Transcript in the news of
February 13, 2007
>> North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel
aid. Bomb blast kill three people on a pair of buses traveling towards the
Lebanese capital. Opinions count, so much so that the German icon Volkswagen
might be taken over. This is the bbc world. A very warm welcome. Also in the
programme, 2 million refugees have fled Iraq. Should the U.S.
be taking care of them? The amazing story of a man who fell to earth and
lived to tell the tale.
>> Hello to you. After lengthy talks in Beijing, North Korea has agreed to
begin dismantling its nuclear weapons program. The Chinese
envoy as the six-party talks says North Korea will shut down its main nuclear
reactor, Yongbyon, within 60 days, this in return for
fuel oil or the equivalent economic aid. The shutdown is to be monitored by
international inspectors. North Korea and the United
States will also embark on talks aimed at restarting
diplomatic relations.
>> The agreement reached in talks between North and South Korea, Japan,
China, the United States and Russia means North Korea will be reward with
much-need nuclear aid if it halts its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea would shut
its Yongbyon reactor complex within 60 days, receiving fifty tones of
fuel oil or the equivalent in other forms of assistance. As the North
takes further steps to disable its nuclear capabilities, it will go on the
receive a far larger portion of economic aid equivalent to 950,000
tones of fuel oil. It would have to include a
complete inventory of stocks of plutonium, the
fuel used
in North Korea's test explosion.
>> Later in the programme we'll get analysis from Seoul, the
South Korean capital, and Beijing on what this means
for the region. A suicide bomber has detonated a van packed with explosives in
west Baghdad. He's killed at least 16 people and wounded 45. The van exploded in
a parking lot next to a private university in a residential district. This is a
poor mixed neighbourhood with large Shia population. It's the first substantial
bombing on the west side of the river this year. A gunman in the American state
of Utah has killed five people and injured several others before he was shot
dead by police. Authorities in salt lake city say the gunman opened fire
randomly in a shopping centre. The victims were found throughout the complex. A
witness said she heard at least 20 shots fired.
The
gunman was killed by police when he was cornered inside a children's clothes
shop. Japan has called a special meeting of the international whaling
commission. Several countries, mostly against whaling, are refusing to attend.
They're protesting that Japan wants to restart commercial whaling. Japan is
currently hunting down hundreds of whales every year ostensibly for scientific
purposes. There have been violent clashes between Japanese whaling ships and
conservation groups. And we'll get more from our correspondent in Tokyo on the
importance of whaling to the Japanese people just later in this bulletin. Security
officials in Leban on now say three people have
been killed in bomb blasts on two buses east of the capital, Beirut. At least 20
people were killed when the bombs explode near the mainly in
the Christian town of Ain Alaq.
The bombs come just a day before the
second anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
>> One explosion wrecked a minibus packed with passengers in a mainly
Christian area of Lebanon. Another blast damaged a second minibus nearby. The
attacks came a day before the second anniversary of the assassination of the
former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Officials counted the dead while
casualties were rushed to hospital. There have been fears of more violence in
Lebanon since clashes last month between supporters and opponents of the
western-backed government. It's not known who was behind of
the attack on the bus and why.
There was a series of bombing in Lebanon
mainly targeting ant-Syrian politicians. Syria has denied any involvement in the
killing of Rafik Hariri or subsequent assassination in
Lebanon, including that of Pierre Gemayel in November. The United States is
investigating the whole area of
assassination.
>> Well, Jim Muir is in Beirut. He gave us this update.
>> Well, it's a very ominous development for the Lebanese. This was a kind of
randomly targeted attack, which is very unusual. There
have beem bombing attacks last few years, but they've been
assassination. Is was apparent that aimed
at a killing of ordinary people on board.
This is possible this is very
provocative. The area is the heartland the -- pierrel clan. A rather unusual
assassination it was carried out by gunmen rather than by
anonymous bombings that had
carried away quite a number of people, including the former prime minister,
Rafik Hariri. And the timing of this in that respect is also very significant.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the anniversary of that assassination. Very big
demonstrations planned here in Beirut. Things very, very tense. This is a
provocation aimed at exploding a very, very tense situation.
>> Jim, there was a thought at first that perhaps the buses weren't the
target. Perhaps somebody else on that road was the target. Is that now being
dismissed?
>> Well, the evidence seems to be that the bombs were on board these buses. I
mean, if you see one of them is completely wrecked, and the other has been
damaged apparently from an explosion inside, which blew up the tail end of the
bus. So it seems that the explosions... all the reading of it at the moment
seems to be the explosions took place actually on the buses and the victims were
just ordinary passengers. Most think this was a targeted assassination gone
wrong.
>> Jim Muir in Beirut. An update on a story we broke earlier. The bomb
attacks near three police stations about 100 kilometres east of the Algerian
capital. The Reuters news agency is now saying at least four people were killed
in those explosions. The attacks not claimed so far. Residents are blaming
islamists rebels. Now, to an almost unbelievable story of survival. A man who
fell four kilometres, 4,000 metres and lived to tell the team. That's what
happened to Michael Holmes, a brit taking part in a parachute jump in
New
Zealand. When he leapt out of the plane, he discovered his parachute didn't
work.
>> Just imagine this: You've jumped out of a plane, you're plummeting to
earth at incredible speed, your parachute doesn't work. Or you have to watch
your friend spinning out of control as you realise something is terribly wrong
and there's nothing you can do. This happened to Michael Holmes. His first
parachute failed to open properly. He tried to open his reserve but the ripcord
wouldn't work, so a final word for posterity.
>> Bye.
>> A shadow getting every larger and then gravity caught up with him. His
friend Jonathan had to watch all of this unfold as he glide in behind him. A
frantic search in the bushes fearing the worst.
>> You breathing, man?
>> Yeah.
>> Can you talk to me? Talk to me, man? You okay?
>> No.
>> Amazingly he only suffered a broken ankle and a punctured lung. A former
champion skydiver, a veteran of thousands of previous jumps, he says this brush
with death won't put him off. But Michael Holmes knows just how lucky he was. He
says his life didn't flash before his eyes. He simply thought this would have
been a frustrating way to die. Tim alman, bbc news.
>> Incredibly lucky Michael Holmes, what a fantastically restrained last word
for Boston patient. How can breaking a law change Volkswagen?
>> This is all about the golden rule that stopped Volkswagen from being taken
over, a matter of national interest. Today an adviser to the E.U.'s
top court said this German law breaks the European Union's regulations.
Porscha, which
has a 27.4% stake, can only have up to 20% of voting rights. They have welcomed
the view. It's likely Porscha will now raise its stake in Volkswagen, but it's
unclear when that will happen. While the opinion of the advocate general isn't
binding, everyone is asking if the door is now open to a full takeover.
>> Usually the judges follow the opinion of the advocate general and they
basically then tell the member state in question to get rid of the law that's
been stripped down. So they can actually procrastinate, but obviously there will
be huge pressure, political pressure and also pressure by Porscha to get rid of
this very soon.
>> Very interesting story to watch. Actually that law was put together back
in the 1960's. Now, cost cuts at airbus are back on the agenda in Europe. British
union officials are travelling to Paris to meet
senior airbus executives. They want reassurance that 12,000 jobs in the U.K. Are
Safe. Wings for airbus planes are made in Bristol and Wales in the U.K., But
it's feared airbus may want to save money by switching that work elsewhere.
That's it for me for now.
>> Thank you very much. Do stay with bbc world if you can. Still to come on
the programme, why the United States is coming under growing pressure to aid the
thousands fleeing Iraq. Now the mother of the Scottish school girl,
Molly
Campbell, has told the bbc how she had to give up the custody battle for her
daughter to save her mental health. This is her first television interview.
Louise Campbell has said she feared a long legal case would leave her so
stressed she'd be unable to take care of her remaining baby
daughter. The
high-profile began when Molly ran away to la hor with her father.
>> It was a custody battle played out over two continents, but when
Molly
Campbell, also knowns a Miss Byarana left her mother in Scotland to live with
her father in Pakistan, it became a dispute between the two
parents over a girl's identity. Married
for 16 years, Louise Campbell converted to Islam. She says concerns about
bringing them up in any faith led her to fight to keep her daughter in Scotland.
>> I brought them up completely Muslim. Looking back, I wish I had let them
choose for themselves when they were a bit older.
>> The custody fight was played out in full view of the international media.
>> If I could back, I know when I go into the house...
>> There were times when Louise Campbell thought she would get her daughter
back, but with the stress taking a toll on her health and ability to look after
her baby daughter with a new partner, she decided to give up the fight.
>> I'm scared if I don't stop fighting for Molly I'm not going to be well
enough to take care of Rachel.
>> Molly remains in Pakistan. Her mother says she's hopeful despite the long,
acrimonious legal battle they will stay in touch. Lorna Gordon, bbc news.
>> This is bbc world. The main news this hour: A deal to end North Korea's
nuclear weapons programme was reached at six-party talks in Beijing. Explosions
have thorn through two buss in Lebanon. At least four people have been reported
killed. Our correspondent Daniel Griffis has been following events in Beijing.
Charles Scanlon is in Seoul. I ask them both what they make of today's
announcement on North Korea's nuclear programme and the chances of the agreement
lasting.
>> I think we've got a long way to go yet, Mike. Certainly what this is
a very important first step. There's no doubt about
that. Bear in mind we've had more than three years of talks without any major
progress. Now for the first time the North Koreans and the other countries have
signed on the dotted line. The North Koreans have committed themselves to
shutting down their main nuclear facilities. They've committed themselves to
opening up those facilities to international inspectors, as well. So these are
pretty big steps. But we still have a long way to go, a lot of unresolved
questions because, of course, the North Koreans are talking about shutting down
their nuclear reactor. What happens to those weapons that most intelligence
agencies believe the North Koreans already have in their nuclear arsenal? No
mention of those in any final agreement. So this is an important step forward,
but there's stale long way to go, Mike.
>> Let's head to Charles Scanlon in the South Korean capital. Are you getting
any sense about what happens just for one question to the weapons that North
Korea allegedly already has?
>> Well, I think that's the whole point really. What we're looking at now is
a containment exercise of North Korea. That plant at Yongbyon is churning out
enough plutonium for about one weapon a year. When the possibility of a freeze
was raised last year, the United States wasn't interested in the freeze. They
wanted to roll back the whole North Korea nuclear programme, but they've
considerably softened their position now. They've decided that a freeze of that
plant is better than nothing and hopefully a first step to something more
substantial. But as far as North Korea is concerned, this is a very big
diplomatic victory because they're in a much stronger position than they were a
few years ago, and, of course, it's only a few months since they tested that
nuclear device.
>> Charles, what do you think makes this deal different? In a sense we've
been here before in 1994 with the Clinton administration in Washington. Very
similar deal in some respects but it's foundered because most people feel
Pyongyang was using it as a cover to pursue its programme.
>> A lot of people in this region will be asking lots of hard questions to
the United States because they'll be saying that you through away the agreed
framework back in 2002. People here would say it wasn't perfect, but at least it
did contain the North Korean nuclear programme. There was some ambiguity about
North Korea's nuclear capabilities. What they've done is used the last four
years of confrontation to push ahead with the extraction of plutonium. They've
tested a bomb. They now may have eight or nine nuclear weapons, and now we're
going back to a freeze. People in the region will say it's been wasted four
years and the United States' policy really hasn't helped.
>> Daniel, in Beijing, if it is for real, do you get a sense of what it was
that plead the
-- that made the difference?
>> I think certainly the Chinese have played an important role after the test
at the end of 2006 that Charles was talking about. The Chinese went to Pyongyang
and really read the riot act to the North Koreans, pretty much demanding that
they return to the negotiating table. So that has certainly been an important
factor. And the Chinese will be happy that at least some sort of agreement has
been reached, but as Charles was pointing out; there really is still a long way
to go, and the Chinese will feel that really they want to see much more of a
commitment from the North Koreans, as well, because as we already discussing
really in that sense, it's a victory for the North Koreans more than anything
else. At the moment they get to hang on to the nuclear weapons they already have
in their arsenal, and really in that sense it is a real victory for the North
Koreans. Certainly the Chinese will want to see more from them in that regard,
as well.
>> Daniel griff et cetera there in Beijing and Charles Scanlon in Seoul. The
American secretary of state, Condoleezza rice, will meet the united nations high
commissioner of refugees tomorrow to discuss the growing refugee crisis in Iraq.
More than 2 million Iraqis have plead the country, -- have fled the country, but
the trust has given asylum to fewer than 500. Now it's coming under growing
pressure to do more.
>> We all got our first communion in the church where we got baptised.
>> This woman has a few photos on her laptop computer to remind her of a
happier life of Baghdad.
>> This shows one of the churches that got bombed.
>> Her family, Christians, are now separated, having been forced to flee the
down terrorism rand herself was threatened with kidnap and rape. She's one of
the lucky few. She made it to America. Most Iraqis have been turned away.
>> I was one of the people who gave flowers to the American army when they
came into the country, but now I am a victim from all what happened. There are
millions of Iraqi people who are as victim as I am who have no one to help them.
>> Today our committee will focus its attention on the current refugee
crisis.
>> Congress also has been asking why America's ignored Iraqis who have put
their lives on the line. Sammy gave evidence from behind a screen, a caution
because he'd been targeted as a translator for U.S. troops.
>> My name was listed on the doors of several mosques call for my death. A
suicide bomber in a car directly behind me blew himself up. I was hit by
shrapnel in the face, bloodied and dazed. I am fortunate to be alive.
>> These are the scenes outside a Baghdad passport office. Around 100,000
Iraqis are now fleeing their country every month. 2 million have already crossed
the border into Jordan and Syria. Their lives in limbo while they wait for
the world to respond. Here at the department of state, Condoleezza rice has set
up a taskforce to address this refugee crisis, a sign of the growing pressure to
do much more. So far the United States has only given asylum to 460 Iraqis since
the war began. Yet last year alone it left more than 20,000 vacancies for
refugees unfilled. Why? Echoes of defeat in the Vietnam war may provide an
answer. The last time the U.S. helped in mass exodus of refugees was just before
the pull out of Saigon.
>> I think if we acknowledge there's a refugee crisis that it's a failure of
our ability to provide security and safety to the people of Iraq, which is one
of the prime goals of our mission there.
>> This time America does not want to signal defeat. But nor can it ignore a
crisis that's the consequence of its own military action. Jonathan
Beale, bbc
news, Washington.
>> Stay with us here on bbc world. Still to come on the programme: Japan
wants commercial whaling back on the menu. Do the Japanese want it on their
plate? Counterfeiting has long been a problem for the film and music industry.
From Rolex watches to Prada and Gucci handbags. Police in Brussels say they've
broken a major counterfeiting ring.
>> It started as a normal counterfeiting operation. The Belgian police
confiscating thousands of bootlegged DVD's destined straight for the market. But
what also came to light was a forgery ring, turning out unlicenced copies of
tin-tin figurines. There's money to be made in tin-tin memorabilia. Created in
1929, the escapades of this intrepid foreign correspondent have captivated
successive generations around the world, some 120 million books sold in dozens
of languages. There's plenty of official merchandising which these
counterfeiters were cashing in on.
>> ( Translated ): Once word got around collection and dealers that there
were fakes on the market, with we had to act quickly.
>> To help identify the forgeries, police turned to tin-tin expert change,
her father was a friend of the author who gave his name to tin-tin's Chinese
companion.
>> ( Translated ): It's shocking, really shocking. It's misleading. These
cheap tin-tin items show a complete lack of respect for the man's work, the
lines, the colours, the composition, they're all wrong.
>> Tin-tin, though, is no stranger to forgeries. In the book, the black
island, he uncovered a German plot to flood Britain with counterfeit money. Once
again it's case solved. Michael Voss, bbc news.
>> Now as promised, as the a whaling meeting goes on in Tokyo with Japan
trying to convince other countries to sanction commercial whaling, we've been
looking at the importance the Japanese place on whale meat.
>> This is Japans' fish market, a landmark here in Tokyo. It's where much of
the fresh fish that's served throughout this city is sold. Now giant tuna
waiting to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Japan insists on its right
the catch whale meat for scientific purposes. Much of that catch is sold at
stalls like this to restaurants and individuals. In some parts of the country.
The arguments for whaling don't get reported here another. Small but vocal
minority says this is a Japanese tradition. What right does any other country
got to tell us what we can or can't catch and eat? In fact, if you think of the
many ordinary people here in Japan, they seem unaware of the controversy this
causes overseas.
>> ( Translated ): I don't think Japanese people realise the controversy over
this issue, but I think we should care about how other countries regard us.
>> ( Translated ): Japan has always had a tradition of eating whales. I know
it's very hard for people from other countries to understand, but we wish to
preserve our culture, to continue our traditions and for people from overseas to
respect that.
>> The Japanese government invited all the members of the international
whaling commission here to Tokyo it says to try end the confrontation and begin
a conversation between pro and anti-whaling nations. It's clear what the
Japanese want, an end to the moratorium on commercial whaling. But this could
end up being a very one-sided conversation. Many of the anti-whaling nations
just haven't turned up. Meanwhile, of course, the Japanese ships which left for
the Antarctic three months ago are simply timing catch around l 50 minke whales
-- 850 pinky whales, all in the name of science, of course. Both the pro and the
anti-whaling nations have been accused of trying to buy the support of poorer
countries for their cause. As a result, some members of the I.W.C. Don't even
have a coastline let alone a whaling fleet. It's time to return this body to its
roots. The I.W.C. should
manage whaling, not seek to ban it. If it doesn't get its way, it will need to
consider other
options.
And although it hasn't said right, that cou I Iceland and
resume commercial
whaling.
>> Analysis and background on all the main stories for you whenever you want
it on our web site, in particular on this deal to end Korea's nuclear programme.
Thanks for being with us.
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