03/12/2013 BBC World News

Hello, this is BBC World News. The top stories:

The case that rocked Russia's Bolshoi ballet.

One of its best-known soloist is sentenced 2.6 years in prison for

--sentenced 2.6 years in prison for organising an acid attack on its

artistic director. Upheaval in the world's most

secretive state, as the powerful uncle of North Korea's young leader

is removed from his post. The singer and songwriter Bob Dylan

is placed under judicial investigation in France for

allegedly provoking ethnic hatred. Signing songs for the hard of

hearing. We meet the interpreter making sure music is accessible to

all. Within the last few minutes, one of

the star dancers at the Bolshoi ballet in Moscow has been sentenced

to a prison sentence of six years, in a penal colony, for organising an

acid attack on his boss. The trial of PowerBuilder Dmitrichenko acid

attack laid bare the bitter rivalry backstage at one of the world most

famous ballets. It left soapy filling with permanent damage to

--it left surrogate Filin with permanent site damage. Famil

Ismailov, from the BBC's Russian Service. He has been sentenced 2.6

years, it was thought it was going to be nine. I think what has helped

him is the character witnesses, a lot of people from the Bolshoi has

said he is a good guy and an easy person to work with, but at the end

of the day, the acid attack actually happened, it is not like you can see

it never did, but I think it was taken into consideration. Yuri got

prison Zarutsky sentences and also, Mr Lipatov, for driving the car. It

has revealed the bitterness within the Bolshoi ballet and about how

people get the lead parts. There are lots of things going on behind the

scenes that you do not see. There have been cases where some dancers

have found broken glass in their dancing shoes, sometimes as bad as

that. We know that people have been passed over for promotion and passed

over for parts. Here we see Mr Filin, with bandages over his face.

The fact that we should see a lead dancer attacking him with acid...

Mister Dmitrichenko said he did not want that, he just wanted Yuri

Zarutsky to rough him up. But there was that intent. Yes, to get

physical with the person, as they saw it, but Yuri Zarutsky took it to

a different level. Be it money, sex or this, it shows a level of

vindictiveness about how you get the top part at the Bolshoi. It is hard

to believe, but at the Bolshoi, this is not just a theatre, it is iconic.

It is the biggest reputational loss for the Bolshoi, and also, being the

pet project of the Russian government, it will be really hard

for them to accept that the Bolshoi has this kind of problem. This is

now 11 months on since what happened in January. Is there any sign that

things have got a little more levelled at the Bolshoi? We have

seen changes at the top. We have seen people coming back and starting

to look at the problems, and Sergei Filin has come back, not working

full-time, but he is back. And we have seen the lead dancer leave the

theatre, the conductor has left the theatre this week, so we will

probably see some more resignations as well. Thank you very much. When

you meant backstabbing, you mention not literally with a knife, I must

say. The singer Bob Dylan is increasingly

hot water over remarks he made in an interview with Rolling Stone

magazine. He was quoted last year comparing Croatians to Nazis and the

Ku Klux Klan. French authorities say the comments are meant to racial

hatred and incitement and are pressing charges. The lawsuit was

originally taken out by a Croatian group, saying they did not want

monetary damages, just an apology. Other news this hour:

The US Vice President Joe Biden - at the start of a week in Asia - says

the US remains "deeply concerned" by China's new air defence zone in the

East China Sea. Mr Biden has been holding talks with

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Chinese Air Defence

Identification zone imposed nine days ago covers a series of small

islands which are claimed by China but controlled by Japan. Two people

have been killed in a crash involving dozens of cars in Belgium.

Police say the accident happened in the morning rush-hour when dense fog

was covering the A19 highway. Many more have been injured.

Motorists in South Africa w ill from today have to pay to use some of the

country's busiest roads. The new electronic toll system covers

motorways in Gauteng province. That includes two of the country's

biggest cities - Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. It's been

deeply unpopular with commuters. But the Government says it's the only

way to help improve the country's infrastructure and meet social

needs. Let's go to Thailand, where the

leader of the anti-government protest has told his supporters they

have won a partial victory. But he said the campaign to drive the Prime

Minister from power must continue. Earlier, riot police in the capital

Bangkok diffused an increasingly bitter series of confrontations.

They dismantled barriers protecting key government buildings, then they

let protesters go right up to the gates of the Prime Minister's office

inside the compound. Mrs Shinawatra herself was not there. Is this the

end of the protest or just a lull? My colleague is outside government

has as protesters were dispersing. That is the key question, whether

what we are experiencing is simply a lull. There is a key date coming up

later this week, it is the King's birthday, his 86th birthday and

there is no question of there being any trouble on that day, so it is

possible but behind the scenes, something has been negotiated, some

sort of lull in the confrontation out of respect for the king. As you

mention, I am behind government House, the demonstrators have left

and what is left is a few of the Army officers who remain there after

the protest is left. Their presence made sure that the protesters did

not go inside the building itself, just a small rally on the grass

outside. What is your assessment of the Prime

Minister, lin like Shinawatra, and the Government and the position they

are taking, including the instructions they have issued to the

police and the army. Putting to one side what the

protesters are saying, they are saying they achieved a victory by

getting into the buildings, many are actually seeing the tactics deployed

by the Prime Minister as successful. Throughout this, they said there

will be no confrontation in terms is using force against the

demonstrators and for the most part, bad happened. There has been

quite a lot of praise for the way the riot police have handled

demonstrations, so when people reflect on what has happened over

the past few weeks, they may in fact quite admire the way the Government

has handled this. They have stopped this turning into a bloodbath. In

2010, lots of people died when it was attempted to violently and

street demonstrations in Bangkok. Jonah Fisher outside six government

Cal -- government has. Let's go to one of the protesters. What did you

feel when you went into the Government complex but the police

let you in? Yes, the police let us in. We did not see them, but there

have been some rumours that people saw police vans outside the

Government complex. What I am trying to Askew is what do you feel now --

ask you which mark the authorities are saying, come on in. It was

really odd, yesterday I was in the front line and they were shooting

tear gas, it was chaos. But today, it seems really peaceful, which is

odd. Maybe the Government is trying to pull some trick, we don't know

yet. Do you have confidence in the Government now or do you think this

is just a way of keeping calm during the King's celebrations in the next

couple of days? I think so too, because it is really odd. It is

really odd, because... Hello? Hello, I am listening. Why'd you say it is

odd? Because it was chaos a few days ago and today it is peaceful. It is

likely trying to pull some trick. What about this being a very smart

moment when the Prime Minister is saying, I want dialogue, I don't

want confrontation, I am not sending in the police, and eventually

persuading your leaders that they have got to talk, rather than

expecting confrontation? I am sorry, what was that again? Could this be a

smart move by the Prime Minister, who says she wants dialogue and does

not want to use the police and the Army, she is saying let's talk? From

my point of view, there is nothing to talk about. We are trying to end

the regime, but they keep saying we should talk, because they will not

resign. Even though, on the 24th, 2 million of us came out, they are

still there. Thank you very much, live from a phone on Government

House and you could hear a large number of people still around him.

Let's go to the Korean peninsula, where reports from the South say the

uncle of the North Korean leader Kim Yong and has been removed from

office. Chang Song-taek has been dismissed from his position as

vice-chairman of North Korea's National defence commission,

according to intelligence agencies in the south. Mr Chang was one of

the key advisers in hand over to power and is married to the of Kim

Jong-un. I asked Lucy Williamson what this indicated.

Well, the first question, of course, is is it true? You are right about

intrigue. Seeing into the internal politics of North Korea is virtually

impossible from outside the country and certainly, South Korean

intelligence agencies have not always got it right in the past, so

we should bear that in mind. Very difficult to assess the evidence

they are using. These are reports that have come out of a briefing

that the agency gave to parliamentarians, so it is very

difficult to work out whether these reports are true or even how likely

they are to be true. Having said that, if they are true, this is

quite important news. Chang Song-taek is definitely a key figure

within that North Korean hierarchy. He was one of the people who walked

beside Kim Jong-un as he accompanied his father's coughing as it made its

way through the streets up Yong Yang two years ago -- coffin. He was then

seen to grow and become a key adviser to the young leader and has

held some senior posts in the party and the military, so definitely an

all-round influence, at least until now, we are told. Has he been

replaced, as far as we know? We have not heard anything from

inside North Korea. And in fact, as far as we can make it from the dribs

and drabs of information that has come out from the Parliamentary

briefing in the south, it is the fact that two of his close aides

have been executed that have led the intelligence agency to think he has

been removed. They were publicly executed and that news was

disseminated and Mr Chang has not been seen in public since, they say,

which has led them to conclude that he has been removed from one of his

posts. Now, let me give you a snapshot of

how the world is educating its children. It has just been

published. Once again, East Asia is leading the way. Every three years,

the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development looks

at maths, science and reading skills of 15-year-olds. Here are the top

five ranked countries. China and Hong Kong, although they are one

country, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. The competition between them

is inspiring each of them to get even better and they are opening a

gap on the achievements of other nations. Meanwhile, the tiny Baltic

nations of the study is one of the highest ranked Western states at

number nine, well ahead of the UK at 22, the USA at 29, Russia at 38 and

Brazil at 57. The economic 22, the USA at 29, Russia at 38 and

Brazil at 57. The powerhouse of Latin America is ranked 57 out of a

total 65 countries. So what is it like in third ranked Singapore? We

asked our correspondent to find out the secret of its success.

I'm here at the global international Indian school, the school is in

session, the cricket team are resting from a strenuous practice,

and the focus here in Singapore is on the school system. Singapore

consistently ranks very well in these OECD rankings of international

schools. In 2009, in the last poll, Singaporean students were second in

mathematics, fourth in science and fifth in reading. So what is it

about Singapore and other Asian countries, the likes of South Korea,

China? Shanghai had top marks last time around and Hong Kong, how do

they create these exemplary students quit me now is a member of the

Singapore National Institute of education. Where do you think

Singapore takes the right boxes? Singapore as a society values

education. Parents and the government value education, we have

not cut back on the education budget. We look for very good

teachers and look at professional development of teachers and leaders.

So that the school is a safe environment.

Working very hard, do you think there is undue pressure being put on

these kids at a very young age? We are trying to address a mind set

that examination results are the only way to success in life. We are

signalling a broader definition of success.

The other criticism often levelled here is that they can't think out of

the box, they aren't creative, is that a valid criticism?

They are creative people, more importantly is that we should assume

they have the creativity, and allow their creativity to flourish through

our education processes, instead of killing that creativity through our

education efforts. The secret to academic success in

Singapore. Still to come. Does the Battle of

the sexes begin in the brain? A new study confirms men and women's wines

are wired in very different ways. -- minds.

When slavery was abolished in Brazil, many former slaves came

together to start their own communities. But their descendants

are now being threatened with eviction because the sites have no

legal basis. Over 60 families live here. They say

their African ancestors were brought to work in sugar cane fields up to

200 years ago. This tree is one of the oldest here. Residents say it

grew around a pole where slaves were tied and beaten. The chain still

remains. TRANSLATION: According to our elders, this is where our

ancestors were whipped, where our old men suffered. And it elected a

refund of fruit trees and fertile soil, but people living here say

they can't plant on the land until they get the property titles they

are fighting for. The constitution says these people are entitled to

this land they have historically occupied, but they have been

threatened with eviction by the military who have built a base here

in the 1950s. TRANSLATION: Because the area is

strategic for national-security, part of Brazil's largest, second

largest navy base. It has great importance for Brazil and the Navy.

The state has offered the community 28 sectors of land in the area. --

hectors. But the family claim they are entitled to ten times as much.

This president says she used to harvest this area to feed her

family. She has ten children and five grandchildren. TRANSLATION: Now

whatever we plant the Navy takes. I tell my children God will give us

this land title. You will have as much land as you want.

Many families have left in the past decade. These are the ones still

resisting, never losing hope of holding their ground.

The latest headlines. A lead dancer in Russia's Bolshoi Ballet is

sentenced to six years in prison for organising an acid attack on its

artistic director. Thai protesters are allowed into the

government's headquarters. But their leader says it's only a partial

victory. The civil war in Syria has produced

atrocities on both sides. For the first time, the United Nations Human

Rights Commissioner has implicated President Bashar Al-Assad personally

in war crimes inside his country. Navi Pillay says investigations by

her staff have uncovered evidence that leads right to the top of the

Syrian government. From New York, Nada Tawfik reports.

This is the brutal reality of war in Syria. Regime forces were reportedly

targeting a rebel base but instead, hit market, killing 20. Then, there

is the unseen violence. The United Nations human rights commission Navi

Pillay said the scale and viciousness of abuse in Syria almost

defied belief. Her commission of enquiry found both sides had

committed human rights violations, but those by the Syrian government

were on a much greater scale. In the report, it outlined their view that

the facts point to the commission of very serious crimes, war crimes,

crimes against humanity. They point to the fact that the

evidence indicates this possibility at the highest level of government,

including the head of state. This is the first time she has directly

implicated President Assad is a warm cried subs -- war crimes suspect.

She said the list of suspects -- names would undergo further

investigation. But the deputy Foreign Minister in Syria dismissed

the comments. She has been talking nonsense for a

long time and we don't listen to it. Those accused of war crimes are

unlikely to face charges at The Hague. Syria is not a party to the

International Criminal Court, so a referral from the Security Council

is needed. There is no statute of limitations on war crimes which

gives UN officials hope that one day there will be justice for the

victims. To Ukraine, where the Prime Minister

has claimed he sees "all the signs of a coup" following violent pro-EU,

anti-government demonstrations. At the heart of the protests is whether

Ukraine should look east or west to bail it out of near national

bankruptcy. To one side, the European Union: Eight years of

negotiation have brought the promise of political and economic

integration. That was due to be formalised at last Friday's EU

summit in Vilnius. President Yanukovych was there. Its

enticement? Economic measures and, cheaper, more reliable supplies of

oil and gas. President Putin even warned, during a trip to Armenia,

which also refused to sign an EU agreement, that events in Kiev are

not a revolution. He described them as a "pogrom", a highly emotive word

used to describe organised violence directed against minorities. The EU

issue is therefore re-opening Ukraine's longstanding pro and

anti-Russia divide, as each side tries to point the country in their

preferred direction. The Prime Minister has now

apologised for the heavy The BBC's Daniel Sanford reports from Kiev.

Handedness of the security forces. We are at the Ukrainian parliament,

very much the focus of the situation today, as the deputies meet here in

crisis session. The parliament building is surrounded by riot

police, with extra police on stand-by with their riot shields.

The reason for that is, over here, thousands of demonstrators are on

the streets, making their voice known. They have come up the square

where they spent the night, and right outside the parliament,

calling on the deputies to push this government to resign. That is the

simple demand of protesters, for the prime minister to resign and the

president, and fresh elections. They feel they have lost confidence this

government, by the fact it has stepped away from signing the

agreement with the European Union. The people in this crowd want to see

Ukraine is going towards the European Union, but, the government

representing a substantial proportion of Ukrainian society

means that there are many people in eastern Ukraine who feel closer to

Russia than to Europe. And that is the split in Ukrainian society.

For many concert-goers in Germany, Laura Schwengber is a star of the

stage. But you won't find her singing or playing an instrument.

Laura is a sign language interpreter who reads the mood, lyrics and tone

of songs. She brings them to life for people with hearing impairments.

We went to a concert in Potsdam, near Berlin to see her at work.

I start with the text and I translated into German sign

language. Then I take the rhythm, the music. Music, for me, is a

passion. You feel something when you hear music. I want to translate that

the deaf people. Translating everything.

Deaf people came to me and said, I was never interested in concert at

all because I obviously can't hear them. I go there with my friends,

they are hearing and they tell me a bit. But we never go together to

talk about it. But now, they say, we went there, and we have gone home

and really talked with each other about it.