:00:10. > :00:13.Not as warm in England and Hello, welcome to BBC World News. The top
:00:13. > :00:17.stories: America demands the immediate withdrawal of Hezbollah
:00:17. > :00:23.fighters from Syria, calling their involvement dangerous and
:00:23. > :00:28.unacceptable. An American soldier charged with killing 16 Afghan
:00:28. > :00:35.villagers agrees to plead guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.
:00:35. > :00:38.Learning to live with pollution, how the people of the Niger Delta
:00:39. > :00:43.survive in an environment damaged by oil spills.
:00:43. > :00:53.It's no joke, the female cometic whose routine is standing up for
:00:53. > :01:08.
:01:08. > :01:17.Syria's President Assad claims that Damascus has received the first
:01:17. > :01:21.shipment of Russian air defence missiles from Moscow. The They were
:01:21. > :01:25.saying they would help Syria to deter foreign sper vention in its
:01:25. > :01:29.civil war. The move is likely to worry the United States which has
:01:29. > :01:33.already expressed anger at the militant group Hezbollah's support
:01:33. > :01:37.for President Assad. Washington saying that it represents a
:01:37. > :01:41.dangerous escalation. Our Middle East correspondent is Jim Muir and
:01:41. > :01:45.he is monitoring events in Syria from Lebanon and he says that
:01:45. > :01:50.Washington's strong warnings won't cut much ice with Hezbollah's forces
:01:50. > :01:54.on the ground. Hezbollah has been defying Washington ever since the
:01:54. > :01:57.early 1980s when it was created as a counterto the Israeli invasion of
:01:57. > :02:02.Lebanon. So it's not going to suddenly pack its bags and leave
:02:02. > :02:09.Syria because Washington says so. It's there for very strong strategic
:02:09. > :02:15.reasons, as its leader made clear in a speech on Saturday. It sees this
:02:15. > :02:20.as essential to its own strategic interests, in other words, to
:02:20. > :02:25.prevent the Syrian regime falling because it is - it links Iran with
:02:25. > :02:28.Syria and Hezbollah. So, there's no way that Hezbollah is going to heed
:02:28. > :02:33.words or even warnings from Washington at this stage in the
:02:33. > :02:41.game. It's too vital. Most concern seems to be focussed right now on
:02:41. > :02:46.the battle over control of the town of Qusar. What's the significance of
:02:46. > :02:50.that? It controls rebel supply routes into Syria, into the
:02:50. > :02:54.heartland, Homs and so on, the centre of the country. From the
:02:54. > :02:59.regime's point of view it's very important for its forces to control
:02:59. > :03:04.there, also if you are in control there you are threatening the main
:03:05. > :03:10.route between Damascus and the coast and Damascus han the main cities to
:03:10. > :03:16.the north. It's very important strategically. The Syrian state
:03:16. > :03:21.forces do seem to have seized a disused military air airfield which
:03:21. > :03:26.is just to the north of Qusair, probably cutting off the last supply
:03:26. > :03:30.line to the rebels inside the town. Apparently with a large number of
:03:30. > :03:33.civilians and they're putting out a strong appeal for help because
:03:33. > :03:36.medical conditions are deteriorating and doctors saying there is no
:03:36. > :03:41.oxygen left and they've hundreds of wounded people there. They're
:03:41. > :03:45.appealing for the Red Cross or the Red Crescent to intervene to try and
:03:45. > :03:49.save those civilians. Our Middle East correspondent Jim Muir in
:03:49. > :03:52.Beirut. An American soldier charged with killing 16 villagers in
:03:52. > :03:58.Afghanistan has agreed to plead guilty to murder charges in a deal
:03:58. > :04:02.to avoid the death penalty. He left his remote base in the south of the
:04:02. > :04:06.country in March last year and attacked people in two nearby
:04:06. > :04:12.villages. Most of the victims were women and children. Our
:04:12. > :04:22.correspondent in Afghanistan is David Loyn. What happened to this
:04:22. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:28.man who served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and had suffered
:04:28. > :04:31.concussion in Iraq. One night he took Valium and steroids and drunk
:04:31. > :04:35.from a plastic bottle of whisky. Apparently they had been watching a
:04:35. > :04:39.movie in the base about revenge killings, he had been discussing
:04:39. > :04:44.with his comrades an incident in which one of their comrades had been
:04:44. > :04:49.very badly hurt, had lost a leg in an accident. He left the base armed
:04:49. > :04:52.with an rifle and pistol and went to a village and went house by house
:04:52. > :04:57.killing Afghans, apparently according to one of the families he
:04:57. > :05:03.said something about the Taliban, Taliban, Taliban and started killing
:05:04. > :05:08.people, men, women and children. 16 people altogether killed in the
:05:09. > :05:11.incident and extraordinarily in the middle of it he wept back to the
:05:11. > :05:15.base and said to a fellow soldier I have been in a village killing
:05:15. > :05:20.people and the soldier said, don't be silly, I don't believe you and
:05:20. > :05:27.went back to sleep. He went to a second village a mile or so away the
:05:27. > :05:28.other side of the base and there he killed more people He piled bodies
:05:28. > :05:38.together and set fire to them and came back to the base dripping with
:05:38. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:50.done? Yes, his lawyer John Brown has told the AP news agency that next
:05:50. > :05:55.week there will be a hearing and at that hearing he won't try and say
:05:55. > :05:59.that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. He says the lawyer says he is
:05:59. > :06:05.crazed and broken, but not mentally unfit. And that he wants to plead
:06:05. > :06:09.guilty now. There's been a plea bar gaping process which goes on in the
:06:09. > :06:13.United States in order to escape the death penalty and sentencing will
:06:13. > :06:18.emerge later, providing the judge accepts that plea bargain in a
:06:18. > :06:22.military court. I think the reaction of the families in the south will be
:06:22. > :06:27.some shock. Some of the relatives of those who were killed went to the
:06:27. > :06:30.United States for an earlier hearing and they thought they were being
:06:30. > :06:34.taken to the state to see him being executed. They want him tried in
:06:34. > :06:38.Afghanistan. There's a strong feeling here this trial should have
:06:38. > :06:43.taken place here. Instead he's been under American military justice and
:06:43. > :06:48.in an American military jail and facing American military justice
:06:48. > :06:51.now. The families will be very perplexed that he is not to be
:06:51. > :06:55.executed. More widely in Afghanistan there was quite a muted response to
:06:55. > :07:03.this. Many people said the Americans have been killing lots of people
:07:03. > :07:06.here over the years and this was no different to other incidents.
:07:07. > :07:11.with of the two men accused of killing a British soldier on a
:07:11. > :07:14.street in London last week has appeared in court. Michael Adebowale
:07:14. > :07:19.was charged with murder after being released from hospital. He appeared
:07:19. > :07:24.in court dressed in white baggy trousers and a grey sweatshirt and
:07:25. > :07:28.spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and his address. It was a
:07:28. > :07:31.four-minute appearance. Another man arrested with him remains in
:07:31. > :07:38.hospital under armed guard. Both men were shot and wounded by police at
:07:39. > :07:47.the scene of the killing. A series of bomb explosions in Iraq have
:07:47. > :07:51.killed at least 13 people. Sunni mill tapts are thought to be
:07:51. > :08:01.responsible -- militants are thought to be responsible. UN report today
:08:01. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:07.calls for a moratorium on the use of robots in war. The robots aren't
:08:07. > :08:13.controlled by humans. Human rights groups say they raise serious moral
:08:13. > :08:19.questions about how we wage war. The European Commission is expected
:08:19. > :08:22.to launch formal action against Spain today after hundreds of people
:08:22. > :08:30.have complained that they've been denied medical treatment in Spanish
:08:30. > :08:35.hospitals, despite showing their health assurance card. Tom Burridge
:08:35. > :08:41.explained the severity of the situation in Spain. The cases we
:08:41. > :08:51.have spoken to or seen date back several years and the European
:08:51. > :09:06.
:09:06. > :09:07.Commission says hundreds of cases. We are not looking at is the
:09:07. > :09:08.something that is widespread, but there are significant cases and
:09:08. > :09:08.there are now - you only have to look at the fact that the European
:09:08. > :09:09.Commission is taking this legal action against Spain at lunchtime
:09:09. > :09:09.today to realise there is enough evidence, enough cases for them to
:09:09. > :09:13.feel that is possible now. Are you getting a sense that this is
:09:13. > :09:20.increasingly infrequency? I am wondering whether this is a direct
:09:20. > :09:23.result of the dire economic circumstances in Spain? It's an
:09:23. > :09:27.interesting question. It's something we thought about and asked people
:09:28. > :09:30.about. The European Commission said there's no evidence that in the
:09:31. > :09:34.recent months and probably within the course of the last month,
:09:34. > :09:38.because a year ago sprain brought in a new health reform here,
:09:38. > :09:42.essentially making it more difficult for illegal immigrants without the
:09:42. > :09:45.right paperwork to get free public healthcare here in Spain. The
:09:45. > :09:49.European Commission says actually there is no evidence that within the
:09:49. > :09:53.last few months the number of cases related to this story has gone up
:09:53. > :09:59.and it's very important to point out the two situations are very
:09:59. > :10:03.different. In this situation we are talking about European Union
:10:03. > :10:06.citizens going to public hospitals in Spain when they're on holiday and
:10:06. > :10:11.presenting this European health assurance card, which is one of the
:10:11. > :10:16.perks of being in the European Union, if you like. We are hearing
:10:16. > :10:19.from Brussels the European Commission has requested information
:10:19. > :10:26.from Spain regarding these complaints that Spanish hospitals
:10:26. > :10:30.aren't providing public healthcare to other EU citizens who arrive in
:10:30. > :10:34.Spain needing medical attention will keep you up to date with that
:10:34. > :10:38.story. For the past couple of months or so India has been in the
:10:38. > :10:41.spotlight for a negative reason because of a series of violent
:10:41. > :10:44.assaults on women but far from seeing themselves as potential
:10:44. > :10:48.victims, some Indian women are breaking into areas usually
:10:48. > :10:56.dominated by men and we have been talking to one in particular, a
:10:56. > :11:00.comedian. Hi, I am 26 years old and I am a stand-up comedian, among
:11:00. > :11:07.other things and I am originally from Mumbai and I got into it three
:11:07. > :11:12.years ago. It just happened to be great timing. I heard about a couple
:11:12. > :11:17.of open mics happening in the city and I went to check out what was
:11:17. > :11:22.going on and I saw what other people were doing and said maybe I should
:11:22. > :11:32.give this a try and kept on going, because the moment you get that
:11:32. > :11:42.
:11:42. > :11:43.first laugh you get addicted to it and want more. It's so empowering to
:11:43. > :11:48.see everyone react the same way, to laugh. I think the problem with we
:11:48. > :11:53.think as a woman, you don't know whether you are being laughed at or
:11:53. > :11:57.laughed with. And I think as a woman you just feel slightly uncomfortable
:11:57. > :12:01.with that idea. Of course you are required to speak boldly or required
:12:01. > :12:11.to speak with a level of honesty that would be perceived as almost
:12:11. > :12:36.
:12:36. > :12:41.for very few instances, the audience... One of the few actresses
:12:41. > :12:46.in Bollywood, she's actually the age of a student. This one gentleman
:12:46. > :12:50.came up to me after a show and he said, you know, you were very funny
:12:50. > :12:55.and he shook my hand and everything. I said thank you. He said, but I
:12:55. > :13:01.just want to know do your parents know you are saying all these type
:13:01. > :13:06.of things on stage? I think the general concern is if you are going
:13:06. > :13:12.to be a joker in public, who's going to marry you? My mother used to drop
:13:12. > :13:15.me to open mics, I would run jokes by my dad and he would help me. My
:13:15. > :13:20.parents have been nothing but supportive. They're very proud of
:13:20. > :13:30.me, I think. It means so much to me that they are. If they weren't, it
:13:30. > :13:31.
:13:31. > :13:34.would have been much more difficult. The story of the appearance at a
:13:34. > :13:40.Westminster Magistrates' Court of one of the suspects in the killing
:13:40. > :13:47.of an off-duty British soldier last week in London. We can go to that
:13:47. > :13:53.court and our correspondent Matt Prodger. The appearance was short.
:13:53. > :14:02.Prodger. The appearance was short. This is an appearance that begins
:14:02. > :14:06.the process of trial. He appeared in court to give his name and
:14:06. > :14:10.address. He was wearing a grey, long-sleeved top and white trousers.
:14:10. > :14:16.This is the first time that we've seen him since the merger of Lee
:14:16. > :14:20.rig by last Wednesday, which happened in Woolwich. After the
:14:20. > :14:28.appearance, during the appearance rather, he was wearing handcuffs
:14:28. > :14:35.and one of his hands was bandaged. He was also flanked by police in
:14:35. > :14:41.suits and afterwards, he left under armed escort in a reinforced police
:14:41. > :14:47.van. The next court appearance will be at the Old Bailey on June 3.
:14:47. > :14:52.Thank you. Lots more to come here this morning,
:14:52. > :15:02.including facing a really difficult future. How thousands of oil spills
:15:02. > :15:02.
:15:02. > :15:07.threaten the livelihoods of farmers in the Niger Delta.
:15:07. > :15:10.Beavers may look cute and cuddly to some of you but in Belarus there
:15:11. > :15:14.are increasing reports after tacks on people, one beaver recently
:15:14. > :15:20.killed a fisherman who was reportedly trying to pick it up and
:15:20. > :15:24.have a photograph taken with. It the beavers -- beaver's bite hit a
:15:24. > :15:28.major artery in his leg and he bled to death.
:15:28. > :15:33.They're rodents known for keeping busy but a large rise in the beaver
:15:33. > :15:36.population in Belarus has been named for a number of attacks on
:15:36. > :15:40.humans. In March, one man was apparently attempting to catch a
:15:40. > :15:46.beaver to have a photograph taken with it, when it bit him savagely.
:15:46. > :15:51.The man died from his injuries. TRANSLATION: The character of the
:15:51. > :15:56.wound was totally shocking for us medical professionals. We had never
:15:56. > :16:00.run into anything like this before as far as I can remember. What we
:16:00. > :16:06.saw was that his hip had been afflicted by the beaver bite, a
:16:06. > :16:09.series of bites. Because the beaver is a rodent, he doesn't just strike
:16:09. > :16:13.once. He strikes multiple times, at least two times with his teeth. The
:16:13. > :16:17.teeth of a beaver can be as long as seven or eight centimetres,
:16:17. > :16:26.approximately three inches. It can bite anything it wants and how it
:16:26. > :16:30.wants. The killer beaver escaped after the attack and has not been
:16:30. > :16:34.caught. But there have been other reports of aggressive behaviour
:16:34. > :16:38.from the animals. This amateur footage is said to show one beaver
:16:38. > :16:42.stalking the emergency vehicles September to move it on. Fire crews
:16:42. > :16:47.eventually resorted to hosing it away. One woman filmed this beaver
:16:47. > :16:50.outside a Community Centre. TRANSLATION: We accompanied the
:16:50. > :16:57.beaver out to where there was a ditch. The emergency services
:16:57. > :17:01.officials moved him away from the ditch. Once hunted almost to the
:17:01. > :17:03.point of extinction in Europe beavers have made a come back as
:17:03. > :17:08.new populations have been introduced.
:17:08. > :17:11.TRANSLATION: We're in the midst of a beaver colony. In Belarus the
:17:11. > :17:18.beaver population has reached more than 80,000 and they've started to
:17:18. > :17:22.inflict damage on both forestry and agriculture. While life experts say
:17:22. > :17:26.the animals can become disorientated in daylight and may
:17:26. > :17:35.attack out of fear. Officials in Belarus say such attacks are rare
:17:35. > :17:40.but that it is becoming an increasing problem.
:17:40. > :17:44.Wuer with BBC World News. These are our top stories this morning: The
:17:44. > :17:47.US has demanded that Hezbollah withdraw fighters from Syria
:17:48. > :17:52.immediately, saying their presence is unacceptable and dangerous.
:17:52. > :17:56.An American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in two
:17:56. > :18:04.ram pages last year, will plead guilty in order to avoid the death
:18:04. > :18:09.penalty. Oil pollution is a massive problem
:18:09. > :18:13.in the Niger Delta. Over the years, thousands of oil spills have
:18:13. > :18:22.polluted farmland, as well as lakes and rivers. But what was life like
:18:22. > :18:25.before the multinational oil companies moved in?
:18:25. > :18:30.This report on how local communities are managing to survive
:18:30. > :18:34.despite the pollution. There are few signs of life here,
:18:35. > :18:38.the trees are all dead and the water is heavily polluted. All the
:18:39. > :18:45.result of an oil spill that happened nearly a year ago and
:18:45. > :18:48.still hasn't been cleaned up. is the point where it spills, so it
:18:48. > :18:55.was spilling too far. I can't even walk close to the point. The black
:18:55. > :19:01.oil was gushing out? Yeah, crude oil was coming out speedily. Such
:19:01. > :19:04.spills are common in the Niger Delta. People here reject the oil
:19:04. > :19:08.company's allegation that it was caused by sabotage. With no chance
:19:08. > :19:13.of growing crops or fishing, the farmers are forced to venture
:19:14. > :19:20.further afield. There is another side to this place, unspoilt areas
:19:20. > :19:26.of natural beauty. This is the Niger Delta before the oil. We
:19:26. > :19:31.carefully waded across swamps. Birds providing a constant
:19:31. > :19:39.soundtrack. After moving deep into the forest, we came across a lake
:19:39. > :19:42.where people have been fishing for generations. They've set up camp
:19:42. > :19:47.where they stay for just three months every other year. In this
:19:47. > :19:53.community everyone has a role, whether it's weaving the reed
:19:53. > :19:57.fishing baskets or smoking the fish. It's all providing a vital income.
:19:57. > :20:02.We use this money to pay school fees. We use this money to buy
:20:03. > :20:06.books for them. We use this money to even to buy school uniforms and
:20:06. > :20:11.do everything for them. After setting the traps earlier in the
:20:11. > :20:15.day, by late afternoon, it's time to bring in the catch, which is
:20:15. > :20:19.shared by several families. The fact that people come here every
:20:19. > :20:26.two years show that's they know about how to fish in a sustainable
:20:26. > :20:29.way, but also living under the fear of pollution. This man tells me
:20:29. > :20:35.they can drink the water around here and there are plenty of fish.
:20:35. > :20:40.But he says if oil is discovered nearby, that could all change. He
:20:40. > :20:45.says in his 78 years, he's gained nothing whatsoever from Nigeria's
:20:45. > :20:49.oil. This is a community that's still reaping the benefits of an
:20:49. > :20:52.unspoilt environment. But with pollution a constant threat, they
:20:52. > :21:02.leave offerings at a shrine in a hope to the gods will allow them to
:21:02. > :21:07.keep fishing. As we've seen recently in Oklahoma,
:21:07. > :21:10.a streng -- the strength and power of a tornado and the effects are
:21:10. > :21:15.familiar to many parts of the United States. Here in Europe,
:21:15. > :21:18.they're a rare sight which is why a twister took Italian communities
:21:18. > :21:28.completely by surprise, particularly as it appeared to be
:21:28. > :21:33.following commuters. It appeared out of nowhere, a
:21:33. > :21:39.tornado so strong it lifted debris from a nearby industrial estate and
:21:39. > :21:43.swirld around as if in slow motion. For Italian commuters driving home
:21:43. > :21:48.on the motorway on the outskirts of Milan just got a whole lot more
:21:48. > :21:52.hazardous. It left a trail of destruction in its wake. Trees were
:21:52. > :21:56.uprooted, trucks overturned and some houses suffered damage. There
:21:56. > :21:59.were, thankfully, no reports of casualties.
:21:59. > :22:04.TRANSLATION: It just kep growing and growing and growing. It was
:22:04. > :22:08.like having the engine of a plane next to me. That's why these
:22:09. > :22:17.violently rotating columns of air are so frightening, appearing from
:22:17. > :22:21.nowhere, and then dissipating just as quickly. Until next time.
:22:21. > :22:24.Two common pain killers used by millions of us with painful
:22:24. > :22:28.conditions like arthritis carry a small risk of heart attack. That's
:22:28. > :22:30.according to a new study. The research published in the British
:22:30. > :22:40.Medical Journal the Lancet is the first to give accurate information
:22:40. > :22:42.
:22:42. > :22:44.on the long-term use of high doses of ieb profin and diclofenic. The
:22:44. > :22:49.information should help doctors and patients weigh up the risks in
:22:49. > :22:52.using the Med kaigsz. These -- medication.
:22:52. > :22:55.These pain killers are used by millions of people, for some,
:22:55. > :23:05.including people with arthritis, they're a life lining, helping them
:23:05. > :23:13.keep intense, long-term pain under control. Ieb proven -- iboprofin is
:23:13. > :23:17.part of a group of non-steroid Alan ti infamiliarer to drugs. We are
:23:17. > :23:21.saying this is the risk. Now consider the benefit you get from
:23:21. > :23:24.taking these drugs. You may consider the small extra risk to be
:23:24. > :23:28.worth the extra benefit you get, your ability to go about your daily
:23:28. > :23:32.life in the normal way. This research is not about the small
:23:32. > :23:38.dose of these pain killers you buy in the chemist shop for a headache
:23:38. > :23:45.or a spraind ankle. It does give us the best information yesterday on
:23:46. > :23:49.the risks of taking high dose over a long period of time. This looked
:23:49. > :23:54.at the heart attack risks: On average eight in a thousand people
:23:54. > :23:59.a year will have a heart attack, including those on high doses of
:24:00. > :24:03.NSEDS, the risk is up to 11 in every thousand people. It was
:24:03. > :24:08.higher for people who already had heart health problems. So this
:24:08. > :24:16.research is about weighing up the extra risk of these drugs for those
:24:16. > :24:20.patients who may also rely on them to manage their pain. The Victoria
:24:21. > :24:26.and Albert museum in London has appointed its first ever game
:24:26. > :24:29.designer in residence. It's Sophia George. She hopes her work with
:24:29. > :24:34.video games will help people to see the creativity that goes into
:24:34. > :24:38.making them. The Victoria and Albert museum not
:24:38. > :24:44.the place you imagine many come to play video games. Now the V&A has
:24:44. > :24:47.appointed its first video games designer in residence. She's won a
:24:47. > :24:51.BAFTA for one of her games. Now she's on a mission to change
:24:51. > :24:54.people's view of her industry. would really like the public's
:24:54. > :25:01.minds to be open about gaming that it's not just about violence, it
:25:01. > :25:05.can be about education, fun, playing games as families. Perhaps
:25:05. > :25:09.for them to inspire to make their own games. All sorts of people,
:25:09. > :25:12.young and old, male and female are playing games in all sorts of ways.
:25:13. > :25:16.It's an industry where Britain has plenty of skills. Now the V&A
:25:16. > :25:20.believes it's important that it recognises this aspect of our
:25:20. > :25:24.culture. The V&A is very contemporary in its outlook. It's
:25:24. > :25:28.had a really vibrant contemporary programme for a long time. All the
:25:28. > :25:33.things thaw see around you have been contemporary at one point,
:25:33. > :25:35.they've just got older as time goes along. As well as talking to
:25:35. > :25:40.visitors, Sophia aims to design a game based on the museum's
:25:40. > :25:50.directions. The V&A says its aim to are flect the best in design from
:25:50. > :25:55.
:25:56. > :26:02.every era and it's games at the cutting edge. Bon Jovi will play a
:26:02. > :26:05.gig in Madrid next month for free. The star says any proceeds from
:26:05. > :26:09.reduced tickets will go to workers who help stage the concert and help
:26:09. > :26:19.pay the hiring of the venue. Cheap tickets for the gig, not
:26:19. > :26:19.
:26:19. > :26:24.surprisingly, have sold out. And to remind you of our top story: America
:26:24. > :26:31.is demanding the immediate withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters
:26:31. > :26:36.from Syria calling their involvement dangerous and unacceptable. Syria's
:26:36. > :26:40.President, President Assad, has said his country has received a deliver
:26:40. > :26:44.delivery of advanced air defence missiles from Russia. In an