:00:07. > :00:15.This is BBC new -- World News Today. Evidence emerges that Yassir Arafat
:00:16. > :00:18.may have died from polonium poisoning. Forensic tests on the
:00:19. > :00:24.bones of the former Palestinian leader said polonium Lemuel 's -
:00:25. > :00:32.polonium levels were many times higher than normal.
:00:33. > :00:40.Coming up, the bad black -- the backlash from Edward Snowden's
:00:41. > :00:44.spying revelations. And a new look for shop mannequins. A British
:00:45. > :00:47.retailer is to showcase larger sizes. Is it a publicity stunt or
:00:48. > :01:06.will they sell more clothes? Hello and welcome. Forensic tests on
:01:07. > :01:11.the body of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are reported to
:01:12. > :01:17.show unexpectedly high levels of radioactive polonium according to a
:01:18. > :01:22.team of Swiss experts. Mr Arafat died nine years ago but his body was
:01:23. > :01:26.exhumed last year amid claims he had been poisoned. His widow says he was
:01:27. > :01:32.the victim of a political assassination. We can go to the West
:01:33. > :01:38.Bank and speak to our correspondent. What more can you tell us about the
:01:39. > :01:43.report? This is a long report and I haven't had the chance to read all
:01:44. > :01:47.of it yet. It comes from the University Centre of legal
:01:48. > :01:55.medicine, a highly respected forensic medical institution. They
:01:56. > :02:01.have been looking into the possible causes of his death. A dose they
:02:02. > :02:06.were given belongings from the late Palestinian leader by his widow in
:02:07. > :02:10.conjunction with the news channel, Al-Jazeera, which was conducting an
:02:11. > :02:19.investigation as part of a documentary. They found traces of
:02:20. > :02:25.polonium and radioactive elements at that stage. Last year we saw
:02:26. > :02:30.dramatic action here where the remains of Yasser Arafat's worth
:02:31. > :02:34.exhumed and 20 samples were given to the team of scientists from
:02:35. > :02:38.sweetness -- Switzerland to conduct tests. There were samples given to
:02:39. > :02:49.French and Russian scientists as well. These are the Swiss findings
:02:50. > :02:53.and they suggest that 18 times the normal levels of radioactive
:02:54. > :02:59.polonium in his remains were found. They support the idea that the late
:03:00. > :03:05.Palestinian leader was poisoned There are caveats when you read this
:03:06. > :03:20.report. The evidence has deteriorated. It was eight years
:03:21. > :03:28.before it all started. There is a variation on the samples and the
:03:29. > :03:33.results are not as accurate as they would have liked. This is an
:03:34. > :03:39.impaired -- an important and sensitive story in the middle east.
:03:40. > :03:46.It is. If you talk to Palestinians, many remember those days. It was in
:03:47. > :03:53.2004 in October that Yassir Arafat fell mysteriously ill. His compound
:03:54. > :03:59.had been under attack. Part of it have been destroyed and then the
:04:00. > :04:03.news came that he had some kind of flu but his condition rapidly
:04:04. > :04:07.deteriorated. Egyptian and Tunisian doctors were unable to find the
:04:08. > :04:12.cause. There were these scenes when he was flown out by helicopter and
:04:13. > :04:19.taken to Paris where he finally died on the 11th of November. They are
:04:20. > :04:28.looking at how he may have died and who may have killed him, if that is
:04:29. > :04:32.indeed what happened. Also it is important to mention that Israel has
:04:33. > :04:38.come out strongly denying it had any involvement in Yassir Arafat's
:04:39. > :04:44.death. Thank you. Let us now bring you some reaction out of Israel It
:04:45. > :04:50.is a story that is moving. An Israeli Foreign Ministry
:04:51. > :04:53.spokesperson has told the BBC that this is more soap opera than
:04:54. > :05:01.science. He says the two investigative teams were
:05:02. > :05:08.commissioned by interested parties as to what happened. They never
:05:09. > :05:13.bothered to look for traces of radioactivity. He says the other
:05:14. > :05:16.huge hole in their theory is the outs -- absence of access to the
:05:17. > :05:23.French hospital where Yassir Arafat died and access to his files. There
:05:24. > :05:30.will be much more on this story that that is where we are at the moment
:05:31. > :05:33.with the report. To Russia now where the artistic
:05:34. > :05:37.director of the Bolshoi Ballet has been describing the moment he had
:05:38. > :05:42.acid thrown in his face earlier this year. An attack which nearly blinded
:05:43. > :05:45.him. A former top dancer at the Bolshoi has been tried of that
:05:46. > :05:49.assault along with two other men in a case that has revealed a bitter
:05:50. > :05:58.infighting at the world famous ballet company.
:05:59. > :06:03.He had been badly burnt and nearly blinded. This was the Bolshoi
:06:04. > :06:12.Ballet's artistic director and someone had thrown sulphuric acid it
:06:13. > :06:15.into his face. Now he had the chance to face his assailants. From the
:06:16. > :06:20.crush of TV cameras outside the court room, you could tell the drama
:06:21. > :06:24.inside would be as gripping as anything you had ever seen on the
:06:25. > :06:27.stage of the Bolshoi. That is because among those on trial here is
:06:28. > :06:37.one of the ballet troupe 's own dancers. Pavel Dmitrichenko is
:06:38. > :06:42.accused of organising the attack. He said he had seething resentment to
:06:43. > :06:45.his boss. He was described as a talented dancer who he had promoted
:06:46. > :06:52.but would turn against him. He angrily rejected click games by the
:06:53. > :06:57.dancer. He had taken bribes and had intimate relations with some of the
:06:58. > :07:02.ballet rage -- but -- ballerinas. The Bolshoi Ballet has always been
:07:03. > :07:07.one of the jewels in Russia's cultural crown. This court case is a
:07:08. > :07:12.huge embarrassment. It shines a spotlight on a murky backstage world
:07:13. > :07:19.of job -- jealousy, rivalry and revenge. That's comes as no surprise
:07:20. > :07:24.to those who know the Bolshoi Ballet well. There is so much jealousy
:07:25. > :07:31.inside the theatres but not in such a big thing like the Bolshoi. It is
:07:32. > :07:39.something huge and what we see now is criminal is. Geller macro Sergei
:07:40. > :07:44.Filin has had operations to save his site. He spoke of the excruciating
:07:45. > :07:52.pain he felt after the attack and said he would never forgive those
:07:53. > :07:55.who have carried it out. In the first big round of US
:07:56. > :07:59.elections since President Obama was returned to the White House, New
:08:00. > :08:05.York has elected its first democratic mayor for 30 -- 20 years.
:08:06. > :08:11.The proceeds Michael Bloomberg who is stepping down after three terms.
:08:12. > :08:16.In New Jersey, there has been a significant vote with a straight
:08:17. > :08:21.talking moderate Republican, Chris Christie, re-elected as state
:08:22. > :08:23.governor. That makes him a front runner to be the Republican
:08:24. > :08:28.candidate for the next elections in 2016.
:08:29. > :08:36.In Virginia, Terry McAuliffe has beaten off his conservative rival to
:08:37. > :08:44.become governor. It has been -- he has been a close eye -- ally of
:08:45. > :08:49.Hillary Clinton. Here in the UK, the three heads of
:08:50. > :08:52.the intelligent ache -- agencies are here to talk about their work in
:08:53. > :08:59.public for the first time tomorrow. The chiefs of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ were
:09:00. > :09:11.expected to face tough questions at Westminster over the extent of
:09:12. > :09:14.internets of -- surveillance. There have been questions raised in
:09:15. > :09:27.Germany, spec and the Netherlands. This is an issue that is not going
:09:28. > :09:34.away. -- Spain. You have received accolades for the
:09:35. > :09:39.way you have tried to use technology. I have always seen you
:09:40. > :09:43.as an evangelist for the Internet. We are looking at a real backlash
:09:44. > :09:48.against the Internet -- against the internets, against spying. Our
:09:49. > :09:56.information networks are like nuclear power. We see the technology
:09:57. > :10:01.is taking on the values and intentions of the users. It is the
:10:02. > :10:07.same way in which the internets can create value and be used extensively
:10:08. > :10:13.for surveillance. What do you think when you see Angela Merkel voicing
:10:14. > :10:20.her outrage and distaste? She came from a state where surveillance is
:10:21. > :10:28.chilling. If somebody hacks my phone, I will get really mad. Europe
:10:29. > :10:32.as to be viewed within its full context. I worked for Hillary
:10:33. > :10:37.Clinton for many years and had to tussle more than once with the
:10:38. > :10:41.surveillance firms that worked in and around Munich for selling
:10:42. > :10:50.sophisticated surveillance gear The French have been very angry about
:10:51. > :10:58.reports. They get the crown jewel themselves further and proficiency
:10:59. > :11:06.in this area. Let's be honest, a lot of different countries are doing
:11:07. > :11:12.this. When we have these revelations like from Edwin Snowden, is your
:11:13. > :11:22.reaction to -- Edward Snowden, Israel -- is your reaction that you
:11:23. > :11:30.knew this all in -- all along? The questions are reasonable. They are
:11:31. > :11:33.valid. Shouldn't people like you raise questions thinking that the
:11:34. > :11:39.public should know more about what is happening in terms of their
:11:40. > :11:43.communications being monitored? Philip -- Hillary Clinton showed
:11:44. > :11:47.real leadership. We need to have a global dialogue about the balance
:11:48. > :11:55.between privacy -- privacy and security. Security without freedom
:11:56. > :11:58.is oppressive. Freedom without security is fragile. We need to
:11:59. > :12:04.figure out how we can reconcile the -- these two things. Do you detect a
:12:05. > :12:18.different reaction on both sides of the Atlantic? In the states, is that
:12:19. > :12:24.sends of security Paramount? It has shifted. There are responses to the
:12:25. > :12:37.attack that were warranted after 9/11. The US is in a state of
:12:38. > :12:44.perpetual war. We have to keep our country safe. The response from
:12:45. > :12:50.everyday Americans was as loud as it was from people in Europe and so
:12:51. > :12:54.what I think a conclusion is that have to have an executive
:12:55. > :12:58.oversight, judicial oversight and more congressional oversight over
:12:59. > :13:08.these programmes. The technologies are not going away. Twitter is about
:13:09. > :13:13.to go public, to sell shirts -- shares. This is the next big thing.
:13:14. > :13:21.Doesn't that lead to concerns about monetising content? You are a
:13:22. > :13:26.commodity more than a citizen, aren't you? I believe these
:13:27. > :13:32.companies ought to have the right to build business models -- around
:13:33. > :13:36.personal data, around communications and other such things. This is and
:13:37. > :13:43.should have the freedom to say that they don't want it. Bureaucrats in
:13:44. > :13:47.Brussels, Washington, London, say they need to regulate this so the
:13:48. > :13:57.people who use the platforms have fair shake, it is controversial I
:13:58. > :14:02.can't let you leave without asking you about Hillary Clinton. You know
:14:03. > :14:06.her so well. I know you think she would make a good President. The
:14:07. > :14:13.question is it whether she wants to go through that back in 2016. She
:14:14. > :14:17.hasn't made a decision yet. I am very biased. I have an
:14:18. > :14:21.11-year-olds, an eight-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son I
:14:22. > :14:25.would love them to grow up in a country with Hillary Clinton as
:14:26. > :14:32.President and I would not like them to grow up in a country with one of
:14:33. > :14:40.these crazy right wing people. Run, Hillary, run.
:14:41. > :14:45.The former boyfriend of Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito, has been giving
:14:46. > :14:51.evidence in an Italian court at a retrial hearing. The 29-year-old is
:14:52. > :14:54.back in court for the appeal trial in Florence, which sees the former
:14:55. > :14:57.lovers accused of killing British student, Meredith Kerchner in Italy
:14:58. > :15:07.six years ago. But Amanda Knox has refused to leave her home city of
:15:08. > :15:13.Seattle. Alan Johnston reports. In this seemingly endless case, yet
:15:14. > :15:18.another day in court. And an important one. Amanda Knox could not
:15:19. > :15:24.be compelled to attend and she has stayed at home in America, but her
:15:25. > :15:30.co-accused, her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was present to
:15:31. > :15:35.give dramatic testimony. The prosecution said he and Amanda Knox
:15:36. > :15:39.were involved in forcing Amanda Kirchner into sexual acts that
:15:40. > :15:46.spiralled out of control, a game that ended in a brutal murder. But
:15:47. > :15:50.he insisted it wasn't true, and he is not a merciless killer.
:15:51. > :15:55.TRANSLATION: there is no sense in thinking I had any interest in
:15:56. > :16:00.committing an atrocious act on a 20-year-old girl. This has no
:16:01. > :16:06.foundation in reality. This has been going on for too many years. My life
:16:07. > :16:11.has changed completely. It is more than six years since Meredith
:16:12. > :16:16.Kercher was murdered. Her promising life cut short at the age of just
:16:17. > :16:21.21. All this time, her family have you forced to wait and says, for
:16:22. > :16:25.some sense that justice has been done. And while they wait, Amanda
:16:26. > :16:30.Knox is defending herself in the court of public opinion. Appearing
:16:31. > :16:35.on television in America and elsewhere, denying any involvement
:16:36. > :16:40.in the killing. Her lawyers say her case has received a boost today
:16:41. > :16:47.There has been a new examination of this knife. The defence will claim
:16:48. > :16:50.the latest DNA tests supports that this is not the murder weapon, and
:16:51. > :16:54.it cannot link Amanda Knox to the killing. But the prosecution will
:16:55. > :16:59.bitterly contested that argument and the court room wrangling will go on
:17:00. > :17:03.into the New Year. When you look in shop windows at the
:17:04. > :17:07.mannequins used to model clothes, they're usually conventionally
:17:08. > :17:10.pretty and relatively thin. Today the British clothing chain
:17:11. > :17:15.Debenhams has said it's going to introduce larger mannequins. It says
:17:16. > :17:18.British high street fashion has been showcased for too long on dummies
:17:19. > :17:22.that are three sizes too small, and it hopes women will be more likely
:17:23. > :17:32.to buy clothes that will look good on them. The standard dress size for
:17:33. > :17:37.British mannequins on the high Street is an eight or ten. A far cry
:17:38. > :17:43.from the average which is more likely to be 16. Debenhams has
:17:44. > :17:47.decided to make body image is more realistic by becoming the first
:17:48. > :17:54.retailer to bring in a size 16 manikin for their clothes.
:17:55. > :17:58.Beautiful, famous and slim. Driven by the fashion industry and
:17:59. > :18:07.celebrity culture, pressure on women to be thin, many argue, is at and at
:18:08. > :18:10.worst, potentially dangerous. One High St retailer has decided to
:18:11. > :18:17.act. Debenhams has launched a new size 16 manikin to appear alongside
:18:18. > :18:21.its standard size ten. The retailer says it has a moral obligation to
:18:22. > :18:24.reflect the clothes size of its shoppers, but it makes commercial
:18:25. > :18:31.sense with similar strategies producing huge amounts of positive
:18:32. > :18:36.publicity. It is important to be as inclusive as we can. We started this
:18:37. > :18:43.activity four years ago when principles launched a model that was
:18:44. > :18:46.in a wheelchair. And also swimwear shops and lingerie. Not all our
:18:47. > :18:52.customers are a size eight and five at ten tall. That is the theory in
:18:53. > :18:59.the boardroom, but what do shoppers thing? It is clear, we are not all
:19:00. > :19:05.size eight and ten. I would not even dare to see if there is anything in
:19:06. > :19:09.my size, because it intimidates me. You get a more realistic view of
:19:10. > :19:12.what it will look like. Debenhams is trying to seize the moral high
:19:13. > :19:19.ground when it comes to female body image. But with more serious issues
:19:20. > :19:24.worth addressing, like equal pay, forced marriage or even Twitter
:19:25. > :19:27.abuse, is this debate about mannequins simply an unhelpful
:19:28. > :19:34.distraction? Presenting realistic female body images to consumers
:19:35. > :19:38.says the government, is important. Today it came out in favour of the
:19:39. > :19:43.size 16 manikin. A range of issues affect women. This is an important
:19:44. > :19:46.one, particularly when you look at the rising rates of eating disorders
:19:47. > :19:53.and the impact this lack of body confidence can have. But it is not
:19:54. > :19:56.the only issue. It is one of many things we're working on in
:19:57. > :20:01.government. The debate on how close are presented mannequins is likely
:20:02. > :20:08.to continue as the average British woman now wears a size 16. So far,
:20:09. > :20:11.no other retailers have plans to follow Debenhams.
:20:12. > :20:14.With me is Amber Jane Butchart, fashion historian and associate
:20:15. > :20:19.lecturer at the London College of Fashion. Is this something to be
:20:20. > :20:25.applauded, this note of realism Definitely. Debenhams have been
:20:26. > :20:29.Trailblazers on the high Street in this regard. They stopped
:20:30. > :20:36.airbrushing in their editorial campaigns. All these initiatives are
:20:37. > :20:40.great, and I hope it will signal a brighter, more diverse future for
:20:41. > :20:44.the British high street. I suppose what will matter and whether
:20:45. > :20:49.Debenhams sees its clothes sales going up. It does have two have
:20:50. > :20:57.profit out of this manoeuvre? That is true. But a study has been
:20:58. > :21:01.published in Cambridge which found if women are looking at fashion
:21:02. > :21:05.images on a wider range of models, models they perceive to be more like
:21:06. > :21:11.themselves, not some unattainable ideal, they are more likely to buy
:21:12. > :21:15.clothing from these images. When you are looking at Vogue or any of the
:21:16. > :21:21.other magazines, they are still skinny models. They are
:21:22. > :21:26.aspirational. So when you say you see something closer to you in the
:21:27. > :21:34.store, you want it to be more like you? I think so, yes. There is a
:21:35. > :21:39.lack of diversity across a number of areas. I was at a conference last
:21:40. > :21:44.week at the London College of fashion which celebrated ageing
:21:45. > :21:50.which is something the fashion industry ignores, largely. Ethnicity
:21:51. > :21:55.is always an issue during the international collections this
:21:56. > :22:00.season. High-profile models sent an open letter to the people who run
:22:01. > :22:04.fashion week saying, these catwalks are largely white, there is not
:22:05. > :22:10.enough diversity across a number of different areas. Is Debenhams being
:22:11. > :22:14.a trailblazer or has this been tried in other markets, in other
:22:15. > :22:18.countries? There is a particular department store in Sweden that has
:22:19. > :22:23.used a range of different mannequins for about ten years. This kind of
:22:24. > :22:30.circulated online a few months ago, some images from 2010. They were
:22:31. > :22:37.using a variety of size ten, size 16 models, similar to the Debenhams's
:22:38. > :22:41.sizes. It got a range of reactions. People were saying it was promoting
:22:42. > :22:48.obesity, which is a crazy idea. It was missing the point. To say
:22:49. > :22:52.someone is the average size is promoting obesity, it shows a lack
:22:53. > :23:00.of awareness. We are talking about women, women's images and
:23:01. > :23:05.mannequins. Do men not have the problem with that image? It is
:23:06. > :23:12.predominantly a female issue. But body issues among men are growing as
:23:13. > :23:16.well. It is becoming more and more something that men will think about.
:23:17. > :23:24.They are all tall, slim mannequins in the windows of men's stores as
:23:25. > :23:31.well? Yes, you get things on the physique you have the dedicated your
:23:32. > :23:35.entire life to getting. That is equally not a normal body shape It
:23:36. > :23:39.is something that if it reaches the same proportions, will have to be
:23:40. > :23:42.addressed in the fashion industry as well.
:23:43. > :23:46.Thanks for coming to talk this through.
:23:47. > :23:52.Now a look at some of the other news.
:23:53. > :23:55.The levels of gases in the atmosphere that drive global warming
:23:56. > :23:58.have increased to a record high That's according to the latest data
:23:59. > :24:01.from the World Meteorological Organization. It says atmospheric
:24:02. > :24:04.CO2 grew more rapidly last year than its average rise over the past
:24:05. > :24:08.decade. And concentrations of both methane and nitrous oxide also broke
:24:09. > :24:11.previous records. A series of small explosions outside
:24:12. > :24:14.the regional Communist Party headquarters in Taiyuan in Shanxi
:24:15. > :24:16.province in northern China have killed at least one person and
:24:17. > :24:20.injured several others. No explanation has been given for the
:24:21. > :24:23.incident, but tensions in China are high after a car ran into a crowd in
:24:24. > :24:27.Tiananmen Square in Beijing last week. The government called that
:24:28. > :24:30.incident a terrorist attack. The Colombian government and the
:24:31. > :24:33.leftist Farc rebels have announced an agreement on the conditions and
:24:34. > :24:35.guarantees for the Marxist guerrillas participation in formal
:24:36. > :24:39.politics after their eventual demobilisation. The announcement was
:24:40. > :24:42.made in the Cuban capital, Havana, where the two parties have been
:24:43. > :24:49.holding peace talks since November 2012.
:24:50. > :24:54.When Captain Cook first sailed to the Pacific he brought back sketches
:24:55. > :24:59.of some of the unusual creatures he'd seen on his voyage. These were
:25:00. > :25:02.later turned into paintings, giving the British public their first ever
:25:03. > :25:06.glimpse of the Kangaroo and the dingo. The works, which were first
:25:07. > :25:11.shown at the Royal Academy back in 1773, have now been saved for the
:25:12. > :25:17.nation thanks to generous donation. Our Arts Editor Will Gompertz
:25:18. > :25:21.reports. A kangaroo looking back. The dingo
:25:22. > :25:27.walking in the Australian landscape. Two animals previously
:25:28. > :25:31.unfamiliar to those living in the UK, including George Stubbs, the
:25:32. > :25:36.celebrated artist who painted them. He worked from skins and information
:25:37. > :25:41.brought back by Captain Cook. There were collected by the scientist
:25:42. > :25:47.Sergio is a ranks. George Stubbs, was a very good anatomist, was
:25:48. > :25:51.presented with this drying, shrivelled skin of a kangaroo. He
:25:52. > :25:57.could not make head nor tail of it. He's sown it up, moistened it so it
:25:58. > :26:03.was viable. Blew it up and saw it really did have these small arms and
:26:04. > :26:08.this huge tail and these whopping, great legs. They were in a private
:26:09. > :26:14.collection, but now have been acquired by the National Maritime
:26:15. > :26:19.Museum in London, much to the annoyance of the National Gallery of
:26:20. > :26:25.Australia. The kangaroo on Australia's earliest coat of arms
:26:26. > :26:31.was based on George Stubbs's image. The National Maritime Museum raise
:26:32. > :26:37.the ?5.5 million needed to buy them. It will put them on public display
:26:38. > :26:41.along with the rest of the collection relating to Captain
:26:42. > :26:44.Cook's great voyages. That is all now, next we have a weather update.
:26:45. > :27:06.Thanks for watching. It has been a dull and damp day
:27:07. > :27:07.across England and Wales. Heavy pulses of rain for Wales and the