13/01/2014 BBC World News

This is BBC World News. Our top stories: The body of Ariel Sharon,

Israel's former prime minister, is taken to his family farm, where he

will be buried with full honours. As Iran announces the date when it

will freeze its nuclear programme, the ruler of Dubai tells the BBC it

is time sanctions against Iran are lifted.

After a mass rally by the Thai opposition shuts down central

Bangkok the government says it is willing to discuss postponing

elections. And what now for France's first

couple? Valerie Trierweiler is due to leave hospital after treatment

for stress following claims that President Hollande has been having

an affair. A memorial service has been held

injuries and for the former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. He

died aged 85 on Saturday after eight years in a coma. The service was

held outside the Israeli parliament. Ariel Sharon will be

buried shortly with full military honours at the family ranch in

southern Israel. To many Israelis, Ariel Sharon was a military hero who

fought in four was. But many Palestinians considered him a

warmonger. Israeli politicians and world leaders have been paying

tribute to him today as a major figure in Israel's history. The

president, Shimon Peres, said Ariel Sharon was a military legend. The

country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his contribution was

engraved in Israel's historical writings, and US Vice President Joe

Biden said the security of the Israeli people had been Ariel

Sharon's unwavering mission. Joe's relationship with the United States.

There were times when he acted, and those actions earned him a

controversy and even condemnation. In certain instances, American

leaders, American presidents, had profound differences with him. There

were never shy about stating them, nor was he ever shy about stating

his position. As I said, from my observation, he was a complex man.

But to understand him better, it is important that history will judge

that he also lived in complex times in a very complex neighbourhood. It

was to show wrong's death has revived questions about what he was

planning at the time he had his stroke in January 2006. The summer

before, he had pulled Israeli settlers out of Palestinian Gaza.

Some Israelis believe he would then have withdrawn settlers from what of

the West Bank. Ehud Olmert, who succeeded Sharon as Israel's prime

minister, is one of them. I am absolutely certain that he would

have acted to separate Israel from the Palestinians to the utmost,

which means that Israel would have pulled out from most of the

territories. Some people say Ariel Sharon had a change of heart towards

the end of his political life, urges why he pulled settlers out of Gaza.

Or do you think he was really always the same person, but using different

tactics? I think Sharon was much more practical than people thought.

He was not an ideological person. That is why they used to call him a

Labour man, which meant that he did not cherish the holiness of the

territory as such. But he thought the territories were essential for

the security of the state of Israel. When he found out that the security

of the state of Israel perhaps could be served better by not being in all

of those territories, he then drew the inevitable conclusions. It was

not a matter of ideology. The ideology was the security of

Israel, and he found that the best way was to separate Israel from the

Palestinians. What about the actions with which Sharon's actions are

associated abroad, the killings in the refugee camps and the subsequent

enquiry. He had to resign. And the raid into Gaza and the West Bank in

the 50s, which means that Palestinians looked on him very

differently, and saw him as a butcher with blood on his hands?

Well, the Palestinians view him in this way. We look at some listing is

in a much worse way. -- we look at Palestinians in a worse way. They

killed many more innocent Israelis. What about the fact that those

episodes in Mr Sharon's political career, many people believe, brought

Israel into disrepute around the world and put a black mark on his

head? Look, the circumstances in which we had to fight against

terrorist organisations required measures which are unpleasant and

sometimes lead you to do things you are not happy about. So while Sharon

may have committed mistakes, when you look at his overall record of

what he did as a warrior in the wars that were imposed on Israel, in

1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, you must give him great credit as one of the

greatest Jewish fighters in modern times.

Ehud Olmert, speaking to Jeremy Bowen with his view of Mr Sharon,

who has been buried today. In other news, one person has been

killed and up to 400 homes have been damaged by a powerful storm in

Tonga. Cyclone Ian hit the islands with gusts of up to 280 kilometres

at the weekend. Officials say relief efforts have been concentrated on

the Ha'apai islands in the south and the Vava'u islands to the north.

A bushfire has killed one man and there are four others missing as it

swept through a residential area on the outskirts of the Western

Australian city of Perth. Temperatures in the region have

soared to more than 40 Celsius. The appeals court in Cambodia has

freed a Russian tycoon who is wanted by the authorities in Moscow.

Authorities have accused Sergei Polonsky for embezzling millions of

dollars. The judges ruled that he could not be extradited to Russia,

as he faces separate assault charges in Cambodia.

Now that Iran's deal is in place, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed

bin Rashid al Makhtoum, has called on the international community to

lift sanctions against Iran. He rarely gives interviews, but with

the emirate hosting Expo 2020 that it is rebounding strongly after the

near collapse during the world financial crisis, he has been

speaking to my colleagues. Welcome to Dubai, where behind me,

you can see the boats that ply their trade between here and Iran

regularly. The trade between Iran and Dubai used to be worth about $20

billion, but since sanctions were introduced, that has been reduced to

five billion dollars. So it is this a prize that Dubai wants to see the

sanctions lifted. They said there must be guarantees that Iran's

nuclear programme is peaceful. In a rare interview, I sat down with

Sheikh Mohammed. Do you believe the time is now ripe

to lift sanctions against Iran? I think so. Give Iran space. Iran is

our neighbour. We don't want any problems. They agree with America

and America agrees. If they lift the sanctions, everybody will benefit.

We suffered from the sanctions on Iran. But to be clear, Iran has done

enough in your mind that the sanctions should be lifted? I think

so, if they allow people to go and look at their nuclear work and they

are not making nuclear weapons, because that would be dangerous for

me also. But if they are not, it should be lifted slowly and fairly.

So you believe them when they say that their nuclear ambitions are

purely for civilian nuclear power? I saw their leader and I asked him,

are you building nuclear weapons? He said, what would I do? If I had the

means of transporting these weapons to Israel, how many Palestinians

would I kill? The Europeans and Americans would finish my cities in

Iran. He said, I am not crazy to go for that. They are weapons of the

past. Can President Assad stay in power? Somebody asked me about

Syria. I said it will take a long time. But if you kill your people,

you cannot stay. I hope there will be a peaceful solution and a new

elected government will come. So because he has killed his people, he

will go eventually? Eventually, he will go, yes. Do you believe you

ought to be offering any support, financially or militarily, or are

you, to the Free Syrian Army? We are supporting the people of Syria who

are in Jordan or Turkey. We are helping those. But the free army, we

don't know, because there are some extremists and you don't know how

many groups of people are now in Syria. You hear that some groups are

fighting each other. So you don't want to do what Qatar or Saudi

Arabia have done? No, our foreign policy is different. We try to help

and not to interfere. I just want to talk a bit about Dubai and the

criticisms that have been made about your country's human rights record.

We have just had a case of an American who has just been released

from prison who made a spoof video about youth culture, and he was put

in prison for several months. Why? We have a law. If the Muslim

Brotherhood want to stay and work, they are OK. If they want to go

extreme, we have a law for that. But the kids said, I have nothing wrong.

We have no idea what our crime was. We had no idea what we would be in

prison for. We were not told what our crime was until five months

after we were taken in. For a modern country which you strive to be, is

that satisfactory? No, we try to change it. We are not perfect. Any

mistake, we try to change it. We are not perfect, but we are doing our

best. A nine-year-old Afghan girl who was

found wearing a suicide vest has told the BBC she knew she would die

if she followed her family's wishes and attacked a police station in

Helmand province. The girl, known as Spozhmai, is now living in

protective custody, having said she would kill herself if she was forced

to return to her family. TRANSLATION: The same thing will

happen again. They have told me before, if you don't do it this

time, we will make you do it again. I did all the things at home. I

cooked and cleaned the house. They would treat me badly, as if I was a

slave. My brother told me, you are here in this world and you will

die. You are not here to learn or to do other things.

The type reminisced, Yingluck Shinawatra, has offered to meet

opponents and has been the general election scheduled for February the

2nd. The offer comes as thousands of protesters take to the streets of

Bangkok, bringing the city to a standstill.

It is interesting. It shows that this story is moving, spite the

sense of deep and protract the political deadlock. Prime minister

Yingluck Shinawatra has offered to meet the opposition leader to talk

about the possibility of postponing the election. She just is that they

should meet this Wednesday. But we understand that that overture or has

been rejected. As he has said all along, the opposition leader is

staying firm to his main demand. He says these protesters will stay on

the streets, shutting down Bangkok until the prime minister goes.

The first lady of France, Valerie Trierweiler, is expected to leave

hospital later today after spending the weekend receiving treatment for

what her staff have described as a severe case of the blues. She was

admitted on Friday after a celebrity magazine published allegations that

her partner, President Francois Hollande, is having an affair with

an actress. Today the French Foreign Minister has said the private life

of the president is just that, private.

Christmas with invited children at Elysee Palace. The last time Valerie

Trierweiler was seen in public. On Friday, it appears that she suffered

some kind of take-down, requiring her to be hospitalised over the

weekend, officially for rest and tests. The cause can only have been

this, a report in close the magazine that her partner, President Francois

Hollande, has been conducting a secret liaison at a flat literally

round the corner from the Elysee Palace, with an actress. Valerie

Trierweiler, a journalist, has been at files one: 's side for the last

seven years. It was for her but he left the politician Segolene Royal.

In his election campaign, she paid a key supporting role. He often looked

to her for advice. How their relationship has changed he became

president is a matter of speculation. It was rumoured that

they became increasingly estranged, but in France, reporting of such

matters is minimal. But now there is pressure on the Elysee Palace to

clarify matters. We are told Valerie Trierweiler will leave hospital

shortly . Where she goes after that, back to the Elysee Palace or

not, is a key question. Stay with us on BBC World News.

Still to come: A positive sign from Syria? The US

Secretary of State says the Assad regime is considering allowing

humanitarian access to besieged rebel areas.

This week, Egyptians will vote in a referendum on a new constitution.

It's the first vote since the military ousted the Islamist

president Mohamed Morsi last July. The poll is seen by many as a

referendum on the popularly-backed coup. Orla Guerin has been speaking

to the veteran Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa. She asked him how important

the vote is for Egypt. There have been successive

transitional periods since January 2011, so now we want to put an end

to that and into a stable period with elected institutions and a new

constitution. One of the major objections to the constitution has

been that it still keeps the provision for civilian is being

brought before military trials. For many people, this is not an aquatic.

In cases where civilians will be tried before those courts, well,

specifically mentioned, I, like many others, like the majority of us, we

are against trying civilians before military courts. But in those

specific cases, the three cases that have been mentioned in this article,

they have taken into consideration the current situation, the actual

situation, the events in the country that have to be dealt with in a

specific way. You have said this constitution will promote a modern

and democratic country but how can that be when the Minister of Defence

is not going to be chosen by the President, it is going to be chosen

by the Army? Look, the names will be offered, will be presented by the

high command. For eight years, for two presidential terms, it is not a

matter of principle but as a matter under the present circumstances. But

do you accept there is disappointment from some who believe

this document is not delivering on the revolution of 2011? Yes, I

understand there are people who oppose the constitution all who

expressed their disapproval of this or that article and there are many

who say, OK, it will be the constitution in its totality. It is

a good document, an acceptable one, and we are going to vote for it.

This is BBC world News. Family and friends, as well as world leaders,

gather for Ariel Shrum's funeral, in southern Israel. -- Ariel Sharon.

And Mohammed Sheikh Inda by has called for sanctions to be lifted as

a finalising the deal related to Iran's nuclear programme.

New developments now on the crisis in Syria. The American Secretary of

State, John Kerry, says that Syria is considering opening humanitarian

access to besieged rebel areas in the run-up to peace talks in Geneva

later this month. Mr Kerry was speaking in Paris after a meeting

with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and the UN Envoy, Lakhdar

Brahimi. A short while ago, Mr Kerry said all the key issues, including a

cease-fire, had been discussed. Talk today about the possibility of

trying to encourage a cease-fire. Maybe a localised cease-fire,

beginning with Aleppo. And both of us have agreed to try to work to see

if that could be achieved. The opposition has already agreed that

if the Assad regime were willing to declare that, they would live up to

it and they are prepared to do that. We also discussed the possibility of

prisoner exchanges. And we have discussed that with the opposition.

The opposition has declared that they are prepared to put together

lists, they are prepared to entertain such an exchange.

Finally, we discussed the all-important issue of humanitarian

access. I am pleased to say that the Prime Minister indicated he is in

conversations with the regime and that the regime may be prepared to

open up a number of areas, specifically an area we have been

pushing for for some time, and it may be possible now for convoys to

access this area. The proof, as we say, is in the pudding.

With me now is Edgard Jallad from the BBC Arabic Service. The first is

possibility for access to humanitarian areas. We still have no

reaction from the position in what the superpowers are doing on ago

shooting because they are still debating the possibility of

attending Geneva. These messages, described as positive, were sent to

Geneva ahead of the discussions. But is it not extremely hard to get

access because of the number of groups involved? Yes, that is why

they are talking about a localised area where they could have just some

control. We're not talking about a cease-fire to cover the whole

country, because especially in the North... There are some areas which

are easier for the opposition to control and negotiate than other

areas and are sure our Assad knows this very well and he wants to look

like you's the positive person in these negotiations and send a clear

message that, I want peace. -- and President Assad knows this very well

and wants to look like he pronoun is the positive person. It has been

warned that if the crisis continues any longer it will definitely affect

the neighbouring countries and many are already affected. What is he

saying? What is the message? He is trying to convince everyone that it

is of your interest and, especially, for example, Iran, Lebanon, because

the Iranian Foreign Minister is in Beirut today and he is going to Iraq

after that, so there is some action taking place in order to convince

everyone and all the countries that could be affected by this situation

in Syria or influence things in Syria to follow a more positive

track regarding peace or trying to negotiate things peacefully. When

you stand back and look at where we are in Syria, we start a new year,

2014, what is the state of play in terms of who controls which parts of

the country and who has the most power? This is maybe one of the most

complicated questions one could ask! There were divisions between

groups and areas so the situation is very complicated and that is why

there are some question marks regarding the possibility of

reaching a cease-fire, even after Geneva, too, because, who will

decide the cease-fire in these areas? And nothing is clear on the

ground on the opposition side. Thank you very much indeed.

As the global population grows, cities are coming under increasing

strain to find places for everyone to live. Mumbai is no exception, but

one group of developers has come up with a novel solution. They've built

a new town from scratch to offer an alternative, and our correspondent

Yogita Limaye went to see what's on offer.

Nestled in a valley 200 kilometres south-east of Mumbai, this is a

planned Hilltown ELT by a private company. It's look is distinctly

European and a far cry from the hustle and bustle of regular Indian

cities. This man is one of 1000 people who have moved inside. He

works at the hotel management institute just a short walk away

from home. He says he is glad to have left Delhi. It is an absolute

mess, and absolute chaos. It is nothing but ordinary to live in. You

have got to be superhuman with a super amount of patients to live in

a Metro city! Everything here, including sanitation, water and

electricity, is managed by the company behind the town, rather than

a government entity. Residents pay a maintenance fee. The land used to be

owned by 18 villages, and, for now, the village councils still have some

say in matters. But it has had its share of problems, too. A few years

ago it had to stop work over allegations of breaking

environmental rules. The company has denied this and the court case is

still under way. But construction has been allowed to continue. At

present, the people buying into this town are mostly those looking for a

second home or a place to retire. But when all of this construction is

complete, the idea is to get businesses, medical facilities and

schools set up so people can actually live and work here. Cities

like Mumbai are bursting at the seams, as people come in search of

work. Resources like energy, water and housing are proving inadequate.

So there is a need to create new urban centres. But will these new

cities be accessible to everyone? The towns as it does plan to build

affordable homes, too, but programme has been -- the programmes have been

slowed by the economic downturn, and it still has a long way to go,

building be in for structure and getting people to put their faith in

a privately run city. -- holding the infrastructure.

We're just going to leave you with these live pictures from Israel as

the country prepares for the funeral ceremony for their former Prime

Minister and are -- Army General Ariel Sharon on. The coughing is en

route but the funeral is due to start very shortly. The final

journey is to the sycamore branch, very close to Gaza, and he will be

buried beside his wife, Lily, who died in 2000. There was a memorial

service injuries in this morning outside Parliament, with Israelis

and Palestinians remembering Ariel Sharon on in very different ways, of

course. A very controversial figure. Much more on that throughout the

day. Thank you for being with us.