02/01/2016 World News Today

Hello. This is BBC World News.

Sectarian tensions rise across the Middle East

as Saudi Arabia executes a prominent Shia cleric.

The Saudi government says Nimr al-Nimr was put to death

after being convicted of terrorism offences.

There have been Shia protests inside the country and a furious

reaction from Iran, which compares Saudi executioners with IS.

India says it has beaten off a militant attack on an Air Force

Five attackers and three soldiers are dead.

British soldiers accused of mistreating civilians

during the Iraq conflict are warned they could face prosecution

Donald Trump's pledge to bar Muslims from entering the United States

is used in a recruitment video my Islamist militant group

There've been protests amongst Saudi Arabia's minority Shia

population, following the execution of a prominent Shia cleric,

He'd been convicted of terrorism offences in 2012 and was one of 47

There's also been a furious reaction from Iran.

As news of the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr spread,

protesters took to the streets of Saudi Arabia's

Shia city of Qatif, an act of defiance in the kingdom

where public dissent is not tolerated.

The sheikh was a leader of this religious

minority, in a country whose royal family see themselves as leaders

As the Saudi authorities cracked down during the Arab Spring on Shia

attempts to bring calls for political reform

into the kingdom itself, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was arrested.

He had defied the Saudi authorities to prove their charge

that he was acting on behalf of Iran, the leader of Shia Islam,

and regional rival for power to Saudi Arabia.

Iranian reaction to the execution has been angry.

The Foreign Ministry in Tehran accused

Saudi Arabia of supporting extremism abroad and oppressing its critics

at home, and said it would pay a heavy price.

That ancient religious fault line is a dangerous division

Sunni fighters are pitched against Shia in the fighting

TRANSLATION: I think Saudi Arabia made a big mistake when it executed

al-Nimr, as it will fuel the existing sectarian violence

Saudi Arabia's execution of Nimr al-Nimr will

deepen those tensions at a dangerous moment.

Earlier, I spoke to BBC Persian's, Siavash Ardalan, who told me more

about images posted on the website of Iran's Ali Khamenei,

in reaction to the execution of Nimr al-Nimr.

These images came out on the supreme leader's English website, depicting

an executioner, divided in half, one side is Isis and the other side is a

Saudi executioner, to highlight today are parts of the same entity,

that Saudi Arabia is supporting Isis, which is Iran's narrative in

the region. Acknowledging many of the people who were executed were

Sunni extremists as well. Different from an official communique he was

right and have read out on state TV, perhaps wary of the fact he does not

want to outrage protesters in Iran because rallies are scheduled

tomorrow but we are getting reports from north-western Iran where

protesters have thrown firebombs at the Saudi consulate, which has been

set on fire. It is not only Iran where protests are planned, there

are protests in the Middle East. A few hours after the news came out

there were protests in Saudi Arabia, inside Bahrain, where there were

clashes with security forces and they threw tear gas at the testers.

Also something in Lebanon, as well. We expect more protests. It probably

speaks to the fact that there will be allegations Iran might be

stirring up protests is, it happens so spontaneously, it is difficult to

prove those charges. It increases the distance between two different

and opposing countries in a region that is tipping the balance. They

are two powerhouses that need to get on if problems are to be solved. The

civil war in Syria, if that goes anywhere, it will have to go through

an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia so this execution might make

that object more elusive. And strong words about Saudi Arabia but what

can Iran do, what power does it have against Saudi Arabia? Not much. It

has a popular base among the Shia. It will probably not call on them to

take out into the street, but for a year they have warned of the

consequences of executing Sheikh Nimr.

The BBC understands that a gunman who killed

Irish cameraman, Simon Cumbers, in Saudi Arabia in 2004 was among

Mr Cumbers was on assignment with the BBC correspondent

Frank Gardner, who was severely injured in the same attack.

Adel al-Dhubaiti was sentenced in 2014 for taking part in a number

Neither the Saudi authorities nor the Irish Foreign Ministry have

A ceasefire in Yemen has collapsed with the Saudi-backed coalition

announcing it would resume military operations.

The coalition said Shia Houthi rebels had mounted numerous attacks

on Saudi border posts and fired missiles at Saudi cities.

A suicide bomber dressed in a business suit has blown himself

up in a restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Witnesses said journalists who were having tea

at the Village Restaurant ran away after becoming suspicious

about the man who had wires hanging from his chest.

Authorities in the US state of Illinois have warned that dams

Days of rain have swamped Illinois and Missouri, killing at least

British soldiers who served in Iraq from 2003, are being warned

they could face prosecution for war crimes, including unlawful killing.

The head of a Ministry of Defence unit that is looking

into allegations that some civilians were mistreated during the conflict,

says there'll be discussions with prosecutors about whether there

Claims of mistreatment of Iraqis by British personnel have been rife

in the aftermath of the Iraq war, so much so that the Government has

set up a team to investigate historic allegations.

Today, its head said there could be criminal charges.

This historic allegations team is costing

a total of ?57 million, and is examining more

It's not due to finish its work until the

Lawyers representing alleged victims say it's taking too

long, and will not confront systemic abuse.

They were established in 2010, and we're now at the beginning

of 2016, and there hasn't been a single

prosecution as a result of their work.

So when we look at it like that, there isn't much to indicate

that we are going to get very far any

time soon in terms of prosecuting soldiers.

The Ministry of Defence says it takes all allegations of abuse

or unlawful killing very seriously, but the vast majority of those

in the Armed Forces conduct themselves professionally

Some have expressed frustration at continued

claims against military personnel, and doubts over the sheer numbers.

The British Army has an incredibly effective disciplinary system

and chain of command, which makes sure

this kind of thing doesn't happen on a frequent basis.

Occasionally, it will happen, but our system prevents

That's why I say that thousands of cases just

And critics say fear of future prosecution could prevent soldiers

The Defence Secretary has criticised "ambulance-chasing" law firms.

Two previous public inquiries have already looked

Now, almost 13 years since the war there started,

A group calling itself New World Hacking says it carried

out a cyber attack on the BBC website on Thursday.

In messages to the BBC's technology correspondent it said the hack had

been a test of its capabilities. The US group said they had not planned

to take down the BBC website for as long as they had.

You may remember the comments made by American presidential hopeful

and Republican Party frontrunner Donald Trump last month,

when he called for a ban on all Muslims entering

Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of

Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives

can figure out what the hell is going on.

The Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab certainly remember that.

It's released a recruitment video featuring the same footage of Donald

Yesterday America was a land of slavery, segregation, lynching and

Ku Klux Klan. The footage of Trump is flanked

by an old video of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki,

a former top recruiter for al-Qaeda who was killed by a US drone

strike in Yemen in 2011. He warned that the US would turn

against its Muslims. Trump's comment on banning Muslims

has been rebuked by both Democratic Mr Trump's campaign team has not

responded to the video. Abdihakim Ainte is an independent

Somali political commentator and analyst who previously lived

in the United States, and is currently speaking

to us from Germany. Thanks for joining us. What do you

make of the use of Donald Trump's audio? -- video. I am not surprised.

We need to understand why Al-Shabab feature Donald Trump in the video,

as they have been making videos over the past years. In part because

Al-Shabab have been on the back foot and losing territory. They know with

this video featuring Donald Trump, it will make great headlines and

grabbed a significant amount of media attention and this is their

way of lashing out and trying to attract as much attention as

possible. This is nothing more than a PR stunt aimed at Al-Shabab,

capturing global headlines. This is what is happening right now. What do

you think Al-Shabab is thinking in terms of how Muslims are treated in

America? Do you think Al-Shabab is seen differently to other terrorist

groups by Muslim Americans? No. As they have indicated in their video,

this video was aimed at trying to exploit and to appeal to those in

America who might otherwise be outraged all vulnerable at Donald

Trump's comments and what he said about the Muslim community. They

were trying to see if they could pursue vulnerable Muslim communities

in the US, particularly in Minneapolis. They are trying to see

if they could appeal and try to entice young kids who are frustrated

and somewhat appalled by the Donald Trump comments. This is one way,

their way of trying to reach out and speak to Muslim communities and say,

look, look who is turning against you. A frontrunner presidential

candidate who potentially could be the next president of the US. They

are saying the message, we are offering you a path, one path is you

have to migrate from the US and join the jihadis. You have friends in

America who are Somali and Muslim. What do they make of the comments?

They are outrage, as every decent American is. They are seeing this as

inflammatory comments, as nothing... Donald Trump trying to gain in the

polling points. They are outraged. They see this as a heinous attempt

to defame Muslims. Thank you very much.

Stay with us on BBC World News - still to come...

The results from the English Premier League and the latest from a good

opening day for England in South Africa.

Saudi Arabia says it has executed the prominent Shia cleric,

Nimr al-Nimr, for terrorism offences.

reaction from Iran, which says Saudi Arabia will pay

After 14 hours, an attack on an Indian air base is over.

At least four gunmen and two soldiers are dead.

The Indian Prime Minister has praised his security forces

for ending a militant attack on an Indian Air Force base.

Five attackers and three Indian officers were killed in a gun fight

The base at Pathankot, near the border with Pakistan,

was broken into early on Saturday by heavily armed men dressed

We are now in the north Indian city of

Pathankot, which is also a prominent military base.

The Indian Air Force station which was attacked in the early

hours of Saturday by heavily armed gunmen wearing Indian Army uniforms

is just round the corner, heavily fortified now.

As we drove into this town this evening, we could see

choppers hovering above, continuing search operations.

The streets, at this hour, look unusually quiet and deserted.

The Indian government, meanwhile, has been congratulating

the security forces for thwarting an attack which could have

What is more interesting is the fact that this attack comes a week

after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, paid an unofficial

visit to Pakistan and met his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif,

in what was seen as a revival of peacetalks.

As part of an end of the year series this week

we've been revisiting stories on artificial intelligence.

Intelligent machines are playing an ever-increasing role

But can a machine ever be imaginative or creative?

Our arts editor Will Gompertz has been finding out how AI

I have come to Hollywood to meet a man trying to turn the artificial

intelligence fantasy into a reality. Will I am, entrepreneur and musician

invited me to his studio to show me a programme he is working on that

creates a soundtrack by mapping his movements. I love to be on the phone

and move from my house to hear. And because my movements were moving,

the tempos speeded up. This is going to the airport. You are in the air?

I am not moving. And so there is no drum. That is very interesting, but

is it a I? We could get excited about a couple of tricks. He is

clearly tech friendly but does he have any tech fears? There is a

limited amount of money we are investing in people versus machines.

That concerns me. I went down the coast to San Diego to meet a man who

has invested almost 50 years into trying to turn a computer into a

functioning artists. Have you got close to creating an autonomous

artist? I came up with this extraordinary algorithm for handling

colour. When I let the programme take care of colouring, the

colouring was almost guaranteed to be exciting, worth having. I have

achieved this tiny bit of autonomy in a programme. To be an autonomous

artist, it would have had to have been this big. I started to realise,

this is not going to happen in my lifetime. Maybe it might. Hello.

Back in London a team of academics think they have developed a

programme that is creative. It is a programme that behaves like a human

learning and uses what it learnt to produce new things. The tasks set is

to create a jazz score that sounds like this. MELLOW JAZZ.. Is this

composition a sign of creativity? I would say it is challenging the

human creative in trying to respond to what it throws up and that is

significant. Maybe that is where we are at the moment with computers

lacking imagination but inspiring art.

A lot of inspiration in the sport. We will start with cricket.

England won the toss and opted to bat and it looked a good decision.

Half centuries from Alex Hales, Joe Root and an unbeaten 74 for Ben

Stokes. Kagiso Rabada, 20, playing in his fourth test. He starred with

the ball,. You want to push on for three figures. It shows there is

seem movement. It is a good contest. Given the way Ben Stokes has batted,

what total might she be able to push onto? The next two wicket

partnerships will be massive, if they can get themselves in, Moeen

Ali, Ben Stokes, they can take the game away. Hopefully we can push on

past 450. A good day for arsenal. They beat Newcastle. Arsenal were

1-0 winners in torrential conditions. Goalless at half-time

but Laurent Koscielny made the breakthrough in the second half,

proving to be the only goal in the game. Newcastle stay in the

relegation zone. It was hard work, but we prepared

ourselves mentally to work hard and to earn the right

to win the hard We are not at our best today,

we know that and we had to dig deep, but we can dig deep as well

when it is needed and on top of that we played

against a good team, There was relief at old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney scoring the winner against Swansea for Manchester

United's first victory in six weeks. There was talk Louis Van Gaal would

not survive another defeat that way really's leatherback flick earned

them a 2-1 win and might have bought Louis Van Gaal more time. Sigurdsson

had just equalised for Swansea after Anthony Martial put them ahead.

I am happy for the players, because the players have to play

We are still at the top of the league.

It takes eight months or something like that

That I had said and I hope that this is a fantastic

Elsewhere, wins for West Ham, Norwich and West Brom. Aston Villa

losing to Sunderland. And Manchester City came from behind to win with

two late goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. Today it was

important to trust in the way we play. We try to play to score a goal

in any way. And we scored those beautiful goals. That is all the

sport. That is it from me and the team. Thanks for watching. Goodbye.

Good evening, the weather will be dominated by low pressure, which

means