:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox.
:00:00. > :00:10.Has Russia changed its policy over Syria?
:00:11. > :00:12.President Putin says Russian forces are providing air support
:00:13. > :00:15.and weapons to a major Syrian opposition group fighting President
:00:16. > :00:34.TRANSLATION: Lee at -- activities assist in uniting the efforts of
:00:35. > :00:36.government troops and the Free Syrian Army.
:00:37. > :00:38.A guesthouse close to the Spanish Embassy comes under attack.
:00:39. > :00:40.Some of the gunmen are still on the loose.
:00:41. > :00:44.Also coming up: Do you really need all the heavy equipment
:00:45. > :00:50.Are we on the verge of a momentous climate deal? The deadline is
:00:51. > :00:53.looming and France says there has never been a better time.
:00:54. > :00:56.all the heavy equipment to make a film?
:00:57. > :01:10.We look at how movie-making is going mobile.
:01:11. > :01:12.There's confusion in world capitals today about whether Russia
:01:13. > :01:20.President Vladimir Putin has told Russia's top defence military
:01:21. > :01:22.supports Syria's opposition Free Syrian Army
:01:23. > :01:25.providing it with arms and ammunition.
:01:26. > :01:32.At face value his statement appears to be first time Moscow has said
:01:33. > :01:42.Let's hear some of what Mr Putin had to say.
:01:43. > :01:51.TRANSLATION: The activities of our aviation group assist in United the
:01:52. > :01:54.efforts of government troops and Free Syrian Army. Currently several
:01:55. > :02:01.of its units numbering over 5000 troops as well as regular forces are
:02:02. > :02:10.engaged in offensive actions against terrorists in several provinces.
:02:11. > :02:13.Besides support from the air as Wallace for the Syrian army, we
:02:14. > :02:16.assist them with weapons, ammunition, and provide additional
:02:17. > :02:18.support. The BBC's Richard Galpin
:02:19. > :02:27.joins us from Moscow. It is interesting. We have been
:02:28. > :02:34.speaking to Mr Putin's spokesman, and he says, yes, it is correct
:02:35. > :02:39.about the Russian air force is providing air cover to some units of
:02:40. > :02:42.the Free Syrian Army, these 5000 men he was talking about there, saying
:02:43. > :02:47.they are fighting together alongside the Syrian army, therefore they are
:02:48. > :02:53.getting help from the Russian air force. But he has flatly denied that
:02:54. > :02:59.Mr Putin said the Russians were also supplying arms and ammunition to the
:03:00. > :03:03.Free Syrian Army. He says this is completely wrong interpretation of
:03:04. > :03:07.what Mr Putin said. One of my colleagues here persistently asked
:03:08. > :03:12.him, this is what he is saying in Russian, and he is saying, no, you
:03:13. > :03:17.misunderstand, this is not what Mr Putin said, he was only talking
:03:18. > :03:19.about providing arms and ammunition to the Syrian army.
:03:20. > :03:21.Maria Lipman joins us from Moscow - she's a political analyst
:03:22. > :03:37.What do you understand Mr Putin said? If you read his words, I think
:03:38. > :03:41.there is no ambiguity. He mentioned both the Syrian government forces
:03:42. > :03:46.and the Free Syrian Army, which is in opposition to President Assad,
:03:47. > :03:51.and he said the Russian aviation group provides assistance to both,
:03:52. > :03:58.and helps them unite the effort. Now, what will you -- Europe author
:03:59. > :04:07.found out is also posted by Russian news agencies, and that is that the
:04:08. > :04:14.representative said this is not about assistance to both, the
:04:15. > :04:19.Russian aviation group assists government forces and actually
:04:20. > :04:23.provides air cover for all forces fighting terrorism. This is a very
:04:24. > :04:28.general statement which is different from what President Putin said, and
:04:29. > :04:34.his press man also added, don't hold onto closely to the phrasing, maybe
:04:35. > :04:39.suggesting it was a slip of the tongue, maybe suggesting Putin
:04:40. > :04:43.didn't mean what he said. In any case we have here a very clear
:04:44. > :04:48.variant is on what President Putin said and the way his press man
:04:49. > :04:52.interpreted his words. So what do you think he meant to say by doing
:04:53. > :04:56.this, if it wasn't a slip of the tongue? Is it trying to narrow the
:04:57. > :05:03.differences with the West, what is your reading? I really don't know
:05:04. > :05:10.what to say. I think we need the sources on the other end to be able
:05:11. > :05:14.to say whether there is indeed be assistance, that would be the best
:05:15. > :05:21.clarification. We cannot read in more than what he said. Since the
:05:22. > :05:25.operation is a military one and the Russian system in general is not
:05:26. > :05:29.transparent to say the least, this especially applies to military
:05:30. > :05:36.operations, there is no way to find out more than what Putin's press man
:05:37. > :05:40.said unless we have information from someone on the ground, the Syrian
:05:41. > :05:45.forces. It is interesting, earlier he said Russian aid had helped
:05:46. > :05:49.repair a tank factory in Homs, which would appear to be helping President
:05:50. > :05:52.Assad in the fight against the terrorist groups which President
:05:53. > :05:58.Putin said he was originally joining this conflict to try to smash. Well,
:05:59. > :06:04.this is indeed... If this were the case, if Russia indeed were helping,
:06:05. > :06:08.as President Putin said, with air cover, weapons and supplies, the
:06:09. > :06:12.forces in opposition to President Assad, and at the same time helping
:06:13. > :06:19.President Assad himself, this would really be bizarre, and this would be
:06:20. > :06:23.a change of policy. But I would really be careful not to interpret
:06:24. > :06:28.it further. I think what we have is a contradiction now between Putin's
:06:29. > :06:32.words and his press man's words, and I think we should wait for further
:06:33. > :06:37.clarification. Thank you very much. The Afghan Taliban claim
:06:38. > :06:40.they carried out a car bomb attack in an affluent embassy
:06:41. > :06:43.district of Kabul. A Taliban spokesman said the blast -
:06:44. > :06:46.during rush hour - was a suicide attack, and that heavy
:06:47. > :06:50.fighting was continuing. The Afghan police said at least
:06:51. > :06:53.seven insurgents fired guns As you can see the embassy is close
:06:54. > :07:01.to ISAF's headquarters in Kabul, Some reports suggested
:07:02. > :07:06.the Spanish Embassy itself had come under attack, but this
:07:07. > :07:07.has now been denied by Spain's Prime
:07:08. > :07:09.Minister Mariano Rajoy. Bilal Sawary is a freelance
:07:10. > :07:26.journalist in Kabul, What is the latest, are the gunmen
:07:27. > :07:33.on fighters still at large? I just spoke to the deputy chairman who
:07:34. > :07:36.said the priority for the Afghan special forces is to evacuate some
:07:37. > :07:44.of the homes where families and civilians live, and he said Afghan
:07:45. > :07:48.special forces were moving, and the priority was to kill the attackers
:07:49. > :07:55.but at the same time protect lives. The electricity to the area has been
:07:56. > :08:02.cut off. Afghan elite forces are there, these are the forces that
:08:03. > :08:06.know how to fight these attacks, and Afghan snipers from those units are
:08:07. > :08:14.now saying they have killed at least two of the attackers. The problem is
:08:15. > :08:20.that it is the area, the homes around those areas, that are making
:08:21. > :08:23.it really difficult. The Afghan forces cannot move quickly because
:08:24. > :08:28.of them. As we speak we can still hear gunfire from time to time, so
:08:29. > :08:33.that means the attackers are armed and they are still there. This is a
:08:34. > :08:36.heavily fortified area, understandably. How is it that the
:08:37. > :08:46.Caliban can penetrate somewhere like this? -- the Taliban. This is not
:08:47. > :08:51.far from the homes of senior Afghan officials, so questions will be
:08:52. > :08:58.asked by ordinary Afghans, why is it that there are these security and
:08:59. > :09:03.intelligence failures and these sort of attacks could take place. We
:09:04. > :09:09.understand that the Spanish Embassy had concerns about an attacks like
:09:10. > :09:13.this a week ago. It is nothing uncommon these days in Kabul to get
:09:14. > :09:20.the security warnings. The US embassy has several times publicly
:09:21. > :09:24.warned of attacks like this. But the challenge for the Afghan government
:09:25. > :09:29.now is to justify a peace process with the Taliban... -- with the
:09:30. > :09:33.Taliban, and I think the question will be asked, what are they doing
:09:34. > :09:39.to help the peace process, do they talk to the group is launching these
:09:40. > :09:45.vicious attacks? Only the day before yesterday in Kandahar, there was a
:09:46. > :09:51.very deadly attack in which Afghan officers and families were killed,
:09:52. > :09:54.including children. This will put the national unity government under
:09:55. > :09:59.tremendous pressure. Bilal Sawary, thank you very much. Let's catch up
:10:00. > :10:00.with some other stories. A lake in California
:10:01. > :10:02.is being searched by police investigating last week's
:10:03. > :10:04.shootings in San Bernardino, Divers from the FBI have begun
:10:05. > :10:08.searching waters just over 3 kilometers from the site
:10:09. > :10:09.of the killings. It's thought the two suspects
:10:10. > :10:12.visited the area on the day Michel Platini has failed
:10:13. > :10:19.to get his temporary ban from all football
:10:20. > :10:22.related activity lifted. The Frenchmen lodged an appeal
:10:23. > :10:24.against the 90 day ban with the court of
:10:25. > :10:27.arbitration for Sport. But it upheld the ban although it's
:10:28. > :10:30.asked FIFA to conclude an investigation into corruption
:10:31. > :10:35.allegations quickly. An update now on those three jumbo
:10:36. > :10:38.jets that authorities in Malaysia claimed had been abandoned
:10:39. > :10:40.for more than a year An air freight company,
:10:41. > :10:54.Swift Air Cargo, says it's the owner and it bought the
:10:55. > :10:56.Boeing 747s in June. The airport had taken out newspaper
:10:57. > :10:59.adverts threatening to sell them. The firm says it was stunned to see
:11:00. > :11:02.the notices because it had been talking to the airport
:11:03. > :11:04.about recovering the planes . Negotiators at the international
:11:05. > :11:06.climate change conference in Paris are confident of reaching a deal
:11:07. > :11:09.to combat global warming. The meeting has been
:11:10. > :11:10.extended until tomorrow, when France says it will
:11:11. > :11:12.present a draft agreement. Let's get the latest
:11:13. > :11:23.from our Science Editor David Let's take stock of what has been
:11:24. > :11:27.agreed here and what hasn't, because it's quite difficult to pick your
:11:28. > :11:31.way through this. What will governments have settled on is a
:11:32. > :11:35.target to try to limit global warming to two degrees or possibly
:11:36. > :11:40.1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels. Some see that as enormously
:11:41. > :11:44.significant, providing a goal for the world to work towards in coming
:11:45. > :11:48.decades. But what haven't they agreed? Currently there are no
:11:49. > :11:50.targets for reducing greenhouse gases that are blamed for global
:11:51. > :12:08.warming. Some countryside unless you have detailed plans and
:12:09. > :12:10.programmes with deadlines for how you will reduce those gases, you
:12:11. > :12:13.will never head off the worst effects of climate change. Other
:12:14. > :12:15.countries don't want to be hemmed in by those restrictions. Then there is
:12:16. > :12:18.the difficult question of who should pay to help the poorest countries
:12:19. > :12:20.cope with the impact of global warming. The poorest countries are
:12:21. > :12:22.said to be most vulnerable to those impacts, whether through rising
:12:23. > :12:25.temperatures or increased rain. Developed countries like Britain
:12:26. > :12:29.have tended to say, we will pay the cost of that, but they are also
:12:30. > :12:34.looking at rigid countries like Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Qatar to
:12:35. > :12:35.step up the plate, and that has yet to be settled. The talks will go
:12:36. > :12:39.right through the night in France. France's far-right party
:12:40. > :12:41.the Front National is battling for control of several
:12:42. > :12:43.of the country's regions, ahead of the second round of
:12:44. > :12:45.Regional Elections on Sunday. The FN is leading in six out
:12:46. > :12:49.of France's 13 regions after the first round of voting last
:12:50. > :12:52.week, but polls are now suggesting that the centre-right opposition
:12:53. > :12:54.is gaining ground ahead One of the most fiercely contested
:12:55. > :13:00.seats is in the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie,
:13:01. > :13:02.where FN leader Marine Le Pen won Our Paris Correspondent
:13:03. > :13:20.Lucy Williamson reports. Habits in France's northern villages
:13:21. > :13:26.don't easily change. At the fish market here they still shuck the
:13:27. > :13:30.scallops by hand, fresh from the sea that morning. But below the surface
:13:31. > :13:35.there are fast flowing changes taking place here. France's far
:13:36. > :13:39.right Front National one almost 50% of the vote here last weekend. It
:13:40. > :13:46.used to be the Socialist party that won elections here. It is because of
:13:47. > :13:55.the lack of jobs, Philippe tells me, but I think it is very dangerous.
:13:56. > :14:00.The fishing boat is no longer drop their catch here. The river is now
:14:01. > :14:06.too silted up. A bit like the economy here, says this local man.
:14:07. > :14:11.He is considering voting for the FN on Sunday for the first time because
:14:12. > :14:15.things haven't changed enough. The Front National has managed to lance
:14:16. > :14:24.the boil. It is difficult to move the French. I think it is a
:14:25. > :14:29.situation we are in now. Last weekend Marine Le Pen drew 41% of
:14:30. > :14:34.votes across the region. In Calais, half went to her. As well as jobs,
:14:35. > :14:40.she says what voters want is an end to immigration and policies that put
:14:41. > :14:44.French people first. This region used to be a socialist stronghold.
:14:45. > :14:53.Its work is rooted in the industry is of northern France. Now many
:14:54. > :14:56.workers say they feel economically insecure and politically physical,
:14:57. > :15:01.and into that sea has walked Marine Le Pen with their invitation to
:15:02. > :15:07.those she calls France's forgotten ones. In Calais's Christmas markets
:15:08. > :15:19.this week plenty say she has got it right. Why not the FN? We want to be
:15:20. > :15:23.French, and we want France to become France. But a tactical withdrawal by
:15:24. > :15:26.the Socialist candidate here has led to a boost in support for the FN's
:15:27. > :15:31.main rival. He to a boost in support for the FN's
:15:32. > :15:37.gets votes by pointing to problems, like Calais's migrants. Something he
:15:38. > :15:41.already has a solution for. TRANSLATION: I will push the border
:15:42. > :15:46.back to Dover if you don't tackle the issue of migrant work in the UK.
:15:47. > :15:52.The border is in Dover, not Calais, and we are doing your job for you.
:15:53. > :15:55.The vote on Sunday is expected to be close, and hanging over it, a second
:15:56. > :15:58.question: Who will win the bigger prize on offer 18 months from now
:15:59. > :16:02.and the President of France? Saudi Arabia is marking a political
:16:03. > :16:04.milestone this weekend with a round of municipal elections
:16:05. > :16:08.which for the first time will see women voting and hundreds of women
:16:09. > :16:10.standing as candidates. more than more than 900 of them,
:16:11. > :16:14.along with some 6,000 men vying for seats on almost
:16:15. > :16:17.300 local councils. But how big a breakthrough
:16:18. > :16:36.for gender equality The view from the top in Riyadh, a
:16:37. > :16:41.sprawling city under tight control. If change comes here, it is that a
:16:42. > :16:43.gradual pace. But women, who faced many restrictions, are now getting a
:16:44. > :16:53.glimpse of democracy. TV adverts are reaching out to
:16:54. > :16:57.Saudis, calling on them to cast their ballots for local councils.
:16:58. > :17:07.For the first time, women can vote and be candidates. Salman has been
:17:08. > :17:12.running voter education classes with the Saudi nonprofit organisation.
:17:13. > :17:16.She was the first woman in Riyadh to put her name down to vote. The
:17:17. > :17:22.voting centre was a public school, and we went in and the ladies
:17:23. > :17:26.waiting for us to register were excited to see us coming, we were
:17:27. > :17:30.the first to walk in, so just going through the process, writing the
:17:31. > :17:38.paper, filling out the information, was just a wonderful feeling. I knew
:17:39. > :17:43.this was a day in history. The election may make history, but any
:17:44. > :17:48.woman going to vote will not be able to drive herself there. When this
:17:49. > :17:53.woman took the wheel here in the past, she was jailed for 73 days.
:17:54. > :18:01.The young activist was disqualified from running in the election. She
:18:02. > :18:04.challenged that and is back in the race, but, she says, there is a hard
:18:05. > :18:07.road ahead for Saudi women. How long do you think it will take
:18:08. > :18:14.for women here to achieve legal -- equal rights, can be achieved? Equal
:18:15. > :18:21.rights? The entire package? Oh, my God, it will take for ever! I went
:18:22. > :18:26.be alive to witness it, but to win step-by-step, like this one, and
:18:27. > :18:31.hopefully the drive and one, it will take a lot of time, and they have to
:18:32. > :18:36.come step-by-step. Some hearsay there is less to be election than
:18:37. > :18:40.meets the eye, including one of the leading campaigners for women's
:18:41. > :18:45.writes. They did not register my name as a voter at or a candidate
:18:46. > :18:50.because I am boycotting the election -- I did not register. I have my
:18:51. > :18:57.reasons. I am at human rights activist, and I think before women
:18:58. > :19:04.go to elect, they should be a full citizens. Do you think this election
:19:05. > :19:08.is just window dressing. Kind of. And the windowdressing may not
:19:09. > :19:12.distract from concerns about Saudi justice. While some here are
:19:13. > :19:18.counting down to the election, others may be counting down to their
:19:19. > :19:21.execution. The human rights group and Amnesty International says more
:19:22. > :19:27.than 150 people have been put to death here this year, the highest
:19:28. > :19:33.recorded figure in two decades. And there are fears that another 50
:19:34. > :19:37.prisoners could be executed soon. Saudi Arabia says its judiciary is
:19:38. > :19:42.independent and it rejects any interference in its internal
:19:43. > :19:44.affairs. But the new monarch, King Salaman, knows his kingdom is under
:19:45. > :19:53.increasing scrutiny. The American space agency NASA
:19:54. > :19:55.says three astronauts from the International Space Station
:19:56. > :19:58.have returned safely to Earth. Russia and Japan, landed
:19:59. > :20:01.in their Soyuz capsule in the snowy steppes
:20:02. > :20:03.of Kazakhstan. Three new crew members will join
:20:04. > :20:08.the station next Tuesday. Well, those three new
:20:09. > :20:10.astronauts will blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome
:20:11. > :20:12.and rendezvous with the ISS more The launch site in Kazakhstan has
:20:13. > :20:19.been in use for more than 50 years, allowing crews plenty of time
:20:20. > :20:24.to develop a few kooky rituals and customs before heading
:20:25. > :20:26.into space, as Sarah This is Yuri Gagarin,
:20:27. > :20:33.the first-ever man in space. Because his flight in 1961
:20:34. > :20:37.was so successful, crews ever since have copied many of the things
:20:38. > :20:40.he did in the hope it Before the crew go up
:20:41. > :20:45.in a real one of these, a Soyuz space capsule,
:20:46. > :20:47.there is a whole series of rituals they have to go through
:20:48. > :20:52.and Tim Peake is no exception. The first of them has
:20:53. > :20:54.already been done. The crew have planted
:20:55. > :20:58.a tree here in Baikonur. Yuri Gagarin did it first,
:20:59. > :21:01.and there is now a whole alley of trees as a living memory
:21:02. > :21:04.to all of those who have been up There is another way
:21:05. > :21:07.that the astronauts leave their mark, as Tim Peake himself
:21:08. > :21:10.told me before he came down here. On our final morning,
:21:11. > :21:12.once we have prepared for our space flight,
:21:13. > :21:15.we will be in our flight costumes We were each allocated a door
:21:16. > :21:22.in the Cosmodrome cosmonaut hotel, so we will each sign a door
:21:23. > :21:25.to the cosmonaut hotel We have not long to
:21:26. > :21:28.go until launch day. The astornauts are in quarantine
:21:29. > :21:32.to make sure they stay healthy for the flight, but
:21:33. > :21:36.the traditions go on. On their last nervous night
:21:37. > :21:38.here on earth before liftoff, they will sit down to
:21:39. > :21:40.a classic of Soviet cinema. On launch day itself,
:21:41. > :21:43.it's on with the spacesuit and they emerge to
:21:44. > :21:47.a Soviet rock song. Before they climb into the space
:21:48. > :21:50.craft, it is time for one Gagarin requested a pee stop
:21:51. > :21:57.on the way to his first flight, so from that moment onwards
:21:58. > :22:00.all the astronauts stop, we get off the bus,
:22:01. > :22:03.we undo our suits, we have a pee # I'm a shooting star leaping
:22:04. > :22:10.through the sky. # Like a tiger, defying the laws
:22:11. > :22:12.of gravity...# was preparing for launch,
:22:13. > :22:16.he asked for music to be pumped into his headphones
:22:17. > :22:18.to calm his nerves ahead He got Russian love
:22:19. > :22:22.songs played to him. Tim Peake has been able
:22:23. > :22:25.to choose his own music and he has selected three tracks to be played
:22:26. > :22:28.as he prepares to make # I want to make a supersonic
:22:29. > :22:40.man out of you.# We all get a little
:22:41. > :22:42.carried away sometimes, but for Ukraine's Prime Minister it
:22:43. > :22:44.happened quite literally, was defending his embattled
:22:45. > :22:51.government's record when a supporter of President Poroshenko
:22:52. > :22:55.presented him sarcastically with a bunch of roses,
:22:56. > :22:57.then picked him up and pulled him The incident exposed deep divisions
:22:58. > :23:02.in Kiev's pre-western Ukraine's Western backers have
:23:03. > :23:11.warned that time is running out for it to make good on its promises
:23:12. > :23:14.to root out endemic It's becoming clear that
:23:15. > :23:23.all the heavy equipment we usually see on a film set might soon be
:23:24. > :23:26.a thing of the past. We managed to catch up with a group
:23:27. > :23:29.of young Kenyans who have filmed a movie about life in
:23:30. > :23:33.the slums on a mobile phone. The film features actors
:23:34. > :23:36.who are little known in Kenya, the script is in slang called
:23:37. > :24:18.sheng and the soundtrack I was born and raised in the slums.
:24:19. > :24:24.They have also shared the same thing in the ghetto. She is the young
:24:25. > :24:35.teenager who lives in the ghetto and she gets pregnant. They are talking
:24:36. > :24:40.a lot about empowering and how to mould yourself at an earlier age. If
:24:41. > :24:41.I had seen the movie earlier I would have changed my life, maybe not got
:24:42. > :25:02.pregnant at a young age. RAPPING it's a phone, the simplest
:25:03. > :25:07.thing everyone has, it has a camera, just shoot what you have, building,
:25:08. > :25:12.whatever, it has an impact on someonelife.
:25:13. > :25:14.It doesn't have too inspired 10 million people as long as it
:25:15. > :25:35.inspires one You're watching world News today. An
:25:36. > :25:39.update on the attack in the embassy district of the Afghan capital
:25:40. > :25:44.Kabul. The Spanish Minister Mariano Rajoy says a Spanish policeman has
:25:45. > :25:50.died in that attack, an attack on a guesthouse near the Madrid embassy.
:25:51. > :25:51.It is thought some attackers may still be hiding in the area. We will
:25:52. > :25:58.bring you all the updates on that. That's it from me for the time
:25:59. > :26:01.being. Coming up next, the weather. But from me, Tim Willcox, goodbye.
:26:02. > :26:14.Hello. Some potentially disruptive weather through Saturday because of
:26:15. > :26:15.the next weather system pushing in on the -- of the