:00:14. > :00:19.This is BBC World News Today. Another Friday of bloodshed in
:00:19. > :00:22.Syria. Thousands take to the streets in continued defiance of
:00:22. > :00:28.the Government's violent crackdown. Our correspondent becomes one of
:00:28. > :00:32.the few journalists to enter Syria. He hears from those trying to flee.
:00:32. > :00:35.What many have told us is the Syrian army and secret police are
:00:35. > :00:39.getting closer to this point every day. We believe they are two or
:00:39. > :00:44.three miles in that direction. Openly defying the authorities and
:00:44. > :00:52.the driving bans, Saudi women take to the wheel.
:00:52. > :00:56.German retreat - the German debt crisis, Berlusconi lin and France
:00:56. > :01:06.show the way forward. Leaving Britain to fight on the frontline
:01:06. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:17.in Libya. We hear one student's Hello. Welcome. Three months on
:01:17. > :01:21.from the first protests against the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria,
:01:21. > :01:27.thousands of people have taken to the streets after Friday prayers,
:01:27. > :01:31.demanding reform. Unconfirmed reports say at least 16 protestors
:01:31. > :01:34.were shot dead in several cities. Syria are fleeing violence in the
:01:34. > :01:38.north and heading towards the border with Turkey. International
:01:38. > :01:43.journalists are not allowed into Syria, but our correspondent
:01:44. > :01:49.entered the country earlier today. This is his report. We took the
:01:49. > :01:56.route the smugglers use, winding through the olive groves and down
:01:56. > :02:04.the hillsides to avoid the border patrol. We were inside Syria. This
:02:04. > :02:11.is how some 10,000 now live here - standed along the border in a no-
:02:11. > :02:19.man's-land, too scared of their own army to return home. In one tent
:02:20. > :02:25.sat this woman, elderly and frail. "I came here because of the
:02:25. > :02:30.violence. Because of the Army. We're frightened of them.", she
:02:30. > :02:35.said. Everyone here has a tale of horror. Few will tell theirs on
:02:35. > :02:42.camera, too afraid of reprisals, but their stories are all similar.
:02:43. > :02:47.TRANSLATION: We were watching from a place in Jisr al-Shughour so we
:02:47. > :02:52.could tell our families what was happening. The soldiers went in
:02:52. > :02:55.with tanks and army vehicles. They started to attack the buildings.
:02:55. > :03:00.They entered offices and stole whatever they wanted and set fire
:03:00. > :03:06.to them. The people of Syria have been all but sealed off for three
:03:06. > :03:09.months now, as the President has tried to crush are rebellion he
:03:09. > :03:12.blames on religious extremists. Many have told us the Army and
:03:13. > :03:18.police are getting closer to this point every day. We believe they
:03:18. > :03:24.are just two or three miles in that direction. On the other side of the
:03:24. > :03:29.country we know that army units are getting closer to centres of
:03:29. > :03:33.rebellion along the border. The tactics seem clear. The Army, the
:03:33. > :03:37.ageem is trying to quash the rebellion.
:03:38. > :03:42.-- the regime is trying to quash the rebellion. This, many here told
:03:42. > :03:47.us, this is how the Army is doing it. We cannot show this mobile
:03:47. > :03:56.phone footage. It's of a dead man with a long bloody wound across the
:03:56. > :04:02.top of his skull. What does this make them think of their President?
:04:02. > :04:09."he's a traitor. He should give us our freedom." Such open decent was
:04:09. > :04:13.once unheard of here. It is perhaps a sign that the brutality, far from
:04:13. > :04:19.crushing this rebellion is actually fanning its flames.
:04:19. > :04:25.Today's protests have been taking place across the country. The
:04:25. > :04:29.capital Damascus demonstrators gathered in several areas. Nine
:04:29. > :04:36.people died in Homs, after army units opened fire there on
:04:36. > :04:41.protestors. Soldiers, backed with tanks and helicopters have taken
:04:41. > :04:45.control of two northern towns, Marat al-Numan and Khan Sheikhoun.
:04:46. > :04:51.Reports are coming in of Government troops shooting protestors in
:04:51. > :04:55.Banias. Tens of thousands have rallied in the southern town of
:04:55. > :04:58.Deraa. Now some other stories making the news. In Yemen, tens of
:04:58. > :05:08.thousands have held another demonstration in the capital
:05:08. > :05:11.calling for a transitional Government to replace the President.
:05:11. > :05:15.The Yemeni Government has denied reports that President Saleh will
:05:15. > :05:22.not be going home. A spokesman insisted the President will return
:05:22. > :05:28.in the coming days. A rebel leader in the Sudanese region of South
:05:28. > :05:33.Kordofan has offered a one-month ceasefire. Seen here in the middle,
:05:33. > :05:42.he said his side would stop fighting Government troops if talks
:05:42. > :05:52.began to settle security and security issues. Some areas of
:05:52. > :05:55.
:05:55. > :05:59.Vietnam are contaminated with algt orange. Troops will rid the area.
:05:59. > :06:04.The British Government has banned the shipping firm UPS from
:06:04. > :06:08.screening air cargo at some airports in the UK because of
:06:08. > :06:12.concerns about security. The Department of Transport said there
:06:12. > :06:17.was no immediate or specific terrorism threat.
:06:17. > :06:20.The leaders of the two larger eurozone economies, Germany and
:06:20. > :06:25.France have presented a United Front on a new rescue package for
:06:25. > :06:28.Greece, adding they want it agreed as soon as possible. Angela Merkel
:06:28. > :06:32.and Nicolas Sarkozy have been meeting in Berlin to discuss the
:06:32. > :06:36.issue. In Athens, a new Greek Cabinet has been sworn in, after
:06:36. > :06:44.days of mass protests. They will propose new spending cuts and tax
:06:44. > :06:49.increases. The streets of Athens is clear.
:06:49. > :06:56.Government finances may be clear of difficulties but Greek citizens
:06:56. > :06:59.don't want more belt tightening. Who does pay? In Berlin today, they
:06:59. > :07:04.fear they know. Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy agreed a
:07:04. > :07:13.second bail out is needed. And said it should be sooner rather than
:07:13. > :07:18.later. TRANSLATION: Europe and the euro are intertwined. Speaking on
:07:18. > :07:22.behalf of Germany, Germany has benefited enormously. Germany's
:07:22. > :07:29.strength is connected to a strong euro. We will do all we can to
:07:29. > :07:33.preserve the euro and its stability. TRANSLATION: Like our German
:07:33. > :07:41.friends we are kopbs convinced a new debt restructuring programme is
:07:41. > :07:47.necessary for Greece. We appreciate the efforts taken by Greece so far.
:07:47. > :07:52.So this was French-German, shoulder-to-shoulder unity, private
:07:52. > :07:57.disagreements vanished. Chancellor Merkel had been keen on bans that -
:07:57. > :08:03.- banks that lend to Greece. She accepted today that this would have
:08:03. > :08:06.to be voluntary. If the banks don't extend their lending to the Greek
:08:07. > :08:11.Government, Chancellor Merkel say knows the German taxpayer will pick
:08:11. > :08:15.up the bill. There'll be much resistance to that, both among
:08:15. > :08:22.ordinary people and in the bud des tag, the German Parliament. She has
:08:22. > :08:29.a fight on her hands. In aththen, a new Cabinet has been
:08:29. > :08:33.-- in Athens a new Cabinet has been sworn in. They may enact austerity
:08:34. > :08:38.measures, so easing the pressures elsewhere to come up with bail out
:08:38. > :08:44.money. TRANSLATION: The country needs to
:08:44. > :08:48.be saved. It will be saved. It must regain its dignity and economic
:08:48. > :08:53.domination. It must exit this turbulence. All Greeks must fight
:08:53. > :08:58.to take our heads out of the water and take a breath.
:08:58. > :09:03.Despite the words in Athens and Berlin, the forces of opposition on
:09:03. > :09:08.the streets remain. In Athens, the mood is - we will not pay higher
:09:08. > :09:13.taxes or cut spending more. In Germany, the popular mood is, we
:09:13. > :09:17.don't want to transfer our taxpayers' money to the struggling
:09:17. > :09:21.economies of the eurozone. Parliaments will have to be
:09:21. > :09:31.consulted in both Athens and Berlin. Leaders have chartered a way
:09:31. > :09:36.forward. That doesn't mean that all will follow them. Let's go to
:09:36. > :09:41.Berlin. We can speak to Professor Irwin Collier. Thank you for
:09:41. > :09:45.joining us on the programme. How much of a retreat is this for
:09:45. > :09:51.Germany and a victory for the European Central Bank? This is
:09:51. > :09:56.really hard to judge because so much is -- must be happening behind
:09:56. > :10:02.the scenes. Banks do not want to come forward, in the same way that
:10:02. > :10:07.politicians have to come forward. The test will be this call for
:10:07. > :10:11.voluntary rollovers, if we in fact see French and German banks
:10:11. > :10:19.engaging in the voluntary rollovers, then we'll know this was agreed
:10:19. > :10:25.upon ahead of time. This was the so-called Vienna initiative, when
:10:25. > :10:32.banks kept credit lines open to those struggling economies in the
:10:32. > :10:37.Soviet bloc. How do you endeuce these banks to do it voluntarily? I
:10:37. > :10:41.don't understand. Times are getting more complicated, through the
:10:41. > :10:47.existence of these credit swaps. Once you are engaging in this sort
:10:47. > :10:50.of activity, it's like a horse race. Betting on horse races depends on
:10:50. > :10:54.people having different opinions on the outcome. There will be people
:10:54. > :11:01.who will gain from a credit event. There will be people who will lose
:11:01. > :11:05.from a credit event. The interests are not nearly as homogenius
:11:05. > :11:10.throughout the banking community. We will see how hard it is to
:11:10. > :11:16.unwind such positions. I would be surprised, if in fact, we see this
:11:16. > :11:19.massive move of banks to do the rolling over. In terms of public
:11:19. > :11:25.opinion in Germany, how much trouble does this place Angela
:11:25. > :11:31.Merkel in, do you think? She is desperately holding on and this is
:11:31. > :11:37.just one more item that makes the job of being a federal Chancellor
:11:37. > :11:41.so difficult. And it's not merely a case that the German voters are
:11:41. > :11:46.worried about the transfers going towards Greece. They are also very
:11:47. > :11:54.much concerned about the idea of their tax money also being used to
:11:54. > :12:00.subsidise or to help the banks, who helped, or at least one party to
:12:00. > :12:03.the entire transaction. She has a very difficult political waters to
:12:03. > :12:10.navigate through. Does this prevent a default further town the line
:12:10. > :12:15.when it comes to Greece being able to manage these debts? This press
:12:15. > :12:21.conference, by itself, certainly will make no difference in history
:12:21. > :12:26.if we do not see in fact the rapid unification around the common
:12:26. > :12:31.policy that is more than merely voluntaryry. Policy co-ordination
:12:31. > :12:36.right now is absolutely essential. One does have the feeling from the
:12:36. > :12:39.press reports that in fact they are still at loggerheads and the
:12:39. > :12:45.interests are very different, according to country and according
:12:45. > :12:50.to which bank happens to have the era of the respective leader.
:12:50. > :12:54.Thank you for talking to us here on the programme. Saudi Arabia is one
:12:54. > :13:00.of the few Middle Eastern countries which has seen little open protest
:13:00. > :13:06.since the Arab Spring began six months ago. Today women's right
:13:06. > :13:11.supporters have been openly driving cars. The campaign follows the
:13:11. > :13:16.detention last month of a Saudi woman who posted a video on the
:13:16. > :13:20.internet of herself driving. Peter Biles reports.
:13:20. > :13:26.It's Friday 17th June. I'd like to go to the supermarket, says the
:13:26. > :13:31.woman at the wheel of the car. A routine errand, but in Saudi Arabia
:13:31. > :13:35.her mission is Strictly clandestine. The pictures have apparently come
:13:35. > :13:38.from a social media website. Her location is not revealed as she
:13:38. > :13:43.drives along the deserted streets in the early hours of the morning.
:13:43. > :13:49.All this is about, she says, is if I need something I can go and get
:13:49. > :13:55.Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are prevented from
:13:55. > :13:59.driving. There's no written law, as such, but driving licences are not
:13:59. > :14:05.issued to women. Now though, campaigners have turned to the
:14:05. > :14:08.internet to gather support. TRANSLATION: We should have courage
:14:08. > :14:12.in this country at the highest levels. The leadership in this
:14:12. > :14:16.country should resolve the issues so women are not deprived of their
:14:16. > :14:19.natural rights. Women are part of this society. They form at least
:14:20. > :14:27.50% of this community. Why deprive half of the community of their
:14:27. > :14:31.rights? This YouTube video shows a Saudi
:14:31. > :14:35.woman, Manal al-Sherif, driving while talking to a passenger. "we
:14:35. > :14:40.want change in the country," she is heard to say. Last month
:14:40. > :14:45.authorities arrested her. She has been released, but tens of
:14:45. > :14:49.thousands of people have joined the campaign calling for her acquittal.
:14:49. > :14:54.The determination to defy the ban has made the Government nervous in
:14:54. > :14:59.this era of instant communication. A week ago we drove and we got the
:14:59. > :15:05.campaign in a matter of 30 minutes. We were reported. We were attacked
:15:05. > :15:10.at the bus. Six cars were surrounding us and they took us to
:15:10. > :15:17.the police station. We weren't allowed to leave unless
:15:17. > :15:23.our guardians came and signed a pledge to take us home.
:15:23. > :15:28.Some Saudi women complain that they experience problems of harassment
:15:28. > :15:31.when riding in taxis. Driving themselves, they argue, would allow
:15:31. > :15:35.them greater independence and security. Protests in Saudi Arabia
:15:35. > :15:45.are extremely rare. It is why this call for social change has drawn so
:15:45. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:53.Let's speak to Amnesty International. Thank you for coming
:15:53. > :15:59.in. How significant a protest was this today and how many members
:15:59. > :16:05.took to the streets? We talk to people who were connected with the
:16:05. > :16:13.protest earlier and they said several dozen people defied the ban
:16:13. > :16:18.and got into their cars. Do we know if they were arrested? So far, no
:16:18. > :16:23.reports of arrests. Some were told they were committing a traffic
:16:23. > :16:28.offences but no one has been arrested. It dates back to 1990,
:16:28. > :16:34.the last time something like this happened. When you look at the Arab
:16:34. > :16:39.Spring and the Saudi dynasty, how far have they gone in terms of
:16:39. > :16:45.addressing the Democratic calls? way near far enough in terms of the
:16:45. > :16:49.human rights calls. This is one facet of a much wider problem
:16:49. > :16:54.affecting women's rights and discrimination. The Saudi
:16:54. > :16:57.authorities promised for years that they would lift the ban and
:16:57. > :17:02.promised they would allow women the right to vote in municipal
:17:03. > :17:09.elections, the only game in town in terms of elections in Saudi Arabia
:17:09. > :17:12.but are yet to come good. This will hopefully push them to go further.
:17:12. > :17:18.The King when he returned from convalescence announced welfare
:17:18. > :17:23.payment increases, has that Board of the opposition at local level?
:17:23. > :17:29.It is difficult to know. They have not been widespread protests like
:17:29. > :17:33.North Africa, there were rumblings in the sense of demonstrations that
:17:33. > :17:41.were repressed in the East which has eight Shia majority. People
:17:41. > :17:47.were demonstrating on behalf of detainees held without trial. Also,
:17:47. > :17:52.the beginnings of a challenge to the one-party state, in terms of
:17:52. > :17:58.the Royal Family because the number of political activists trying to
:17:58. > :18:08.set up the party were arrested and detained. Have we seen signs of
:18:08. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:21.nervousness? There is nervousness and for good reason because it will
:18:21. > :18:24.at some stage be pushed up and the sort of protest women are bravely
:18:24. > :18:28.undertaking today will hopefully be a step in the right direction.
:18:28. > :18:31.Thank you. Libyan rebels say ten people have been killed and forty
:18:31. > :18:33.injured in a series of rocket attacks by Colonel Gaddafi's forces
:18:34. > :18:36.on the rebel-held port of Misrata. After weeks of stalemate, the
:18:36. > :18:42.rebels seem to be gaining ground, pushing forwards from their
:18:42. > :18:45.stronghold of the port city itself along the road to Tripoli. And
:18:45. > :18:55.their cause continues to attract recruits some from as far away as
:18:55. > :18:59.
:18:59. > :19:07.Europe. Andrew Harding reports. In high spirits, rebels heading
:19:07. > :19:13.towards Ms rata. Among today's reinforcements, a young maths
:19:13. > :19:21.student from Lancaster University, Sadeeq Belach. In England I could
:19:21. > :19:26.not do much for this revolution is so I decided to go and hold a gun
:19:26. > :19:31.for the first time in my life. him, it is personal. His father
:19:31. > :19:38.greets him but Gaddafi's forces have taken 16 members of their
:19:38. > :19:48.family. Within hours, a shy earnest student seems transformed. It is a
:19:48. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:55.short journey to the front line. But is he ready for this? Those
:19:55. > :20:05.were uncomfortably close. Gaddafi is superior firepower is a constant
:20:05. > :20:05.
:20:05. > :20:10.threat for this part-time soldier. He has come right to the very front
:20:10. > :20:15.lines here. Very active front lines, Gaddafi's forces a mile or so down
:20:16. > :20:19.the road. Week in here micelles whistling overhead. NATO planes are
:20:19. > :20:26.patrolling the skies. The men are bracing themselves for what they
:20:26. > :20:31.believe could be an imminent Gaddafi offensive. In a quieter
:20:31. > :20:36.moment, his training begins. These are the rockets. He hopes his maths
:20:37. > :20:44.skills will help with targeting. Fantastic. I do not want to kill
:20:44. > :20:50.anybody. My friends do not want to kill but we had to fight. Where is
:20:50. > :20:58.the enemy now? His lack of experience is nothing new. The
:20:58. > :21:03.rebels need training and weapons and too many are dying. And so
:21:03. > :21:13.after a mere Aral Sea so of training, he joins the ranks. --
:21:13. > :21:16.
:21:16. > :21:19.hour or so. We live in peace or While the Arab Spring has been
:21:19. > :21:24.dominating news coverage, a film about the themes of the wider
:21:24. > :21:30.conflict has been gaining critical acclaim. Phil macro has picked up
:21:30. > :21:40.awards around the world as well as an Oscar -- Incendies. It tells the
:21:40. > :22:11.
:22:11. > :22:19.story of one family's journey to Lubna Azabal is the start of the
:22:19. > :22:28.film, a Belgian actress of Moroccan descent. I asked if the Phil macro
:22:28. > :22:37.-- Incendies... It could have been shot in Serbia. A war is a war. You
:22:37. > :22:41.ask me about the effect of the movie. The effect is maybe it helps
:22:42. > :22:49.people to open some windows and helps people to talk and we are in
:22:49. > :22:59.the middle of the Arab Spring. It is a wonderful revolution. An
:22:59. > :23:01.
:23:01. > :23:07.unexpected revolution. But the movie, it is more about a family
:23:07. > :23:12.who lives inside a complex world in the Middle East. It is a coming of
:23:12. > :23:16.age feel for these children who are left a letter. Explain what they do
:23:16. > :23:26.and see in terms of retracing their family history over the turbulent
:23:26. > :23:28.
:23:28. > :23:38.40 years. It is the point of view of two teenagers, they are growing
:23:38. > :23:47.up in a country without war, Canada. They know nothing about the Arab
:23:47. > :23:57.culture and the war. So to their mother, they discover the reality
:23:57. > :24:10.
:24:10. > :24:15.I wonder why you think it fits into the Arab Spring which we discussed
:24:15. > :24:21.earlier and the idea of liberation and discovering the truth and
:24:21. > :24:27.trying to change what is going on. For the first time because of
:24:27. > :24:30.social networking like Facebook and Twitter, they decide to handle
:24:31. > :24:37.their own destiny for the first time in their lives. And that is
:24:37. > :24:45.why it is wonderful and why -- and what he does in the movie, she
:24:45. > :24:55.takes her own destiny and her destiny unfortunately will get
:24:55. > :25:12.
:25:12. > :25:20.I never had to experiment -- experience this horror and violence
:25:20. > :25:25.but I was lucky to talk to people who got through that thing, in
:25:25. > :25:29.Palestine and Jordan and I met a lot of Iraqi refugees in Jordan.
:25:29. > :25:35.And they let me know they wrote experiences and you learn a lot
:25:36. > :25:44.about its the cruelty of the world. You think this is a film which is
:25:44. > :25:49.optimistic, does the film show hope for the region or not? I think yes,
:25:49. > :25:58.because the mother in the movie says that sometimes, sometimes,
:25:58. > :26:07.peace comes only after death. There is a notion of sacrifice, a notion
:26:07. > :26:15.of to win the freedom you must maybe sacrifice yourself for a
:26:15. > :26:19.generation and to maybe also their love and hate can co-exist one day.
:26:19. > :26:25.And vengeance and forgiveness can co-exist also an this is may be the
:26:25. > :26:28.message of the movie, yes. Lubna Azabal, the star of Incendies.
:26:28. > :26:31.A reminder of our main news: Thousands of people have
:26:31. > :26:34.demonstrated in towns and cities across Syria against the government
:26:34. > :26:37.of President Bashar Assad. Official media said a number of policemen
:26:37. > :26:40.had been shot, and one had died. Unconfirmed reports from activists
:26:40. > :26:50.said at least sixteen demonstrators were shot dead by security forces
:26:50. > :27:00.
:27:00. > :27:05.in several locations. That is all, Hello, for many it has been a wet
:27:05. > :27:09.day so far and the rain is heading towards northern England as we
:27:09. > :27:15.speak. Tomorrow, the rain lingers in the north and elsewhere
:27:16. > :27:20.scattered showers. This area of low pressure, a band of rain stretches
:27:20. > :27:25.through southern areas of England and tomorrow the wind turns
:27:25. > :27:28.westerly with gusty wind and heavy showers. Today's band of rain by
:27:28. > :27:35.tomorrow sits across northern England and southern areas of
:27:35. > :27:39.Scotland. South of here, a little bit brighter, glimmers of sunshine
:27:39. > :27:45.but showers heavy in the West tracking eastwards on the breeze. A
:27:45. > :27:52.few in Ascot and Southampton for the cricket. In the south-west, a
:27:52. > :27:57.dry day, tomorrow scattered showers, blustery and heavy with hail and
:27:57. > :28:01.thunder but not persistent rain off today. Similar across Wales, sunny
:28:01. > :28:07.spells and blustery showers. In Northern Ireland, not much
:28:07. > :28:10.difference, sunshine in the West but scattered showers. Scotland,
:28:10. > :28:15.cloudy with the best of the brightness in the northern isles