:00:09. > :00:12.This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox. Regrets and the
:00:12. > :00:15.benefit of hindsight. Prime Minister David Cameron says that
:00:15. > :00:20.now he wouldn't have employed the former News of the World editor,
:00:20. > :00:27.Andy Coulson, as his spokesman. You live and you learn, and,
:00:27. > :00:30.believe you me, I have learnt. not about hindsight, Mr Speaker.
:00:31. > :00:37.It's not about whether Mr Coulson lied to him. It's about all the
:00:37. > :00:39.information and warnings that the Prime Minister ignored.
:00:39. > :00:43.Dying of hunger - the United Nations declares a famine in
:00:43. > :00:47.southern Somalia for the first time in nearly 20 years.
:00:47. > :00:57.Closing a door on the past - the last Serbian war crimes fugitive is
:00:57. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:02.arrested after seven years on the run.
:01:02. > :01:12.Classic opera performed on a floating stage. We'll see how one
:01:12. > :01:18.
:01:18. > :01:20.production lit up Austria's famous Hello and welcome. After a week
:01:20. > :01:23.that's seen the Murdochs and the Metropolitan Police face tough
:01:23. > :01:28.questions from MPs about the phone hacking scandal, today was the turn
:01:28. > :01:31.of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Speaking in an
:01:31. > :01:34.emergency recall of Parliament after cutting short a trade trip to
:01:34. > :01:38.Africa, Mr Cameron again defended his appointment of former News of
:01:38. > :01:42.the World editor Andy Coulson as his spokesman. But he added that in
:01:42. > :01:44.hindsight he would not have offered him the job. Labour leader Ed
:01:44. > :01:48.Miliband said his words on Mr Coulson, who was arrested nearly
:01:48. > :01:56.two weeks ago over phone hacking allegations, were not enough. Our
:01:56. > :02:00.political editor Nick Robinson reports. For for a friend in need
:02:00. > :02:03.is a friend until they become a massive political headache.
:02:03. > :02:10.David Cameron has always defended his decision to give Andy Coulson a
:02:10. > :02:14.second chance until, that is, to date. With 20-20 hindsight and all
:02:14. > :02:18.that has followed, I would not have offered him the job and I expect
:02:18. > :02:23.that he wouldn't have taken it. But you don't make decisions in
:02:24. > :02:28.hindsight. You make them in the present. You live and to learn and,
:02:28. > :02:32.believe you me, I have learned. Prime Minister said he was
:02:32. > :02:37.extremely sorry for the furore Andy Coulson's appointment had caused.
:02:37. > :02:42.But was he ready to say sorry for hiring him? Not yet at least.
:02:42. > :02:47.if it turns out I have been lied to, that would be a moment for a
:02:47. > :02:51.profound apology and in that event, I can tell you why will not fall
:02:51. > :02:57.short. Few had expected him to go that far, but it simply wasn't far
:02:58. > :03:03.enough for the Labour leader. isn't good enough, because people...
:03:03. > :03:06.It is not about hindsight, Mr Speaker. It is not about whether Mr
:03:06. > :03:11.Coulson lied to him. It is about all the information and warnings
:03:11. > :03:16.that the Prime Minister ignored. The warnings Ed Miliband claimed
:03:16. > :03:20.came up -- both before and after David Cameron moved into Number Ten.
:03:20. > :03:27.On that day, as director of clarification is tried very hard to
:03:27. > :03:31.keep a low profile. It was a plan that would not last long. Police
:03:31. > :03:34.are to examine fresh claims about phone hacking by the News of the
:03:34. > :03:38.World. Last autumn, a New York Times investigation into phone
:03:38. > :03:42.hacking claimed that Andy Coulson knew about it, something he has
:03:42. > :03:50.always denied the money it. Despite the paper's claims, Andy Coulson
:03:50. > :03:53.was not fired but any left Number Ten a few weeks later with the
:03:53. > :03:57.Prime Minister's praise ringing in his ears. The Prime Minister was
:03:57. > :04:00.caught in a tragic conflict of loyalty between the standards and
:04:00. > :04:06.integrity that people should expect of him and his staff, and his
:04:06. > :04:09.personal allegiance to Mr Coulson. He made the wrong choice. There
:04:09. > :04:16.were questions about the Prime Minister's other choice of friends,
:04:16. > :04:20.too. His many meetings with News International bosses with Rebekah
:04:20. > :04:26.Brooks and with Rupert Murdoch, who left London today on the morning
:04:26. > :04:31.after the most humble day of his life. As Prime Minister, did he
:04:31. > :04:36.ever discuss the question of the BSkyB it with News International at
:04:36. > :04:42.all the meetings they attended? never had one in appropriate
:04:42. > :04:48.conversation. It was the third time of asking and Labour did not like
:04:48. > :04:53.the answer. I completely took myself at off any decision-making
:04:53. > :04:59.about this bid. I had no role in it. I had no role in when the
:04:59. > :05:02.announcements were going to be made. In an increasingly confident mood,
:05:02. > :05:07.David Cameron accused Labour of having their close relationships
:05:07. > :05:11.with the Murdoch empire. The great contrast is, I have set out all of
:05:11. > :05:16.the contacts and meetings that I've had in complete contrast to the
:05:16. > :05:21.party opposite. I can say this to the honourable gentleman. I have
:05:21. > :05:25.never held a slumber party was seen her in her pyjamas. David Cameron
:05:25. > :05:28.says he has an old-fashioned view that a man is innocent until proven
:05:28. > :05:31.guilty, but today he tried to separate his fate from Andy
:05:31. > :05:34.Coulson's. To discuss David Cameron's
:05:34. > :05:35.performance, let's go to Westminster and speak to two senior
:05:35. > :05:42.British political journalists, Jason Beattie, deputy political
:05:42. > :05:48.editor of the Daily Mirror, and Jim Pickard from the Financial Times.
:05:48. > :05:52.Thank you both very much. Jason Beattie, the backbenchers in the
:05:52. > :05:58.Tory party seemed to love this. He has sent them off with their tails
:05:58. > :06:02.high, hasn't he? I am surprised by this. David Cameron did what he is
:06:02. > :06:08.very good at. He kind of pretence that he is in charge of something.
:06:08. > :06:12.He gives this impression he is open and transparent. When you've tried
:06:12. > :06:16.to do this -- digest all the headlines tomorrow, he was actually
:06:16. > :06:20.extraordinarily slippery, particularly on the BSkyB issue.
:06:20. > :06:22.Let's stay with Andy Coulson for a minute. He has been arrested but
:06:22. > :06:29.not for us to have anything. The Prime Minister cannot go any
:06:29. > :06:32.further, can he? He could have done. A few days ago, David Cameron held
:06:32. > :06:37.an emergency press conference in Downing Street when is a Andy
:06:37. > :06:41.Coulson was and is a friend. Now he is trying after a lot of pressure
:06:41. > :06:45.from Labour to try to disassociate himself from this man. But he
:06:45. > :06:51.didn't really answer all the questions on it. There were still
:06:51. > :06:56.too much good things raised again and again, you were warned not just
:06:56. > :07:00.by Nick Clegg or Lord Ashdown, but by a new -- newspaper articles, by
:07:00. > :07:04.the Guardian, bat Andy Coulson's behaviour after you appointed him
:07:04. > :07:09.and used by him bus-stop he has not yet answered that question properly.
:07:09. > :07:14.Jim Park card, why didn't you listen to those warnings? I think
:07:14. > :07:19.the context you have to understand is that British politics for 20 to
:07:19. > :07:23.40 years, the News International empire has been intertwined with
:07:23. > :07:26.the British elite. If you go but Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair,
:07:26. > :07:32.Gordon Brown, they were all going it in and out of each other's
:07:32. > :07:35.offices, they were having dinners and advising each other. David
:07:35. > :07:43.Cameron wants to remain close to what is the most powerful media
:07:43. > :07:46.organisation in the country. Hacking generally, investigative
:07:46. > :07:50.journalism, sailing close to the world, is something quite a few
:07:50. > :07:55.newspapers in Britain have been conducting of many years. Even the
:07:55. > :07:59.Financial Times? The Financial Times is the only newspaper on a
:07:59. > :08:03.list of drawn up in 2006 by the Information Commissioner showing
:08:03. > :08:09.who had been paying private detectives for information for
:08:09. > :08:13.various ways. I think the Mirror came up with 800 or 900 occasions.
:08:13. > :08:18.The Financial Times was not on that list. But almost every other
:08:18. > :08:22.newspaper was. PNE point at which the story suddenly gained enormous
:08:22. > :08:28.attraction was when it was realised that some journalists were hacking
:08:28. > :08:33.victims of crime, Milly Dowler, the dead teenager, when suddenly it was
:08:33. > :08:40.realised that this was obscene and a vaulting. That Information
:08:40. > :08:45.Commissioner's report, 305 incidents of blagging. Put that to
:08:45. > :08:49.one side because Parliament did nothing at the time in 2006.
:08:49. > :08:53.Specifically on the BSkyB-News International Relations, the Prime
:08:53. > :09:00.Minister was not straight in his response, was he? Exactly. I
:09:00. > :09:07.thought his response was very smooth in terms of generalities. He
:09:07. > :09:11.had the sycophantic MPs behind him. Labour MPs repeatedly asked him,
:09:11. > :09:16.have you had meetings with News International insect -- executives
:09:16. > :09:22.where the issue Obertan to take control of BSkyB is discussed? All
:09:22. > :09:28.he would say is that he had not had any inappropriate discussions,
:09:28. > :09:31.implying he had had some. That made him look evasive. Jason Beattie,
:09:31. > :09:36.the Labour Party is perceived to have done particularly well over
:09:36. > :09:40.the past two weeks, Ed Miliband in particular. But the Prime Minister
:09:40. > :09:44.has caused 12 or 13 separate inquiries. There is not much more
:09:44. > :09:48.we can do. Has he not now regained control of this crisis? You are
:09:48. > :09:53.right about the Labour Party. It has given Ed Miliband extraordinary
:09:53. > :09:57.confidence. Just a few weeks ago, there were mutterings about how
:09:57. > :10:00.long he could stay in the job. Those have all disappeared now. He
:10:00. > :10:09.has banned voice as a leader. Whether he can keep going is
:10:09. > :10:12.another question. In terms of the inquiries, they will help in some
:10:12. > :10:15.way to dissipate the miles from around this story. There has been a
:10:15. > :10:20.slight hysteria about it. I still think Cameron has a lot of
:10:20. > :10:24.questions to answer. They will not go away. There was an extraordinary
:10:24. > :10:28.claim made today in the Commons by Nick Raynsford, saying a senior
:10:28. > :10:32.civil servant had his own act. These have been denied by the
:10:32. > :10:38.Cabinet Office. But every time you think this story is going to calm
:10:38. > :10:43.down, something else comes up. view would be that when you know
:10:43. > :10:47.3000 people have been hacked, there is almost nothing left to surprise.
:10:47. > :10:51.The fact that a government official was probably hack, I was mass of
:10:51. > :10:54.the unsurprised. And also the fact that the MPs are breaking up for
:10:55. > :10:59.the summer and that today Cameron basically so by the occasion means
:10:59. > :11:04.that things will died down relative to this incredibly frenetic two
:11:04. > :11:09.weeks. Jim Pickard and Jason Beattie, thank you both very much
:11:09. > :11:11.for joining us from a rather soggy Westminster.
:11:11. > :11:14.Famine will spread across Somalia within two months unless the
:11:14. > :11:17.international community sends more aid to the region, according to the
:11:17. > :11:20.UN. Famine has already been declared in two areas of southern
:11:20. > :11:23.Somalia, which has been ravaged by conflict and the worst drought in
:11:23. > :11:26.east Africa for more than half a century. The UN says up to ten
:11:26. > :11:35.million people are affected. Our Africa correspondent Andrew Harding
:11:35. > :11:39.sent this report. Now it is official, Somalia is
:11:40. > :11:46.sinking into famine. It is the first time that compelling word has
:11:46. > :11:50.been deployed in almost 20 years. The United Nations is hoping it
:11:50. > :11:54.would Olga world into action. Thousands of Somalis continue to
:11:54. > :12:04.three a lethal combination of drought, conflict and poverty.
:12:04. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:10.Since I was here in 1992 and when I look around and icy yet again...
:12:10. > :12:13.These are Brew resilient people. substantial aid operation is under
:12:13. > :12:20.way. Supplies are arriving in neighbouring Kenya. But the UN is
:12:20. > :12:25.asking for an extra �185 million immediately. The international
:12:25. > :12:32.response has been mixed. Britain has given �23 million to Somalia
:12:32. > :12:35.this year. The United States barely half that. Germany and France on
:12:35. > :12:38.three and 1.6 million are among those accused of ignoring the alarm
:12:38. > :12:43.bells. I think the contributions from other countries has been in
:12:43. > :12:48.some cases derisory and overall dangerously inadequate. Britain is
:12:48. > :12:51.setting a good lead and we expect others to contribute. There are
:12:51. > :12:57.signs today that others are beginning to put their shoulder to
:12:57. > :13:01.the wheel but we need that to happen rapidly and vigorously.
:13:01. > :13:05.money is not the only problem here. Famine has taken hold in areas
:13:05. > :13:09.controlled or influenced by a militant Islamist group, Al-Shabab.
:13:09. > :13:14.They have made it too dangerous for foreign aid groups to operate
:13:14. > :13:17.directly. Now they say a ban has been lifted, but the politics are
:13:17. > :13:24.complicated and aid simply isn't getting to the right people fast
:13:24. > :13:31.enough. And so the familiar images of hunger and helplessness and the
:13:31. > :13:33.predictable scramble for money and access as famine bites into Somalia.
:13:33. > :13:42.Joining me from Nairobi is Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF representative for
:13:42. > :13:48.Somalia. How bad are things? Are we looking at a similar famine --
:13:48. > :13:54.famine to that of 91/92? numbers are certainly comparable
:13:54. > :13:59.and comparable with other famines that have occurred in the last 10
:13:59. > :14:02.years, but it is the worst, a severe food security crisis in
:14:02. > :14:06.Africa in the last 20 years and it is currently the worst food
:14:06. > :14:10.security crisis in the world. The number of children suffering from
:14:10. > :14:14.malnutrition has doubled, and another number of those, or the
:14:14. > :14:21.proportion of those who are severely malnourished is 50%. That
:14:21. > :14:24.is generally much lower in -- even in an emergency situation. Our real
:14:24. > :14:29.concern for those children is that they are nine times more likely to
:14:29. > :14:37.die than a healthy child. For and no coincidence that famine has now
:14:37. > :14:42.been declared in two areas controlled by Al-Shabab. The famine
:14:42. > :14:46.is across the southern part of Somalia. Certainly, those areas are
:14:46. > :14:50.largely controlled by Al-Shabab. They are also the areas where there
:14:50. > :14:55.has been a crop failure, where there has been trapped and there
:14:55. > :15:03.has been no possibility for people to benefit from their own harvest.
:15:03. > :15:07.There has also been no food aid for a very long time. So one topple
:15:07. > :15:11.whatever -- on top of whatever the government arrangements may be,
:15:11. > :15:16.there are fundamental other issues to do with trout and to do with
:15:16. > :15:18.economic collapse that are also coming into play here.
:15:18. > :15:23.development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, has described the world's
:15:23. > :15:27.response to this as derisory. Do you agree with that, and just as a
:15:27. > :15:32.second thought, it is worth pointing out that there is food
:15:32. > :15:37.there, isn't there, but it is very expensive and people are not able
:15:37. > :15:41.to afford to buy it? That's absolutely correct. There is food
:15:41. > :15:45.in the market. That is showing that the market is still working, but
:15:45. > :15:49.there is not enough food and it has very, very high prices that the
:15:49. > :15:53.majority of those who were weak and vulnerable cannot afford. What we
:15:53. > :15:57.are hoping for is that the donors who have been present all along but
:15:57. > :16:01.at a lower level are going to come in with much more substantial
:16:01. > :16:05.contributions over the next month or two and that other donors who
:16:05. > :16:10.have perhaps not yet contributed to Somalia were also see the need to
:16:10. > :16:19.come in. This really does take a global response to manage the
:16:19. > :16:24.enormity of the crisis. Rozanne The last suspected war criminal on
:16:24. > :16:28.the rung after the conflict in the former Yugoslavia has been arrested.
:16:28. > :16:32.Goran Hadzic a pipe smoking former warehouseman, was the leader of the
:16:32. > :16:37.ethnic Serbs in the east of Croatia. He's accused of crimes against
:16:37. > :16:42.humanity during the war. The EU has described his arrest as an
:16:42. > :16:47.important step as Serbia's eventual step towards joining the union.
:16:47. > :16:51.A brief glimpse of a man who'd been in hiding for the past seven years.
:16:51. > :16:56.Goran Hadzic, the last remaining fugitive from the Yugoslav wars,
:16:56. > :17:01.wanted by the UN tribunal in the Hague. Of 161 suspects dieted it
:17:01. > :17:08.had been feared that Hadzic would be the one that got away. In the
:17:08. > :17:16.early hours of Wednesday morning, he was seized in a forest near the
:17:16. > :17:19.northern Serbian town. Announcing his arrest the Serbian President
:17:19. > :17:22.said it had been his country's moral and legal responsibility.
:17:22. > :17:27.Asked why it had taken so long to find him, the President drew
:17:28. > :17:32.compare sons with another long hunted fugitive. If I have to
:17:32. > :17:37.remind yourself about other cases, internationally very well known and
:17:38. > :17:43.recognised, for example, the case about Osama Bin Laden, that is the
:17:43. > :17:52.same situation. We've been working very hard. We've been working
:17:52. > :17:58.systematically. When Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, Goran
:17:58. > :18:02.Hadzic led a rebellion by Croatian Serbs. He took charge of the
:18:02. > :18:07.separatists in the region. The counts against him include murder,
:18:07. > :18:12.torture and persecution, notably the massacre of 250 Croats in
:18:12. > :18:17.Vukovar and the deportation of many thousands more. Here he is pictured
:18:17. > :18:21.with the former Bosnian Serb leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko
:18:21. > :18:24.Mladic. Once they were caught in Serbia, Hadzic became the most
:18:24. > :18:29.wanted. And so Goran Hadzic is now in custody in Belgrade, awaiting
:18:29. > :18:33.transfer to the Hague. He says he won't appeal. The arrest the
:18:34. > :18:38.fugitives from the 1990s had been a pre-condition for Serbia to move
:18:38. > :18:41.towards European Union membership and the country will now expect a
:18:41. > :18:45.date for accession talks. Beyond that, Serbia hopes this will
:18:45. > :18:49.finally draw a line under its painful past and rehabilitate its
:18:49. > :18:52.image within the international community.
:18:52. > :18:57.The President of the European Commission has warned that history
:18:57. > :19:01.will judge Europe's leaders harshly if they fail to find a solution to
:19:01. > :19:04.the financial crisis facing the eurozone. Jose Manuel Barroso said
:19:04. > :19:07.if leaders gathering for the summit in Brussels didn't respond
:19:07. > :19:11.decisively, the negative consequences would be felt
:19:11. > :19:15.throughout Europe and beyond. Gavin Hewitt is in Brussels. He says
:19:15. > :19:19.finding a solution to this crisis will be a major challenge. This
:19:19. > :19:27.summit is really crunchtime for the euro and the whole financial world
:19:27. > :19:31.will be watching. There are two main challenges. First Greece needs
:19:31. > :19:36.a second bail out and second, gros's debts which have mushroomed
:19:36. > :19:40.to 360 billion euros and they need bringing down. Some measures are
:19:40. > :19:44.easy to agree to, like reducing the interest that Greece pays on its
:19:44. > :19:48.loan. In the past it's been the taxpayer who has stood behind these
:19:48. > :19:51.bail outs. But the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said
:19:51. > :19:55.that's unfair. She wants private investors, the banks and pension
:19:55. > :19:59.funds both to support the second bail out ond to help in reducing
:19:59. > :20:05.those debts. Now, if those banks end up taking big losses, some will
:20:05. > :20:09.say that in effect is a default and that would unsettle markets right
:20:10. > :20:14.across Europe. Now, there is one other big fear here. Say it proves
:20:14. > :20:22.difficult helping Greece, then what about Italy? A much bigger economy,
:20:22. > :20:25.and one that also has huge debts, 120% of GDP. Now if they have
:20:25. > :20:29.difficulties tomorrow, it will put further pressure on Italy. And if
:20:29. > :20:33.Italy runs into trouble, then that could threaten the very survival of
:20:33. > :20:38.the eurozone. Gavin Hewitt our Europe editor.
:20:38. > :20:42.Some of the day's other news. The Libyan foreign minister said
:20:43. > :20:47.Colonel Gaddafi's removal from power is not up for negotiation.
:20:47. > :20:49.Abdelati Obeidi was speaking after talks in Moscow. Earlier the French
:20:49. > :20:53.foreign ministers suggested Colonel Gaddafi might be able to remain in
:20:53. > :20:56.Libya, if he stood down. In Britain, a nurse has been
:20:56. > :21:00.arrested in connection with the deaths of three patients at a
:21:00. > :21:07.hospital in Stockport, in the north of England. The 26-year-old woman
:21:07. > :21:10.was detained in her home and is being questioned by detectives.
:21:10. > :21:13.The Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, has launched an
:21:13. > :21:18.unprecedented attack on the Vatican for encouraging Roman Catholic
:21:18. > :21:24.bishops not to report suspected paedophile priests to the Police.
:21:24. > :21:27.Mr Kenny said a recrept report into abuse allegations showed, the
:21:27. > :21:30."dysfunction, elitism and narcissism" that dominated the
:21:30. > :21:37.culture of the Vatican. International health experts say
:21:37. > :21:41.goals to rid the world of polio by the end of next year is off track.
:21:41. > :21:44.The World Health Organisation agreed to eradicate polio in 1988.
:21:44. > :21:49.But it's been concluded that tackling the remaining cases will
:21:49. > :21:52.prove the greatest challenge yet. British forces in Afghanistan have
:21:53. > :21:57.handed over security in the capital of Helmand province to the Afghan
:21:57. > :22:01.Police and army. Lashkar Gah city, where British forces have been
:22:01. > :22:05.operating since 2006, is one of seven areas in the region to be
:22:05. > :22:08.placed under government control over the next week. But as Jonathan
:22:08. > :22:18.Beale reports, the handover has been accompanied by increasing
:22:18. > :22:19.
:22:19. > :22:23.levels of violence from the Taliban. A moment of national pride. Afghans
:22:23. > :22:28.taking responsibility for their own security. This ceremony designed to
:22:28. > :22:33.send the message that they're up to the job. But the British soldiers
:22:33. > :22:36.who've helped train them and who will now step back still have
:22:36. > :22:41.concerns, not least about corruption within the Afghan Police.
:22:41. > :22:44.There is certainly some elist it income generation and allegations
:22:44. > :22:47.of corruption and it would be foolish to deny that exists. We're
:22:47. > :22:54.trying to eradicate that from the police. If we get it wrong, the
:22:54. > :22:59.police could push the locals away. Even if Afghanistan manages to root
:22:59. > :23:03.out corruption, huge challenges remain. This is Bamiyan, another
:23:03. > :23:10.province just handed over to the Afghans. Unlike Helmand, there's
:23:10. > :23:17.been little fighting here for the past ten years. Bombs and bullets
:23:17. > :23:23.aren't Bamiyan's biggest killers, it's diarrhoea and malnutrition.
:23:23. > :23:27.Most of the aid agencies and NGOs will leave Bamiyan, after the
:23:27. > :23:32.withdrawal of NATO forces. pressure's now on the government to
:23:32. > :23:35.win the trust of its own people. They are going to be lots of
:23:35. > :23:39.questions. There are going to be lots of concerns. We acknowledge
:23:39. > :23:45.the concerns as legitimate. Our job is to change our institutions and
:23:45. > :23:49.to change the perceptions. And this, in theory, is the easy phase. The
:23:49. > :23:55.transition of just a few less violent parts of the country. For
:23:55. > :24:01.NATO, it marks the beginning of the end, the exit strategy that will
:24:01. > :24:07.see all British combat troops leave by 2015.
:24:07. > :24:12.If transition doesn't succeed in Lashkar Gah or bannian -- Bamiyan,
:24:12. > :24:17.what hope for the rest of the Afghanistan?
:24:17. > :24:21.This is BBC World News today. The annual Bregenz Festival of arts and
:24:21. > :24:27.music is opening in western Austria. One of this year's highlights is a
:24:27. > :24:36.new production of the opera Andre Chenier. Our correspondent reports
:24:36. > :24:46.from Vienna. A tale of love and death, staged on
:24:46. > :24:47.
:24:47. > :24:54.a lake. Umberto Giordano's opera Andre Chenier is being performed
:24:54. > :25:03.for the first time on the floating stage at the Bregenz Festival. The
:25:03. > :25:08.action takes place both on and in the water. The opera is set at the
:25:09. > :25:12.time of the French Revolution. It tells the story of a poet and his
:25:12. > :25:19.lover caught up in the Reign of Terror. It's a very passionate
:25:19. > :25:23.story with this backdrop of historical events going on. It's
:25:24. > :25:29.written with tremendous economy and pace and drive from Giordano, so
:25:29. > :25:32.there are no longer, I mean it is like watching a good film. That's
:25:32. > :25:41.exactly what the experience out here should be like. The stage
:25:41. > :25:46.design is based on the famous painting, the death of Marah by
:25:46. > :25:52.Jacques-Louis David. It is high above the surface of the lake and
:25:52. > :25:54.weighs 60 tones. Austria's President, Heinz Fischer, is to opt
:25:54. > :26:04.festival and will attend the premiere.
:26:04. > :26:06.
:26:06. > :26:11.The opera will be performed until Something quite spectacular. Our
:26:11. > :26:14.main news: MPs have been holding a special session to debate the phone
:26:14. > :26:17.hacking scandal, which has rocked the police, the political
:26:17. > :26:22.establishment and the Murdoch media empire. The Prime Minister, David
:26:22. > :26:26.Cameron, who's cut short a trip to Africa, said public trust in key
:26:26. > :26:29.institutions had been shaken and that with hindsight, he wouldn't
:26:29. > :26:33.have employed as his spokesman the former newspaper editor, Andy
:26:33. > :26:37.Coulson, editor of the News Of The World, who was arrested over the
:26:37. > :26:41.hacking allegations nearly a fortnight ago. And famine will
:26:42. > :26:45.spread across Somalia within two months, unless the international
:26:45. > :26:48.community sends more aid to the region. Famine has been declared in
:26:48. > :26:58.two areas of southern Somalia. That's all from me and the team.
:26:58. > :27:00.
:27:00. > :27:03.Next the weather. For now, good Hello. I'm hopeful that come the
:27:03. > :27:07.weekend, most of us will be dry with sunshine and feeling a bit
:27:07. > :27:10.warmer. But it's a struggle to get there. Tomorrow again will be a
:27:10. > :27:15.rather cloudy day with some showers around and feeling cool as well.
:27:15. > :27:18.The showers will be mostly closest to this low pressure, which is
:27:18. > :27:23.crawling along northern parts of France. No sign of high pressure on
:27:23. > :27:26.the horizon just yet. Still a lot of cloud around on Thursday. The
:27:26. > :27:30.focus of the showers will be across southern and eastern areas. Further
:27:30. > :27:35.north and west, a good chance of staying dry and bright. Mid-
:27:35. > :27:38.afternoon, don't be surprised if you encounter a heavy and possibly
:27:38. > :27:41.thundery shower across the southern third of the UK. They'll be slow
:27:41. > :27:43.moving as well because the winds will be fairly light. A cool
:27:43. > :27:46.feeling day, despite some reasonable spells of sunshine and
:27:46. > :27:50.parts of the south-west will do well with relatively few showers
:27:50. > :27:55.and some good sunshine here. So not too bad if you're off to the beach.
:27:55. > :27:58.For parts of Wales too, it's looking OK. The showers reasonably
:27:58. > :28:01.well scattered. Many places staying dry. It's a similar story across
:28:01. > :28:05.Northern Ireland. You get the sense that these western parts of the UK
:28:05. > :28:09.will seat best of the weather on Thursday. Head further east, it's a
:28:09. > :28:13.different story. Further slow moving and sharp showers expected