07/02/2012 World News Today

This is BBC World News today with me, Tim Willcox.

The Syrian city of Homs is pounded for the 4th day in a row. Meanwhile,

Russia, which vetoed last weekend's Security Council resolution, is

treated to a hero's welcome in Damascus. The Syrian president

assured me that he is completely in support of stopping violence

wherever it comes from. Clashes in Athens - amid another

general strike as the Greek government scrambles to thrash out

even tougher austerity plans. The worst lead poisoning epidemic

in history. Nigerian children risk dying in their thousands, according

to Human Rights Watch. Also coming up: The cheerleader

responsible for the right's resurgence in France. Vive la

republic, vive la France! A repeat of the Le Pen affect but this time,

it is Marine, rather than Jean- Marie who is leading the calls.

And great expectations fulfilled as Britain and the world celebrates

the 200th anniversary of the Hello and welcome. Russia's Foreign

Minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Damascus today to hero's welcome.

President Bashar al-Assad told him that he was completely committed to

the task of stopping the violence, regardless of where it came from.

180 kilometres away in the city of Homs, men, women and children were

being killed by government forces. Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

As the Russian minister was flying into Damascus looking for a

political solution, no sign of a respite for the people of Homs,

after days of pounding and hundreds of deaths. The government has

pledged to keep up its drive until what it calls the last terrorist is

finished off. Regime supporters turned out in droves to welcome

Sergei Lavrov and thank him for the veto which saved Syria from facing

a united international community. He was said to be carrying concrete

proposals although they have not been announced. In general, the

Russians want President Assad to speed up reforms he has been

preparing, but which the opposition say are too little far too late.

Both sides seemed willing to look Keane and positive. TRANSLATION:

The Syrian President assured me that he is completely in support of

stopping the violence, wherever it comes from. But the regime's

definition of stopping violence includes crushing any armed

resistance. Countries which supported the veto resolutions are

not waiting for the Russians to pull a rabbit from a hat. France

joined Britain, other European countries and the US in pulling

their ambassadors out of Damascus. The Gulf countries, led by Saudi

Arabia, did the same and expelled Syrian ambassadors. And Turkey,

Syria's powerful neighbour to the north, was scathing about the veto

and the Syrian leadership. Scots to TRANSLATION: Syria is a test of

sincerity for the world. Those turning a blind eye to what is

going on and those not reacting the way they should will suffer the

consequences, as if they were fuelling the bloodshed themselves.

The process at the United Nations was a fiasco for the civilised

world. Turkey is supporting the American

idea of throwing more support behind the Syrian opposition. Will

that mean backing fighters like these from the Free Syrian Army in

Homs? The regime cause them terrace. It has vowed to wipe them out. They

say they are trying to protect civilians against heavy odds.

TRANSLATION: We are the Free Syrian Army, the army of Assad the dock

were here in this building. They are outside checkpoints and outside

the hospital. We are here to respond and defend the local

residents from Assad's snipers. the Russians have reached agreement

with Assad behind the scenes of love they have failed to, the

result will be felt here first and foremost in Homs where people are

dying every day. To hear first-hand account of the

bombing campaign in Homs, we can speak to Abu Abdo, a Homs resident

and activist. What is the situation there tonight? Conditions here in

the neighbourhood are quite miserable with a shortage of

medical relief and supplies. We have a shortage of food, especially

essentials like bread. Most places have been bombed violently by Assad

forces which used all types of heavy weapons light tanks and

mortars and shelling by rockets. Unfortunately, as that forces

invaded the area also with tanks and all army vehicle types. They

are shooting everything and bombing houses. We have so many burned

houses, so many places that have been completely destroyed. Is the

shelling continuing 24 hours a day? The shelling by rockets it starts

at 3am in the morning. At 2pm it stopped a little bit. Then the army

got into the city with another type of shelling by tanks. They are

shooting everything and there are snipers everywhere so we cannot

pull people from the street and we cannot reach people in order to

help them. Thank you very much. Let's now go to Washington and

speak to Professor Marc Lynch, an associate professor of political

science and an international director of Middle East Studies at

George Washington University. The UN route is blocked by stalemate,

where do things go from here? think that what happened at the UN

makes it extremely difficult to envision a political transition

plan right now and I am really quite alarmed that we are going to

be seeing the growth of this kind of armed conflict, pressure to try

and on the opposition and effort by the United States and its allies,

to try and build this through the friends of Syria group, different

kinds of international pressure on Assad to step down and make an

agreement. But I have to say, right now, the prospects of such an

agreement are looking very dim. much opposition -- optimism de

place with the Russian initiative? Almost none. I think there are very

few people who find this to be a credible route right now. The

Russian veto at the United Nations was, I think, really harsh hit to

their credibility on the Syria file. I think it will be a long time

before and on trusts them or trusts their intentions. My best guess

about the Russian initiative is that they will try and find ways to

draw the opposition in a dialogue which does not go anywhere, by time,

stall, divide the international community and hopefully it will not

work. The international thinking is this is not another Libyan

situation but what to make of reports that there may be some kind

of presidential finding from the National Security Council, may be

thinking about covert the arming members of the Free Syrian Army?

Whether the United States does ARM be Free Syrian Army, I suspect we

will see more weapons flowing in as we get into an open civil war. I am

very leery of this because the fragmented nature of the Free

Syrian Army and the Syrian opposition. There is no unified

leadership. We do not know what those weapons will be going towards

and the more that it goes into an open civil war situation again, the

less chance that there will be for any kind of soft landing or

peaceful transition. I expect to see it but I find it very worrying.

Thank you. Wigan's we can speak now to Sinan

Ulgen is from the Carnegie Institute. He is a former Turkish

diplomat as well. Is turkey potentially the key player in all

of this? It already hosts the Syrian National Council. Do you

think turkey will step up and provide some sort of buffer zone

here? Certainly, Turkey is set to be a potential player here. However,

there is deep dismay in Ankara about the outcome of the UN

Security Council initiative and therefore today, as we speak, the

overriding concern of the Turkish policy makers is really the

inclusion of Syria. And a protracted civil war in that

country. Turkey is going to be the state that is going to have to deal

with the repercussions of that sort of protracted civil war and

therefore, there is serious thinking in Ankara about how to

manage the situation which will implicate Turkey in a major way.

But Turkey, which tried so hard to build up relations with Syria in

the past two years, has what, nailed its colours firmly to the

mast of regime change there? Absolutely. That is quite a radical

departure from traditional Turkish policy. In this particular instance,

despite the reproach month which happened to be in -- between

Damascus and Ankara, Damascus decided to burn bridges. It has

given support. From that perspective, it is a clear

departure from a policy which until now has made a point of not

supporting opposition in neighbouring countries. From that

perspective, Ankara is giving a strong signal to Damascus that...

Very briefly, on humanitarian grounds, what leverage

diplomatically do you think Turkey could wield? Turkey has a

geographical advantage and it is already leveraging that, in a sense

that it is providing support to the Free Syrian Army within the Turkish

territory, both logistical support but also humanitarian and medical

support. Going forwards, now that the Foreign Minister will be going

to Washington in two days time, there will be discussions about

whether the time has come to reassess this kind of support and

strengthen the type of support that both the US and Turkey has been

giving to the Free Syrian Army. Thank you for joining us.

Thousands of Greek protesters gathered outside parliament in

Athens once again today, demonstrating against austerity

measures which are set to get even tougher. As we came to her, Prime

Minister Lucas Papademos and political leaders were trying to

thrash out an agreement to free up an essential bail-out to avoid

defaulting on its debts next month. We can go to Athens and speak to

our correspondent there. What news of that plan? I have just spoken to

the Prime Minister's office who told me that the meeting between

the Prime Minister and the three coalition party leaders which had

been set to tonight has now been moved to tomorrow morning. That is

because the text on the bail-out agreement, the reforms that Greece

will undertake in order to get the bail-out funds, has not yet been

finalised. It is being finalised as we speak and it will then be handed

to the three party leaders for them to read and digest and probably

sign off on tomorrow. What we understand is that the text will

agree that the minimum wage he will be cut by 20 %, that pensions will

be cut by some extent and the 15,000 civil servants will be laid

off. Some of the reforms needed in order to secure vital international

funds. But even if there is political consensus on this, will

the Greek people accept it? They are very unlikely to because this

is a country which has been living with austerity for much of the last

two years, that feels extremely squeezed by the cuts. Unemployment

is nearing 20 %, double that for young people. It is the 5th year of

recession and Greeks feel that they cannot take any more. The

demonstration today was cut short by heavy rain but I think this wave

of unrest is set to continue. Greeks say the policy of more

austerity is stunting this country's growth and removing the

ability to grow out of recession and is worsening situation here.

But the Greek government looks like to do plough one because it is

under so much pressure from international partners to reform,

to cut here, in order to get vital rescue funds to avoid a disorderly

default. Thank you. Some 400 children have been killed

and many more at risk after the World's worst lead poisoning

epidemic in northern Nigeria. That is according to Human Rights Watch.

Based a despite warnings, dangers gold mining in the area is

expanding. Attempts to clean up villages have stalled.

This is one of the poorest parts of Nigeria but his mineral rich. Many

of the 9,000 here found they lived near gold. Like other villagers,

they worked out how to mind and process it. But they dry milling

came at a heavy price. Deadly lead dust was released as the All was

crushed. Inhaled and ingested by hundreds, it entered people's homes

and their blood. This is now the most contaminated village in the

region. 20-year-old Amina grew up there. TRANSLATION: I have six

children. Each time one died, I was so distraught. Seven children have

died here, if you include mind, that would make it 10. Lead levels

here are 60 times greater than what is considered safe. In villages

like this, 400 children have We lost an entire generation. It is

something that is clearly tragic and should never have happened. It

is something that the authorities at that time should have done more.

The mortality rate among symptomatic children has dropped

significantly in the last number of years, and the Government has had

to clean up several villages. has been some government action,

but there are 2,000 children that are in urgent need of treatment

right now. Those children cannot be treated until their homes are

cleaned up and those homes cannot be treated a Punto safer mining

practices are implemented. -- until safer money practices. Gold is

expected to bring in half a billion dollars a year, so it is clear why

it is such a draw for former subsistence farmers. They are

worried that this would be banned in North End human rights groups

are worried that this will force mining further underground. Local

scientists are saying another number of villagers are affected,

all of them facing the same problem, no readily available cash to deal

with De contamination. The race against time continues as many

children in the north face the possibility of brain damage or

worse with an unavoidable problem. Joining me now is a deputy

programme director at Human Rights Watch, and the problem here is,

families are reluctant to report this because they make much more

money from finding gold band from subsistence farming. -- a fan from

subsistence farming. It is not about blaming the families, it is

about people mining gold without putting their lives in danger.

People get more from the gold. We are calling on the Government to

ensure there are safer mining practices so that this gold can be

mined without affecting their lives. This is bringing despair and we are

calling on the Nigerian government to put cash on the table to get

these villages cleaned-up and to ensure that there are safer mining

practices. In the villages heard these clean about Thames had been

made, how successful have they been? -- where these clean-up

schemes have been made. There are some places that had been cleaned

up, but there are still many compounds that need to be cleaned

up. These are compounds where we went to one in a village a few days

ago and 10 children died in that compound. It is about getting this

done in a timely fashion. Between now and June is the time to act and

clean up the villagers, because we will have to wait for another year

for this to happen. As we keep on waiting, children are suffering and

dying and the contamination is everywhere. It is time to act now

and not wait another day. The way you described this is apocalyptic,

and epidemic, how many thousands of children are at risk year unless

something is done? We're talking several thousand at the moment. At

least 2,000 children are in urgent need of treatment and they cannot

be treated until the compounds are cleaned. They need to be cleaned up

before treatment, because if you treat the children and bring them

back to the contaminated compound, you have to start all over again.

There needs to be safer mining practices so that the miners can

mind while the children can play on the ground without fear of having

any lead in their blood. What sort of money are we talking about to

clean up the compounds? What we have heard from a government

sources and outside government, we are looking out at least 4 million

US dollars to sort this out and it is something the federal government

needs to do urgently. We are also asking for them to put in

mechanisms so that the miners can go where they are urgently needed.

The children need to be treated and that compounds need to be cleaned

up and there needs to be said for mining practices. Thank you.

10 years ago, the leader of the French far-right, Jean-Marie Le Pen,

shocked the country and the world by winning through to the second

round of the presidential election. He is now retired but on the of the

leadership of his youngest daughter, his party's fortunes have gone from

strength to strength. Less controversial and more personable,

Marine La Pen is enjoying success in the polls. We went to find out

why. A forlorn factory chimney, it once

belonged to the sugar refinery in the village. A ghostly relic of an

industrial giant that stood for 130 years. Until 2007, 79 people were

employed here, the workers, many of them still unemployed, say they

lost their jobs to European directives that would share the

sugar beet quotas with new members of the European Union. TRANSLATION:

There is an overwhelming sense of desolation, of sadness. Especially

since the politicians that control our lives will never admit to us

this that they made a mistake. local elections last year, 30 % of

the people here voted for the Front National, and that is not because

of a perceived threat to the way of life of France, this is a town with

very few emigrants. This is about jobs and unemployment. It is about

the economy. Vive la republic, vive la France! Marine La Pen, the new

modernising leader of the party has shifted the focus from its narrower

obsession with immigration towards the problems with Europe. She wants

a return to the French franc and a robust policy of protection and

took protect French jobs. -- protectionism and to protect French

jobs. It is pretty effective. at the results, that is all. Look

at the way we were 10 years ago and look at the way we are today, with

the euro, today. That is all. Last week, Marine La Pen introduced her

team on the campaign trail. includes a mother from the Ivory

Coast and a civil servant with Moroccan origins. The party, purged

of the skinheads and neo-Nazi rhetoric, is now a more palatable

choice for the Euro-sceptic. TRANSLATION: The French are voting

for Marine La Pen because they want a radical change and we are

frightened of what is happening. Many of my customers feel like that.

There is no doubt that the party is eating into President Sarkozy's

slice of the vote. Marine La Pen's success reflects the isolation of

many in towns like this, not just from the political elite in Paris,

but from Brussels and Europe at large.

He was born 200 years ago, the second child of a humble enable

Clarke in the English coastal town of Portsmouth, but Charles Dickens

was to become one of the most famous writers of the Victorian era

and perhaps the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Today,

celebrations all round the UK have marked his life and work and

reading a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

The words of his characters are instantly recognisable. His books

have never gone out of print. Charles Dickens has become a

literary superstar. His life began in a modest terraced house close to

Portsmouth dockyard. Today, the street outside was crowded with

well-wishers at the first in a series of celebrations which traced

his career. And in the London borough of Southwark, people

followed the dickens trail to an area which caused in painful

memories. 200 years on, it is possible to find traces of the

world that inspired his writing. This is the wall of the old sea

prison. At the age of 12, his father was locked up here for a

debt and gained first-hand experience of what it was lied to

be disadvantaged. At another former home, now the museum, a royal

audience for one of those that have to bring his stories to a new

generation. His descriptions of character and state of being at

that time in England Wells part of the historical record of what it

was like back then. Charles Dickens had 10 children. In Westminster

Abbey's Poets corner, the largest gathering of his descendants joined

in an act of remembrance. As a member of the family, you have a

different view. When you see the explosion of interest in Charles

Dickens for the bicentenary, it hits the family rather hard and we

realise quite what a special person the wires. This is an extract from

one of his novels. Refines, now working on a new version of Great

Expectations, reminded us of his great storytelling ability. --

Ralph violence. Is there nobody here but you, Mr Woodcut? Charles

Dickens had asked to be buried in Kent, a place he loved as a child,

but the public demanded that he be allowed to join great literary

figures serum Westminster Abbey, Amman that would have probably had

preceded their efforts. -- a man that would have probably

appreciated. The main news, the Russian foreign

minister, Mr Lavrov, has held what he described as useful talks in

Syria. He had a meeting in Damascus with the President, Bashar Al-Assad.

Russian news agencies say that the President said that he was ready

for dialogue with all political forces. Meanwhile, Homs is being

pounded by artillery for a fourth day and arrow. We spoke to where

resident he said it began at 3am. That is it from the programme, next,

the weather, but from every one We are expecting the coldest night

of the winter so far tonight. A widespread and severe frost across

the country, so a very cold start to tomorrow morning. Not cold

everywhere, it is mild in the north and west, because there are some

pieces of Atlantic air and a weather front. We have an influence

of high pressure stretching down from Scandinavia bringing the very

low temperatures tomorrow morning. Some clout in the morning, but it

will break with sunny spells by the afternoon. Temperatures are around

1-2 degrees. A brisk wind in the east. Temperatures below freezing

in the afternoon. Across the south- west corner, some cloud at times in

parts of Somerset and Dorset, but Devon and Cornwall have a bright

afternoon. Right across much of England and Wales with sunny spells

for Wales and temperatures reaching 3 degrees. In Northern Ireland,

this is where the weather front his, some rain for Northern Ireland.

Quite heavy and different in terms of the temperatures. 5 degrees, the