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Transcript of BBC
News on Video (In the News of January
25, 2007)
>> Funds to rebuild a war-devastated country. Cooperation on
nuclear power. Russia will help india build new nuclear plants. Hugo
chavez says cuba's castro is stronger and he has a letter to prove
it. Welcome to bbc world. I'm martine denniS. Also on this program:
Unwanted christmas gifts leave to a rise in profits for the online
auction site ebay.
>> After years of civil conflict and last year's Israeli attacks
on hezbollah, Lebanon is now one of the world's most endebted
nations. Already today at a donor conference, saudi arabia has
pledged $1 million. Another 30 western and middle eastern countries
are being challenged to translate their support into financial
stance.
>> This will contribute to building the confidence needed to
encourage the private sector, investment for growth, productivity
and job creation. While rebuilding Lebanon's economy is essential to
its future, economic recovery alone cannot ensure stability. The
international community has a great role to play in restoring peace
and security to our country.
>> The conflict last year between Israel and Hezbollah left much
of southern Lebanon shattered while Israeli bombing of Hezbollah
buildings in Beirut devastated entire neighborhoods. The rebuilding
has begun, but without massive help from outside, Lebanon, already
struggling with the legacy of 15 years of civil war, will find it
hard. The strikes on Tuesday organized by the political opposition
underline the fragility of the country's stability. At least three
people were killed while 100 others were injured in a demonstration
which rapidly turned into street violence. It's hoped this
conference will help raise up $9 billion in loans and grants. Mr.
Siniora hopes foreign donors will help put his country back on
track, but it appears he will have to do without any help from
political opponents at home.
>> Reports of the impending death of the cuban leader fidel
castro have been greatly exaggerated, so says the venezuelan
president, hugo chavez. To prove his point, he held up a letter for
television cameras. President chavez shows what he called the firm
stroke of mr. Castro's signature saying, "this is for those who say
he's dying." The condition of mR. Castro has been the subject of
much speculation. The newly appointed defense minister of ecuador
has been killed in a helicopter crash. The clights involved two --
the collision involved two military helicopters taking part in a
nighttime exercise near an air base on the pacific coast. The
minister's 17-year-old daughter and five army officers were also
killed. The united states military has given a demonstration of a
new heat ray weapon designed to disperse enemies or hostile crowds.
It sends out an invisible high energy beam that produces a sudden
burning sensati. It makes people think their clothes are about
toatch cire, but officials say it's actallyu harmless. The russian
president, vladimir putin, has sealed a deal to construct four new
nuclear reactors in india. Mr. Putin arrived in india to be met by
manmohan singh and immediately entered talks. During his two-day
trip, the russian president is holding meetings which are expected
to yield deals worth multibillions of dollars. Let's go live now to
delhi and the bbc's correspondent. Quickly they got on with
business, and big busness i seemS.
>> Yes, huge business, martine. This is business with big
implications, too. This memorandum of understanding that they have
signed for four new nuclear reactors, russia is already building
two, but this is four new ones in southern india, and it is hugely
significant because india has long been trying to get access to
nuclear technologY. It's been denied it because it's never signed
the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Last year that all cngha, and
it wa theunited states, it was washington that offered iia a deal on
nuclear technology and is pushing through the process to get india
access to that for civilian nucle reactors, but the first deal india
has signed appears to be with mcoos president putin has stolen a
march, if you like, on washington with this dal fer four reacort it
is contingent, I have to say, though, on the process, on the
approvals india will get from what's called the nuclear suppliers
group. That's the international body, 45 countries that supply
nuclear materialS. They have to agree to transfer those materials to
india because it's still not signed the relevant treaties.
>> Damian, does this signal a new phase in russian-indian
relations given the kind of complex relationship they've had in the
past.
>> I think what it signifies really is both these two nations
wanting to try and, if you like, reconstruct their relationshiP.
They had a strong one in the past in the cold war dayS. That all
fell apart when the soviet union broke up. Both since have been
preoccupied with reconstructing their economies. Now both feel i
think that they are growing fast, that the tide of history is sort
of flowing their way, and that they are coming together because they
have mutual interests as here in the energy spherE. India, though,
also is reaching out elsewhere to the united states, and that may be
part of this. President putin looking to move in, try and secure
deals with india before washington doeS.
>> Okay damian, thanks very much for that. The authorities in
georgia say dave arrested a russian man who was trying to sell a
small amount of weapons-grade uranium. They say the man was
detainedin the capital, tbilisi, last summer in an undercover
operation involving american intelligence agentS. He was carrying
100 grams of highly enriched uranium which he said was a sample of
auc larger amount that he was prepared to selL. Tanya's here now.
She's got news of ebay on the up and up it seems.
>> So it would seeM. People using it for more and more purposeS.
Shares of the online awtion site ebay are up sharply in response to
the U.S. Internet firm saying its profits are up by a quarter. 2006
clearly went out with a bit of a bang, and the company's predicting
that 2007 will be an even stronger yeaR. Consumers are turning to
the site to get hold of hot products such as newly released
playstations. Demand is growing in all three main markets -- the
u.S., The U.K. And germany. Ebay shares jumped over 10% on that news
of financial results. Meanwhile china is warning against its stock
market rising too fast and a surge in inflation. The words of
caution come as the country announced on thursday its economy is
growing at its fastest rate since 1995. China is the world's fourth
largest economy and it expanded by over 10% last year, a pace that
many say too fast to be stable. After this it face increasing
competition from other countries within the region. So can the good
times last? Quentin summerville says china's economic success can't
be put down to its ability to produce low-cost goods.
>> It's a large part of china's success. There are plenty of
other country in the world that have lower wages than china such as
bangladesh and vietnam. China has that special mix of factors which
make it so attractive to foreign investmen and to foreign companies.
That's the low wages, but great infrastructure, too, excelntle
roads, ports and airports, and also china has a very lax and very,
very weakppach to environmentalolution. So factories here can pretty
much pollute at will, and those goods then don't have to include any
kind of extra environmental costs, which they would face if they
were produced in the west.
>> Quentin summerville there. And europe's largest engineering
company faces the wrath its shareholders at its annual generaleeng
today. The company revealed a 16% drop in profits on thursday after
it had to pay a fine to the european commission which is alleging
that semens engaged in price fixing. Investors are furious I want t
know what went wrong at t company's mobile phone business.
Lyoursbefore the meeting they said they wreeaying millions of
dollars for a u.S. Software marker. Why is everything an acronym
these days?
>> It hasn't been completely stalled by what's been happening. On
the, yeah thank you vyucer ined. Stay with us here at bbc world
because coming up it's a year since hamas won the pestinian
elections, but what price are palestinns piaing? In germany federal
posecutors have applied for the release of a former red army faction
member. She spent 24 years in jail and is now pleading to be allowed
out on probation. She was sentenced to life in 1958 for her
involvement in a series of kidnappings, robberies and bombings.
>> For the widow of hans martin schlier, murdered by the red army
faction, the news that her husband's killer could soon be released
is a terrible shock. She says there can be no forgiveness and the
family is still demanding a public apology. Transtransin most --
>> ( Translated ): In most things in life it is important toet a
gesture. I do n ueranhyot the application was made without such a
token. It makes me s.Ad
>> Sheas a member o t red army faction. They launched a campan
ofig terror in the mornhout has been i prison frn th last 24 years.
In 1985 she was convicted of nine murders, including that of hans
martin schlier, the headof the german federatN. She's now asked the
cot to beur allowed out on ption.Ro it's a highly controversial
move. Some politicians argue she should be kept behind bars while
others claim she d
>> (( Tranated ):He ss thsl red army faction has been dissolved
and she's declared she'll never use vlece again.
>> A final decision on mornhout's case is expected next montH. In
the meantime t date is bound to dana moore, b news, berlin.
>> News just coming in from th taiwanese capital. There's been an
earthquakE. Buildings have been shaking. This is according to
reports on taiwan ease television which reported the tremor
immediately. No indication so far as to whether other parts of the
island were hit, but earthquakes frequently occur in taiwaN. Most of
them are quite minor and don't cause a lot of damage, but another
earthquake in the taiwanese capital of taipei today. Buildings have
been rocking in e city, and we don't know just yet as to whether
ist' extended to other ar of e islanD. That's the lest ewsoome from
taiwan. Let's catch up with the main news again here at bbc world.
Wanted: $9 billion to rebuild Lebanon after the war with Israel. A
conference is taking place in pariS. Billions of dollars in arms and
energy deals at stake as esident putin visits india. It's been a
troubled year since theacional fighing between hamas and fatah as
well as the ongoing conflict with Israel. The vote appeared to be as
much about the rejection of the dominant fatah party as a vote for
hamas, but the formation of the hamas-led government ledo the
freezingf international ai which has had a devastating effect on the
palestinian pep. Since then unemployment has risen and many
public-sector workers like teachers and doctors have remained unpaid
for many months now. Hamas and fatah have isssed setting up a
national unity government to try to alleviate the aid freeze and
political impasse. Well, civilians often find themselves caught up
between the internal fighting between hamas and fawrt -- fatah
supporterS.
>> I've been invited into what was the home of a woman called
morna salha. She was 21 years old. She'd recently become a mother.
Picture there of her little boy, aged about six monthS. One
afternoon a few weeks ago she'd been doing some washing for the
family, and she was bringing it out here to her balcony to hang it
up to dry in the sun when at that moment unfortunately down on that
crossroads down there a gunfight broke out between hamas and fatah
lysz is amen -- militiamen morna was hit in the head by a stray
bullet. She died almost instantly. She was a completely innocent
victim of the political violence that plagues gazA. It's a conflict
that's driven bay long rivalry, deep personal differences and bitter
political divisions over how best to confront Israel and its
occupation of the palestinian territories. There have been ambushes
and assassinations as senior figures have been targeted in the two
parties. Now gaza for the last few weeks has been quite calm, but
everybody worries that there could be more trouble to comE. Now, the
vast majority of ordinary palestinians hate all this. They
desperately want to be able to just get on with their lives, to do
business or the get an education or to raise their children without
having to worry that the street that they live on might suddenly be
turned into a battlefield.
>> Nearly 2,500 politicians and business leaders are gathering
this week in the swiss i ask resort of davos. The bbc was also
there.
>> Let's pick up on the issue of hamas one year on and raise the
questions being raised particularly about american leverage now in
the region after condoleezza rice's visit last week with the
president of the council on foreign relations and the former
director of planning in the bush state department. What kind of
leverage does the U.S. Have at the moment?
>> Not an awful lot in part because of the situation in the
region. You a very weak Israeli government that's never recovered
from the Lebanon crisis and a divide palestinian leadership between
hamas and essentially the fatah peoplE. As a result, we don't have
in place essentially partners that the united states can work with.
All this limits what the united states can do.
>> What's the diplomatic read out here a week on from the rice
visit? Did she achieve anything? Did she show there really is no
leverage for the U.S. At the moment?
>> That's too strong. What i think you saw is signs that the
united states government is prepared to invest more in the
palestinian problem, and what leverage or influence we have is not
traditionally what you might call negotiations. The situation simply
isn't ripe for that. Quite possibly, though, and it's really the
administration hasn't decided whether they are prepared to begin
discussing some of these basic issues, essentially where are we
headed, what might final status look like, what might be the
contours of a palestinian state.
>> The bush administration have been disengaged for some
considerable time now. How much have they lost their leverage, lost
the initiative?
>> They've lost a lot and the situation has worseneD.
>> Could they have changed it?
>> Of coursE. The united states is still the single most
important outside player, and what the united states says in
particular can shape debates. That's the real question now. If the
united states introduces some ideas about where this ought to head,
how will that ricochet around the palestinian world. If the united
states talking very generally about what we think a palestinian
state ought to look like, how will hamas look like that? How will
hamas justify a refusal to negotiate if there's clearly a diplomatic
process worth engaging.
>> What kind of respect do you think there is for a u.S.
Administration particularly with a democratic controlled congress?
>> I think respect amongst the palestinians in the region is
quite low. The united states has lost prestige because of the
perceived non-engagement on the palestinian issue, because of its
position on Lebanon where it was seen as active and above all
because of iraq.
>> On hamas, will there be any movement in washington on at least
accepting hamas now as the power in the palestinian territories
given that three weeks ago there was this statement from damascus
suggesting that they now accept the existence of Israel?
>> Not at all. The administration still clearly is leaning
towards strengthening mazen mad. For hamas to be an acceptable
partner from the american point of view, that will have to change
not simply what they say but more important what they do on the
grounD. So hamas is essentially going to have to jump through some
hoops before this administration will be prepared to deal with theM.
>> Thanks for joining uS. There are a lot of leading figures in
the middle east here as well as what's happening in paris, including
the president of the palestinian territories and also king abdullah
of jordan. Back to you.
>> Now, if you've got any burning questions that you would like
nick gowing to put to those politicians and business leaders who are
there meeting in davos, why don't you send them to uS. Our web site
is bbc news dot com forward slash have your say. We'll pass those
questions on the nick, and nick can pose some of those questions to
world leaders of business and publics in davos. It's been described
as shocking and sickening. A young man held in an egyptian jail is
raped and tortured by the policE. It's a case that's exposed what
human rights groups describe as an epidemic of tortured in egypt.
Our middle east correspondent ian pannell has been investigating.
This report does carry disturbing images.
>> A shocking video of abuse. Recorded on a mobile phone by the
egyptian police. The video is authentic, just one of a number of
clips to appear on the interneT. It's exposed a dark secret that
egyptians have long known -- abuse and torture have been problems
for years, but the government has done little to stop iT. Egypt's
police are a powerful and sometimes menacing presence, even filming
out on the streets quickly attracts their attention. But a new video
has just come to light that has shocked many in egypt. A young bus
driver called amend al kabir was brought to this police station, an
ordinary man whose crime was to intervene in an argument involving
the police. He was beaten and whipped, and what happened next is
horrifying. Amend was sexually assaulted with a stick, an attack
filmed by the police themselves and sent to his friends as a
warning. We stopped the video here because the rest is simply too
graphic to shoW. But now he wants the tape to be shown to let the
world see how he was treated. And despite the publicity surrounding
his case, amad was sent to prison for three months for resisting
arresT.
>> ( Translated ): They threaten med not to say anythinG. They
even offered me money to keep quiet, but i refused. What i want is
my dignity. I want my rights.
>> This isn't the first time the interior ministry has been under
this kind of scrutinY. They were unavailable for comment but have
issued a statement. The egyptian government has been thrown off
balance by these allegations. Even sew they've been swift to respond
and two of the officers involved in the latest revelations have now
been charged. Even so, the egyptian government insists that these
are just isolated incidents and not part of a wider phenomenon.
Britain says it's raised concerns about these cases, but until
recently it was trying to sign an agreement to guarantee that people
it sends back to egypt won't be abused. For human rights groups,
these guarantees mean nothing.
>> I think it's fair to say there's a torture epidemic in
egyptian detention facilities. As the case demonstrates, it's not
only political prisoners who are tortured. It's also people arrested
on petty crimeS.
>> Egypt has undergone many changes in recent years, but it's
still ruled by one man and one party, and it's coercion, not
persuasion, that dominates many people's lives. Ian pannell, bbc
news, cairo.
>> Stay with us here at bbc world because coming up we've got
foreign architects. Are they using china as a testing ground for
outrageous designs that wouldn't be built anywhere else? She's just
five years old, already, though, she's got a contract on her heaD.
Agata is a colombian dog that's proving so unpopular with drug
smugglers they want her killed. Local police have had to step up her
security.
>> She's had a priorities -- price on her head since 2004. She
has around the clock protection and has a guard monitoring her food.
Meet agata. For a five years old she's made a lot of enemies. She's
one of colombia's best sniffer dogS.
>> ( Translated ): The security measures for her have been
stepped up becauseead w intelligence that drug traffickers were
going to try to kill her.
>> Agata works at the airport in the at dison border town of
leticia. She's one of almost 700 dogs employed by the police. Her
C.V. Is impressivE. In just over three years the golden labrador has
helped the authorities seize 300 kilos of cocaine and 20 kilos of
heroin. Every day she searches five cargo planes and one passenger
aircraft. Sniffer dogs are a key part of colombia's
counter-narcotics program. The country is the world's largest
cocaine produceR. But agata is, of course, unaware of the contract
on her head, taken out by those tired of having their goods
confiscated. Most sniffer dogs work for seven years, but police say
this one can look forward to a special early ref tierment.
>> British airways says it's cancelling all flights outs of
heathrow during next week's two-day strike by cabin staff. All
domestic and european flights to and from gatwick, as well, will be
cancelled. Talks aimed at averting the walkout on tuesday and
Wednesday broke down without agreement in the early hours of this
morning. China is ciewmg more concrete and -- consuming more
concrete and steel than any other nation on earth. An impressive
boom is transforming the capital, beijing, but the extravagant
creations of some foreign architects has in some cases shocked the
chinese. From beijing, quentin summerville reports.
>> Amid the bricks and the timber of the imperial city it's as if
an alien presence has landed. The newnal theater has upset china. <
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