:00:09. > :00:17.Hello. I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy with BBC World News.
:00:18. > :00:21.Our top stories: On the eve of Syrian peace talks, President
:00:22. > :00:36.Assad's government accused of systematically torturing and
:00:37. > :00:44.executing thousands. A car bomb blast in the Lebanese
:00:45. > :00:49.capital Beirut. At least four are feared dead in a stronghold of the
:00:50. > :00:53.Shia Hezbollah movement. A suicide bomber detonated himself, causing
:00:54. > :00:54.the vehicle to be completely wrecked.
:00:55. > :00:58.Anti-government protesters continue their stand-off in Ukraine as Russia
:00:59. > :01:13.warns the situation could get out of control.
:01:14. > :01:21.Hello and welcome. With just one day before the start of peace talks on
:01:22. > :01:23.Syria, a team of international war crimes prosecutors and forensic
:01:24. > :01:26.scientists says it's seen direct evidence of the systematic torture
:01:27. > :01:30.and execution of detainees in Syrian government facilities. The experts
:01:31. > :01:37.examined photographs of 11,000 people killed in just one location
:01:38. > :01:39.since the start of the uprising. The images are said to document
:01:40. > :01:43.starvation, beatings and strangulation. 55,000 photographs
:01:44. > :01:52.were reportedly smuggled out of Syria by a defector. Damascus has
:01:53. > :01:54.denied claims of abuse. The team was commissioned to examine the evidence
:01:55. > :01:58.on the instructions of the government of Qatar, which supports
:01:59. > :02:02.the Syrian rebels. I spoke to Sir Desmond De Silva, a former war
:02:03. > :02:14.crimes prosecutor and one of the authors of this report. We first got
:02:15. > :02:18.the defector whom we codenamed Caesar to give his own account,
:02:19. > :02:25.which he did. Then he was questioned over a period of three days, and we
:02:26. > :02:29.were meticulous to see whether he sought to exaggerate anything,
:02:30. > :02:33.whether he sought to overplay anything, in fact it was the
:02:34. > :02:43.reverse. He could have so easily lied and said, yes, I did see
:02:44. > :02:48.executions, I did see beatings. What did he say? The position was that
:02:49. > :02:53.people were held in different detention centres by different arms
:02:54. > :02:58.of the state. They were killed in those detention centres, hideously,
:02:59. > :03:03.many of them. They were brought to a central point, a military hospital.
:03:04. > :03:08.I'm not going to tell you where the military hospital was, but I do
:03:09. > :03:14.know, and there it fell to him to take photographs of these bodies. He
:03:15. > :03:24.was somebody who had previously been in effect a photographer of crime
:03:25. > :03:30.scenes, but after the onset of the Civil War there was a change in his
:03:31. > :03:35.occupation, in the sense that all he had to do now, and was called upon
:03:36. > :03:42.to do with his colleagues, was to photograph those who were killed,
:03:43. > :03:47.who were brought to the central point when they were documented. The
:03:48. > :03:51.reason for the documentation is the when a regime gave an order that
:03:52. > :03:56.someone should be killed, they wanted photographs of the bodies to
:03:57. > :04:00.ensure they have been. That's why this is a particularly significant
:04:01. > :04:09.piece of evidence that takes the responsibility up the ladder.
:04:10. > :04:18.Everything that fell from his lips, we felt, was truthful, honest, and
:04:19. > :04:25.wholly in keeping with the scientific evidence to be seen
:04:26. > :04:30.within the photographs. 11,000 people killed in just one place,
:04:31. > :04:36.whether that was a city, or the scale of the area you cannot give,
:04:37. > :04:43.this is over a three-year period. You have talked about the sense of
:04:44. > :04:51.an industrial scale of killing. This will obviously draw parallels with
:04:52. > :04:56.terrible historical abuses. Yes, the images I sort of starved bodies were
:04:57. > :05:08.reminiscent of pictures one saw coming out of Auschwitz and Belsen
:05:09. > :05:13.after the Second World War. They had been tortured as well, and it was
:05:14. > :05:19.hideous to see the images, some people with eyes gouged out, others
:05:20. > :05:26.strangulated and burned and so on and so forth. Beatings were so
:05:27. > :05:36.regular that the vast number of the pictures revealed the terrible
:05:37. > :05:40.beatings these people suffered. The report has come out just ahead of
:05:41. > :05:45.the conference tomorrow which will discuss the future of Syria, and it
:05:46. > :05:49.looks increasingly likely to go ahead as planned, that's following a
:05:50. > :05:55.last-minute change of heart over whether Iran should take part. The
:05:56. > :05:59.United Nations hastily withdrew its invitation to Iran after objections
:06:00. > :06:05.from the Syrian opposition. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey
:06:06. > :06:17.Lavrov has said that change of heart was a mistake. Iran is being
:06:18. > :06:29.demanded to constant to the conditions -- concent to the
:06:30. > :06:35.conditions. This is not very graceful, as I see it. If we take a
:06:36. > :06:39.criteria stated in the Geneva communique, then several dozens of
:06:40. > :06:46.countries should not be invited at all because all of them support the
:06:47. > :06:51.regime change. This is how I see the situation. Another event thought to
:06:52. > :06:57.be linked to events in Syria is in Lebanon, where a car bomb has
:06:58. > :07:00.exploded in a busy suburb in the capital of Beirut. At least four
:07:01. > :07:12.people are believed to have been killed. The attack happened in the
:07:13. > :07:15.densely-populated Haret Hreik district which has been the target
:07:16. > :07:18.of repeated car bombs in recent months, as tensions have risen over
:07:19. > :07:22.the war in neighbouring Syria. Our correspondent in Beirut, Jim Muir,
:07:23. > :07:24.is at the scene. This is the latest in a series of explosions here in
:07:25. > :07:32.the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area largely controlled by Hezbollah
:07:33. > :07:44.and other forms of aggression in the last few weeks. This is the latest
:07:45. > :07:49.in many Sunni areas coming under attack, and nobody here will doubt
:07:50. > :07:53.this is part of the spill-over from the war in neighbouring Syria.
:07:54. > :07:57.According to the people here, this was the vehicle in which a suicide
:07:58. > :08:02.bomber detonated himself, causing his own vehicle to be completely
:08:03. > :08:08.wrecked, presumably blew himself to pieces, but a lot of superficial
:08:09. > :08:13.damage here, water pipes being burst and fires being started. But so far
:08:14. > :08:17.it seems the wider casualty toll seems to be fairly low compared with
:08:18. > :08:22.some of the other apparently much bigger bombs that have happened here
:08:23. > :08:26.recently. There is a psychosis of fear, there have been strict
:08:27. > :08:31.security measures here for weeks and people will be asking how this could
:08:32. > :08:38.have happened yet again. In other news today, in Ukraine,
:08:39. > :08:40.riot police remain locked in a tense standoff with protesters after
:08:41. > :08:43.violent clashes overnight in the capital Kiev. Demonstrators have
:08:44. > :08:46.been throwing fireworks and petrol bombs, while the security forces
:08:47. > :08:51.have been beating some of those they detain. Russia's foreign minister
:08:52. > :08:57.Sergey Lavrov has warned the situation there could get out of
:08:58. > :09:00.control. Duncan Crawford is in Kiev. He told me parts of Kiev looked like
:09:01. > :09:07.a war zone following last night's clashes. I am in Independence Square
:09:08. > :09:11.just overlooking it, you might be able to see the demonstrators in the
:09:12. > :09:16.centre of the square, that is where they have been for the last two
:09:17. > :09:20.months since these pro-EU demonstrations began. About a ten
:09:21. > :09:24.minute walk away on a road towards the parliament, that is where we
:09:25. > :09:30.have seen these violent clashes for the last two nights. There are a few
:09:31. > :09:36.hundred or so demonstrators still in that square. Last night they were
:09:37. > :09:41.throwing stones and fireworks at the riot police over this front line,
:09:42. > :09:46.which is just burnt out vehicles, and the riot police were stationed
:09:47. > :09:57.behind that line, riot police firing back with stun grenades and gas. At
:09:58. > :10:01.the moment it appears to be peaceful. We are not seeing clashes
:10:02. > :10:05.in that area at the moment but certainly there is potential for
:10:06. > :10:10.more violence later on today. Broadly this is about whether the
:10:11. > :10:14.government turns towards Russia or Europe politically, Sergey Lavrov
:10:15. > :10:20.warning this could spiral out of control. Is that the view that is
:10:21. > :10:24.shared there? There is a lot of concern things could spiral out of
:10:25. > :10:30.control. We have seen from the clashes over the last two days,
:10:31. > :10:35.parts of central Kiev looked like a war zone, but it is important to
:10:36. > :10:39.point out that vast sections of this city are still functioning as
:10:40. > :10:43.normal. How the rest of the country response to what is going on I think
:10:44. > :11:25.will be key in what determines the future of the Ukraine. The Thai
:11:26. > :11:31.government has imposed a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and
:11:32. > :11:35.the surrounding area. Demonstrators have blockaded parts of the capital
:11:36. > :11:37.for more than a week to try force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
:11:38. > :11:40.to resign. The new emergency decree gives security agencies the power to
:11:41. > :11:47.impose curfews, detain suspects without charge, and ban political
:11:48. > :11:50.gatherings of more than five people. In India, the newly elected Chief
:11:51. > :11:53.Minister of Delhi has spent the night sleeping on the streets of the
:11:54. > :11:56.capital in protest. Arvind Kejiriwal wants control over the city's police
:11:57. > :12:00.force to be transferred from the federal government to his council so
:12:01. > :12:10.he can root out corrupt officers. The BBC's Andrew North reports. With
:12:11. > :12:16.this protest, the centre of Delhi has come to a standstill. Roads are
:12:17. > :12:21.closed, the Metro has also been suspended in this area, and this is
:12:22. > :12:25.less than a week before India holds its annual Republic Day parade when
:12:26. > :12:28.there will be thousands of people coming through this area. His
:12:29. > :12:39.critics are saying he is bringing anarchy to Delhi and Arvind
:12:40. > :12:43.Kejiriwal himself says, yes, I am an anarchist. He is trying to use his
:12:44. > :12:47.platform to bring change, to shake things up, and in the process wrong
:12:48. > :12:52.footing almost the whole establishment. But right now, Delhi
:12:53. > :12:58.is set for a showdown because the police say they need to clear this
:12:59. > :13:05.area before the Republic Day parade. Stay with us, much more to come. On
:13:06. > :13:11.the eve of Syrian peace talks, we will have a special report on the
:13:12. > :13:15.effective US diplomacy on the Syrian people. On the eve of the latest
:13:16. > :13:20.attempt to strike a peace deal, diplomacy is being given another
:13:21. > :13:28.shot. There is little cause for optimism, and despite their
:13:29. > :13:42.rhetoric, the US have failed to dislodge President Assad.
:13:43. > :13:45.The Philippines has been facing another tropical storm - only two
:13:46. > :13:48.months after the deadliest typhoon hit the country. Floods and
:13:49. > :13:50.mudslides caused by Tropical Depression "Agaton" forced the
:13:51. > :13:56.evacuation of thousands of families from the Southern Philippines. This
:13:57. > :14:01.report is from Tim Neilson. Villages underwater. More than 100,000
:14:02. > :14:05.families in the southern Philippines were evacuated after days of
:14:06. > :14:12.continuous rains that resulted in flooding and mudslides. They forced
:14:13. > :14:15.residents to flee to higher grounds, using schools and local
:14:16. > :14:27.government buildings as evacuation centres. We're in a grave situation
:14:28. > :14:32.with no food. It is wet everywhere and we have no place to sleep. It is
:14:33. > :14:37.a stark reminder, says the United Nations, that more needed to be done
:14:38. > :14:41.to help the millions of people living in shelters after being
:14:42. > :14:47.displaced by Typhoon Haiyan. The country gets hit by an average of 20
:14:48. > :14:51.storms and typhoons each year, along with frequent earthquakes. The UN
:14:52. > :15:03.says temporary shelters given to survivors are not strong enough for
:15:04. > :15:05.the extreme weather. In other news. Malaysia has begun a massive
:15:06. > :15:08.operation to deport hundreds of thousands of suspected illegal
:15:09. > :15:10.workers. More than 10,000 officers have begun checking businesses that
:15:11. > :15:13.employ migrants from countries such as Indonesia and Nepal. Previous
:15:14. > :15:16.efforts to deport illegal immigrants, who carry out low paid
:15:17. > :15:21.jobs which are unpopular with most Malaysians, have not been
:15:22. > :15:25.successful. A football club in chilly has been banned from playing
:15:26. > :15:28.in a new shirt that has a number one shaped like a map of Palestine
:15:29. > :15:31.before the foundation of Israel. The Chilean football federation told
:15:32. > :15:33.Palestino, a team founded by Santiago's Palestinian community,
:15:34. > :15:42.that the kit breaks anti-discrimination guidelines.
:15:43. > :15:45.Scientists have successfully woken up a probe that's been in deep space
:15:46. > :15:48.hibernation 800 million kilometres from Earth. The European Space
:15:49. > :15:52.Agency hopes that the craft, called Rosetta, will carry out the first
:15:53. > :15:55.ever landing on a comet. The probe sent the message "Hello, World" to
:15:56. > :15:57.let mission control know it was ready for the final stage of its ten
:15:58. > :16:11.year journey. President Assad's regime is accused
:16:12. > :16:14.of the systematic torture and execution of thousands of detainees
:16:15. > :16:17.in Syria. One of the leading international prosecutors behind the
:16:18. > :16:26.report told the BBC the images he saw were "absolutely hideous". An
:16:27. > :16:29.explosion has gone off in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese
:16:30. > :16:36.capital. Four people are reported dead in what's thought to be a
:16:37. > :16:40.suicide car bombing. The civil war in Syria, well into its third bloody
:16:41. > :16:46.year, has resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 people and left
:16:47. > :16:48.millions as refugees. Tomorrow, a long-awaited peace conference is
:16:49. > :17:02.finally under way to discuss the future of the country. We look at
:17:03. > :17:08.America's role in the crisis. It's time for Assad to get out of the
:17:09. > :17:14.way. The only way to bring stability and peace to Syria is going to be
:17:15. > :17:20.for Assad to step down. We condemn this indiscriminate killing. It is
:17:21. > :17:30.just further evidence that Assad has to go. We sat by and did relatively
:17:31. > :17:34.nothing, despite what the administration may claim. The
:17:35. > :17:38.president, for perfectly understandable reasons, really has
:17:39. > :17:43.wanted to keep this problem out arm's-length. He really has wanted
:17:44. > :17:46.it to disappear. I've been crossing over this border into Syria for the
:17:47. > :17:51.last two and a half years and seen hundreds of these refugee camps
:17:52. > :17:54.bring up. In that time, what began as a largely peaceful protest
:17:55. > :17:59.movement has descended into an appalling civil war that has killed
:18:00. > :18:02.more than 130,000 people and displaced millions. On the eve of
:18:03. > :18:07.the latest attempt to strike a peace deal, diplomacy has been given
:18:08. > :18:12.another shot. There was little cause for optimism. Despite the rhetoric,
:18:13. > :18:22.America and the West have failed to dislodge President Assad. August
:18:23. > :18:26.2011, the uprising is five months old and the pressure to respond to
:18:27. > :18:32.Syria's crackdown on protesters, President Obama says Bashar al-Assad
:18:33. > :18:37.must go. One year later, as violence spirals, he draws a red line on
:18:38. > :18:41.chemical weapons. June 2013, the White House says the red line has
:18:42. > :18:47.been breached but there's no major response. Two months later, a
:18:48. > :18:51.chemical attack in Damascus kills hundreds. Obama called on Congress
:18:52. > :18:57.to vote for military action. The following month Syria agrees to
:18:58. > :19:06.decommission the weapons, but Obama warns the US will still act if
:19:07. > :19:10.diplomacy fails. When Barack Obama took office he tried to reset
:19:11. > :19:14.America's relationship with the Islamic world. He was to be the
:19:15. > :19:16.president who ended wars, and he promised a new beginning, backing
:19:17. > :19:23.Democratic change in the Middle East. But Syria broke the mould. Its
:19:24. > :19:28.ethnic and religious make-up was much more complex, the region more
:19:29. > :19:31.flammable. Its governments had powerful allies and friends on the
:19:32. > :19:36.UN Security Council. Critics describe a divided administration
:19:37. > :19:44.led by a president whose focus was elsewhere. I don't think it was ever
:19:45. > :19:50.his intention that Syria would be dissolved in a humanitarian
:19:51. > :19:58.catastrophe. It was never his intention that Al-Qaeda, of all
:19:59. > :20:04.things, should arise in the eastern part of the country. It was never
:20:05. > :20:12.his intention that Syria would be sliding immeasurably into a peculiar
:20:13. > :20:18.form of state failure, but all of these consequences, and intended as
:20:19. > :20:25.may be, of the policy that has been pursued for the last 33 months. What
:20:26. > :20:31.began as a peaceful protest movement was met with an iron fist. President
:20:32. > :20:35.Obama, Cameron and the French and German leaders all said Assad must
:20:36. > :20:39.step aside. Sanctions were imposed, embassies closed and limited aid was
:20:40. > :20:44.given to rebel fighters. But efforts to support the opposition pressure
:20:45. > :20:53.the Syrian regime and halt the violence reduced the results on the
:20:54. > :20:57.ground. -- juice to few results on the ground. The rebels have now
:20:58. > :21:01.moved up, because the government have been trying to push into this
:21:02. > :21:06.area. It's a very confused situation. We know there are snipers
:21:07. > :21:09.all around here because it's an urban area, the sound ring out. What
:21:10. > :21:17.you can't tell is what direction they are coming from. When some in
:21:18. > :21:20.the administration wanted to give weapons to the rebels, President
:21:21. > :21:27.Obama was said to be disengaged, worried that America would be
:21:28. > :21:31.embroiled in the region again. The president I do not believe
:21:32. > :21:33.understand the importance of American exceptionalism. I don't
:21:34. > :21:37.think he appreciates that if there is a vacuum because of a
:21:38. > :21:42.withdrawal, an American withdrawal and lack of leadership, that that
:21:43. > :21:46.vacuum can be filled by very, very bad people who do not hold the same
:21:47. > :21:53.standards and values of international conduct that we do. In
:21:54. > :21:57.foreign affairs he is persuaded that what the United States really needs
:21:58. > :22:04.to do is spend a lot more sustained attention to Asia and China. Syria
:22:05. > :22:10.has not figured in his sense of priorities, so he is really trying
:22:11. > :22:16.to keep this problem out arm's-length and hope that somehow
:22:17. > :22:20.it would solve itself. Opposition groups supported by the West had
:22:21. > :22:26.little power on the ground, as the conflict intensified increasingly
:22:27. > :22:32.radical fighters filled the vacuum. The bloodshed escalated. This is
:22:33. > :22:36.simply appalling situation. The doctors have tried to revive this
:22:37. > :22:39.young man and failed. He's just been pronounced dead. The situation
:22:40. > :22:47.inside here is one of unbelievable chaos. When hundreds were killed in
:22:48. > :22:50.a chemical attack last August, President Obama blamed the Syrian
:22:51. > :22:58.government and authorise military force. A Senator and I had a long
:22:59. > :23:07.meeting with the president in the Oval Office. This was after the
:23:08. > :23:15.latest chemical attack by Assad. He said he wanted to do three things.
:23:16. > :23:20.One, grade Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons capability, assess
:23:21. > :23:25.the opposition and reverse the momentum on the battlefield against
:23:26. > :23:30.Bashar al-Assad. So we went up and told... We were encouraged by what
:23:31. > :23:35.the president had to say. Did you detect that the president was
:23:36. > :23:39.looking for an alternative way out? Not just in the woods he was using
:23:40. > :23:46.both in the way he presented the arguments to you? I may not have
:23:47. > :23:54.thought that he was looking for a way out, but I certainly detected a
:23:55. > :23:59.lack of enthusiasm. The president changed tack, asking a reluctant
:24:00. > :24:02.Congress to vote on military action. When Syria agreed to disk --
:24:03. > :24:06.decommission its chemical weapons, strikes were put on hold and the
:24:07. > :24:11.vote called off. The president had to contend with a war weary public,
:24:12. > :24:13.and the White House believes it successfully content President Assad
:24:14. > :24:19.and brought Damascus to the negotiating table. I've spent the
:24:20. > :24:24.last two years travelling inside northern Syria and essentially
:24:25. > :24:28.witnessed its descent into chaos and what is in effect a failed state.
:24:29. > :24:32.Critics of the administration will say that is partly as a result of a
:24:33. > :24:40.lack of Western engagement. RSS and has been this. -- RSS meant. The
:24:41. > :24:43.only prospect of keeping Syria together and keeping its
:24:44. > :24:48.institutions intact and preventing a vacuum that is filled by forces that
:24:49. > :24:53.in their own way could be as bad, if not worse, than Assad, is through
:24:54. > :24:56.negotiated transition. There is one interesting development that has a
:24:57. > :24:59.good side and a very bad side. The very bad side is the increasing
:25:00. > :25:06.prominence of extremist groups inside of Syria, that clearly pose a
:25:07. > :25:10.danger today and pose an even dangerous -- even greater danger in
:25:11. > :25:17.future. But on the other hand what that has done has concentrate the
:25:18. > :25:20.critical actors outside of Syria. If these talks actually happen then
:25:21. > :25:23.America and Russia will have successfully brought parts of the
:25:24. > :25:26.opposition and the government of Syria together for the first time,
:25:27. > :25:30.and that will be an achievement. But those fighting on the other side of
:25:31. > :25:34.the border won't be represented, and they are unlikely to be persuaded by
:25:35. > :25:38.any deal. In effect, the lack of a cohesive policy and the interference
:25:39. > :25:42.of outside powers has allowed the war and extremism to flourish, and
:25:43. > :25:46.some fear it has diminished America's standing in the region.
:25:47. > :25:47.And, crucially, the bloodshed and chaos inside Syria are unlikely to
:25:48. > :26:01.abate. The English football Association has
:26:02. > :26:07.charged West Bromwich Albion player Nicholas Anelka for making a gesture
:26:08. > :26:10.widely thought to be anti-Semitic. He made the gesture, called the
:26:11. > :26:18.Quinnell, an inverted Nazis allude, while celebrating a goal last
:26:19. > :26:22.month. He looks to face a ban. John Lennon's widow has added her voice
:26:23. > :26:32.to protest over the annual slaughter of dolphins by fishermen in western
:26:33. > :26:37.Japan. Yoko Ono has a book written an open letter calling them to stop.
:26:38. > :26:42.Some are killed for their meet, others are sold to marine parks or
:26:43. > :26:45.released. President Assad's regime has been accused of a systematic
:26:46. > :26:52.torture and execution of thousands of detainees, leading international
:26:53. > :26:58.prosecutors said the evidence woods dammed up in a court of law. It
:26:59. > :27:09.comes on the eve of peace talks. See you soon.
:27:10. > :27:14.The average person moves home eight times during their life.