23/11/2011 World News Today

Excessive violence was used against pro-democracy protestors in Bahrain

earlier this year with the torture of detainees widespread. These were

the findings of a panel of international lawyers appointed by

the King of Bahrain to look into what happened. The King was present

when the panel read out its findings and said he was dismayed

and promised reforms to prevent further abuses by his security

forces. A are unhappy overture to buy a

difficult day for the Bahraini authorities. New clashes between

youths and security forces initiated area south of the

Bahraini capital just hours before the panel delivered its verdict.

Bahrain's crooner who commissioned the panel a right to hear that

verdict, which when it came, was a stark indictment of the methods it

is claimed his security forces used in March against protesters. Severe

be eating, the use of water pipes and wouldn't and metal implements

and other forms of torture, and electrocution, exposing the

detainees to high levels of temperature and rape and

humiliation of religious groups. The violence, in particular the

authorities' crackdown, were the worst in the troubled King damp

since the 1990s and focused attention, condemnation and

pressure on the government. It has acknowledged the use of excessive

force and is promising change. should reform our laws so that they

are compatible with international laws and methods. This is the

commitment of the Kingdom of Bahrain in accordance with the

signed international agreement. The government has also said those

found have broken the law or ignored the offer Lauder's back in

March will be held accountable, something the panel found was

absent before. The commission sees that not to bring to account the

security services has led to they spread of a now accountability

philosophy and culture, which encouraged officials to mistreat

detainees and prisoners. It was the heavy jail sentences against

medical staff accused of being in league with the protesters that as

one of the most controversial official responses to the crisis.

The government says there will be a rethink here. The high there will

be a complete new retrial. It is a complete retrial in the civilian

court. Protesters show their continuing displeasure by trampling

on pictures of the Bahraini ruler. Despite this panel just might --'s

just month -- judgment, they are looking for political reform as

well. A meanwhile, another Arab dictator

has stepped down after more than 30 years in power. The Yemeni

president has finally signed a deal handing over power to his deputy

ahead of promised early elections. In exchange, President Saleh gets

immunity from prosecution. The deal, which he came close to signing

before, was signed in Saudi Arabia, the neighbouring country, but some

people are unhappy at the 69-year- old getting immunity.

After months of protests in Yemen, President Saleh has at last

formalise the agreement under which he will stand down. He is expected

to hand over power to his deputy in return for immunity from

prosecution. A government of national unity will be formed, and

there will be early presidential elections. The President had come

close to signing the deal several times in the past only to pull out

at the last minute. In the Yemeni capital, the United

Nations envoy was welcoming today's news.

TRANSLATION: The international community will continue to support

the political process, he said, and it will take all necessary action

against anyone who hinders the process.

The mass protests in Yemen began in January, and have continued on and

off all year. President Saleh had insisted on clinging to power, and

there has been a parallel power struggle involving factions firmly

established within Yemen's elite. This was Mr Saleh in September,

when he returned home to Yemen after being injured three months

earlier in a rocket attack which was widely seen as an assassination

attempt. He said he was committed to a Gulf-Arab sponsor deal for a

peaceful transfer of power, but it has taken until now to achieve it.

The un secretary-general has spoken to President Saleh iPhone today --

the UN secretary general, and says he will now fly to New York for

further medical treatment. Staying in the region, let's go to

Egypt, where the situation in Cairo remains highly volatile in spite of

promises made by a the leaders of the handover of power after

elections. Thousands of protestors remain in Tahrir Square, from where

my colleague joins me now. Tell us what has been happening

there today. Well, the crowds, as they have for

the past four or five days, have continued to grow larger and louder

as the day went on. As you can see now, it is the middle of the night

here, and the crowds, some people are coming in and out of the square,

and you can constantly see these corridors being opened up where

ambulances with blue lights flashing go through to a corner of

the square. There have been running battles between the police and

protesters, and they move the injured out. You might be able to

see behind the in the centre of the square is attentive medical

facility where doctors in white coats are continuing to treat the

injured -- tented medical facility. Even though earlier there was an

attempt to calm the square and arrange a truce, numbers are

growing and it broke down almost immediately. There is a real sense

of determination the square. They say they are not leaving until they

hear that Field Marshal Tanter are we will go.

There are parliamentary elections coming up on Monday and they have

promised elections for next summer. What more do they want?

Let me just comment on the elections. Everyone here seems to

be focused on this political space, this is the main focus, and not

just in Cairo but Alexandria and other cities, there have been big

protests. There have been reports that at least one, if not more of

the parties, is calling for a two- week delay in the start of the

parliamentary elections, which is over a three-month process.

For a lot of these people in the square, they say elections are not

the point. They want to know who will control the process, who is in

charge in Egypt. Even though the army is now setting out to find an

interim prime minister, the people here and the critics say that the

army is the one that has been controlling these caretaker

governments, and the army has been pulling the strings. They want to

sign that it will not be a military council running Egypt, but a true

movement towards a real democracy, a democracy of civilians, not by

the military. Bank apps. Let's take a look at today's other

news. The Turkish prime minister Recep

Tayip Erdogan has apologised for a massacre in the 1930s. He is the

first leader to apologise for the massacres which took place when the

military used aerial bombardment with poisonous gas to pacify Kurds

in central Turkey. The Russian President a meeting at

the dead has warned that Russia could retaliate if the United

States continues with plans to build a missile defence shield in

Europe -- Dmitri Medvedev. Parts of Italy have been devastated

by flooding. This is North eastern Sicily, some way you would normally

associate with sunshine. These incredible mudslides and flooding

killed three people. The worst affected town -- in the worst

affected town, more than 20 people have died.

Experts are warning that taking slightly too much paracetamol day

after day can lead to a fatal overdose. Researchers in Edinburgh

say they have seen more than 150 cases of what they call "starboard

-- staggered overdoses" at one of the city's hospitals.

You know the same, if at first you don't succeed, try again, which

seems to be the tactics being employed by the European Commission

when it comes to the idea of Eurobonds. This is a proposal

whereby a all countries in the Eurozone will Paul their debt and

borrow as one, strength through unity was the message from the

Commission today, but Germany remains vehemently opposed to

Eurobonds. Chris Morris reports from Brussels.

The European Commission stepping into the limelight, proposing

intrusive new laws which would give it wide powers over the budgets of

Eurozone countries. Governments could be asked to send

budget plans to Brussels before they are given to national

parliaments, and it would also be - - there would also be much closer

surveillance of countries which run into trouble. The commission argues

that commonly issued Eurobonds, what it calls stability bonds,

could be the best way to create a more stable, sovereign debt market

in the Eurozone. Stability bonds will not solve our immediate

problems and cannot replace reforms which are needed in countries

currently under pressure. But it is also important to show to public

into -- opinion, to international investors, that we are serious

about stronger governments in the euro area, both in discipline and

convergence, and stability bonds are exactly an example of that.

the proposals range from replacing national bonds completely to a much

more diluted version. Many countries are in favour, but

Germany is not. German opposition to the idea of

Eurobonds is clearly a major problem, which is why a proposal

for much tighter central control over national budgets in the

Eurozone is being made public at the same time. The idea is that if

Germany gets what it wants from that issue, then its rejection of

Eurobonds may soften over time to. No sign of that so far, certainly

not from the woman who really matters.

TRANSLATION:. I think it is an appropriate to propose Eurobonds as

a solution. They give the impression that by sharing debt, we

will solve the problems we have with the structure of the European

Union, which is simply not the case. But if the euro zone crisis

continues to worsen, could Eurobonds become the least worst

option, even in Berlin? Some EU officials believe that they could.

The news that Germany's debt agency had to retain nearly 40 per cent of

an auction of German bonds today because of a lack of demand may

suggest that Berlin is not as immune to the debt crisis as it

would like to be. Joining me now from Brussels is Jan

Techau, the director of Carnegie Europe. Can you see Germany

softening its opposition to Eurobonds in the near future?

I think it is basically a matter of time before the Germans have

decayed in, even though I would put more emphasis on the question of

whether we can activate the ECB as the lender of last resort. Germany

has also opposed to that but it is much important and -- much more

important than the euro bonds in the here-and-now in the management

of the crisis. Today as we had Germany held a bond auction and

only managed to raise half the amount of money it was looking for.

What do you extrapolate from that? If Germany has trouble raising

money, you cannot hold out much hope for the rest of the Eurozone,

can you? No, that is the lesson that German law makers and the

German government are learning, but of course, even though they are

strong themselves and look good fiscally, they cannot and couple

themselves from the economic environment they're in, which works

both ways, both in terms of the responsibility Germany has and also

in terms of the danger and risk Germany is exposed to, so it is a

nice warning shot, probably coming at the right time, and might force

the German government to rethink its position. Do you think what

will happen is that Germany will accept euro bonds first, and that

will be a natural progression to accepting the European Central Bank

as the lender of last resort? I think that is the wrong timing. I

think it should be the other way round. Even if we agree on

Eurobonds today, they would be sued for some time to come and that will

probably be too late for the price to be affected by it in a positive

way -- even if they were issued. The ECB seems to be the more

immediate thing. Of course, everything has always in Brussels

is a package to deal, so one thing you cannot get without the other,

and there is feverish activity on all fronts. The pressure the

Germans are under at the moment in Berlin must be immense. Mrs Merkel

as we saw there was taking a tough stance. That was clearly for

domestic consumption in Germany. Do you think that behind the scenes,

she is a little bit more amenable It is very difficult to mind read

her and find out where she really stands. My feeling is that she is

very much in favour of more direct. But this is not about domination of

Europe, but more integration. -- the domination. She made up her

mind before the summer break what she wanted to do with this and now

domestic consumption is one thing that keeps her from doing the right

thing. But she does not want to appear too bossy for the rest of

Europe because Double Trigger old fears of German dominance so it is

a very difficult balancing act that she is trying to pull off at the

moment. Thank you. Let's return to today's events

across the Middle East to discuss all those events in what has been a

busy day, I am joined from Cairo by a Omar Ashour, the Director of

Middle East Studies at the University of Exeter. Let's start

with Egypt. It seems that the ferocity of these protests continue

unabated. How do you see all of this panning out?

I think there is a serious problem here. The Council of the armed

forces gave a concession yesterday by saying that they will hold

presidential elections in the middle of 2012, before many of the

activists on the ground, this is not enough. They heard this 9

months ago. They heard the Supreme Council of the armed forces will

stay in power for six months and then hand over to civilian elected

leadership. This did not happen, as we know today. There is a serious

mistrust between the political activists on one hand and the

Supreme Council of the armed forces. Until now, their capacity to

modernise this country still gives them a very strong momentum. There

is also another Formula up. There is in fighting going on on the West

Side of Tahrir Square and the brutality of the police force is

leading to casualties. This leads to more people are pouring into

their streets for protesting. a vicious circle. Let's turn to

them and where we saw the President stepping down today. I was

wondering if one could seek similar things happening in Yemen as has

happened in Egypt with me about stepping down. In other words, the

President hands over power to an interim government headed by his

deputy. Are they very different situations? There are similar shape

-- there are similarities and differences. What forced the

President to step down is the power of the street and mobilisation. The

difference is that the Egyptian military establishment was intact,

it did not splinter into two sides. That is what we saw in Yemen. Right

now, there are more similarities because the protesters, the pro-

democracy demonstrators, do not see the current Supreme Council as pro

revolution all as pro-democracy. I think we may see something similar

in Yemen after the stepping down of the President if we saw a regime

merging that is trying to uphold the status quo that most of the

revolutionaries want to change. afraid that is all we have time for,

thank you. In Britain, the parents of

Madeleine McCann, the three-year- old girl who disappeared on holiday

in Portugal in 2007, have appeared before the inquiry into press

standards. They describe months of intrusion into their life. Kate

McCann said the media coverage turned sinister. She said she felt

violated when a private diary was published in a paper. This report

contains flash photography. Few people have endured the shaming

excesses of the media in the anguished circumstances that Gerry

and Kate McCann faced in the summer of 2007. They had been on holiday

at a resort in Portugal. One evening, their daughter Madeleine

disappeared from their apartment. Her parents were desperate to find

her. The media to -- the media were desperate for stories. The family

said they had never given evidence before as have come for this reason.

A system has to be put in place to protect ordinary people but the

damage the media can cause. After Madeleine's disappearance, the

media was initially supportive. But then the poor to eat -- Portuguese

police betrayed them as suspects and the worst of the press began.

There was a clear message going out throughout Europe that there was

strong evidence that our daughter was dead and that we were somehow

implicated in her disappearance. These were desperate times. We were

having to try and find out daughter our cells and needed all the help

we could get. I don't know how many times I read, body fluids in the

car. It becomes fact because it is repeated so often. Among the worst

offenders were newspapers owned by the Express group. Story after

story implied falsely that the family were involved in Madeleine's

disappears. More than a year after her disappearance, the News of the

world obtained a copy of Kate McCann's private diary, probably

from the Portuguese police. I felt totally violated. I had written

these words and thoughts that work most desperate. It was my only way

of communicating with Madeleine. One of the wild at their home in

Leicestershire, they were under continual surveillance by

photographers, even when they went out with a young twins. From Kate

and Gerry McCann, five years after Macklin's disappearance and then

the street and by the media, at a simple plea, something has to

change. There are more than 30 million

Kurds living across Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, with the battle

for their homeland be divisive issue, no one -- nowhere is this

more clearly expressed then in Kurdish Cinema which is having a

boom at the moment. More than 100 films are being screened at the The

-- London Kurdish Film Festival. Films that expose the a raw nerve

of the Kurdish homeland -- longing for a homeland. This film tells the

story of a refugee who travels to Paris. The director is a courtesy -

- a Kurdish refugee. The lead actress is an exile. She has made

her name internationally, working in hollered what has -- as in

Hollywood. This comedy breaks many tattoos. This is the biggest

Kurdish film event in the world. 122 films are being showcased.

have films taking place in Kurdistan and in Europe about her

than stories. I think we are given many options for people to come and

see things according to their tastes. Most of the films are hard

hitting and political. They deal with the atrocities committed in

This film tells the story of the friendship of a mentally ill man

and a Kurdish boy to help his family survive in the Kurdish

region of Turkey. Based on a true story, at their carefree lives take

a sudden turn when the military takes power in 1980. Some Turkish

media have been very critical of the film, particularly a scene

where a Kurd slaps a Turkish officer. TRANSLATION: In Syria,

particularly for the Kurds, you cannot turn you cannot want to make

a film, but I am positive our dream of making a film in our homeland is

close. Since the liberation of Iraqi

Kurdistan, the region has become a safe haven for us film-makers and

actors who face censorship in in brown. There is a boom in the

region's film-making industry. Cinema is a wonderful way of

crossing cultures and boundaries. We are able to show millions of

people what Kurdish culture and history, and songs, or about 31

film, whereas as a government it might take years or decades to

express the same message. This is an important new chapter in Kurdish

film-making. It is reflected in the number and quality of the films at

the Festival, and it is a festival that proves that Kurdish film

directors are willing to shine a spot land on their home and's own

cultures and traditions. -- homeland's own cultures.

The main news: The king of Bahrain has promised reform after an

independent inquiry strongly criticised the way the government

have suppressed pro-democracy protests in February. The report's

although it said the detainees had been whipped, kicked, given

electric and -- electric shock enough to extract confessions's.

The Yemeni President has agreed to transfer power to his deputy. The

deal was signed in a ceremony in Saudi Arabia. The UN Secretary

General said he would now flight to the United States for medical

treatment. He has been under pressure to step down after months

of protests. In the last the minutes, President Obama said he

welcomed the decision. That is all. Next, the weather.

We have some sunshine across England and Wales today, cloudy

with rain further north. Tomorrow, the brain clears away and it should

be a bright and breezy day. There will be some strong winds around.

It is tied in with this deep area of low pressure developing in the

Atlantic. It is swinging north, pushing the front out of the way of

Scotland, but another one following in behind along with the strength

of the winds, there will also be rain later in the day. But away

from that, it is quiet across northern England. It should be a

dry day with sunny spells. The winds will be a bit dusty. Sunshine

in south-east England. There will be more cloud for the afternoon,

but generally a drier picture here. 13 or 14 degrees. Tried but fairly

overcast across much of Wales. Over the Irish Sea, we stick with the

dried bean, the cloudy across the Isle of Man. -- re-clad the beam.

The winds strong in the Western Isles. A bit quieter to the east,