:00:00. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today, with me, Philippa Thomas.
:00:11. > :00:14.Could there be a new unity government for the Palestinian
:00:15. > :00:18.people? Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agree a deal, after
:00:19. > :00:24.a bitter seven year rift, and Israel responds by cancelling planned peace
:00:25. > :00:27.negotiations. US President Obama kicks off his
:00:28. > :00:33.Asia Tour in Tokyo seeking to reassure allies over their
:00:34. > :00:38.territorial disputes with China. Also coming up: As the Ukraine
:00:39. > :00:41.crisis prompts the deployment of US troops in Poland - Russia warns
:00:42. > :00:46.washington over its support for the government in Kiev.
:00:47. > :00:48.And... Brave New World, Come What May, Good Riddance - how our
:00:49. > :00:50.everyday language still channels Shakespeare 450 years after he was
:00:51. > :01:11.born. Hello and welcome. It was at this
:01:12. > :01:13.joint news conference that once rival Palestinian factions, Fatah
:01:14. > :01:17.and Hamas, announced the signing of an historic reconciliation deal. It
:01:18. > :01:20.comes after almost seven years of schism between the two factions -
:01:21. > :01:24.these pictures from 2007 of the military takeover by Hamas of the
:01:25. > :01:29.Gaza strip. Under the deal a unity government should be formed within
:01:30. > :01:33.five weeks. And that would be followed by elections in six months.
:01:34. > :01:39.It is not clear yet what will happen to Hamas's army and its weapons.
:01:40. > :01:44.Israel has already criticised the deal. Its prime minister Benjamin
:01:45. > :01:47.Netanyahu says the Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas has chosen to
:01:48. > :01:56.talk peace with Hamas rather than with Israel. Yolande Knell reports.
:01:57. > :02:02.Ordinary Palestinians have long hoped for an end to the damaging
:02:03. > :02:06.split between the political leaders. Again the culture unity as a
:02:07. > :02:11.delegation arrived at the Gazza 's strip for talks. Reconciliation
:02:12. > :02:15.deals have been made before. But they were not implemented. Now these
:02:16. > :02:27.officials say they will be and that the rift between Fatah, the faction
:02:28. > :02:35.of the Alastair nearing a slim -- it is bit to tell the diaspora about
:02:36. > :02:39.the end of division. Israel's reaction is more negative.
:02:40. > :02:44.This announcement was made as peace talks with the Palestinians are
:02:45. > :02:48.close to Stalin. The meeting between negotiators was cancelled and Mr
:02:49. > :02:53.Abbasi was criticised. Instead of moving into peace with us, they want
:02:54. > :03:06.to move into peace with Hamas. He has to choose. You can have one but
:03:07. > :03:09.not the other. I hope he juices peace. So far he has not. Back in
:03:10. > :03:11.2007 in Gazza, it was this fierce fighting that enabled a mask to get
:03:12. > :03:19.control of the Palestinian territory. -- enabled Hamas. It left
:03:20. > :03:27.the Palestinian authority dominated by Fatah, in part control of the
:03:28. > :03:31.West Bank. They will no agree a new unity government within five weeks
:03:32. > :03:36.and plan for new elections in the six months to follow. But with the
:03:37. > :03:42.failure of previous efforts and Escher from Israel, the EEC Hamas as
:03:43. > :03:51.a terrorist group, there is caution and scepticism. We have an
:03:52. > :03:56.independent member of the Palestinian legislative Council who
:03:57. > :04:00.helped to negotiate today's agreement. Thank you for joining us
:04:01. > :04:08.today. Tell us more about how you got this deal together. I think we
:04:09. > :04:14.managed to put this deal together because all the parties have
:04:15. > :04:20.realised that all acetone -- Palestinian situation is at risk. It
:04:21. > :04:28.has become clear that Israel has no intention of achieving peace. He
:04:29. > :04:33.prepares to keep occupation and that is why be found it's our obligation
:04:34. > :04:38.to find a way to change the situation by unifying the
:04:39. > :04:46.Palestinians. For many years, we Palestinians were divided. We said
:04:47. > :04:49.we cannot make peace with the leader who does not represent all
:04:50. > :04:59.Palestinians. Now we have agreements with the governments. Mr Netanyahu
:05:00. > :05:06.has now said that either you are with us or Hamas. It will give us a
:05:07. > :05:12.much better chance for peace now because any agreement would now
:05:13. > :05:17.become part of what every Palestinian rights. It will open the
:05:18. > :05:21.road to get back what we have lost which is our democracy. Our right to
:05:22. > :05:27.have a legislative Council and Parliament, our right to have free
:05:28. > :05:31.and democratic elections, and our rights to have a Blu-ray list exist
:05:32. > :05:37.rather than 1-party rule in the West Bank and another 1-party rule in the
:05:38. > :05:42.Gaza Strip. The Israelis say that how can we be expected to negotiate
:05:43. > :05:49.with the party, Hamas, that denies our very existence. I think that
:05:50. > :05:55.Israel, first of all Israel does not have to negotiate with Hamas. They
:05:56. > :06:04.have to negotiate with Mr Bass. Israel for a very long time had said
:06:05. > :06:08.that Mr Ambassador is the preferred president for them. -- negotiator
:06:09. > :06:15.with them. They did not deliver peace there. For many years, 421
:06:16. > :06:20.years, we have had negotiations. Instead of achieving peace, have
:06:21. > :06:26.achieved only more settlements. It is very clear today that Mr
:06:27. > :06:33.Netanyahu's claim when he claims that he says it is a choice between
:06:34. > :06:38.peace and Hamas. It is a choice between peace or settlements, peace
:06:39. > :06:44.or continuation of the longest occupation in modern history. This
:06:45. > :06:48.agreement brings better conditions for a possibility of a lasting
:06:49. > :06:54.peace. With democracy we have better chances. As I have always said, the
:06:55. > :07:01.best chance of having a lasting peace is the one that comes into
:07:02. > :07:07.democracy. It may be today we have paved the road for bringing a new
:07:08. > :07:16.model for the Arab world. A model of participation, Pluto arises from --
:07:17. > :07:29.pluralise Asian, where people can participate in democratic elections.
:07:30. > :07:34.-- pluralise Asian. What makes you confident this time that it will
:07:35. > :07:42.work? There are many different reasons why this is different. First
:07:43. > :07:46.of all we are not talking about an implementation of an agreement that
:07:47. > :07:51.was concluded before. The fact that we managed to reach this new deal
:07:52. > :07:57.and 22 hours of talks was a great achievement. Nobody expected that.
:07:58. > :08:02.In my opinion, there is a strong well -- will to implement what was
:08:03. > :08:10.agreed on. Both parties realised today that the Palestinian public is
:08:11. > :08:17.very big. They are going to play a very high price if they proceed with
:08:18. > :08:21.this division. -- P. There is a high price politically for that. Everyone
:08:22. > :08:26.realises that their hopes of having an agreement with Israel without
:08:27. > :08:30.changing the balance of power is useless. Israel has rejected
:08:31. > :08:40.practically every possibility. They have made life horrible by their
:08:41. > :08:45.rejection and extreme actions. Now everybody realises that we cannot
:08:46. > :08:54.achieve ongoing freedom unless reunify. The most important one is
:08:55. > :08:57.the fact that both Fatah and Hamas realised today, they have been
:08:58. > :09:04.fighting over another ready without authority. And as it is still under
:09:05. > :09:08.occupation in Gaza. Before we fight for a Nokia vision under authority,
:09:09. > :09:22.we have to fight this and the -- free Arab country. -- free our
:09:23. > :09:25.country. Thank you very much. President Obama has begun his tour
:09:26. > :09:28.of East Asia with a state visit to Japan, the first by any US president
:09:29. > :09:32.in 18 years. And he's already assured Tokyo that
:09:33. > :09:35.the US will oppose any attempt by Beijing to undermine Japan's control
:09:36. > :09:38.over disputed islands in the East China Seas. Mr Obama will also visit
:09:39. > :09:42.South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia although he won't be going
:09:43. > :09:44.to the country which is likely to dominate the agenda throughout,
:09:45. > :09:46.China. From Tokyo, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes sent us this report,
:09:47. > :09:51.which does contain flash photography.
:09:52. > :09:57.It's been 18 years since a US President walked off Air Force One
:09:58. > :10:04.on a state visit to Japan. In that time, the whole map of Asia has been
:10:05. > :10:08.transformed by the rise of China. Out in the Sea of Japan, the US
:10:09. > :10:12.Seventh Fleet, still the most powerful navy in Asia. Huge assault
:10:13. > :10:19.carriers like the USS Bonhomme Richard, still guarantee Japan's
:10:20. > :10:24.security. The US Navy has nine of of these monsters and another ten even
:10:25. > :10:28.larger super carriers. No other navy in the world has anything like this.
:10:29. > :10:37.American Navy power is still supreme for now. But just a few hundred
:10:38. > :10:42.miles over there, is China. This Chinese boat is deep inside Japanese
:10:43. > :10:45.waters and refusing to stop. China is becoming much more aggressive in
:10:46. > :10:51.asserting claims to Japanese controlled islands in the East China
:10:52. > :10:56.Sea. Japan is worried America may be going soft. There was a real
:10:57. > :10:59.possibility that the Americans might be entangled into an actual combat,
:11:00. > :11:08.simply because of this confrontation between China and Japan and about a
:11:09. > :11:13.certain few islands. And the Americans backed off. It's not about
:11:14. > :11:23.the size of the military capabilities which in the men's, of
:11:24. > :11:28.course. -- immense. It is the will of the Americans. America has 27,000
:11:29. > :11:31.Marines based in Japan. Their commander tells me they have both
:11:32. > :11:36.the will and the means. The message is that the US sticks by its allies.
:11:37. > :11:39.I landed on this beach 30 years ago as a young lieutenant. So this shows
:11:40. > :11:43.our staying power, the stregth of these alliances. It's exactly what
:11:44. > :11:44.Japan wants to hear, but they want to hear that now from the US
:11:45. > :11:56.commander-in-chief himself. James Schoff is a senior associate
:11:57. > :11:59.in the Asia Programme at The Carnegie Endowment for International
:12:00. > :12:07.Peace. He joins me from Washington. Thank you for being with us.
:12:08. > :12:16.Briefly, if you can, president -- President Obama is trying to tread
:12:17. > :12:22.the line between Japan and China as these disputes go over these
:12:23. > :12:29.islands. It is a discussion he will have to have when he is in Japan. He
:12:30. > :12:32.wants to make progress on the rebalanced Asia policy which is
:12:33. > :12:37.supposed to be more than just visiting countries more often and
:12:38. > :12:42.attending more meetings and building up of military capability in the
:12:43. > :12:48.region. It is about strengthening alliances to do more in the region,
:12:49. > :12:53.to expand trade, and to deal with regional crises in Asia, but to help
:12:54. > :12:57.out with things like Ukraine and Syria. The conversation he has to
:12:58. > :13:03.have is dealing with this reassurance question, the bilateral
:13:04. > :13:08.need that Japan has too feel that the United States is there and ready
:13:09. > :13:12.and willing to support it in this low-level confrontation that it is
:13:13. > :13:16.having with China over the islands and this I is China Sea. How
:13:17. > :13:22.dangerous do you judge that situation to be? I do not think the
:13:23. > :13:28.probability of confrontation is high. I think it is relatively low.
:13:29. > :13:33.That said, China's policy is to continue to send ships into the
:13:34. > :13:36.territorial waters around the islands to try and assert its own
:13:37. > :13:41.administrative control of those islands. It went on almost a hundred
:13:42. > :13:48.times last year. That compared to only two or three times a couple of
:13:49. > :13:53.years ago. So this is bringing Japanese and Chinese ships and
:13:54. > :13:58.planes into close proximity with the potential for an accident. In that
:13:59. > :14:01.case, if it clears up, the US as opposed to help back-up Japan and
:14:02. > :14:06.support it. The question is how would it do that? Would it bring
:14:07. > :14:11.ships up into the region or send planes into the area? Would it
:14:12. > :14:14.simply provides some reconnaissance support and political support? The
:14:15. > :14:20.US and Japan need to figure out or come to zombies agreement about how
:14:21. > :14:27.they would deal that. -- come to some basic agreement. To go back to
:14:28. > :14:32.the big picture, President Obama has made great play of becoming the
:14:33. > :14:38.Pacific president. How successful do you think he has been in that role?
:14:39. > :14:45.The policy has come under a lot of criticism. Some say it as big, or
:14:46. > :14:50.that his focus on domestic issues Dai Lewis and tension and resources
:14:51. > :14:58.to the rebalanced. -- Daewoo 's. He is beginning to have some success.
:14:59. > :15:10.The US is ready to play a large role in Asia. It is going to take time.
:15:11. > :15:17.Part of it is setting expectations properly. It is not an immediate
:15:18. > :15:21.expansion in Asia. I think it is reassurance, but it is also trying
:15:22. > :15:27.to build these partnerships that can build institutions and capacities in
:15:28. > :15:28.Asia so it can come together and deal more effectively with the
:15:29. > :15:46.challenges they face. Thank you. Rescue teams in South Korea are
:15:47. > :15:50.continuing to recover bodies from the submerged hull of the passenger
:15:51. > :15:53.ferry that capsized and sank last week. The official number of dead is
:15:54. > :16:00.now more than 150. Officials say they'll begin efforts to lift the
:16:01. > :16:03.vessel's hull on Thursday. A first contingent of US troops as arrived
:16:04. > :16:06.in Poland as Washington tries to reassure its NATO allies in the
:16:07. > :16:16.region following Roger's annexation of Crimea. More than 100 soldiers
:16:17. > :16:22.touched down in the west of the country. More are expected to
:16:23. > :16:26.follow. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have ratcheted back up.
:16:27. > :16:31.Moscow is warning it will retaliate if the influence -- the interests of
:16:32. > :16:42.Russian speaking people there are threatened. Natalia Antelava is in
:16:43. > :16:46.eastern Ukraine and she has been gauging the mood among soldiers
:16:47. > :16:55.stationed there from Ukraine. We are driving along the Russian -
:16:56. > :16:59.Ukrainian border. Kiev has sent Ukrainian troops here. I hope we can
:17:00. > :17:04.find some Ukrainian soldiers and ask them what they think. Here it is,
:17:05. > :17:10.the evidence that Ukraine is building up troops on the border. We
:17:11. > :17:15.are 30 kilometres away from Russia. These soldiers have been here for
:17:16. > :17:39.almost two months. They now have plans to bring more troops in.
:17:40. > :17:49.This car has just pulled. Are volunteers from Lugansk. It is a
:17:50. > :18:18.city that is predominantly pro-Russian.
:18:19. > :18:34.So you do not want Vladimir Putin to protect you? No!
:18:35. > :18:45.He says they just got a green light from Kiev to set up this self
:18:46. > :18:51.defence Force in Lugansk. Volunteer brigades, basically. Not
:18:52. > :18:56.volunteers, sorry. They are apparently going to be paid. At a
:18:57. > :19:04.time when politicians say they have agreed groups here, we are learning
:19:05. > :19:05.that new armed groups are being created. Taking the food to the
:19:06. > :19:37.soldiers. Natalia Antelava. A look at some of
:19:38. > :19:39.the day's the news. The Turkish Prime Minister has offered the
:19:40. > :19:42.country's first ever formal condolences to Armenians for mass
:19:43. > :19:45.killings during the First World War. Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the
:19:46. > :19:49.statement on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the mass
:19:50. > :19:52.deportation of Armenians in 1915. Armenians have long said that up to
:19:53. > :19:55.1.5 million people were killed by the Ottoman Turks in what they
:19:56. > :19:57.consider to be genocide. Turkey disputes this.
:19:58. > :20:00.Mountain guide organisations in Nepal have denied that sherpas on
:20:01. > :20:03.Mount Everest have gone on strike. They had threatened a boycott unless
:20:04. > :20:06.they got more compensation, following the avalanche which killed
:20:07. > :20:09.16 sherpas five days ago. Nepal's tourism minister is expected to hold
:20:10. > :20:18.talks with sherpa spokesmen on Thursday. The brother of the Duchess
:20:19. > :20:27.of Cornwall has died after sustaining a serious head injury in
:20:28. > :20:36.a fall in New York. He was 62 and the chairman of the wildlife group,
:20:37. > :20:39.the elephant family. Former prime ministers Tony Blair has said
:20:40. > :20:55.radical Islam in the Middle East is the biggest threat to global
:20:56. > :20:58.security. -- former Prime Minister. Carnage in Syria, conflict in Egypt,
:20:59. > :21:01.instability in Libya. The Middle East, says Tony Blair, is too
:21:02. > :21:05.important for the West to give up on. Many still blame him and George
:21:06. > :21:10.Bush for the problems in the region. Today he called on Western leaders
:21:11. > :21:19.to engage more with the Arab world. The greatest security threat we face
:21:20. > :21:24.is Islamist extremism. It originates in the ideas created in the Middle
:21:25. > :21:33.East. It has been exported around the world. Into Africa, the Far
:21:34. > :21:37.East, Central Asia. Even back into our own countries. It is in the
:21:38. > :21:39.Middle East where the future of the relationship between politics and
:21:40. > :21:43.religion, politics and Islam, will be determined.
:21:44. > :21:49.Yet the baggage of Tony Blair's decision to join the Iraq invasion
:21:50. > :21:52.continues to haunt him. Many will not want to hear from a man they
:21:53. > :21:57.consider a war criminal, who has grown rich since leaving office. But
:21:58. > :22:02.he is controversially an international envoy to the Middle
:22:03. > :22:05.East. Governments do listen to him. On Syria, he said the West should
:22:06. > :22:10.have imposed no-fly zone is two years ago. On Egypt, he says the
:22:11. > :22:16.West should support its military-backed government. He
:22:17. > :22:20.called on Western leaders to fight Islamic extremism.
:22:21. > :22:24.Even if we have to have a very tough set of actions and dialogue on an
:22:25. > :22:30.issue like Ukraine, on this issue we should be prepared to cooperate.
:22:31. > :22:34.This is an issue where we have one common purpose and one common
:22:35. > :22:37.interest. Tony Blair's many detractors have
:22:38. > :22:42.been quick to dismiss his words, often without listening to them. The
:22:43. > :22:47.only thing they can agree on is that the Middle East matters. But for
:22:48. > :23:02.them he will always be the wrong messenger. Some breaking news on the
:23:03. > :23:05.mass -Fatah unity deal. The US State Department has said it is
:23:06. > :23:11.disappointed by the announcement, which could seriously complicate
:23:12. > :23:17.peace matters. That is what we are hearing from the US State Department
:23:18. > :23:20.now. It is difficult for Israel, it says, to negotiate with a government
:23:21. > :23:28.that does not believe in its right to exist. That in relation to the
:23:29. > :23:31.Palestinian internal pull -- piste. An international survey released to
:23:32. > :23:34.mark 450 years since William Shakespeare was born, has found that
:23:35. > :23:38.the playwright is regarded as the UK's greatest cultural icon - and
:23:39. > :23:41.this is part of the reason why. Look at these phrases, reminding us how
:23:42. > :23:44.much Shakespeare's language still inspires our words today. In the
:23:45. > :23:47.survey, 5,000 young adults were asked to name the person they
:23:48. > :23:51.associated with contemporary UK arts and culture. And from India to
:23:52. > :23:57.Brazil, to Germany to China, the bard beat them all. With me is
:23:58. > :24:04.Patrick Spottiswoode, director of Globe Education at Shakespeare's
:24:05. > :24:13.Globe Theatre in London. I bet you are not surprised by
:24:14. > :24:19.this? Probably more popular now than he has ever been. He has been
:24:20. > :24:23.translated into 90 languages. He has been translated into Esperanto and
:24:24. > :24:29.Klingon. His work continues to excite and amaze and amuse. The
:24:30. > :24:33.phrases we have picked out here. I was surprised by some money
:24:34. > :24:42.apparently modern phrases that are his? If you are ever lonely, it is
:24:43. > :24:46.down to Shakespeare. If I get tongue tied during this interview, it is
:24:47. > :24:50.down to Shakespeare. Shakespeare was the first person to describe
:24:51. > :24:55.audiences as groundlings. Tonight we will have more than a thousand
:24:56. > :25:04.groundlings watching a production of Hamlet. It is your job to captivate
:25:05. > :25:10.new generations, who encourages teenagers and young people around
:25:11. > :25:16.the world why Shakespeare is still relevant? Yes, we do -- we do that
:25:17. > :25:22.through play. He is a great psychologist, great writer. If you
:25:23. > :25:29.engaged with his words playfully, they do seem relevant. Do you
:25:30. > :25:32.sometimes have breakthrough moments. --? You may realise that people are
:25:33. > :25:40.there because they are brought along and then you see them get it. Yes, I
:25:41. > :25:43.have a wonderful episode last year when young boy was leaving the
:25:44. > :25:49.theatre saying that he didn't like Shakespeare, but he knew he was
:25:50. > :25:55.wrong. He met Shakespeare through play and not in a textbook. We talk
:25:56. > :26:01.about Shakespeare a lot. Does that push out though the opportunity to
:26:02. > :26:08.look at other playwrights whom iron is -- may inspire us? I think we are
:26:09. > :26:18.that assessed. With good reason. It is a healthy obsession to have. He
:26:19. > :26:24.doesn't push out other authors. It is up to educators to share other
:26:25. > :26:29.authors. Just think how many other art forms Shakespeare has inspired.
:26:30. > :26:36.Ballet, film, poetry. Even his words or his story -- stories continue to
:26:37. > :26:43.inspire it around the world in many languages and many more to come.
:26:44. > :26:58.Thank you so much. Thank you for being with us. Good night.
:26:59. > :27:04.Hello again. Some rain around at the moment. As that clears to the east,
:27:05. > :27:05.it will turn a misty and