02/09/2016 World News Today

After hours of confusion, it's confirmed that one of Asia's

Islam Karimov has ruled Uzbekistan with an iron fist

We'll look at what it means for the country and its poor

A total recall of Samsung's flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 7,

It's become known as "the Jungle" - we hear how the French Government

has vowed to dismantle the controversial migrant

And Melania Trump is suing Britain's Daily Mail Online,

over a claim she worked as an escort in the 1990s.

President Kariomov of Uzbekistan has died according to national TV.

The 78-year-old led the central Asian country for more

than a quarter of a century with an iron fist, often repressing

The death of Islam Karimov could mean a power vacuum

He hadn't been seen in public since mid-August.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has already sent a message

President Karimov will be buried in the city

The Russian delegation at his funeral will be headed

Uzbekistan - a landlocked country in central Asia -

has spent most of the past 200 years as part of Russia, and then

the Soviet Union, before it emerged as an independent nation in 1991.

With a look back at his life, here's Rayhan Demetrie.

Islam Abdug'aniyevich Karimov's election as president of independent

Uzbekistan followed the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Those were the only elections when a genuine opposition figure

stood against the former Communist Party leader.

His critics and opponents were swiftly imprisoned

Mr Karimov jailed thousands of devout Muslims, suspected

of ties to radical Islam, and insisted that Uzbekistan

was following its own version of democracy.

But this was a democracy in which free speech and freedom

After surviving an assassination attempt in 1999, President Karimov

started a new wave of oppression against his opponents,

Human rights organisations have said that hundreds of peaceful protesters

were killed by government troops after an uprising

The question now is - who will replace him?

President Karimov's eldest daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva was once

a favourite to succeed her father but she fell out of grace over

business scandals and an extravagant lifestyle and is currently

The country's long-serving Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev

and his deputy, Rustam Azimov, are among the possible successors.

Loathed by his critics and described as one of the most brutal dictators

of our time, President Karimov's death leaves Uzbekistan facing

Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is in Moscow for us now.

The emergence of this news has not been a straightforward process. No,

not at all. We had a statement out there from the government in

Uzbekistan earlier today telling us that the president was any critical

condition following a stroke last week but the official announcement

did not come until this evening. Before that, bizarrely, we have from

the Turkish Prime Minister who sent his condolences several hours before

the official announcement and also from the Georgian President who sent

his condolences, again before the official announcement. So something

peculiar was going on clearly as he waited for that official statement.

We now have that statement. It was read out on state television in

Uzbekistan by a sombre looking newsreader in a dark at and I

answered. He was speaking and talking on behalf of the government

and parliament in Uzbekistan talking of their huge breath. They said they

were informing the country of the death of their dear President. --.

Tadhg and sued. They described Islam Karimov is a great and historic

leader and said that his name was synonymous with peace and stability.

He is the man who has led Uzbekistan for 25 years. Now that he has gone

there is a big question over who will succeed him and the potential

for significant uncertainty and instability in Uzbekistan because he

never pointed a successor and there are big questions going forward as

to who might take its place. How important has Uzbekistan been both

in the region and more widely? Well, in terms of its international

significance, and I suppose it is the threat when you think of the

terror attacks in New York and 911, when Uzbekistan then hosted an

American military base which America used for its operations inside

Afghanistan against the Taliban, so it was very statistically

significant as far as the US-led fight against the Taliban in

Afghanistan was concerned, although that bees and the Americans were

removed from the country later on when there was criticism of the

governed massacre in Uzbekistan in 2005 in Andijan. That is a major

moment in terms of the Uzbekistan's human rights record, so it was

widely criticised. No one in Uzbekistan has ever been held

accountable for that massacre. Central Asia has played an important

role strategically in the region and of course, as well, it is a country

that borders Afghanistan and critically important is the issue of

extract -- Islamic extremism. Islam Karimov had always said that he

stood for preventing chaos and maintaining order so they always saw

himself as a force against Islamic extremism but his critics have said

that it's an excuse to silence us all opponents within Uzbekistan.

Thank you very much for that report, Sarah.

Lauren Goodrich is a senior Eurasia analyst with Stratfor -

a geo-political and intelligence firm based in Texas.

She says the president's death is very significant.

I mean, he has been in charge for so long, he's been the symbol

However, any successor is going to have to continue

on with his policies, understanding the precarious

It is a highly divided country among the clans that consider each

It also is surrounded along its border lands

Particularly on the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders and the Afghan borders,

so whoever succeeds him is going to have to continue

on the policy of keeping the country fairly locked down

So the leader may change but such a tightly

Uzbekistan is one of the most powerful countries in Central Asia

but it is also one of the most fragile in the region

and so the next leader is going to have to understand

that he has to be a very strong leader, like Karimov,

and fill the role in a very strong and heavy-handed and

In order to keep stability, he has to rein in the clans,

he has to think about Islamic extremism coming across the border,

he also has to think about the instability of the land

disputes along the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders that continually

So there is so much instability and fragility among Uzbekistan

so whatever leader takes the place will continue on Karimov's rule.

What does this mean for Uzbekistan's relations with the wider world?

Say ten years or so ago, a lot of eyebrows were raised

at such a brutal regime being a strategic ally of the West,

Uzbekistan, because it is so fragile, has really turned

It isn't going to be aligned with the West and it is not

going to be aligned with Russia because it doesn't want to be a pawn

within that struggle of the West and Russia, as we have seen other

countries like, say, Kyrgyzstan next door,

in which Kyrgyzstan was aligned with one and the other and,

because of that, a lot of instability was bred

because of Russian and Western actions inside the country.

So Uzbekistan instead has pulled out of pretty much all of its alliance

network in order to remain neutral and just focus on itself.

The electronics giant Samsung is recalling millions of its latest

top-of-the-range smartphone, after reports that a small number

2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s have been sold worldwide just a fortnight

The flagship product was due to be rolled out in the UK today.

Our correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is at a technology show in Berlin,

At Europe's biggest technology show, it's Korea's Samsung

And its star product this year is the Galaxy Note 7.

This super size smartphone has won rave reviews in the US

and Asia and was due to go on sale in the UK today.

This American man posted a video on YouTube claiming his Galaxy Note

Similar reports arrived from around the world.

Be careful out there, everyone rocking the new Note 7.

Samsung held a press conference to announce a radical move.

The company was halting sales and recalling the Note 7.

A battery issue was behind the Note fires, although just 35 out

of 2.5 million customers had reported problems.

35 is a big number and I think Samsung is doing the right thing

in siding on caution and taking the device off the market,

figuring out why there is an issue with the cells in the battery,

This news could hardly come at a worse time for Samsung.

Not only does it overshadow the launch of the Note

7 and the many other products on display here,

but it comes just a week before its deadly rival

At an event in California next week, Apple is expected

Its sales have disappointed lately, allowing Samsung to pull ahead

But will such bad publicity affect the way the Samsung brand is seen?

We asked some phone owners in Leicester.

You don't know if it could happen again, or any other phone.

I am not opposed to Samsung products.

I think they make good TVs and even good cellphones, until I read

But I think that would put me off purchasing it, for sure.

It probably wouldn't put me off, and the reason being that large

In Berlin today, Samsung continued to show off the capabilities

of the Note 7, which even works underwater.

But customers will now need reassurance that they won't need

to take drastic action with a phone that catches fire.

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

A large explosion in the southern Philippines has killed at least

12 people and injured several dozen more.

The blast took place in a busy night market in Davao, the hometown

of the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte.

Pictures from the scene appear to show a street

littered with broken glass and overturned restaurant chairs.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been identified.

A suicide bomber has attacked a court in northern Pakistan,

Police said the attacker threw a hand grenade before running

into the court area in the city of Mardan and detonating a bomb.

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, said it carried

The UN Security Council has called for calm in Gabon,

where violence has erupted following Saturday's disputed

Two more people have died in clashes overnight,

bringing the total number killed to five since President Ali Bongo

Supporters of his main rival, Jean Ping, have accused Mr Bongo

Millions of workers across India have gone on strike against

The industrial action disrupted transport services, banks,

Trade unions backed by opposition parties say a government decision

to raise the minimum wage for unskilled workers does not go

far enough and there is no social security for millions

For the first time in more than a decade, Florida is in a state

The storm system, called Hermine, hit the coast just before 6am GMT,

that's two in the morning local time, east of Tallahassee.

There's been widespread flooding and tens of thousands of homes

As the hurricane moved inland, it's been downgraded to a tropical

storm but its heavy rains and high-speed winds

have already left tens of thousands without power.

Our correspondent, Amy Cole, has this report.

Hurricane Hermine slams Florida overnight, the first to hit

They have not had a battering like this for 11 years.

Although Hurricane Hermine has been downgraded to a tropical storm

by the US National Weather Centre, the impact it has had in northern

As this satellite image shows, you can see the storm barrelling

towards Florida, rapid and unforgiving.

There is widespread flooding after 30 millimetres of rain fell

and winds were gusting at 80 miles an hour.

Hours before it hit, the governor Rick Scott had warned

Just remember this, we cannot rescue you in the middle of a storm.

You are responsible as we go through this storm.

We will do everything we can to help you prepare.

We are going to see a big storm surge, a lot of rain,

There is going to be a lot of risk if we don't do our job.

I have shutters on the front, south and the east sides.

Down here, checking the lines and making sure

In what is called the Big Bend Region, there are 150,000

homes without power, schools are closed and people have

been urged to move to higher ground because of flooding.

As it moves over Georgia, to South Carolina and North Carolina,

the torrential rain is the real story, the risk of flooding,

there could be at much as 300 millimetres of rain,

There could be tornadoes, they could be a cause

It may well be hurricane season in Florida, and people may

have been expecting it, but the reality is the time

and the money it will cost to put things right again.

The World Health Organisation says there's no evidence that anyone

attending the Olympics caught the Zika virus.

But a new study into the spread of the virus says that more

than 2.5 billion people around the world live in areas that may be

The study arrives at that dramatic figure by looking at the numbers

of people who travel from Zika-affected areas over

The presence of mosquitoes that can pass on the virus...

And the health resources available in the countries that travellers

The study published in the Lancet medical journal says people

in countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Nigeria could be

particularly vulnerable to an outbreak.

Joining us now from Toronto is Isaac Bogoch, who was lead

He's also a tropical infectious diseases consultant.

Thank you for talking to us. Tell us how you went about measuring really

think the potential Zika virus could spread. We looked at many factors.

One of them was travel patterns from Zika virus affected areas in Latin

America, equivalent to parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

We looked at monthly climate data and temperature data and the

presence of the appropriate mosquitoes and what we found was

that areas at risk of the Zika virus that had the appropriate mosquitoes

and climate and high degrees of travel that coincided at the same

time, we could make up maps that showed areas suitable for the Zika

virus, not just the introduction of it, but subsequent transmission of

the virus. The figure of 2.5 billion people

potentially being in vulnerable areas for the Zika virus is

terrifying, a dramatic figure. How worrying did you find it? Do you

think that you might have overestimated it? That is more of a

conservative number. The key thing here is that that is just the number

of people living in areas that certainly at risk for the Zika virus

transmission. That means is that we know that there are areas of high

risk compared other areas and that can about countries, people living

in those regions to really mount a public health response. So,

basically, what can happen is that every country knows that they will

be vulnerable at a certain time, they might have limited resources,

but you can usher in some of those limited resources towards

surveillance or Mr control efforts when you know that you are at an

increased risk of having this virus introduced and vocally transmitted.

Sorry to interrupt, you mention that many countries you have looked at

have limited resources, how confident are you that they would be

capable to protect themselves to this threat? Absolutely, that is one

of the key messages of our paper is that a lot of the countries that are

at risk are low income countries and will have limited resources to mount

such a response. What we need is a global effort. We are all in this

together and we need a coordinated and global response to this. For

example, parts of India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria, very populous

countries, they will often have limited resources in many regions of

those countries and they could be at risk of introduction and

transmission of the Zika virus. A coordinated global public health

response would certainly be helpful for to detect and secondly manage...

If they can manage these cases is the virus is introduced and

transmitted. Isaac Bogoch, thank you very much for joining us from

Toronto. One of the big researchers in that study. Thank you.

A student at a top US university - whose six-month jail sentence

for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman last

year caused an outcry - has been released from prison.

Brock Turner, 21, who was a swimming champion,

assaulted the woman outside a Stanford University

He was freed from the Santa Clara County Main Jail

in San Jose, California, after serving three months.

Under the terms of his release, Turner will be registered as a sex

Melania Trump - the wife of the Republican presidential

candidate Donald Trump - is suing the Daily Mail Online

for libel, saying the newspaper alleged that she was an escort

Her lawyer says the claims are 100% false.

The Mail Online has published a statement in which it

retracted any suggestion that the allegations were true.

Melania Trump, the wife of Donald Trump has,

like most other prospective First Ladies, faced a good

There was that speech to the Republican convention

which bore more than a few similarities to one

You work hard for what you want hard in life.

In the Daily Mail today, there was a retraction of another

story which had asked questions about her immigration status

Given Mr Trump's position on immigration, it was a highly

They also looked at allegations that she had worked as an escort.

Today, in a statement, the Daily Mail said this...

His lawyer is the man who recently represented the wrestler Hulk Hogan

Charles Harder, here on the right, said the accusations were 100% false

It is not just the Daily Mail, another blogger has been cited

in court papers with a warning to other media outlets.

Of course, it is not the first time Donald Trump has taken

issue with the press, banning some papers from his rallies

His stance on immigration is a central pillar of his campaign.

He also needs to enthuse conservative America.

Melania Trump's reputation is an important electoral asset.

The French Interior Minister says the camp known

as the Jungle in Calais - home to thousands of migrants -

Bernard Cazeneuve said accommodation would be created elsewhere

in France to - as he put it - "unblock Calais".

Local residents have told the BBC that migrants have become more

violent and desperate, with large gangs of

young men increasingly congregating in the town.

The French police union says reports of robberies,

vandalism and assaults have spiked over the summer period.

People at the Jungle camp are trying to make their way to the UK.

Our Europe reporter Gavin Lee has more from Calais.

Rodin's homage to the French citizens forced to surrender

and hand over the keys to the city during the 100 Years War.

Seven centuries on and many of the residents say

One fifth of the population is now migrants.

They are more visible in a city they are not welcome

This local family told the BBC it is now much worse.

TRANSLATION: I am scared for my kids.

She's 14 and migrants are always in front of the school.

When I go to work at six in the morning I have

TRANSLATION: At night sometimes it is really risky

and dangerous when you come across a group of them.

You have a 50% chance you will be harassed.

It is sad, but I have to say not all, but a majority of migrants

They have now more than ever nothing to lose.

In a nearby park, within minutes of filming, a group of young migrant

men spot the camera and start throwing stones and abuse

Calais is roughly three miles from the so-called Jungle camp.

Police have spent the last year dismantling and removing people

from encampments and squats all around the city to put

the migrants in one place away from here.

But because of the record number, the police union says

The perimeter of the camp is now half the size it was six months ago,

keeping tents away from the road, but at the same time,

aid workers say the population has doubled to 9,100 in six months,

and they say that is why tensions are so high.

That is why we think there is more and more violence.

There is no other option for those people.

Port officials say one in ten of the migrants who stowed

away in vehicles heading across the Channel managed

And as the nights get longer, there will be even more

As you know, five years of civil war have torn Syria apart -

we see many images of destruction and desperation.

So this new promotional video from the Syrian Tourism Ministry may

come as something of a surprise - take a look at

Extraordinary, that is the official national video for the Syria tourism

board. After hours of speculation,

Uzbekistan state television has confirmed that President

Islam Karimov has died. The authoritarian leader has ruled

the country for more President Putin has

offered his condolences. And Smartphone giant Samsung has

recalled its flagship Galaxy Note 7 model following reports

of exploding batteries. It's also suspended

sales of the phone. If you want to get in touch with us

here at BBC World News,