17/06/2013 BBC World News

World leaders gather in Northern Ireland for a G8 summit likely to be

dominated by divisions between Russia and the west over Syria.

Speak Speaking in Belfast, President Obama the the First Lady told an

audience of young people their peace efforts set an example to those

elsewhere. You are their blueprint to follow.

You are their proof of what is possible because hope is con

contagious. They are watching to see what you do next.

I have never felt more opt mystic. -- optimistic, I have seen young

people like all of you choosing to work together.

Security is tight in Istanbul as unions stage a nationwide strike.

And Queen Elizabeth's husband, Welcome.

President Obama has spoken about the urgent need for peace as he arrived

in Belfast for the G8 summit. The two day meeting in Northern Ireland

involves the leaders of eight of the world's richest and most powerful

nations. President Obama travelled with his family to Belfast and

addressed a youth conference ahead of the summit telling the audience

that Northern Ireland is a blueprint for conflict resolution around the

world. First, the First Lady spoke ahead of the explain to how

important young people are for building a peaceful future.

That's how we learned what leadership really means. It is about

stepping outside of your comfort zone to explore new ideas. It is

about rising above old divisions. It is about treating people the way you

want to be treated in return. And as young people, you all are in a very

powerful position to make some of those same choices yourselves. You

have the freedom of an open mind. There are still people who haven't

reaped the rewards of peace. There are those who aren't convinced that

the effort is worth it. There are still wounds that haven't heeled and

communities where tensions and mistrust hangs in the air. There are

walls that still stand. There are still many miles to go. From the

start, no one was naive to believe that peace would be anything but a

long journey. Yates once wrote "peace comes dropping slow." That

doesn't mean our efforts to forge a real and lasting peace should come

dropping slop. This work is as urgent now as it has ever been

because there is more to lose now than there has ever been.

President Obama in Belfast. More on that later.

Now, two big trade unions in Turkey are staging a strike today. It is in

protest against what they say was excessive force used by police

during an operation to clear anti-Government demonstrations.

Well, despite the crackdown, protesters are refusing to give up

their calls. There was more trouble between them and the police on

Sunday night. I spoke to our correspondent James Reynolds who is

in Istanbul on how he expected events to unfold today. The mornings

in this conflict tend to be quiet in this period of unrest. Over the last

two weeks almost nothing has happened in the morning while both

the demonstrators and the police recover and catch their breath. I

think we will only know the status of the unrest later on in the day

when two things will happen. Number one trade unions will carry out a

march from two different areas of Istanbul. They say their aim is to

march. We will find out later on, in the evening, and at night just what

kind of protests residents of Istanbul carry out. Last night were

some of the most dramatic yet. How rattled is the Government by

this? Not rattled at all as far as we can tell and we know that because

of the size of the pro-Prime Minister rally which was held ear in

Istanbul on Sunday. I was at that rally on Sunday with my colleagues.

There were tens of thousands of people there. Some of them came up

to us and said some of them were with the Prime Minister until the

end. The Prime Minister believes he still has the 50% of the country

which voted for him in 2011 with him and with that he feels he can do as

he pleases. Torrential rains and monsoon

flooding killed 23 people in Northern India. Another 50 people

are missing according to Government officials. Three people died when

floods washed away this apartment building.

More than 10,000 pilgrims were stranded on a mountain path leading

to a Hindu religious site. They had to be airlifted to safety by

helicopter. The wife of Nelson Mandela expressed

her gratitude to well Wishers around the world for the love and support

they have been sending him. She says it has brought comfort and hope and

it has been a source of strength during Mr Mandela's illness. He has

been in hospital for the past ten days with a recurring lung

infection. While his condition is improving, it is serious.

To Greece and the three clks party leaders are meeting to sort out

their differences over the closure of the national broadcast

broadcaster, ERT. The Prime Minister is defending the decision. But his

coalition partners are against it. They promised to withdraw from the

Government which would mean fresh elections. Employees have been

occupying the broadcaster's offices. Our correspondent is there.

This station was closed down within a day. That infauriated the two

coalition partners. A lot of the country. The latest opinion polls

say that around about 65% of Greeks are against the way in which this

was done. This is a country in which institutal reform is notoriously

slow and yet the public broadcaster, the State broadcaster, was closed

within a day. Today, it mara year since the Prime Minister was elected

and yet, it is not a happy birthday. He is facing the worst political

crisis of his premiership as he faces the rifts with his coalition

partners. Later on, they will meet to bridge the divisions. The

national broadcaster still occupied by staff and we are waiting to hear

the result of an appeal which the admin administrative court will rule

on as to whether this was legal or illegal. If it rules against the

Government, the Prime Minister will have to row back. We could face the

Government collapsing here and the slide into fresh elections.

A political Scotlandal involving spying and bribery is gripping the

Czech Republic. It has engulfed the Prime Minister who is resigning

after his closest aide was charged with corruption and abuse of power.

She is accused of asking the secret services to spy on three people

including the Prime Minister's wife who is divorcing.

As political scandals go, this one has it all. Bribery, corruption, and

rumours of a love triangle. Little surprise then that it caused the

Czech Prime Minister to resign and brought down his Government.

Ministers arrived at their offices to hear their leader step down after

the turbulent few days in Czech politics.

TRANSLATION: I was following the development of the political

situation which started here last Wednesday and I know well what

consequences this has for me. Tomorrow, I will step down from the

role Prime Minister. I would like to stress that I know about my

political responsibility and I am facing the consequences.

His resignation came after his closest aide was arrested for

bribery and illegally using military intelligence to spy on three

individuals. One of the targets was the Prime Minister's wife who he is

divorcing. The aide is a woman he is accuse. Accused of being roe

mantically linked with. She is in custody. The Prime Minister claimed

he knew nothing about the surveillance and his aide denies

many of the charges against her. But it won't stop the Prime Minister

handing in his resignation to the president later on Monday.

Now, of course, the G8 summit is unfolding in Northern Ireland and of

course, the most difficult subject to be discussed is the crisis in

Syria. That is expected to dominate the thoughts of the world's leaders

and Israel will be keeping a close watch on developments. I am joined

from Israel by the Israeli minister responsible for international

relations. Of thank you for joining us today. Do you want... Good

morning. Do you want the US to arm the

rebels? If so, with what and to who should they give the arms? Well, we

have a clear position with regard to the Civil War in Syria. With don't

want to get involved by any means whatsoever. It is a terrible

tragedy. The world should do something in order to stop the

terrible massacre of Syrian civilians, by the Syrian regime, but

Israel has de decided not to interfere and therefore, I leave it

to the G8 or to the United States and Europe to decide what kind of

involvement if any, they would like to have in this terrible, terrible

tragedy. You say you are not involved, but there have been

reports of a number of strikes by Israel. Principally concerned, we

understand, about Hezbollah and arms shipments can you confirm that?

I cannot confirm. The held the report like you. I can only say one

thing - we said we don't want to get involved in the Civil War. After

all, Israel is in a very special position. Its a war between Arabs

and Arabs, between Sunni Arabs and Shi'ite and between Iran and Syria

and the people of Syria, but we will do our up most to prevent the

delivering of arms to terrorist groups including Hezbollah.

Can I just check? Are you aware of the strikes or is that something you

are not wanting to talk about? said I am unable to confirm or

disconfirm any report about this issue. I will be very clear about

one thing - we don't want to get involved in this civil war by any

means. We didn't get involved. But we think we should prethe vent this

-- prevent the delivery of sophisticated missiles or other

kinds of arms to terrorist organisations.

But you are involved in that case, aren't you, because Hezbollah have

been brought into this civil war now. What is it that Israel fears

now? This increasing use of the Islamist forces that are coming in

or the ongoing presence of Assad who is still there despite predictions

that he would have gone by now? Look, you know, you should that I

have to make, to prefer one extreme, fanatic regime over the other...

isn't that your choice? Isn't that the only choice that Israel faces?

What other option is there? since we decided not to get

involved, we don't have to make any choice whom to support. We support

nobody of the fighting sides. Still, I think, that we have to pay

attention that it is not just the Syrian, the Assad Syrian regime, it

is the Iran, and Hezbollah that are involved and it is towards that

there is fighting between the regime and the opposition, but in order to

suppress opposition they are launching include including scud

missiles against their own cities and towns, killing thousands and

many thousands of civilians without making any effort to minimise

collateral damage. It is a terrible tragedy. It is terrible to see that

the world so far did nothing to stop You mentioned Iran there. There is a

new president. What is your view of him? And whether he will change

anything in Iran and of course, its nuclear policy?

First, I think that I must say that I was deeply impressed by the

Iranian people. The Iranian people that suffer from brutal suppression

did what they could do in those difficult conditions, they voted for

the less fanatic candidate and they actually gave a clear expression for

them to have more democracy and more freedom and to put an end to the

nuclear military project that caused damage with the tough sanctions.

Just to go back to events on the ground in Syria. You say you are not

involved. Nobody believes that Israel is not talking to the US.

Given what the Obama administration has now said about arming the

rebels, what does the Israeli Government think the Americans

protest of the people against the ageem in both elections, but still

we have to bear in mind that in Iran the men in charge of foreign re

relations, national security issues, including the nuclear project is not

the Prime Minister, it is the Supreme Leader and so far he didn't

change his attitude and therefore, it's very important that the

pressure will proceed, until we shall see some changes.

Given... In their approach.The nuclear threat remains as far as

Israel is concerned, but on this link between Iran and Syria, what

now do you think the US should do? The Israeli Government must have a

position on this. What is your position? We don't have a public

position. We think that... . Tell us what of your private position is.

said to you, I think that this terrible civil war should have been

stopped long ago. I think that the world should warn Iran not to get

involved in Syria, not to support al-Assad. You know, maybe it's the

time to increase pressure on Iran to stop its involvement in Syria and to

let the Syrian people... How worried is Israel about the US actively arm

r arming the rebels? I think it is legitimate to arm the rebels.

Netanyahu said you have to be very careful to see which rebel groups

you are arming and by which kind of weapons. We think is legitimate. We

understand the rationality of it. We don't want to get involved. It is up

to the Western world - the United States, Britain, Europe what to do.

I completely agree with your tone. It is terrible, from a moral point

of view, to see this tragedy is going on for two years. The regime

is killing its own civilians. Mainly civilians and the world so far has

done nothing to stop it. Many thanks indeed for joining us live in

Jerusalem. We appreciate your time. You are most welcome. Stay with us

here on BBC World News. Still to come: Derailed by the economic

crisis, how a Spanish town's trams are heading to Australia to help get

Now, the world's largest plane makers, Bowing and Airbus rarely

miss -- Bowing and Airbus rarely miss a chance. There have been

delays and technical snags. Today they resumed their dogfight north of

Paris this morning. Ris this morning.

Welcome to the biggest ever Paris Air Show, if not for exhibiter,

orders for the makers, Airbus says it should be good for 200-plus new

jet liner orders. Boeing is is more circumspect. With the Dreamliner, it

does her rolled the -- herald the start of leaner twin-aisled planes,

allowing the industry to deliver low-cost, long-haul travel. This

Nordic airline hopes to succeed, running budget flights from Europe

to Asia. He has a record 273 Boeings and Airbuses on order. You cannot

afford to fly all their planes. It will be the Dreamliner and the

Airbus 350 which will be a game changer in this market. When we gave

the calculation, we couldn't get the numbers to add up with the old

aeroplanes. We needed new ones. over 600 Airbus and 900 Dreamliners

already on order, clearly some carriers will have to wait several

years for their orders. When it comes to the smaller, narrow bodies,

well there is more choice, with even Boeing admitting that within the

next 20 years, China could become the world's third largest plane

maker. The heavy metal band Black Sabbath

have set a record between the longest gap between number one

albums - 43 years. The band from the Midlands has broken Bob Dylan's

record of 38 years. Ozzy Osborne puts the group's success down to the

fact they are not a manufactured band and says they know their craft.

More, of course, on our website. This is BBC World News.

The main news today is the G 8 summit that is going on and Syria is

likely to be the main focus of that. Now, there is less than a year to go

until the football World Cup in Brazil. Not everybody there is

looking forward to it. Riot police have used tear gas to disperse a

protest against the cost of the tournament. The trouble was outside

a confederations a cup match, an' vent supposed to show -- an event

supposed to show they are ready for the tournament. Hours before the

match, thousands of fans streamed peacefully into the stadium.

Brazilians alongside Mexicans and Italians, all boosting the colours

of their countries. But a few blocks away, other flags

were raised and the crowd was not cheerful. Hundreds of demonstrators

protested against the billions of dollars spent on the World Cup and

the lack of investment in public works. Banner ins compare the cost

of the World Cup and the Olympics with the Olympic wage. They asked

passer-byes to excuse the hassle. The protestors said they were trying

to change the country. They are protesting for the passage, not only

because we are tired of the corruption in our country.

The group wanted to get close tore the stadium, but there were several

barriers. They chanted, "No violence." Police reacted. It was

clear trouble was coming and people began to flee.le riot police used --

flee. Riot police used tear gas and pursued protestors away from the

stadium. Some officers seemed determine to dampen the crowd's

enthusiasm. Many became sick from the tear gas. Some fans on the way

to the match were caught up in the confusion.

TRANSLATION: I just arrived, trying to get to the game and then I saw I

was in the middle of a protest. Confrontations continued even during

the match P as the game was almost over, a small group of protestors

managed to reach the main entrance. The crowd eventually dispersed and

no tear gas was used. Brazilians don't usually take to the streets to

voice their concerns, but today's action here at the stadium follows

protests in several other cities that also ended in clashes with the

police. Demonstrations are planned for the next few days, both here in

Rio and across the country. Now, six years ago, the Spanish costal town

of Velez Malaga built a new tramway. It cost 38 million euros. Then came

the global crisis and the town could no longer afford to run the service.

The mayor is renting it to Sydney in Australia.

It was once the pride here - a symbol of prosperity. Now the

region's first ever tramway has been put out to grass. After a year of

going nowhere, the tram cars will soon be heading for Australia. The

running costs derailed this town's budget, so it is being dismantled

piece by piece to seek its fortune on the other piece of the world. On

a sun any day like today, until last year, there would have been scores

of people waiting here for the tram to take them to the beach. Now you

can see it is an extension of the local car park. The tram cars

themselves will go to Australia, but of course the rails, the tram tracks

will stay here. An ugly scar of the recession. The little town of have

less Malaga is hosted by gosts of better times -- ghosts of better

times. Construction sites we a abandoned. The tramway, said the

mayor, belonged to a different economic era.

TRANSLATION: It was a very difficult decision to take. We had our tram

for six years. Now the economic climate has changed, we have to

tackle our problems head-on and reduce our deficit. With no-one here

spending any money, long established local businesses like this furniture

store are folding. It feels very sad because you know people, and you

know this family and you can say to them the truth - it's impossible to

work because there's no business now. We have to change. We have to

change the style of life that we had before. They may have lost their

tram, but they haven't lost hope. The cars haven't been sold to

Australia, they have only been leased. The mayor has promised if

finances ever get back on track, so will the tram.

The Duke of Edinburgh has left hospital here in London, 11 days

after being admitted for exploratory surgery. The Duke is 92-year-olds,

said goodbye to staff, before walking briskly to a waiting car.