28/01/2014 BBC World News

Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: Ukraine's Government

backs down and scraps a protest law that sparked demonstrations across

the country. Egypt's former President, Mohamed Morsi is on trial

charged with organising a mass prison escape. Ratko Mladic refuses

to testify at The Hague and denounces Radovan Karadzic's trial

as see tannic. And on the lookout for a creature

from the deep, we find out what's biting this doctor from New Zealand

-- setanic. Hello and welcome. As protests

continue in the centre centre of Kiev, the Ukrainian Parliament's

voted to scrap a series of laws which it was feared would pave the

way for a crackdown by the authorities. It's a matter of days

since the new laws came into effect giving the police sweeping powers to

deal with block aids of buildings. The Prime Minister's offered to

resign, but it's not clear whether that will be enough to placate the

protesters who've been manning the barricades in the centre of the

capital for two months. Our BBC correspondent is in Bodorov

for us. Quite a shift by the Government. Is it enough? Well,

that's the main question. The Parliament moved quickly to repel

the laws. It's on the break until 4 pm local time at which time it was

debate amnesty for those who've been detained for the disorders and

protests. Yes, the main question, will this satisfy the protesters on

the square down below and on the bar raids to the left of me. A week ago,

this would be wonderful, probably would diffuse the situation very

much. Since then, the situation moved ahead. I've spoken to so many

protesters who say the only thing which will more or less satisfy them

is the resignation of the President which is not on the cards right now.

And are they in a mood to listen to those who apparently lead the

opposition groups? Well, again, it's very, very hard to

say for certain. When the opposition figures come and speak to the

people, and they'll do so today no doubt, they'll come and discuss and

present whatever they've achieved in the Parliament, they're both cheers

and jeers. They are people saying it's not enough, you should be brave

and go there to the barricade and push all the way through, so the

opposition is balancing a very difficult act.

And how much is this still about the basic politics of what is going on

and how much is it about the way the Government's hand it would protests

in the last few weeks? Well, it's all been layer after

layer after layer of protest. It started with a European agreement

which the Ukrainian Government decided to spurn in favour of going

towards Russia. It then became much more about police violence. Then on

top of that, it was the laws, then more violence, arrests and trials

and detentions. So now, basically, they are trying to pull back those

layers of disagreements, but it seems that a very considerable

portion of the protesters want to go all the way into changing the power.

Many thanks. In Egypt, the former Islamist

President, Mohamed Morsi, has gone on trial, charged with organising

mass prison break in 2011. He's the second former Egyptian leader to

face trial in the last three years. His predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, has

been in custody since 2011 and was found guilty of failing to put an

end to the killing of protesters by the Egyptian Security Forces. He's

currently in a military hospital awaiting a retrial.

Mohamed Morsi, seen here at his trial today, was removed from office

six months ago by the military. He's being held, as you can see, in a

sound proof glass box inside the courtroom. Our correspondent is

outside that trial for us. Just explain to us who is behind you and

also why the glass box for Mohamed Morsi?

We had footage released by the Egyptian TV a couple of minutes ago

from inside the courtroom. We had ex-President Morsi with a number of

leading Muslim Brotherhood figures placed inside the cage which is

sound proof, meaning that Mohamed Morsi cannot hear what's going on

inside the courtroom except through head phones inside the cage. He also

cannot speak to the judge unless he raises his hand and gets permission

and he can speak through a microphone. Also inside the cage.

The defence lawyers objected to that and said that the defendants are

quiet isolated from what is going on in the courtroom. However, the judge

refuted this, saying that all the defendants can perfectly hear what

is going on through the head phones inside the cage.

They are stating the charges levelled against Morsi and the other

defendants today and they appeared to be extreme extremely serious

charges. That's what makes this case one of the most serious Mr Morsi has

to go through. The charges including collaborating with Palestinian

militias from Hamas who had to sneak inside territories between Gaza and

Egypt and taking control of the borders, part of the borderline

between Gaza and Egypt. It includes killing and kidnapping Security

Forces who were guarding some of the prisons all over Egypt on the 28th

January to 2011. So extremely - in addition to possessing illegal

weapons, including heavy machine guns and RPJs - so a number of

charges, making this one of the most serious cases Morsi is going

through. He and other defendants can be severely punished if convicted.

What sort of punishment could Mohamed Morsi potentially face here

and also, do you think this will swing people's political view, or

are people pretty much lined up already behind the military or

behind the Muslim Brotherhood? The ex-President, when he had the chance

to speak to the judge via the microphone, first of all said this

trial is a farce, he said he does not recognise it. He said the

trial's merely politicised and this view was shared by a number of

Muslim Brotherhood supporters, he said. He said this trial has

political dimensions, rather than legal ones. We have the other camp

of liberals and those who support the Army who believe this man is

pretty involved in the charges levelled against him. One final

thing we have to point out, after some consultations, the dilemma is

finally sorted out as the ex-President picked up a lawyer to

defend him in the four cases or trials he'll face throughout the

coming month. Before that, he was absolutely reluctant to assign a

lawyer to defend him and the court would have to appoint a lawyer for

him, but finally, after some consultations today, with Lea teams,

he picked up a lawyer to defend him in the four trials he has to go

through. Thank you very much.

Gunmen have shot dead a senior official at the Egyptian Interior

Ministry. General Mohammed Saeed, the Head of The technical office was

attacked outside his house in Cairo. Security officials say the gunman

shot him through a vehicle and then fled.

The former Bosnian Serb commander, Ratko Mladic, has refused to testify

at the International Criminal Tribunal. The man once known as the

butcher of Bosnia was called as a defence witness for his former

political master, Radovan Karadzic. General Mladic told the trial he'd

not testify because of his health and because it would prejudice his

own case. He accused the tribunal of being a setanic court. Let's get the

latest from Brussels. Our correspondent has been following

events at The Hague. Tell us a business more about what's happened

today? We knew that Ratko Mladic didn't

want to appear in court. He didn't want to be there today. The session

has started off with his lawyer. His lawyers first of all said that he

was suffering from a memory disorder and that made it hard for him to

differentiate between truth and fiction. Then he said that Mladic's

health could be at risk if he was forced to injure endure this stress.

The judge rejected the arguments and no-one was expected what came next.

He stood in the witness box and said he wasn't able to testify because

he'd forgotten his dentures. He told the judges "I can't talk because I

have no teeth". So the trial was adjourned for 15 minutes while they

retrieved his teeth and then it continued.

How long is this particular part of the proceedings expected to go on?

It's extraordinary to see these two figures together isn't it?

Absolutely extraordinary, yes. I spoke to one of the former victims,

somebody who was kept in a death camp who often attends the trials in

The Hague and he said for everyone concerned it was an opportunity for

the first time in two decades to see these men that many of them feel

were most responsible for their suffering in court together at the

same time. It's over already though. The hearing was due to last for an

hour-and-a-half and Karadzic had a list of questions which I have here

which he was hoping his former Army General would answer and the answers

would help support his defence case. Ratko Mladic however refused to

answer the questions. He started off with question number one, going

through some of the positions he'd held in the Bosnian Serb Army, but

then he said he couldn't answer any more questions because he didn't

want to jeopardise his health or his own case which is also being heard

at the ICTY. Thank you very much.

Now, President Obama will deliver his annual state of the union ate

dress to the American people tonight. Setting out his plans and

priorities for the year ahead. One area he will focus on is poverty in

the United States and the growing gap between rich and poor. Children

are the worst affected. One American child in five lives below the

poverty line. It's the world's most powerful city.

Washington DC's also one of the worst places in America to grow up.

More than a quarter of children here live in poverty.

This woman raises her 13-year-old son James in this tiny apartment.

It's basic and broken. The taps need fixing, they've mould

on the walls and in this bitter winter, the central heating doesn't

even work. She uses the oven to warm the place.

That's on all day every day. It get cold in here. She is recovering from

cancer. She gets by on less than $100 a month and it's a struggle to

feed James. You can't go to a lot of places to

get food, fresh food. I can get powdered milk, processed and cheese.

But he's 13 and I hope he'll be a great man, but I've got to make sure

nutritional-wise he has to be able to get a meal.

He might not have the same start in life as other teenagers, but James

does have the same ambitions. I want to be a basketball player. I want

people to look at me as like a great guy, if he can do it, I can do it

too, if he can dribble that good, I can feel good too and shoot for your

dreams. American Dreams are harder for people to realise. The rate of

child poverty's gone up since President Obama took office. Dealing

with income and quality will be a key them in his annual State of the

Union address which he'll deliver later today and many say the answer

lies in one thing. Education. The key to getting out of poverty is

education. So I think the real issue is an emphasis on education,

beginning with early childhood, but also to adults.

The financial crisis hit people here hard. As the economy starts to pick

up, the challenge for President Obama is make sure no-one's left

behind. Stay with us here on BBC World News.

Much more to come. Pete Seeger whose protests inspired a generation has

died. We'll look back at his life. It is Chinese New Year this Friday.

Anyone who can is heading home to spend holiday with their family. An

estimated 3.6 billion trips will be made, mostly by rail. Buying a seat

on a train in China demands tenacity and persistence. We have been

speaking to two migrant workers who are fighting for their tickets home.

I am going home for the Chinese New Year. My old father is waiting for

me. He is 73 this year. The trip is a nightmare. There are too many

people, so it is very difficult to get a train ticket. Last year, I

spent two days queueing at the train station. I still did not get one. It

is lucky I managed to get a ticket this year, although it is a standard

ticket and we will have to stand for 17 hours on the train. Nowadays you

can buy tickets on the Internet but I do not have a computer and I do

not know how to do it. Those who do have bought all the available

tickets, so it is even harder for us. Tickets will be released online

starting at 8am. I will sit in front of the computer way ahead of time

and wait anxiously for the clock to turn eight.

This is a brutal experience. Normally within a minute or so, all

tickets will be sold out completely. It is like hundreds of thousands of

troops all trying to cross a very narrow bridge at the same time. The

lucky ones get across and the rest fall and die. I came from April

Village in the countryside. I drained of life in the big city. --

a poor village. I rarely get a chance to go home. This is a

valuable chance for me to visit my parents. The worst thing that could

happen to my Chinese New Year is that I fell to get a ticket home. --

I fail will stop the latest headlines: The Ukrainian government

fails to scrap the controversial anti-protest law. Egypt's former

President Mohammed Morsi is on trial, charged with organising a

mass prison escape. Hong Kong has started slaughtering tens of

thousands of live chickens in an effort to halt the spread of a new

strain of bird flu. It is because a batch of chickens imported from

mainland China tested positive for the deadly H7N9 strain of avian flu.

These chickens as well as 20,000 others stored in the same wholesale

market are being destroyed. The H7N9 strain of bird flu has infected more

than 200-people and killed dozens since emerging last year. The BBC's

Juliana Liu is in Hong Kong. She told me more about this latest

slaughter programme. In no wee hours of this morning, the Government held

a press conference telling the public that a batch of samples from

chickens imported from China but currently in Hong Kong had tested

positive for this kind of bird flu. They immediately announced there

would be a Karl, which has already happened this morning. They also

announced a ban on the sale of fresh chickens for three weeks, as well as

a ban on the import of fresh, live chickens. This has caused a lot of

anger among chick and sellers. We are just a few days ahead of the

Chinese lunar New Year holiday where freshly slaughtered chicken is often

on the menu. They will be suffering a lot of losses. There will be

policies in place for compensation but they are quite upset about it.

The public in Hong Kong understands the worries surrounding this new

bird flu virus, which has killed two people here in Hong Kong. They do

support these measures. The son of Pakistan 's assassinated prime

minister says this brutality must be eradicated from the country. Let's

have a look at his background. He is the third generation of his family

to enter into politics. His mother, father and grandfather or lead the

country. He was born in September 1980 eight, three months before his

mother was elected prime Minister for the first time. -- 1988. He

spent much of his childhood here in England, going to Oxford University.

While he was studying there in 2007, his mother was assassinated in

Pakistan. At the age of 19 he was thrust into the limelight as

chairman of the Pakistan People's party. Aged 25, he has been speaking

to our international correspondent. Dialogue is always an option. We

have to have a position of strength. How do you do this? They are

fighting us. You are saying your code chairperson would like a

military operation. In Karachi, we would like support from the

Federation for that. We would like to eradicate the Taliban from

Pakistan. Why has it not been done if it is so easy? It has not been

tried. My father did try. The nationals can sense that politicians

use, oh, this is America 's War, confusing the nation on purpose

because they are scared and they are cowards. The fact of the matter is,

how long will you wait? I thought the assassination of my mother would

unite this country. Are you making your entry into politics? I think it

is the opportunity for me to start taking on more responsibility. I

will be focused more on party politics and working with every

level of the party. I do not want to parachute myself in from the top. I

want to work with the grassroots at every level of the party across the

country. My aim is the 2018 election. You are not going to run

before? As far as the by-election is concerned, this is a discussion

which is ongoing within the party. You really want a life in politics?

It is a dirty and dangerous game. I have seen my mother bury her

brothers. I have seen my mother living in X I'll, raising her three

children practically as a single mother, while my father was a

political prisoner for eight and a half years. I challenge you to find

119-year-old, 225-year-old who would say, I want to do this, it sounds

like fun. I never saw myself as being in politics. I did not have

ambitions for politics. Now, I am here in my country and I see this

state of my country. I just feel like I want to play some role - any

role I can. Pakistan today is so dramatically and sadly different

from the days of your grandfather, even the days of your mother. It is

a country that people fear. People wonder whether it is still a place

with domestic politics. The face of Pakistan should not be Osama bin

lard or the terrorists who murdered us on a daily basis. This country

should have hope, not fear. It sounds like the scene from a film. A

doctor from New Zealand has managed to stitch up his own wound after he

fought off a shark that had bitten his leg. James Grant was spear

fishing in the sea off the south coast on Saturday when he was

attacked by what he thinks was a seven gills shark. Well, James spoke

to us from Invercargill on the South Island. I asked what happened. Good

day. We have had a bit of run of bad weather recently. Only in the last

day, on Saturday, I had the day off and headed out to one of the local

spots. I had just gone into the water and killed a fish. Something

latched onto my leg. I thought it might have been one of my dive

buddies. I turned around and got a bit of a fright. I saw something I

did not expect to see that day. A big shark had latched on. That must

have been extraordinary painful. Take us through what happened. You

went back to shore and stitched herself up. Just show us the scar. I

do not have a scar. It is a bit hard to see actually. There is a bit of

tibial laceration. Also some punches on the back. On my wet suit, there

is a good bite mark. You stitched yourself up on the beach

straightaway? What I did I put a couple of little stitches into

Tackett back together. The real credit goes to my friend,

Bernadette, who is a surgeon at the hospital. She is one of the girls I

work with. She did a nice job. How could he possibly have the presence

of mind to treat yourself? I did not really think about it. The guys had

a pretty good time over it. I'd like you were not in so much pain you

could not function, clearly. -- you were not in so much pain? The sharp

bit into the wet suit and did not do too much damage to the flesh

underneath it. The veteran American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger

has died, at the age of 94. He spent seven decades performing and

demonstrating - working with the US civil rights movement, environmental

groups, and most recently taking part in the Occupy Wall Street

protests. This was one of his most recent appearances on stage when a

gala was held four years ago to celebrate his 90th birthday. Seeger

was feted by artists including Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder and Dave

Matthews in New York's Madison Square Garden. Springsteen called

him a living archive of America's music and conscience, a testament of

the power of song and culture to nudge history along.

A reminder of our top story.... As protests continue in Kiev, Ukraine

in Parliament has voted to scrap a controversial series of laws it

feared would pave the way for a crackdown on protesters. The Prime

Minister has offered to resign. Thanks for being with us today.