07/02/2014 BBC World News


07/02/2014

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Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: after 18 months living

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under fire in dreadful conditions, up to 200 women, children and the

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elderly are evacuated from the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

:00:27.:00:30.

Some un-diplomatic language lands America's envoy in hot water. She

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apologises after being heard swearing about the European Union.

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Will Russia's Olympic gamble pay off? Can the Winter Games overcome

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the controversy and concerns about security?

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And, finding the footsteps of our ancestors - how scientists stumbled

:00:46.:00:48.

on something that was left behind millions of years ago.

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We start in Syria. And the first signs of concession after three

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years of conflict. In the last hour Syrian State TV has reported that

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trapped civilians from besieged areas of Homs are leaving. The UN

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brokered the deal which allows 200 vulnerable people to leave the

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dreadful conditions in the Old City. A convoy with humanitarian aid will

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be allowed into it on Saturday. There are also reports of the

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three-day cease-fire, that from the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

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Here's what the governor of Homs has been saying about the developments.

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TRANSLATION: so far, things are good, quiet and promising.

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Dealing with the other side was done through the United nation 's team.

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We have no problems with the negotiations. The process was

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supposed to have started at nine o'clock local time but preparations

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on the ground require sometimes for the safe exit of cars and buses.

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Let's go to our correspondent in Beirut. The Russian Foreign Ministry

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confirming this is a three-day cease-fire. The UN saying it is a

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humanitarian pause only. How do you analyse this? I think it is

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interesting the Russians have made it clear they have been instrumental

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in bringing about this agreement. They said the Russian embassy in

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Damascus was actively playing a role in the preparations, working

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alongside the UN and the Syrian authorities. That is important,

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especially in the context of the Geneva peace talks. If this comes

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off, the civilians have not yet been seen to be moving out of the old

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city of Homs. If it does come off, it will be seen as a sign Russia can

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deliver. So they have, in a sense, put down a marker. If it does not

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work out they will not look good. This could be why the Syrian

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government have given such prominence to this. They have live

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broadcasts going on from Homs and they have the buses waiting. They

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have given this a lot of prominence. It is important this should work.

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The Syrian government obviously once it to work because they want to be

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seen to be doing the right thing as far as their important Russian

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allies are concerned. We are seeing some recent video at the moment

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which includes shelling. What is the security situation in the city,

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which has been so batted for more than two years? That is why it is so

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difficult to bring about these arrangements. It is a battle fronts,

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and very active at all front. There has been heavy shelling, constant

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clashes and there is a clearly defined at a line and it is

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difficult to cross it because it requires all parties to hold fire.

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That includes rebel groups on the ground. And there are some radical

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ones. That's why it is so important, if this does work, it shows people

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can come to agreements and carry them out. That has got implications

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for the Geneva process if it comes off. The government does not much

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like things being pitched in that light, being related to or dependent

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on a product of the Geneva process. They say these things are happening

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on the ground between the authorities and the UN and so on.

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But given the Russian involvement, I think people will see it in that

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context almost as a test of Russian credibility. Thank you.

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Within the past hour, Angela Merkel has entered the row over how to

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handle the crisis in Ukraine. She has described leaked comments by one

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of the US diplomats as, " totally unacceptable". A recording surfaced

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on the Internet last night as the US Secretary of State used a graphic

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swearword when discussing Europe's views on the way forward in Ukraine.

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She has apologised, but the authenticity of the recording has

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not been disputed in Washington. I asked our correspondence in Kiev

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about the impact of this private conversation, diverging attention

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from the other major issues inside Ukraine. It is not clear what the

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ultimate impact of this conversation is. At the moment, aside from deep

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embarrassment on the American's part, she has held a press

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conference and refused to comment on the leaked conversation. Although

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she has apologised to her EU counterparts. It is also a reminder

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that the EU has been involved in this protest movement in Ukraine on

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the sidelines, trying to negotiate a deal between the government and the

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opposition since the very beginning, ever since President Viktor Yannick

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Povich pulled out of signing a deal with the EU above the Independence

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Square, which is the central area for the protests. Many of the

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protesters are very unhappy with the stands the EU has taken, they

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expected a lot more. President Yanukovych is in Sochi and is

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expected to meet with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines, although we don't

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know what they will be discussing. David, what about the fact this

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essential bugging of this call, however it was made, apparently with

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Russian connections here, has somehow distracted the focus away

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from what is happening behind you and in Parliament, and with the

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President of Ukraine to the American involvement? That is right, many

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people are commenting on the timing of this leaked conversation. The

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Americans have said they suspect some sort of involvement with the

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Russians. We cannot confirm that, of course. And it happens at the same

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time, Vladimir Putin's main adviser on new route came gave -- gave an

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interview yesterday where he accused the Americans of financing the

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opportunity -- things going on here, to $20 million a month. This is

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happening the day before and on the day of the Sochi Olympics. Many

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people are marking that saying it is an interesting coincidence, I guess

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you could say. The BBC has learned that up to 20

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opposition activists taking part in anti-government process are missing.

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-- protests. Human rights activists fear they have been taken by

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security forces, but there is no confirmation.

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The opposition movement -- movement looking like a revolutionary army.

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These activists in the capital determined to overthrow the

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president. But for all of this show of force, many here are now all too

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aware of the risks they are taking. In this office, volunteers take

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calls on a special hotline from activists in need of help. They also

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get calls from relatives and friends reporting those who have gone

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missing. What is the total number you have? This morning, it was 34

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people. 34 people missing? Posters with photographs of the missing have

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been put up in Kia's Central Square, currently the headquarters of the

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opposition movement. -- Kia's. We have discovered some of those listed

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as missing have been found. It was simply their mobile phones were not

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working or they had left the area for personal reasons. But other

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cases do remain a mystery. On a hill just outside the square, and

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opposition encampments guarding the approach roads. Earlier this week,

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one of the commanders disappeared. He failed to return after taking a

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friend to hospital. Colleagues say it was either because of his

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opposition activity or personal reasons, or robbery.

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TRANSLATION: considering the situation in the country it was

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likely a police operation done in order to scare people. We are

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currently on a heightened state of alert and do not go round the city

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on our own. Not surprising, after what happened to another opposition

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leader. This man emerged last week from what he says was eight days at

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the hands of professional members of the security services. A government

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official claimed he could have staged the incident to discredit the

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security forces. The police insist they investigate all reports of

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missing people. But every day, they have yet more cases to deal with.

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Also in that region at 8:14pm, the Russian Winter Olympics will begin.

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8:14pm, 2014 in the 24-hour clock. No expense has been spurred,

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estimates suggest Russia has spent more than $50 billion and that makes

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it more expensive than all of the other Winter Olympics put together.

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Our reporter grew up in such of -- Sochi and I asked him about the

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Olympics he remembers and those. A lot of changes during these years.

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Some people come here and they say it is mostly like the Summer

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Olympics because of the weather. It is a tropical city on the Black Sea

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coast. Of course there are some changes and people say that some

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things have been done good. Some of them were not so good. The

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construction work is still going on in the city, you can hear, opposite

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to others, there is a private hotel under construction workers are still

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there. In the city as well, there are some places you can hear noise.

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People who live in Sochi, they also say it was difficult for them during

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these years because of the noise, because of the dust everywhere in

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the city. But now they are all prepared for the Olympics. They want

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to cheer for the sportsman making their efforts. Let's see what

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happens. There have been violent protest in

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the centre of Rio de Janeiro. They demonstrated in this city's main

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railway station. Riot police were deployed and protesters threw petrol

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bombs and fireworks and stones. One journalist was seriously injured.

:12:58.:13:02.

Indonesia has granted parole to an Australian woman who has been behind

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bars for nilly ten years after being convicted of drug smuggling.

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The woman, seen when she was sentenced nine years ago was stopped

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at Bali airport with more than four kilos of marijuana in her bag. She

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has always maintained her innocence. This lady is in Jakarta and we asked

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her how unique it is for someone to be paroled on a charge after being

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found guilty on an issue like this. It is quite rare, but Indonesia

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granted parole to another foreign national who has been convicted of

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drug trafficking a few months ago. But the announcement by the Justice

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Minister that says her parole application has been approved was

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made very carefully. The minister insisted parole is not a matter of

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policy and it is not the ministers or that government's generosity.

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They are upholding the law. Considering she had served more than

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two thirds of her sentence, her application was able to be approved.

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Of course there is a lot of sensitivity around this decision,

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because allegations, whether the relations between Indonesia and

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Australia have any influence over this decision, the relationship has

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been marred with a lot of problems recently. Activists and members of

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Parliament in Indonesia have voiced their objections saying this parole

:14:36.:14:41.

is inconsistent with Indonesia's commitment to fight drugs. But the

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decision has been made and according to prison officials in Bali, as soon

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as the letter from Jakarta arrived in Bali, she could be released as

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early as Monday. Tomorrow is always -- already a weekend. She will have

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two serve the rest of her sentence in Indonesia where she will stay

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with her sister in Bali until 2017. Now to a video that has emerged

:15:09.:15:13.

which appears to show asylum seekers an Australian naval vessel --

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vessel. This suggests the Australian government is carrying out a new

:15:19.:15:23.

policy, and that is to turn back refugees trying to get into the

:15:24.:15:27.

country from Indonesia. It comes on the day Australia's Prime Minister

:15:28.:15:32.

said it had been 50 days since any illegal boat carrying asylum seekers

:15:33.:15:37.

had reached the country. The government has so far refused to

:15:38.:15:40.

confirm whether the Navy is turning back refugees like that. He still to

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come, why America's military is stepping up operations across the

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lawn of Africa. -- the Horn of Africa. Torrential

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rain and floods in Bolivia have killed more than 30 people.

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The army is helping to evacuate families from the worst affected

:16:03.:16:06.

regions, like the Amazonian and cattle rearing area of Beni,

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north-east of the capital, La Paz. Weeks of torrential rain have

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resulted in this. The flooding stretches as far as the

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eye can see. It has left dozens of communities cut off and stranded.

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Some have been without help for weeks, and say the arrival of aid is

:16:26.:16:33.

a welcome sight. This victim said the most urgent need was for food

:16:34.:16:36.

and water for the entire community, and that animals needed to be moved

:16:37.:16:43.

to higher places. With entire towns and villages underwater, the

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country's armed forces have joined in the rescue efforts. Their aim is

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to try and reach the most remote communities. Alongside them are

:16:53.:16:54.

medics took help try and stop the spread of disease. Cousin ASEAN this

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is a hospital boat that will provide medical services that will also

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assist in giving food, but could also evacuate people voluntarily if

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they would like to go back to the city of Trinidad, or any community

:17:11.:17:14.

that could have them in healthy conditions. This year's rainy season

:17:15.:17:19.

has caused havoc for large swathes of the country, and with more rain

:17:20.:17:21.

forecast, the misery for thousands of people is expected to continue

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for some time yet. Now too late grad of various violin

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that was stolen in the US state of Wisconsin. -- a Stradivarius

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violin. The authorities say it is in good condition. The 300-year-old

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instrument was found after an anonymous donor offered a 100,000

:17:42.:17:46.

dollar reward. The violin is worth millions of dollars. It was on loan

:17:47.:17:51.

to a concert violinist. He was attacked with a stun gun as he left

:17:52.:17:55.

the concert hall with the violin. Police have arrested two men and a

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woman. You are with BBC World News. The

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headlines: Operations are underway to evacuate the first group of

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civilians from the besieged Syrian city of Homs. A top US diplomat

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apologises after she is heard swearing about the EU's involvement

:18:18.:18:21.

in Ukraine in a leaked phone conversation.

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Now to the one of Africa, a poor but strategically critical region we

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cannot often report from. But America's main military base for all

:18:32.:18:34.

of Africa is in the tiny nation of Djibouti. The base is the nerve

:18:35.:18:38.

centre for US counterterrorism operations against Al-Shabaab in

:18:39.:18:41.

neighbouring Somalia and Al-Qaeda in southern Yemen. Our security

:18:42.:18:48.

correspondent is there. He asked Djibouti's Foreign Minister, what

:18:49.:18:56.

will it take to defeat Al-Shabaab? Al-Shabaab is just one element of a

:18:57.:19:06.

very wide network. For that network to be defeated, there is a need for

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a global approach against terrorists. There is also a need for

:19:09.:19:17.

more funding and resources, and also training for special forces in

:19:18.:19:22.

countries that are threatened like Djibouti and Ethiopia, Kenya and

:19:23.:19:26.

others. Human and material resources, we need that kind of

:19:27.:19:35.

global strategic approach. We also need the effective contribution of

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countries like the United States, which have the technical capacity to

:19:41.:19:46.

go after those terrorist elements, wherever they are. Frank Gardner

:19:47.:19:51.

then joined me from inside the US military base. I asked him what he

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has discovered at Camp Lemonnier about what the US like to call them

:19:57.:20:02.

a literary mission out of Djibouti. They are really stepping up military

:20:03.:20:05.

operations here, particularly in the wake of the Westgate shopping mall

:20:06.:20:11.

attack by Al-Shabaab in Nairobi in September. That attack killed over

:20:12.:20:16.

60 people. They already had the task force in place here, but it has

:20:17.:20:19.

intensified their hunt for the Al-Shabaab leaders. If you visualise

:20:20.:20:28.

the map, this camp is in Djibouti, a tiny republic sandwiched between two

:20:29.:20:32.

very troubled nations, Yemen to the north, Somalia to the south. In both

:20:33.:20:37.

countries, US boots on the ground are not welcome, but they are here

:20:38.:20:41.

in Djibouti. This country has very much thrown in slot -- thrown in its

:20:42.:20:48.

lot with Washington and the West. That minister was referring to his

:20:49.:20:54.

approval, surprisingly, of the use of unmanned aerial drones that carry

:20:55.:20:58.

out missile strikes, very controversially, against military

:20:59.:21:03.

leaders in Somalia and Yemen. What is your assessment of how well the

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Americans are able to map, through which ever means, the threat from

:21:09.:21:12.

Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in both those countries?

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Well, the Americans have got an enormous and extensive intelligence

:21:21.:21:26.

and satellite information gathering operation, very much centred here in

:21:27.:21:31.

Djibouti. This is a huge, so bling camp, and they have helicopters that

:21:32.:21:38.

fly on long-range missions. They can fly deep into Somalia. They can even

:21:39.:21:43.

get their planes as far as the borders of South Africa, Mozambique,

:21:44.:21:47.

South Sudan. They deployed to South Sudan recently.

:21:48.:21:52.

Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human

:21:53.:21:55.

footprints outside of Africa, and it is here in the UK. The footprints

:21:56.:21:59.

are more than 800,000 years old. They were uncovered on the shores of

:22:00.:22:03.

eastern English county of Norfolk, in the small town of Happisburgh.

:22:04.:22:13.

Manet wet and windy spring day last year, scientists stumbled across

:22:14.:22:18.

what they believe to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries

:22:19.:22:24.

in the UK. Swept up by Rossi 's, footprints of early humans, made

:22:25.:22:29.

nearly a million years ago -- swept up by rough seas. In a race against

:22:30.:22:32.

time, researchers on earth them to photograph them before they are

:22:33.:22:38.

eroded by the sea. And they record their reactions in this scientific

:22:39.:22:42.

footage. Walking across the beach, we found this service. You can see

:22:43.:22:47.

that it is covered in little hollows and depressions. They have been

:22:48.:22:51.

washed out by the sea, slowly uncovering that surface, so it is

:22:52.:22:56.

fragile. It is potentially very exciting. This could be the earliest

:22:57.:23:01.

footprints surface anywhere in Europe and Asia. The analysis showed

:23:02.:23:07.

several footprints, mostly quite small, probably children. But one

:23:08.:23:17.

size eight of an adult male. It was here that scientists found the

:23:18.:23:21.

footprints. They are thought to be of five individuals, a mixture of

:23:22.:23:25.

adults and children, maybe a family gathering or simply going for a

:23:26.:23:30.

walk. The footprints have now gone, washed away by the sea. Scientists

:23:31.:23:34.

are convinced that there are many more of them to be found right under

:23:35.:23:40.

these fans. Four years ago, the researchers found the first evidence

:23:41.:23:43.

for the existence of these humans here. The disc covered these stone

:23:44.:23:49.

tools, which we used for cutting. These humans were a different

:23:50.:23:52.

species to us, so what were they like? We don't know if they had the

:23:53.:23:57.

use of fire. There is no evidence of it here. We know the climate at

:23:58.:24:03.

Happisburgh was on average colder than the present day, so we wonder

:24:04.:24:07.

if they had adaptations like clothing and building shelters to

:24:08.:24:12.

help them survive, but we have no evidence of that either. At the

:24:13.:24:16.

moment, we have more questions than answers. The footprints are from

:24:17.:24:19.

what may have been the first of many species of human to walk these

:24:20.:24:25.

shores over the past million years. Until the arrival of our own species

:24:26.:24:29.

to Britain, relatively recently, just 40,000 years ago.

:24:30.:24:38.

To America, where Jay Leno, the long serving host of the tonight show on

:24:39.:24:42.

NBC in the US, has made an emotional final farewell to his millions of

:24:43.:24:54.

viewers full up. It is an American institution.

:24:55.:24:55.

Politicians, Hollywood stars, musicians, even a serving president

:24:56.:25:00.

have appeared on the Tonight Show. And for more than 20 years, Jay Leno

:25:01.:25:04.

has welcomed them all from the host's hot seat. This is the best

:25:05.:25:09.

job in show business. Doing that first show, I said, who shall I get

:25:10.:25:16.

to open it? It was Billy, so I can't imagine anyone else helping the end

:25:17.:25:20.

it. Please welcome Billy Crystal! His first guest in 1992, the

:25:21.:25:25.

comedian and actor Billy Crystal, led the farewell tributes. You

:25:26.:25:31.

Americans helped us through good times and bad. The country would

:25:32.:25:36.

stay up for your monologue to help put the country in perspective. When

:25:37.:25:42.

it was sadly announced that the world's number one terrorist had

:25:43.:25:46.

been captured, who told us it was Justin Bieber? You did. Ladies and

:25:47.:25:52.

gentlemen, Jack Black! # so long, farewell, as he does them, my dear.

:25:53.:26:02.

You will be back here next year. Replacing Jay Leno was host Jimmy

:26:03.:26:08.

Fallon, a social media savvy comedian who appeals to the

:26:09.:26:12.

20-something demographic much coveted by advertisers. A lot of

:26:13.:26:21.

people say, is it your dream job? I say, it is impossible for me to

:26:22.:26:25.

dream this. More people have walked on the moon and sun have hosted the

:26:26.:26:33.

Tonight Show. It is really a corner by myself. In an increasingly

:26:34.:26:36.

competitive late night market, Jimmy Fallon will be under pressure to

:26:37.:26:39.

keep the Tonight Show at the top of the ratings, as Jay Leno has done

:26:40.:26:46.

for many years. This has been the greatest 22 years of my life.

:26:47.:26:57.

And it is farewell from me, a bit more modest. Thanks for joining me.

:26:58.:26:59.

I buy.

:27:00.:27:02.

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