02/09/2016

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:00:00. > :00:09.After hours of confusion, it's confirmed that one of Asia's

:00:10. > :00:14.Islam Karimov has ruled Uzbekistan with an iron fist

:00:15. > :00:20.We'll look at what it means for the country and its poor

:00:21. > :00:27.A total recall of Samsung's flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 7,

:00:28. > :00:35.It's become known as "the Jungle" - we hear how the French Government

:00:36. > :00:36.has vowed to dismantle the controversial migrant

:00:37. > :00:42.And Melania Trump is suing Britain's Daily Mail Online,

:00:43. > :00:44.over a claim she worked as an escort in the 1990s.

:00:45. > :01:07.President Kariomov of Uzbekistan has died according to national TV.

:01:08. > :01:09.The 78-year-old led the central Asian country for more

:01:10. > :01:13.than a quarter of a century with an iron fist, often repressing

:01:14. > :01:19.The death of Islam Karimov could mean a power vacuum

:01:20. > :01:22.He hadn't been seen in public since mid-August.

:01:23. > :01:24.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has already sent a message

:01:25. > :01:31.President Karimov will be buried in the city

:01:32. > :01:35.The Russian delegation at his funeral will be headed

:01:36. > :01:39.Uzbekistan - a landlocked country in central Asia -

:01:40. > :01:43.has spent most of the past 200 years as part of Russia, and then

:01:44. > :01:46.the Soviet Union, before it emerged as an independent nation in 1991.

:01:47. > :01:52.With a look back at his life, here's Rayhan Demetrie.

:01:53. > :01:55.Islam Abdug'aniyevich Karimov's election as president of independent

:01:56. > :01:59.Uzbekistan followed the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

:02:00. > :02:02.Those were the only elections when a genuine opposition figure

:02:03. > :02:06.stood against the former Communist Party leader.

:02:07. > :02:09.His critics and opponents were swiftly imprisoned

:02:10. > :02:15.Mr Karimov jailed thousands of devout Muslims, suspected

:02:16. > :02:17.of ties to radical Islam, and insisted that Uzbekistan

:02:18. > :02:20.was following its own version of democracy.

:02:21. > :02:24.But this was a democracy in which free speech and freedom

:02:25. > :02:30.After surviving an assassination attempt in 1999, President Karimov

:02:31. > :02:34.started a new wave of oppression against his opponents,

:02:35. > :02:43.Human rights organisations have said that hundreds of peaceful protesters

:02:44. > :02:46.were killed by government troops after an uprising

:02:47. > :02:51.The question now is - who will replace him?

:02:52. > :02:53.President Karimov's eldest daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva was once

:02:54. > :02:56.a favourite to succeed her father but she fell out of grace over

:02:57. > :02:59.business scandals and an extravagant lifestyle and is currently

:03:00. > :03:05.The country's long-serving Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev

:03:06. > :03:11.and his deputy, Rustam Azimov, are among the possible successors.

:03:12. > :03:14.Loathed by his critics and described as one of the most brutal dictators

:03:15. > :03:16.of our time, President Karimov's death leaves Uzbekistan facing

:03:17. > :03:30.Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is in Moscow for us now.

:03:31. > :03:38.The emergence of this news has not been a straightforward process. No,

:03:39. > :03:40.not at all. We had a statement out there from the government in

:03:41. > :03:44.Uzbekistan earlier today telling us that the president was any critical

:03:45. > :03:51.condition following a stroke last week but the official announcement

:03:52. > :03:54.did not come until this evening. Before that, bizarrely, we have from

:03:55. > :03:58.the Turkish Prime Minister who sent his condolences several hours before

:03:59. > :04:02.the official announcement and also from the Georgian President who sent

:04:03. > :04:06.his condolences, again before the official announcement. So something

:04:07. > :04:09.peculiar was going on clearly as he waited for that official statement.

:04:10. > :04:16.We now have that statement. It was read out on state television in

:04:17. > :04:21.Uzbekistan by a sombre looking newsreader in a dark at and I

:04:22. > :04:25.answered. He was speaking and talking on behalf of the government

:04:26. > :04:29.and parliament in Uzbekistan talking of their huge breath. They said they

:04:30. > :04:34.were informing the country of the death of their dear President. --.

:04:35. > :04:40.Tadhg and sued. They described Islam Karimov is a great and historic

:04:41. > :04:43.leader and said that his name was synonymous with peace and stability.

:04:44. > :04:48.He is the man who has led Uzbekistan for 25 years. Now that he has gone

:04:49. > :04:54.there is a big question over who will succeed him and the potential

:04:55. > :04:58.for significant uncertainty and instability in Uzbekistan because he

:04:59. > :05:05.never pointed a successor and there are big questions going forward as

:05:06. > :05:08.to who might take its place. How important has Uzbekistan been both

:05:09. > :05:14.in the region and more widely? Well, in terms of its international

:05:15. > :05:19.significance, and I suppose it is the threat when you think of the

:05:20. > :05:23.terror attacks in New York and 911, when Uzbekistan then hosted an

:05:24. > :05:28.American military base which America used for its operations inside

:05:29. > :05:31.Afghanistan against the Taliban, so it was very statistically

:05:32. > :05:36.significant as far as the US-led fight against the Taliban in

:05:37. > :05:40.Afghanistan was concerned, although that bees and the Americans were

:05:41. > :05:45.removed from the country later on when there was criticism of the

:05:46. > :05:51.governed massacre in Uzbekistan in 2005 in Andijan. That is a major

:05:52. > :05:56.moment in terms of the Uzbekistan's human rights record, so it was

:05:57. > :06:00.widely criticised. No one in Uzbekistan has ever been held

:06:01. > :06:03.accountable for that massacre. Central Asia has played an important

:06:04. > :06:07.role strategically in the region and of course, as well, it is a country

:06:08. > :06:13.that borders Afghanistan and critically important is the issue of

:06:14. > :06:18.extract -- Islamic extremism. Islam Karimov had always said that he

:06:19. > :06:24.stood for preventing chaos and maintaining order so they always saw

:06:25. > :06:29.himself as a force against Islamic extremism but his critics have said

:06:30. > :06:32.that it's an excuse to silence us all opponents within Uzbekistan.

:06:33. > :06:33.Thank you very much for that report, Sarah.

:06:34. > :06:35.Lauren Goodrich is a senior Eurasia analyst with Stratfor -

:06:36. > :06:37.a geo-political and intelligence firm based in Texas.

:06:38. > :06:39.She says the president's death is very significant.

:06:40. > :06:45.I mean, he has been in charge for so long, he's been the symbol

:06:46. > :06:48.However, any successor is going to have to continue

:06:49. > :06:51.on with his policies, understanding the precarious

:06:52. > :06:55.It is a highly divided country among the clans that consider each

:06:56. > :07:01.It also is surrounded along its border lands

:07:02. > :07:10.Particularly on the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders and the Afghan borders,

:07:11. > :07:12.so whoever succeeds him is going to have to continue

:07:13. > :07:14.on the policy of keeping the country fairly locked down

:07:15. > :07:22.So the leader may change but such a tightly

:07:23. > :07:31.Uzbekistan is one of the most powerful countries in Central Asia

:07:32. > :07:34.but it is also one of the most fragile in the region

:07:35. > :07:37.and so the next leader is going to have to understand

:07:38. > :07:39.that he has to be a very strong leader, like Karimov,

:07:40. > :07:42.and fill the role in a very strong and heavy-handed and

:07:43. > :07:47.In order to keep stability, he has to rein in the clans,

:07:48. > :07:50.he has to think about Islamic extremism coming across the border,

:07:51. > :07:53.he also has to think about the instability of the land

:07:54. > :07:56.disputes along the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders that continually

:07:57. > :08:05.So there is so much instability and fragility among Uzbekistan

:08:06. > :08:09.so whatever leader takes the place will continue on Karimov's rule.

:08:10. > :08:14.What does this mean for Uzbekistan's relations with the wider world?

:08:15. > :08:18.Say ten years or so ago, a lot of eyebrows were raised

:08:19. > :08:20.at such a brutal regime being a strategic ally of the West,

:08:21. > :08:26.Uzbekistan, because it is so fragile, has really turned

:08:27. > :08:32.It isn't going to be aligned with the West and it is not

:08:33. > :08:36.going to be aligned with Russia because it doesn't want to be a pawn

:08:37. > :08:39.within that struggle of the West and Russia, as we have seen other

:08:40. > :08:42.countries like, say, Kyrgyzstan next door,

:08:43. > :08:45.in which Kyrgyzstan was aligned with one and the other and,

:08:46. > :08:48.because of that, a lot of instability was bred

:08:49. > :08:51.because of Russian and Western actions inside the country.

:08:52. > :08:56.So Uzbekistan instead has pulled out of pretty much all of its alliance

:08:57. > :09:12.network in order to remain neutral and just focus on itself.

:09:13. > :09:16.The electronics giant Samsung is recalling millions of its latest

:09:17. > :09:18.top-of-the-range smartphone, after reports that a small number

:09:19. > :09:22.2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s have been sold worldwide just a fortnight

:09:23. > :09:26.The flagship product was due to be rolled out in the UK today.

:09:27. > :09:29.Our correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is at a technology show in Berlin,

:09:30. > :09:33.At Europe's biggest technology show, it's Korea's Samsung

:09:34. > :09:37.And its star product this year is the Galaxy Note 7.

:09:38. > :09:40.This super size smartphone has won rave reviews in the US

:09:41. > :09:44.and Asia and was due to go on sale in the UK today.

:09:45. > :09:50.This American man posted a video on YouTube claiming his Galaxy Note

:09:51. > :09:58.Similar reports arrived from around the world.

:09:59. > :10:01.Be careful out there, everyone rocking the new Note 7.

:10:02. > :10:05.Samsung held a press conference to announce a radical move.

:10:06. > :10:11.The company was halting sales and recalling the Note 7.

:10:12. > :10:14.A battery issue was behind the Note fires, although just 35 out

:10:15. > :10:18.of 2.5 million customers had reported problems.

:10:19. > :10:22.35 is a big number and I think Samsung is doing the right thing

:10:23. > :10:25.in siding on caution and taking the device off the market,

:10:26. > :10:28.figuring out why there is an issue with the cells in the battery,

:10:29. > :10:34.This news could hardly come at a worse time for Samsung.

:10:35. > :10:36.Not only does it overshadow the launch of the Note

:10:37. > :10:38.7 and the many other products on display here,

:10:39. > :10:41.but it comes just a week before its deadly rival

:10:42. > :10:48.At an event in California next week, Apple is expected

:10:49. > :10:52.Its sales have disappointed lately, allowing Samsung to pull ahead

:10:53. > :11:00.But will such bad publicity affect the way the Samsung brand is seen?

:11:01. > :11:05.We asked some phone owners in Leicester.

:11:06. > :11:07.You don't know if it could happen again, or any other phone.

:11:08. > :11:12.I am not opposed to Samsung products.

:11:13. > :11:15.I think they make good TVs and even good cellphones, until I read

:11:16. > :11:19.But I think that would put me off purchasing it, for sure.

:11:20. > :11:22.It probably wouldn't put me off, and the reason being that large

:11:23. > :11:27.In Berlin today, Samsung continued to show off the capabilities

:11:28. > :11:30.of the Note 7, which even works underwater.

:11:31. > :11:34.But customers will now need reassurance that they won't need

:11:35. > :11:36.to take drastic action with a phone that catches fire.

:11:37. > :11:44.Now a look at some of the day's other news.

:11:45. > :11:52.A large explosion in the southern Philippines has killed at least

:11:53. > :11:53.12 people and injured several dozen more.

:11:54. > :11:56.The blast took place in a busy night market in Davao, the hometown

:11:57. > :11:58.of the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte.

:11:59. > :12:00.Pictures from the scene appear to show a street

:12:01. > :12:02.littered with broken glass and overturned restaurant chairs.

:12:03. > :12:04.The cause of the explosion has not yet been identified.

:12:05. > :12:07.A suicide bomber has attacked a court in northern Pakistan,

:12:08. > :12:10.Police said the attacker threw a hand grenade before running

:12:11. > :12:14.into the court area in the city of Mardan and detonating a bomb.

:12:15. > :12:16.A faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, said it carried

:12:17. > :12:22.The UN Security Council has called for calm in Gabon,

:12:23. > :12:24.where violence has erupted following Saturday's disputed

:12:25. > :12:31.Two more people have died in clashes overnight,

:12:32. > :12:34.bringing the total number killed to five since President Ali Bongo

:12:35. > :12:38.Supporters of his main rival, Jean Ping, have accused Mr Bongo

:12:39. > :12:42.Millions of workers across India have gone on strike against

:12:43. > :12:45.The industrial action disrupted transport services, banks,

:12:46. > :12:50.Trade unions backed by opposition parties say a government decision

:12:51. > :12:52.to raise the minimum wage for unskilled workers does not go

:12:53. > :12:55.far enough and there is no social security for millions

:12:56. > :13:05.For the first time in more than a decade, Florida is in a state

:13:06. > :13:12.The storm system, called Hermine, hit the coast just before 6am GMT,

:13:13. > :13:25.that's two in the morning local time, east of Tallahassee.

:13:26. > :13:27.There's been widespread flooding and tens of thousands of homes

:13:28. > :13:31.As the hurricane moved inland, it's been downgraded to a tropical

:13:32. > :13:33.storm but its heavy rains and high-speed winds

:13:34. > :13:35.have already left tens of thousands without power.

:13:36. > :13:36.Our correspondent, Amy Cole, has this report.

:13:37. > :13:40.Hurricane Hermine slams Florida overnight, the first to hit

:13:41. > :13:45.They have not had a battering like this for 11 years.

:13:46. > :13:47.Although Hurricane Hermine has been downgraded to a tropical storm

:13:48. > :13:50.by the US National Weather Centre, the impact it has had in northern

:13:51. > :13:55.As this satellite image shows, you can see the storm barrelling

:13:56. > :14:04.towards Florida, rapid and unforgiving.

:14:05. > :14:08.There is widespread flooding after 30 millimetres of rain fell

:14:09. > :14:14.and winds were gusting at 80 miles an hour.

:14:15. > :14:16.Hours before it hit, the governor Rick Scott had warned

:14:17. > :14:23.Just remember this, we cannot rescue you in the middle of a storm.

:14:24. > :14:25.You are responsible as we go through this storm.

:14:26. > :14:27.We will do everything we can to help you prepare.

:14:28. > :14:35.We are going to see a big storm surge, a lot of rain,

:14:36. > :14:42.There is going to be a lot of risk if we don't do our job.

:14:43. > :14:48.I have shutters on the front, south and the east sides.

:14:49. > :14:50.Down here, checking the lines and making sure

:14:51. > :14:58.In what is called the Big Bend Region, there are 150,000

:14:59. > :15:01.homes without power, schools are closed and people have

:15:02. > :15:05.been urged to move to higher ground because of flooding.

:15:06. > :15:09.As it moves over Georgia, to South Carolina and North Carolina,

:15:10. > :15:12.the torrential rain is the real story, the risk of flooding,

:15:13. > :15:14.there could be at much as 300 millimetres of rain,

:15:15. > :15:21.There could be tornadoes, they could be a cause

:15:22. > :15:26.It may well be hurricane season in Florida, and people may

:15:27. > :15:29.have been expecting it, but the reality is the time

:15:30. > :15:32.and the money it will cost to put things right again.

:15:33. > :15:39.The World Health Organisation says there's no evidence that anyone

:15:40. > :15:41.attending the Olympics caught the Zika virus.

:15:42. > :15:44.But a new study into the spread of the virus says that more

:15:45. > :15:48.than 2.5 billion people around the world live in areas that may be

:15:49. > :15:54.The study arrives at that dramatic figure by looking at the numbers

:15:55. > :15:57.of people who travel from Zika-affected areas over

:15:58. > :16:02.The presence of mosquitoes that can pass on the virus...

:16:03. > :16:05.And the health resources available in the countries that travellers

:16:06. > :16:10.The study published in the Lancet medical journal says people

:16:11. > :16:12.in countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Nigeria could be

:16:13. > :16:18.particularly vulnerable to an outbreak.

:16:19. > :16:21.Joining us now from Toronto is Isaac Bogoch, who was lead

:16:22. > :16:29.He's also a tropical infectious diseases consultant.

:16:30. > :16:36.Thank you for talking to us. Tell us how you went about measuring really

:16:37. > :16:42.think the potential Zika virus could spread. We looked at many factors.

:16:43. > :16:47.One of them was travel patterns from Zika virus affected areas in Latin

:16:48. > :16:53.America, equivalent to parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

:16:54. > :16:55.We looked at monthly climate data and temperature data and the

:16:56. > :17:01.presence of the appropriate mosquitoes and what we found was

:17:02. > :17:05.that areas at risk of the Zika virus that had the appropriate mosquitoes

:17:06. > :17:11.and climate and high degrees of travel that coincided at the same

:17:12. > :17:15.time, we could make up maps that showed areas suitable for the Zika

:17:16. > :17:19.virus, not just the introduction of it, but subsequent transmission of

:17:20. > :17:25.the virus. The figure of 2.5 billion people

:17:26. > :17:30.potentially being in vulnerable areas for the Zika virus is

:17:31. > :17:33.terrifying, a dramatic figure. How worrying did you find it? Do you

:17:34. > :17:39.think that you might have overestimated it? That is more of a

:17:40. > :17:42.conservative number. The key thing here is that that is just the number

:17:43. > :17:46.of people living in areas that certainly at risk for the Zika virus

:17:47. > :17:53.transmission. That means is that we know that there are areas of high

:17:54. > :17:56.risk compared other areas and that can about countries, people living

:17:57. > :18:00.in those regions to really mount a public health response. So,

:18:01. > :18:03.basically, what can happen is that every country knows that they will

:18:04. > :18:08.be vulnerable at a certain time, they might have limited resources,

:18:09. > :18:14.but you can usher in some of those limited resources towards

:18:15. > :18:19.surveillance or Mr control efforts when you know that you are at an

:18:20. > :18:21.increased risk of having this virus introduced and vocally transmitted.

:18:22. > :18:25.Sorry to interrupt, you mention that many countries you have looked at

:18:26. > :18:29.have limited resources, how confident are you that they would be

:18:30. > :18:34.capable to protect themselves to this threat? Absolutely, that is one

:18:35. > :18:37.of the key messages of our paper is that a lot of the countries that are

:18:38. > :18:41.at risk are low income countries and will have limited resources to mount

:18:42. > :18:45.such a response. What we need is a global effort. We are all in this

:18:46. > :19:02.together and we need a coordinated and global response to this. For

:19:03. > :19:05.example, parts of India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria, very populous

:19:06. > :19:08.countries, they will often have limited resources in many regions of

:19:09. > :19:10.those countries and they could be at risk of introduction and

:19:11. > :19:11.transmission of the Zika virus. A coordinated global public health

:19:12. > :19:15.response would certainly be helpful for to detect and secondly manage...

:19:16. > :19:18.If they can manage these cases is the virus is introduced and

:19:19. > :19:22.transmitted. Isaac Bogoch, thank you very much for joining us from

:19:23. > :19:30.Toronto. One of the big researchers in that study. Thank you.

:19:31. > :19:33.A student at a top US university - whose six-month jail sentence

:19:34. > :19:34.for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman last

:19:35. > :19:37.year caused an outcry - has been released from prison.

:19:38. > :19:39.Brock Turner, 21, who was a swimming champion,

:19:40. > :19:40.assaulted the woman outside a Stanford University

:19:41. > :19:44.He was freed from the Santa Clara County Main Jail

:19:45. > :19:46.in San Jose, California, after serving three months.

:19:47. > :19:49.Under the terms of his release, Turner will be registered as a sex

:19:50. > :19:54.Melania Trump - the wife of the Republican presidential

:19:55. > :19:57.candidate Donald Trump - is suing the Daily Mail Online

:19:58. > :19:59.for libel, saying the newspaper alleged that she was an escort

:20:00. > :20:02.Her lawyer says the claims are 100% false.

:20:03. > :20:05.The Mail Online has published a statement in which it

:20:06. > :20:07.retracted any suggestion that the allegations were true.

:20:08. > :20:19.Melania Trump, the wife of Donald Trump has,

:20:20. > :20:21.like most other prospective First Ladies, faced a good

:20:22. > :20:26.There was that speech to the Republican convention

:20:27. > :20:29.which bore more than a few similarities to one

:20:30. > :20:37.You work hard for what you want hard in life.

:20:38. > :20:40.In the Daily Mail today, there was a retraction of another

:20:41. > :20:42.story which had asked questions about her immigration status

:20:43. > :20:49.Given Mr Trump's position on immigration, it was a highly

:20:50. > :20:55.They also looked at allegations that she had worked as an escort.

:20:56. > :21:04.Today, in a statement, the Daily Mail said this...

:21:05. > :21:07.His lawyer is the man who recently represented the wrestler Hulk Hogan

:21:08. > :21:15.Charles Harder, here on the right, said the accusations were 100% false

:21:16. > :21:21.It is not just the Daily Mail, another blogger has been cited

:21:22. > :21:25.in court papers with a warning to other media outlets.

:21:26. > :21:28.Of course, it is not the first time Donald Trump has taken

:21:29. > :21:30.issue with the press, banning some papers from his rallies

:21:31. > :21:37.His stance on immigration is a central pillar of his campaign.

:21:38. > :21:40.He also needs to enthuse conservative America.

:21:41. > :21:42.Melania Trump's reputation is an important electoral asset.

:21:43. > :21:54.The French Interior Minister says the camp known

:21:55. > :21:57.as the Jungle in Calais - home to thousands of migrants -

:21:58. > :22:00.Bernard Cazeneuve said accommodation would be created elsewhere

:22:01. > :22:02.in France to - as he put it - "unblock Calais".

:22:03. > :22:05.Local residents have told the BBC that migrants have become more

:22:06. > :22:07.violent and desperate, with large gangs of

:22:08. > :22:09.young men increasingly congregating in the town.

:22:10. > :22:11.The French police union says reports of robberies,

:22:12. > :22:15.vandalism and assaults have spiked over the summer period.

:22:16. > :22:18.People at the Jungle camp are trying to make their way to the UK.

:22:19. > :22:23.Our Europe reporter Gavin Lee has more from Calais.

:22:24. > :22:33.Rodin's homage to the French citizens forced to surrender

:22:34. > :22:36.and hand over the keys to the city during the 100 Years War.

:22:37. > :22:38.Seven centuries on and many of the residents say

:22:39. > :22:41.One fifth of the population is now migrants.

:22:42. > :22:44.They are more visible in a city they are not welcome

:22:45. > :23:06.This local family told the BBC it is now much worse.

:23:07. > :23:08.TRANSLATION: I am scared for my kids.

:23:09. > :23:12.She's 14 and migrants are always in front of the school.

:23:13. > :23:16.When I go to work at six in the morning I have

:23:17. > :23:19.TRANSLATION: At night sometimes it is really risky

:23:20. > :23:21.and dangerous when you come across a group of them.

:23:22. > :23:23.You have a 50% chance you will be harassed.

:23:24. > :23:27.It is sad, but I have to say not all, but a majority of migrants

:23:28. > :23:30.They have now more than ever nothing to lose.

:23:31. > :23:33.In a nearby park, within minutes of filming, a group of young migrant

:23:34. > :23:35.men spot the camera and start throwing stones and abuse

:23:36. > :23:39.Calais is roughly three miles from the so-called Jungle camp.

:23:40. > :23:42.Police have spent the last year dismantling and removing people

:23:43. > :23:44.from encampments and squats all around the city to put

:23:45. > :23:46.the migrants in one place away from here.

:23:47. > :23:48.But because of the record number, the police union says

:23:49. > :23:53.The perimeter of the camp is now half the size it was six months ago,

:23:54. > :23:58.keeping tents away from the road, but at the same time,

:23:59. > :24:00.aid workers say the population has doubled to 9,100 in six months,

:24:01. > :24:04.and they say that is why tensions are so high.

:24:05. > :24:10.That is why we think there is more and more violence.

:24:11. > :24:16.There is no other option for those people.

:24:17. > :24:19.Port officials say one in ten of the migrants who stowed

:24:20. > :24:21.away in vehicles heading across the Channel managed

:24:22. > :24:25.And as the nights get longer, there will be even more

:24:26. > :24:42.As you know, five years of civil war have torn Syria apart -

:24:43. > :24:44.we see many images of destruction and desperation.

:24:45. > :24:46.So this new promotional video from the Syrian Tourism Ministry may

:24:47. > :24:49.come as something of a surprise - take a look at

:24:50. > :25:23.Extraordinary, that is the official national video for the Syria tourism

:25:24. > :25:28.board. After hours of speculation,

:25:29. > :25:32.Uzbekistan state television has confirmed that President

:25:33. > :25:33.Islam Karimov has died. The authoritarian leader has ruled

:25:34. > :25:36.the country for more President Putin has

:25:37. > :25:41.offered his condolences. And Smartphone giant Samsung has

:25:42. > :25:43.recalled its flagship Galaxy Note 7 model following reports

:25:44. > :25:45.of exploding batteries. It's also suspended

:25:46. > :25:53.sales of the phone. If you want to get in touch with us

:25:54. > :25:58.here at BBC World News,