:00:14. > :00:19.Hello. You are with BBC World News. Our top stories: Voting is under
:00:19. > :00:23.way in Israel's general election. What impact will the results have
:00:23. > :00:26.on any Palestinian peace deal? Canada asks for prove that its
:00:26. > :00:31.nationals were among the Islamists involved in the Algeria hostage
:00:31. > :00:35.crisis. Prince Harry talks about life on
:00:35. > :00:39.the front line after his tour of duty in Afghanistan.
:00:39. > :00:49.And happy anniversary - how the French and the German's mark 50
:00:49. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:08.years since their countries signed Voting in Israel's general election
:01:08. > :01:13.is well under way. Opinion calls suggest that Prime Minister
:01:13. > :01:17.Binyamin Netanyahu's right-wing alliance will win. The Likud party
:01:17. > :01:20.is under pressure. It has led him to approve the building of more
:01:20. > :01:28.Jewish settlements and the West Bank. That is one reason a peace
:01:28. > :01:32.deal with the Palestinians is now a more distant project. Let's get the
:01:32. > :01:40.very latest from our correspondent who is at one of the polling
:01:40. > :01:44.stations in Jerusalem. A day off for everybody there? A day off from
:01:44. > :01:47.work for Israelis on election day. It has gone a bit quiet at the
:01:47. > :01:52.moment. People are having lunch. But there was brisk voter turnout
:01:52. > :01:56.this morning, far up on the figures are the same time of day at the
:01:56. > :01:59.last election in 2009. Even the Israelis feel it is a foregone
:01:59. > :02:03.conclusion as to who their next Prime Minister will be, they
:02:03. > :02:07.believe it will remain Binyamin Netanyahu, they feel the issues are
:02:07. > :02:13.very important. The economy, security and the future of the
:02:13. > :02:20.Palestinian peace deal, perhaps the two state solution between the
:02:20. > :02:24.release -- the Israelis and Palestinians. Binyamin Netanyahu
:02:24. > :02:27.would have to choose the party to join him in a coalition, choosing
:02:27. > :02:31.where that would be a far right- wing coalition of whether it would
:02:31. > :02:36.include parties in the central centre-left, and that will affect
:02:37. > :02:44.the government's policies. One in five Israelis is an Arab Israeli.
:02:44. > :02:47.How involved is that section of the population? Voter turnout their
:02:47. > :02:52.traditionally is quite low. We don't have official figures of
:02:53. > :02:56.turnout yet for the Arab citizens of Israel. But speaking to some
:02:56. > :03:00.activists before the election, they were saying to me, we're extremely
:03:00. > :03:04.frustrated. Some of us will go and vote anyway, but we feel that our
:03:04. > :03:08.status in Israeli society is always one of a second-class citizen as
:03:08. > :03:12.long as Israel continues to call itself a Jewish state. Many Arab
:03:12. > :03:16.citizens of Israel fail they will never be treated with equality.
:03:16. > :03:20.They are also despondent, they say, about the potential of a future
:03:20. > :03:24.Palestinian state ever been created. The majority of Israelis are still
:03:24. > :03:28.in favour of a peace deal, but nobody realistically we have spoken
:03:28. > :03:32.to believe that any kind of deal is around the corner. Added is not
:03:32. > :03:36.just the Arab citizens of Israel saying that, Palestinians are also
:03:36. > :03:40.despondent. Many say it doesn't matter what the flavour of Israel's
:03:40. > :03:45.next coalition is, they do not believe that Israel is willing to
:03:45. > :03:53.make the compromises it will take to form a peace deal. Thank you
:03:53. > :03:56.very much. We are going to be live in Jerusalem throughout the day,
:03:57. > :04:06.bringing you full coverage as the Israeli election results emerge.
:04:07. > :04:07.
:04:07. > :04:15.You can also see an Israeli election special on BBC World News
:04:15. > :04:19.at 19.45 later. That will be here on BBC World News.
:04:19. > :04:22.The Canadian Foreign Minister has asked for proof that Canadians were
:04:22. > :04:26.among the Islamists involved in the hostage taking after Algerian gas
:04:27. > :04:30.plant in the Sahara. He said his department was checking the claim
:04:30. > :04:36.by the Algerian prime minister, but at least one of the hostage-takers
:04:36. > :04:41.was Canadian. A video posted on the internet showed a veteran Islamist,
:04:41. > :04:47.Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claiming responsibility in the name of Al-
:04:47. > :04:53.Qaeda. The black banner of Al-Qaeda behind
:04:53. > :05:01.him, this is Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claiming responsibility for what he
:05:01. > :05:05.describes as the blessed a daring operation in Algeria. He says 40
:05:05. > :05:09.men, locals and foreigners, from Muslim and Western countries,
:05:09. > :05:15.carried out the raid. The existence of this video had been widely
:05:15. > :05:19.reported, but it was only posted online Monday by a website called
:05:19. > :05:24.Sahara media. It is dated 17th January, the day after the
:05:24. > :05:31.militants stormed the plant, and well before the Algerian army ended
:05:31. > :05:34.the stand-off. In the vast Sahara, Mokhtar Belmokhtar is known as a
:05:34. > :05:39.hostage taker and cigarette smuggler. It is understood he
:05:39. > :05:45.recently fell out with leaders of the Algerian base to Al-Qaeda. He
:05:46. > :05:50.says he set up his own brigade to defend "our lands and honour
:05:50. > :05:54.against the crusade of France", which is now fighting militants in
:05:54. > :05:58.labouring Mali. He says he is prepared to negotiate with Western
:05:58. > :06:03.nations and the Algerian government on the condition that the attacks
:06:03. > :06:06.on Mali's Muslims end. It is from northern Mali that the Algerian
:06:06. > :06:11.Government believes that the attackers crossed the border, and
:06:11. > :06:14.that the raid had been two a month in the planning. Algeria's Prime
:06:14. > :06:18.Minister says 37 foreigners from eight countries and one Algerian
:06:18. > :06:24.worker were killed during the hostage crisis. Five are still
:06:24. > :06:28.missing. He is third in line to the British
:06:28. > :06:32.Ren, but he has been focusing on his army career in Afghanistan.
:06:32. > :06:36.Prince Harry has revealed that he fired on and killed insurgents
:06:36. > :06:42.while working as an Apache helicopter pilot. He is now on his
:06:43. > :06:46.way back to the UK after completing a second tour of duty. A series of
:06:46. > :06:50.interviews were recorded during his time there but can only be
:06:50. > :06:54.broadcast now. Orrell correspondent Peter Hunt reports.
:06:55. > :06:58.For a second time, the third in line to the throne has served in
:06:58. > :07:03.Afghanistan. In 2008, he was pulled out prematurely when it became
:07:03. > :07:07.known that a senior royal was near the front line. This time, there
:07:07. > :07:11.was no news blackout, as it was felt that Prince Harry was in a
:07:11. > :07:14.safer position. The Prince has provided cover and protection for
:07:14. > :07:19.soldiers on the ground, and he has targeted and killed Taliban
:07:19. > :07:26.fighters. Take a life to save a life, that is what we revolve
:07:26. > :07:32.around. If there are people trying to do about stuffed our guys, we
:07:32. > :07:39.will take them out of the game. captain Wales, he is in his element.
:07:40. > :07:45.He acknowledges there are three selves. In the army, one of the
:07:45. > :07:50.royals, and a party Prince who last August was photographed naked in a
:07:50. > :07:56.Las Vegas party. I let myself down and other people. But at the end of
:07:56. > :08:00.the day, I was in a private area. It was a classic example of me
:08:00. > :08:06.being too much of me and are not enough of the Prince. It is as a
:08:06. > :08:09.soldier that is most content. It is easy to forget who I am one I N in
:08:09. > :08:14.the army, he says. I get on with the lads and enjoy my job. It is as
:08:14. > :08:17.simple as that. A British woman has been sentenced to death in
:08:17. > :08:21.Indonesia for drug smuggling. A court in Bali has found Lindsay
:08:21. > :08:25.Sandiford guilty of importing nearly five kilograms of cocaine in
:08:25. > :08:29.a suitcase on a flight from Thailand. The prosecution had
:08:29. > :08:34.called for a 15 year sentence, but the judges said there were no
:08:34. > :08:37.mitigating circumstances. Her lawyers say they will appeal.
:08:37. > :08:41.It was a day when hundreds of thousands lined the National mile
:08:41. > :08:44.in Washington. President Obama has launched his second term of office
:08:44. > :08:47.with an inaugural speech promising the dawn of an economic recovery
:08:47. > :08:52.and the end of a decade of war. He said Americans should seize the
:08:52. > :09:02.moment and embrace liberal causes like immigration, reform gay rights
:09:02. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:09.and the fight against climate On Pennsylvania Avenue, the
:09:09. > :09:14.marching bands of the dancers and the salutes stretched on into the
:09:14. > :09:18.chilly evening. He stayed until the very end of the parade. The first
:09:18. > :09:28.lady seemed to enjoy it. This boisterous, be a shattering ritual
:09:28. > :09:29.
:09:29. > :09:39.But as always, a hot inauguration day ticket was across town at the
:09:39. > :09:41.
:09:41. > :09:50.And, halfway through the evening, they took the floor. He in white
:09:50. > :09:55.tie, she in a halter top down of deep red. And once again, they made
:09:55. > :10:00.it all looks so easy. And as Barack Obama's supporters
:10:00. > :10:04.celebrate tonight, they know that the legacy is only half written,
:10:04. > :10:14.and the political battles to come over taxation, immigration, gun-
:10:14. > :10:18.
:10:18. > :10:23.control and perhaps climate change, But his supporters know, too, that
:10:23. > :10:33.his presidency was no fluke. The inauguration is over, and Barack
:10:33. > :10:34.
:10:34. > :10:39.Obama has been sworn in for a Stay with us. We have plenty more
:10:39. > :10:49.coming up here on BBC World News, including French and Mali troops
:10:49. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :10:57.gaining control of two towns from In Mexico's drug war, the
:10:57. > :11:02.authorities are celebrating victory over the country's biggest gang. 14
:11:02. > :11:05.members as a cartel were arrested. But many people in rural areas are
:11:05. > :11:13.willing to take the fight into their own hands.
:11:13. > :11:18.If members a Mexico's much feared drug gang normally work in the
:11:18. > :11:22.shadows, but these 14 face the full glare of the media spotlight.
:11:22. > :11:26.Police say they seized these drugs and weapons, key equipment for
:11:26. > :11:30.members of a gang that has become the largest in Mexico, making its
:11:30. > :11:33.money by trafficking drugs and carrying out brutal assassinations
:11:33. > :11:36.and kidnappings. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people have
:11:36. > :11:41.been killed in drug-related violence since a Government
:11:41. > :11:48.crackdown started into 1006, and the authorities are keen to parade
:11:48. > :11:53.But away from the big cities, some Mexicans have taken matters into
:11:54. > :11:57.their own hands. In south-west Mexico, the estate is one of the
:11:57. > :12:01.worst affected by drug violence. These men are not members of the
:12:01. > :12:05.police or the army, but a new vigilante group.
:12:05. > :12:09.If TRANSLATION: We are just being good citizens, keeping our own
:12:09. > :12:12.people safe, because our Government, particularly the municipal and
:12:13. > :12:16.state police, have not been able to do what we are voluntarily doing
:12:16. > :12:25.here. As well as patrolling the towns,
:12:25. > :12:31.the group's is in -- the groups inspect the ideas they have local
:12:31. > :12:37.people passing through. They are self-styled protectors. This woman
:12:37. > :12:40.says they are her heroes. But some fear the presence of vigilantes
:12:40. > :12:44.could lead to more violence and human rights abuses. The
:12:44. > :12:49.authorities have tried to check the conditions at a makeshift prison
:12:49. > :12:54.where vigilantes are holding more than 40 people prisoner. But these
:12:54. > :12:58.villagers say they will take care of the suspect's themselves.
:12:58. > :13:03.TRANSLATION: We are tired of so much crime. The drug gangs have
:13:03. > :13:08.killed so many people, but the soldiers are so far away. The new
:13:08. > :13:10.vigilante squads are part of a growing trend in Mexico, a sign of
:13:10. > :13:20.people's desperation to defend themselves from the violence that
:13:20. > :13:23.
:13:23. > :13:29.has gripped many parts of the You are watching BBC World News.
:13:29. > :13:39.Our top story: Polling stations are open across Israel for the general
:13:39. > :13:41.We stay with that story, because many pollsters suggest the right
:13:41. > :13:46.one alliance led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will win the
:13:46. > :13:51.vote. Speaking from the other end of the political spectrum, a
:13:51. > :13:58.Palestinian Israeli activist who leads the Workers' Party says she
:13:58. > :14:05.hopes the election were held unites society.
:14:05. > :14:10.It is a Jewish and Arab party. Our suggestion to the Arabs and the
:14:10. > :14:16.Jews in Israel is to connect, combine together, in order to have
:14:16. > :14:22.the same struggle for peace, equality and social justice. We see
:14:22. > :14:29.that more than 50% of the Arab population don't want to go to vote,
:14:29. > :14:35.and 50% of the Jewish also don't want to go to vote because they
:14:35. > :14:40.don't have any confidence in their leaders. Because of that, we are
:14:40. > :14:46.suggesting that we could be an alternative that seeks a change, a
:14:46. > :14:54.social and political deep change for the people, and now we can feel
:14:54. > :14:58.that people are looking forward to support us, and we can feel it that
:14:58. > :15:04.there will be a change in Israel today. So you feel that your
:15:04. > :15:09.message is working. I just wanted to ask if, as expected, the next
:15:09. > :15:19.government it is more right wing, how do you propose to talk to that
:15:19. > :15:23.
:15:23. > :15:33.It is clear that the right wing will go stronger, and because of
:15:33. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:39.that the only reaction to this right-wing government has to be
:15:39. > :15:43.combined and connected to the workers on the ground, on the
:15:43. > :15:53.social protest movement. There will be the right answer to the right
:15:53. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :16:00.wing because the problem in Israel is that the Israeli left a doctored
:16:00. > :16:09.the economy and the right-wing agenda. There is no partner for
:16:09. > :16:19.peace and this is a really dangerous situation that we are in.
:16:19. > :16:25.
:16:25. > :16:33.The Aran the Knesset for the Israeli Jewish nationalism and this
:16:33. > :16:36.is what both Jews and Arabs need more than at any time. There is
:16:36. > :16:45.issued support for people who asked to vote from the right wing, from
:16:45. > :16:49.the Jewish sector, and from the Arab people. French and Malian
:16:49. > :16:59.troops have recaptured two key towns from Islamist rebels in the
:16:59. > :17:04.
:17:04. > :17:06.north of the country. They pushed the group away from the town of
:17:06. > :17:09.Diabalay with a convoy of 30 armoured vehicles. Our
:17:10. > :17:17.correspondent Andrew Harding is there and sent this report. We have
:17:17. > :17:21.come with them to this town, controlled until this weekend by
:17:21. > :17:28.Islamist militants. Some may still be in the area. The French quickly
:17:28. > :17:35.begin to check nearby houses. The population seems relaxed now, and
:17:35. > :17:43.relieved. They are keen to show us the wreckage of their week-long
:17:43. > :17:51.ordeal. These are pick up trucks destroyed, he tells me, by French
:17:51. > :17:58.helicopters. Two jihadists were killed here. We find several more
:17:58. > :18:03.charred vehicles nearby. They were hit with precision, the French
:18:03. > :18:08.helping to direct the air strikes. The Islamists chose this town for a
:18:08. > :18:14.reason - this is it, the army garrison, packed with weapons and
:18:14. > :18:21.not nearly as well guarded as you might expect. The rebels seized the
:18:21. > :18:25.town in a day, more than 100 of them. The Islamists left now, the
:18:25. > :18:31.airstrikes did their job, but before they left they had every
:18:31. > :18:37.chance to loot this Arsenal giving them weapons for the warhead. Here
:18:37. > :18:42.the battle is over, but Mali's hit and run insurgency may be just
:18:42. > :18:47.beginning. The French insist they are keen to let the Malian army do
:18:47. > :18:53.its share of the fighting here, but from what we have learned today it
:18:53. > :19:01.is clear this army is part of the problem. This soldier has agreed to
:19:01. > :19:09.show me why. He is based at the garrison. The Islamists came to his
:19:09. > :19:13.home to look for him and trashed his belongings. He says some of the
:19:13. > :19:16.rebels are foreign jihadists, but he knows that some of them are
:19:16. > :19:22.former colleagues from his own army unit.
:19:22. > :19:27.De you know the names of these people? Translation yes, they
:19:27. > :19:34.defected last year when the Tuareg start of their rebellion. When they
:19:34. > :19:44.came last week, they were Islamists. Outside another soldier confirmed
:19:44. > :19:45.
:19:45. > :19:51.the story. Yes, many of our comrades became our enemies. Have
:19:51. > :19:55.now we will hunt them down. Some of the men who attacked this town were
:19:55. > :20:01.former members of the Malian army and that is a reminder of how many
:20:01. > :20:09.of the problems in this country are home-grown. No simple solutions
:20:09. > :20:12.hear them from Mali's complex, murky rebellion.
:20:12. > :20:14.France and Germany are marking 50 years of friendship today, with the
:20:14. > :20:16.French President, Francois Hollande, visiting the German Chancellor,
:20:16. > :20:20.Angela Merkel, in Berlin. The Elysee Treaty was signed by Charles
:20:20. > :20:27.de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer in 1963. It aimed to improve relations
:20:27. > :20:32.between the two countries after the Second World War. I spoke to the
:20:32. > :20:39.BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin and Christian Fraser in Paris. First to
:20:39. > :20:44.Berlin and Steve Evans. This was a key moment in modern history.
:20:44. > :20:50.Absolutely, Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signing this
:20:50. > :20:54.treaty exactly 50 years ago. I suppose it established the
:20:54. > :20:59.Architecture to be overly pompous in my phraseology of the new Europe.
:20:59. > :21:03.This was going to be the pillars on which the new Europe stud and that
:21:03. > :21:08.is what they are marking today. In the building behind me there will
:21:08. > :21:15.be a joint session of the two parliament, with extra chairs for
:21:15. > :21:20.the 600 deputies in Paris. I have come back from that building,
:21:20. > :21:24.whether it was champagne or the German version is not clear, but
:21:24. > :21:30.they are celebrating. A relationship where Paris and Berlin
:21:30. > :21:40.see the economy different league, with different policies, but both
:21:40. > :21:45.sides feel this is the relationship that really matters. We saw that
:21:45. > :21:50.famous hug between the leaders back then - at least two leaders on
:21:50. > :21:59.those terms now? Win in the French papers today, you might feel the
:21:59. > :22:04.fizz has gone out of the charm -- champagne. This is the picture of
:22:04. > :22:08.Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle. If you read the statement
:22:08. > :22:13.of the Commission President, you feel the symbolism, it has to be
:22:13. > :22:18.set in the context of history, but in terms of concrete implementation
:22:18. > :22:21.three of the main themes were defence, foreign policy, education
:22:22. > :22:31.and youth. In terms of foreign policy you only need to look
:22:31. > :22:36.recently at the Germany abstention on Libya to see that they don't see
:22:36. > :22:42.eye-to-eye on foreign policy. In defence, you can point to the
:22:42. > :22:46.aerospace and defence company EDS, and, education and youth there has
:22:46. > :22:50.been exchange programmes for students, but in terms of foreign
:22:50. > :22:56.language, French and German is the third language in the respective
:22:56. > :23:00.countries after English and Spanish. It has not been an overwhelming
:23:00. > :23:07.success, which brings us to have his perceived difficulty between
:23:07. > :23:12.Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel. One success story of the treaty was
:23:12. > :23:21.that it brought the German Chancellor and French President
:23:21. > :23:26.together more regularly. If you look at the leader in 1989, they
:23:26. > :23:31.spoke on average almost every 20 days so you can see how important
:23:31. > :23:36.it was in the big events through history. Despite these difficulties,
:23:36. > :23:42.since he came to power in May, Francois Hollande has met Angela
:23:42. > :23:48.Merkel 14 times. 10 times at international summits, four times
:23:48. > :23:55.from visits. I'm sure they speak on the phone. It is that relationship
:23:55. > :24:00.that still drives Europe. The dream was peace and prosperity but the
:24:00. > :24:10.current economic situation means an increasing number of people are
:24:10. > :24:21.
:24:21. > :24:23.having to come to terms with years of austerity. As part of our new
:24:23. > :24:26.series - Winter In Europe - our correspondent Matthew Price has
:24:26. > :24:29.been to Germany where thousands of migrant workers from hard-hit
:24:29. > :24:32.southern Europe have left behind their old lives in search of work,
:24:32. > :24:34.hoping they can find a brighter future away from home. They flew
:24:34. > :24:37.into the cold damp of the German winter. This is Europe's great
:24:37. > :24:42.migration. Today, five more nurses, all of them have jobs lined up here
:24:42. > :24:50.and all of them will have to learn German fast. Why have you come
:24:50. > :24:58.here? Because I think that it is a good opportunity to start working
:24:58. > :25:02.here. The is this a new life for you? Yes, a new life. All they have
:25:02. > :25:06.brought from their old lives is squeezed into a suitcase. None of
:25:06. > :25:11.them has a return ticket. How difficult was it to leave
:25:11. > :25:17.Spain? In my case I have my girlfriend there, I left this
:25:17. > :25:22.morning and it was hard for me. My parents and my grandmother is very
:25:22. > :25:28.old and I don't know if I am going to see her at another time. This is
:25:28. > :25:32.very hard. Every day more and more arrived from southern Europe, but
:25:32. > :25:37.unlike previous waves of immigration across the Continent,
:25:37. > :25:42.this one involves highly skilled and motivated individuals, simply
:25:42. > :25:47.desperate for work. Germany is desperate for them. There is an
:25:47. > :25:53.ageing population here and they want educated workers to come. But
:25:53. > :25:57.for those who do, it is still back to school. These are Spanish
:25:57. > :26:05.engineers would six hours a day of intensive German learning, and is
:26:05. > :26:10.not just the young people. You need a lot of time, a lot of effort, and
:26:10. > :26:16.it is really difficult to learn German. Difficult even when you
:26:16. > :26:22.can't speak some. Samuel is an IT specialist. He lost his job because
:26:22. > :26:27.of the Spanish crisis. Now he wakes every day at 4 o'clock to deliver
:26:27. > :26:33.bread. This is not the life he imagined. TRANSLATION: After three
:26:33. > :26:37.months if you have no job you start to run out of money. You have to
:26:37. > :26:45.decide, go back to Spain or find any job. The air will be many more