:00:00. > :00:16.Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: A hostile mood in
:00:17. > :00:21.Bangkok after Thailand's prime minister refuses to resign. A
:00:22. > :00:23.hard-core of protesters are still on the streets.
:00:24. > :00:28.Locating government buildings and calling for the president to go.
:00:29. > :00:33.Ukraine's pro-European activists hold another day of demonstrations.
:00:34. > :00:39.Gay couples in Croatia will need to wait for new partnership laws, after
:00:40. > :00:42.a referendum to outlaw same-sex marriage.
:00:43. > :00:44.And how this eagle made Aussie researchers wish they'd tied their
:00:45. > :01:06.cameras down. A very warm welcome to you. The
:01:07. > :01:11.Prime Minister of Thailand has rejected demands for her to resign,
:01:12. > :01:16.as violent demonstrations continue to rage across Bangkok. Yingluck
:01:17. > :01:21.Shinawatra says that she was open to negotiations, but said that her
:01:22. > :01:25.removal would be unconstitutional. Right police used rubber bullets for
:01:26. > :01:29.the first time as protesters tried to break through their lines outside
:01:30. > :01:34.government house. Our correspondent is in Bangkok.
:01:35. > :01:39.You have absolutely stinging tear gas here, and we are quite a long
:01:40. > :01:44.way from the front line. It has been coming across in great wafts, as the
:01:45. > :01:51.protest is, a hard-core now, down mostly to young men, have been
:01:52. > :01:55.trying to push through. They have been firing home-made rockets and
:01:56. > :01:59.throwing stones at the police. The police have been throwing huge
:02:00. > :02:03.amounts of tear gas. A bit further along, at the main front line, they
:02:04. > :02:08.have declared a truth. They said they wanted to have a chance for
:02:09. > :02:12.dialogue to take place between them and the government. It is not clear
:02:13. > :02:16.what the dialogue will be about. They have not abandoned their goal
:02:17. > :02:22.of forcing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to leave office, but they
:02:23. > :02:27.say there is a chance it can happen. Excuse me, I have very strong tear
:02:28. > :02:32.gas at the moment. All around me, people have been choking and
:02:33. > :02:36.coughing. It is quite amazing to see how these people have stayed around
:02:37. > :02:40.living through these clouds of tear gas. It shows you how determined
:02:41. > :02:44.they are. They don't want to give up. This goal of overthrowing a
:02:45. > :02:48.government with these endless assaults on the Prime Minister's
:02:49. > :02:55.office, and she isn't even there, it is just impossible to see how they
:02:56. > :03:01.can reach that goal. The tactics have not worked up till now, and we
:03:02. > :03:06.keep seeing these endless hit and run battles against government
:03:07. > :03:11.house, just behind me on the right. It all sounds incredibly tense. It
:03:12. > :03:16.shows you the determination of the people on the streets of Bangkok at
:03:17. > :03:20.the moment. Is there any danger or possibility that the army might be
:03:21. > :03:23.called in to these events? We have heard from Prime Minister Yingluck
:03:24. > :03:29.Shinawatra saying she's open to them becoming involved. The Army has been
:03:30. > :03:33.very careful to stay out of it up until now. It hasn't given
:03:34. > :03:36.particularly strong support to the Prime Minister when she has asked
:03:37. > :03:41.for it. It has given the impression it doesn't want to be involved. If
:03:42. > :03:45.there were a clash between these people and the Prime Minister's
:03:46. > :03:49.supporters, that would be a pretext, potentially, for the Army
:03:50. > :03:55.to step in, but the government has been very careful to keep its own
:03:56. > :03:57.supporters away from this. These protesters have incredibly strong
:03:58. > :04:03.feelings that this is an illegitimate government. They are
:04:04. > :04:07.very passionate. But we don't see the millions of people who actually
:04:08. > :04:12.voted for this government. They have voted for them in five successive
:04:13. > :04:16.elections. You can understand why the Prime Minister is saying, why
:04:17. > :04:24.should I give up power? I am an elected prime minister. But over the
:04:25. > :04:26.last month or so, feelings have built-up that are incredibly strong,
:04:27. > :04:31.and they feel that they are justified, because they feel that
:04:32. > :04:44.democracy doesn't rein in the government 's enough. It doesn't
:04:45. > :04:47.prevent her and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, from having a grip on
:04:48. > :04:51.power. Several thousand protest is in the
:04:52. > :04:55.Ukrainian capital, Kiev, are continuing to block the main
:04:56. > :05:07.government building in a tense stand-off over the country's future.
:05:08. > :05:12.They are demanding the resignation of the President. Our correspondent
:05:13. > :05:16.has the latest from Kiev. On Independence Square, protesters
:05:17. > :05:19.have been busy putting up barricades all around here to stop police
:05:20. > :05:24.getting onto the square. They have been writing messages on the
:05:25. > :05:31.barricades. This one says, Ukraine for freedom. This is because the
:05:32. > :05:36.protesters here believe their future lies with Europe. They are deeply
:05:37. > :05:39.disappointed that their president refuses to sign the association
:05:40. > :05:44.agreement with the EU which would have wrought Ukraine closer to
:05:45. > :05:51.Brussels. As you can see, they are using anything they can get their
:05:52. > :05:54.hands on to use as barricades. A lot of the protesters here stayed the
:05:55. > :06:01.night here, and have been lighting fires to keep themselves warm. They
:06:02. > :06:05.are determined to stay here on Independence Square until their
:06:06. > :06:09.demands are met, and they are the resignation of the president and the
:06:10. > :06:14.Prime Minister. This is the centre of Independence Square. At the
:06:15. > :06:20.moment, quite a lot of people are milling around. That metal structure
:06:21. > :06:25.over there it is an artificial Christmas tree. The protesters have
:06:26. > :06:29.taken some of the metal from that to build up the barricades. There is a
:06:30. > :06:33.stage behind me and lots of Ukrainian flags, and also flags of
:06:34. > :06:38.the European Union. All through the night they had been making political
:06:39. > :06:42.speeches, singing Ukrainian songs, and demanding political change in
:06:43. > :06:48.Ukraine. With me now is the BBC's Ukraine
:06:49. > :06:54.analyst. It sounds like things are really ramping up in Kiev. We have
:06:55. > :06:59.barricades being setup on Independence Square. Things are
:07:00. > :07:03.building to a crescendo. Yes, we have all those elements, but we do
:07:04. > :07:08.not have political dialogue, because it is not clear what will come out
:07:09. > :07:13.of these protests. The numbers are very impressive, as are the slogans,
:07:14. > :07:16.but there is no dialogue whatsoever. President Yanukovych is
:07:17. > :07:23.unlikely to yield to the demands of his resignation. He will try to hold
:07:24. > :07:27.out as long as it takes. The root of this is a disagreement over whether
:07:28. > :07:33.or not Ukraine should sign this trade pack with the European Union.
:07:34. > :07:37.We saw some very explosive scenes over the weekend coming out of the
:07:38. > :07:43.government. Are we going to see any change of line on the part of
:07:44. > :07:47.Yanukovych and that? He says he sympathises with those who suffered
:07:48. > :07:52.after police very brutally attacked those sleeping during the night on
:07:53. > :07:55.Saturday. He says this isn't acceptable, but it isn't clear
:07:56. > :08:03.whether his voice will be heard. Ukraine is divided. There's lots of
:08:04. > :08:07.his supporters, particularly in eastern Ukraine. Western Ukraine is
:08:08. > :08:12.the opposite. Because Ukraine is divided, it gives the opportunity
:08:13. > :08:16.for the authorities to rely on their power base. But there is a positive
:08:17. > :08:21.outcome out of this division. It is very difficult to declare a state of
:08:22. > :08:25.emergency, and many politicians are urging the president to do that. It
:08:26. > :08:31.will not be possible to enforce this in a country as divided as Ukraine.
:08:32. > :08:35.It will be interesting to see how the authorities react, because those
:08:36. > :08:42.thousands of demonstrators seem to show no signs of leaving. The
:08:43. > :08:48.opposition leader was also involved in that protest. They do not show
:08:49. > :08:54.any signs of backing down. No. One danger in this stand-off is that,
:08:55. > :09:02.unlike in 2004 during the Orange Revolution, there are new groups,
:09:03. > :09:04.new kids on the block, and they are from anarchist groups, from
:09:05. > :09:12.right-wing groups, from nationalist groups, from radical occupying the
:09:13. > :09:16.streets movements. All of those groups may actually provoke police
:09:17. > :09:20.attacks. This is what happened yesterday, when the demonstrators
:09:21. > :09:26.and some dodgy groups tried to attack the presidential office.
:09:27. > :09:30.There was a very, very brutal stand-off with riot police. I think
:09:31. > :09:34.it is those groups who are to watch. If they are put under control, the
:09:35. > :09:40.situation could be resolved peacefully. If not, there could be
:09:41. > :09:44.more provocation. The latest I heard was that the Interior Minister is
:09:45. > :09:48.bringing in additional police reinforcements into Kiev, which
:09:49. > :09:58.doesn't sound very promising. Many thanks for coming in.
:09:59. > :10:02.In other news, US authorities have begun an investigation into the
:10:03. > :10:07.causes of Sunday's train crash in the Bronx area of New York. This is
:10:08. > :10:15.a live shot of the Giro commuter train. The accident kills four
:10:16. > :10:19.people and injured 60 more. The train's recorder has been recovered,
:10:20. > :10:27.and one of the carriages is currently being lifted up.
:10:28. > :10:32.A Canadian man has been arrested for allegedly trying to sell information
:10:33. > :10:36.about Canada's warship buying strategy to the Chinese government.
:10:37. > :10:41.He had worked for a firm involved in warship design.
:10:42. > :10:47.African ministers and experts are to meet today to try and find ways to
:10:48. > :10:51.stop a rise in the killing of elephants. Seizures of ivory
:10:52. > :10:56.destined for Asia have more than doubled in Africa in only four
:10:57. > :11:01.years, and the price for Ivory has risen sharply. Organisers of a
:11:02. > :11:05.three-day conference in Botswana hope to push countries to block
:11:06. > :11:10.imports. Croatians have voted to ban same-sex
:11:11. > :11:14.marriages. The referendum was proposed by a conservative group
:11:15. > :11:19.after the government gave gay couples limited rights. The ban is
:11:20. > :11:24.supported by the country's Roman Catholic charge. The Prime Minister
:11:25. > :11:30.called it sad and senseless. There's nothing to stop them holding
:11:31. > :11:36.hands or kissing, but if these two ever want to get married in Croatia,
:11:37. > :11:39.now there is a constitutional obstacle, despite their efforts at
:11:40. > :11:46.the ballot box. TRANSLATION: Want to be treated as
:11:47. > :11:50.all other Croatian citizens. But we are denied the right to marry, and
:11:51. > :11:56.are defined as second-class citizens. Croatia's Prime Minister
:11:57. > :12:04.was on their side. He tried and failed to block the vote in the
:12:05. > :12:08.courts. TRANSLATION: This is a sad and
:12:09. > :12:12.pointless referendum. Already next week or the week after we plan to
:12:13. > :12:16.pass a bill on common-law partnership, so there will be no
:12:17. > :12:21.negative consequences in that regard. The new Bill will bring only
:12:22. > :12:26.positive changes, and I hope this is the last time we have a referendum
:12:27. > :12:33.on an issue like this one. The vote came about after a campaign
:12:34. > :12:36.supported by the Catholic Church. 750,000 people signed the petition
:12:37. > :12:43.to force a referendum. The outcome was never in doubt. Catholic values
:12:44. > :12:46.and beliefs form a key part of Croat identity.
:12:47. > :12:51.TRANSLATION: I voted in favour. Since the earliest times, people
:12:52. > :12:55.have known that marriage is only between man and women, and I hope
:12:56. > :13:01.that God will help this referendum to succeed. Croatia appeared to be
:13:02. > :13:07.moving in a different direction to other Western Balkan countries when
:13:08. > :13:10.it joined the EU in July. Now, like its neighbours Serbia and
:13:11. > :13:18.Montenegro, it has a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
:13:19. > :13:23.Stay with us here on BBC World News. The young Romanians who have left
:13:24. > :13:30.their families for western Europe. Could thousands more be about to
:13:31. > :13:37.follow? In other news, seven factory workers
:13:38. > :13:45.have died in a fire at a Chinese garland factory in Tuscany, Italy.
:13:46. > :13:49.The fire started in a loft that the workers were using as a makeshift
:13:50. > :13:54.dormitory. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it has prompted
:13:55. > :13:59.questions about living conditions for factory workers in the city,
:14:00. > :14:02.which has become a centre for Chinese workers producing low-cost
:14:03. > :14:06.garments. When the fire swept through this
:14:07. > :14:10.Chinese run the factory, the workers are believed to have been asleep in
:14:11. > :14:14.a makeshift dormitory in the loft. Early on Sunday morning, and off
:14:15. > :14:23.duty police officer was passing by, and heard screaming inside.
:14:24. > :14:26.TRANSLATION: Chinese woman, wet and completely black due to the smoke,
:14:27. > :14:31.was telling me that there were many other people inside. She pointed to
:14:32. > :14:35.the highest part of the building. I tried to see, but the flames were so
:14:36. > :14:40.strong and the smoke was so pungent that it was difficult. As smoke
:14:41. > :14:46.billowed from the warehouse, fire crews arrived to battle the flames,
:14:47. > :14:52.but at least seven workers died. The building is in an industrial area in
:14:53. > :14:58.the Tuscan town. The town has been a strong hold of Italy's textile
:14:59. > :15:02.industry since the 12th century, but now local companies face tough
:15:03. > :15:09.competition from trying. The town has around 4000 Chinese factories.
:15:10. > :15:14.Most of the factories turned out clothing. Many illegal immigrants
:15:15. > :15:19.are thought to live and work in the factories, and every year, and
:15:20. > :15:23.number of businesses are shut down by the authorities. The president of
:15:24. > :15:28.Tuscany says some businesses in the region are in the hands of Chinese
:15:29. > :15:33.organised crime, and he has called for greater supervision.
:15:34. > :15:39.TRANSLATION: We need the national government and local institutions to
:15:40. > :15:43.find a way to work with China, to upgrade this industrial area, bring
:15:44. > :15:46.it to the surface, and make it a real industrial district where human
:15:47. > :15:52.rights are recognised. The cause of this fire is not yet known, but as
:15:53. > :15:56.the investigation begins, the tragedy will prompt questions about
:15:57. > :16:10.working conditions in the thousand of garment factories in this city.
:16:11. > :16:17.Welcome back. This is BBC World News. The latest headlines: The
:16:18. > :16:23.hostile mood in Bangkok after Thailand's prime minister refuses to
:16:24. > :16:28.resign. Some protesters are still on the street. And demonstrations are
:16:29. > :16:34.continuing in the Ukrainian capital as the President's opponents call
:16:35. > :16:37.for him to quit. A new team of chemical weapons
:16:38. > :16:40.inspectors starts work in Syria on Monday. They're civilians and have
:16:41. > :16:43.never worked inside an active war zone, so the US military has been
:16:44. > :16:47.preparing it with lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan. For this
:16:48. > :16:57.report, Anna Holligan has been given exclusive access to a US military
:16:58. > :17:01.training base in Germany. They are being prepared for what
:17:02. > :17:13.could be the worst day of their lives. Kidnappings, hostile locals,
:17:14. > :17:20.incoming fire... This is a taste of what they might encounter in Syria.
:17:21. > :17:25.We will be in an area where we might be in the wrong place at the wrong
:17:26. > :17:33.time, and we might get people shooting at us. These chemical
:17:34. > :17:37.analysts are entering an unpredictable environment. These
:17:38. > :17:43.soldiers on this uniquely modified military base have been trained to
:17:44. > :17:48.act like the enemy. This is a simulation, a training exercise, but
:17:49. > :17:52.it is designed to replicate the kind of situation they could face in
:17:53. > :17:57.Syria. These guys are experts in their field, experts and chemical
:17:58. > :18:05.weapons, but they have never been forced to operate inside inactive
:18:06. > :18:11.combat zone and if they make mistakes, people could die. The
:18:12. > :18:16.commander who has designed these exercises has drawn on his own
:18:17. > :18:20.experiences to try to teach the teams entering Syria how to
:18:21. > :18:26.recognise cultural sensitivities and avoid repeating mistakes of the
:18:27. > :18:33.past. For example, going into homes where only women were present, using
:18:34. > :18:38.dogs in villages. Absolutely, we take the most relevant and recent
:18:39. > :18:41.challenges facing our soldiers in combat environments and we insert
:18:42. > :18:48.them into the training scenarios that we do here. Their mission is to
:18:49. > :18:53.verify the chemical stockpiles before they can be removed and
:18:54. > :18:57.destroyed. This is how they are hoping it will proceed. But what
:18:58. > :19:04.makes a civilian volunteer to do such a dangerous job? I have seen
:19:05. > :19:09.pictures on television of the effects of these kinds of weapons,
:19:10. > :19:16.and it is easy for me as a father to look at the kids affected and to
:19:17. > :19:21.realise these weapons have to go. If I can do anything to help, with my
:19:22. > :19:30.skills, I am more than happy to help. The idea is that those skills
:19:31. > :19:36.with this training will keep them safe in Syria.
:19:37. > :19:39.For the last seven years, restrictions have been in place on
:19:40. > :19:45.people from Romania and Bulgaria wanting to go to other EU countries.
:19:46. > :19:47.In a month's time, those restrictions expire, and the
:19:48. > :19:50.political debate over the changes continues to be fierce. Bulgarians
:19:51. > :19:53.and Romanians gained the right to visa-free travel to the EU in 2007,
:19:54. > :19:58.when their countries joined the union. But in a number of countries,
:19:59. > :20:02.including Spain and the United Kingdom, restrictions were put in
:20:03. > :20:05.place on the type of jobs they could take. As of January, these
:20:06. > :20:09.restrictions will expire and there is expected to be an increase in
:20:10. > :20:13.migration. The fear in countries like the UK and Germany is that
:20:14. > :20:17.there will be an influx of people seeking to access social benefits.
:20:18. > :20:20.Another fear in many countries is a sudden demand on public health but
:20:21. > :20:27.it's hard to say just how significant the impact will be. Our
:20:28. > :20:30.Europe correspondent Matthew Price has been speaking to potential
:20:31. > :20:38.migrants in the north west of Romania, Transylvania. This is one
:20:39. > :20:48.of Europe's poorest countries and many wish to escape from here. Like
:20:49. > :20:55.the daughters of Johan - they went to Spain ten years ago. Every family
:20:56. > :21:02.in his town is said to have either someone either there or in Italy.
:21:03. > :21:08.The Romanian destinations of choice. TRANSLATION: Spain has more
:21:09. > :21:14.facilities. My daughters say they would like to come home one day, I
:21:15. > :21:24.would like them to. But some say that many young people now choose
:21:25. > :21:27.Britain. This man has already worked there on a building site. Even under
:21:28. > :21:31.the current restrictions, he and fellow countrymen were able to come
:21:32. > :21:34.to Britain and look for work. He says he thinks changing the rules
:21:35. > :21:38.will change little. By the time I went to the UK in 2006, I worked on
:21:39. > :21:52.a site where there were 70 Romanians and the company was Romanian. In an
:21:53. > :21:56.old communist-built cultural centre, a jobs fair to attract people to the
:21:57. > :22:03.west. Among them, Andrea, a dentist. Have you thought about working in
:22:04. > :22:14.England? Yes, but I decided that Ireland is better. Because you have
:22:15. > :22:17.friends there? Yes. People are looking for better wages and living
:22:18. > :22:21.conditions, and this migration has been going on for years now. It is
:22:22. > :22:29.impossible to predict whether the change in rules on January first
:22:30. > :22:33.will accelerate the process. Already though, this man has made his
:22:34. > :22:40.decision. When the regulations change, he will be able to apply for
:22:41. > :22:54.any job when the regulations change, and escape the low wages here. 200,
:22:55. > :23:00.maximum 300 euros per month. So when the rule changes come in on January
:23:01. > :23:07.the 1st, does that mean you try to go back to Britain? Yes. Getting out
:23:08. > :23:10.of here will get easier with the rule change, but many did not wait
:23:11. > :23:20.for this moment to migrate across Europe. They have already left and
:23:21. > :23:23.they are building lives elsewhere. In Australia, victims of the drug
:23:24. > :23:28.thalidomide have won a historic class action suit worth over 80
:23:29. > :23:32.million US dollars. The law suit was brought by more than 100 people in
:23:33. > :23:35.Australia and New Zealand who have had to live with birth defects after
:23:36. > :23:40.their mothers took thalidomide while pregnant over 50 years ago. Diageo
:23:41. > :23:43.PLC, which owns the company that originally distributed the drug,
:23:44. > :23:45.agreed to settle the class action, but the drug manufacturer,
:23:46. > :23:47.Grunenthal, and has still not paid any compensation. Every single
:23:48. > :23:51.Australian victim was actually damaged by a drug made by Grunenthal
:23:52. > :23:55.in Germany. Despite that, Grunenthal will not pay a cent to its
:23:56. > :23:58.Australian and New Zealand victims. 50 years on, Grunenthal will still
:23:59. > :24:10.not face up to its shameful behaviour in relation to that drug.
:24:11. > :24:13.China has launched its first moon rover mission, marking a major
:24:14. > :24:16.milestone in its space programme. The rover is being carried onboard
:24:17. > :24:19.an unmanned rocket which took off from a base in Southern China. It's
:24:20. > :24:23.expected to land on the moon and begin carrying out experiments by
:24:24. > :24:28.mid-December. Ben Ando has more. Atop the towering Long March rocket,
:24:29. > :24:41.China's first moon lander prepares for blastoff. The un-manned probe
:24:42. > :24:47.was launched from a military complex in south-west China. Officials at
:24:48. > :24:59.mission control say all went according to plan. According to
:25:00. > :25:06.Beijing control centre, the probe has successfully entered the's
:25:07. > :25:13.orbit. The lander is due to reach the moon and touched down in a
:25:14. > :25:17.fortnight. It is named after the mythical pet and will explore the
:25:18. > :25:22.lunar surface and seek out natural resources. China is only the third
:25:23. > :25:30.nation after the United States and the former USSR to send a mission to
:25:31. > :25:35.land on the moon since beginning its space programme ten years ago China
:25:36. > :25:40.has launched an orbiting module. China is also planning a permanent
:25:41. > :25:47.space station by 2020 and eventually to send astronauts to the Moon as
:25:48. > :25:50.well. Well, you could confidently say
:25:51. > :25:55.these pictures were taken on the fly. These are images from a video
:25:56. > :26:01.camera that's been snatched by a big bird in Australia. The camera then
:26:02. > :26:04.recorded the flight of the sea eagle that was carrying it - you can
:26:05. > :26:11.actually see it's wings flapping. It also pokes its head into the lens.
:26:12. > :26:14.It was a research camera that had been set up to record the behaviour
:26:15. > :26:24.of crocodiles in northwest Australia, until the eagle took it
:26:25. > :26:27.up, up and away. It then recorded a 100-kilometre journey across a
:26:28. > :26:31.remote Australian landscape. The rangers who were trying to get the
:26:32. > :26:40.crocodile footage say that from now on they'll bolt their cameras down.
:26:41. > :26:42.A reminder of our top story: The Thai Prime Minister has rejected
:26:43. > :26:44.opposition demands for her resignation as demonstrators
:26:45. > :26:49.continue violent protests outside government buildings. Yingluck
:26:50. > :26:52.Shinawatra said she was open to negotiations following a meeting
:26:53. > :26:55.with the protest leader on Monday but said the demand for the
:26:56. > :26:56.replacement of her government by an appointed council was
:26:57. > :27:02.unconstitutional.