04/02/2016 World News Today

I'm Karin Giannone, this is BBC World News.

Help for Syria's refugees that couldn't come soon enough.

Turkey says tens of thousands more refugees from war-torn Syria

are heading for its border as they try to escape fighting

Here in London, world leaders pledge more than ten billion dollars

to help civilians displaced by Syria's civil war.

Our message to the people of Syria and the region is clear.

We will stand with you and we will support you for as long as it takes.

He's been holed up Ecuador's London embassy for more than three years.

Now, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange receives the backing

He's one of the world's most famous "friends",

and now he's taking the wheel on the BBC's Top Gear show.

We start with the conflict in Syria and its impact on civilians.

International donors meeting in London have pledged more

than ten billion dollars to help people displaced by the fighting.

Neighbouring countries are bearing the immediate brunt

Turkey says tens-of-thousands of refugees are heading

for its border as they try to escape fighting north of the Syrian

Over the past few days intense Russian air raids have helped

the Syrian army make advances in the area.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu has bitterly

criticised Moscow's involvement, saying that both the Russians

and the Syrian government were guilty of war crimes.

On Wednesday, efforts in Geneva to negotiate an end to the conflict

In a moment we'll have more on the refugee crisis.

But, first, the BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall

Camps in Jordan stretching into the distance.

Across the region, Syrian refugees may soon number over

four and a half million, with 13 and a half million more displaced

So, today, in London, there was a feeling this pledging

Syria's neighbours say they are near breaking point.

Soon, Lebanon will no longer be able to contain an eruption that

could involve further migration to distant shores,

decivilisation and devolved security threats.

Looking into the eyes of my people and seeing the hardship and distress

they carry, I must tell you we have reached our limits.

Last year, the world only gave the United Nations half

So, in the end, food rations to refugees had to be cut.

One reason so many decided to move on to Europe.

Which means today in London there is new self-interest.

Give aid to ease conditions in the region, and maybe stem

There have been previous donor conferences.

Isn't there a danger the same thing is happening this time around

and all your impressive pledges will ring rather hollow?

It will make a difference in terms of saving lives,

in terms of providing medicine and shelter and food.

These are important because we are fulfilling

our moral responsibility as countries to those people

who were caught up in this terrible conflict.

Of course, announcing all these big pledges of aid here in London

Anyway, everyone agrees that all these promises to give

humanitarian and long-term development help all very well,

but what's needed is a way to stop the war.

On the ground, the bombardments from Russian air strikes

backing Syrian government troops have just got heavier.

Fierce fighting has put under threat fledging peace talks in Geneva

And that's even before the outside world works

out how to unite against the so-called IS jihadists

World leaders this morning said it was time to act, not talk.

But whatever is achieved here in London,

it seems unlikely it will bring this conflict any nearer to a close.

One focus of the conference was to provide education

for displaced children - something that could prove

Clive Myrie reports from a refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

They've had a rough ride in life, these children.

Syrian victims of a war they're too young to understand.

In this refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley,

they are being given back their childhoods -

Meet Mohammed, who is 13, and brother Mostafa,

They attend school five days a week, like the 270 of the youngsters

But when school is out, they and some of the other kids

They work in the brick factory that borders their home.

Hard, but necessary work for this family.

We work to help our father, Mostafa says,

Then they recall the day they fled their home

Around sunset when it started getting dark,

they started firing, he says, and we ran away.

The next day, we came here to Lebanon on.

As they toiled and heaved bricks, in London delegates

of the conference facility raised more money to pay for the education

of refugee children and to create well-paying job

Over lunch, the brothers admit life is hard now.

The BBC understands that a UN panel has concluded that the wiki founder,

Julian Assange, is being wrongly denied his right to political asylum

in Ecuador, and is detained arbitrarily in the UK.

Mr Assange, who is wanted for questioning in Sweden

about a rape allegation, has had the last three and a half

years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in order to avoid

Our correspondent is outside the embassy.

This was Julian Assange back in 2012, the summer he sought refuge

And, to the dismay of Britain and Sweden, to the delight

of his supporters, and to some surprise, it's upheld his conflict.

I really hope that as a consequence of this ruling that Juliancan leave

the embassy and go to Ecuador, where he can benefit

I think it would be really unfortunate and send

a terrible message internationally about our recognition

of international human rights legislation.

Julian Assange first made headlines in 2010 when Wikileaks

began to publish hundreds and thousands of American state secrets.

In August that year, allegations were made of sexual

Two years later, Ecuador granted political asylum to Mr Assange

on the grounds that he risked being extradited home to the US.

Last year, police announced that officers would no

longer be stationed outside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

They had cost the British taxpayer more than ?12 million.

This morning, Julian Assange said he would accept arrest

by the British police if the UN panel ruled against him.

Of course, we now know it has ruled in his favour.

One of the things I will be interested to hear from the UN

is why they regard this as a detention when,

essentially, he is detained at his own hand.

The UK has a European arrest warrant for various serious

charges from Sweden on a well-respected jurisdiction,

and that will still have to be enforced, come what may.

Today, a high profile visitor for Mr Assange,

in the form of fashion designer Dame Vivien Westwood.

The UN panel's decision is a big victory for Julian Assange,

and an embarrassment for Sweden and the UK.

But unless Julian Assange really is ready to be arrested,

for the moment, at least, the Ecuadorian Embassy

Per Samuelsson is one of Assange's lawyers.

Here is some of what he had to say to Swedish television.

If we lose, he will come to Sweden immediately.

But if we prevaile, if we win, I think my strong firm

opinion is the Swedish prosecutor must cancel the custody decision

in absentia and immediately close the case.

Close the file and drop the investigation against Julian

But shouldn't she care about the alleged rape victim

But she should also care about the alleged person,

the suspected person, and that is Julian Assange.

He has not been served any suspicion.

He has called for an interview for five years.

He has been in prison for three and a half years in an embassy.

Sweden must interpret the European Convention

He's best known for his role as Joey in the American sitcom

Friends, and today it was announced that Matt LeBlanc is to join Chris

Evans as a new presenter on Top Gear.

He's already a familiar face on the motoring show having appeared

He says he's a "car nut and massive fan" of the programme,

which is set to return later this year.

He has already had a taste of Top Gear, he was a

Matt LeBlanc, Joey in Friends, is the secret weapon

A show that was itself relaunched with huge success 14 years ago,

with characters such as "the tame racing driver", the Stig.

You have to remember this is, or was, the most widely watched

programme in the world in 205 territories.

Now with Jeremy, James and Richard out,

That is worth a lot of money to the BBC.

Chris is maybe not known globally, but Matt is.

My agent asked me if I wanted to host the series...

He has already had a taste of Top Gear presentation

Which, as you can see from this BBC promotional

Top Gear is, for the Corporation, a way of making money off cars.

Here is a bit of motoring history for you.

Beautiful cars, although they don't wait make brilliant television.

Top Gear was under threat of cancellation a few years ago.

What saved it was Jeremy Clarkson and the realisation it was all

about the presenters, the chemistry and the comedy.

Matt LeBlanc is, of course, an actor.

He's going to have to show his real self

to the viewer to make this thing work because what the previous trio

did was make us feel we knew them very well.

They were the people you wanted to sit next to in the pub.

Of course, Top Gear has had many presenters.

But these days it's no longer just a car programme.

The former boss of a pharmaceutical company in the United States has

refused to answer questions in Congress about why he increased

the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000%.

Martin Shkreli, who is facing separate charges of securities

fraud, exercised his right not to incriminate himself.

One congressman accused him of taking blood money

from the pockets of hard-working Americans.

After Thursday's hearing, Mr Shkreli made use of Twitter

to describe members of Congress as "imbeciles".

Do you think you've done anything wrong?

On the advice of counsel, I invoke my

Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination

and respectfully decline to answer your question.

Now for a look at some of the day's other news.

The government of Poland has opened a new investigation into the plane

crash in western Russia six years ago, which killed the President,

Lech Kaczynski, and more than 90 other people.

Announcing the probe, the Defence Minister appeared

to contradict the original findings, saying the plane had disintegrated

An Israeli man has been sentenced to life and another man has been

given a 21-year prison term for burning

Mohammed Abu Khdeir was abducted in a street in East Jerusalem

and killed during a cycle of violence in the run-up to the war

The men haven't been named because they were boys at the time

Moscow has reacted angrily to a BBC television drama that imagines

a future war with Russia, that leads towards nuclear confrontation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the programme, titled

World War Three, Inside the War Room, took British

propaganda to a level of aggression beyond even Cold War standards.

The condition of an Italian actor left in a coma after a hanging scene

went wrong during a play is said to be worsening.

27-year-old Raphael Schumacher was appearing in a production

in Pisa when an audience member realised he was in pain.Police

launched an investigation after sealing the theatre

Initial inquiries found the actor hadn't been wearing a body harness.

Outrage has erupted in France after a language moderator approved

In Germany, there's a heavy police presence on the streets of Cologne

as the city celebrates its annual carnival.

More than 2,000 police officers are out in force.

It's the first major public event there since New Year,

when many women were victims of sexual assaults and muggings

which were blamed largely on migrants.

Our correspondent, Anna Holligan, is there for us.

It's traditionally one of the most raucous days in carnival season.

But first something on the back of everyone's mind this year,

Carnival this year is being seen as a big test of the authorities.

TRANSLATION: This is probably the safest carnivore there has ever

been. There is zero tolerance this year for anybody who wants to cause

trouble. -- safest carnivore. After those attacks at New Year,

dozens of people of North African and Arab origin

were arrested and it has led to some tension with the immigrant

community here. Something that we're

hearing from a lot of women is that they are slightly

anxious of this year. They are determined

to celebrate this massive Today it's rainy.

It's not too nice. It doesn't matter

whether you are brown, It's not normal, we don't

do that every day. So, I think they know

what's happening here. Outrage has erupted in France

after a language moderator approved changes to the spellings

of thousands of French words in an attempt to

simplify the language. At least 2,400 spelling changes

will be implemented. However, the change that has sparked

the most fury is the removal of the traditional

circumflex accent. With me here in the studio this

French commentator Jean Jaffre. We are talking about the circumflex.

It would be described as a little hat which goes over a vowel. What

purpose has it served so far? For most, some words come from Latin

words. The circumflex accent... Sometimes it is illogical.

The French Academy said it would approve the circumflex was removed

in certain situations back in 1990. It has only taken until now for this

to come into French schools. It is only for 4% of the vocabulary.

But similar reform has been implemented in Canada, for instance.

Because of a change in the curriculum, the publishers of

textbooks have decided to introduce this reform, maybe to make more

money with new books. In the situation where it really

does change the meaning, it is going to stay. They won't have this

ambiguity. In certain circumstances it will

stay. So certain words won't look like the

same words, there will still be a difference.

The Education Secretary is very unpopular. She is a young woman and

was born fiercely -- and was fiercely denounced. Since the

Socialist party came to power, they introduced the form which displeased

a lot of people. Some say education is being dumbed down.

It is safe to say the has-been outrage on social media.

Sometimes when I read tweets I think people who are writing, sometimes

they missed a lot of words. It is amazing.

I think it is the convention. Spelling is a convention and people

should try to spell correctly. What is important, especially at school,

is to allow children to express themselves and to be creative. As

they get older they will become more correct. My brother was suffering

from dyslexia. Now, his writing is very good and he expresses himself

very well. Sometimes it takes time to simulate the spelling of words.

Thank you very much. Spanish officials say a pregnant

woman is among the seven people identified as being infected

with the Zika virus It's thought that the woman

who is in her second trimester of pregnancy showed symptoms

after travelling to Colombia. There are fears that

the mosquito-borne Zika virus In the United States,

the two front-runners for the Democratic nomination

for president have been sparring over who is the real

"progressive" in the race. Former Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

criticised each other's credentials during a question and answer

session in New Hampshire. Campaigning in New Hampshire,

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have been taking swipes at each

other. All day on Twitter and by e-mail -based barred about who is

the real progressive. I said I am a progressive who likes

to get things done. And again in the evening on stage.

Bernie Sanders thinks his opponent is not a liberal enough.

I do not know any progressive who has a super pack and takes $15

million from Wall Street. The Vermont senator may have lost

narrowly in Iowa but is leading by a wide margin in New Hampshire, his

backyard, and the gloves are coming off will stop we are taking on the

most powerful -- gloves are coming off.

We know what will happen. Mrs Clinton has been downplaying

expectations in New Hampshire but is still hoping to narrow the gap in

this state. She was asked about faith and she spoke of the parable

about the prodigal son. I read that parable and there was a

line which became a lifeline for me. It basically is practised the

discipline of gratitude. This race is heating up and on

Thursday the two candidates will face off against onstage in a

televised debate all-star campaigning continues.

A solar farm, designed to become the largest in the world,

has officially been opened in Morocco by King Mohammed.

The plant in the Sahara desert, south-east of Casablanca,

will generate 500 megawatts when it reaches full capacity -

It's designed to store power when the sun isn't shining.

It takes around two hours to walk around the array of half a million

parabolic mirrors, that focus heat to provide steam for the turbines.

Shakespeare's Hamlet has been performed to hundreds of migrants

at a refugee camp in Northern France.

The show was part of the Globe Theatre's world tour

which has already seen performances at refugee camps in Jordan,

Thomas Morgan went along to see the show at the camp they call

The crew were here at the break of dawn, hard at work building their

stage. They have been touring for quite a while now and have performed

in over 150 countries. They have an aim to have been all over the globe

by the end of April. Back corner, stage left.

But it is windy and cold in Calais, so theatre is probably not at the

top of people'swish lists. Many migrants don't even know who William

shakes a or what Hamlet is. Have you ever seen Shakespeare

before? No. This is my first time.

So, why bring this production to the Jungle?

We found that it works. Even if English is in their first language.

And it works if people don't know the story of Hamlet or don't know

what Shakespeare is. We the story of Hamlet or don't know

doing this in a lot of countries where there is not a big tradition

of performing Shakespeare. With free popcorn on offer, the

audience flocked to the ready-made venue. The 150 migrants that have

come to watch the play here today may not understand the whole of

William Shakespeare's Hamlet, but it is engaging them and that is one of

the main aims of the production staff, breaking up the monotony of

their daily routine. With laughter and applause all

around, it was a successful day at the box office.

We are delighted to be performing here for you!

The next stop in the tour will be in Malta for Libyan migrants before

finally heading home to London in a few months' time.

Mexican prosecutors have issued an order for the actress,

Kate del Castillo, to be located and to testify as a witness

over her links with the imprisoned drug baron, Joaquin "El Chapo"

The Mexican actress set up a meeting in October between the Hollywood

star, Sean Penn, and Guzman, who was on the run at the time.

Mexican prosecutors say she may have received money from Guzman

to launch her tequila business last year.

Kate del Castillo has denied any illicit links with Guzman.

For me and the rest of the team, good night.

So far this week we have seen wet weather, windy weather, bright

weather. Tomorrow it looks mostly cloudy once again. Outbreaks of

rain, heavy in places. For the time being we are between two fronts.