09/07/2013 BBC World News

BBC World News, our top stories: -- Geeta Guru-Murthy. A massive car

bomb explodes on a busy street in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. More

street protests in Egypt, the interim president announces new

elections as he attempts to calm the escalating crisis. How did Osama Bin

Laden live undetected in Pakistan for nine years? A league report

blames the country's military and civilian leaders.

And counting the cost of coal, how pollution in northern China is

cutting life expectancy for millions Hello and welcome. At least 15

people have been wounded in a huge explosion in the Lebanese capital,

Beirut. Reports say the blast was caused by a car bomb in a southern

area of the city which is known as a stronghold of the militant Shi'ite

group Hezbollah. Details are still coming in, but it is thought to be

the largest explosion in Beirut also from years amid growing tension in

Lebanon since Hezbollah fighters intervened in neighbouring Syria to

help prop up President Assad's regime. Well, of course, this was a

very secure area of town, and therefore it is quite a coup for

whoever has managed to infiltrate it, to get into this area, and quite

an alarming development if it is linked to Syria, but we have no

confirmation yet at all as to who is behind us. Our correspondent on the

ground is there, we hope to speak to them in the next few minutes.

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood have rejected a timetable for new

elections laid out by the interim president. They say the plan is not

legitimate and takes Egypt back to square one. Adly Mansour's plan

would mean reforming the current controversial constitution before

new elections are held early next year. The second biggest party,

Al-Nour, has signalled it might be willing to accept B-- accept the

roadmap. Rana Jawad is in Cairo, I asked her about the plan for new

elections. The outline includes 15 days until a panel is formed where

they will put together a new, or rather they will suggest amendments

for a new constitutional declaration, and then they are

hoping to put that to a referendum, and then maybe in six months' time,

as they put it, they will be holding parliamentary elections. You know,

some members of the Muslim Brotherhood party have rejected

this, and they have denounced it, essentially, and supporters of the

ousted president Mohamed Morsi are still calling for his reinstatement.

We know they are camped out, continua sit ins at the mosque, and

we are expecting funeral is to be held later today for some of those

who were killed yesterday, more than 50 people died in the shooting

yesterday, and we have also heard from the opposition camp on a

Twitter feed, but we are still trying to verify that further. They

say the opposition group rallied millions of supporters, backing the

army's actions. They are reportedly saying on their Twitter feed that

they reject the new constitutional declaration, and they are warning of

a revolution, and that an alliance has been formed between the military

and the presidency and Salafist groups. It will be interesting to

find out more about this statement and really looked into this kind of

shift in decisions by the opposition itself. The BBC's Rana Jawad there

in Cairo. The world's most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, was able to

live undetected in Pakistan for nearly a decade because of

widespread incompetence according to an independent inquiry set up by the

Pakistani government shortly after he was finally caught and killed by

US special forces. The inquiry was asked to consider whether there had

been active collusion with Al-Qaeda. It concluded instead that

the problem was massive incompetence, described as

government implosion syndrome. Richard Galpin is in Islamabad with

more details. There is some really scathing

criticism of all the Pakistani authorities, the civilian

government, the military intelligence services, the police,

including them of gross incompetence and culpable negligence as well. So

very strong words. And this, of course, was a much anticipated

report. People here had been demanding explanations, as you were

so, how come Osama Bin Laden was able to stay in Pakistan for nine

years undetected? Were elements of the military or the intelligence

services actually sheltering him? And of course the other key question

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 98 seconds

report, how long has it been out? Why has it been leaked? How critical

is it of the government and intelligence services? Well, you

know, the key thing is that it has not been published, the government

has sat on this for six months. They were handed the report in January

this year. They have sat on it, and against all expectation they have

not published it. It was leaked initially to the Al Jazeera

network, which put the whole thing up on its website. So, you know,

this is certainly what people here had been demanding, it has happened,

but it is, as I was saying, very critical, but it has not and said

some of the key questions I was spelling out earlier. It has not

reached definitive conclusions as to whether the intelligence services

here or the military or other elements in the government actually

were sheltering Osama Bin Laden. There are a lot of suspicions in the

report about that, but no firm evidence or conclusions reached.

Likewise, no firm conclusions reached on whether elements of the

security services, security forces in Abbottabad had been recruited by

the CIA to help with the US operation on the compound two years

ago, which of course many people suspect. Again, there are suspicions

over one particular Pakistani colonel, who fled the country

shortly after the raid, but no absolute conclusion on that.

Richard Galpin in Islamabad. In China, the lives of millions of

people have been shortened by government attempts to help them

keep their homes, according to a study published today. It says

people in the north of the country who were given free coal for several

decades are dying five years earlier on average because of air

pollution. Our correspondent in Beijing, Martin Patience, explained

the findings. This all happened a long while ago,

we are talking about 1950 - 1980, but what the researchers have done

is tracked pollution rates in China, in the north and south of the

country from 1990 up to 2000, and also mortality rates, and that is

why they have been able to make this comparison. And according to that

study, the impact of pollution on life expectancy, particularly in the

north, is enormous. It says that if you live in the north of the

country, then it is likely, on average, you will die about five

years younger than somebody dying in the south of the country. Oh I think

what this report once again highlights is the deadly impact that

pollution is having across wide stretches of China. And they are

clear, are they, that it is only pollution that is to blame? Even in

the UK there are different life expectancy is in different parts of

a ballot of the small country. no, they say it is because of the

issue of free coal in the north of the country, where coal consumption

was far higher compared with the south of the country, which enables

them to make this comparison. They say that was the one main difference

between the two areas, and what this report stresses is that pollution in

the north of the country was higher, and it stresses that that

pushed up the rate of diseases such as heart disease or lung cancer,

which has been linked to a pollution. So certainly, from the

report's author's point of view, they are stressing there is quite a

clear link between air pollution and a shortening of life expectancy in

China. Martin Patience there. In Italy, the trial has begun of the

captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia. Francesco Schettino

is facing multiple counts of manslaughter over the deaths of 32

people when his ship hit a rock and capsized in shallow water, but the

court hearing was adjourned almost immediately because of a strike by

Italian lawyers. We can speak to Alan Johnston.

She is still there, stricken on the rocks where she sank, the wreck of

the Costa Concordia is now the scene of a huge salvage effort, one of the

biggest in history. There is a plan to raise and refloat her, then tow

her away to be scrapped. The drama on the night she capsized, in the

dark, in the cold, terrified passengers desperately trying to

reach the safety of the lifeboats. More than 30 died. The man at the

centre of the disaster, captain Francesco Schettino, is now one

trial. He claims he saved many lives by managing to sail his sinking ship

into shallow water, but he faces multiple manslaughter charges, and

he is also accused of abandoning ship at the height of the emergency.

For the people of the island, the wreck is a constant reminder of the

disaster and the lives lost. Eventually, this salvage operation

will end, and the wreck will be taken away. Eventually, the trial of

the captain will end, and justice will be done. And then, at last,

very slowly, memories of the disaster and all that happened here

will begin to fade. Alan Johnston reporting for us on

the Costa Concordia. Stay with us on BBC World News,

still to come: Coming to terms with the Korean conflict, how art is

helping people remember what has Now, details have been released of

the injury suffered by passengers on the Asiana airlines plane that

crashed in San Francisco airport on Saturday. Spinal injuries and torn

ligaments were among the most common. Investigators say the plane

was flying below its target speed on approach and that the pilots tried

to abort the landing just seconds before it crashed. Two passengers

were killed and dozens injured. The final moments of Flight to one

forecourt by amateur cameraman across the San Francisco Bay. --

Flight 214. Oh, my God! Oh, my God! This was where it ended up, a

smoking wreck, were still burning inside. There was no warning for the

passengers. They jumped one mod was left of the plane using emergency

slides, desperate to get away. The impact was so powerful. The

captain was screaming, you know, emergency evacuation.

schoolgirls were killed. They were Chinese students coming to

California to practice their English over the summer. One of the girls

may have been killed by an emergency vehicle on the runway. Flying into

San Francisco to slowly, the flight came in too low and hit the edge of

the runway. Its tail was ripped off along with its landing gear. The

body of the plane skidded almost 2000 feet before it came to rest and

burst into flames. The crash investigators have gone through

voice and data recorders recovered from the scene. We have no evidence

of any distress calls for any problem reports with respect to the

aircraft prior to the accident. pilot had little experience in the

777 and have not landed this kind of aeroplane at this airport before.

Just seven seconds before the crash, an alarm went off. The pilot tried

to pull up just moments before This is BBC World News, I am Geeta

Guru-Murthy, the latest headline: A car bomb has rocked the southern

suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, a stronghold of the militant

Are correspondent it is close to the site of the explosions. What

has happened? Behind me, this is the scene of the explosion. Perhaps

you can see behind the cars and the crowds of people, is the car park,

the open space where the car bomb exploded. They car was parked

outside a civic centre, a supermarket or a co-operative for

the residents. The southern suburb is a residential area. There is

nothing around us thought homes and shops. Details are sketchy, but in

terms of final figures, there are about 17 to 18 injuries. Nobody

died in this explosions. It is too soon to tell who is behind this,

Hezbollah said they won't be quick to condemn him is to blame. And

they are taking their time to find out who is behind us. But it is

difficult to imagine this is not related to the fighting that is

going on in Syria. We do know this Syrian opposition have been

fighting Hezbollah because they have been fighting alongside the

Assad regime. Have they said we will attack and take revenge, even

though this has not been confirmed. We do not know he is behind this

explosions. If it turns out it is related to the Syrians writing,

this would be the first time the conflict or the violence has

arrived to the Lebanese capital in Beirut. People will presumably fear

another escalation in response, how difficult is it for people to

penetrate this area, this Hezbollah area? It is in fact it usually very

difficult to penetrate. The southern suburb -- suburb is Astle

Max a -- Hezbollah stronghold. Even the Lebanese army cannot enter this

area without prior come ordination of practically permissions from

Hezbollah to come here. It is known as eight heavily guarded that area.

A tourist can usually walk around, but if they are holding a camera,

anybody can stop them at any moment to try to find out what they are

doing. We usually do not come to film here because the process of

getting permission is long and complicated. So the fact somebody

can sneak a barman carry out a massive attack, given the level of

destruction and damage caused, it is a very significant development

indeed. Talking for many months about the potential escalation, the

broadening of the conflict from Syria. We do not know who is behind

this, but is there any broader, political reaction to this as yet?

The Lebanese Minister of Interior, did arrive here a few minutes ago

to examine the scene of the explosion. He was met with angry

crowds, people have been chanting. They have pretty much as the

Lebanese interior minister to lead this area immediately. We know

there is political deadlock going on at the moment. There has been a

long-standing conflict between forces belonging to Hezbollah

opposing. We are expecting there will be some statements coming out

of very soon as. Thanks her so much for your time.

Would you bribe an official, a policeman or a politician to get

what you want? Most of us would say no, but in the past year, at least

one in four of us HAS paid a bribe, according to a new global survey.

The organisation Transparency International says that corruption

is on the rise across the world. Over the next three days here on

BBC World News, we're taking an in depth look how corruption works and

what it means for all of us. Today, Tim Franks sets the scene.

As long as people have been writing, they have been warning. Corruption

- everything about the would stinks, it infects and rocks all that it

touches. The great British political thinker, Edmond Burke

He may have been writing more than 200 years ago about the then

freshly minted American Revolution, but it was the latest in a line

stretching from Socrates to Shakespeare, to rail against he you

know and what you pay. It does not seem as if we are learning. A

survey of more than 100,000 people in more than 100 countries by the

organisation, transparency International believe that over the

last two years, corruption and wasn't. Born in or Margaret people

in the poll said they paid a bribe. One in three countries belong to

the police. And one in five, it is the judiciary. Ann Thwaite in

Government at its to combat corruption appears to be dwindling.

That frustration has been fuelled from protests around the world. In

Tunisia, as he was I born of despair at the leash a Down's

helped spark the demonstrations which Royal the regions. India has

seen mass protests against a culture of the kickback. And in

Brazil, a million people poured onto the streets to vent in part,

about what they saw as corruption and waste almost a round the

staging of next year's World Cup. It is not just about emerging

democracies or developing economies, two thirds of those surveyed in the

United Kingdom, reckon they are country has grown more corrupt.

More than half think this place, the Mother of parliaments, has been

tainted. But it is not for me busier, I am part of an industry,

the media, which those polled in Britain reckon is the most corrupt

of the lot. And while you may think there is no way you would become

involved in the grubby world of corruption, what about those who

see it less as a bribe, more as a fee, whether they are paying it or

asking for it? Some think they are doing for the sake of their family

or business, something which everyone else is doing, after all.

Maybe then the route out of the swamp will be a little less clear.

But, it is one we will be attempting to plot over the coming

days here on BBC World news. He 60 years ago this summer, an

armistice brought an end to the Korean war. The three-year conflict

claimed well over a million lives and led to the permanent division

of North and South Korea. A new exhibition here in London takes a

look at the conflict, from an artist's perspective. Mishal Husain

reports. Many artistic styles make it into

this exhibition, from portrait, sculpture, photography and video

installations. The idea is to interpret a conflict and bring the

events to life in a new wave. It is often called the forgotten war, it

remarkable considering 20 nations were involved. Over the three years

of the conflict, there were 4 million casualties, scarring lives

on bedsides of the eventual ceasefire line. Now, I younger

generation of Koreans, artists are like this are revisiting what

happened. TRANSLATION: When I think of the

Korean War, I think of it and paint. I feel hurt and pain. The pain of

the war is still in all Koreans and it stays on in all the descendants.

When I was preparing but this exhibition, I was thinking about

the war and the people who participated. The title of the

exhibition is, 60 years of memories, and I wanted to put them into my

art works. Survivors on a few and far between, but this exhibition

has a unique place for the veterans. This is a photographic depiction of

a wall in the home of one of them, David, who was 26 when he was

deployed from the UK. This is actually the medal he was awarded

after the conflict. And his life has inspired more than one artist

taking part in his exhibitions. met David about three months ago. I

saw the background of his sitting room, completely covered in

nostalgic photographs. I found it very poignant and I felt if I did a

painting of him, something of him will stay behind. That is why I

picked him. As the exhibition opened its doors, the real David

was here to see it. It was a different world, if you like. It

was a question of survival of the fittest in that particular instance.

You either got it, or you didn't. You lead a life of charm or you

didn't. From my point of view, and there were many occasions were

friends of mine just did not make it. Have you ever been back?No, I

haven't. Friends of mine actually procured on their laptops, pictures

of salt. I could not believe it. It was like a phoenix rising from the

ashes. It was fantastic. Did it make you feel proud, because he

played a part? No, we were essentially, we were sent. We did

not dwell on what we had done. It was in the courts of Jews as --

duty. The Korean war veteran David

Kamsler ending that report by Mishal Hussein.

A reminder of our top story: At least 15 people had been wounded in