:00:12. > :00:15.This is BBC World News Today with me, Zeinab Badawi.
:00:15. > :00:21.An audacious attack on the British Council compound in Kabul leaves 12
:00:21. > :00:24.people dead. It's believed that at least six suicide attackers made it
:00:24. > :00:30.inside the compound after detonating a car bomb, which took
:00:30. > :00:34.out one of the walls at the British Council behind me.
:00:34. > :00:44.Killed during Friday prayers - more than 40 die in a bomb attack on a
:00:44. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:49.mosque in the Khyber region of Pakistan.
:00:49. > :00:52.Has the controversial leader of the ANC's youth wing Julius Malema gone
:00:52. > :01:01.a step too far this time? He's charged with bringing the party
:01:01. > :01:03.into disrepute. And we report from the Edinburgh
:01:03. > :01:13.Fringe Festival on what happens when social media meets modern
:01:13. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:23.Hello and welcome. The British Council, the institution that for
:01:23. > :01:26.decades has served as Britain's cultural organisation abroad, found
:01:26. > :01:34.itself the specific target of a co- ordinated and audacious attack in
:01:34. > :01:37.the Afghan capital Kabul. First, a suicide bomb destroyed the wall of
:01:37. > :01:46.the British Council compound, allowing gunmen to storm the
:01:46. > :01:48.12 people were killed in the attack, mostly Afghan police. All of the
:01:48. > :01:51.attackers themselves were killed in an eight-hour gun battle. In a
:01:51. > :01:58.moment we will hear from the head of the British Council. First,
:01:58. > :02:03.Quentin Sommerville reports from Kabul.
:02:03. > :02:10.Moments after morning prayers, the attack began with a huge explosion
:02:10. > :02:16.that rattled windows across Kabul. The Taliban blue and massive hole
:02:16. > :02:21.in the wall around the British Council. At least half-a-dozen at
:02:21. > :02:27.suicide bombers then went inside. TRANSLATION: I bought outside the
:02:27. > :02:31.house and I saw smashed windows. I saw the second bomber. He blew
:02:31. > :02:38.himself up. The fighting continued around the morning. As the injured
:02:38. > :02:46.were led away, three Afghan guards and a number of police were killed.
:02:46. > :02:52.We heard more than three -- we heard three explosions. We believe
:02:52. > :02:59.the suicide bombers blew themselves up. One survived and we think he is
:02:59. > :03:02.in hiding. You can hear gunfire and heavy explosions at from the
:03:02. > :03:08.British Council compound. You can see the British quick reaction
:03:08. > :03:13.force who are on the scene. It is believed that six suicide attackers
:03:13. > :03:18.made it inside the compound before detonating a car bomb that took out
:03:18. > :03:23.one of the walls. The siege of the British Council lasted eight hours.
:03:23. > :03:31.As soon as the attack began, staff inside, including two female
:03:31. > :03:34.teachers, headed to an underground safe and room. After fierce
:03:34. > :03:38.fighting, a New Zealand special forces and Afghan commandos came to
:03:38. > :03:42.their rescue. But British Council stop in the compound who
:03:42. > :03:46.essentially were in the safer route for most of the day and we were in
:03:46. > :03:52.contact with them, had been extracted safely. There are now in
:03:52. > :03:58.the embassy, obviously shaken, but well and an injured. As the clear-
:03:58. > :04:08.up at the site began, it emerged that the war Atmel attackers had
:04:08. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:14.disguise themselves in material -- in burkas. It is a vicious attack,
:04:14. > :04:21.but an attack that has not succeeded. Today, as Afghanistan
:04:21. > :04:31.and celebrated the success in it moving away from British rule was
:04:31. > :04:37.the reason why the Taliban said they are attacked. As our combat
:04:37. > :04:40.soldiers leave, the soldiers will be left to face the Taliban alone.
:04:40. > :04:46.Martin Davidson is Chief Executive of the British Council. He gave us
:04:46. > :04:50.his response to how the attack had affected his organisation. I think
:04:50. > :04:56.the biggest shock for us is that an organisation which is there to
:04:56. > :05:01.build close links between people internationally has been targeted
:05:01. > :05:04.in this way. A lot of the work that the British Council does in
:05:04. > :05:09.countries like Afghanistan is to get that face-to-face engagement,
:05:09. > :05:14.isn't it? And absolutely. Are you worried those activities will be
:05:14. > :05:20.restricted? It is early days. We have got to look at what happened
:05:20. > :05:25.today. We are going to have to analyse what went wrong, but the
:05:25. > :05:30.one thing we do want to do is to stay in Afghanistan, stay working
:05:30. > :05:34.with the young Afghans because they tell us that they want the sort of
:05:34. > :05:39.things that we do. They want the international connections, they
:05:39. > :05:49.want to be part of the wider world, they want the skills and be able to
:05:49. > :05:49.
:05:49. > :05:55.engage with their peers along -- around the world. Tell us a bit
:05:55. > :05:59.about the activities you carry out in Afghanistan? You say you have
:06:00. > :06:04.strong links with the young people. We are really focusing on two
:06:04. > :06:09.things at the moment. One is working with the Afghan authorities
:06:09. > :06:15.on the development and changes to the education system, both at the
:06:15. > :06:20.basic education level as well as the higher education level. So we
:06:20. > :06:24.are working with 22 key schools across the country, looking at how
:06:24. > :06:30.the schools are run, how you train the teachers, what are the skills
:06:30. > :06:36.you need. So you have a visible presence? You yes. It is about
:06:36. > :06:38.working with Afghans who want to change their own society. But in a
:06:39. > :06:47.country like Afghanistan, your efforts are compromise because
:06:47. > :06:51.Britain is engaged in combat. need to build trust between young
:06:51. > :06:54.people in Afghanistan and people in this country. To do that, you have
:06:54. > :06:59.to get people to know and understand each other. You do not
:06:59. > :07:03.have to agree, but there needs to be a dialogue and that is what we
:07:03. > :07:07.are involved in. We know that the people we are talking there, the
:07:07. > :07:16.young people, they want to be part of the wider world. They don't want
:07:16. > :07:20.to be part of a closed society that resort to violence to get their
:07:20. > :07:24.point across. It is a young population in Afghanistan. They
:07:24. > :07:29.want to be like everyone else in the world and that is what I would
:07:29. > :07:33.job is. If we get it right and do it well, it giving of those young
:07:33. > :07:36.people an opportunity will build trust.
:07:36. > :07:38.In neighbouring Pakistan, a suspected suicide attack inside a
:07:38. > :07:41.mosque in the north-west Khyber region has killed more than 40
:07:41. > :07:45.people. Hundreds were offering Friday prayers when the attack took
:07:45. > :07:55.place. At least 85 people have been wounded, many of them with severe
:07:55. > :07:55.
:07:55. > :07:59.burns and shrapnel injuries. The attack came without warning
:07:59. > :08:05.inside a mosque packed with more than 1,000 worshippers who had come
:08:05. > :08:14.for Friday prayers. It was the first major actor Piet -- violence
:08:14. > :08:18.in Pakistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The scenes of
:08:18. > :08:22.hundreds of injured people been ferried to hospital are as
:08:22. > :08:31.depressing reminder. The final number of those killed is expected
:08:31. > :08:41.to be high. This man, who survived the explosion, said the attack
:08:41. > :08:49.
:08:49. > :08:53.followed a cry of alarm who Akbar. The attack came in at an important
:08:53. > :09:03.region - the Khyber Pass. It was not an attack on NATO. It was
:09:03. > :09:05.
:09:05. > :09:09.another form of dangerous Islamist extremism. These people believe
:09:09. > :09:12.that violence against their own people will further their cause.
:09:12. > :09:15.Activists in Syria say security forces have killed at least 12
:09:15. > :09:18.people as thousands of protesters took to the streets again after
:09:18. > :09:20.Friday prayers. This week President Assad had assured the UN Secretary
:09:20. > :09:23.General Ban Ki Moon that security operations against civilians had
:09:23. > :09:29.stopped. The BBC is not allowed to freely report from inside Syria, so
:09:29. > :09:39.Jim Muir sent this report from neighbouring Lebanon.
:09:39. > :09:43.Nothing much seems to have changed since President Assad statements
:09:43. > :09:47.bat or police and military operations have stop. Activist
:09:47. > :09:57.videos on the internet cannot be verified independently, but many of
:09:57. > :09:58.
:09:58. > :10:02.them appear to show government forces attacking protesters. In the
:10:02. > :10:06.third biggest city, troops appeared to be on rooftops and in the
:10:06. > :10:12.streets. Several civilians were killed here. There was trouble in
:10:12. > :10:19.the suburbs of the capital Damascus as well. Civilian deaths were
:10:19. > :10:24.reported. At the United Nations and elsewhere, patience is running
:10:24. > :10:30.short. But as well as telling the secretary general military
:10:30. > :10:35.operations had stopped, President Assad allowed to a humanitarian
:10:35. > :10:39.mission to visit the troubled areas. We want to concentrate on the areas
:10:39. > :10:46.where there had been reports of fighting so we can see exactly for
:10:46. > :10:53.ourselves what has been going on. But pressures on Assad is
:10:53. > :10:58.increasing. There are more international sanctions, but he
:10:58. > :11:04.said Syria would stand firm, whatever the pressures. He blames
:11:04. > :11:10.armed terrorist gangs fog all the problems. Syrian television has
:11:10. > :11:14.shown footage of people with rifles and guns and knives who are
:11:14. > :11:19.attacking the police, or security, who are throwing them into the
:11:19. > :11:24.river. Unfortunately, for some reason, the West will only see with
:11:24. > :11:29.one eye and listen with one ear. President Assad will take heart
:11:29. > :11:33.from the fact that the Turks, who have been pressuring him, have not
:11:33. > :11:39.supported the call for him to go now. They and the Russians say he
:11:39. > :11:44.needs more time to implement the changes he has promised. And so the
:11:44. > :11:49.struggle continues. The uprising is not going away, nor is the regime.
:11:49. > :11:53.Five months on, nobody knows how this will end and how much longer
:11:54. > :11:55.it will take. Now a look at some of the days
:11:55. > :11:57.other news. The International Organisation for
:11:58. > :12:01.Migration says it is planning to evacuate thousands of foreigners
:12:01. > :12:05.from the Libyan capital Tripoli as fighting gets closer to the city.
:12:05. > :12:08.It comes as rebels say they have launched a new assault on the town
:12:08. > :12:13.of Zlitan, east of Tripoli, after capturing the last functioning oil
:12:13. > :12:16.refinery in Zawiya and the town of Sabratha. The IOM says many migrant
:12:16. > :12:21.workers are trapped by the clashes and are asking to leave as rebel
:12:21. > :12:24.forces advance. Relatives of Norwegians killed in
:12:24. > :12:28.last month's gun attack on the island of Utoeya have visited the
:12:28. > :12:30.scene for the first time. Meanwhile, a court in Oslo has ruled that
:12:30. > :12:35.Anders Behring Breivik, who admitted the attack, will remain in
:12:35. > :12:38.solitary confinement for another month.
:12:38. > :12:43.The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayip Erdogan says his country will
:12:43. > :12:45.open an embassy in Somalia to help distribute aid to the country. Mr
:12:45. > :12:49.Erdogan made the announcement during a visit to the Somali
:12:49. > :12:54.capital Mogadishu. He said Turkey would also help build
:12:54. > :12:56.infrastructure and schools. The start of the Spanish football
:12:56. > :13:02.season this weekend will be delayed after negotiations to prevent a
:13:02. > :13:05.strike by players failed. Many players, mostly in the second
:13:06. > :13:10.division, have not been paid for months. Clubs are facing severe
:13:10. > :13:12.financial difficulties. Staying with Spain, the government
:13:12. > :13:18.has announced more austerity measures, including an effort to
:13:18. > :13:20.cut hospital spending with a shift to generic drugs. It is also
:13:20. > :13:28.bringing forward the date big businesses must pay their taxes,
:13:28. > :13:32.But new homebuyers will enjoy lower taxes.
:13:32. > :13:35.It's been another shaky day at the end of a shaky week for the world's
:13:35. > :13:38.financial markets. In Europe there were further losses for the main
:13:38. > :13:42.stock markets, with banking shares under pressure again. Lloyds here
:13:42. > :13:45.in Britain has lost almost a fifth of its value this week, while banks
:13:45. > :13:48.in France and Germany have also taken a battering. In New York the
:13:48. > :13:58.markets haven't closed yet, but it's been a volatile day in the US,
:13:58. > :14:06.
:14:07. > :14:11.too. Joining us is Daniel from the stern Business University. What is
:14:11. > :14:17.feeding the fears this time? have a paralysis, and it is similar
:14:17. > :14:23.to what we saw in the US in 2001. There is so much uncertainty about
:14:23. > :14:28.the euro zone that if you are a corporate manager, you are not
:14:28. > :14:33.ready to make the strong decision to hire or invest. If you are an
:14:33. > :14:41.investor, you are probably keeping your money on the sideline. Whilst
:14:41. > :14:46.this uncertainty remains, the paralysis does as well. What about
:14:46. > :14:50.the United States? What is the situation there? There were some
:14:50. > :14:54.poor indicators that suggested the economic outlook for the US was not
:14:54. > :14:59.great. Everybody here has come to terms with the fact that this is
:14:59. > :15:04.going to be a long and slow recovery. What we need Tapper now
:15:04. > :15:07.is some good long-term planning, not just for the fiscal situation
:15:07. > :15:10.of the country, but in the corporate boardrooms as well. Right
:15:10. > :15:15.now the politicians and other leaders have bought themselves some
:15:15. > :15:22.time to come to a compromise and makes some of those plans. In the
:15:23. > :15:28.fiscal situation, it has to be a plan for more cuts. It when people
:15:28. > :15:35.look at the market, could there be another recession on the way? --
:15:35. > :15:39.where people. The stock market does tend to be a leading indicator of
:15:39. > :15:44.the economy, but it is not completely reliable. It is hard to
:15:44. > :15:54.judge a recession whilst you are experiencing it, which is why the
:15:54. > :15:57.
:15:58. > :16:01.National Bureau typically calls a One of the most controversial
:16:01. > :16:09.politicians in South Africa has been charged with bringing the
:16:09. > :16:14.ruling ANC in to distribute -- disrepute. Julius Malema angered
:16:14. > :16:20.party leaders by calling for regime change in neighbouring plots one,
:16:20. > :16:24.which she called a puppet of the US. He has previously been told to take
:16:24. > :16:30.anger management classes for his controversial statements.
:16:30. > :16:34.Julius Malema is the firebrand ANC Youth League presence -- President,
:16:34. > :16:39.re-elected unopposed in April of this year. He says he joined the
:16:39. > :16:48.ANC when he was only nine years old. His mother, who raised him as a
:16:48. > :16:53.single parent. Here he is throwing a journalist out of a press
:16:53. > :17:00.conference last year. A few months ago he appeared in front of an
:17:00. > :17:06.equality court in Johannesburg. He was called to explain why he still
:17:06. > :17:11.scald and of -- still sings an old anti-apartheid liberation song.
:17:11. > :17:16.Today the ANC has charged him for sowing divisions within party ranks.
:17:16. > :17:21.He is also off -- faced with a charge of bringing the party into
:17:21. > :17:25.disrepute. The trigger for today's charges is because he said in a
:17:25. > :17:29.press conference a fortnight ago that he supports regime change in
:17:29. > :17:33.neighbouring box one. This was the reaction from the streets of
:17:33. > :17:39.Johannesburg. Do you charge him in person or do
:17:39. > :17:47.you charge the Youth League? Is he responsible or the Youth League as
:17:48. > :17:53.a whole? Julius Malema is speaking from his experience and what he
:17:53. > :18:03.understands as a person and he is representing the ANC Youth League
:18:03. > :18:04.
:18:04. > :18:09.opinion. I don't think he has brought it the ANC into disrepute.
:18:09. > :18:14.TRANSLATION: He has no problem. The problem is people like Jacob Zuma,
:18:14. > :18:18.because after we voted for them we have no jobs.
:18:18. > :18:22.Meanwhile, South Africa's public protect it is investigating a
:18:22. > :18:30.company linked to Mr Malema on suspicion of possible corruption in
:18:30. > :18:32.awarding government contracts. Joining us now is Deputy Vice
:18:32. > :18:37.Chancellor at the University of Johannesburg and African politics
:18:37. > :18:43.specialist Adam Habib. In the eyes of the ANC leadership, has Julius
:18:43. > :18:48.Malema gone a bit too far this time? I think so, but remember that
:18:48. > :18:58.the leadership of the ANC has a dilemma left foot -- has I don't --
:18:58. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:09.has ID -- has a dilemma. They are building up for the centenary
:19:09. > :19:14.celebrations. But if they wait too long, Julius Malema has
:19:14. > :19:19.increasingly been embarrassing be President, he has been antagonising
:19:19. > :19:23.foreign investors and he has created destabilisation around
:19:23. > :19:28.foreign investment questions. It seems that the leadership is saying
:19:28. > :19:32.it is too far and that we need to act immediately to neutralise him.
:19:32. > :19:41.In what way does he represent that fight for the heart and soul of the
:19:41. > :19:44.ANC? Clearly this is an organisation divided between
:19:44. > :19:49.broadly the nationalists and the left. The left are going for some
:19:49. > :19:57.level of intervention, the nationalists are arguing for the
:19:57. > :20:07.modus operandi under theorbo and Becky, a much more free market
:20:07. > :20:12.party. -- under Toll Bar Mbeki. Either side are articulating
:20:12. > :20:18.positions that you would not normally see them articulating,
:20:18. > :20:21.like the Communist Party arguing against nationalisation. The
:20:21. > :20:27.Communists are proposing it on the grounds that this is a bail-out for
:20:27. > :20:34.mining companies rather than a real empowerment of poor people.
:20:34. > :20:44.obviously strikes a chord among a lot of people. Can be a n c afford
:20:44. > :20:45.
:20:45. > :20:48.to lose him if it comes to that? -- can be ANC. I think they can. Their
:20:48. > :20:58.popularity goes belonged Julius Malema but his popularity lies in
:20:58. > :21:02.the fact that this is a divided country. -- goes beyond. The poor
:21:03. > :21:10.are angry and they gravitate towards a populist figure like
:21:10. > :21:16.Malema. The more you deal with the divides and the inequality, the
:21:16. > :21:21.more you cut the ground from someone like Julius Malema.
:21:21. > :21:24.terms of the charges he is seeing because of his comments about
:21:24. > :21:34.Botswana, how much diplomatic fall- out was there with but one about
:21:34. > :21:38.
:21:38. > :21:43.that? -- with. One or -- with bots won. We have lost sound there I am
:21:43. > :21:48.afraid. The world's largest arts festival,
:21:48. > :21:52.the Edinburgh Fringe, is in full swing, with people descending on
:21:52. > :21:57.Scotland. Social media and technology pay a big part -- play a
:21:57. > :22:00.big part in the promotion of events. Twitter and Facebook are being used
:22:00. > :22:10.in some of the performances and Danny Robins has been to Edinburgh
:22:10. > :22:12.
:22:12. > :22:16.to find out more. The Edinburgh Fringe, the largest
:22:16. > :22:23.arts festival in the world. This year's festival is the biggest yet,
:22:23. > :22:30.with more than 2500 show is. To pull in an audience you have to
:22:30. > :22:36.stand out. New media is the latest weapon in the battle to get noticed,
:22:36. > :22:40.Twitter, Facebook and even a host of applications. But the use of
:22:40. > :22:46.technology is not limited to promoting shows. With digital media
:22:46. > :22:50.such a big part of our lives, it comes as no surprise that many
:22:50. > :22:55.fought -- many performers are using it as a way to interact with their
:22:55. > :22:59.audience. Buy a ticket for this show and the
:22:59. > :23:08.main character will be friends you on Facebook, inviting you to a
:23:08. > :23:15.party at their house. -- befriend. Half the characters are here, the
:23:15. > :23:22.other half Orin Austin Texas. The internet links this it -- the two
:23:22. > :23:26.sides and the comic story is played out via Skype. There is also a
:23:26. > :23:29.third audience, online. You can watch the show screened live and
:23:29. > :23:36.even interact with the actors on Twitter.
:23:36. > :23:40.I feel that there are moves in theatre with shows there are really
:23:40. > :23:45.incorporating technology and the way that we use it.
:23:45. > :23:51.It drives the play forward and when people ask questions on Skype it
:23:51. > :23:57.progresses the play and they find out more about the characters.
:23:57. > :24:02.Yes, I am at the Edinburgh Festival. Send me an e-mail. The fact that a
:24:02. > :24:07.lot of us had smart phones which mean that we can access the
:24:07. > :24:13.Internet we if we are means that if you do not have time to catch a
:24:13. > :24:21.whole show at the Theatre, why not just download one?
:24:21. > :24:27.Ghost city is part of our new trend amongst the Fringe shows for shows
:24:27. > :24:34.that you can download. Each recording is Trevor -- based around
:24:34. > :24:41.a particular Edinburgh location. One person who is no stranger to
:24:41. > :24:51.integrating these media into his show is Alex Horne.
:24:51. > :24:52.
:24:52. > :24:59.What opportunities to feel it opens up? -- do you feel. You can use it
:24:59. > :25:03.in your show or use it to popularise your gig, or possibly
:25:03. > :25:08.there is another way which is better than Beausale but -- but of
:25:08. > :25:11.those things! It is pretty certain that her --
:25:11. > :25:16.over the next few years performers and audiences will be interacting
:25:16. > :25:22.in ways we do not even know about yet.
:25:22. > :25:27.Finally, it was meant to be an example of how sport in -- and
:25:27. > :25:31.strengthen diplomatic ties, but nobody counted on a brawl breaking
:25:31. > :25:40.out in a basketball game between a Chinese team and visiting American
:25:40. > :25:45.players. Yesterday's game between Georgetown University and to the
:25:45. > :25:50.Chinese team degenerated into a mass brawl in the 4th quarter, with
:25:50. > :25:57.players throwing punches and chairs, forcing after-match to end early.
:25:57. > :26:04.The Georgetown team is in shine on a ten-day goodwill trip, timed
:26:04. > :26:08.along with the Joe Biden's trip. The two teams are due to play again
:26:08. > :26:12.in Shanghai over the weekend but you may not be surprised to hear
:26:12. > :26:19.that it is not known if that game will go ahead. Who knows what might
:26:19. > :26:23.happen this time? Whatever happened to sportsmanship?
:26:23. > :26:29.Militants in Afghanistan have killed 12 people in attack on a
:26:29. > :26:35.British cultural office in Kabul. Most of the dead were Afghan police.
:26:35. > :26:39.There was a lengthy gun battle with Afghan commandos and special forces
:26:39. > :26:44.from New Zealand. The Taliban say they ordered the assault to mark
:26:44. > :26:49.the anniversary of Afghan independence from Britain in 1919.
:26:49. > :26:59.That is all from the programme. Next, the weather. Goodbye and
:26:59. > :27:05.
:27:05. > :27:10.For many of us it was a beautiful day, lots of sunshine around.
:27:10. > :27:14.Tomorrow, a lot more cloud in the forecast and a fair bit of rain.
:27:14. > :27:20.Tonight this weather front pushes across the north-west of the UK,
:27:20. > :27:24.turning breezy. Through the night it sinks southwards. For Saturday,
:27:24. > :27:29.a cloudy a start the southern England and Wales. Through the day
:27:29. > :27:34.these will push into the Midlands and East Anglia. It looks as though,
:27:34. > :27:39.for parts of the Midlands, East Anglia, turning increasingly wet,
:27:39. > :27:44.and into the home counties. For London and the south-east it will
:27:44. > :27:50.turn drier and brighter through the afternoon. Across south-west
:27:50. > :27:58.England, again some brightness where the sun comes out. I think
:27:58. > :28:03.staying cloudy for much of the day in Wales. Outbreaks of rain in the
:28:03. > :28:08.West. Disappointingly called here. In Northern Ireland, the cloud will
:28:08. > :28:12.come in from the South. The north- west of Scotland is dominated by