13/06/2013 BBC World News

I'm Nick Gowing. The top stories: The number of people known to have

died in the Syrian conflict has increased by 50% to nearly 93,000.

Turkey's Prime Minister, issue as last warning for thousands of

protesters, he calls them trouble makers, he is telling them to leave

Istanbul's Gezi Park. And Edward Snowden, it is known he

has hacked governments in the US and Hong Kong for years.

And housing garment factories in Bangladesh. New inspectors reveal

that six out of ten factories are Hello. More than two years after the

start of the conflict in Syria, the United Nations says that the

suffering and killing has increased dramatically. The Human Rights

Commissioner says that at least 93,000 people are known to have been

killed in Syria since the early 2011. She says that the true figure

of 93,000 could be much higher. On average 5,000 deaths are documented

every month, but the UN believes that many deaths are not recorded in

this butal war. The BBC's reporter is in Geneva. She gave me the new

details coming from the UN. The UN is stressing that this is

basically, sadly, probably the lowest figure. They have looked

very, very carefully. All deaths have had to have been reported with

time, name, location and verified. We have seen what is going on in

Syria. There are likely to be many more than that. In fact, in this

report in front of me, almost 38,000 deaths, the UN statisticians have

some record of but not strong enough to include it in that report. So

those 38,000 have been excluded. That, of course, would take the

figure well over 100,000, up to 120,000. So a clear sign that this

conflict is getting worse and worse. Children too, they are documented in

this report at over 6,000 and no sign of attending.

Imogen is there a further breakdown of the circumstances as to how

people are dying, in other words a clarity on the way in which so many

people are now dying in this conflict? What this report can say

is where the most number of deaths have been recorded.

It is rural Damascus, Homs, as we might expect, Aleppo and Idlib and

to a certain extent, Deraa it looks as though 80 % of those killed are

male. What the UN has not been able to as taken, and this is

understandable given the many different groups fighting in the

opposition is whether those killed are combatants or noncombatants.

They have been able to ascertain some age statistic, over 1700

children under the age of ten are documented to have been killed.

6,500 classed as minors, that is under the age of 18.

Now to Turkey, where the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has

just issued what he says is a final warning to demonstrators. They have

been occupying a park in Istanbul for two weeks. He says he is

describing the pro tersers at looters and trouble makers, that his

patience is at an end. We have a reporter, I asked him

about the Prime Minister's stance. He is defiant. Recep Tayyip Erdogan

is known to be a blunt person any how. He is speaking to his party

supporters. He is saying, labelling the people at the park, looters,

occupiers, he says now if the European Parliament were to pass a

decision or take a decision either warning Turkey or condemning Turkey

for the use of force, that he would not recognise it.

Does he have the support of his party and Cabinet? Oh, yes.

The party has always supported him no matter what. That has not

changed. When the speeches were made where he is at now, before him

several others went to that stage and spoke with the same words, the

same phrases so, clearly the party is fully behind him or at least

giving a unified message and outlook.

Where does this leave the Prime Minister, although we are talking

about the pack and Taksim Square, this has been rumbling on over a

mosque and other things he was personally determined to do in

Istanbul? It leaves the Prime Minister in a stage where it is

black or white. He has said with the public opinion poll, he is calling

it not a referendum, that either the people can take it or put up with

the methods that they are going to be using. So the Prime Minister is

clearly, although the public opinion poll may look like a compromise, he

is defiant with pressing ahead with his plans.

Why is he making such a political stance on this kind of issue? There

does seem to be a generational split between him and Ankara with the AK

Party and the new generation there on the streets of Istanbul? He does

not want to compromise. But he must embrace the younger

generation? That is what they have been asking for. They are saying the

same thing. He is saying that he is embracing this by taking other

steps, bringing down the age to vote in anmph. Or serving them by -- vote

in an MP, or serving them elsewhere, so compromising in the sense that he

is offering plan Bs, but we are talking about a person who has

always been determined and does not want to look weak, I think.

Transport workers, hospital staff and other public sector workers are

staging a 24 hour strike in Greece. Protesting again the closure of the

state broadcaster. The Greek Government pulled the plug on ERT

who two days ago, in the middle of a live broadcast. It was said that

this is a waste that the country can no longer afford.

What often makes Greek folk songs so moving is that at the are full of

lament. There was lots among the thousands of Greek journalists and

the supporters of the now defunct 75-year-old broadcaster ETV.

TRANSLATION: We cannot be here. It is our duty to be here.

What is happening here? Something happened we cannot comprehend.

Inside the reporters and crew are doing their best to stay on the air

via digital channels and the internet, with an obvious lead story

to report. TRANSLATION: We are keeping it open

to the public who, supported us, who paid our salaries. We will try to

keep the signal open. They are watched as Antonis Samaras

described their channel as lacking transparency and full of waste. A

target for a government desperate to cut in return for more bail out

money. More than 2,500 jobs are to go but the shock decision is now

threatening his own. Antonis Samaras's coalition partners are

refusing to back the closure it could pull the plug on the

government itself, forcing fresh elections.

TRANSLATION: The Government's future require as common understanding

between the three parties that make and support it. I am inviting the

Prime Minister to hold a three-party meeting between the coalition

party's leaders, in order to find a common policy platform.

Adding to the renewed sense of crisis, Greece is on strike once

again. The country's two biggest unions

called a snap 24-hour stop agenda in solidarity. They plan more protests

later on Thursday. Of a fwan officials say that a rogue

policeman has shot dead six colleagues. The men's bodies

discovered at checkpoint in Sangin in Helmand province. It is the

second such attack in a week. Two months after the collapse of a

clothing factory in Bangladesh, building inspections revealed that

six out of every ten factories there are unsafe. 1200 workers were killed

when pillars supporting the Rana Plaza factories building gave way.

We have this report from Dhaka. It shows that many factories declared

unsafe have carried regardless. This woman grips my hand tightly as

she recalls the horrors of her story. The 18-year-old survived 17

days under the collapsed Rania laza 72 hours into the rescue effort, the

military wanted to call off the search, but thousands of angry

Bangladeshi garment workers forced the army to continue the operation.

This little girl has the people to thank for her survival.

The labourers, the market people, the vegetable shopkeeper, those who

were on the streets, they all came running. Thousands to rescue those

who were trying to escape the debris.

One of those volunteers was 28-year-old Dida Hussein, he worked

across the road and at the site from the moment it fell. He rescued 34

people it was a harrowing task. To get some out alive he had to

amputate their limbs. 1,000 people were kill, has led to

some calls to action in Bangladesh. The building's owners and 12 others

have been arrest #ed and there has been a sudden spate of inspectors,

that found that 06 garment factories are unsafe.

A I am about to go into a factory that the unions are concerned about.

Concerned about the working conditions and the safety. On top of

that, this yellow sign says that everyone should be evacuated as the

building has cracks in it and pose as risk to workers and anyone else

entering. Inside, I find hundreds of garment

workers. I am confronted by the factory boss who rents the space

here. I asked him why the building's owner allows him to operate if it is

sun safe. The building is not a problem, but

due to their safety, the owner of the building, is worried about the

site. That is why they give the warning just to release the risk off

their shoulder. But he says that he plans on moving

the work ers in six months. International pressure on the

Bangladesh garment industry is mounting. Last month some Western

buyers signed a safety agreement to ensure that their factories are not

linked to the disaster at Rana Plaza.

But there is no certainty that the fate of millions of garment workers

in Bangladesh will change. Still to come: A British mother has

been killed in Siberia, whether hit by another car while competing in

the Peking to Paris Rally. With Iran about to vote on Friday for a new

President, how is the election viewed by Iranians living abroad in

go, this is probably the biggest in the world. The Indian government is

considering a plan to spend $23 billion a year. That would provide

low-cost food to two out of three people living in India. Critics say

it is a waste of public money. We have more from India.

It is an ambitious plan to feed India's poor.

Nearly 800 million people to be provide provided rice and grain at a

fraction of the market value in what is possibly the world's biggest

social welfare programme. India grows lots of food. In fact it

often has a food surplus. , but by the time it gets to the market it is

often too expensive for most people. So the idea is to redies bute the

food, making it available to those who need it the most.

India's home to a third of the world's poor. More than 40% of its

children are malnourished. Poverty levels are worse than

sub-Saharan Africa in some areas, but providing cheap food is going to

cost India more than 23 a year. Money that some believe will be

wasted. Especially as existing food distribution systems have failed.

There are a lot of incentives for massive amounts of corruption

because they are people who profit massively were this, it includes the

politician, the political political parties, the middle men. They are

all profiting very handsomely. That is why the existing system is.

That is what the new system will do. It is not just corruption that is

the problem. Driving into the countryside and

this is what you see... Stacks of grain lying out in the open, often

rotting in the heat. Had years of bumper harvests but lacks the

capacity to store it. So even if the plan to feed the country's hungry is

well-meant. Implementing it may not be easy. The 275 workers at a tomato

packing plant were forced to work long hours in overcrowded

facilities. They said they were beaten if they tried to escape. They

were rescued when one managed to You are with BBC World News. Latest

figures from the UN estimate nearly 93,000 people have now been killed

in Syria. A 50% increase since January, probably though, they say,

an underestimate. Turkey's Prime Minister vows to clear Taksim Square

of what he calls troublemakers. That is after two weeks of protests

against his Government's policies. Three people, including a British

woman have died in a crash during a vintage car race in Siberia. The

crash was during the Peking to rally. This is an epic carolly. They

have to make their way from Peking to Paris. Following the route of the

1907 rally. They entered Russia on Sunday and were making their way

through Siberia, when tragically one of the cars, a truck, being driven

by Emma Wilkinson, an English woman and her partner, was in a head-on

collision with a Volkswagen Polo, being driven by a Russian family.

The father and the child were killed. Emma Wilkinson was killed in

the collision and her brothers, who were also taking part in a 1926

bently in the race, have stayed on to help her partner with what is

obviously an incredibly tragic event, on what was supposed to be a

great adventure from Peking all the way to Paris.

Let's go to ir-Iran now, where voters about to pick a successor to

the long-serving President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. How is the contest

being seen beyond Iran's borders by Iranians? Well the Persian business

reporter has visited one of the biggest ir-Iranian communities

outside Iran. It is here in London. Little Iran in London's West

Kensington. Some of these stores have been around for almost 30

years. A well-established community that keeps its ties with the

homeland. Businessman Ali travels to Iran frequently and has witnessed a

decline of its economy in recent years.

Iran's economy is in at thors because of the fall of the currency

and the political isolation from the rest of the world. When I returned

there last month, I found the cost of my taxi ride had doubled since

last year. It is not just taxi fares or - all

the basic staples have been hit with huge price hikes. The official

inflation rate is more than 30%. It is estimated the Iranian economy

will carry on shrinking this year. The Government is removing subsidies

for food and energy, giving people cash handouts instead. This adds

fuel to inflation. Furthermore, the country's oil exports have dropped

to its lowest level in 25 years - a result of international sanctions.

The next President has little room to manoeuvre. The outlook for the

economy remains grim. We expect the economy to contract again and remain

smaller in real terms for the next five years than it had been in 2011.

The Iranian economy will be pinched because of these sanctions. The US

and the UN have blacklisted Iranian banks. Now there are fresh

sanctions. The value of the Iranian currency is going down dramatically.

One year ago, 15,000 would buy $1. Now, you need twice as many to buy

that same dollar and the value of the Iranian currency is going only

one direction - down. Life for Iranian students in London is

becoming difficult: Marry yap had to drop -- Marion had to drop plans for

further studies because her family cannot afford it. They would forget

about some of the things they would buy in the past and they stick to

their basic needs. I think, at the moment, people are surviving. They

are not living their lives. people like Ali, business is good

here, but they fear it will only get tougher for their friends and

families back in Iran. The Iranian Presidential election is

on Friday. The David Warne rerks has been suspended. He attacked

England's Joe Root. Let's get the latest from our correspondent in

Salford. Hello. A very costly punch indeed - $11,000 he has been fined.

David Warner was hooked one a telephone conference to Australia.

About an hour ago we found out the verdict of that. That puts him out

until four weeks' time, the start of the Ashes series. Apart from the

reputation, it will take him away from match practise. He will be out

for the rest of the champion's trophy campaign for Australia which

is going on in England right now. It comes on top of the $6,000 fine he

received, not long ago, for a bad twitter outburst to two Australian

journalists who used his image to illustrate a story about spot fixing

in the Indian Premier League. Thank you very much indeedor that update.

Now, the traditional pub, it is known around the world. Increasingly

the future is in doubt. Each week sees the closure of 26 pubs on

average around the UK. One reason pubs are finding it hard to make a

profit is the system of tide houses - those are contracts which mean

pubs must buy their beer from a particular brewery.

It is a tie that binds. Pub tenants to pub companies. Is the concept of

the tied pub saving or damaging the industry? Half of the 50,000 pubs

are run using this model. Here is how it work t. The. The landlord

gets a degree of security and pays a lower rent than if they were

independent. They also have to buy their beer from the pub company

rather than the open market, which tip tally means paying a higher

price. Often the model works well, but for Simon Clark it doesn't.

have to buy our beer from the people we rent the pub from. That in itself

would not sound so bad, but the price of the beer and compared,

along with the price of the rent itself is just pricing us out of the

market. We are getting no profit, despite the level of our turnover.

Simon runs the Eagle ale house in South-West London. It is owned by

Enterprise Inns. You knew what you were entering into, didn't you?

did in that sense. The idea of ordering from them is not an issue,

it's the price. According to Simon, a nine gallon barrel of this costs

�106. A similar side non-tied pub, nearby, told the BBC they pay around

�79. Simon insists the rent is not low enough to off set his higher

beer prices. Every year that goes by, our earning

diminishings. Enterprise Inns said Disputes like this are relatively

rare. The Government has intervened. According to the British Beer & Pub

Association fewer than 078.1% of the tied -- 0.1% of the tied pubs in the

UK complained about thart relationships. Do you need to get

involved? The feeling which is very, very strong amongst publicans who

have a tied relationship is they are dealing with very powerful

organisations. When they get into a dispute, they get hammered. This is

the concern. It has been expressed over many years through Parliament

and elsewhere and the Government has been asked to do something about it.

The ale house in Taunton is a tied house. But the manager and company

see a benefit. If there is a leaky roof. I am on the phone. Within 24

hours they will come out and sort it out. That background of safety is

important. I don't mind paying more for that. We want them to sell beer.

We invest behind them to grow their sales. If they grow their sales, we

grow our profitability as well. is a heated debate. A tension is now

on the Government to see how they decide to intervene.

Finally, two maintenance workers were left dangling near the top of a

New York City skyscraper, that is after the scaffolding collapse. The

men were trapped outside the 44th floor of the Hearst building in

Manhattan. The men on either side of the scaffold communicated with

firefighters for about an hour-and-a-half before they were

rescued. Workers cut windows open on the 44th floor and pulled them to

safety. The Duchess of cham beige is -- came bridge is due to appear at

an event. She is naming a new cruise liner at a gala ceremony in

Southampton, the south coast of England. It includes the traditional