:00:17. > :00:19.Hello, this is BBC World News. Our top stories. A leading observer
:00:19. > :00:22.group in Zimbabwe condemns the country's elections as not
:00:23. > :00:28."credible". Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy tells parliament he
:00:28. > :00:36.won't resign over allegations of corrupt payments by his party. He
:00:36. > :00:41.called the allegations against him "lies".We have the latest to
:00:41. > :00:45.Rumbold Trafford where England and Australia battle it out for the
:00:45. > :00:55.cricket Ashes. And we'll be in the US on patrol with a Texan ranger
:00:55. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:07.who's having a border battle of his Zimbabwe's leading domestic
:01:07. > :01:16.election monitoring agency says Wednesday's elections have been
:01:16. > :01:24."seriously compromised" by irregularities. They say up to 1
:01:24. > :01:30.million people were prevented from voting. Morgan Tsvangirai has
:01:30. > :01:34.described the election as an huge farce. And said that in his youth
:01:34. > :01:38.it was null and void. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network is a group
:01:38. > :01:41.of 7,000 citizen observers. It says that many more urban voters were
:01:41. > :01:46.turned away from polling stations than those who live in the
:01:46. > :01:48.countryside. That's important because there's strong evidence
:01:48. > :01:50.that President Mugabe enjoys far more support in the countryside,
:01:50. > :02:00.while his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, is stronger in many
:02:00. > :02:03.
:02:03. > :02:11.towns and cities. That is what has happened in the past hour or so.
:02:11. > :02:16.With me is Joseph Winter from our Africa team. People saying there
:02:16. > :02:20.that the election is worthless essentially. Yesterday the regional
:02:20. > :02:26.observers were praising the conduct of the poll saying that it was
:02:26. > :02:33.peaceful. But now we're getting these concerted reports that there
:02:33. > :02:39.was a massive fraud. Zanu PF, the party of Robert Mugabe are denying
:02:39. > :02:44.that and saying that these claims of fraud by a Morgan Tsvangirai and
:02:44. > :02:51.his supporters as well as the election support network are just
:02:51. > :02:55.bad losers, basically. What we seem to be seeing is not a comment on
:02:55. > :03:01.the Captain of the boats but what happened when people tried to have
:03:01. > :03:08.boat and could not for whatever reason. -- the counting of the
:03:08. > :03:13.votes. We had a network of reporters yesterday reporting for
:03:13. > :03:18.the BBC website and radio. They said a lot to people were being
:03:18. > :03:24.prevented from voting. That has also been the case in previous
:03:24. > :03:29.elections. In previous elections the introduced rules to make it
:03:29. > :03:34.more difficult for young urban voters who are seen as more likely
:03:34. > :03:40.to vote for Morgan Tsvangirai. Making it more difficult for them
:03:40. > :03:45.to register. So there saying that those people are being prevented
:03:45. > :03:52.from voting. The other interesting report we had yesterday was from a
:03:52. > :03:59.rural area of the country. There one reporter said he had been told
:03:59. > :04:04.by local villagers and local officials that in some areas
:04:04. > :04:11.villagers were being taken off by the heads of the villages, the
:04:11. > :04:16.traditional leaders, and been forced to vote. And their identity
:04:17. > :04:22.and registration cards were being kept. And the implication is that
:04:22. > :04:27.that would then be cross-checked so that local people in that village
:04:27. > :04:33.would know how each individual person had voted. Western observers
:04:33. > :04:40.were forbidden from attending. But there was a significant munching
:04:40. > :04:45.presence from the African Union and South Africa Development Community.
:04:45. > :04:49.They said that things essentially were OK. That is what they said
:04:49. > :04:55.yesterday. It will be interesting to see how they react to these
:04:55. > :05:02.latest reports. The local observer at Nat work in Zimbabwe are calling
:05:02. > :05:07.for those teams to be impartial in their comments and will be watching
:05:07. > :05:13.closely what they say. Survival there does have a lot of influence
:05:13. > :05:19.in what happens in Zimbabwe. They are the regional powerhouse and if
:05:19. > :05:25.they were to increase pressure on Robert Mugabe if he were to win in
:05:25. > :05:30.what was seen as a fraudulent election, and that was not accepted,
:05:30. > :05:39.if South Africa took up line it would make it more difficult for
:05:39. > :05:41.Spain's Prime Minister has admitted making mistakes but denied doing
:05:41. > :05:48.anything wrong when it comes to the allegations of corrupt payments
:05:48. > :05:50.that have damaged him and his party. Mariano Rajoy told parliament that
:05:50. > :05:53.he shouldn't have put his trust in Luis Barcenas, the former treasurer
:05:53. > :06:00.of his governing Popular Party, but also the he has no intention of
:06:00. > :06:01.resigning. Mr Barcenas alleges that for years the party had a fund
:06:01. > :06:11.which received illegal donations and distributed them to senior
:06:11. > :06:16.
:06:16. > :06:22.party figures. Was our mistake in entrusting the wrong person? Yes. I
:06:22. > :06:30.made that mistake but I did not commit the crime. Did he tricked
:06:30. > :06:33.me? Yes. It was easy because I do not jump to condemn anyone. Well
:06:33. > :06:35.the debate is still going on. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano
:06:35. > :06:44.Rajoy, is currently in parliament and has been responding to the
:06:44. > :06:49.allegations made against him. suppose he has cleared things up.
:06:49. > :06:54.More of a clarification than we have ever had before on this issue.
:06:54. > :06:58.The opposition has said he has not explained to the Spanish people how
:06:58. > :07:03.these allegations came about. He has not so far managed to explain
:07:03. > :07:10.himself. So he gave a lot more detail about this corruption
:07:10. > :07:16.scandal. He called Mr Barcenas by name several times. That in itself
:07:16. > :07:20.was a novelty. He flatly denies the accusations. He went into some
:07:20. > :07:26.detail about what happened and how he felt he had been the victim of
:07:26. > :07:31.deceit fight Mr Barcenas. Of the opposition in their responses are
:07:31. > :07:36.saying that that is not enough. Perhaps that he should even resign
:07:36. > :07:40.according to the leader of the Socialists. There saying that his
:07:40. > :07:44.explanations do not go far enough to explain why Mr Barcenas was
:07:44. > :07:51.allowed to carry on apparently handling this slush fund in the
:07:51. > :07:56.party for so long. We're seeing him there ending his presentation and
:07:56. > :08:02.acknowledging the applause from his side of the House, from the Popular
:08:02. > :08:06.Party. But a large part of the assembly not responding at all. It
:08:06. > :08:12.is all very well him saying he has no intention of resigning, but
:08:12. > :08:16.could events for since in a different direction? It is
:08:16. > :08:21.difficult to tell. He has this strong majority, he controls
:08:22. > :08:26.Congress and the Senate as well. In that sense he is safe politically.
:08:26. > :08:30.But that does not mean that he is completely safe going forward.
:08:30. > :08:35.There have been some rumblings of discontent from within his own
:08:35. > :08:40.party about the way he has handled this crisis. Those have not been
:08:40. > :08:45.widespread so far but if going ahead, looking ahead to the general
:08:45. > :08:48.election in 2015, if the Popular Party decided he was an electoral
:08:49. > :08:54.liability then they might start to manoeuvre to find a replacement.
:08:54. > :09:04.That is all theoretical. But it is a possibility looking ahead. Even
:09:04. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:12.though he has a strong majority in Congress., Judges in Italy are due
:09:12. > :09:22.to begin their deliberations in Silvio Berlusconi's appeal against
:09:22. > :09:24.a conviction for tax fraud. If the court upholds the verdict, the
:09:24. > :09:33.former Italian prime minister will be barred from holding public
:09:33. > :09:35.office and possibly jailed. China has released an online video game
:09:35. > :09:41.that invites players to fight over a group of Japanese-administered
:09:41. > :09:49.islands that Beijing claims as its own. The islands are known as the
:09:49. > :09:55.Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Millions of people have
:09:55. > :09:57.already registered to play. In Tunisia, the pressure is mounting
:09:57. > :10:03.on the government after the Education minister resigned in
:10:03. > :10:05.protest at the murder of a prominent opposition figure.
:10:05. > :10:07.Tensions on the streets of the capital have been also running high
:10:07. > :10:17.- with pro and anti-government protesters turning a central square
:10:17. > :10:18.
:10:18. > :10:23.into an open sit-in. Now to Egypt and the military-backed government
:10:23. > :10:31.has authorised the clearance of protest camps. Thousands of
:10:31. > :10:39.supporters of President Morsi are insisting that they will stay put.
:10:39. > :10:42.They had been told to end their sit in. They responded with prayers.
:10:42. > :10:50.Supporters of the proposed President Mohammad Morsi gathered
:10:50. > :10:54.again in Cairo promising to remain defiant. The attempts to threaten
:10:54. > :10:59.and terrorise those participating in this it in continue but I want
:10:59. > :11:02.to reaffirm that the numbers taking part are increasing. The people
:11:02. > :11:09.here are insistent on their right to reject the military coup will
:11:09. > :11:13.especially after the killings of terrorism and violence against them.
:11:13. > :11:17.Earlier in a televised statement the Egyptian information minister
:11:17. > :11:22.said the Cabinet had decided to take all necessary measures to end
:11:22. > :11:25.the protest. She also said it had assigned police to do so indicating
:11:25. > :11:29.that the military-backed government could soon take action against the
:11:29. > :11:34.demonstrations which have gone on for weeks. The situation in Egypt
:11:34. > :11:39.is causing concern in the United States which has called on the
:11:39. > :11:44.transitional government to restore democracy. We are expressing our
:11:44. > :11:50.concerns about violence to all sides in Egypt. That will continue
:11:50. > :11:57.to be the case. But also to make clear that we oppose arbitrary
:11:57. > :12:02.arrests and detentions. And we believe those who have been
:12:02. > :12:06.arrested and not charged should be released. Three top members of the
:12:06. > :12:09.Moslem Brotherhood have been referred to court for inciting
:12:09. > :12:14.violence and the former President Mohammad Morsi has not been seen in
:12:14. > :12:18.public since he was ousted although he has now been visited by members
:12:18. > :12:23.of the African Union and the European Union foreign policy chief.
:12:23. > :12:31.With the government now describing the protests as a security threat
:12:31. > :12:35.all eyes will now be on how they go about ended them., stay with us.
:12:35. > :12:38.Still to come we have the latest from Old Trafford where the
:12:38. > :12:48.football pitch welcomes cricket. When England and Australia battle
:12:48. > :12:51.
:12:51. > :12:57.Gay rights activists in New York City have dumped Fokker onto the
:12:57. > :13:00.streets to protest against new laws in Russia banning the propaganda of
:13:00. > :13:06.non-traditional sexual relations. It imposes hefty fines for
:13:06. > :13:11.providing information about the gay community to miners or holding Gay
:13:11. > :13:19.Pride rallies. A growing number of gay bar owners across the United
:13:19. > :13:23.States have also stopped selling Russian vodka. That is what could
:13:23. > :13:27.they are dumping. Of the Russian variety. The reason, to protest
:13:27. > :13:34.against a new law signed by President Vladimir Putin widely
:13:34. > :13:39.viewed as being anti-gay. But this is not Russia, it is New York.
:13:39. > :13:44.We're here today at the Russian consulate in New York City to let
:13:44. > :13:48.the government and Russian businesses in particular the makers
:13:48. > :13:57.of Russian vodka, know that we're not going to stand silently while
:13:57. > :14:00.they attack us in our community and scapegoat ass. - us. There was
:14:00. > :14:05.trouble outside the Russian parliament when the law was passed
:14:05. > :14:11.back in June. The legislation makes it illegal in Russia to provide
:14:11. > :14:18.information about homosexuality to under 18 euros. Russians to do so
:14:18. > :14:21.face hefty fines all foreigners can be detained and deported. This
:14:21. > :14:29.Musgrove based photographer and gay rights activist has urged people to
:14:29. > :14:33.go beyond dumping vodka. Let us boycott anything produced in Russia.
:14:33. > :14:38.Do not bite Russian produce. When you support Russia you support a
:14:38. > :14:43.regime that destroys innocent people. But the company behind the
:14:43. > :14:53.vodka brand that has been targeted says it is not anti-gay and it is
:14:53. > :15:28.
:15:28. > :15:32.being victimised. Our main headlines... A leading observer
:15:32. > :15:36.group in Zimbabwe condemns the elections in the country as not, and
:15:36. > :15:42.presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has called the election a
:15:42. > :15:45.huge farce, which is now null and void. Spain's Prime Minister,
:15:45. > :15:54.Mariano Rajoy, has told Parliament he will not resign over allegations
:15:54. > :15:56.of corrupt payments by his party. He called them lies.
:15:56. > :16:00.Uruguay is halfway to legalising marijuana. A bill has been approved
:16:00. > :16:05.by the lower house of parliament, and if the Senate also agrees, then
:16:05. > :16:11.it becomes law, which would make Uruguay the first country in the
:16:11. > :16:21.world to regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana.
:16:21. > :16:21.
:16:21. > :16:24.The government says it will take away profits from dealers. This was
:16:24. > :16:30.the moment Uruguay took its first step towards legalising the
:16:30. > :16:34.production of marijuana. It had been a fierce battle. After a 13 hour
:16:34. > :16:40.marathon debate, the lower house of parliament passed a bill by 15 votes
:16:40. > :16:44.to 46. The measure now goes to the Senate, where, if passed, it will
:16:44. > :16:49.make Uruguay the first country to license and regulate the
:16:49. > :16:54.production, distribution and sale of marijuana. There are still rules
:16:54. > :16:58.attached to the bill. Uruguayans will be allowed to grow up to six
:16:59. > :17:03.cannabis plants for personal use, or to buy up to 40 grams a month, but
:17:03. > :17:10.only the government will be allowed to sell the drug, and only to
:17:10. > :17:17.registered users, aged over 18. The move, initiated by President Jose
:17:17. > :17:25.Mujica, comes because he believes that this will lead to drug dealers
:17:25. > :17:32.being able to be shut down. concerns are stimulated by a
:17:32. > :17:36.prohibition resistant, which creates gigantic markets for in illicit
:17:36. > :17:42.drugs, in criminal hands. The question is, are there better ways
:17:42. > :17:48.to deal with the issue of drug use than a prohibitionist system?
:17:48. > :17:53.Uruguay is going to try it. Critics say that marijuana is a gateway
:17:53. > :17:58.drug, which could fuel hard drug use. Recent poll is say two thirds
:17:58. > :18:01.of Uruguayans are opposed to the bill. It comes amid fierce debate
:18:01. > :18:06.about drug legalisation in Latin America, with some leaders calling
:18:06. > :18:13.for discussions on decriminalising some drugs, to undermine the cartels
:18:13. > :18:17.operating throughout the region. The King of Thailand is due to leave a
:18:17. > :18:21.Bangkok Hospital, nearly four years after first being admitted. He is
:18:21. > :18:27.widely revered in the country. He was originally admitted for a lung
:18:27. > :18:31.infection, but it is not clear why he stayed so long in hospital. At 85
:18:31. > :18:35.years old, his health is frail, but he makes occasional public
:18:35. > :18:41.appearances, sitting in a wheelchair. He is expected to be
:18:41. > :18:45.accompanied to the seaside royal palace by his wife. Cricket, and it
:18:45. > :18:49.is crunch time for Australia, who must beat England in the third Test
:18:49. > :18:52.match, which has just started in Manchester, otherwise their chances
:18:52. > :19:01.of regaining the Ashes will have gone. Having won the first two
:19:01. > :19:09.matches, a draw would be enough for England to win the series. Dan Roan
:19:09. > :19:12.is at Old Trafford in Manchester. What are the prospects? Well, I
:19:12. > :19:17.think Australia will have to raise their game dramatically if they are
:19:17. > :19:22.to get the result that you speak about. They have two win to keep the
:19:22. > :19:30.series alive. Having gone 2-0 up, England only need a draw to retain
:19:30. > :19:33.the Ashes. So, Australia have gone in under pressure, they know the
:19:33. > :19:39.stakes are high, and they have made three changes from the side which
:19:39. > :19:42.was beaten heavily in the second test. They have brought back in
:19:42. > :19:50.David Warner, the controversial batsmen, who was involved in the
:19:50. > :19:55.incident in a bar with Joe Root, when he punched Root a few weeks
:19:56. > :20:05.ago. But I think it is a sign of how much trouble Australia find
:20:06. > :20:06.
:20:06. > :20:11.themselves in. Australia elected to bat, and they have made a decent
:20:11. > :20:14.start Chris Rogers, in particular, looks to be in good form. It is
:20:14. > :20:19.imperative that Australia do what they have not done yet, and post a
:20:19. > :20:25.really big first-innings total, to put England under pressure. England
:20:25. > :20:33.are unchanged. They had some good news with Kevin Pietersen being
:20:33. > :20:42.ruled fit. Jimmy Anderson is in action, but struggling to make a
:20:42. > :20:45.breakthrough. Australia will be pleased at the start they have made.
:20:45. > :20:51.Realistic what about the psychological pressure, when you are
:20:51. > :20:56.two down out of five, and have got to win the next three matches, the
:20:56. > :21:01.pressure on them? Especially from the other side of of course,
:21:01. > :21:05.Australia, for so many years, were the dominant force in international
:21:05. > :21:12.cricket, for two decades, they were the best team. But that seems a long
:21:12. > :21:17.time ago now. In those days they might have been expected to have the
:21:17. > :21:21.resolve to come back, but now, it would be a huge surprise. And
:21:21. > :21:31.following this series, they have another five Test matches against
:21:31. > :21:44.
:21:44. > :21:47.England back in Australia in the to win a major -- to win a fourth
:21:47. > :21:57.Majors this year, something which has never been done by a man or a
:21:57. > :22:00.
:22:00. > :22:06.woman. She has one all four Majors, but over separate years. It is
:22:06. > :22:12.pretty incredible, to win the first three, in the way she did it,
:22:12. > :22:18.executing, and it seems like she is making everything. It is good to
:22:18. > :22:24.see. It is really neat to see someone out there doing something
:22:24. > :22:29.that no one has ever done. And at last, Real Madrid coach Carlo
:22:29. > :22:34.Ancelotti has confirmed his club is in talks with English Premier League
:22:34. > :22:40.team Tottenham Hotspur to sign Gareth Bale. It is expected a
:22:40. > :22:43.world-record fee will be required to secure his services. It is reported
:22:43. > :22:53.that Ray Allen would be prepared to pay more than $120 million for the
:22:53. > :22:55.
:22:55. > :23:00.player. -- Real Madrid. Now, one issue which many feel needs to be
:23:01. > :23:05.cleaned up in the US 's border security. An overhaul is currently
:23:05. > :23:09.being debated in Congress as part of changes to the immigration system.
:23:09. > :23:13.But so far from Washington, along the southern border with Mexico, it
:23:13. > :23:23.is local residents and long-time ranchers who are dealing with the
:23:23. > :23:31.
:23:31. > :23:38.consequences. Here, he tells us his here. We have been here 117 years.
:23:38. > :23:42.Our south fence is the international border. At any given time, I have
:23:43. > :23:47.got an illegal on the ranch somewhere, and at any given time, I
:23:47. > :23:52.have got a border patrol on the ranch somewhere. We have got
:23:52. > :23:56.cameras, 200 ground sensors, the drones fly so I that I do not know
:23:56. > :24:02.when they are flying over. So I am pretty well being watched all the
:24:02. > :24:09.time. My great grandparents had this before Arizona was a state, we were
:24:09. > :24:15.here. We have given border patrol access to 37 miles of road. I have
:24:15. > :24:19.dealt with them for 22 years. They have very little respect for private
:24:19. > :24:23.property or American whites. Yes, it is an invasion of privacy, but it is
:24:23. > :24:28.part of the border as well. I do not have the freedom to do what I want
:24:28. > :24:32.to do because of illegal activity and border patrol. We have got
:24:32. > :24:37.border patrol agents, we have got a steel wall now, we have got a big
:24:37. > :24:40.station, and nothing has changed. The number of people is down, but
:24:40. > :24:48.the number of drug events is way up. When they originally proposed
:24:48. > :24:53.building this, we said, it will only work if you patrol it. People can
:24:53. > :24:55.climb it, people can cut it, they can do whatever they want. The
:24:55. > :25:02.Democrats want these people for cheap votes, the Republicans want
:25:02. > :25:06.cheap labour, and America wants cheap tomatoes. They call these
:25:07. > :25:12.split gates, they lift them up, and it does not work. This is not going
:25:12. > :25:17.to keep anybody out. When we start getting our some arranged, all of
:25:17. > :25:22.this debris start backing up, because nothing can go through fit
:25:22. > :25:25.-- through it. You could drive a truck through here if you wanted to.
:25:25. > :25:30.At the minimum you would think they would have an agent sitting here,
:25:30. > :25:40.watching a hole like this. Do you want to tell the American people how
:25:40. > :25:41.
:25:41. > :25:50.safe it is? If we have the same philosophy and add another 20,000
:25:50. > :25:55.agents to it, nobody would tolerate it. If I trusted our government to
:25:55. > :26:00.put the agents on the border, on the international boundary, not 25 miles
:26:00. > :26:05.from the border, on the actual line, it would work. But I do not trust
:26:05. > :26:15.them. They have made promise after promise that they are going to stop
:26:15. > :26:20.
:26:20. > :26:23.the issue, and they have not done High temperatures in Mexico, but
:26:23. > :26:27.what about the highest temperature heat waves ever known in living
:26:27. > :26:31.memory, in China? Zookeepers in the east of the country are using
:26:31. > :26:38.unusual techniques to keep their animals cool, specially made ice
:26:38. > :26:46.creams, with fruit. Also, a cooling mist, to help some of the other
:26:46. > :26:53.species to stay cool. One province in Eastern China saw temperatures in