21/02/2013 BBC World News

This is BBC World News. The top stories: Prosecutors in the Oscar

Pistorius murder case say the lead detective should be dropped, after

it emerged he himself faces charges of attempted murder. A car bomb

rocks central Damascus, near the headquarters of the ruling Ba'ath

Party. Reports say at least 30 people have been killed. Fans of

Tottenham Hotspur are ambushed in a pub in France, in what appears to

be an attack inspired by anti- Semitism. And we find out why these

schoolchildren in Gaza are being encouraged by Hamas to learn Hebrew

- even though they call it the Prosecutors in South Africa have

called for the lead detective on the Oscar Pistorius murder case to

be dropped. Hilton Botha took the stand on Wedesday at Mr Pistorius'

bail hearing, to describe the scene at Oscar Pistorius home, on the

night Reeva Steenkamp died. But now, police have confirmed that the

detective himself faces seven murder charges over a shooting

incident three years ago. The national prosecuting authority says

it is up to police to decide whether to take Detective Hilton

Botha of the case. The issue of credibility of an investigating

officer can easily be dealt w he can be removed from the case. That

is a decision the police will have to take. There is a team that works

with forensics and things that do not depend on a person. We will be

live at the court house later in the programme. A powerful car bomb

has exploded near the headquarters of Syria's ruling Ba'ath party in

the centre of Damascus. The blast happened in the central Mazraa

neighborhood. At least 30 people are reported to have been killed

and dozens more wounded. Syrian State TV says schoolchildren are

among the casualties. James Reynolds has been following the

story from neighbouring Turkey. He told me that the exact target of

the bombers is still unclear. are trying to establish whether or

not this was the Ba'ath Party head quarters, or the intelligence

building of the Party. We are getting reports the explosion

happened near to the Russian Embassy. Russia is a strong ally of

Syria and we hear the windows in their Embassy were blown out.

the same time there is an important meeting taking place in Cairo at

the same time as the a Arab league and Russia have come forward with

suggests -- suggestions for a way fore ward. The Syrian opposition

meeting in Cairo is suggesting it is willing to negotiate with the

Syrian authorities. But it does not want president Assad to be what it

calls a party to any kind of agreement. In other words, talks

yes, negotiations with president Assad no. That may not work with

the Syrian Government. They have stressed that president Assad is

the final address for all negotiations. But there is another

development between Russia and the Arab league. Particularly the

statement there, does it look as if Russia is changing its position?

is difficult to tell, I think one thing that we sometimes overlook is

that Russia's interest is not necessarily in the preservation of

president Assad, but in the preservation of its own interests

in Syria. We have heard statements from the Russian Government and the

Prime Minister suggesting that even if president Assad goes, that is

something they are contemplating. But Russia will at one point want

to reaffirm its alliance with president Assad but will want to

find a way to explore links with the opposition and make sure that

Russia's influence continues. you. Two American cardinals who are

due to travel to Rome to elect the new pope, are being questioned

about child abuse cases against priests under their supervision.

The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, was

questioned for three hours by lawyers. They represent hundreds of

people who claim they were sexually abused. The retired archbishop of

Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony will be questioned under oath on

Saturday. Police in Portugal say they've seized forged Euro notes

with a face value of nearly 400,000 euros. One man was detained during

the operation in Oporto. It's the second big find of forged euros in

the city this month. Police say the euro's growing importance as an

international currency makes it increasingly attractive target for

organised crime. A former United States Democratic congressman,

Jesse Jackson Junior, has pleaded guilty to misusing about $750,000

of campaign money to fund a lavish lifestyle. Mr Jackson is the son of

the civil rights leader. He said he was sorry he had let the American

people down. He faces a maximum of five years in prison. A group of

fans of the British team Tottenham Hotspur has been attacked in the

city of Lyon on the eve of the team's Europa League tie. The Spurs

supporters were drinking in a pub when a group of men, believed to be

right wing extremists, forced their way in. Earlier I spoke to Dave

Eales, the Landlord of The Smoking Dog pub in Lyon. He described what

happened. Around quarter past 10 last night we were attack, the

front of the pub, we are on a pedestrianised street and there are

doors with reinforced glass were attacked by a group of 40 or 50

people. They were throwing projectiles, tables and chairs,

which they picked up on their way. In retaliation the Tottenham fans

had table and chairs the other way. They didn't come in the bar. Then

they came back a second time within ten minutes. And three injured

people, flying glass etc. I don't understand, I think they're OK.

do you think they were? First I want to say that the Tottenham fans

were fantastic. They were brilliant. I know who the people are.

Unfortunately. That is the landlord of that pub in France. It's three

months since the short war between Israel and Hamas in and around Gaza.

Since then for the first time in decades, Palestinian children in

Gaza are being taught Hebrew, spoken of course in Israel. There

are some similarities with Arabic. The Hamas government has begun

encouraging pupils to learn what it calls "the language of the enemy."

Here's our Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison. A foreign tongue in Gaza.

Hebrew, the language of Israel, now being taught to Palestinian

children in Hamas schools. They're keen to learn. But for these

youngsters, it is not about building bridges with their long

time foes. It is the language of our enemy. To attack them from our

language they think that we are not, they think that we are afeared from

them. They think you're afraid? afraid of them and we want to tell

them we are not afraid from them. TRANSLATION: If we meet an Israel

Israeli and they're speaking Hebrew, it means if they are planning

something bad, we will now. -- know. Hamas has had to teach more

teachers, although there is little practical use for the language.

Thousands of children are learning hue brew, but very few have been to

Israel and very few have met an Israeli. At the border there is

little traffic in or out of Gaza. In previous generations, thousands

of Palestinians used to head into Israel each day for work. But

Israel's blockade and the conflict with Hamas means those days are

long gone. Now the only time most people may need Hebrew is when

shopping to decipher labels on imported goods. But Hamas said the

language is still worth learning. The Government wants the children

to know the language of the Israelis. Why? To understand them,

to prevent them to deceive us. To know how they think. In other words,

Palestinian and Israeli children might be speaking the same language,

but the mistrust is as strong as ever. And the walls and fences that

separate the two communities are a constant reminder of the bar

tkwhraers remain. Now the Italy which votes in a general election

this weekend. An ailing economy and political scandals have left them

weiry and angry. Our correspondent has been travelling across Italy by

train sampling the mood. She has moved from Florence to Milan. What

is the assessment there? We are at a Lally -- rally of the Five Star

movement that is calling for an overhaul of the political

establishment and t it is expected to grab 20% of the vote.

problem with the political people in Italy, they want only to use the

money, the public money for themselves and we want to change

this and we have a big force on this, we are the force of the

people. We have the lack of faith about the promise about our future

here. So most of us, yeah, there is a great movement of protest. We

hope we can change something with this. The Government is very old

and they're all about their own business. So we need something new.

We need a change. And we need a chance for the young people to make

something new and real. We have 20 years with Silvio Berlusconi. We

don't have a job or money or freedom, the press in Italy is a

disaster. They just tell us what they want to tell us. And there is

no chance to for -- for a way out for this. One of the movement's

main proposals is to put real people in Parliament, including

house wive and the unemployed. One representative is an Italian

needian. But his a controversial figure. Some say he is too quick to

attack the status quo without providing solutions. You're with

BBC world news. Coming up: A trip to what look like a scene under the

sea and how these jets support unusual wildlife. Now the China

where a vigorous public debate has been sparked by the trial of a

pensioner arked of a - accused of the murder of a doctor. We have

only got the most basic detail. The defendant is a man coulded Mr Chu.

We don't have his given name. We know the trial is taking place in a

district in the east and we know it relates to a crime dating back more

than 40 years that took place in 1967, the murder of a doctor at the

height of the cultural revolution. Just a year after Claire man Mao

Degan the de deck vaid of vie leps. -- chairman Mao began the decade of

violence. It was a brutal crime. The cultural revolution is still a

taboo subject, but the case prompted a debate and people are

asking why when very few officials were held to account for that very

traumatic period, this single man from an eastern Chinese province

should find himself on trial. it be said that some kind of

political point is being made by bring him to trial at the age of

more than 80? It is very unclear whether there is something bigger

at work. The authorities say that the initial arrest warrant for Mr

CHU was issued in the 80s and it is only now he is being found and put

on trial. Given that he is more than 80, the trial is going ahead.

But even some of China's state media, the communist party youth

daily has been issuing some strong language and one editorial

suggested that China needs to revisit and discuss the dull churl

-- cultural revolution and compared the crimes of the time to the Nazi

atrocities in Europe. Very strong language. It said if a proper

discussion isn't held there is a danger of the violence and

criminality of those times You're with BBC World News. Let me

give you the latest headlines. South African prosecutors have

called for the lead detective on the Oscar Pistorius case to be

dropped after it emerged he faces charges of attempted murder.

Reports say at least 30 people have been killed by a car bomb, a

powerful bomb in Damascus, the capital. It happened near the

headquarters of the ruling Ba'ath Party.

There is confusion over the fate of seven hostages kidnapped by

militants in Cameroon. Some media reports suggest that the hostages

had been found alive at a house in northern Nigeria. The group, all

from the same family, were captured by Islamist militants earlier this

week. They were on a trip to the Waza National Park, which is near

the Nigerian border with Cameroon. The BBC's Hugh Schofield gave me

this update on the confusion from Paris.

Nothing is confirmed, and there is a statement now out of the Foreign

Ministry saying do not jump to any lacety conclusions. There have been

media reports from the region, mainly from the Cameroon side, from

unnamed officials there saying that the seven have been found at a

house in north-eastern Nigeria, that they're safe. They had been

abandoned by their captors who fled, but that's not confirmed. I think

the procedure from the French official point of view is we don't

say anything until there is a sign of life, and that hasn't been

provided yet. Now, some of the world's richest

internet entrepreneurs have announced plans to create the

largest prize in history. Mark Zuckerberg has joined forces with

Google and Apple to create the breakthrough prize. It's urging

more young people to take up science. The BBC's David Willist

asked Mark Zuckerberg why do you support this prize? I just think

that there should be more people in society who go into solving these

problems. I think one of the ways to do this is society needs more

heroes that are the scientists and researchers and engineers working

on these problems. These people are actually doing the amazing work

themself, but what we can do is create this institution and prize

that can celebrate and reward the work these folks are doing to

hopefully encourage more of the next generation of young people to

go into what we think is important work. Should we be surprised that

you're joining forces with somebody from Google, somebody from Apple in

bringing this to reality? I don't think so. All of these companies

work together in a lot more ways than people think. Also, I just

have a lot of respect for the work they have done. Technology and

science are very closely related, and one of the big differences is

in information technology, if you make some breakthrough, you can

make a lot of money. Whereas in science, the specific researchers

and scientists working on this often don't. We think that's a

market failure, and the people that are making these contributions to

society should be rewarded in large way just like the best computer

scientists and engineers are. That's a big part of how we all

came together to do this. In actual fact, the breakthrough prize is a

good synergy, if you like, between those two areas, science and social

networking and so on? The way I think about it is - I'm really

excited and proud of the mission of Facebook to make the world more

connected and to help people connect with all the folks they

want to. That's one thing that I'm spending my life doing that I'm

really proud of, that I hope is this good contribution for the

world. There are all of these other things I think are going to be

awesome too we're just not going to do through Facebook. That's where

the philanthropy comes in and the projects around education and the

prize and other things that we can do as well. You're working together

with, I imagine, somebody from Google, somebody from Apple? Lots

of different folks. Could you see some sort of synergy in the social

media world perhaps? Perhaps. LAUGHTER

This could - this might not be a catalyst for something that will,

you know, bring those companies together, these giants of the

internet together? I think people make a big deal out of the

competition between companies. Often it's real, but I think the

companies work together more than people think as well. Mark

Zuckerberg talking there with the BBC's David Willis. He was with the

Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milliner who also helped launch the

breakthrough prize. Let's get the lastest from central Damascus, the

Syrian capital - that powerful bomb which exploded in the Bajaur --

Masra district. Lena is there for us. Describe what happened. Yes.

It's near the Ba'ath Party building. Inside, the attack was on a main

road with cars driving. I can see buildings on the right and left-

hand side of the location that were completely damaged. One building

with like eight stores or more - or three of them - all the windows

have been blown down. There is complete damage there. The

Government is saying 16 people died and more than 200 were injured.

it clear which building was targeted? It's not clear because it

seems that it was targeted at the checkpoint that is located there,

and many buildings around it has been affected. Probably the target

was the building of the Ba'ath Party, but the damage affected many

civilian buildings. What kind of activity is there at the moment

from those from the security and emergency services? Well, the roads

are completely blocked there, and there is a big relief operation?

They had time to clear the area, and there were many ambulances

going to help people. More than 200 have been injured. There have been

other bombings in recent days. Is there a pattern emerging certainly

of those who might have done it? Well, it seems that at the same

time shortly after this blast two others took place in an area where

security checkpoints were targeted. We're not sure yet who was behind

the attacks. The Government definitely accused terrorist groups,

but there hasn't been any claim yet by any of the rebel or opposition

forces. Now something rather different -

Deep sea scientists say they've discovered new species of marine

life, in what's effectively a vast, natural jacuzzi. They've been

exploring the Caribbean where a series of volcanoes deep under

ocean pumps out very hot water. They're technically known as hydro-

thermal vents. The scientists are onboard a British research ship,

the RSS James Cook, from where our science editor, David Shukman, sent

this report. This is the Caribbean, and I am on a research ship called

the James Cook, which is investigating the ocean floor three

miles down below us. They have been deploying a robotic submarine to

took a look down there. The images it's produced are extraordinary of

what are called hydrothermal vents, chimneys belching out what looks

like black smoke. In fact it's hot water. The chief scientist is John

Coply from the National Oceanography Centre. We have been

exploring the world's deepest volcanic vents rift in the sea

floor of the Caribbean. Our submarine is about to come back.

It's got samples of the incredibly hot fluid gushing out of the sea

floor - 400 C when we collected it. We're hoping for new deep sea

creatures. It's an extraordinary landscape down there, rather eerie.

What is significant scientifically about it? This is a world that's

been hidden for us for all of human history. Now we have the potential

to explore the half of our world covered by water. For the first

time we're seeing what the face of our planet is really like, what

that means for the geological forces that shape our world, the

patterns of life in the ocean we're all connected to. When you sent the

little robotic submarine down you were expecting to find vents you

have seen before, but instead you stumbled on an entirely new set.

Completely by surprise we stumbled on a new set of underwater vents.

We thought we were seeing the ones we'd seen before. Turns out we were

in a different location, completely unexpected to us. This is

commonplace as we explore the deep ocean. Every visit we make new

discoveries. It's often said we know more about the surface of the

moon or Mars than we do the surface of the deep ocean. Is that the

case? It is the case because our own world has got this watery veil.

It actually blocks the kind of things we use to look at the

surface of planets from satellites. We can't do that in the deep ocean.

The only way to understand it is to get down there with a vehicle and

actually see it close up. So this is a genuine discovery. Thank you

very much indeed. The dives of the little submarine will continue. The

basic message here is that the more they look, the more they find. Now

we have two stories for you about animals in different parts of the

world. Here's a kangaroo which had to be rescued after spending two

hours sitting on the ledge of a shopping centre. How did it get

there? It's a parking lot in the city of Melbourne. The frightened

animal was perched about 50 metres above the ground. He eventually

hopped back to the safety of the parking lot. He was then shot with

a tranquiliser dart, and the kangaroo was taken to a local

wildlife shelter to recover from his traumatic experience.

Then these extraordinary pictures for you from Portland in Oregon.

Let me introduce you to Eddie, the otter. He's winning hearts and

scoring points by dunking basketballs at the local zoo. He

was taught to slam-dunk by his keeper to help him exercise and

stay healthy. At 15 years old he's quite elderly, which makes his

skills even more impressive. Normally the public don't get to

see him practise, so we're lucky to Now back to earth - dry land - the

main news from South Africa that prosecutors have called for the

lead detective on the Oscar Pistorius murder case to be dropped.

That's because he's involved allegedly in murder charges