint. They have been insisting that the

Government should resign, not only the Government, the federal

Government here in Islamabad, but also the four provincal governments.

For the Government this is another trouble on another front on its own

doorstep. In recent days it's been dealing with a crisis in the south-

west where more than 100 Shi'ite Muslims were killed in a double

bomb attack. That crisis was more or less defused, then the mass

protest rally came to the capital and now we have this instruction

for the Prime Minister to be arrested. Certainly analysts here

see this as a worrying development as something that will provoke

further instability here at a time when things are already very shaky

and Pakistan's democracy is looking particularly fragile. Thank you.

With me is a representative from the URDU Service. This Government

has had issues with the military leadership and then with the

country's judiciary. What it has demonstrated is that it has managed

to last and it's barely two to three months away from the next

general election. The Prime Minister will hang on until then?

Even if he is arrested he can get bailed out and there's nothing that

can force the Government to change the Prime Minister if the

Government doesn't want to. Thousands of people are on the

streets. Is the two acts that we are seeing co-ordinated or not?

looks like a typical Pakistani political drama where a set of

random things are kind of tend to happen at the same time and a lot

is - the people gathered there are there at the call of leader who is

not a political leader. He doesn't join political party. He runs

religious sepl inaries. So these don't seem to be co-ordinated.

obviously we have also had criticism from the Indian Prime

Minister apparently today on the the Kashmir question. Elections

coming up. It doesn't nothing to bring stability to this beleaguered

country. A few hours ago we did get a statement from the Prime

Minister's office saying he had consulted all major political

leaders in the country and they all agreed that they must focus on the

next elections coming up and nothing should change ash traeurily

or outside the constitution and that is as stable as it goes.

you very much. French air strikes have pounded

targets in the western Mali town of Diabaly. France says the military

intervention will continue for as long as necessary. These are the

latest pictures from the capital which remains calm at the moment.

The fighting is happening a few hundred kilometres to the north but

regional military commanders are meeting in the city today to try

and work out their plans for combating the threat in the north.

Their operation has now renewed backing from the UN Security

Council. The French President has been visiting his country's

military base in Abu Dhabi where he said more troops will be sent to

support operations in Mali. TRANSLATION:

Last night we carried out more successful strikes and achieved our

objectives. We have full confidence in the operational speed with which

we will be able to hold the aggressors and terrorists first and

foremost. Also, in the co-operation of African forces that still need

another week or so to deploy fully to help restore Mali's ter are to

kwrael spweg --'s integrity. least 19 people have been killed in

a train crash in Egypt. More than 100 others were injured. It was

carrying army recruits to Cairo when two carriages derailed in a

suburb and collided with a goods train. Lance Armstrong has now

recorded an interview to be shown on Thursday with Oprah Winfrey.

It's the subject of speculation the world over. The burning question is

whether or not he has admitted to taking performance-enchancing drugs

during his successful career. The trial has started in Germany of a

married couple charged with spying for Russia more than two decades.

Prosecuters say the couple used false passports to settle in the

former west Germany in the 1980s. They're alleged to have passed

information initially to the Soviet Union and after the collapse of

commune toeufpl Russia's intelligence service.

-- Communism. A British Airways employee who says

she was discriminated against at work because of her faith has won a

landmark legal battle at the European Court of Human Rights. She

took the airline to a tribunal after she was forced out of her job

for wearing a cross in breach of company uniform codes. Her case was

rejected in Britain. But today European judges have found in her

favour. They ruled against three more Christians who launched

similar action. There were four apelants in total, four British

citizens who said that two things had happened to them, that the UK

law had failed to protect their religious freedom and also that

they had been discrim tphaeulted against -- discriminated against at

work because they were manifesting their religious phraefs as

Christians. -- beliefs. One case was upheld today. A woman was

working at check-in at British Airways and had insisted on visibly

wearing a cross around her neck. British Airways said this was

against uniform policy and she ended up being forced out of her

job. But today the European Court said that wasn't right. They said

her freedom of religion had been violated, that's article nine of

the convention, it said, in this case there was a balance between

the right to manifest her religious belief, versus British Airways wish

to project a a corporate image and according to the court British

domestic courts had got that balance a little bit wrong, they

had gone in favour of BA and their desire to uphold that corporate

image, whereas really they should have given her the right to

manifest her religious beliefs. The interesting thing about this is

that one of the other apelants failed in her claims. She had been

wearing her cross. She was a nurse, she had been working for 30 years

in the same hospital. One day her employers said, you can't wear that

cross any more. Today the European Court said that her case could not

be upheld because that cross was in contravention of health and safety

guidelines. Business now. Is The Dreamliner

optimistically named? We are talking about the fasters

selling passenger jet in the world. The reason it's the fastest selling

is it's the most advanced and fuel efficient passenger jet in the

world but The Dreamliner is having a bumpy ride. Japan's transport

Minister said that passenger confidence in the jet is now at

stake. It follows the investigations in Japan and the US

after a series of incidents including a fuel leak, a fire, and

a cracked cockpit window. More than 800 of those jets have been ordered

by carriers around the world. I have to say airlines in Japan are

by far the biggest customers. Our Tokyo customer says there's a lot

at stake for Boeing. The big thing about the 787 Dreamliner is the

weight. It's lighter than previous generation aircraft because it's

made of a lot of lightweight materials, about 50% of the

aircraft is made of carbon fibre. That means for the airlines huge

savings in the long run on fuel and that means more profits for

airlines, as well. The airline industry is fiercely competitive

and that's the reason why there are now more than 800 of these planes

on order by airlines around the world, particularly here in Japan.

There is an enormous amount riding on this single model of aircraft

because it is, I don't think there's been another aircraft that

has initial orders of more than 800 before in the history of airline

manufacturing. We will keep across that story. Some news from South

Africa's mining sector. With the world's top platinum producer Anglo

American Platinum. It's reorganising its business in a move

that could lead to 14,000 job cuts. Most of the job losses will be in a

complex which was blighted by strikes and violent clashes last

year. It agreed to raise wages for staff but made some huge losses

during that dispute. It's a difficult tightrope they're walking.

It's a carefully worded statement. They've hinted they're going to try

to reinvestigate into South Africa and create 14,000 jobs which is

what they're laying off in the future. But that I think is just

saying, we are still committed to the country but cannot have this

volatile labour pricing we have had in the past because it makes the

mines unviable for long-term capital expenditure.

He was explaining that this deal sends a message to those unions.

Let's talk about cars, in particular Japanese car giants,

they're still hurting from the politically-driven backlash they

suffered at the hands of Chinese consumers last year. Toyota and

Nissan say sales to China have sunk due to that island dispute. They're

hoping to come back with vengeance, particularly in the US market where

they are showing their latest models at the Detroit Motor Show.

Toyota showed off its vision of the next generation Corolla. It's

perhaps a reflection of the company's newfound confidence which

is wellplaced because there are reports that the company is once

again the world's top seller. It comes after a difficult few years

for the company in which it suffered recalls here in the United

States, weather-related problems and a Chinese boycott of its cars

because of a political dispute between the two countries. Now back

here in Detroit things are looking up. The mood at toy is very

positive -- at Toyota is positive. We think things are moving in a

good direction from us that's driven by new products, exciting

new products with new technology, great new styling from Toyota, that

you probably haven't seen from us before. So we are excited about

that. But nobody can afford to take it

easy. Of course now it's focusing on the luxury market, and this is

its latest offering. It's not been a bad year for Detroit's home grown

car industry. This is generating a lot of headlines here, but it's not

the only reason GM has to celebrate. Last year it enjoyed its best year

of sales ever in China and it's hoping that new products like this

Corvette will drive sales even higher in Asia.

A sharp looking car! Let's talk about sharp, because shares in

Sharp and other Apple suppliers have fallen after reports of a cut

in orders for the iPhone 5. Apple has Halfsined orders for screens

and other components for its latest model according to a newspaper.

Shares in display panel maker Sharp dropped 7% in Tokyo trade.

Keep your eyes on Facebook because it's holding a special event at its

headquarters in California later today. There's speculation about

what the company is going to say. Investors are hoping for something

big, possibly around the mobile sector business where the company

Instagram has seen a drop in users. The company had to move back on

Copyright rules. Let's take a look at the markets. There's a lot to

focus on on both sides of the Atlantic. The boss of the US

Federal Reserve had a few comments, and Germany is certainly occupying.

The German economy shrank in the The German economy shrank in the

last three months of last year by 0.5 %. It was more than expected.

It highlights that the eurozone mess continues to bite at Germany.

The US economic recovery is at risk unless Congress can get together

and agree to raise the US borrowing limit. That is still the big debate.

We had the fist of Cliff, and now We had the fist of Cliff, and now

we have got the fiscal fumble. I quite like the cars as well!

Thank you very much. We have got gridlock coming up. We

are looking for the World's worst traffic jam. We challenged our

correspondence to take on the world's busiest cities. And Indians

may have migrated to Australia Bolivia has managed to rejoin the

UN's anti-drugs convention despite allowing farmers to grow coca

leaves. It's a big success for the country's president, Evo Morales,

who pulled out of the agreement last year saying it criminalised a

traditional way of life. But several countries are very unhappy

with Bolivia's return. This is now an internationally

approved activity, so long as you do it in Bolivia. The country's

cocoa leaf farmers spent Monday celebrating a diplomatic victory

which preserves their right to grow and chew coca leaves. Thousands of

them took to the streets to mark the occasion.

TRANSLATION: We feel like the world has done justice for cocoa leaf

producers. We feel like they had given us back our dignity and the

world has recognised that we are not bad people.

The marchers sang the praises of a clever piece of diplomacy. Last

year, Bolivia pulled out of the Convention on Narcotic drugs. The

agreement banned production of opium, heroin, cannabis and cocaine

was that the government said it would rejoin on one condition -

that it would not ban coca leaf production. The US and some

European countries objective, but they did not have enough votes to

stop Olivia's return. However, the government says it will still be

tough on the production and trafficking of cocaine.

TRANSLATION: With radar on the borders, we can reduce drug

trafficking significantly, even if we cut to eradicate it. That way,

processing chemicals don't come in. Cocaine doesn't go out. Bolivia

would no longer be a transit country.

I out in the Andes, presidents have long treed -- chewed coca leaves to

combat outages sickness. The country's commitments to the anti-

narcotics cause is about to face its toughest test.

Coca-Cola has launched an advert addressing obesity for the first

time on television. The two-minute commercial highlights the firm's

record of making low-calorie drinks and reminds viewers all foods

contain calories. The ad, which aired on US cable networks on

Monday, follows mounting pressure Pakistani security forces clash

with anti-corruption demonstrators trying to approach the parliament

building in Islamabad. The UN Security Council has given

its backing to France's military intervention against Islamist

fighters in Mali. At some point Micra, you will have

been stuck in traffic. As part of our series, we send some

correspondence out to see how far they could get in one hour. Today,

our correspondent takes on another in Paris for the gridlocked a World

Right now, we are on Lagos mainland, trying to get across the city. This

is the business district. It is usually quite a task because of the

numbers of cars, the numbers of vehicles moving across the city.

Not just that, but the road networks don't seem to be able to

handle the volume of traffic. The challenge is to drier 14

kilometres from this part of north- east Paris, through the rush-hour

traffic, to the town hall. -- to drive 14 commanders.

Sadly, the daily commute is no such picture postcards. Parisians live

beyond the outer ring road, which is interminable. Most mornings, it

is solid. It appears there is a problem ahead.

Everybody seems to be going off the road. This is typical in Lagos. OK,

I think there's and accident ahead. Once I had escaped the purgatory,

it was in a city paradise. Not bad for the first day of the sales.

Although it was not all plain sailing.

Come on, come on, come on! We have just joined the road. You can hear

the furious hooting going on. We are on another stretch of road,

approaching more traffic. Of course, there's always the push

by, and in Paris, the public bike. It is the Republic. And, yes,

infuriatingly quicker. -- it is popular. In the end, we took 47

It has been a tiring hour. But it is over now and we have travelled a

total of 9.3 kilometres. So, with the time to spare for a

pit stop, we were off again, to the Arc de trilled, for a dizzying lap

In Lagos, they got 9.3 kilometres. Alas there in LA is in the lead,

Our final challenge tomorrow sees In Australia, the children are

taught that the Aborigines lived in isolation. That has now been

challenged by a research suggesting that Indians reached the Continent

long before. A study of Aboriginal DNA suggests that Australia

experienced a wave of migration from India 4,000 years ago.

Scientists think the new inhabitants port advance Stentor,

and perhaps even dogs. -- brought advanced stones. I was just saying

that my family are from South India, the ancient Indians. There has long

been talk of a link to the Aborigines. How extensive is this

research? It is interesting. There have been

some hints that other people came into Australia to kind off up this

eclectic mix of jeans with in the Aborigines. But until this study,

it has not been proven. This was about 40,000 years ago. The first

humans migrated from Africa and somehow made this amazing journey

to Australia. But then scientists think, well, nobody else came in

for tens of thousands of years until the first Europeans. What the

study shows is that was not the case. In fact, about 4,000 years

ago, a second wave of migration reached Australia. That was from

India. And they brought all sorts of

developments? That is right. They have used genetic technology to

date back to the period that the Indians arrived. When they look at

the archaeological record and the fossil record, they can see which

are things turned up at about the same time. One of these things were

quite intricate stone cutting tools. The scientists suspect that the

people of right and the Indian sub- continent port those along. The

interesting thing is they might have brought some animals. The

dingo is the most Australian of all the animals. But now they think it

is likely that wild dogs, the ancestors of dingoes, were brought

by the Indians. I have not had that before! You can

sometimes see a facial resemblance between the dreaded in Indians and

the Aborigines. -- the Indians. It paints a picture of how our

ancestors moved around the world. They compared Aboriginal DNA with

genetic material from people from other parts of the world. What they

found was that the DNA of the Aborigines and Indians mingled

around 4,000 years ago. It is amazing how they can date it back

in this way. Using this technique, they are finding all sorts of

interesting things about how our ancient in -- ancestors moved

around. It is fascinating. The question is