21/03/2016 World News Today

America's man in Havana, Barack Obama, tells Cubans

History in Havana, President Obama and President Raul Castro meet

at the Revolutionary Palace, the seat of the Cuban government.

This is a new day between our two countries.

This is the scene live in Havana, where we're expecting

Presidents Obama and Castro to deliver statements shortly.

They will be celebrating that historic event.

The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese vice

president Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes

As the British Parliament debates whether the atrocities committed

against Middle East religious minorities are a genocide,

we hear from a Yazidi survivor of Islamic State.

They ruined our lives. They raped us, they left us with nothing, they

took everything. It's never made a profit,

so what does the future hold In an historic moment,

US President Obama has held talks with his Cuban counterpart,

Raul Castro, on the second day Speaking a short time ago,

Raul Castro said he welcomed Obama's commitment to end the trade embargo

imposed by the US 54 years ago, but said more restrictions needed

to be lifted. The blockade stands as the most

important obstacle to our economic development. That's why its removal

will be of the of the essence to normalise relations. The road ahead

will not be easy, as you indicated. Fortunately, we don't have to swim

with sharks in order to achieve the goals we have set forth. As you say

here in Cuba, despite the difficulties, we will continue to

move forward. US President Barack Obama insisted

that the differences between their two governments won't

be a barrier to future cooperation. And we can cross live to Havana now

and the BBC's Laura Trevelyan. What did you make of the two

Presidents? Well, wasn't it fascinating, that even though both

men talked about how their countries were working together, they both

talked about what Raul Castro called the profound differences between the

two countries, chiefly on human rights and democracy. Just as

President Castro was taking a final question from an American journalist

just a few moments ago, he said, for example, "I think human rights

should not be politicised. If that is the purpose, we will stay the

same." He also said, "Is there any sacred right than the right to

health? " The difference between the health care systems. The Americans

want to focus on the fact that the Cubans crackdown on dissidents and

political activists. President Obama talking about this being a major

irritant, the Cuban record on human rights and democracy. And the Cubans

coming right back at them with President Castro being very testy on

the issue of political prisoners. Clearly, the tension is there, but

also both countries and men talking about the need to work together. The

question of political prisoners, that was something that came up from

the floor. My understanding of the tone and the mood of that... Of the

press conference, once it was open to the journalist is, is that the

questions focused on the issue of the embargo, that was raised at

least four or five times, and that issue of political prisoners. Sadly,

I think we have lost the line to our correspondent. She was listening in

to that press conference for us, those joint statements between

President Erica Balmer and Raul Castro on the second day of this

historic visit by a sitting US President, the first time that has

happened in 88 years. As Laura was saying, fascinating as to what both

Presidents had to say, both focusing on the positive steps that have been

taken in bringing these two nations closer together, but, a central

theme, the embargo that he has been in place the 54 years is still in

place. It requires a vote by Congress in order to lift. We will

hopefully get Laura back later on for a bit more analysis. Let's have

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

The head of the Syrian government delegation at the Geneva talks has

again ruled out any discussion about the future of President Assad.

Bashar Ja'afari also said progress was slow at the talks.

He was speaking after meeting UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Migrants stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border

in appalling conditions have staged a protest,

Men, women and children took part, chanting "Open the border."

Around 12,000 people have stayed put there,

despite the Balkan migrant route towards Germany being closed.

According to new Greek government figures, 50,000 migrants

are currently trapped in the country.

Israel says it has rescued some of the last remaining Jews

19 people from Sanaa and the town of Raydah were flown to Israel

They include a rabbi who brought an ancient Torah scroll with him.

An Israeli minister said their lives were threatened by Shia Houthi

rebels who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition.

The Islamist group Al Shabaab has attacked an army base

The militant group says it killed 73 Somali soldiers at the base

at Laanta Buuro, and seized seven military vehicles.

That's contradicted by the Somali army, which says one soldier

Former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba has been found

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has ruled

that he was responsible for murders and rapes carried out by his troops

It is alleged that the troops went on a rampage, killing and raping

hundreds of civilians, as well as looting.

MSC members and former collaborators of Jean-Pierre Bemba travelled

to the Hague to show their support on a day of verdict.

TRANSLATION: The court recognised there were unnamed protagonists

like Francois Bozize and Patasse, with allies on both sides.

He's very confident he has nothing to feel guilty about.

TRANSLATION: Today is the big day for the victims,

and for myself, as their representative.

Because today the international justice recognises their

This is the first case and the International Criminal Court

to have primarily focused on rape as a weapon of war.

of military commanders who overlook such crimes.

His lawyers are expected to appeal today's verdict.

Belgium's federal prosecutor says investigators are far from solving

what he described as "the puzzle of the Paris attacks."

pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place in the past few days.

New video has emerged showing the moment that Abdeslam was shot

during the raid in Brussels on Friday.

Belgian investigators have also named a suspected accomplice

TRANSLATION: We know that the inquiry isn't over

and there are other individuals who must still be found so they can

I would like to acknowledge the huge work done by all our teams on both

sides of the border and to express my condolences to all victims

On Thursday, we reported a decision of US Secretary of State,

John Kerry, to recognise atrocities committed by so-called Islamic State

as genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East.

In the British Parliament, a cross-party group in the House

of Lords wants a similar declaration by the UK government.

There was a unanimous vote along similar lines

in the European Parliament last month.

However, the British government has refused to make such a declaration,

insisting it is a matter for international judicial bodies.

These are live pictures we are looking at right now of the House of

Lords where that amendment to the bill is going to be debated.

Before the American administration reached a determination of genocide,

the US Congress first took evidence from a range of human rights

Jacqueline Isaac is a lawyer from California, who recorded

witness statements of survivors from the Christian and Yazidi

She spoke to Ekhlas, a Yazidi survivor who has found

In a recording made by Jacqueline, she described how her family

was kidnapped on the Sinjar Plain in Iraq and what then happened

to them, and to her, aged just 15 years old.

A warning, her evidence is disturbing.

They kidnapped and killed my father and my two brothers.

Yes, I saw my father killed in front of my eyes.

I was gripping my brother's hand and told him,

Yet, he let me go because they killed him.

The sounds of the gunshots, they will never leave my ears.

They took over the government prison and put you in it?

Yes. All of us.

Boys, girls, children, women, all of us.

How did you feel when you were in prison?

I always asked myself, why did this happen?

Did we deserve to be orphanes with no family,

I saw with my own eyes a man over 40 years old,

maybe 42 or 45, he took a girl ten years old,

What law would allow a man to use the name Allah to call on Allah

and then kill the men and rape the women?

What law? What religion?

What religion would allow that? They don't have a religion.

A survivor talking to the lawyer, Jaclyn Isaacs.

Congressman Chris Smith is a Republican who sits

on the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee.

Really good to talk to you. Thank you. I know you listen to that

testimony from the girl when Jack clean first put it before Congress.

I know you've also been instrumental in pushing for this declaration of

genocide. On Thursday, John Kerry deemed the actions of Isis against

the Yazidis and other minorities in Iraqi and Syria as genocide. What

does that mean? What is going to happen in practical terms? It a

great question, and I've been pushing, chairing five congressional

hearings, going back to 2013, asking that such it is ignition be made. We

missed it on Rwanda and Srebrenica which came later, and I've been to

those places, and the international community needs to rally, and we

welcome Secretary Carey's statement on Thursday which followed, as you

pointed out, a unanimous vote, Republicans and Democrats alike in

the House of Representatives. There are a number of things. The genocide

couldn't be clearer. Those who are responsible for these crimes of

genocide need to be held personally responsible. There needs to be a

prosecution. The ICC is one venue. I think, and I have held hearings on

this as well, and a resolution passed on Monday, the same day the

genocide designation past was my resolution calling for a tribunal

similar to Yugoslavia, so we can get convictions. It is hard work,

building a case against these individuals, doing it aggressively,

having the nimbleness that these ad hoc courts have shown, and I think

that'll make a difference. And we will be looking at those. We have

now been designated as targeted genocide. Get them to a place where

they can continue living without rape. It is a great symbolic step

getting John Kerry to use the word genocide, the last time the US used

it was in 2004 when colon Powell referred to doff or as a genocide.

Is going to mean further feet on the ground? Is it going to mean the

victims of this genocide are given asylum in the States? What does it

mean? That is a great question. It means we need to provide asylum for

those. If this isn't a well founded fear of persecution, the definition

of asylum, I don't know what is. It needs all of us, the whole

international committee, including the US, needs to step up. Even for

the ICC designation, has it happened? It would be a flawed

approach but at least it would be something. I think the regional

courts are one way of going. We need to look at a safe haven, not like

Srebrenica, and the UN safe havens joined the Bosnian war, which turned

out to be areas where people were slaughtered. We need to double down.

Of course, there is a ceasefire in effect against Al-Nusra Front and

Isis. And that is a good thing, and I'm glad that was brokered. But

there is much more needs to be done. We are talking about 470,000 people

dead high-end estimate. The UN doesn't count anymore, they felt it

was too unreliable. But needs to be done and humanitarian access, there

are a number of areas where that access hasn't been provided. Russia

needs to be put on the Assad government. Most of the killings in

Syria are the result of his barrel bombing and killing, his troops. So,

a tribunal would include all players, just as we did in

Yugoslavia, just as we did in Sierra Leone and everywhere else. I'm

afraid we will have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us live

from Washington. I should also mention that last month the Council

of Europe and the EU Parliament also deemed these similar offences as

genocide. And this amendment to a bill currently debated in the House

of Lords hearing the today as well. Now, believe it or not,

it's ten years since the first The 140 character limit tweet has

become a feature of millions of people's lives, with 500 million

tweets now sent every day. But some have stood

out more than others. And others that have produced iconic

images of our time. Well, that came from Twitter

co-founder Jack Dorsey, Those missing vowels would come

a few months later. But what about the humble hashtag,

something we now use to group tweets Well, the very first pound sign

was used by Chris Mosina, a technology expert,

over a year later, in August 2007. The platform really took off

as a medium for breaking news in 2009, when a ferry passenger

on the Hudson River in New York sent It's of US Airways Flight 1549 just

after it touched down in the frigid But for some time news hasn't been

restricted to our planet earth. So, in 2010, NASA astronaut

Timothy Creamer became the first person to tweet live

from the International The power of Twitter

hasn't gone unnoticed. Many of the world's most powerful

and prominent leaders have taken British Prime Minister David Cameron

is on there, as is Iran's Supreme So, in December 2012,

the Pope joined, sending this tweet. Other high profile users include

Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi, They used Twitter in 2013

to announce the birth of the third in line to the British throne,

Prince George. One of the most popular public

figures remains the US President. He celebrated the win of his second

term by tweeting this picture At the time of the 2012 elections,

they just numbered over 16 million. He now has over 70

million followers. But one of the most retweeted

images, with over three million retweets to date, was the Hollywood

superstar selfie, taken at the Oscar ceremony in March 2014,

featuring such silver screen luminaries as Brad Pitt

and Kevin Spacey, and taken by that Rupert Goodwins is a technology

journalist and he joins me now So, do you have 70 million

followers? No, I have 4800 but I love them all dearly. That is better

than most! Do you remember sending your first week? I don't but I can

look it up. It says twittering, the deepest thought I had that day. Ten

years on, do you think Twitter is where it wants to be? It wants to be

making money, which it isn't doing. It is turning over $2 million a year

or so, which isn't bad, but it is losing 40 million. So it isn't

making money. It's place in the heart of the online world is

assured. People are using it to talk back to customer service people, and

President Obama. We wait to see whether President Obama and the Pope

and the Ayatollah Khamenei will talk to each other. That might happen

yet. Is that the appeal of Twitter, the fact that you can have immediate

interaction with these incredibly high profile figures? I could send a

tweet right now to the Ayatollah Khamenei, I could tweak the

president of the alert states, I could tweak the prime Minister. -- I

could tweet the prime Minister. Is that the appeal? Stephen Fry is off

Twitter at the moment but he will probably be back soon. They will

either come back to you or re-tweet your tweet. In terms of delivering

news quickly, there is nothing like it. When the plane landed in the

Hudson River, everybody could see it faster than any new service could

deliver it. It has the leading edge of news, it is unparalleled. Where

do they go from here? They need to start turning a profit. Their

revenues are rising but they are making money. How do they crack that

conundrum of successfully monetising the site? If I knew that, I probably

wouldn't be sitting here now. They've got this 300 million users

using it every month at least. They've got a lot of money coming

in. They are cutting their costs, and the making better and better

advertising deals. The trick is they've got to do that alienating

people. Twitter is personal. They don't like being poisoned by adverts

or fiddled with. It is a delicate dance. It is a brand-new medium. It

is one of the most rare brand-new mediums we have had in the very

first century. They are finding out what happens, we are all there for

the ride. It's not just the lack of money they are making but also the

number of monthly users signing up. There was this huge growth we saw.

Hazard plateaued? Are there still untapped markets? They've saturated

one particular market. The trouble is Wall Street and venture

capitalists see growth as the most important thing. They are not

comfortable with something being static even though it is evolving so

Twitter has to concentrate now not on finding new people but on making

better use of the people they have. And new markets will arrive as

perhaps new services are invented. The hash tag was invented by the

users. So, with Twitter, new things pop up from anywhere, they have to

keep refining it, making us use it more. OK, I will treat you, you can

tweet me back. Good to talk to you. Talking to us about Twitter and

their ten year anniversary. Happy birthday, Twitter.

President Obama is holding talks with his Cuban counterpart,

Raul Castro, on the second day of a historic visit

They are meeting at the Revolutionary Palace,

Earlier, Mr Obama laid a wreath at a monument to the country's

But, for now, from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.

Good evening. With Easter on the rise, it is perhaps inevitable it

would be a week