:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome, this is BBC World News Today
:00:00. > :00:14.President Obama will make a historic visit to Hiroshima
:00:15. > :00:20.But he will not apologise for the US nuclear attack in 1945.
:00:21. > :00:23.The British Prime Minister is overheard describing Nigeria
:00:24. > :00:26.and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt"
:00:27. > :00:33.We've got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt
:00:34. > :00:44.Also coming up: A heartbreaking BBC investigation, finds that more
:00:45. > :00:47.than 1,700 migrants have been buried in unmarked graves after they died
:00:48. > :00:55.And facing extinction, how a fifth of all plants
:00:56. > :00:57.are at risk thanks to a range of threats including
:00:58. > :01:14.President Obama will make a highly symbolic visit
:01:15. > :01:19.It will be the first time a serving American president has visited
:01:20. > :01:23.the Japanese city destroyed by a US atomic bomb in 1945.
:01:24. > :01:31.Let's remind ourselves of the events surrounding
:01:32. > :01:34.In December 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States
:01:35. > :01:39.On May 7th, 1945, Germany agreed to unconditional surrender,
:01:40. > :01:44.On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb to be used
:01:45. > :01:48.as a weapon is dropped on Hiroshima in Japan.
:01:49. > :01:51.140,000 people died, some instantly,
:01:52. > :01:54.others later from the effects of radiation.
:01:55. > :01:57.On 9th August, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb
:01:58. > :02:07.August 15, 1945, Japan surrenders, ending World War II.
:02:08. > :02:11.However, the White House made it clear that during his
:02:12. > :02:17.visit Mr Obama would not apologise for the bombing.
:02:18. > :02:23.The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue joins me from Washington.
:02:24. > :02:31.Gary, another piece of history to add to the Obama Legacy?
:02:32. > :02:36.Yes, it is and it will be quite a moment when they sitting American
:02:37. > :02:41.president visits Hiroshima. We have had one former president go there
:02:42. > :02:44.before, Jimmy Carter, who was president in the 1970s and obviously
:02:45. > :02:49.he has been there but a sitting president carries with it enormous
:02:50. > :02:53.symbolic power and while the White House is stressing that this is not
:02:54. > :03:00.an apology, he will not apologise, he will not revisit, in their words,
:03:01. > :03:26.the decision to drop the atomic bomb in 1945, he will in some
:03:27. > :03:30.sense recognise the toll that it took on civilians in particular, so
:03:31. > :03:32.that will be the message and also one about going forward and shared
:03:33. > :03:35.futures etc. That reflects, of course, the fact that Japan and the
:03:36. > :03:38.US are now very close allies and President Barack Obama has focused a
:03:39. > :03:40.lot of his efforts on the pivot to Asia, as it is often called, and
:03:41. > :03:43.they have significant economic and political interests in common and
:03:44. > :03:46.that will be part of the trip as well so it will be an enormous
:03:47. > :03:47.moment really, it will be an enormous moment for both countries.
:03:48. > :03:50.Dr Sheila Smith is Senior Fellow for Japan Studies at the Council
:03:51. > :03:58.How significant do you think this is? I think it is tremendous and for
:03:59. > :04:02.those of us who have worked on the relationship with the US and Japan
:04:03. > :04:09.for many years, it is long overdue. President Barack Obama began his
:04:10. > :04:14.presidency very focused on nuclear disarmament and the Japanese people
:04:15. > :04:18.have been very strong advocates of the reduction of nuclear weapons and
:04:19. > :04:22.so I think you see a little bit of an American and Japanese gathering
:04:23. > :04:27.of mines here about the future and what our two countries may be able
:04:28. > :04:30.to do together. We know from the White House that he will not make an
:04:31. > :04:34.official apology but will his presence there be viewed as a kind
:04:35. > :04:41.of a conciliatory gesture? Absolutely. President Reagan went to
:04:42. > :04:44.Europe many years ago in an attempt symbolically to put that war behind
:04:45. > :04:50.us in our relationship with the European allies and I think for many
:04:51. > :04:54.Japanese, especially off at wartime generation, the presence of a US
:04:55. > :04:59.president at Hiroshima will be tremendous. I think without saying a
:05:00. > :05:03.word, his intent will be very clear. I think for younger Japanese you
:05:04. > :05:07.have quite lively debate about whether or not the president should
:05:08. > :05:13.apologise for the dropping of those bombs and I think that debate will
:05:14. > :05:18.continue long this visit. What do you think is the main reasoning
:05:19. > :05:21.behind this? You mentioned Japan and US relations and if there a wider
:05:22. > :05:26.message about something like this never happening again? That is
:05:27. > :05:32.exactly right. When the President spoke in Prague early in his tenure
:05:33. > :05:35.he spoke very openly about the moral responsibility of the United States,
:05:36. > :05:41.as the only company -- country having used these terrible weapons,
:05:42. > :05:46.to push forward on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. It
:05:47. > :05:49.is also true that in Asia at the moment you are looking towards North
:05:50. > :05:53.Korea who tested nuclear weapons in January and you are looking at the
:05:54. > :05:57.nuclear arsenal of China and their glowing -- in military might and you
:05:58. > :06:03.can be a little worried about the nuclear balance. Our president has
:06:04. > :06:08.touched on that alliance with Japan in a way that is alarming to many
:06:09. > :06:12.Japanese so I think this visit will be very reassuring and will touch
:06:13. > :06:14.many Japanese deeply. Thank you very much.
:06:15. > :06:16.Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, has called Nigeria
:06:17. > :06:18.and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries
:06:19. > :06:23.Mr Cameron was caught making the comments as he chatted
:06:24. > :06:34.with the Queen at an event to mark her 90th birthday.
:06:35. > :06:39.A very satisfactory cabinet meeting this morning when we talked about
:06:40. > :06:44.our successful summit. We have leaders of fantastically corrupt
:06:45. > :06:51.countries coming to Britain. Nigeria and Afghanistan, wasn't it, the two
:06:52. > :06:56.most corrupt countries in the world. This particular president is
:06:57. > :06:58.actually not corrupt. He is working very hard. They are coming at their
:06:59. > :07:03.own expense! The remarks come ahead
:07:04. > :07:05.of an international summit on corruption taking place in London
:07:06. > :07:07.later this week. The anti-corruption campaign group
:07:08. > :07:09.Transparency International ranked Afghanistan 167th,
:07:10. > :07:12.in its 2015 corruption perception index, ahead of only
:07:13. > :07:28.Somalia and North Korea. We will discuss this more in a few
:07:29. > :07:38.moments with an expert on global corruption. Let us look at some more
:07:39. > :07:44.News stories for now: now: Maverick anti-crime candidate
:07:45. > :07:46.Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte has won the Philippine presidential
:07:47. > :07:47.elections, following the withdrawal of his
:07:48. > :07:49.opponents. Although the official result has not
:07:50. > :07:51.yet been declared, his main rival, Mar Roxas, admitted defeat
:07:52. > :07:54.after polls gave Mr Duterte Officials in southern Germany say
:07:55. > :07:57.a man who killed a commuter and injured three others in a knife
:07:58. > :08:00.attack at a railway station suffered from psychological
:08:01. > :08:02.problems and drug addiction. They said there was no evidence
:08:03. > :08:04.the 27-year-old attacker Eyewitnesses had earlier reported
:08:05. > :08:07.that the assailant had shouted Allahu Akbar,
:08:08. > :08:18.God is Great, during Nasa's Kepler space telescope has
:08:19. > :08:26.discovered what has been described as a treasure trove of planets. Over
:08:27. > :08:28.1000 XO planets has been found which Nasa says increases the chances of
:08:29. > :08:31.finding a planet similar to Earth. Afghan and US special forces have
:08:32. > :08:33.rescued the kidnapped son of Pakistan's ex-Prime
:08:34. > :08:35.Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. He was abducted three
:08:36. > :08:37.years ago, it's believed Yusuf Raza Gilani was taken
:08:38. > :08:49.while he was in his home town But he was found hundreds
:08:50. > :08:53.of kilometres away in Paktika Four militants were
:08:54. > :09:00.killed in the rescue. Ali Haider's brother,
:09:01. > :09:02.Ali Musa Gillani has spoken to the BBC from his home in Lahore
:09:03. > :09:04.and described the moment He called himself from an
:09:05. > :09:08.Afghanistan number, and he just told me I have US military around me
:09:09. > :09:11.and they have rescued me and what are you doing
:09:12. > :09:14.and who are you getting in And I replied that we are talking
:09:15. > :09:23.to the Afghan ambassador and our military forces and the government
:09:24. > :09:27.officials to bring him back, because he was really, really
:09:28. > :09:30.confused about who was going to bring him back, because here only
:09:31. > :09:36.I am in Bagram Base. Shaaima Khalil is in Islamabad
:09:37. > :09:39.and tells us more about what's We now have confirmation
:09:40. > :09:42.from the international forces in Afghanistan
:09:43. > :09:43.that Ali Haider Gilani operation between US special
:09:44. > :09:49.operations forces and Afghan commandos in the eastern
:09:50. > :09:55.province of Paktika. We also understand that four
:09:56. > :10:00.militants are believed to have been killed during that operation
:10:01. > :10:04.and this mission was launched when evidence of terror activities
:10:05. > :10:06.was confirmed, We also know now that arrangements
:10:07. > :10:18.for Mr Gilani to return to Pakistan are being made
:10:19. > :10:20.after some medical checkups. We understand that he was held
:10:21. > :10:22.by an Al-Qaeda linked or affiliated group,
:10:23. > :10:24.we're not exactly sure which group that is,
:10:25. > :10:26.but we do know last year, from his father, former Prime
:10:27. > :10:28.Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, asked for Al-Qaeda prisoners to be
:10:29. > :10:32.released in return for his son. We also know that there was a video
:10:33. > :10:35.in 2014 where abductors had
:10:36. > :10:36.asked for ransom. during that rescue mission
:10:37. > :10:40.are still going to come in. We are not very clear about how
:10:41. > :10:43.exactly that happened but we do know, of course, that Ali Haider
:10:44. > :10:45.Gilani was abducted not very far from his house in his
:10:46. > :10:49.hometown of Multan which was in 2013, almost three years ago now,
:10:50. > :10:52.and at the time he was campaigning for parliamentary elections
:10:53. > :10:54.for the Pakistan People's Party. When the news broke today there was
:10:55. > :10:56.huge celebrations in his hometown, by family and
:10:57. > :10:58.friends and party workers and also at a party rally in
:10:59. > :11:06.Pakistani administered Kashmir Let us go back now to that story
:11:07. > :11:12.about David cannon calling Nigeria and Afghanistan corrupt and we have
:11:13. > :11:15.heard from the Afghanistan Prime Minister who has said he was
:11:16. > :11:24.shocked. He spoke through a spokesman and he argued that David
:11:25. > :11:29.cannon, who was secretly films, must be referring to Nigeria's past
:11:30. > :11:35.notoriety for corruption before his coming to power in May last year.
:11:36. > :11:40.The president of Nigeria has been in power for around one year but says
:11:41. > :11:44.that his government is deeply shocked and embarrassed by those
:11:45. > :11:51.comments and says he must have been referring to the past of Nigeria.
:11:52. > :11:54.Well, joining me from our Millbank studio is Transparency
:11:55. > :11:56.International's Managing Director, Cobus de Swardt.
:11:57. > :12:04.What is your reaction? The way David cannon has been saying this is not
:12:05. > :12:10.ideal but how much truth is there in this? Historically Nigeria and
:12:11. > :12:14.Afghanistan have had very high levels of corruption that continues
:12:15. > :12:18.by the current leadership has sent very strong symbols that they want
:12:19. > :12:24.to change that and this summit is the opportunity for those countries
:12:25. > :12:30.to sign up to a new era. At the same time, countries such as the UK also
:12:31. > :12:34.have to sign up to changing their fight against corruption, as the UK
:12:35. > :12:38.and its own overseas territories remain a safe haven for corrupt
:12:39. > :12:43.money and a big problem for corruption worldwide. We had the
:12:44. > :12:47.relatively new Nigerian President they're saying that his government
:12:48. > :12:51.was shocked and embarrassed by these comments from David cannon. How much
:12:52. > :12:56.progress has there been in the fight against corruption in these
:12:57. > :13:06.countries and we know that this president came to power in that he
:13:07. > :13:09.would really fight this scourge. Progress first day starts with very
:13:10. > :13:13.clear commitments from the top and we have seen strong signals from the
:13:14. > :13:19.Nigerian government and that needs to go further and in addition to
:13:20. > :13:24.that there needs to be a common working together. Nigeria cannot do
:13:25. > :13:29.this alone. When you do not work together, for example, in stopping
:13:30. > :13:34.corrupt money leaving Nigeria and entering the UK, it makes it harder.
:13:35. > :13:38.We have seen some progress but clearly not enough. This summit
:13:39. > :13:42.would need to bring these countries together in a common commitment to
:13:43. > :13:46.prevent corruption and actually create a safe space for those who
:13:47. > :13:53.fight corruption and also to tackle and punish those that facilitate
:13:54. > :13:57.corruption, such as bankers, lawyers, estate agents, as the
:13:58. > :14:01.Panama papers clearly show, as another major part of the global
:14:02. > :14:06.fight against corruption. There will be some wondering what a conference
:14:07. > :14:09.here in London, with lots of good words perhaps, can realistically
:14:10. > :14:17.achieve. What are your hopes? How positive do you think it would be?
:14:18. > :14:22.We have no hope for new work. What we are seeking our concrete and
:14:23. > :14:25.specific commitments, for example on preventing corruption it is time
:14:26. > :14:30.that those countries that participate make very concrete
:14:31. > :14:36.commitments to ensure that companies that operate from their countries
:14:37. > :14:40.have all the beneficial owners, those that own and control those
:14:41. > :14:45.companies in public registers and that people and companies that did
:14:46. > :14:51.for public contracts, that we know who they are owned by. We want to
:14:52. > :14:55.see very strong commitments on those countries that participate that they
:14:56. > :14:59.will protect the space of whistle-blowers and that they will
:15:00. > :15:04.protect the space of civil society activists to fight corruption and we
:15:05. > :15:08.want to see concrete actions by these countries on tackling those
:15:09. > :15:13.that facilitate corruption. This is not that difficult. We can see major
:15:14. > :15:17.progress this week but it needs to be concrete actions and the need to
:15:18. > :15:25.be actions were those leaders that make them can be held accountable by
:15:26. > :15:29.the citizens of their countries. We must and that there. It certainly
:15:30. > :15:35.got us talking about it. Thank you very much.
:15:36. > :15:38.1,700 men, women and children have been buried in unmarked graves
:15:39. > :15:40.after they died crossing the Mediterranean,
:15:41. > :15:43.That's what a BBC investigation has discovered.
:15:44. > :15:46.There are more than 70 such sites in Turkey, Greece and Italy.
:15:47. > :15:48.Over the past two years it is estimated that more than 8,000
:15:49. > :15:51.people have died, many lost at sea, with many bodies washed ashore.
:15:52. > :16:04.A boat full of Syrians fleeing war land on the Greek island of Lesbos.
:16:05. > :16:08.No one on this boat drowned, but one man was crushed to death on board,
:16:09. > :16:16.and another died of a heart attack when he set foot on land.
:16:17. > :16:19.Both victims were travelling with other people who were able
:16:20. > :16:29.There are hundreds more that have either been lost at sea or found
:16:30. > :16:35.Their relatives, scattered across the globe, are left
:16:36. > :16:37.with a lingering pain that could haunt them
:16:38. > :16:43.In the last two years more than 8000 people have died
:16:44. > :16:47.On average at least one person each day has been buried
:16:48. > :16:51.in an unmarked grave, which you can see by these red dots,
:16:52. > :16:52.scattered across Italy, Greece and Turkey.
:16:53. > :16:58.More than 70 of these burial sites have been found as part
:16:59. > :17:05.This ceremony in Lesbos is one of them, with dozens of bodies.
:17:06. > :17:12.Some are recovered when the boats they were on capsized.
:17:13. > :17:16.Others washed up on shore days or even weeks later.
:17:17. > :17:26.Many relatives of the missing are desperately trying to find them.
:17:27. > :17:29.Farouk Bakar has been on such a quest for the last five months.
:17:30. > :17:32.His brother and wife died when their boat capsized off Lesbos,
:17:33. > :17:34.but the bodies of their four children were never found.
:17:35. > :18:04.He has travelled hundreds of miles in Turkey and in Greece, hoping
:18:05. > :18:09.to find either proof of life or at least a DNA match
:18:10. > :18:26.with unidentified bodies of children buried in Lesbos.
:18:27. > :18:28.Local authorities in all three countries have been stretched
:18:29. > :18:33.as they try to deal with unidentified dead bodies.
:18:34. > :18:36.Because of the large number of bodies found by the Greek
:18:37. > :18:39.authorities, they've had to bring in containers like these.
:18:40. > :18:41.Sometimes the bodies of migrants stay here for days or
:18:42. > :18:47.These containers are on the island of Samos, which doesn't
:18:48. > :19:17.Many of those who brave death to reach Europe leave relatives
:19:18. > :19:21.behind with the hope of some day seeing them again.
:19:22. > :19:25.But those lost along the trail leave a darker kind of longing,
:19:26. > :19:39.no longer for reunion - only for closure.
:19:40. > :19:41.To Saudi Arabia now where authorities are trying
:19:42. > :19:43.to curb the powers of the notorious religious police.
:19:44. > :19:45.The new regulation bans members of the Promotion Of Virtue
:19:46. > :19:48.And Prevention Of Vice Committee to chase suspects or arrest them.
:19:49. > :19:49.Religious police officers are frequently accused
:19:50. > :19:53.However, the new decision hasn't been welcomed
:19:54. > :19:56.by everyone in the country, as Hanan Razek reports from Riyadh.
:19:57. > :20:07.This widely shared video has sparked a debate in Saudi Arabia.
:20:08. > :20:09.The woman tells a member of the morality police
:20:10. > :20:16.It's one of many incidents where Saudis accused members of the
:20:17. > :20:20.committee of abusing their authority.
:20:21. > :20:24.It is quite rare to find someone who is willing to speak out
:20:25. > :20:27.about their experience with the morality police publicly,
:20:28. > :20:30.but we've succeeded to track down a Saudi woman who says she was
:20:31. > :20:38.A bite on the hand is what this woman, who doesn't want
:20:39. > :20:41.to reveal her identity, says it was the result
:20:42. > :20:50.The BBC couldn't verify the incident details independently.
:20:51. > :20:56.TRANSLATION: They wrapped my headscarf around me
:20:57. > :21:01.and insulted me because I didn't delete the video.
:21:02. > :21:03.I started screaming and I tried to get out of
:21:04. > :21:06.the car but they locked me and my friend inside.
:21:07. > :21:15.I was trying to film again so he bit me.
:21:16. > :21:17.Recently the Saudi government, in what some describe as
:21:18. > :21:22.a bold move, decided to curb their powers.
:21:23. > :21:26.work of the religious police means that members of the
:21:27. > :21:29.Committee To Promote Virtue And Prevent Vice can no longer stop
:21:30. > :21:36.people on the streets, arrest them, or ask for their identifications.
:21:37. > :21:39.Many Saudis have praised the decision, saying it will put an end
:21:40. > :21:44.to the violenations practiced by the members of this committee.
:21:45. > :21:49.However, not everybody here is happy about it.
:21:50. > :21:51.Some have taken to Twitter, which is very big
:21:52. > :21:54.in the most conservative of kingdoms, to voice their concern
:21:55. > :21:59.about losing the powers of the Committee.
:22:00. > :22:02.And some clerics weighed into the public debate
:22:03. > :22:09.The new regulation came in a rush and it didn't comply
:22:10. > :22:12.with the core of the governing system, and it violates the
:22:13. > :22:21.committee law that was issued by a Royal decree.
:22:22. > :22:24.For 76 years the Saudi religious police have enjoyed lots
:22:25. > :22:29.of powers over people's day-to-day matters.
:22:30. > :22:32.The new regulation has triggered a big debate.
:22:33. > :22:35.Many here think it is only a beginning of a
:22:36. > :22:46.Scientists have published their first global assessment
:22:47. > :22:50.The new study reveals that there are just under 400,000
:22:51. > :22:55.plant species known to science, and researchers say there
:22:56. > :22:59.However the report also found that a fifth of all plants
:23:00. > :23:05.are at risk of extinction, and face a broad range of threats.
:23:06. > :23:07.Coming into bloom - the beauty of plants on display
:23:08. > :23:10.at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
:23:11. > :23:13.Now, for the first time, scientists here have carried out
:23:14. > :23:18.And it has highlighted some big gaps in our knowledge.
:23:19. > :23:21.One of the things we did in this report was to count how many
:23:22. > :23:25.plant species there are, and that was interesting -
:23:26. > :23:27.391,000 we have come up with, and that's addressing four different
:23:28. > :23:29.databases to come up with that figure.
:23:30. > :23:31.But this is just scratching the surface.
:23:32. > :23:34.There are thousands out there that we don't know about.
:23:35. > :23:41.We have come behind the scenes here at Kew where the latest new
:23:42. > :23:45.Botanists have been heading to far-flung corners of the world,
:23:46. > :23:48.searching through existing collections, and even trawling
:23:49. > :23:51.through pictures of plants on the internet.
:23:52. > :23:54.And they are making new discoveries all the time.
:23:55. > :23:59.This orchid was one of 2000 plants found in 2015.
:24:00. > :24:03.New, too, was this 50-metre high tree in Gabon, and an insect-eating
:24:04. > :24:14.But there are also threats, and invasive species
:24:15. > :24:16.like Japanese Knotweed are a major problem.
:24:17. > :24:19.Damaging the environment, they are difficult
:24:20. > :24:22.The report now estimates that there are 5000 different
:24:23. > :24:29.Now that we have got this list and this number,
:24:30. > :24:31.it's certainly a bit like know your enemy.
:24:32. > :24:34.We know what we're dealing with, we can then look at them -
:24:35. > :24:38.what is similar, what makes a good invasive - and how can we use that
:24:39. > :24:42.information to have better management practices in place
:24:43. > :24:47.or recommendations, how you deal with them.
:24:48. > :24:50.But while the public enjoy their close encounter
:24:51. > :24:53.with nature, conservationists warn that one in five species
:24:54. > :24:59.This new report, though, will allow scientists to measure
:25:00. > :25:01.these changes to keep track of the future of our plants.
:25:02. > :25:18.We are just getting reports in the last few minutes that the leader of
:25:19. > :25:22.Bangladesh's largest Islamist party has been executed for war crimes.
:25:23. > :25:28.That announcement is coming from the War Ministry in Dakar. The offences
:25:29. > :25:33.committed by him all dates back to 1971 and the Bangladesh liberation
:25:34. > :25:37.war against Pakistan, one of the bloodiest in history. He led an
:25:38. > :25:41.Islami party for 15 years. The tribunal was set up in 2010 and this
:25:42. > :25:47.is one of the verdicts we have been waiting all day to hear whether or
:25:48. > :25:51.not this was going to happen, but it seems that Bangladesh has executed
:25:52. > :25:57.the top Islamist party leader for war crimes committed in 1971. More
:25:58. > :26:01.on the BBC website and all of our channels.