22/10/2013 BBC World News

This is BBC world News. The top story: The United States is accused

of violating international law by carrying out drone strikes which

kill unarmed civilians. John Kerry beats other in Western leaders in

London -- meets other Western leaders to take part in peace talks.

We will continue to help them in many ways and to persuade them that

this is the only way to solve this tragic and bloody conflict in Syria,

that there has to be a political process. Drama at the Bolshoi

Ballet. A former dancer stands trial for an acid attack. And no place for

a dinner party. We visit the restaurant in New York where talking

is forbidden whilst eating to aid the taste.

Welcome. Human rights groups have accused the United States of

violating international law by killing innocent civilians in drone

strikes. Report by Amnesty International say the US officials

responsible for drone attacks on military targets in Pakistan and

Yemen could be committing war crimes. As short time ago, I spoke

to one of the authors of the Amnesty report. I said although nobody wants

to see innocent civilians dying, there seems to be no alternative to

drone strikes. First of all, let's talk about those cases we have

found. What we have found is an old woman, 68-year-old woman picking

vegetables in the field, surrounded by grandchildren, was blown apart,

her children injured. Of course we don't want to see that happen, but

we also don't want to see armed violence happening. The Pakistan

government has done little to ensure that those committing crimes in the

north-west are being brought to justice. We would rather see

Pakistan taking further action to bring people to justice as well as

the USA assisting. Is that not incredibly naive? This report is

typical of Western liberal coverage which does nothing to address the

real problem. Critics of the Pakistan government say they are

causing the problem by setting up and funding the Taliban and the

militants who carry out terrorist attacks. In any war, you will get

innocent casualties. First of all, Amnesty International has focused on

violence by armed groups in the past, we have looked at the violence

by Pakistan forces. Why don't you criticise the Pakistan government?

Let me and so your question. You ask me why we are focusing on this. Is

it a Western agenda. It is not. People are being attacked on all

sides. You suggest nothing as a real alternative to the growing problem

of militancy. One alternative is for the USA to ensure that its actions,

themselves, if we tackle each perpetrator that is causing abuse in

the country, one of them is the USA. We're not seeing all strikes in the

are unlawful. To college abuse... We are seeing some of the strikes look

like they have been unlawful. Under international humanitarian law, we

recognise and the law recognises that some competence, it is lawful

for them to be attacked and civilian injuries might result. -- fighters.

President Obama has called to the French president to discuss growing

anger that the NSA recorded millions of French phone calls. Francois

Hollande says it is unacceptable and he demands the United States

explains why French citizens were caught up in the surveillance net. I

did speak to our French correspondent, but I'm afraid we do

not have that. That has been an ongoing diplomatic row between the

French and the Americans in the last couple of days. Australia now, and

firefighters are preparing for the worst as dangerously hot weather and

high wind continues to fan bushfires. Hundreds of families in

Australia have already lost their homes and residents have been

advised to leave their homes by the morning. Hopefully we will speak to

our next guest, in the Blue Mountains. Tell me how you and your

family are coping. I'm at Blackheath. What has happened to

your family? My family is in Sydney, I run a business up here, a fish and

chip shop, and we are on the highway so we usually are fairly busy.

Basically, we have just been selling to the firemen. How difficult is it?

Can you describe how people are feeling? Very worried. I know many

people who have left town, they have moved, they have gone away for a few

days to see what happens. Basically, there is fear in the town. What

about your own family and your own safety? I've been in this town for

many years, since I was born. I've seen bushfires come and go over the

years. The firemen are very effective, and they do a lot of

backburning. The town has never had great losses of homes in the past so

I'm hoping that happens again. You must be quite worried or you are

putting all your faith in the emergency services. I am putting my

faith in the emergency services. There is no doubt that if the wind

tomorrow is what they predict and they get up to 100 kilometres per

hour, the Commissioner of the firemen has said that if that wall

of fire is to break they will have to abandon the job of stopping the

fires. -- too big. That is the worst case scenario. I hope it is not that

bad. It depends on which direction the wind goes because if the wind

blows it further in to where the Bush is, that fire will keep

burning. -- bush is. If rain comes in the next week, that would stop

it. The worst fear is if the wind blows it towards towns in the Blue

Mountains such as black teeth, -- Blackheath, Katoomba... They are big

tourist destinations but there is also a large population. We wish you

well. Thank you. Western and Arab leaders are meeting senior Syrian

opposition figures in London to try to persuade them to take part in

planned peace talks next month in Geneva. Opposition elements said

they are unwilling to top two representatives of the government

but the Western leaders say they need to be united if the discussions

are to succeed. The British Foreign Secretary has been outlining his

message ahead of talks. There are different views ahead of -- of

opposition groups, we will welcome the National coalition, the

president of the National coalition. He has said that he has committed to

the security council to attend the Geneva process, the Geneva

discussions, but there are differing views within his supporters, among

his supporters. We want the moderate opposition to know that we are

behind them in going to Geneva, that we will continue to help them in

many ways. We will persuade them this is the way, the only way to

solve this tragic and bloody conflict in Syria, that there has to

be a political process. I will welcome today John Kerry who will be

arriving, leading foreign ministers from the Gulf and other European

countries, the Foreign Minister of Turkey, we will be discussing these

things together. Of course, we are also engaged in making sure that the

chemical weapons of the Syrian regime are disarmed and destroyed

and the humanitarian efforts to relieve the suffering of Syrian

people are stepped up. But this political process, assembling a

peace conference in Geneva with the participation of the regime of the

opposition is the main focus of the discussion today. William Hague. The

British Foreign Secretary. Syria's president speaking on Lebanese

television has cast doubt on whether the Geneva discussions could

succeed. There is no date and no factors helping in holding it now if

we want it to succeed. Who are the parties participating? What is the

relation of these forces? Are they representing the Syrian people? Are

they representing the countries that made them? How can this power be

represented if it lives abroad? There are many questions about this

conference on the table. What is the structure of this conference?

President Assad giving an interview earlier. The Civil War in Syria has

displaced millions of people already and many of them are making their

way to Europe. Yesterday we reported on the perilous trip some of them

make across the Mediterranean Sea, and reaching land is just part of

their journey. After leaving ports such as Lampedusa, many heads north

through Italy up to Austria. I met these four Syrian men just after

they had been deported back to Italy from Austria. They were trying to

get by train to Germany, but did not get far. 20 kilometres into Austria,

they were caught by the Austrian police and sent back to Italy. This

is the last stop in Italy before you get to Austria. It is a sleepy

little minds in place but it is changing because more and more

migrants coming here to and leave the country. I have just seen a few

trying to get on a train going north. There is no official passport

control here because of the Schengen agreement. But the Italian police

are clearly on high alert. In theory it is easy to cross the border here.

But the atmosphere at the train station is very tense. I have just

been checked by the Italian police for times and the Austrian police

are also increasing their checks on this train line. It was here that

the Syrians were caught. Those who were deported off and try again.

Some pay criminal gangs to drive them over at the motorway. Thousands

of cars pass along here every day. It is very hard to control.

Politicians in Italy want Austria to let more migrants through but the

Austrians say they are just enforcing the law. One of Austria's

top policeman said it needs a Europe wide solution. Those difficult

journeys are part of our special reports on migration on the website,

you can get lots of analysis and commentary including a look at all

the routes and dangers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

The Australian capital Territory has become the first part of the country

to legalise same-sex marriage. The act was to allow gay couples to

marry. After a short debate today, it happened. The local law will now

be challenged in court because it is not consistent with federal laws

which they marriage must be between a man and a woman. News still to

come: Continuing the 100 Women series, we hear about six years in

captivity in the Colombian jungle. An option in Brazil for the rights

to develop one of the biggest offshore oilfields on the planet has

been run by a consortium of five big oil companies. -- won. There were

far fewer bidders banned the government hoped for. -- than the

government. Just another day on the beach in Brazil. Sun, sand and riot

police. There were several lines of riot squads. They needed no

invitation to open fire. A few hundred striking oil workers

threatened to disrupt one of the biggest oil options ever. The most

bizarre scenes today is not far from the hotel where the discussions are

taking place. Riot police firing stun grenades toward the protesters

and onto the beach here where there are holiday-makers and tourists

watching incredulously. Some of them are still sitting there whilst these

fighting clashes are going on. The government insists the process was

good for Brazil. Most locals we spoke to simply don't trust the

politicians after years of corruption to act in their interest.

TRANSLATION: I'm the Brazilian, I pay taxes, and this is a country

with no help system, education or security. As Brazilians, we pay and

the politicians are already. Inside the hotel it went ahead and

disturbed. After initial hopes there would be dozens of bidders, what was

billed as one of the biggest oil cell Observer was won by a single

bid, a consortium of Chinese, Brazilian, French and Anglo Dutch

companies. Nonetheless, delighted officials declared the proceedings

an overwhelming success. We have international oil companies from

Europe, we have national oil companies from China. We have very

good partners to help Brazil to develop. Already a medium-sized oil

producer, Brazil is set to become one of the world's against exporters

when the Libra field comes online. The winning bidders will hand over a

large proportion of profits to the Brazilian government and operate

under strict conditions. This is BBC World News.

The United States is accused of unlawful killing of unarmed

civilians during drone strikes against militant targets in Pakistan

and Yemen. And John Kerry meets William Hague

and other leaders from the West and the Arab world for a meeting in

London on Syria. ?NEWLINE It's the final week of the

BBC's 100 Women season, where we've explored the modern challenges faced

by women around the world. This Friday, 100 inspiring women from

around the world will gather for a special event here at the BBC's

London headquarters and take part in a day of debate and discussion. One

of these women is Ingrid Betancourt. Once a presidential candidate in

Colombia, she was kidnapped by FARC militants in 2002 and spent six

years in captivity. Here she explains how those years in the

jungle transformed her. My name is Ingrid Betancourt, I'm a

French-Colombian woman. I was held hostage for nearly seven years in

the Amazonian jungle. And now I am a student in theology here at Oxford

University. After going through the ordeal, it seemed to me that the

most important thing was to understand who we were as human

beings, and it is impossible to understand who we are if we don't

take into consideration our relationship with God. What kept me

going was first love, and whenever I was mistreated or abused, I always

brought back that love into memory. In order to recall myself, that even

if I was humiliated or abused in that present moment, I could just

grasp the moment where I had been loved. Loved, cherished and

respected. True freedom comes also with the acceptance of death. Once

you accept that death is part of who you are, then you can live fully

your life. Because you cannot be blackmailed with the option of

death. That was my situation. I was blackmailed with death every day. If

I hadn't had this whole ordeal, I think I would have a very spoilt

brat, and I really thank God for what I lived. When I came back, my

husband had left, my children were adults. The only important position

I took at that moment was that I want to be a mum. The most difficult

part was to rebuild an intimacy with them, to rebuild confidence, to

break the wall of time that had built distance between the three of

us. In Colombia, there is a law that entitles the victims of terrorism to

economic compensation. All my fellow hostages before me had applied to

those compensations, and they had had them with no problem. But when I

applied for them, I think it became a political issue. Some people in

the government at the time were very nervous to see me getting importance

in the political stage in Colombia, and so they wanted to really kill me

- kill me in a moral way. It was like a sniper. Now I am a strong

woman again. But it took me five years.

To find out more about the BBC's 100 women season and to see who'll be

taking part in our debate this Friday, head to the website - the

address is bbc.com/100women. Ingrid Betancourt and her remarkable story.

One of the stars of the Bolshoi ballet goes on trial in Moscow later

accused of masterminding an acid attack on the ballet's artistic

director. Pavel Dmitrichenko denies organising the assault on Sergei

Filin early this year, which exposed bitter behind the scenes rivalries

at one of Russia's greatest cultural institutions.

With me is Famil Ismailov from our Russian service. Sorry about that, I

can't pronounce the name! This is really quite a chilling case, it has

had a lot of attention. It is in court, what have the prosecution

said? They believe that Pavel Dmitrichenko was really behind the

attack. There are accomplices, one was a former convict, a neighbour of

Pavel Dmitrichenko, who threw the acid in the face of Sergei Filin.

And another was behind the wheel of the getaway car for the person who

did the attack. The prosecutor demands the highest possible prison

term for Pavel Dmitrichenko, which is 12 years, if he is considered

guilty. Has the prosecution outlined why they believe this happened? They

interviewed Pavel Dmitrichenko, they are going to present evidence today

in court and it will take a while for the evidence to be seen, for

deliberations to go one and the arguments from the defence team.

This has had a huge amount of publicity and exposed a lot of

difficulty behind-the-scenes that have been hinted but had not

emerged? The behind-the-scenes rivalries in the Bolshoi were always

known to be there, we have known about them, people would find broken

glass in their ballet shoes. That sort of thing has happened. It is

really, really bitter. But this is the first time when we had seen the

rivalry come up as a criminal case on that kind of case with the public

attack using acid. It happens only on the seems of your TV screens.

When people see how public and open it is, now they are discussing what

is going on in Bolshoi behind-the-scenes. We will follow

this case. Thank you very much. A second huge snakelike fish has

washed up on the coast of southern California. Oarfish are very rarely

seen and can grow up to 56 feet long. They are thought to have

inspired sailors' tales of sea monsters. The latest discovery was

made on a beach in California. Like a creature from ancient myth or

legend, the oarfish usually lives deep in the ocean, but this 13 foot

long specimen is revealed in the Los Angeles sun. Quite a find for a

school field trip! I was like, wow, that is an oarfish, because we are

studying it in class. I was amazed. I was thinking, I have no idea what

that is. It looks like a snake, but it kind of looks like a giant eel.

Oarfish usually swim 3000 feet below the ocean surface. Their strange

looks and giant bodies means that it is thought they are the source of

many sea monster myths. In the whole history, only a handful have washed

up. We don't know a lot about them, we know they live in deepwater and

on things like plankton, small animals and shrimp. We feel

fortunate that they have washed up, now we get a chance to study them.

This is the second such discovery this month. Last week an 18 foot

long fish was dragged onto the shores of Santa Catalina Island.

They thought it was very rather first time, these two events we have

heard of in the last few weeks are the only ones I have ever heard of.

The oarfish will be taken for examination - once it is decided how

to get it off the beach! If you have ever found yourself in a

restaurant which was too noisy or hectic, we might have the place for

you. One in New York offering silent meals. The theory is that eating in

silence means you will be able to enjoy your food better.

When you go to a restaurant you usually want good food, a good

atmosphere, and the chance to enjoy witty conversation. That might not

be so easy at Eat in Brooklyn. Several times a week the restaurant

serves what it calls a silent meal. That's a meal ate in, well, complete

silence. The chef came up with the idea while living in a Buddhist

monastery in India. It seems too much noise means not enough taste.

It's like when you take a piece of lettuce and you put it against your

lips, there are an incredible number of sensations going on that we are

not paying any attention to. And I think that's just a microcosm of our

entire experience in which our perception and our consciousness are

always confronting the world with the five faculties of the senses.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so what did the patrons have

to say - after they left, of course? I actually liked it. I thought it

helped me slow down and think about every bite, instead of just

devouring it and then realizing it was gone. So I really enjoyed it.

And it brought out a lot of the flavour in the food and it was good.

It's tough. I really missed the conversation, but the food was

great. But I like talking to people as much as I like eating food, so I

like both together. It's hard to separate them.

Keeping schtum while filling your tum is apparently pretty popular

round these parts. At this resturant, silence really is golden.

We will leave you with pictures of one little chap who probably doesn't

need any conversation whilst he is eating. This is a 6-foot alligator

outside a supermarket in Florida. Police had to chase them away.

Goodbye from us today, thanks for