16/02/2012 World News Today

The Benghazi is the birthplace of the revolt. The people here are

fiercely proud of that fact. This is still a country where groups of

armed men wield disproportionate influence and one year on, the

revolution still feels like unfinished business. Away from the

jubilation, militias squabble over territory with violent consequences.

Most of these lawless brigades of formal fighters answer to no one

but their own commanders. Libya's new government is trying to

incorporate them into the National Army but they have met with limited

success. Last spring at the start of the revolution, he swapped his

stethoscope for a gun. He and thousands of young men risked their

lives to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi. Now, as reports emerged of rebels

torturing enemies, he says Libya needs a new psychological

revolution. The regime and his ideas are still

imprinted in many minds. So, we have to change these mines and

When he wasn't singing and playing, he also fought on the front line,

now he says it is important those who took up arms lay down their

weapons. Most Libyans agree the freedoms that have come with the

revolution have changed their lives for the better. Until the militias

disarmed, behind the facade of a new unstable life looks the danger

of renewed violence. A former co- ordinator for the NCC in London

joins me. The assertion is the militia are out of control and the

government lacks the political will to get them under control. I think

that is a hugely exaggerated... The government is trying to establish

its authority. It has only been there for less than three months.

It is trying to rebuild a country. The process of State Building is

daunting and not easy. The government is trying to rebuild the

National Army, police service, security, the border guards and so

on. They are trying to accommodate and assimilate these freedom

fighters. It is going slowly, it is not going fast enough but I think

they will get there and things are not out of control as some media

outlets project. Amnesty International says there are many

cases of torture, the use of beatings and whips. That is not an

isolated case. Absolutely. These incidents are condemned, they are

to be rejected. This is not what the new Libya is all about. Because

of the lack of national institutions to take over the

prisons and the detentions and interrogations, these are done a

voluntary by Freedom fighters and they are people who want to settle

scores. This is not to be condoned. We say whenever the government

finds out about these incidents are they intervene and to rectify it

and make sure it does not happen and doesn't go on. With a little

patience, we do know what these violations to go on but in the

weeks and months ahead will seek a measured improvement and when the

institutions take over security, the incidence should disappear

totally. You have elections looming so time is of the essence. What

proactive moves will the government take to try to get the situation

under control? Every week we will see a strengthening of the national

institutions, the army and police and also a preparation is on for

the elections in five months and then we will have a new elected

council with legitimacy and political mandate to take over

running the country. By then, we would have a army and police

service and the judiciary need to be reactivated and that is going on

and hopefully by then we would have much more institutions and state

institutions that are running things and adhering to the law and

respecting the human rights of individuals irrespective of their

political background. A resolution calling for President

Assad to step down will be voted on it surely by the UN General

Assembly. It is supported by France's foreign minister says the

status quo is an acceptable. The draft says Syrian authorities are

involved in systematic violations of human rights and freedoms. It is

expected to be passed unlike the last draft at the security council

which Russia and China vetoed 12 months ago. The resolution is

similar to the one Russia and China vetoed in the Security Council. It

calls on the government to end violence, to stop the crackdown and

calls on all parties to stop violence and backs and Arab League

political transition plan for Syria and calls on the Secretary-General

to appoint a special envoy to deal with Syria. The General Assembly

doesn't have the legal authority of the Security Council has so in a

way it is a symbolic move but the General Assembly is reflective of

world opinion. 193 members representing the world. If there is

a strong Yes vote it would give political and moral authority to

the plan. The idea is to use that yes vote to put more pressure on

the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and to illustrate Russia and China are

increasingly isolated in the opposition. Does it also provide a

stronger background -- backdrop for humanitarian exercises? No, it has

nothing to do with that. The French foreign minister has been talking

about exploratory conversations about the basis for a possible

Security Council resolution to bring it back to the Security

Council. He has been emphasising his idea of humanitarian quarters

saying they may be a way to get a Security Council agreement,

including Russia and China, to get humanitarian goods to people in

need. This is very early days and the whole issue of is something

that almost the Russian and Chinese would oppose if it involved troops

and other Western countries have concerns about that kind of thing.

They are wary about putting boots on the ground. After a meeting with

the Russian foreign minister, the Frenchman said fundamentally the

differences remain, Russia and France see the conflict in

different terms, Russia sees it as an Arab conflict, France sees it as

a government attacking the opposition in a brutal crackdown.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 75 seconds

The Ugandan parliament is considering a Bill proposing harsh

penalties for gay people. Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda

but increasing levels of homophobia have caused some who the to flee

the country. But East African correspondent reports.

To Ugandan men are living in exile. They told me they were forced to

flee to Kenya after being physically attacked for being gay.

Still fearing repercussions, they did not want their identities

revealed. People screaming outside, they broke into my house. They were

beating me. The police came. you saw this mob that were shouting

we want to kill you, what people were made up of the group? They

stay in the same village, old men, women. Women as well? They are

wanting my blood. He said when he went to the police he was jailed,

humiliated and abused. What did the police say to the other people who

were locked up in the cell when they took it in? He is a day. He

loves men. You love fellow men and you are gay. We should treat you

like that. I was abused by 50 people in the room. They were

beating you up, and the sexually abused you? Yes. Amongst Ugandan

MPs there is strong support for an anti- homosexuality bill. It calls

for life imprisonment and in some cases the death sentence. We have

five weeks of tension. Danny worked with American activists to oppose

the bill. They said there was an arrest, torture by soldiers and

ExCel. If the law is passed, he says the gay community will be

hunted down. It will promote homophobia because it would give

ordinary people the confidence and legal mandate to prosecute the

group. -- persecute. There is no doubt the gay community in Uganda

is living in fear. The Ugandan government told the BBC it had no

information about any people being detained or tortured because of

their sexuality. Across much of Africa, homophobia is rife.

Changing attitudes may take generations. Those forced into

exile have not given up hope of returning home. I have to keep

running and keep on the run-up to save my life. My hope is Sunday I

can live as a Ugandan and clean my right a citizen. -- cleaner my

The families of prisoners held inside the Honduras jail continue

to wait for news of casualties. It is known that more than 350 people

died but the cause is not clear. The Governor has been suspended.

For more than 24 harrowing hours they have been waiting and praying.

The family members gathered outside the prison in Comayagua now just

want to hear some news, a name used, about their relatives. Some of them,

like this woman, already have. Her two brothers were killed as the

flames swept through the building. I understand there were 900 inmates

inside a building only designed for 300. It is illogical. They have

made mistakes but they are human beings and have the right to live.

As the time passed the bodies continued to appear. This is the

grim scene which has been unfolding here in Comayagua. Body back after

a body bag being taken to the more. And just a few hundred metres

outside the prison pullup ones are waiting desperately for a news. --

the loved ones. There is still no clear explanation. Different

officials have provided different versions as to how the blaze

started. Some claim a fight between rival gangs, others, an electrical

fault in the crumbling building. But most all government officials

agreed that they prison system needs wholesale reform.

We need to modernise the system in Honduras. The government is aware

of that. I hope so. We will start doing that because we have to

guarantee the security of the inmates.

Human rights groups say that the Government has been here before. In

2004 A prisoner fire killed 100. The Government then present that --

promised there would not be a repeat. This fire has put a small a

rural community under the spotlight and suggests that those lessons

still have not been learned. Japanese police have arrested the

former president of the camera firm, or Olympus. He is suspected as

being part of a cover up which had the embezzlement of $1.7 million.

Japanese prosecutors as well as the police and the regulators had been

investigating or Olympus for months. Their inquiries brought them to

this home. Until October, this man was the chairman of the camera

maker, a major Japanese company. But now he has exchanged the

executive suite for the prosecutor's office and has been

questioned about one of the biggest swindles in Japanese history. The

former Auditor of the company has also been searched.

I feel a heavy responsibility. I sincerely regret what I have done.

It was Michael Wood 4-who blew the lead off the cover up which went

back decades. The chief executive was fired last year when he went

public with his concerns about large and unusual takeovers. The

company later admitted it had been hiding investment losses of $1.5

billion. The company has lost around half its value. The signs

are that it will survive but the scandal has shaken confidence in

corporate governance in Japan. He may be gone but he is not

forgotten. The regime in North Korea has gone to town to celebrate

what would have been the 70th birthday of the late Kim Jong-Il.

The man known as the Dear Leader have died in December but the

anniversary of his birth was marked by a lavish parade with

celebrations led by his son, Kim North Korea is having to pack a lot

into its ceremonies these days. On the 70th anniversary of his birth,

the country's late ruler shared the limelight with his son. Kim Jong-Un

has a big shoes to fill and these events are designed to help him do

it. Won his father's birthday the new leader got a pledge of

allegiance from the army. His father got fireworks and waving

flowers. But then Kim Jong-Il has already received several birthday

gifts from the nation. This a bronze statue in the capital. A

giant carving in the side of the mountain. North Korean television

has been doing its part as well, selecting scenes from his a long

history of on-site inspections. Part of a birth date documentary

designed to highlight his key ringside. But many believe that

these suggestions are as much about bolstering the hold on power of his

son. But Kim Jong-Un has looked thoroughly at home in his new role,

taking a standing ovation in his side, and motioning to the ranks, E

Knuth, sit down. It is impossible to tell from outside the country,

even from South Korea, just how much influence Kim Jong-Un has over

his father's comrades. But this was a chance to represent yet again the

unique authority of the family name and the friend, but priceless

credentials, of the new leader. -- thin.

Switzerland is now turning its attention to space with a special

satellite designed to scoop up junk orbiting Earth. Nasser say that

more than half a million pieces of deadbeat orbit Earth. -- NASA. --

debris. 55 years a gross but Nick was launched. Followed over the

next five decades to buy more. And more. And more. The earth's

superpowers battled for control of the universe. But in space what

goes up does not necessarily come down. Over half a million pieces of

junk are orbiting the Earth. Bits of old rockets, debris from

outdated satellites. Many pieces are quite small but they are

travelling at 28,000 kilometres per hour. They threaten the 700

satellites which provide us with the essentials of modern life. Help

is however at hand. Scientists at this space centre in Switzerland

have developed a modest satellite on a wall of a mission. It will

grab pieces of junk and force them back into the atmosphere, where

they will burn up. The launch is expected within five years and the

first task will be to identify and destroy to obsolete Swiss satellite.

-- two. It is expected to be just the first in a whole family of

cleaners intent on restoring the heavens to their original pristine

state. Claude Nicollier is a Swiss

astronaut who has flown on many missions and is now involved in the

project. This sounds a fantastical but is it necessary?

It certainly as. Eyes was mentioned there is lots of debris. If we do

not do anything then nobody will want to go because it will be too

hazardous and too dangerous in space. Not just human spaceflight

but satellite will collide and have a short lifespan if we do not do

something about it. Who will pay for this?

Well, we are after a demonstration and we are looking for public money

but private money also. It will be a combination of government money

from Switzerland and private funds. The fact that it is an academic

institution, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne,

leading the project, there will be some big money. But there will also

be some private money. How well the satellite make sure it

comes across the path of John? It sounds like it could be a lengthy

process. -- comes across the path of junk. There are thousands of

tons of debris. If collisions take place that will

create more could be. It happened in 2009 when an American satellite

collided with a Russian satellite. That cost about two, 3,000 more

tons of debris. It propels do rubbish towards air.

For people who do not understand, that sounds frightening. -- earth.

Well, it needs to be done. If we do not do it we will be in trouble and

a short space of time. But there are a number of technologies and

that's what the students here, research workers, the technicians,

and that is what they will work on. The detection system, the capture,

all with their robotic system, the orientation, in the such a manner

as to control the orbit of the Earth's atmosphere.

A reminder of our main news - armed militia groups are threatening the

safety and security of lippy according to Amnesty International.

They say that rebel brigades are committing torture. -- Libya.

A resolution calling for President Assad to step down will be voted on

by the UN General Assembly. It is backed by France, where the foreign

minister claims that the status quo when Syria is unacceptable. Next we

have the weather report. From the Temperatures Het 13 degrees today

but it will get much colder over the weekend. There will be lots of

cloud and outbreaks of rain arriving also. Patchy rain and

drizzle for these are Weston Hills. Probably dry off a touch in

Northern Ireland. Not much rain across the Pennines. But a damp

afternoon for the north-west of England. But at least it is mild.

Lots more cloud than we had today. Perhaps a few spots of drizzle.

Most of that in the South West will be in the morning. Lots of cloud

for Wales and it will be North Wales that will see most of the

rain. It make dry off a little in Northern Ireland during the

afternoon where temperatures will still reached double figures.

Eventually it will cloud over in Scotland but the rain could be

quite heavy in the West, not so much in the east. The real cold