:00:08. > :00:18.This is BBC World News. We are bringing new special coverage of a
:00:19. > :00:21.press conference in Warsaw with the Polish president, President
:00:22. > :00:25.Komorowski, speaking with President Obama, who has announced a billion
:00:26. > :00:29.dollar security initiative for Europe to increase troop deployments
:00:30. > :00:35.in eastern Europe and around the Baltic states. We are just waiting
:00:36. > :00:39.for President Obama to speak. I am afraid we have not got Polish
:00:40. > :00:43.translation here. Mr Obama will also be meeting leaders of several
:00:44. > :00:48.central and Eastern European countries. But top of the agenda is
:00:49. > :00:53.the crisis in Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea. That has
:00:54. > :00:59.sparked this announcement by the United States of $1 billion to be
:01:00. > :01:04.spent on bolstering troop deployments and equipment for
:01:05. > :01:10.Europe. Our defence correspondent is with me. Are people going to say
:01:11. > :01:16.this is enough, the Eastern Europeans? They are the ones who
:01:17. > :01:24.want to see reassurance. Particularly the Baltic states. How
:01:25. > :01:46.worried are they? I was there recently in one of the military
:01:47. > :01:49.exercises where British troops were up and the White House has said that
:01:50. > :01:57.this billion dollars will not come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific
:01:58. > :02:05.deployment. Let's listen to President Obama. I want to thank you
:02:06. > :02:12.for welcoming me back to Poland today. It is an honour to be here to
:02:13. > :02:15.celebrate 25 years of freedom. Mr President, on my last visit to
:02:16. > :02:20.Warsaw, you said that dreams come true when we have courage and
:02:21. > :02:27.determination. Thanks to the courage and determination of you and so many
:02:28. > :02:32.Poles displayed over the decades, we have a free democratic and
:02:33. > :02:36.prosperous Poland that is not a dream any more, it is a reality. The
:02:37. > :02:42.American people have connections to Poland. I hometown in Chicago has
:02:43. > :02:46.especially deep connections to Poland. It makes it that more
:02:47. > :02:50.special for me to be part of this moment. I also want to thank you for
:02:51. > :03:01.welcoming me on the eve of your birthday. I have come here first and
:03:02. > :03:07.foremost to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the security
:03:08. > :03:11.of Poland. As NATO allies, we have an Article five duty to our
:03:12. > :03:14.collective defence. As President, I have made sure that the United
:03:15. > :03:23.States is upholding that commitment. We are on track with missile defence
:03:24. > :03:25.programming, including interceptor sites here in Poland. As we saw this
:03:26. > :03:30.morning, our American aviation detachment here is the first regular
:03:31. > :03:45.presence of US forces in Poland. We continuously rotate additional
:03:46. > :03:45.personnel and aircraft into Poland and the Baltics, and
:03:46. > :03:46.personnel and aircraft into Poland to the NATO air patrols over the
:03:47. > :03:46.Baltics. Today, I am announcing a new initiative to bolster the
:03:47. > :03:50.security of our NATO allies in Europe. Under this effort and with
:03:51. > :03:54.the support of Congress, the United States will reposition more
:03:55. > :03:57.equipment in Europe. We will be expanding our exercise and training
:03:58. > :04:03.with allies to increase the readiness of our forces. I know
:04:04. > :04:09.President Komorowski is a champion of the effort to modernise the
:04:10. > :04:11.Polish military, and we welcome the announcement he just made about an
:04:12. > :04:17.even greater commitment. We will increase the number of American
:04:18. > :04:19.personnel, army and air force units, continuously rotating through Allied
:04:20. > :04:24.countries in central and eastern Europe. We will be stepping up our
:04:25. > :04:28.partnerships with friends like Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia as they
:04:29. > :04:32.provide for their own defence. I am calling on Congress to approve up to
:04:33. > :04:36.$1 billion to support this effort, which will be a demonstration of
:04:37. > :04:43.America's commitment to our NATO allies. Poland is a leader in the
:04:44. > :04:51.alliance when it comes to investing in our collective defence. We have
:04:52. > :04:54.seen that again today. Poland's resolve in the initiative, I am
:04:55. > :04:58.proposing as a reminder that every ally needs to carry their share and
:04:59. > :05:01.invest in the capabilities of the alliance that are needed for the
:05:02. > :05:09.future. Of course, President Komorowski and I have focused mostly
:05:10. > :05:12.on the situation in Ukraine. Poles know perhaps better than most how
:05:13. > :05:18.precious freedom truly is. Your president displayed outstanding
:05:19. > :05:20.leadership in recent months. We agree that further Russian
:05:21. > :05:25.provocation will be met with further costs for Russia, including if
:05:26. > :05:28.necessary additional sanctions. Russia has a responsibility to
:05:29. > :05:33.engage with the Ukrainian government in Kiev to prevent the flow of
:05:34. > :05:37.militants and weapons into eastern Ukraine. Russia also need to be
:05:38. > :05:45.using its influence with armed separatist to convince them to stop
:05:46. > :05:50.attacking Ukrainian security forces. They should leave buildings they
:05:51. > :05:54.have seized, lay down their arms and enter into the political process.
:05:55. > :05:56.The US will continue to support Ukrainians as they embark on
:05:57. > :06:02.political and economic reforms. We will help facilitate dialogue
:06:03. > :06:05.between the Ukrainian government and representatives of separatist
:06:06. > :06:09.regions, and I look forward to discussing this with the
:06:10. > :06:13.President-elect tomorrow. Finally, President Komorowski and I discussed
:06:14. > :06:15.a range of issues critical to our shared prosperity, including the
:06:16. > :06:23.transatlantic trade and investment partnership, which would boost trade
:06:24. > :06:27.between the US and Europe, including facilitating potential energy
:06:28. > :06:35.exports from the United States into Europe. We agreed that more steps
:06:36. > :06:38.can be taken to diversify Europe's energy sources. That is important
:06:39. > :06:44.not only for Europe 's economy, but also for its security. That is a
:06:45. > :06:50.topic I will focus on later today, when we meet with other central and
:06:51. > :06:55.eastern European presidents. So thank you again for your partnership
:06:56. > :06:57.and hospitality. I could not be more grateful to have the opportunity to
:06:58. > :07:11.join tomorrow's celebration in Castle Square and have a chance to
:07:12. > :07:17.address the Polish people. STUDIO: well, with me is our defence
:07:18. > :07:20.correspondent. That was confirmation by the ayes have it, the ayes have
:07:21. > :07:27.it that he will be asking Congress for up to $1 billion -- confirmation
:07:28. > :07:33.by President Obama. He mentioned a few countries, Ukraine, Moldova and
:07:34. > :07:39.Georgia. I am just waiting to see if we have any questions in English
:07:40. > :07:42.that we can dip into. TRANSLATION: We will be speaking with the new
:07:43. > :07:48.President-elect. Thank you for my birthday wishes from the President.
:07:49. > :07:58.It is thanks to my mum, rather than me. One thing is for certain. Poland
:07:59. > :08:02.achieved freedom 25 years ago tomorrow. When it comes to the
:08:03. > :08:15.question about a relationship with Russia, the whole Western world as
:08:16. > :08:18.well as Poland are very interested in creating the best relationship
:08:19. > :08:27.with Russia and dig into new working together with Russia. Poland is very
:08:28. > :08:32.interested in continuing an easy process and also unifying the
:08:33. > :08:42.painful and bloody history of the countries. At in order to work
:08:43. > :08:54.together so that we can work with Russia, it is essential for Russia
:08:55. > :09:10.to stop using force against its neighbours. It needs to respect its
:09:11. > :09:20.other countries. We are expecting a full working relationship with the
:09:21. > :09:25.free Ukraine and accepting the presidential election results. And
:09:26. > :09:34.we are waiting discussions about better relations between Russia and
:09:35. > :09:41.the Ukraine. Well, on the importance of maintaining good relations with
:09:42. > :09:46.Russia, but not sacrificing principle in pursuit of good
:09:47. > :09:50.relations, the fact of the matter is that Russia is a sick African
:09:51. > :10:00.country -- a significant country with incredibly gifted people,
:10:01. > :10:02.resources and an enormous landmass. And they rightfully play an
:10:03. > :10:10.important role on the world stage and in the region. For what we have
:10:11. > :10:13.learned from our history, and nobody understands that better than the
:10:14. > :10:21.Poles, is that basic and supporters of territorial integrity and
:10:22. > :10:25.sovereignty and freedom, the ability for people to make their own
:10:26. > :10:34.determinations about their country's future is the cornerstone
:10:35. > :10:37.of the peace and security we have seen in Europe over the last several
:10:38. > :10:47.decades. And that is threatened by Russian action in Crimea and now
:10:48. > :10:50.Russian activity in eastern Ukraine. So we have said consistently that
:10:51. > :10:54.not only do we seek good relations with Russia, but we expect Ukraine
:10:55. > :10:57.to have strong relations with Russia. We don't believe Ukraine has
:10:58. > :11:02.to choose between good relations with Europe and good relations with
:11:03. > :11:10.Russia. We think Ukrainians should make their own decisions about the
:11:11. > :11:17.future of their country, without interference or armed militias being
:11:18. > :11:22.financed from the outside trying to disrupt the effort of Ukrainians to
:11:23. > :11:28.reform themselves, strengthen their democracy and improve their
:11:29. > :11:33.economy. As a consequence, we will continue to support Ukrainian
:11:34. > :11:37.efforts. The fact that there has been an election on May the 25th and
:11:38. > :11:46.we now have a President-elect, I think gives us momentum to build on
:11:47. > :11:50.as we move forward. The President-elect of Ukraine has
:11:51. > :11:55.indicated his willingness to work with all regions of Ukraine to
:11:56. > :12:00.create a constitutional order that is representative of all people. And
:12:01. > :12:07.he has said he is interested in pursuing good relations with
:12:08. > :12:11.Russia. But he is right to say that the sovereignty of Ukraine should
:12:12. > :12:15.not be sacrificed in that effort, and we support him in that. And
:12:16. > :12:21.NATO's relationship with Russia will be one in which, if Russia is
:12:22. > :12:29.observing basic international law and principles, there should be
:12:30. > :12:38.cooperation between Russia and NATO. Where Russia violates international
:12:39. > :12:45.law, NATO will stand firm in asserting those principles. STUDIO:
:12:46. > :12:48.President Obama there, making it clear that the United States is
:12:49. > :12:54.continuing to support Ukraine and other countries in the east of
:12:55. > :12:58.Europe, praising Russia and its people, but saying people must be
:12:59. > :13:04.free to make their own determination. That is a cornerstone
:13:05. > :13:08.of peace and security, and if that is threatened, that is a problem.
:13:09. > :13:12.That is the reason that President Obama is now calling for this huge
:13:13. > :13:17.$1 billion of funding from Congress to bolster security in Europe. All
:13:18. > :13:22.very reminiscent, of course, of the Cold War tensions that we all
:13:23. > :13:27.thought we had left behind. We will keep across that for you and let you
:13:28. > :13:31.know if anything significant comes out of that press conference.
:13:32. > :13:35.We move now to another part of the world embroiled in conflict. Three
:13:36. > :13:39.years of brittle civil war, thousands of dead and nearly 3
:13:40. > :13:44.million refugees. Despite all that, today Syria is holding a
:13:45. > :13:48.presidential election. President Bashar al-Assad has cast his vote.
:13:49. > :13:53.These were the pictures that came into us a few hours ago with his
:13:54. > :13:57.wife. He is expected to win a third seven-year term in office. The first
:13:58. > :13:58.time in decades, there is more than one candidate
:13:59. > :14:00.time in decades, there is more than one on the ballot, but the Western
:14:01. > :14:10.backed opposition has dismissed the vote as a sham. The BBC's down rebel
:14:11. > :14:18.and has more from Damascus. The buses have in coming and going
:14:19. > :14:23.all morning to this polling station. This is the national water company.
:14:24. > :14:28.These men all say they work for the water company. There have been a few
:14:29. > :14:32.women as well. They get ushered straight in to vote. Everybody have
:14:33. > :14:35.that he or she is going to vote for President Bashar al-Assad. This
:14:36. > :14:42.election has been savagely criticised both by Syrians who have
:14:43. > :14:45.taken up arms against the president, and also by Syrian politicians in
:14:46. > :14:50.exile. It has also been criticised by Western leaders. The British
:14:51. > :14:57.Foreign Secretary William Hague called it a parody of democracy. The
:14:58. > :15:03.people I have spoken to around the regime say that actually, it is
:15:04. > :15:10.democracy. People are voting in secret, and here is a ballot paper.
:15:11. > :15:17.Two candidates as well as President Assad, and this is all the promise
:15:18. > :15:20.of a better life. President Assad does have genuine support. He would
:15:21. > :15:25.not have weathered everything he has gone through since the war started
:15:26. > :15:28.without that. And they buy those arguments, so as far as the
:15:29. > :15:35.president is concerned, this is good politics.
:15:36. > :15:39.Much more to come on BBC World News. We will hear from the co-founder of
:15:40. > :15:41.Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, as he takes up a new role as an adviser to
:15:42. > :15:58.Google. We often have stories about huge
:15:59. > :16:03.creatures at the end of news bulletins, but hedgehogs are
:16:04. > :16:09.increasingly becoming household pets in the United States, it seems, but
:16:10. > :16:13.they are not for everyone. They may not be the most cuddly of
:16:14. > :16:19.companions, but having a hedgehog as a pet might just be the newest
:16:20. > :16:25.trend. Although skittish, they require a lot less maintenance than
:16:26. > :16:32.dogs or cats, and are kinder on the nose than rodents or rabbits. They
:16:33. > :16:41.do not smell very much, they are not usually against rental conditions
:16:42. > :16:45.for apartments. The popularity of hedgehogs as increased hugely in
:16:46. > :16:50.recent years. I have been breeding them for 19 years, and when I first
:16:51. > :16:57.started, I had a waiting list of five people. 19 years later, I have
:16:58. > :16:59.a waiting list of 500 people. You to environmental concerns, they are
:17:00. > :17:04.restricted in at least six US states. Veterinarians warn it is not
:17:05. > :17:09.just stroking them which is potentially hazardous. Especially
:17:10. > :17:14.people who are older, or who are younger than five years of age, need
:17:15. > :17:18.to be careful, as they can catch some and love from hedgehogs,
:17:19. > :17:19.sometimes not even by touching them, but from just them being in the
:17:20. > :17:35.household. This extraordinary 91-year-old lady
:17:36. > :17:39.is proof that age knows no bounds, because she completed a marathon in
:17:40. > :17:44.San Diego. She ran her first marathon in 1999, to help raise
:17:45. > :17:48.money for leukaemia research, and this latest one took her a mere
:17:49. > :17:54.seven hours to cross the finishing line. Extraordinary.
:17:55. > :18:04.This is BBC World News. The top stories - Syria's president casts
:18:05. > :18:08.his vote in an election which is expected to give him a third term in
:18:09. > :18:13.office. And President Obama is in Poland, with the promise of an extra
:18:14. > :18:19.$1 billion to strengthen NATO security in eastern Europe.
:18:20. > :18:26.A Cabinet meeting is taking place in Spain to draw up plans to change the
:18:27. > :18:32.constitution to allow King Juan Carlos to abdicate in favour of his
:18:33. > :18:35.son. The king and his son has just arrived at a monastery just
:18:36. > :18:40.north-west of Madrid for a military ceremony. King Juan Carlos announced
:18:41. > :18:46.yesterday that he would step down after almost 40 years on the throne.
:18:47. > :18:49.He is widely credited with smoothing Spain's transition to democracy
:18:50. > :18:53.after the death of General Franco in 1975. Those are the pictures which
:18:54. > :18:57.have just come into us. Police in London have arrested one
:18:58. > :18:59.of Pakistan's most powerful politicians, Altaf Hussain,
:19:00. > :19:02.on suspicion of money laundering. Mr Hussain is the leader of the MQM
:19:03. > :19:05.party which commands strong support He has been living in self-imposed
:19:06. > :19:31.exile in London for 22 years. He is the leader of the MQM party,
:19:32. > :19:35.which has strong support in several urban areas. He has been living in
:19:36. > :19:40.exile in London for 22 years, controlling the party from there.
:19:41. > :19:45.Now, his party is seen as a victim, as well as a perpetrator of violence
:19:46. > :19:50.in the city of Karachi. It has dominated the city's politics for
:19:51. > :19:54.three decades, it has won every single election it has contested in
:19:55. > :19:58.the last three decades, and Altaf Hussain was facing charges of
:19:59. > :20:02.money-laundering in London. There are now reports that he has been
:20:03. > :20:07.arrested. London police want to know the source of his income, because he
:20:08. > :20:12.does not really work there. They want to know how his party has built
:20:13. > :20:18.properties in the UK, huge sums of money in bank accounts. That is the
:20:19. > :20:22.charge he is facing. The Pakistani authorities have apparently been
:20:23. > :20:27.worried in the past that any sort of arrest like this could spark
:20:28. > :20:31.problems in Karachi - has there been any reaction yet? Yes, the last
:20:32. > :20:37.couple of hours, there is tension in the city, there is panic. Shops and
:20:38. > :20:41.businesses have started to shut down, people are heading home, there
:20:42. > :20:44.are reports of massive traffic jams in the city of Karachi, shootings
:20:45. > :20:53.are reported from other cities in the province where women host has
:20:54. > :21:01.support. -- where MQM has support. This kind of violent reaction had
:21:02. > :21:07.been predicted. There is expected to be a news conference to decide the
:21:08. > :21:13.future course of action. So, so far, there is panic, not many reports of
:21:14. > :21:17.violence yet, but the people of Karachi know that when something
:21:18. > :21:23.like this happens, it is safer for them to head home. What exactly do
:21:24. > :21:29.the people fear? Well, as I was saying, MQM is a party which claims
:21:30. > :21:33.to represent middle class, educated people in Karachi, especially all do
:21:34. > :21:41.speaking people, who are descendants of migrants from India, at the time
:21:42. > :21:44.of partition in 1947. But the party is also accused of militant
:21:45. > :21:48.activity, of controlling the city through fear and terror. It is for
:21:49. > :21:49.that reason that the people of Karachi fear that the party, or its
:21:50. > :21:55.elements, could resort to violence. Ukraine's Interior Ministry says
:21:56. > :21:58.fighting is taking place on the edge And local residents are reporting
:21:59. > :22:04.heavy artillery barrages. Pro-Russia separatists say they have
:22:05. > :22:06.shot down a government helicopter, but this has been denied
:22:07. > :22:10.by the Ukrainian military. Thailand's ruling military council
:22:11. > :22:13.says it will lift a curfew in some tourist areas,
:22:14. > :22:15.including the popular beach resorts The curfew - from midnight to 4am -
:22:16. > :22:21.was imposed after the military took Thousands of people across Europe
:22:22. > :22:26.have taken the first steps to exercise their
:22:27. > :22:29.new-found "right to be forgotten". A recent EU court ruling allows
:22:30. > :22:32.people to ask for embarrassing or out-of-date information to be
:22:33. > :22:35.removed from online searches. Today, data protection regulators
:22:36. > :22:38.are meeting to discuss Since Google put a form online last
:22:39. > :22:44.Friday morning, it has received It's up to regulators
:22:45. > :22:50.and internet companies to decide how to strike a balance between privacy
:22:51. > :22:55.and freedom of information. Jimmy Wales,
:22:56. > :22:57.co-founder of Wikipedia, says the EU ruling has created big problems
:22:58. > :23:14.for companies such as Google. He is also an adviser to Google.
:23:15. > :23:17.People talk about the balance between privacy and freedom of
:23:18. > :23:21.expression, but in this case, the court has ordered Google to take
:23:22. > :23:25.down a link to a news story which was legally published, which was
:23:26. > :23:27.true, which was published by an order of a court about a matter
:23:28. > :23:32.which is clearly of public interest, I would say. It means that
:23:33. > :23:34.Google is now in a very difficult position as to figuring out how they
:23:35. > :23:40.can possibly know when something should be deleted or not. We are
:23:41. > :23:43.talking about the Spaniard, Mr Gonzales, who had had the debt
:23:44. > :23:48.problems, and complained that every time you put his name into Google,
:23:49. > :23:53.this problem came back, and it was hampering him from starting a new
:23:54. > :23:56.business, is that fair enough? No. The first request that I got
:23:57. > :23:59.following this was from a serial convicted fraudster, who has a very
:24:00. > :24:03.good reason for wanting to be removed from Wikipedia. But there is
:24:04. > :24:07.a very strong public interest in knowing about people, particularly
:24:08. > :24:12.if they are holding themselves up to do business. It is important. If he
:24:13. > :24:17.wanted to respond to that, he has ample opportunity. I think the more
:24:18. > :24:22.difficult question is weather we should be asking Google to make
:24:23. > :24:26.these kind of determinations, weather something is legally
:24:27. > :24:31.published, you are not allowed to link to it etc. A number of huge
:24:32. > :24:35.issues which nobody seems to have thought about before they passed
:24:36. > :24:39.this ruling. Are you or other people involved in this with Google
:24:40. > :24:44.planning to legally challenge this? That will not be up to Google, but
:24:45. > :24:46.as I understand it, there is no direct legal challenge, this is the
:24:47. > :24:52.final court of. There is nothing they can do about it. Was a bit of a
:24:53. > :24:55.shocker of a decision. The next step I think would be to say to the
:24:56. > :25:03.European Parliament, this is a real mess, this decision is confusing, it
:25:04. > :25:09.is going to impact the freedom of newspapers, people are going to say,
:25:10. > :25:11.you cannot link to that article. There are various questions about
:25:12. > :25:17.privacy and data in the modern world, but we need to do it in a
:25:18. > :25:22.more modernised way, we are implemented in 20-year-old
:25:23. > :25:30.regulations about data processing in a world where freedom of expression
:25:31. > :25:35.is impacted by many factors. We were just watching that report on the
:25:36. > :25:39.Spanish monarchy, and people in the public eye can often be
:25:40. > :25:44.misrepresented on the internet, can they not? That is certainly true,
:25:45. > :25:48.but people can be misrepresented in the newspapers, and in all kinds of
:25:49. > :25:53.ways. But people forget newspapers, that is the point. Not necessarily.
:25:54. > :25:57.There is something which has fundamentally changed, which is that
:25:58. > :26:01.people have access to information for a much longer period of time,
:26:02. > :26:06.much deeper. We may want to go back and we consider that. In this case
:26:07. > :26:12.the Spanish court ordered the publication of the notice of this
:26:13. > :26:18.debt issue, that his house had been taken away, or whatever, do we want
:26:19. > :26:24.to do that any more? I think there are some real serious problems with
:26:25. > :26:30.that. Questions about transparency and governance of. I think a better
:26:31. > :26:34.approach would be to say, we need to look at, what are the penalties for
:26:35. > :26:39.leaking data if you are a company which has agreed to keep data
:26:40. > :26:40.private? But we should not start with, let's start censoring the
:26:41. > :26:50.newspapers. Just to remind you of our breaking
:26:51. > :26:56.news from this hour, President Obama in Warsaw, with the Polish
:26:57. > :27:01.president. President Obama has announced a $1 billion security deal
:27:02. > :27:03.for Europe. Cold War tensions still very much evident.