:00:00. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today with me, Zeinab Badawi.
:00:11. > :00:13.The fallout from the Edward Snowden affair:
:00:14. > :00:16.President Obama says he will change US spying operations. He defends the
:00:17. > :00:25.intelligence community but accepts there is potential for abuse in the
:00:26. > :00:31.way data is gathered. Heads of state and government, with whom we work
:00:32. > :00:36.closely and on whose communication we depend, should feel confident
:00:37. > :00:38.that we are treating them as partners and the change of the
:00:39. > :00:41.ordered do just that. The wife of Shashi Taroor, a
:00:42. > :00:45.high-profile Indian politician and former UN official, is found dead in
:00:46. > :00:47.a hotel in Delhi after rumours of his infidelity. -- changes I have
:00:48. > :00:49.ordered. Also coming up:
:00:50. > :00:51.His first visit to the First Lady after those affair allegations,
:00:52. > :00:54.France's President Hollande visits his partner in hospital.
:00:55. > :00:57.And as Egyptians await the results of the referendum on a new
:00:58. > :01:01.constitution, polls suggest strong backing for the army chief. We ask
:01:02. > :01:16.why some prefer rule by a strongman to democracy.
:01:17. > :01:20.Hello and welcome. The revelations by the former CIA contractor Edward
:01:21. > :01:23.Snowden about US intelligence operations caused controversy at
:01:24. > :01:26.home and abroad when it emerged that millions of phone calls and email
:01:27. > :01:35.traffic were being monitored, of both private citizens and leaders of
:01:36. > :01:39.allied nations. In the past few hours, President Obama has responded
:01:40. > :01:42.to these concerns. He said surveillance had helped America
:01:43. > :01:45.repel threats for decades but he accepted there needed to be checks
:01:46. > :01:51.and balances to make sure the liberties of ordinary people were
:01:52. > :02:03.not sacrificed. Rajini Vaidyanathan sent this report.
:02:04. > :02:07.Protecting the public or prying into their private lives? The US
:02:08. > :02:12.government has been collecting the details, phone calls and Internet
:02:13. > :02:16.use of millions of people but have they got the balance right? After
:02:17. > :02:22.months of consultation, and criticism, the president's promising
:02:23. > :02:26.change. I have approved a new presidential directive for our
:02:27. > :02:32.intelligence activities, both at home and abroad. This guidance will
:02:33. > :02:36.strengthen executive branch oversight of our intelligence
:02:37. > :02:40.activities. It will ensure that we take into account our security
:02:41. > :02:43.requirements but also our alliances, our trade and investment
:02:44. > :02:48.relationships, including the concerns of American companies, and
:02:49. > :02:53.our commitment to privacy and basic liberties.
:02:54. > :02:57.The way personal data is stored and accessed will change. The president
:02:58. > :03:04.has ordered a 60 day review into the process. The issue was thrust into
:03:05. > :03:10.the spotlight after this man, former intelligence contract Edward
:03:11. > :03:13.Snowden, wheat details about the US government's surveillance schemes.
:03:14. > :03:18.His disclosures also revealed that foreign nationals and leaders were
:03:19. > :03:21.being monitored. There were claims that even German Chancellor Angela
:03:22. > :03:26.Merkel's phone had been bugged. The US says it will no longer was to
:03:27. > :03:29.conversations of friends and allies. Opinion polls suggest that while the
:03:30. > :03:33.majority of Americans are comfortable with the mass collection
:03:34. > :03:36.of data, they're not completely against it if it is needed to
:03:37. > :03:41.protect the country against terrorist threats. -- are not
:03:42. > :03:47.comfortable. I think it is fine if it is for national safety. Business
:03:48. > :03:52.or national security. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to
:03:53. > :03:56.worry about. Have to get used to it. It is a big, wide world and we have
:03:57. > :04:02.always looked at other people to see what is going on generally. I think
:04:03. > :04:06.it is wrong because it is privacy and we have that right as citizens
:04:07. > :04:09.to have privacy. At the same time, it could be helping good terrorists.
:04:10. > :04:15.I think it would rather have my own privacy. -- helping catch
:04:16. > :04:19.terrorists. Protesters say that the president has not gone far enough to
:04:20. > :04:21.protect the liberties but the White House said surveillance is still
:04:22. > :04:29.misery to deal with the threads America faces a a post middle of the
:04:30. > :04:35.world. Germany was just one country that
:04:36. > :04:38.was unhappy about the phone tapping of the Chancellor Angela Merkel
:04:39. > :04:43.about intelligence services. Let's get an idea of what kind of reaction
:04:44. > :04:48.I've been in Germany. We can go to our correspondent in Berlin. The
:04:49. > :04:51.Germans were very cross when those funds tapping revelations came
:04:52. > :04:55.about. They going to be a bit happier? I don't think much
:04:56. > :05:00.happier, entered. Expectations were low within the Government and
:05:01. > :05:07.certainly from the opposition, the left and the Greens. One MP tonight
:05:08. > :05:11.said, "my expectations were low and they have not been met. " All are
:05:12. > :05:17.focused on this paragraph in the resident's speech. " The leaders of
:05:18. > :05:23.close friends and allies must know that if they want -- I want to learn
:05:24. > :05:29.about an issue I will pick up the phone and call them rather than
:05:30. > :05:33.conducting surveillance. " A newspaper after that was made noted
:05:34. > :05:43.a caveat, except in urgent issues of national security. This same
:05:44. > :05:47.newspaper, a centre right newspaper, in other words, said that the
:05:48. > :05:49.foreign minister is often but the foreign policy may still have our
:05:50. > :05:55.friend listening in on the phone. That is the tone of the reaction and
:05:56. > :06:00.not, if you like, from the usual suspects. People who are naturally
:06:01. > :06:07.or often anti-American. From government circles. Expectations
:06:08. > :06:11.were low, no sign that those low expectations have been exceeded.
:06:12. > :06:14.Behind-the-scenes, Stephen, what kind of things do you think the
:06:15. > :06:18.German Foreign Ministry, the German authorities, are going to be sent to
:06:19. > :06:26.Washington, in the light of this? Well, they have already said, Angela
:06:27. > :06:29.Merkel has, to President Obama and Washington that she was shocked by
:06:30. > :06:36.the news that her phone was being bugged. She said it reminded her of
:06:37. > :06:46.the Stasi. That has all been said. The tone since then has been, " --
:06:47. > :06:49.has been, look, the transatlantic elation ship between Europe and the
:06:50. > :06:54.United States is crucial, certainly to Europe, and we move forward, they
:06:55. > :06:58.would say, to make sure that is not broken irreparably. In other words,
:06:59. > :07:02.they do not like what has happened but they make the best of it.
:07:03. > :07:05.Thank you very much, Stephen. Lets talk to Stephen Vladeck, a
:07:06. > :07:12.national security law expert from the American University. He joins us
:07:13. > :07:18.from Washington. It seems as though the devil is in the detail, when you
:07:19. > :07:22.look at what Obama was saying? That is exactly right. The president had,
:07:23. > :07:26.I think, a number of very nice rhetorical flourishes about the
:07:27. > :07:30.importance of rejecting Agassi, the importance of staying on good terms
:07:31. > :07:35.with our friends and partners overseas. -- of protecting privacy.
:07:36. > :07:38.So much that he is leaving out is what happens next, how much is
:07:39. > :07:42.Congress going to have to say, how much of this is going to happen by
:07:43. > :07:44.executive order and how much is going to be something where six
:07:45. > :07:48.months from now, we're still having the same conversation?
:07:49. > :07:52.What do you think will happen in Congress? You think they will try
:07:53. > :07:57.and steal back the activities of the NSA to try to introduce greater
:07:58. > :08:00.checks? This is the big fight in Congress right now. This was about
:08:01. > :08:03.that Congress has been having for most of the last six months, long
:08:04. > :08:07.before President Obama ever gave his speech today. There are at least
:08:08. > :08:12.some groups, some constituencies, that are very much inclined to scale
:08:13. > :08:19.back the NEC's collection authorities to take a bite out of
:08:20. > :08:24.how much data via collecting on Americans and foreigners. -- the
:08:25. > :08:27.NSA. There is a bill that has been introduced that would go a long way
:08:28. > :08:31.in that regard. There are also plenty in Congress who really are
:08:32. > :08:36.inclined to tweak at the margins, to maybe impose a few more checks and
:08:37. > :08:40.balances on these programmes, little more oversight, but to actually not
:08:41. > :08:43.change the authorities. I would have expected the president to see a
:08:44. > :08:46.little more about which of these positions he favours, in his speech
:08:47. > :08:51.today. Instead, it seems that he is leaving it for Congress to see which
:08:52. > :08:54.side have more votes. There were two aspects to the
:08:55. > :08:59.allegations that Edward Snowden brought about. The revelations,
:09:00. > :09:05.rather. The one was about how much of an infringement on the civil
:09:06. > :09:10.liberties of American cities has been and how much -- American
:09:11. > :09:13.citizens and how much they have upset allies and that is a different
:09:14. > :09:18.matter. Can I ask you about that from? To what extent do you think he
:09:19. > :09:22.has assuaged the concerns of foreign powers like Germany? As you say, the
:09:23. > :09:28.devil will be in the detail. There was more in the President's speech
:09:29. > :09:31.about foreign relations and assuaging Angela Merkel and other
:09:32. > :09:36.partners overseas. For example, I think the president said quite a bit
:09:37. > :09:39.about not engaging in foreign intelligence collection simply
:09:40. > :09:42.because we can only engaging in foreign intelligence collection when
:09:43. > :09:47.there is a specific nationals based need to do so. Now it is going to be
:09:48. > :09:52.a question of how often that is going to be utilised. Or we going to
:09:53. > :09:54.see the same degree of surveillance but with better justification? Does
:09:55. > :09:59.this in fact represent a drawing down of not of the volume of
:10:00. > :10:01.surveillance but the identity of those who are being surveilled. The
:10:02. > :10:05.president seems to suggest that he is going to want better, tighter
:10:06. > :10:08.controls on this programme. It remains to be seen whether that will
:10:09. > :10:11.in fact happen. The fact that he has acknowledged
:10:12. > :10:20.that there is potential for abuse in both the targets of who has their
:10:21. > :10:25.phone tapped, Angela Merkel example. Do you think he has perhaps nodded
:10:26. > :10:29.in the direction of the critics? There is no doubt that this is a nod
:10:30. > :10:31.in the direction of the critics but the real question for us going
:10:32. > :10:35.forward is whether it is anything more than a nod. The president
:10:36. > :10:40.certainly suggest that he understands the objections, both at
:10:41. > :10:46.home and overseas, that he realises the quite negative impact they are
:10:47. > :10:49.having on American foreign policy and our partners in Europe. Again,
:10:50. > :10:52.things the real question is going to be, and this has been the case time
:10:53. > :10:57.and again with this president, how much is actually going to follow
:10:58. > :11:01.from these beaches, from these very lofty, you know, progressive visions
:11:02. > :11:07.he offers in his national security speeches. -- from these speeches.
:11:08. > :11:16.And how much signifies nothing. Thank you very much for your
:11:17. > :11:22.analysis. In Thailand, the political unrest is becoming increasingly
:11:23. > :11:26.volatile. Many people have been injured in an anti-government
:11:27. > :11:30.protest in Bangkok. An expose of device was thrown from a top of the
:11:31. > :11:35.building and the target was the leader of the anti-government
:11:36. > :11:40.protests. He was unhurt. He will not give up. And he still
:11:41. > :11:46.pools enthusiastic crowds, though somewhat smaller now. He kept up his
:11:47. > :11:51.microphone street march for a fifth successive day, trying to maintain
:11:52. > :11:55.some momentum. -- marathon on street march. After months of this, without
:11:56. > :12:00.movement on either side, violence has become an everyday occurrence.
:12:01. > :12:05.Here, close to Thailand's most prestigious university, he narrowly
:12:06. > :12:10.avoided injury when an explosive was thrown, apparently from the second
:12:11. > :12:15.story of a nearby building. Newly 30 protesters and guards were injured.
:12:16. > :12:21.There was gunfire at a protest site north of Bangkok also. But at the
:12:22. > :12:24.military office, outside the city, the Prime Minister said there was
:12:25. > :12:30.still no dialogue between the two sides. My door is open for
:12:31. > :12:39.negotiation every time. I would like to ask for the protesters. I think
:12:40. > :12:44.they can open the way. So I think someone can find a way to talk.
:12:45. > :12:50.The cheery faces they show on their marches are deceptive. There is
:12:51. > :12:54.intense hostility towards the Prime Minister's family, here, stirred up
:12:55. > :13:01.by weeks of fiery speeches. I asked her whether she believed it would
:13:02. > :13:06.help if her family retreated from politics. Nobody wants to stand but
:13:07. > :13:11.I told you that this is the job that I have to respond. If I do not
:13:12. > :13:14.respond just because somebody complain about me and I stepped
:13:15. > :13:22.back, I do not think what will happen with the democracy of channel
:13:23. > :13:28.and dumber -- of Taiwan. We have to keep democracy.
:13:29. > :13:33.So Thailand lurches towards a general election disrupted by
:13:34. > :13:38.endless protest and one now unlikely even to produce a new government. It
:13:39. > :13:44.is a frighteningly uncertain outlook for a once stable and promising
:13:45. > :13:47.country. Unrest in Thailand.
:13:48. > :13:49.President Hollande of France has made his first visit to see his
:13:50. > :13:52.official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, in hospital, seven days
:13:53. > :13:56.after she was admitted there. His visit comes at the same time that
:13:57. > :13:58.the French magazine, Closer, printed more claims about President
:13:59. > :14:02.Hollande's private life, linking him romantically with the actress, Julie
:14:03. > :14:05.Gayet. The magazine is facing legal action from Miss Gayet, who's
:14:06. > :14:09.seeking damages for the invasion of her privacy.
:14:10. > :14:17.The BBC'S Christian Fraser is in Paris and brought us up to date a
:14:18. > :14:21.short time ago. We are told that it started as far
:14:22. > :14:25.back as 2011, which would suggest it was ongoing during the presidential
:14:26. > :14:30.campaign stop we are also told that they were using two apartments in
:14:31. > :14:36.Paris to hide this secret affair and we are also told that during the
:14:37. > :14:39.summer last year, President Hollande gave his excuses to avoid a summer
:14:40. > :14:44.holiday with his official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, so that he
:14:45. > :14:48.could head off to join up with Julie Gayet. Lots and therefore the press
:14:49. > :14:53.to get their teeth into, which will come as a disappointment, of course,
:14:54. > :15:00.to the palace, who are trained to contain the story. Interestingly,
:15:01. > :15:03.they put out a statement today that he had been to the hospital where
:15:04. > :15:06.Valerie Trierweiler is being treated for the first time since she was
:15:07. > :15:10.admitted last Friday. Robert went to stop the rumours that he had
:15:11. > :15:15.abandoned her but the timing is very significant, coming just hours
:15:16. > :15:18.before the publication of Closer magazine. Also, in the official
:15:19. > :15:29.statement, no denial of the latest revelations in Closer magazine.
:15:30. > :15:32.Police in the Afghan capital Kabul, say a suicide bomber has blown
:15:33. > :15:34.himself up near a restaurant popular with foreigners and government
:15:35. > :15:37.officials - killing at least thirteen people. There are reports
:15:38. > :15:40.that the explosion was followed by bursts of gunfire. The Taliban have
:15:41. > :15:45.now claimed responsibility for the attack. Excavation work is under way
:15:46. > :15:47.at a mass grave recently discovered by construction workers in northern
:15:48. > :15:50.Sri Lanka. Four more human skulls have been
:15:51. > :15:52.discovered there, bringing the number of skeletons or partial
:15:53. > :15:56.skeletons that have been found to 31. It's the first such site to have
:15:57. > :16:02.been unearthed and examined in the island's former war zone since the
:16:03. > :16:05.war ended in 2009. After nearly three years of conflict
:16:06. > :16:09.in Syria, President Assad's government has said for the first
:16:10. > :16:12.time that it is prepared to agree a cease-fire with the rebels. It's
:16:13. > :16:15.asking Russia to organise a suspension of hostilities in Syria's
:16:16. > :16:17.largest city, Aleppo. The move comes after a meeting between Syria's
:16:18. > :16:27.foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem and his Russian counterpart in
:16:28. > :16:31.Moscow. Well, another Arab country in the midst of upheaval - though
:16:32. > :16:32.fortunately not as violent - is Egypt.
:16:33. > :16:36.Egyptians are waiting for the result of a referendum on a proposed new
:16:37. > :16:38.constitution to replace the one introduced under the Islamist
:16:39. > :16:41.government in 2012. The authorities say turnout was over fifty percent
:16:42. > :16:49.and that the new constitution was approved with a clear majority. They
:16:50. > :16:54.also say the result is a test of how people backed the removal of the
:16:55. > :16:57.former President Morsi. Many think it will encourage the army chief and
:16:58. > :17:00.Defence Minister Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to run for President in the
:17:01. > :17:03.forthcoming elections. The revolutions of the so-called Arab
:17:04. > :17:07.Spring in countries like Egypt saw the fall of the strongmen like Hosni
:17:08. > :17:10.Mubarak and Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, also other authoritarian
:17:11. > :17:19.regimes like the Asaad one in Syria is obviously under strain. -- Assad.
:17:20. > :17:23.To discuss this issue further, we're joined by one of the world's leading
:17:24. > :17:26.experts on the Middle East, Professor Roger Owen who's recently
:17:27. > :17:29.published a book "The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life". He
:17:30. > :17:38.joins me now from Harvard University.
:17:39. > :17:41.How come one strongman, Hosni Mubarak is removed through popular
:17:42. > :17:47.will and now there is popular support for him to be replaced by
:17:48. > :17:54.another military strongman, General Al-Sisi. Popular will is right. It
:17:55. > :18:00.was a mass movement in the streets. The people, when they come to the
:18:01. > :18:04.fore in now way then quite quickly they have to be shepherded towards
:18:05. > :18:10.elections and it's not surprising if one thinks of the French model under
:18:11. > :18:18.Napoleon that a military leader feels enough is enough and people
:18:19. > :18:23.should be tidied away, a referendum should be established and you have a
:18:24. > :18:27.controlled democracy after that. Are you suggesting that you need some
:18:28. > :18:34.kind of transition period after you have had the fall of one of these
:18:35. > :18:41.presidents for life, a long-standing authoritarian rule, you need a
:18:42. > :18:47.transition period? No, it is difficult. You go via a constitution
:18:48. > :18:50.with the people and their representatives involved in the
:18:51. > :18:55.constitution and is a great deal of difficulty and confusion because you
:18:56. > :19:00.go to basics and say what country are we and what role should religion
:19:01. > :19:09.play and after a while that is deemed by the power and the state to
:19:10. > :19:11.be too unruly and then you get an authoritarian intervention. Does
:19:12. > :19:18.that suggest stability is more desirable than real democracy with
:19:19. > :19:23.Democrats running in elections if the democracy is a bit messy and
:19:24. > :19:30.chaotic and violent as we have seen in a Ratko? Well, that is true. And
:19:31. > :19:36.particularly when you have so many people involved and old grievances
:19:37. > :19:42.and all kinds of new alliances it becomes untidy and there is a desire
:19:43. > :19:47.by a large number of people for stability rather than a continuation
:19:48. > :19:52.of what they regard as a messy popular process. Now we have Syria
:19:53. > :19:56.coming up and everyone is focusing on these forthcoming talks, the
:19:57. > :20:01.Americans urging Syrian opposition to attend the talks and we have had
:20:02. > :20:06.the possibility of a cease-fire discussed, how do you see Syria, how
:20:07. > :20:14.do you analyse that in the framework, Bashar al-Assad, is he
:20:15. > :20:18.good as a former stability to stop Syria deteriorating into sectarian
:20:19. > :20:23.violence which many fear? Well, the Arab world is so divided at the
:20:24. > :20:30.moment and most people who have studied it will say 2013 was as bad
:20:31. > :20:34.as it could get. We are seeing some kind of move back from that, a sense
:20:35. > :20:41.one cannot go one simply with this language of good and bad, for me or
:20:42. > :20:46.against me, and we have to find some middle ground and even Assad's
:20:47. > :20:54.advisers have decided it has gone too far and you cannot continue to
:20:55. > :21:01.try and address people as though they are evil forces from outside.
:21:02. > :21:07.Quickly, John Kerry has said there's no future for al-Assad in Syria,
:21:08. > :21:13.that doesn't preclude his staying there in a transition period. That
:21:14. > :21:19.remains to be seen. It is up to him. I think he will hang on but in his
:21:20. > :21:25.own community they have decided that he should step aside or step up but
:21:26. > :21:31.he would be replaced by something -- somebody like him and possibly from
:21:32. > :21:43.his own family. Professor, thank you very much. Thank you for your
:21:44. > :21:46.analysis. Reports from India say the wife of a well known cabinet
:21:47. > :21:49.minister, Shashi Tharoor, has been found dead, following reports that
:21:50. > :21:52.he was having an affair. Indian media say Sunanda Pushkar's
:21:53. > :21:55.body was discovered at a hotel in Delhi. It comes just one day after
:21:56. > :21:58.the couple were embroiled in controversy over a series of Twitter
:21:59. > :22:01.messages that appeared to reveal his alleged infidelity. The couple
:22:02. > :22:15.insisted they were happily married, blaming "unauthorised tweets" for
:22:16. > :22:22.the alleged scandal. Our correspondent is in India and joins
:22:23. > :22:26.us now. A sad situation. Not only known inside India but also to many
:22:27. > :22:37.of Earth in international circles, give us the background to this
:22:38. > :22:42.tragedy. Absolutely, he is a high-profile politician here in
:22:43. > :22:47.India but also the candidate for the top post in 2007 when he fought
:22:48. > :22:53.against Ban Ki Moon at the UN. The couple, high-profile, well-known,
:22:54. > :22:56.she is very glamorous, outspoken and a strong lady giving media
:22:57. > :23:01.interviews until early this morning when she was telling the media she
:23:02. > :23:05.had more to say on this Twitter controversy which erupted this
:23:06. > :23:11.week. The couple did come out and say they were happily married and
:23:12. > :23:16.intended to remain like that but he also said she was ill earlier and
:23:17. > :23:20.was hospitalised and requested the media to respect their privacy, that
:23:21. > :23:24.was one of the controversies, the role of the media, social media
:23:25. > :23:30.pressures on the couple because it was so high profile and surrounding
:23:31. > :23:37.the controversy. Thank you very much indeed for filling us in on that
:23:38. > :23:41.story in Delhi. The death of a Japanese soldier who refused to
:23:42. > :23:43.accept the end of the Second World War has been announced.
:23:44. > :23:45.Hiroo Onoda, who was ninety-one would not surrender after the War
:23:46. > :24:06.ended and hid This is the moment in March 1974
:24:07. > :24:13.when Lieutenant Onoda finally walked out of the Philippine jungle. 29
:24:14. > :24:17.years after the end of World War II. For nearly three decades, he
:24:18. > :24:22.resisted all attempts to persuade him the war was over. Leaflets were
:24:23. > :24:28.dropped from the air, messages poured cast over megaphones, all to
:24:29. > :24:32.no avail. Finally, his wartime commander flew to the Philippines,
:24:33. > :24:36.walked into the jungle and ordered Lieutenant Onoda to surrender. Many
:24:37. > :24:42.years later, he explained why he resisted so long.
:24:43. > :24:47.Every Japanese soldier was prepared to death but as an intelligence
:24:48. > :24:50.officer I was ordered to conduct gorilla warfare and not to die, I
:24:51. > :24:55.had to follow my orders. In Tokyo Lieutenant Onoda was met by
:24:56. > :25:01.cheering crowds. At the bottom of the steps, his father and mother.
:25:02. > :25:08.The last time they saw their son he was 22 years old. Now, he was 52.
:25:09. > :25:14.This surrender made headlines around the world anti-was welcomed home as
:25:15. > :25:18.a hero. The Japan he returns to had completely changed. The emperor was
:25:19. > :25:22.no longer the God he promised to die for and Tokyo had become a massive
:25:23. > :25:29.metropolis, 20 million people. He did not like it at all. In year
:25:30. > :25:35.later, he headed to Brazil where he bought a cattle ranch. He came back
:25:36. > :25:39.to Japan often, at 90 he was still teaching schoolchildren his secrets
:25:40. > :25:43.of survival. Lieutenant Onoda was the last relic
:25:44. > :25:53.of another age. To some, a fanatic, to many more a hero.
:25:54. > :25:58.A extraordinary tale. A quick look at some other stories.
:25:59. > :26:02.Here in Britain the Queen's granddaughter Zara Philips has given
:26:03. > :26:04.birth to a baby girl. Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne and also
:26:05. > :26:07.an internationally renowned horse-rider. You can see her here,
:26:08. > :26:13.at Prince George's christening. Her own new baby will be sixteenth in
:26:14. > :26:16.line to the throne. And another of the Queen's
:26:17. > :26:21.grandchildren Prince Harry - who's fourth in line to the throne - is to
:26:22. > :26:23.take up a new role with the army. He's returning to London, where
:26:24. > :26:26.he'll help organise major commemorative events. Prince Harry
:26:27. > :26:28.has spent more than three years flying Apache helicopters.
:26:29. > :26:31.A reminder of our main news. President Obama has announced a
:26:32. > :26:35.series of reforms to American spying operations at home and abroad. In a
:26:36. > :26:38.speech in Washington, he called for an end to government control of bulk
:26:39. > :26:42.phone data from hundreds of millions of Americans. He also told the
:26:43. > :26:44.leaders and citizens of US allies that his country would no longer
:26:45. > :26:49.eavesdrop on their private communications.
:26:50. > :26:51.That is it. Next is the weather. Enjoy your weekend. Goodbye.
:26:52. > :27:01.Hello, more rain to come in a forecast with the worst of the
:27:02. > :27:06.weather over the weekend perhaps likely to be on Saturday. A spell of
:27:07. > :27:13.more wet weather in the south and west. Quieter by sender, sunshine
:27:14. > :27:17.and showers. But for the time being, an area of rain in the south-west
:27:18. > :27:18.will nudge towards us over the next few