:00:30. > :00:34.Israeli territories violate the rights of Palestinians. Air
:00:34. > :00:39.pollution has reached worrying levels in Beijing, it has been
:00:39. > :00:49.classed as very unhealthy. Remembering Stalingrad, it has been
:00:49. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:04.70 years since German troops surrendered. Hello, Russia says it
:01:04. > :01:09.is gravely concerned by reports that Israeli warplanes have bombed
:01:09. > :01:12.targets in Syria close to Damascus. Syrian state TV says the planes
:01:12. > :01:17.hets a military research centre killing two workers. But diplomats
:01:17. > :01:20.say the target was a Convey of arms, bound for the Lebanese group
:01:20. > :01:29.Hezbollah, there has been no official confirmation of the raid
:01:29. > :01:34.from Israel. With me is the editor of BBC Arabic television. Why this
:01:34. > :01:38.attack and why now? This is very significant, because it has been a
:01:38. > :01:42.while, western countries like the US and Israel, including Israel
:01:42. > :01:48.expressed concerns about the possibility of smuggling some
:01:48. > :01:52.sensitive weapons, including chemical weapons, or air defence
:01:52. > :01:59.missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have two stories now, because
:01:59. > :02:02.the Syrians are saying the attack targeted a research centre,
:02:03. > :02:09.military research centre, while other reports are saying it
:02:09. > :02:15.targeted a convoy, that was shipping missiles, SA17 missile,
:02:15. > :02:22.that are one of the most sophisticated miss for air defence.
:02:22. > :02:25.Is that the true, Syria is passing to Hezbollah, some very
:02:25. > :02:29.sophisticated weapons that could help in any future confrontation
:02:29. > :02:32.between the party and Israel. So the fact that rail is attacking now,
:02:32. > :02:36.is there is something -- Israel is attacking now is there is something
:02:36. > :02:41.on the ground. We still, we don't know, for the moment. And Israel,
:02:42. > :02:46.of course, has not confirmed that this was carried out, but that is
:02:46. > :02:50.not surprising of course. Israel never confirm such thing, it is
:02:50. > :02:54.going to take maybe a long time before they tell the story about
:02:54. > :03:01.this. The significance of this attack, coming at a time of such
:03:01. > :03:06.great turmoil in Syria. Of course, especially that we have heard that
:03:06. > :03:10.the official television have said that insinuateed this area, this
:03:10. > :03:17.research centre was targeted by the rebels, in many times and they
:03:17. > :03:22.failed to occupy it. So now, veil has achieved the job, so they are
:03:22. > :03:29.insinuateing that, like Israel is helping the rebels, in achieving
:03:29. > :03:35.what they couldn't do. Of course, this is, this attack, the target
:03:35. > :03:40.could be establishing the balance, or keeping the borderlines, I mean
:03:40. > :03:43.the moral and the military ambulance in its status quo right
:03:43. > :03:46.now, without any changing in the military ambulance that could
:03:47. > :03:52.affect the region, the whole region in the future, in any confrontation,
:03:52. > :03:57.the region is boiling all the time. And confrontation is a possible
:03:57. > :04:01.sthar owe that could happen any time. -- scenario. We are watching
:04:01. > :04:05.the situation very closely, thank you very much indeed. We are going
:04:05. > :04:09.to stay with Israel now, because a United Nations report says Israeli
:04:09. > :04:13.settlements in the Occupied Territories violate the rights of
:04:13. > :04:17.Palestinians. The report by three UN human rights experts claims
:04:17. > :04:21.settlements are driving Palestinians off the land, and
:04:21. > :04:25.subjecting them to discrimination and intimidation on a daily basis.
:04:25. > :04:29.Israel does not accept the findings, saying the report will only hamper
:04:29. > :04:35.efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian
:04:35. > :04:40.conflict. The French Defence Minister has said he backs the idea
:04:40. > :04:45.of sending a UN peacekeeping force to Mali. France was hoping a multi-
:04:45. > :04:49.national African force would replace its troops but speaking on
:04:49. > :04:53.French raid he said a UN force might be preferable. This comes as
:04:53. > :04:55.French-led forces secured the last main stronghold of the Islamist
:04:55. > :05:00.militant, the town of Kidal on Wednesday. They took over Kidal
:05:00. > :05:05.without firing a shot, but it is thought the militants are hiding in
:05:05. > :05:09.the mountains. Our West Africa Thomas Fessy sends this report from
:05:10. > :05:13.Timbuktu. The French recaptured the town of Kidal near the Algerian
:05:13. > :05:18.border yesterday, they did so without a fight, because it appears
:05:18. > :05:24.that the Islamist militants had already fled in the surrounding
:05:24. > :05:30.mountain what they found instead was the Tuareg rebels before they
:05:30. > :05:34.broke off from the alliance with Al-Qaeda, these tuer relation
:05:34. > :05:40.Tuaregs have offered the French support in what they call the fight
:05:40. > :05:45.against terrorism the Tuareg rebels probably explain why the Mallian
:05:45. > :05:50.soldiers haven't reached that town yet, in fear of potential reprisal
:05:50. > :05:55.attacks and clashes between the two groups. What is clear is that the
:05:55. > :05:57.recapture of Kidal marks the end of the first phase of this military
:05:57. > :06:02.intervention which consists of freing the population from Islamist
:06:02. > :06:08.rule in the major towns in northern Mali, but the troops must prepare
:06:08. > :06:14.for a much tougher kind of operations, they will have to drive
:06:14. > :06:18.these Islamist militants out of the desert hide outs and they will have
:06:18. > :06:23.to make sure any potential community clashes in the major
:06:23. > :06:28.towns, will be prevented, as many will be seeking revenge in the
:06:28. > :06:34.towns that are recaptured. That is Thomas Fessy in Mali. Air ploughs
:06:34. > :06:38.has reached worrying levs in Beijing, the city has been shrouded
:06:38. > :06:42.in thick smog. Although levels have fallen since Tuesday the air
:06:42. > :06:47.quality is classed as very unhealthy by a monitoring station
:06:47. > :06:53.in the city. Much of it comes from coal. China produces and uses half
:06:53. > :06:56.the world's supply. Most of that is used to generate electricity for
:06:56. > :07:02.homes and factories and with China's economy continuing to
:07:02. > :07:11.expand, the recent figures show coal consumption shot up by almost
:07:11. > :07:20.10% in a year. This report from Datong in Shanxi province. It is a
:07:20. > :07:24.dirty, grimy business. But in China it is crucial work. Coal fuels the
:07:24. > :07:27.country's economic boom with consumption tripling in a little
:07:27. > :07:32.over a decade. With demand still rising there is little time to
:07:33. > :07:40.waste, in China's coal capital of Datong. It falls on the shoulders
:07:40. > :07:44.of these men to keep China's economic engine on track. Enormous
:07:44. > :07:52.coal fired power plants dominate the skyline here, generating vast
:07:52. > :07:55.amounts of electricity. You get a real sense of China's insatiable
:07:55. > :07:59.demand for energy. Coal trucks are pulling up every minute. The coal
:07:59. > :08:06.will be off loaded and burned to produce electricity. But
:08:06. > :08:10.increasingly, it is coming at a huge cost. China burns almost as
:08:10. > :08:17.much coal as the rest of the WorldCom biened. But that is
:08:17. > :08:21.leaving its city's choking on hazardous smog. Many in Beijing say
:08:21. > :08:27.this winter's pollution has been the worst they can remember.
:08:27. > :08:32.TRANSLATION: we have to change our ways. The pollution caused by coal
:08:32. > :08:40.is too severe. If nothing happens, then the public outcry in the
:08:40. > :08:45.cities will keep growing. But in the shadow of the coal mines, there
:08:45. > :08:50.are different expectations. -- expectations. This farmer can
:08:50. > :08:56.remember the day when all he wanted was sheep. Now he has big dreams.
:08:56. > :09:03.He tells me if he had the money he would buy a fridge and even a car.
:09:03. > :09:08.And that is the challenge for China's leaders. Balancing the
:09:08. > :09:12.farmer's aspirations with more sustainable economic growth. But
:09:12. > :09:22.for now, any way, China's reliance on coal and the pollution that
:09:22. > :09:22.
:09:22. > :09:26.comes with it, shows little sign of ending. In Bangladesh police have
:09:26. > :09:29.fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse protestors during a
:09:30. > :09:34.nationwide strike called by the Islamic party. The party is
:09:34. > :09:37.demanding the release of 12 people, mainly their leaders who are
:09:37. > :09:44.accused of committing atrocities during the war of dense --
:09:44. > :09:49.independence in 1971. They deny the charges. This report from Dhaka.
:09:49. > :09:53.Manufacture The streets and towns in Bangladesh were quieter because
:09:53. > :10:02.of the strike. Despite the heavy presence of police across the
:10:02. > :10:07.country, there were clashes reported from a number of areas.
:10:07. > :10:15.Activists came out in protest, setting vehicles on fire, forcing a
:10:15. > :10:18.swift response from the police, several were arrested. Two of the
:10:18. > :10:23.activists have been after rested and a put many this vehicle. The
:10:23. > :10:28.police have secured this area. Cleared it completely and are
:10:28. > :10:31.taking up positions to make sure there no repeat of this incident.
:10:31. > :10:40.As for the activists they melted away as swiftly as they came. These
:10:40. > :10:46.are the kind of violent protests have been taking place azgaebs o
:10:46. > :10:50.process they believe is unfair. Nine leaders are among 12 men being
:10:50. > :10:54.tried a War Crimes Tribunal. Looking into atrocities committed
:10:54. > :10:58.in the wake of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.
:10:58. > :11:03.The Bangladesh Government says up to three million people were killed
:11:03. > :11:07.by Islamic militias linked to the group and loyal to Pakistan. But
:11:07. > :11:12.the group described the process as flawed. It says this trial is of a
:11:12. > :11:18.political nature and is a witch hunt which is why it opposes it. It
:11:18. > :11:22.is an emotional issue, one that can lead to violence on the streets.
:11:22. > :11:28.Let us update you on news coming in. The former England football captain
:11:28. > :11:32.David Beckham is expected to sign for the French club Paris St
:11:32. > :11:37.Germain. The midfielder is having a medical in the next few hours, the
:11:37. > :11:42.club is holding a news conference later, and David is expected to
:11:42. > :11:48.begin training with the club in the next fortnight. He has been without
:11:48. > :11:54.a club since he left LA galaxy in kes and had been traening with
:11:54. > :11:59.Arsenal in London: Training with Arsenal in London. There has been
:11:59. > :12:03.so much speculation about where he might be going after the LA Galaxy,
:12:03. > :12:06.how much of a surprise is Paris? suppose it is a surprise in a sense
:12:06. > :12:09.when we got up this morning we did known he would be going anywhere,
:12:09. > :12:13.but at the same time we knew he was training with Arsenal. That said
:12:13. > :12:18.that for him to be back in Europe and making sure that he is up to
:12:18. > :12:23.full fitness, it suggested that perhaps a move could happen. Paris
:12:23. > :12:29.St Germain makes sense, he will be reunite with the the manager he was
:12:29. > :12:35.one for one of his two loan terms at AC Milan. In terms of impact
:12:35. > :12:38.what will he do. You were talking about LA Galaxy bs he has been away
:12:38. > :12:42.from the sharp end for five years but he is coming into a league
:12:42. > :12:45.which isn't at the same level as the Premier League and Serie A
:12:45. > :12:50.where he has played before. We know what David Beckham can bring to any
:12:50. > :12:55.club, and in terms of what he will be able to do physically, he will
:12:55. > :13:00.give that dead ball delivery, brilliant crosses for his club and
:13:00. > :13:04.maybe help them win a league title. How much of a playing career is he
:13:04. > :13:08.thought to have in front of him. is dangerous to say his career is
:13:09. > :13:13.nearly over, because he has been told by a number he should stop
:13:13. > :13:16.playing at international level before, he came back from that when
:13:16. > :13:20.Steve McLaren got rid of him from the England set up. He is a player
:13:20. > :13:26.who time and time again, has surprised us all with his
:13:26. > :13:31.performances and there is still two or three years left in those legs.
:13:31. > :13:39.I am sure his fa mouse fashion designer wife will love Paris. Now,
:13:39. > :13:42.stay with us, coming up here on BBC World News. -- famous. I started to
:13:42. > :13:50.question the capitalist system. I started to question everything
:13:50. > :14:00.about me. I thought I would like to do something about it. Colombia's
:14:00. > :14:00.
:14:00. > :14:04.rebel fighter group. Find out more in a few moments. Tight
:14:04. > :14:08.einspections of nightclub, cinemas and theatres have been ordered
:14:08. > :14:13.throughout Brazil after the nightclub fire in which 235 people
:14:13. > :14:20.died. The fire has led to a national debate about safety
:14:20. > :14:24.regulations in public venues before next year's World Cup. Is-year-old
:14:24. > :14:28.Anna follows the coffin of her mother, the latest victim of the
:14:28. > :14:36.nightclub fire. Her mother was an army doctor. She was buried with
:14:36. > :14:42.military honours. The disaster has shocked Brazil and there is anger
:14:42. > :14:45.about the safety failings of the Kiss nightclub.
:14:46. > :14:49.TRANSLATION: The expert report points in the same direction. Even
:14:49. > :14:55.has said the same thing. The fire started above the box, where the
:14:55. > :15:00.person using the pyrotechnics was located. Investigators say sound
:15:00. > :15:06.proofing materials were flammable. There was no sprinkler system, only
:15:06. > :15:09.one fire ex teng wisher and that was out of order. But the deputy
:15:09. > :15:14.Sports Minister insist there's is no problem with safety in the
:15:14. > :15:19.country. Unveiling the poster for next year's World Cup. He said
:15:19. > :15:29.Brazil is being unfairly singled out by critics and visiting
:15:29. > :15:32.
:15:32. > :15:36.TRANSLATION: Why does nobody ask these countries if they are ready
:15:36. > :15:41.to host a World Cup or Olympic Games? One of the two owners of the
:15:41. > :15:45.nightclub has blamed the whole country for the tragedy, saying he
:15:45. > :15:50.trusted engineers, inspectors and other experts to guarantee safety
:15:50. > :15:57.in the venue. Several cities have already ordered tighter inspections
:15:57. > :16:03.to try and prevent a similar tragedy happening again.
:16:03. > :16:07.For something cute, but not cuddly, two litters of white lion and tiger
:16:07. > :16:11.cubs have got their vaccinations at a zoo in Germany and they are not
:16:11. > :16:18.happy about it. They are actually producing a low, slightly menacing
:16:18. > :16:23.growl. The zoo says it is extremely rare to have two litters of
:16:23. > :16:32.quadruple, white ones, even more rare and they certainly don't like
:16:32. > :16:36.the vet. You are with BBC World News. Our
:16:36. > :16:43.latest headlines: Russia has said it has grave concerns about reports
:16:43. > :16:52.of an Israeli air strike on Syria. The French Defence Minister says he
:16:52. > :16:58.backs the idea of sending a UN peacekeeping force to Mali. It's 70
:16:58. > :17:01.years since the commander of the German forces at Stalingrad
:17:01. > :17:05.surrended. The six-month long battle is seen as a turning point
:17:05. > :17:11.of the Second World War. As many as one million soldiers are believed
:17:11. > :17:17.to have died in intense urban warfare. This weekend, the city,
:17:17. > :17:20.reVolgograh, will commemorate the event.
:17:20. > :17:27.-- re-named Volgograh will commemorate the event. 70 years
:17:27. > :17:31.since the end of one of the world's bloodiest battles. The Stalingrad
:17:31. > :17:37.memorial remains one of the most symbolic sites in Russia. Here,
:17:37. > :17:47.close to one million soldiers died in just six months of ruthless
:17:47. > :17:52.combat. A breath-taking German advance into Russia had been
:17:52. > :17:58.blocked at Stalingrad. Hundreds of thousands of men died in brutal
:17:58. > :18:06.urban warfare, as the Red Army refused to yield. Then once the
:18:06. > :18:12.Russian winter set in, fresh Soviet forces surrounded Hitler's army,
:18:12. > :18:20.capturing or killing every man. The German commander was forced into a
:18:20. > :18:26.humiliating surrender. This man witnessed the surrender,
:18:26. > :18:32.but the images etched strongly on his 90-year-old memory are images
:18:32. > :18:37.of death and a burning river. TRANSLATION: Everything was on fire.
:18:37. > :18:43.The bank of the river was covered in dead fish, mixed with human
:18:43. > :18:49.heads, arms and legs, all lying on a beach. There were remains of
:18:49. > :18:54.people being evabg rated over the - - evacuated over the river.
:18:54. > :18:58.scale of the loss of live at the battle of Stalingrad is almost
:18:58. > :19:04.beyond imagination. It all happened in a few months. All these grave
:19:04. > :19:12.stones have the same dates of death, either the end of 1942 or the very
:19:12. > :19:19.beginning of 1943. For this week's anniversary, 17,000
:19:19. > :19:25.new names have been carved on the monuments, including this woman's
:19:25. > :19:29.father. When just five she survived the battle by eating clay by living
:19:29. > :19:34.in a mud bank. She searched for her father's body and just three years
:19:34. > :19:38.ago she discovered it was just two miles from her home. TRANSLATION:
:19:38. > :19:44.They have only started to put up these plaques now - 70 years after
:19:44. > :19:48.the battle, with my generation dying out and my mother already
:19:48. > :19:54.dead. The Stalingrad memorial is built on a hill which saw some of
:19:54. > :19:59.the bloodiest fighting. Tens of thousands of bodies lie under this
:19:59. > :20:02.frozen earth. Among them fathers and friends of the remaining
:20:02. > :20:11.survivors, for whose the horrors of that battle 70 years ago, are very
:20:11. > :20:21.real. The Colombian rebel group farkfark
:20:21. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:41.is holding a new -- FARC is holding We must warn you this report does
:20:41. > :20:46.contain some flash photography. These are militants of the FARC, to
:20:46. > :20:56.negotiate an end to five decades of conflict. One delegate has been
:20:56. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:03.stealing the limelight. Tanja Nijeijer is a teacher, turned
:21:03. > :21:07.fighter for the Farc. They now style themselves fighters for
:21:07. > :21:15.social justice. The long conflict in Colombia has killed tens of
:21:16. > :21:22.thousands and displaced millions more. At its height when Tanj first
:21:22. > :21:26.went there in the 1990s to teach English. She told me she had been
:21:26. > :21:34.shocked by the poverty and inequality. She said that drove her
:21:34. > :21:39.into the ranks of the FARC and she does not reject that. I saw the
:21:39. > :21:42.poverty and I started to question the capitalist system. I started to
:21:42. > :21:46.question everything around me. I thought I would like to do
:21:46. > :21:51.something about it. You did not have to do it with violence. A lot
:21:51. > :21:55.of people with a social conscience in the world - why, you are a
:21:55. > :22:00.person from a European demock ca casy, why did you de-- democracy.
:22:00. > :22:05.Why did you choose violence? I did not choose violence. I choose
:22:05. > :22:10.politics in a country where doing politics implies violence. I was
:22:10. > :22:18.not able to carry on living in Holland and have a good life and
:22:18. > :22:23.have my job thinking about other people in other places of the world
:22:23. > :22:28.by living a miserable life. could have worked for a charity?
:22:28. > :22:38.could have done that. I had received my political education in
:22:38. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:43.Colombia. I agreed with the guerrillas and that's why I joined
:22:43. > :22:49.the guerrillas. Probably if I had gone to Africa to do my practise
:22:49. > :22:54.fordown union, I would have ended up in something -- for university I
:22:54. > :22:58.would have ended up in something else.
:22:58. > :23:04.We are a movement and with that I respond.
:23:04. > :23:11.That is now here attempting to negotiate peace. They are the first
:23:11. > :23:15.talk-to-TalkTalks with -- face-to- face talks in a decade. Success at
:23:15. > :23:23.this table may now been the Dutch woman's only way back from the
:23:23. > :23:27.jungle. The Colombian Government once thought Tanja had been
:23:27. > :23:31.forcibly recruited. Here she made it clear to me she joined freely
:23:32. > :23:37.out of conviction. A decade on, this language graduate has been
:23:37. > :23:42.indicted by American and Colombian courts as part of a terrorist court.
:23:42. > :23:46.She would face up to 60 years in jail if she was caught.. I don't
:23:46. > :23:54.think the combatants who are victims of violence of the state
:23:54. > :23:58.should be judged as the victimisers of this conflict. You don't think
:23:58. > :24:08.they will demand some justice? people of Colombia and the people
:24:08. > :24:09.
:24:09. > :24:13.of the world know who are there -- their victimisers. The FARC is
:24:13. > :24:19.listed as a terrorist organisation. I thought I came to an interview,
:24:19. > :24:29.not to a trial. Do you have any ejects about the victims of this
:24:29. > :24:29.
:24:29. > :24:35.conflict? I don't have any rejects about joining the FARC. I feel I am
:24:35. > :24:38.showing my solarty with people who have been very, very -- solidarity
:24:38. > :24:43.with people who have been very badly treated by the Government and
:24:44. > :24:50.I feel very proud of it. Do you think about those who suffer as a
:24:50. > :24:54.consequence? It's like a logical consequence of a war which have
:24:54. > :24:59.been going on for more than 48 years, that there are victims of a
:24:59. > :25:04.war and that's why we're talking about peace now. The FARC released
:25:04. > :25:10.this video ahead of those talks, the Dutch guerrilla sings of her
:25:10. > :25:20.devotion to the cause. It is a line she never devevaited from as we
:25:20. > :25:24.
:25:24. > :25:29.talked. A hint of the complexity of We will talk a look at some other
:25:29. > :25:34.stories making headlines: Police in Alabama have surrounded a man who
:25:34. > :25:41.has taken a six-year-old boy hostage. The man killed the driver
:25:41. > :25:45.of the bus before dragging the little boy to an underground bunker.
:25:45. > :25:49.Mexico City's stray dogs have been given legal protection against
:25:49. > :25:53.maltreatment. Under the rules people could be jailed for up to
:25:53. > :25:59.four years if they mistreat any abandoned pets. Strays have been
:25:59. > :26:05.blamed for the deaths of up to four people if the city's parks. The
:26:05. > :26:10.last surviving member of the Andrew's sisters has died in
:26:10. > :26:14.California. Patty Andrews was 94. The group sold more than 80 million
:26:14. > :26:21.records. Their hits include Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Don't Sit
:26:21. > :26:25.Under the Apple Tree. News from South Africa, reports are
:26:25. > :26:31.coming in that 300 people have been injured in a train crash. The
:26:31. > :26:37.accident took place during rush hour when a commuter train near
:26:37. > :26:41.Pretoria ploughed into a stationary train on the same track. Three are
:26:41. > :26:48.in a critical condition and one person was airlifted to hospital.