18/11/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

Our top stories...

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe

will meet military commanders

on Sunday, as protestors in Harare

march on his residence

demanding he step down

A man told me, we want to get in and

tell these people what we think of

them.

tell these people what we think of

them.

Former Lebanese Prime

Minister Saad Hariri meets

President Marcon in Paris -

and says he WILL go back to Lebanon

in the coming days.

The Venezuelan opposition leader,

Antonio Ledezma, is in Spain -

a day after escaping from house

arrest in Caracas.

In football, England Premier League

leaders Manchester City brush aside

Leicester for their sixteenth

successive win in all competitions.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

Zimbabwe's President Mugabe

is expected to meet the military,

who have taken power

in the country, on Sunday.

He could be hours away from losing

his power.

Tens of thousands of

people joined rallies across the

country on Saturday calling for Mr

Mugabe to go. There are also crowds

outside his official residence. They

want to reinstate the vice

president. Despite all of this the

veteran president remains defiant.

Our Africa Editor, Feargal Keane

reports from Harare.

Something happened

inside the people today.

A shared energy that helped

them into the streets.

They were there on the big

streets and small.

A common purpose in

a place so long divided.

Voices that wouldn't have dared

speak of Robert Mugabe a few days

ago now sang his political Requiem.

This is a historic moment.

It is so special.

We have waited for

this for 37 years!

You have come back from England,

you are happy to see this, I'm sure.

Indeed, I am very happy.

This is a new beginning

for the people of Zimbabwe.

What I am seeing here

is the death of a dynasty.

All of the faces of

the nation came into Harare.

Joy was unrestrained.

And exuberantly expressed.

Who knows what freedom

the military coup will deliver?

But an army that was once

an instrument of oppression

is now celebrated.

This tells you everything,

this is what the people

are thinking in Harare.

-- this is what the people

feel about the Army.

These are moments of genuine leather

oration. They thank the soldiers as

their saviours. -- genuine

celebration.

Fear has been cast off

and expectations awakened.

Watching the march I met this man,

a paramedic with a young family.

Do you believe the army

will allow you to be free?

Yes.

If they don't?

Well, it is difficult for them not

to allow us to be free,

because we have been free,

we just never exercise our freedom.

Viva the people of Zimbabwe.

Viva.

Those who forced this moment include

many who were ardent

supporters of Robert Mugabe.

Now they call for the departure

of the President and his wife.

The people of Zimbabwe have spoken,

and the people of Zimbabwe have said

you and your husband should go today

and not tomorrow.

Robert Mugabe is under intense

pressure, yet this afternoon

was refusing to stand down.

At one of his official residences,

the army was pushing back

demonstrators, but they would not

leave the area.

So people are very angry

and they want to get through,

past these army lines,

to this official residence,

one of the President's

official residences.

A man told me we want to get

in and tell these people

what we think of them.

Everybody here is now certain

that the moment of Robert Mugabe's

departure is drawing near.

Let's get the very latest

now from my colleague

Ben Brown, who's in Harare.

Some extraordinary scenes we are

watching. What is it like where you

are?

Amazing to see such euphoria

turned on the streets of Harare.

There were big demonstrations. The

people who demonstrated today, it

was unthinkable in years gone by

that they would even question the

leadership of Robert Mugabe. To come

out onto the streets and demand he

resigns and resigns now. They have

lost all the fear they had. This

follows the fact the Army have lost

faith with Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF

have lost faith with him as well.

What we saw today was people power.

Tens of thousands on the streets

showing they have lost faith with

Robert Mugabe and demanding he steps

down now. Indications are that he

will not. People close to him how

the saying he will not resign. He

would rather die than resign. The

army says it is having more talks

with him tomorrow to persuade him,

or tried to dissuade him, to go

quietly and with dignity.

We also

have this meeting of the Zanu-PF

party, who say they are going to

dismiss him. Then we could be seeing

the vice president brought back in.

He was rejected any a few days ago.

Yes. This is the point. This is what

Robert Mugabe is facing. He knows

time is running out for him. He does

not have any friends or allies left.

Nobody in the country wants him

still to be president of the

country. If he refuses to resign,

the leadership of Zanu-PF a meeting

on Sunday to discuss the posing him.

He will no longer be leader of

Zanu-PF. On Tuesday we expect

Parliament would then meet to begin

possibly impeaching him. In other

words this would all be done

constitutionally. There has been a

military takeover but the Army does

not want to make it look like they

are getting rid of him by force,

through a coup d'etat. They wanted

to be done constitutionally. If the

party him as leader and the

parliament deposes him has dashes as

president, that is what the Army

would like to see. They would not be

blamed as being an army, the

military, that has forcefully

deposed the president.

The question

is, he'll ever replaces him, the

question that Fergal Keane was

asking people on the streets is, do

people really believe that would

bring them a proper freedom?

That is

absolutely the key question. The

vice president has been seen as a

real strongman of Mugabe's

leadership, his government, in years

gone by. Many people accuse him of

being in charge of atrocities will

stop he has not been known as a

champion of democracy and human

rights. Some people here are saying

we might lose Mugabe and have

somebody not much better in his

place. On the other hand, there are

signs that the military would like

to install him. He is their favoured

candidate, as leader of a new

transitional authority but with

numbers of the opposition involved

as well. The opposition MDC. They

might think matters more palatable

to the outside world.

Ben Brown

joining us live from Harare.

The Lebanese Prime Minister,

Saad Hariri, is in France

where he has confirmed

that he will be going back home

in the next few days.

France has said it is "ready

to organise a meeting

of the international support

group for Lebanon".

Mr Hariri announced

he was standing down

while in Saudi Arabia

a fortnight ago.

The BBC's Middle East Analyst,

Alan Johnston reports.

The man at the centre of Lebanon's

store, Hariri, with his family being

welcomed in Paris by President

Macron. Then there was lunch. The

president key to show his support

for Hariri at a very difficult time.

When they emerged, Mr Hariri said he

was going home.

I'm going to Beirut

in the next few days to celebrate

Independence Day. When I am there I

will make known my political

position after meeting with the

president.

This all began far from

Paris in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Mr Hariri has been close to the

Saudis all through his political

career. After talks with them he

suddenly announced in Riyadh that he

was resigning. He said he feared he

would be fascinated in Lebanon. He

accused Saudi Arabia's eight

regional rival Iran of meddling in

his country's fares. A reference to

Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah

movement, Iran's life. In Beirut,

people were stunned for that nobody

had seen the resignation coming from

but they began to rally behind their

missing Prime Minister, here showing

their support for him during

Beirut's marathon. Many Lebanese

suspected the Saudis had forced Mr

Hariri to stand down and they might

even be holding him against their

will. Mr Hariri appeared again on

television to deny this. His

relations with the Saudis were very

good, he said. In this interview he

hinted he might even withdraw his

resignation. Many questions continue

to surround this affair. When Mr

Hariri comes home in a few days'

time, his people will hope he will

give them more answers, more

clarity.

Let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news

Search efforts in the South Atlantic

to find a missing Argentine

submarine have intensified,

with more air and sea craft

heading for the area.

The San Juan, which has

with forty-four crew on board,

hasn't been in touch for three days.

The sub had been returning

from a routine mission

when it disappeared.

It was last in contact

when it was more than 400 kilometres

off the coast of Patagonia.

14 civilians are reported to have

been killed in a rebel-held

neighbourhood besieged by Syrian

government forces on the outskirts

of Damascus. The British-based

observatory for human rights said

the victims died in air strikes and

shelling in four towns. Syrian state

media blamed rebels shelling in

Damascus.

The Russian ambassador has dismissed

criticism of his country's decision

to veto a UN Security Council

resolution, which would have

extended an international inquiry

into chemical weapons

attacks in Syria.

It's the 10th time Moscow has

used its veto powers

at the United Nations in support

of its ally since

the conflict began.

Stay with us on BBC World News.

Still to come...

We will look at tributes for the

AC/DC guitarist, Malcolm Young, who

has died at the age of 64.

Police looking for 19-year-old

Gaia Pope say a body has been found

on land near Swanage.

Officers made the discovery at 3pm

today near the coastal path where

items of her clothing were found.

She went missing in 11 days ago.

Three people arrested on suspicion

of her murder have been released.

Her sister said the teenager was the

light of her life and a cousin gave

a statement.

This afternoon the

emergency services found Giaia's

body. We are devastated and unable

to put those feelings into words. We

thank you for everything you have

done. Our little birdhouse flown but

will always be with us. The police

will be releasing a statement.

Please respect the privacy of the

family at this devastating time and

keep us in your prayers. Thank you.

You are watching BBC World News

today but that the latest headlines.

Huge crowds in Harare have marched

on President Mugabe's residence as

the military prepares to meet the

embattled leader and persuade him to

step down. The Lebanese Prime

Minister has met the French

president in Paris. He has confirmed

he will be going home in the next

few days. Let's get more on our top

story and President Mugabe being

forced from power.

Alex Magaisa, from Kent Law School,

was the chief of staff for former

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,

who leads the opposition

to Mr Mugabe.

He gave us his thoughts

on the recent developments

in his home country.

This is the first time in a very

long time there has been a huge

convergence of all the different

forces in timber dashes back in

Zimbabwe. I think it is an

opportunity for all the parties to

work together and see if they can

chart the way forward. It is

important for them to understand

what the future holds, in particular

making sure that the road to

democracy is prepared. That is

something that has been lacking in

Zimbabwe. We know the military that

intervened seemed to favour the

former vice president but

Zimbabweans must be given an

opportunity to make a choice as to

who's should lead them. -- who

should. Mr Mugabe is a tough man and

he will fight to the end of the bid

is not surprising that even though

there are offers on the table he is

unwilling to take what would be a

dignified exit and it might end up

very ugly. Mr Mugabe has seen lots

of people coming to his rallies over

the past few months and this made

him believed he is too well loved. I

think all of that was a facade.

People were doing it because that is

what they believed they were

expected to do. In the last few days

his party is rejecting him and I

think he will see very soon that he

will be politically isolated.

Doug Coltart is a human rights

lawyer, and activist in Zimbabwe.

He's been attending the rally

in Harare, and joins me via Skype

I expected cannot believe the

scenes. What has it been like for

you today?

It has been an incredible

day. For many of us, we were not

sure we would ever see a day like

this where we marched on Statehouse.

It was incredible, the scenes... The

atmosphere was euphoric and joyous.

I was not alive during the

Zimbabwean independence but many

people told me that the atmosphere

felt... They had not felt that since

Independence Day for the really it

has been an incredible day.

And yet

we have Robert Mugabe remaining

defiant. He has not gone yet. Do you

fear that maybe the jubilation and

celebration is a little bit

premature?

I would not say it is

premature but I think there is good

reason for why people feel this

energy, this excitement, the

transition, and irreversible

transition has begun. Certainly

there is a lot of reasons for

caution and Zimbabweans, we are not

through the woods by any means.

Zimbabwe -- Mugabe needs to step

down. Then there are huge queries

about the agenda of the military and

the potential for imposition of a

new leader. I think the fear for

many people is that this will just

remain an internal transition within

Zanu-PF and will not bring real

change. Today, seeing the masses

come out in such an unprecedented

scale, it really takes us down a

path where ordinary citizens are

starting to demand that they want to

have a stake in this transition

process.

And I suppose all eyes are

on the former vice president will

stop the question is whether he

would we any different from Robert

Mugabe. He may still be seen as the

old guard.

Absolutely. It seems that

the military does favour the former

vice president. To that degree he

probably needs to have a significant

and important role in the transition

process. He does seem to have the

backing of the military. He comes

from the same chequered past that

Zanu-PF has been through. He was

involved in many of the atrocities

that Zanu-PF have committed. I think

what we are saying is it is

essential that this is an inclusive

transition process where people from

all political parties, civil

societies, trade unions...

We will

have to leave it there. It'll be

very interesting to see what

happens.

It is an image of defiance that

summoned -- that Venezuelans were

emboldened by. The former mayor of

Caracas a staunch critic. Safe

having crossed the border into

Colombia. Until last week he was

under house arrest, accused of

plotting a coup to overthrow the

Government. He spent more than 1000

days in detention and now speaks for

Venezuelan political prisoners.

TRANSLATION: I will concentrate on

travelling the world in excise. I

will contribute and be an extension

of the hope of the Venezuelan people

to get rid of this regime, this

dictatorship.

Venezuela is the

victim of a regime that is colluding

with drug traffickers.

On Saturday,

he was meeting the Spanish Prime

Minister. He says he has not gone to

Madrid to seek asylum but political

support.

TRANSLATION: I have asked Mr Roy to

continue to put pressure against the

tyranny in Venezuela. He is a tyrant

who uses force and seeks to subdue

people like me. In Caracas, the

president was sarcastic. He

commentated on the escape.

The

vampire is flying free in the world.

He says he is going to Spain to live

the high life, drinking wine and

grand beer. You can keep the vampire

over there.

But he could reenergise

in a position that has been

criticised for not coming up with a

plan for Venezuelan. Four months of

protests ended earlier this year

with more than 130 people dead and

no change of government. He is now

free to become the most high-profile

opposition leader, speaking against

the president outside of Venezuela.

The question is how much this will

help his supporters inside the

country to bring about political

change.

Loads of sport around today.

Jesus and Kevin deploying with the

goals for Manchester City.

Manchester United beat Newcastle 4-1

at Old Trafford to stay in touch

with their city rivals. The Josay

Mouinho side saw Paul Probert and

Ibrahimovic return from injury with

Pogba getting on the scoresheet. --

Jose Mourinho. Bournemouth thrashed

Huddersfield and Chelsea also

thrashed strugglers West Bromwich

4-0. Swansea beat Burnley. Crystal

Palace drew with managerless Everton

while Liverpool romped to a 3-0 win

at home to Southampton. Roma moved

above Lazio into third with victory

in the Rome derby. Natalie are

currently 2-0 up against AC Milan.

-- naphthalene. Real Madrid and

Atletico Madrid are currently level

in the Madrid derby. By Munich

pulled six points clear with a win.

In Rugby Union, England have beaten

Australia by 30-6 to make it five

straight wins over the Wallabies.

That scoreline did not reflect the

balance of play. Our sports

correspondent was at Twickenham

watching the action. England, the

home side, ran away with the game in

the drizzle as the match slipped

away from Australia. Only in the

closing few minutes was the match

settled and certain. At key points

in the match the Australian coach

was visibly fuming at the decisions.

An Australian try disallowed and

offside at a crucial time. At one

point Australia were reduced to 13

men. England can say they have great

finishers to bring off the bench to

make a game like this certain. As

the coach, Eddie Jones, pointed out,

it is imperative to play for 80

minutes in these international.

Eddie Jones has still won every

single game as England coach.

Argentina beat Italy 31-15. Wells

could only manage a 13-6 win over

Georgia. Ireland edged it 23-20

against Fiji. Currently France Trail

South Africa 10-8 with half an hour

to play. David Coughlin has shocked

tennis fans by knocking Roger

Federer out. Dimitrov has lost the

first set against Jack's soccer but

leads by a break in the second. --

Jack Sock.

Malcolm Young, co-founder

and guitarist of the Australian

heavy metal band AC/DC,

has died aged 64.

He founded the group in the 1970s

with his brother Angus,

retiring more than 40 years later

to receive treatment for dementia.

The band were best known for albums

Highway to Hell and Back in Black,

and were inducted into the Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Don't forget you can get in touch

with me on Twitter. Thank you for

watching.