:00:09. > :00:13.This is BBC World News Today with me, Kirsty Lang. A plane crash in
:00:13. > :00:20.Russia kills some of the country's best ice hockey players. 43 people
:00:20. > :00:23.die, most of them from one of the country's most successful teams.
:00:23. > :00:26.The Eurozone survives a key test in the German courts, but has Europe's
:00:26. > :00:36.ability to act quickly over the debt crisis been dealt a fatal
:00:36. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:49.blow? The euro it is a guarantee of a unified Europe.
:00:49. > :00:51.India on high alert for terror attacks after a bomb explodes
:00:51. > :00:57.outside Dehli's High Court, killing at least ten people.
:00:57. > :01:00.Making light of Muslim life in the Little Mosque On The Prairie. We
:01:00. > :01:04.find out how why US networks are not keen to run this hit Canadian
:01:04. > :01:07.comedy. And after PJ Harvey's album about
:01:07. > :01:17.war and national identity wins the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, is
:01:17. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:28.Hello and Welcome. The world of Russian ice hockey was plunged into
:01:28. > :01:31.mourning today after a plane carrying one of the county's top
:01:31. > :01:34.teams crashed just after take off, killing all but two of the
:01:34. > :01:37.passengers and crew. The Russian jet plummeted into a river in the
:01:37. > :01:47.Western city of Yaroslav. On board was the Lokomotiv ice hockey team
:01:47. > :01:57.
:01:57. > :02:02.on their way to the opening game of the season in Minsk.
:02:02. > :02:08.Burning near the river, but remains of a Russian aeroplane that crash
:02:08. > :02:18.with almost an entire hockey's got on board. Another accident in
:02:18. > :02:19.
:02:19. > :02:24.Russia's terrible history of air disasters. The plane was on its way
:02:24. > :02:33.to Minsk for the first game of the season. Most of the team were on
:02:33. > :02:38.the aircraft. Only one has survived and he is in intensive care. The
:02:38. > :02:48.opening match of the season was abandoned when news of the crash
:02:48. > :02:49.
:02:49. > :02:59.came through. TRANSLATION:. My dear friends, the
:02:59. > :03:01.
:03:01. > :03:06.aeroplane carrying the Lokomotiv team has crashed. The Lokomotiv
:03:06. > :03:12.team was one of the best in Russia. Their coach is Canadian. 11 of the
:03:12. > :03:16.players on board were non-Russians, including the Slovakian forward and
:03:16. > :03:19.the Swedish goalkeeper. Eyewitnesses who saw the plane come
:03:20. > :03:28.down said it appeared to wobble after take-off before crashing to
:03:28. > :03:37.the ground. Lokomotiv joins the list of other teams who have been
:03:37. > :03:40.devastated by air disasters. Pakistan International Airways say
:03:40. > :03:43.they have found no suspicious items on the British-bound plane forced
:03:43. > :03:46.to make an emergency landing in Istanbul after a bomb alert. A full
:03:46. > :03:49.search of the aircraft, en route from Lahore to Manchester, is being
:03:49. > :03:51.carried out before the flight can resume its journey. Meanwhile,
:03:52. > :03:56.Pakistan Airlines says a second flight has also received a bomb
:03:56. > :03:59.threat, but it has landed safely in Malaysia.
:03:59. > :04:02.It was a tense moment for Mrs Merkel today when the German
:04:02. > :04:05.Constitutional Court was asked to rule on whether she had the right
:04:05. > :04:08.to agree to any more bail outs of eurozone countries such as Greece.
:04:08. > :04:14.The case was brought by some leading eurosceptics who don't want
:04:14. > :04:16.to see any more German taxpayers money heading south. In the end the
:04:16. > :04:26.court said the German government did have the right to authorise
:04:26. > :04:27.
:04:27. > :04:31.bail outs, but it must first consult parliament.
:04:31. > :04:38.Delivering their verdict, the judges and Germany's constitutional
:04:38. > :04:43.court said last year's rescue packages were compatible with
:04:43. > :04:46.German and EU of law. But the judges said that in the future, the
:04:46. > :04:56.German parliament would have to give its prior approval to other
:04:56. > :04:58.
:04:58. > :05:02.bale-out. It is a blow to a group of Euro academics. However, for
:05:02. > :05:08.Chancellor Merkel, the verdict is an important victory. In fighting
:05:08. > :05:16.mood, she told MPs that Germany was committed to the single currency.
:05:16. > :05:19.TRANSLATION: And if the euro fails, then Europe will fail. With public
:05:19. > :05:25.opinion in Germany strongly against the rescue packages, Chancellor
:05:25. > :05:30.Merkel has come under fire for her handling of the debt crisis. And
:05:30. > :05:37.last weekend her party suffered losses at another regional election,
:05:37. > :05:43.this time in her home state. As Europe's biggest economy, Germany
:05:43. > :05:51.is the biggest contributor to the bail-out fund. It gave 20 % of the
:05:51. > :05:58.first Greek bail-out last year. Two weeks later the financial stability
:05:58. > :06:04.facility was approved and Germany contributed $173 billion. This is
:06:04. > :06:10.due to rise to 300 million -- 300 billion. But Germans cannot
:06:10. > :06:13.understand why their tax money should be used to bail out other
:06:13. > :06:19.countries. Can Chancellor Merkel convince them it is money well
:06:19. > :06:25.spent? It is time for political leaders to say why Europe is good,
:06:25. > :06:32.has been cut. Also why it is hard to step back at this point. They
:06:32. > :06:38.should really make the case that Europe is there for their self-
:06:38. > :06:46.interest. Chancellor Merkel will face a crucial vote later this
:06:46. > :06:51.month on the USA and a rescue fund. It is unlikely be critical voices
:06:51. > :06:57.what died down. With the government having to be consulted before other
:06:57. > :07:05.measures are taken, it could leave Chancellor Merkel with less than a
:07:05. > :07:08.four manoeuvre. -- with less room for manoeuvre.
:07:08. > :07:11.Live now to Berlin where we can speak to Ferdinand Fichtner, the
:07:11. > :07:17.Chief Economist at the German Institute for Economic Research. To
:07:18. > :07:23.what extent do you think this ruling ties Mrs Merkel's hands?
:07:23. > :07:28.does not tie them. It frees them because it allows her to do what
:07:28. > :07:35.she thinks makes sense. I think it does not really change the
:07:35. > :07:40.situation we are currently in. I think the ruling makes sense and in
:07:41. > :07:44.this respect, it is probably the right thing to do. But surely the
:07:44. > :07:48.fact she has to refer it to Parliament was slow down the
:07:48. > :07:52.process? She has already been accused of dithering over this
:07:52. > :07:58.crisis and making the market's nervous because she has not been
:07:58. > :08:01.decisive enough. This can only make it worse? Well, it was always clear
:08:01. > :08:11.that the current rescue packages will have to be decided upon by
:08:11. > :08:12.
:08:12. > :08:18.Parliament. The discussion was always clear. Principally, you are
:08:18. > :08:21.right. The court has ruled that Parliament will have to confirm all
:08:21. > :08:26.rescue packages and this what in turn mean that all rescue packages
:08:26. > :08:32.that will take longer in time. It also means that what is currently
:08:32. > :08:35.done by the European Central Bank, direct measures up to intervene on
:08:35. > :08:39.financial markets, those things will probably not be taken over by
:08:40. > :08:43.the rescue packages which would have made sense because the
:08:43. > :08:50.European central bank cannot rightfully do it. The court also
:08:50. > :08:58.ruled they could be no pooling of European debt. Does that not part
:08:58. > :09:02.pot these coppers on the eurobond idea? Definitely, yes. The eurobond
:09:02. > :09:07.would be perfect a pooling of European debt and in this sense,
:09:07. > :09:11.the court has decided that this is not in line with the German
:09:11. > :09:16.constitution. So it would mean if we wanted something like Euro bonds,
:09:16. > :09:19.we have to change the constitution. From an economic perspective it
:09:19. > :09:29.makes a lot of sense to be careful what this kind of instrument
:09:29. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:36.because they can live -- basically, we could lose the market that
:09:36. > :09:41.stabilises debt levels by penalising debt levels. It is good
:09:41. > :09:45.to hear the constitutional Court has decided that also from a legal
:09:45. > :09:55.perspective, it is at least something that should be thought
:09:55. > :10:02.about very carefully. Thank you. The foreign minister of Niger has
:10:02. > :10:06.confirmed that at least three convoys carrying officials from
:10:06. > :10:10.Colonel Gaddafi's ousted government has cross the border, but he is not
:10:10. > :10:20.with them. More stories are emerging about the last harrowing
:10:20. > :10:22.
:10:22. > :10:27.days of his regime. Our correspondent sent this report.
:10:27. > :10:32.This is where the enemies of Colonel Gaddafi were silent. A
:10:32. > :10:38.place of detention and abuse. Now the new government hold its enemies
:10:38. > :10:42.here. More than 700 men and women suspected of crimes against the
:10:42. > :10:46.revolution. We are restricted in what we can film inside the prison,
:10:46. > :10:51.so let me describe the conditions as I walk along one of the main
:10:51. > :11:00.corridors. First of four, the floor is filthy. There is litter, dirt,
:11:00. > :11:07.water. The cells are very grand and very hot. They are probably about
:11:07. > :11:17.seven metres by five metres. In each one there are about 30
:11:17. > :11:20.
:11:20. > :11:27.prisoners. Five men from Africa, accused have been mercenaries for
:11:27. > :11:31.Gaddafi. They were let out of their cell to talk to us. They say they
:11:31. > :11:37.are labourers who were dragged from their homes because they are black.
:11:37. > :11:42.We have been told they will get a fair trial, but the brawl at the
:11:42. > :11:48.moment is guilty until proven innocent. Have you ever worked for
:11:48. > :11:55.Colonel Gaddafi? Never. I could not do that. If I wanted to be a
:11:55. > :12:00.military man, I would do it in my country. Three girls. The youngest
:12:00. > :12:06.is 16. They do not want to show their faces because they were part
:12:06. > :12:10.of Gaddafi's National Guard, but just listen to their explanation.
:12:10. > :12:15.They claimed they were motivated by fear.
:12:15. > :12:21.TRANSLATION: When our family were against the regime, soldiers came
:12:21. > :12:26.to our house. They threw us out and killed my uncle and brother. We
:12:26. > :12:35.thought if we joined them, they would not suspect us or hurt us.
:12:35. > :12:42.teenager accused of executing 11 people. Recruited -- she was
:12:42. > :12:46.recruited to a militia group and claimed she was raped by a group of
:12:46. > :12:52.Gaddafi's supporters. She said she was forced to shoot prisoners with
:12:52. > :12:58.a rifle. Unable to watch, she turned her head and pulled the
:12:58. > :13:02.trigger. Five men, three girls and one teenager. In will be for the
:13:02. > :13:08.new courts to decide their fate. To decide who is the victim and who is
:13:08. > :13:14.an offender. They need to set the standard for a new justice in Libya,
:13:14. > :13:19.but they need to do it quickly. The judge at the trial of the
:13:19. > :13:22.ousted Egyptian President has said that the country's current military
:13:22. > :13:31.leader will give evidence in a closed session next week. It has
:13:31. > :13:38.been a key prosecution demand for him to testify. Other officials
:13:38. > :13:44.will also give evidence. Mubarak is charged with ordering the shooting
:13:44. > :13:48.of protesters earlier this year. India is now on a high security
:13:48. > :13:56.alert after a bomb hidden in a briefcase exploded outside of the
:13:56. > :13:59.High Court in Delhi. And Al-Qaeda linked group has claimed
:13:59. > :14:08.responsibility by e-mail, but government officials say it is too
:14:08. > :14:11.early to name a suspect. It has raised doubts about India's ability
:14:11. > :14:19.to protect its important institutions.
:14:19. > :14:23.The panel for blast took place outside the High Court in the
:14:23. > :14:31.morning. Police say that the bomb was hidden inside a briefcase and
:14:31. > :14:36.placed next to the entrance, creating panic as it went off.
:14:36. > :14:45.There was or massive blast and the entire building shock. It is in
:14:45. > :14:49.shambles. The emergency services were quick to arrive, up varying
:14:50. > :14:54.away the windy to local hospitals. Many of the victims were badly
:14:54. > :15:02.wounded. Forensic experts have been gathering evidence. Specialist
:15:02. > :15:05.units were brought in as a security measure. The sight has been
:15:05. > :15:09.cordoned off. Police and special units are in place, not just to
:15:09. > :15:14.carry out the investigation, but to keep a curious public and the media
:15:14. > :15:23.at bay. This is just outside the main gate of the High Court and at
:15:23. > :15:28.the time of the attack, this place was milling with people because
:15:28. > :15:36.Wednesday's -- because Wednesday is the day when public interest cases
:15:36. > :15:46.are heard. The sketches of two suspects were released. There are
:15:46. > :15:51.believed to be -- to have been in the vicinity of the attack. The
:15:51. > :15:59.Prime Minister had this to say. This is a cowardly act up a
:15:59. > :16:04.terrorist nature. We will deal with it and will not succumb to the
:16:04. > :16:09.pressure of terrorism. This is a long war in which all political
:16:09. > :16:18.parties, all the people of India have to stand united so that the
:16:18. > :16:23.scourge of terrorism is crushed. India is not new to attacks of this
:16:23. > :16:30.kind. In the past, they had been blamed on Home Grown terror groups.
:16:30. > :16:40.For now, Delhi and other cities had been placed on high alert as the
:16:40. > :16:41.
:16:42. > :16:47.authorities scramble to get their Two suicide bombers have blown
:16:47. > :16:52.themselves in in Pakistan. The explosions killed at least 23
:16:52. > :16:56.people and injured more than 80. The Government officials said local
:16:56. > :17:01.Taliban were responsible. Syrian activists say that thank -- tanks
:17:01. > :17:05.open fire on people in the city of Homs. They claimed security forces
:17:05. > :17:11.killed at least 14. Amateur video posted on the internet said shows
:17:11. > :17:15.deserted streets and shops with their shutters down. The Swedish
:17:15. > :17:21.car maker Saab has filed for bankruptcy protection. They have
:17:21. > :17:25.been plague bids production storm packages and problems play --
:17:25. > :17:35.paying suppliers. The parent company said a voluntary
:17:35. > :17:39.reorganisation would enable to obtain short-term funding. The top
:17:39. > :17:43.US news anchor Katie Couric says American TV should make a Muslim
:17:43. > :17:48.version of the Cosby show to counter act the anti-Muslim bigotry
:17:48. > :17:51.which has surfaced in some of the more extreme opposition to the
:17:52. > :17:56.proposed building at Ground Zero of a mosque. Just across the border in
:17:56. > :18:00.Canada such a show exists. It is called Little Mosque On The Prairie.
:18:00. > :18:07.We went to see why the show is such a hit and why it has mot got off
:18:07. > :18:11.the ground in the US or Britain. -- not. Little Mosque On The Prairie,
:18:11. > :18:15.is a huge hit in Canada. As well as selling to more than 80 countries
:18:15. > :18:22.worldwide. I shows Muslims and Christians living side by side in
:18:22. > :18:31.small town Canada and isn't afraid to poke fun at everyone. My point
:18:31. > :18:36.is this. Wine gums. Rye bread. Liquorice. Western traps designed
:18:36. > :18:42.to seduce Muslims to drink alcohol. His sermons are going to drive me
:18:42. > :18:46.to drink. Patient, it is his last. On location in Toronto the filming
:18:46. > :18:51.season six. -- they are filming season six. Although in some ways
:18:51. > :18:55.it is ground breaking, one of the stars says its success is due to
:18:55. > :19:00.the mainstream appeal. We don't go out to be an issue-based show. At
:19:00. > :19:03.the end of the day we a come day. So we are not a political comedy.
:19:03. > :19:09.We are a comedy that has Islam as a backdrop because some of the
:19:09. > :19:13.character, most of the characters happen to be Muslim. That is really
:19:13. > :19:19.what makes everyone feel more assimilated from both points of
:19:19. > :19:26.view. We had a fan of the show, who said "I love what you do, that is
:19:26. > :19:35.high praise coming from a Jew. That is what this woman said. Did you
:19:35. > :19:40.see what I just saw? Her eyes. Starting to look like the Third
:19:40. > :19:44.World round here. The sitcom had attracted some controversy, causing
:19:44. > :19:48.a diplomatic spat when it became entangled in the Wikileaks saga but
:19:48. > :19:53.it wasn't Muslims who were complaining of being the persecuted
:19:53. > :19:57.minority. Newly released cables contain diplomatic exchanges about
:19:57. > :20:03.CBC television. One cable from the US Embassy to Washington accused
:20:03. > :20:09.Little Mosque On The Prairie of what it called insidious negative
:20:09. > :20:15.populous stereotyping of Americans in Canada. It set off alarms by
:20:16. > :20:20.showing an innocent Canadian bullied by US agents. Have you got
:20:20. > :20:24.an appointment? The producers thought the show had been smeared,
:20:24. > :20:28.they sent DVD box sets to Washington to set the record
:20:28. > :20:32.straight. I sat down and drafted a letter to President Obama and to
:20:32. > :20:35.Hillary Clinton, and I was surprised to come in and find this
:20:36. > :20:42.letter on my desk. I think Hillary Clinton got it where she says thank
:20:42. > :20:47.you for everything you doing to foster cross cultural unity. I was
:20:47. > :20:52.joking. Muslims round the world are known for their sense of mew --
:20:52. > :20:57.humour. The US remains a market that Little Mosque On The Prairie
:20:57. > :20:59.has yet to crack. One market acquired the right bus the deal
:20:59. > :21:04.fizzled out. We need that courageous broadcaster to say
:21:04. > :21:08.whatever, we know we are going to get letter, we know we are going to
:21:08. > :21:12.hear from the Christian right, the Muslims who don't think Muslim
:21:12. > :21:20.should be treated as something funny. We will hear from the fringe
:21:20. > :21:24.people and mainstream America will get it. Now, when the British
:21:24. > :21:29.singer-songwriterer PJ Harvey first won the Mercury Music Prize she was
:21:29. > :21:32.in Washington watching the Pentagon burn. The events of 9/11 were the
:21:32. > :21:37.inspiration of her second winning album which is about the horrors of
:21:37. > :21:43.war. She is the first artist to win it on two occasion, our
:21:43. > :21:47.entertainment correspondent has more. PJ Harvey. The winner of the
:21:47. > :21:54.year's Mercury Prize. The judges deciding that for the second time,
:21:54. > :22:02.she should take the accolade of Album of the Year. This year's the
:22:03. > :22:07.shortlist included p artists from the unknown like Anna Calvi to
:22:07. > :22:14.Adele. Adele's album may have outsold any other in 2011 on both
:22:14. > :22:19.side of the at lack -- Atlantic but in the end PJ Harvey's record Let
:22:19. > :22:24.England Shake was deemed the most deserving. The album was inspired
:22:24. > :22:28.by war and conflict, topics not unrelated to the last time she won
:22:28. > :22:33.ten years ago. Obviously the last time I won this award was September
:22:33. > :22:37.11th, I was in Washington, and there was this Pentagon burning,
:22:37. > :22:43.and I think like anybody else we were gripped, and shocked, and it
:22:43. > :22:48.was a very surreal day. Obviously, a very strange day on which to
:22:48. > :22:54.receive a prize, via the telephone across the Atlantic. Winning before
:22:54. > :23:01.was a landmark event in her career. Winning again tonight underlierns
:23:01. > :23:11.position as one of the music industries most enduring talents.
:23:11. > :23:16.To discuss the Mercury Prize I am joined by Dorian Lynskey. A first
:23:17. > :23:22.of all, do you think PJ Harvey's album fits into the category of Mo
:23:22. > :23:27.protest music. Probably political music. What she set out to do was
:23:27. > :23:32.not to really convey her own point of view. I think what she did for
:23:32. > :23:37.research was look through diary, poetry, artwork, sort of soak in
:23:37. > :23:44.all of these different accounts of war and then present them with many
:23:44. > :23:47.voice, so there isn't an anti-war message in there, which is what
:23:47. > :23:50.makes it is strong, there is never a sense he is saying this the
:23:50. > :23:56.message of my record. It is almost as though she is stel -- telling a
:23:56. > :24:00.story. A narrative, a song cycle. Yes. She wrote all the lyrics
:24:00. > :24:07.before the melodies and she had drawings for each song. It is very
:24:07. > :24:14.much the sort of outside the normal way of writing pop songs. So dingle
:24:14. > :24:18.So she is reflecting on current events rather than writing like
:24:18. > :24:22.Joan Baez did. Yes, when she did there was value in people coming
:24:22. > :24:28.out and saying war is wrong, what is happening in South East Asia is
:24:28. > :24:32.wrong. Now, as it was recognised, that seems obvious. How do you make
:24:32. > :24:37.an anti-war song that doesn't seem patronising and obvious? And so her
:24:37. > :24:44.way of doing that is to present sort of characters, thoughts, words,
:24:44. > :24:48.she has taken bits of language from her various sources. There are
:24:48. > :24:53.three songs about the First World War battle at Gallipoli. Exactly.
:24:53. > :24:57.There is only one I think which takes images from coverage of Iraq.
:24:57. > :25:02.Her theme is Iraq and Afghanistan, but her broader theme is that war
:25:02. > :25:09.goes on. You know, it is the cycle of war. Saying what we are, enraged
:25:09. > :25:14.or saddens by now is what people have been enraged by for deck aide
:25:14. > :25:19.kaids. Century, folk songs going back centuries. Are there many
:25:19. > :25:26.protest songs round these days, putting PJ Harvey aside? Not so
:25:26. > :25:30.many. It is the, the decline began at the end of the 80s. It's a great
:25:30. > :25:35.artistic challenge. Peep have gout out of the habit of thinking they
:25:35. > :25:39.should do. In the '60s or in the punk and post punk era, people
:25:39. > :25:43.could see examples of it done so well, it felt so natural and
:25:43. > :25:49.exciting and fresh, that lots of people stepped up and did it. Now,
:25:49. > :25:53.I think it has gone out of vogue. Is that because musicians have
:25:53. > :25:57.become depoliticised of music fans don't want to be told what to think
:25:57. > :26:01.or do? There is a lot. There is a resentment of the celebrity
:26:01. > :26:05.activist, telling you what to do. There is definitely that suspicion.
:26:05. > :26:09.I mean, I don't know. A couple of years ago I would have said music
:26:09. > :26:13.fans were largely depoliticised. You look at the student protest, a
:26:13. > :26:16.lot of music fans there, and you think, no, they are interested in
:26:16. > :26:23.politic, I just don't see a desperate need on their part to
:26:23. > :26:27.have songs to go with it in the way people did in the civil rights era.
:26:27. > :26:31.Quick reminder now of the main news story. Most of the players in one
:26:31. > :26:37.of Russia's top ice hockey teams have died in a plane crash North
:26:37. > :26:43.East of Moscow. The aircraft crashed shortly after taking off on
:26:43. > :26:46.its way to Belarus for one of the first games of the season. Almost
:26:46. > :26:56.everyone onboard apart from two people were killed. That is all
:26:56. > :27:00.
:27:00. > :27:04.from me and the rest of the team. Hello. There is brisk winds we have
:27:04. > :27:09.been having to endure ease down a notch during Thursday and there
:27:09. > :27:12.might be a bit of sunshine on offer. A threat of more showers though,
:27:12. > :27:16.more general rain returning to the south-west later in the day. The
:27:16. > :27:21.big picture going into Thursday shows weather front, system, lining
:27:21. > :27:25.up in the Atlantic and coming our way, so it stays very unsettled for
:27:25. > :27:28.several more days. We start Thursday damp in southern areas
:27:28. > :27:30.patchy rain, the further north you are the brighter it will be. North
:27:30. > :27:34.East England if particular, but north-west England as well.
:27:34. > :27:38.Brighter than we have been, still a few showers round, but across
:27:38. > :27:41.southern England we never really shift that cloud during the day and
:27:41. > :27:44.from it there will be bits and pieces of rain. Not amounting to
:27:44. > :27:49.much but the rain gathtoerg the south-west and into Wales again
:27:49. > :27:52.later in the day. With that n the south-west, increasingly poor
:27:52. > :27:55.visibility. More so through Thursday night, and into Friday.
:27:56. > :27:59.Here comes the rain again into Wales. Some brightness the further
:27:59. > :28:02.theeft you. In Northern Ireland it will be dry and bright for some
:28:02. > :28:06.time before cloud increases again later in the day. With outbreaks of
:28:06. > :28:10.rain not far away. To the west and north of Scotland we continue with
:28:10. > :28:14.showers. Down the eastern side you avoid most of the showers and see
:28:14. > :28:17.the best of the sunshine. All of this rain has to lift north during