:00:08. > :00:14.This is BBC World News Today. The trial of four suspects in the
:00:15. > :00:21.assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005
:00:22. > :00:27.begins. He was killed in a bombing explosion in Beirut. The defendants
:00:28. > :00:35.linked to Hezbollah are being tried in absentia.
:00:36. > :00:42.We never seek vengeance. Hopefully by the end of this trial we will
:00:43. > :00:48.find out the truth and we will get the justice for Lebanon.
:00:49. > :00:51.One of the most senior officials at the Vatican is questioned strongly
:00:52. > :00:55.by a special UN panel on its failure to protect children from abuse by
:00:56. > :01:02.East 's. Also coming up, three films top the
:01:03. > :01:07.nominations for the Oscars and we look at their chances of winning
:01:08. > :01:12.those prized trophies. And depression and how to survive
:01:13. > :01:16.it. That advice was offered by the late comedian Spike Milligan. Now it
:01:17. > :01:18.seems he wasn't alone as new research links comic genius to
:01:19. > :01:34.mental illness. Hello and welcome. It has taken
:01:35. > :01:39.nearly a decade is to get to this stage. Mine lay a special UN
:01:40. > :01:45.tribunal in the Hague has begun the trial in absentia of four defendants
:01:46. > :01:50.linked to Hezbollah or the assassination of Lebanese Prime
:01:51. > :01:55.Minister Rafiq Hariri nine years ago. He did love with 21 others when
:01:56. > :02:01.his convoy was blown in Beirut. Each of the four suspects have been
:02:02. > :02:09.identified but not apprehended. We ask what chances there are of them
:02:10. > :02:14.ever being brought to justice. A long-awaited trial has begun but
:02:15. > :02:20.none of the accused are in sight. The special tribunal is the first
:02:21. > :02:28.international court since the Nuremberg trials to try suspects in
:02:29. > :02:33.absentia. For individuals associated with the Lebanese party Hezbollah.
:02:34. > :02:39.The prosecution says it is confident they are responsible for the killing
:02:40. > :02:43.of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, and 21 other
:02:44. > :02:48.people. The attackers used an extraordinary
:02:49. > :02:56.quantity of explosives, far more than was needed to kill their
:02:57. > :03:03.target. Clearly the intention was to spread a message and panic among the
:03:04. > :03:08.people. Among those present in court was the son of the former Prime
:03:09. > :03:14.Minister. He told journalists that he came to
:03:15. > :03:17.seek justice, not revenge. We never seek vengeance and
:03:18. > :03:23.hopefully by the end of this trial we will find out the truth and we
:03:24. > :03:28.will get the justice that we called for an Lebanon.
:03:29. > :03:31.This is only the start of what is expected to be a long trial. The
:03:32. > :03:37.onus is on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the suspects in the
:03:38. > :03:45.first international tribunal ever to try individuals on charges of
:03:46. > :03:51.terrorism. The defence team seems ready to hit back.
:03:52. > :03:56.TRANSLATION: The first unexpected thing will be the words of the
:03:57. > :03:58.defence lawyers on Monday because you can imagine they have lots to
:03:59. > :04:03.answer for. Since the killing of Rafiq Hariri
:04:04. > :04:10.many others have been killed in Lebanon. Many hope this tribunal
:04:11. > :04:15.will put an end to the trouble. But others fear it has become and others
:04:16. > :04:23.-- another source of political turmoil.
:04:24. > :04:25.Let us discuss this more. Faysal Itani is a fellow with the Atlantic
:04:26. > :04:33.Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. If these four men
:04:34. > :04:39.have been identified and people know who they are, we not been
:04:40. > :04:48.apprehended? Simply put, the Lebanese
:04:49. > :04:54.institutions are too politically weak to have the will to go after
:04:55. > :04:58.them. Going after them would most likely require a violent
:04:59. > :05:01.confrontation and they have no appetite for that or possibly even
:05:02. > :05:06.the capabilities. Could the forces could actually go
:05:07. > :05:15.into the Hezbollah-run areas and arrest these men?
:05:16. > :05:20.Probably not given the balance of power between the security forces
:05:21. > :05:28.and Hezbollah. They're in mind also that the security forces are
:05:29. > :05:33.multi-sectarian, made up of some Hezbollah members.
:05:34. > :05:41.It sounds like you don't really think that these suspects will ever
:05:42. > :05:45.be brought to justice. I think whether or not they are
:05:46. > :05:52.brought to justice depends very much on Hezbollah's security situation
:05:53. > :06:08.within Lebanon and the situation of its allies abroad, the Syrian regime
:06:09. > :06:11.and Iran. I don't see a scenario where they will be brought to
:06:12. > :06:18.justice by force. Is there an element of perhaps if
:06:19. > :06:22.they ever were arrested, it would cause such instability between
:06:23. > :06:30.Hezbollah and the central authorities that these interests
:06:31. > :06:35.have two trump the ideas of justice?
:06:36. > :06:39.I wouldn't quite put it that way because you have to remember that
:06:40. > :06:48.Hezbollah is a significant influence on the political goings-on in
:06:49. > :06:56.Lebanon. Opposition to Hezbollah would have to come from a political
:06:57. > :07:01.rival in Lebanon itself. I think it is the impossibility of the task
:07:02. > :07:07.rather than the resulting literal instability.
:07:08. > :07:14.So when Rafiq Hariri's Sun says that they will find out the truth, that
:07:15. > :07:27.is wishful thinking on his part? Not necessarily. If the accusations
:07:28. > :07:37.are accurate and there are bindings of guilt.
:07:38. > :07:45.How important is all this to the wider population in Lebanon?
:07:46. > :07:51.I think it is quite important. A significant proportion of the
:07:52. > :08:00.Lebanese have rejected its legitimacy outright, mostly
:08:01. > :08:07.supporters Hezbollah. A political assassination which happens often
:08:08. > :08:14.and never gets this level of trial is receiving an unprecedented level
:08:15. > :08:22.of trial so it is an improvement. We have heard John Kerry calling on
:08:23. > :08:30.the Syrian opposition to vote in favour of attending the Geneva peace
:08:31. > :08:38.conference. We know there is a great deal of opposition. Sorry to put you
:08:39. > :08:47.on the spot but just give us your reaction to that.
:08:48. > :08:52.Given how much emphasis on US policy has placed on the talks, I can
:08:53. > :08:56.understand why they would take that position. But from the perspective
:08:57. > :09:02.of the opposition, they have two problems. Firstly, they don't have
:09:03. > :09:07.significant support in Syria itself and are not seen as having the power
:09:08. > :09:17.to negotiate on the behalf of Syrians. Secondly, rebel forces who
:09:18. > :09:24.do have influence have a great rejected these talks. They are in an
:09:25. > :09:28.impossible position. If they do refuse to go, on the other hand they
:09:29. > :09:34.will lose whatever US support which they have had so far, which isn't
:09:35. > :09:42.much. Thank you for that.
:09:43. > :09:52.A suicide bomber in northern Lebanon has killed self and three other
:09:53. > :09:59.people in Hermel near the Bekaa Valley. More than 20 people were
:10:00. > :10:04.injured. It is the latest attack in Hezbollah -dominated areas.
:10:05. > :10:10.After years of allegations of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church,
:10:11. > :10:17.the Vatican has been given strong public questioning. Senior officials
:10:18. > :10:22.are facing robust questions by a special UN committee in Geneva to
:10:23. > :10:26.try to find out why the charge won't release its full data on the abuse.
:10:27. > :10:34.Victims and their families accused the Church of a culture of secrecy.
:10:35. > :10:39.For years, victims of clerical sexual abuse struggle to be heard.
:10:40. > :10:43.No campaigners are pleased that at last the Vatican is being
:10:44. > :10:50.investigated by a UN committee. At the hearing in Geneva, the
:10:51. > :10:56.Vatican's seemed contrite. There is no use for violence or
:10:57. > :11:03.exploitation of children. Such crimes cannot be justified, whether
:11:04. > :11:08.permitted in the home, schools, sports programmes, religious
:11:09. > :11:18.institutions. In a brutal session, it was said
:11:19. > :11:24.they were only responsible for abuse inside Vatican City, a much
:11:25. > :11:32.criticised assertion. The Catholic Church has 1 billion
:11:33. > :11:38.followers and his influence over a lot more children's lives than just
:11:39. > :11:47.these few that the mentioned. This man has had to fight hard for
:11:48. > :11:52.justice. He was abused as a teenager I and Italian priest, he claims.
:11:53. > :12:02.I think it is time to stop the secrecy.
:12:03. > :12:09.There has been mounting evidence of abuse in different countries. In
:12:10. > :12:15.2009, the report found that sexual and psychological abuse was endemic
:12:16. > :12:25.in Ireland. In 2010, the Bishop of Bruges resigned after a sex scandal.
:12:26. > :12:34.In Germany there were 280 counts of sexual abuse.
:12:35. > :12:44.Laws have been strengthened and Vatican -- victims offered help.
:12:45. > :12:49.Let us bring you some of the other news.
:12:50. > :12:52.Early indications about Egypt's new constitution are that it will get
:12:53. > :13:02.overwhelming backing. The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted it in protest
:13:03. > :13:04.at the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi. Tonight was reported at just more
:13:05. > :13:11.than 50%. The actress linked with President
:13:12. > :13:19.Francois Hollande has taken legal action against Closer magazine over
:13:20. > :13:24.the allegations. It is alleged that Francois Hollande spent the night at
:13:25. > :13:32.her flat. The Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is to go on trial charged
:13:33. > :13:38.with bribery. It is to do with payments made to
:13:39. > :13:43.German banker Gerhard Gribowsky. Bernie Ecclestone is stepping down
:13:44. > :13:45.from the Formula 1 board of directors.
:13:46. > :13:52.Let us update you on an exclusive story we brought you this time
:13:53. > :13:55.yesterday. Organised paedophiles in Western countries are paying for
:13:56. > :14:00.children to be abused in the Philippines and then watching that
:14:01. > :14:04.abuse live via webcam. Some of those were based in the UK and five people
:14:05. > :14:08.have already been jailed for the activity.
:14:09. > :14:14.This is Operation Endeavour in action. Philippine police raid a
:14:15. > :14:20.house and rescue 12 children. The youngest was just six years old. He
:14:21. > :14:25.had been sexually abused by their own parents in front of the webcam,
:14:26. > :14:29.directed from thousands of miles away in Britain. The raid was
:14:30. > :14:37.launched after the arrest of this man, Timothy Ford. He offered other
:14:38. > :14:44.paedophiles the chance to watch the abuse, men like Thomas Owen. Records
:14:45. > :14:51.released today show that he was offering live shows and described
:14:52. > :14:57.some children as really cute. Police arrested 29 people in 12 countries
:14:58. > :15:04.and have identified many more suspects.
:15:05. > :15:06.There are over 700 suspects around the world, over 100 of which are in
:15:07. > :15:13.the UK. That's shocking, isn't it?
:15:14. > :15:17.Very shocking. It will need to realise. Let's call this what this
:15:18. > :15:22.is. This is not an Internet crime, this is a crime facilitated by the
:15:23. > :15:26.Internet, this is child sexual abuse.
:15:27. > :15:29.This is a new crime could by rising demand in the West and is a growing
:15:30. > :15:34.problem, especially in the Philippines.
:15:35. > :15:39.In some of the poorest areas, whole communities have been taken over by
:15:40. > :15:45.this trade. Amylase are forced to perform sex acts in front of
:15:46. > :15:50.children -- on children in front of cameras for paying Westerners.
:15:51. > :16:08.This girl was 15 when she was forced by her own hand to work on what she
:16:09. > :16:13.calls a cybersex then. The operation has been a success but charities say
:16:14. > :16:20.that the police must do much more to protect the tens of thousands of
:16:21. > :16:29.children who remain at risk. A special report there.
:16:30. > :16:42.It is movie awards season. Today we found out who is in the running for
:16:43. > :16:51.the Oscars. Gravity, American muscle, and 12 Years A Slave lead
:16:52. > :17:00.the pack. -- American Hustle. You will have seen all of them?
:17:01. > :17:08.I have. It is quite exciting. Let's start with the Gravity and
:17:09. > :17:19.American Hustle. I love to Gravity. And American
:17:20. > :17:25.Hustle is a disco era film. Gravity, Sandra Bullock and George
:17:26. > :17:28.Clooney, adrift in space. A spectacular movie that did so well
:17:29. > :17:39.at the box office globally. Critically lauded also. And a
:17:40. > :17:46.British film, strangely enough. Yes, they had to shoot it in
:17:47. > :17:53.Pinewood and Shepperton. Special effects, of all the magical
:17:54. > :18:00.experiences, this here is like a Michelangelo ceiling!
:18:01. > :18:05.And American Hustle, about a con artist?
:18:06. > :18:10.Nobody is quite sure what it is about, but it is a real story about
:18:11. > :18:25.the left early episode. Amy Adams and Christian Bale, almost
:18:26. > :18:33.unrecognisable. An FBI episode. And 12 Years A Slave, I think that is
:18:34. > :18:38.the best picture. The one that is kind of capturing the conversation
:18:39. > :18:43.going on at the moment. Slavery, never really been addressed by
:18:44. > :18:51.cinema. And Chiwetel Ejiofor, nominated for
:18:52. > :18:58.best director, -- actor, with Steve McQueen nominated for best director.
:18:59. > :19:05.Yes, to go from some austere arthouse pieces to one of the big
:19:06. > :19:09.directors in the world, only his third film. Alongside Martin
:19:10. > :19:26.Scorsese. John Singleton was nominated that -- nominated but did
:19:27. > :19:32.not win, Steve McQueen would be the first black director to win. And
:19:33. > :19:38.Bruce Sterling is a big favourite, Leonardo DiCaprio, a fourth
:19:39. > :19:45.nomination, never one, playing a terrible character, but a brilliant
:19:46. > :19:52.performance. Bruce Dern, in the film Nebraska, he has a lots of love from
:19:53. > :19:59.the Academy. There he is, playing a deluded pensioner who believes the
:20:00. > :20:08.trash mail he gets to his letterbox telling him he has won $1 million. I
:20:09. > :20:10.would love Chiwetel Ejiofor to win. But Matthew McConaghy, playing an
:20:11. > :20:15.AIDS victim, he is the hot favourite.
:20:16. > :20:26.The woman, Kate Blanchette, danger to Dench. -- Dame Judi.
:20:27. > :20:36.Yes, Philomena was brilliant, but as good as she was in that film, a
:20:37. > :20:43.lovely, clerical anger of a film, but I cannot see anybody beating
:20:44. > :20:49.Kate Blanchette. A deluded woman who cannot believe her world has fallen
:20:50. > :20:55.apart. That will be the Oscar. We will see who wins and Mark you
:20:56. > :20:59.out of ten. A new treatment for blindness offers
:21:00. > :21:05.hope to millions of evil with sight problems across the world. It
:21:06. > :21:16.involves injecting genes into the eye. -- millions of people. Wine has
:21:17. > :21:20.a rare genetic condition. -- Wayne. He was told he would lose his sight
:21:21. > :21:25.in ten years. But he had a pioneering operation, which we
:21:26. > :21:31.reported two years ago. It has improved his vision.
:21:32. > :21:37.I looked at the night sky and saw stars for the first time in 15
:21:38. > :21:48.years. That is something for me. Because of a faulty genetic issue,
:21:49. > :21:55.cells die, but doctors found a way to inject new working copies. And
:21:56. > :22:00.some of the cells they thought were dead have since revitalised,
:22:01. > :22:03.improving his vision. Doctors have been amazed at the improvement. It
:22:04. > :22:08.shows the therapy is safe and effective. They believe it could
:22:09. > :22:15.potentially be used to treat more common forms of likeness. --
:22:16. > :22:23.blindness. He was initially told he would not see his doctor grow up. --
:22:24. > :22:30.daughter. Following this therapy, he hopes to see his grandchildren.
:22:31. > :22:34.Spike Milligan was renowned for his wit, humour, and style. He was also
:22:35. > :22:39.very candid about his battle with mental illness. He helped make big
:22:40. > :22:50.show one of the most popular the last century. -- the Goon Show. But
:22:51. > :22:53.he grappled with depression. Now a new study based on comics from
:22:54. > :22:59.around the world has suggested many may suffer from mental illnesses and
:23:00. > :23:06.psychotic or smell to trade. -- personality traits. Susan Murray,
:23:07. > :23:12.comedian, joins me now. Mental illness is no laughing matter, but
:23:13. > :23:17.this link between psychotic disorders and comedians, doesn't
:23:18. > :23:21.strike a chord? It does not take a genius to work
:23:22. > :23:28.out that it is not normal to stand on stage seeking love for telling
:23:29. > :23:35.jokes. If you ask any stand-up comedian, a UN little bit unhinged,
:23:36. > :23:43.they will answer, of course I am! I don't know quite why they even did
:23:44. > :23:54.the study. Because it is so obvious? Absolutely. Because comedians are
:23:55. > :24:01.both introverted and extroverted? Yes. It is quite a hard thing to do,
:24:02. > :24:08.but it is a creative outlet. I get to moan for a living. Then you get
:24:09. > :24:13.somebody who works in an office for 50 years, hating their job, that is
:24:14. > :24:18.more insane than what I do. But do you think people with the
:24:19. > :24:23.personality traits we are talking about might be drawn to the world of
:24:24. > :24:30.comedy because it offers self-medication almost? There is a
:24:31. > :24:38.bit of that. But the study is a bit misleading. Psychotic traits? From
:24:39. > :24:45.500 comedians I know, two have had a psychotic episode. The figure would
:24:46. > :24:50.be smaller than the general population. So I think this is
:24:51. > :24:59.sensationalist, really. But there has always been a widely held view
:25:00. > :25:07.linking instability with creativity. You know, Vincent van Gogh off.
:25:08. > :25:15.Absolutely. But I would make the point that to do the job I do, you
:25:16. > :25:20.must be balanced, mentally tough, physically tough, it is 24/7,
:25:21. > :25:27.driving everywhere, writing jokes, it is nonstop, and you must love
:25:28. > :25:33.what you do. You don't have to be mentally ill to work here, blah,
:25:34. > :25:44.blah, but I work for the News quiz and once wrote 80 jokes in two days.
:25:45. > :25:51.Just from thoughts that come into my head, you might be in conversation,
:25:52. > :26:04.generally that. Do you have a short, favourite joke? That is acceptable!
:26:05. > :26:08.Broadcast quality? Maybe not! When I first got the call I thought this
:26:09. > :26:18.was about psychopathic tendencies, and I wrote a joke about it, but it
:26:19. > :26:23.is not the same as psychosis. We are a little bit twisted, it is the most
:26:24. > :26:32.childish job in the world, apart from being an actual child. Children
:26:33. > :26:39.are brilliantly bonkers! I have four of my own and agree with you on
:26:40. > :26:42.that! Thank you very much indeed. That is all from this edition. Next,
:26:43. > :27:01.the weather. Good evening. Hello. A day of sunny spells and
:27:02. > :27:13.scattered showers. Heaviest to the West. Similar tomorrow. Some subtle
:27:14. > :27:14.differences, perhaps showers easing in eastern areas. But low never far