but it's particularly hard in a country like burma.here are great challenges ahead this is a country that sits between china and india, huge business interests there in terms of all kintds of natural resources. from timber to water. to oil. energy. precious minerals, jade is very big. there's copper of course, there's actually a great interest in the business community in getting real information, it's not only the noble pursuit of the truth that is a great part of journalism, where it's succeeded. it's also a need for accuracy. in order to really understand the place. for investors, for the government, for the people who live there. so i think there's some very practical aspects that will lead burma forward, but i think it will take training. think the young generation of journalists will need help and i think there's a lot of support around them to take it sort of to the next level for this country. >> you know perhaps because this is part of my own ethnic heritage, i've take a disproportionate interest, eric. but also it's the idea

the forces unleashed can overturn the promise of freedom. >> ethnic tensions there in burma. you are watching bbc world news america. still to come, it is called the iron dome but is the israel defense system all that it is cracked up to be? e will report on the debate. indian police have a second man under arrest over the rape of a 5-year-old girl last week but that hasn't stopped protesters calling for the police to step down. there are accusations the victim's parents were offered a police bribe. the little girl was attacked in a locked room for more than 48 hours. she was rescued by neighbors that heard her crying. >> a fresh wave of protests after the latest horrific case of sexual abuse. the police had their hands full keeping the crowd at bay, much of the anger directed at the authorities. many here believe not enough has been done to protect india's women despite it being a burning issue for months. >> the government is always saying that we will do something but nothing has happened. that is why this time we have to do something and the government has to take action.

it seems only natural that you'd be in burma, myanmar as me. book that changed my life to whatever it is i am today, i had never been to asia until this guy sent me to japan and got me hooked on a continent. >> there we go. >> oh, nice. chicken head, yeah. >> that is the perfect mood awakener. >> oh, yeah. >> felipe travels constantly, bouncing around asia for decades. like all good travelers, he's relentlessly curious, and without fear or prejudice. >> fantastic. >> it makes perfect sense then that over cold brew and chicken necks in yangon, felipe is the one joining me to explore this particular moment in myanmar. >> the party. >> it is going to be a party. full moon party tonight. >> full moon party. >> what's that mean? we have no idea. >> we don't know. there's only one way to find out, i suppose. ♪ ♪ >> it sounds like a party. >> it gets crazy from now on. >> it's full moon day, a holiday marking the end of the rainy season. and today marks the beginning of three days of break out the crazy. giant speakers compete for attention. everybody

the very name, burma, refers actually to only one of these groups.on, however is a thanaka, a face paint and sunblock made from tree bark that masks many of their faces. at first jarring to see, it quickly becomes something you get used to and take for granted. yangon's gravitational pull broken, and with darkness falling, the train picks up speed. at times terrifyingly so. >> this thing is going to be derail at some point. they have lost how many wheels yesterday? on this one train? so truly it's about being in the right car, the one that keeps its wheels. >> derailments, or rail slips as they've referred to more is more benign sounding than rolling off into the rice paddies, which are not uncommon. one can't help wondering what the engineer and conductor are thinking as the train speeds heedlessly on faster and faster. >> all right. it must be like 40, 50 miles per hour at this point. >> i wonder if anyone has ever flown out of their seat out the window. you don't want to be holding a lab dog. >> or baby or anything. >> yeah, try -- in the bathroom

burma once i first arrived in scituate which is the main city in america and you know there were smiles and people waving thinking i was a tourist but after a few days or realizing that i was going into the i.d.p. camps to meet suddenly change you can literally feel this kind of hostility towards us and there were a few incidents where people saved. to myself and the people of working with. actually made this question our safety but the important thing is is that i'm a foreigner i'm british i can leave the support of the british consulate if need be but the reason you have no such a court big they can't jump on a plane in fact they don't even have fought and trial and permission we should have to pay for which they really get so you know out so you know people are actually very thankful fact that we're reporting on this but inside expression scituate it was very very hostile and i want to put this article you mentioned this earlier about the i read that has actually been purposely blocked by the burmese government i mean why is it that they're blocking aid through here yes and and are t

yeah burma officially says that it's about five percent muslims but it's more like twenty percent in this country now what happened was apparently there's a dispute goes up a muslim old gold shop in the central. in melanoma. and after this summer try selling some fake gold a dispute happened a mob formed and rent on a rampage and the rampage last for an hour or two lasted for two days people were hiding children were killed. as a cadence say buddhist monks at a mob not only killed beat and stabbed people but actually burnt people a lot of. internally displaced people that i've interviewed and the reason i think many of the seem to think that it's orchestrated is that the efficiency by which it took pace. the incompetence of the police the police were unable to protect you but in some cases the police were begging the mobs not to kill a group of women and the police would ensure that these women would worship these monks and then they were led to live and this is i witness accounts from people that i've spoken to and interviewed well said the pictures are horrifying the ones that i di

muslims who denied recognition that citizens of burma and this goes back. decades where. law basically didn't recognize them and the other is the muslims who are not recognized as been you so they're recognized as citizens are recognized as burmese on the id cards and ethnicity of india and bengali. tamil so you have this kind of religious. discrimination if you want i think a lot of people are surprised to learn that much of the violence been initiated by buddhists why is there such hostility from the buddhists toward the muslims in myanmar. started mainly because of next trimix not called her through who reach around the country conducting hate speech is inciting people and the problem recently is central man mine. was apparently because of a disputed goal shop but from information that we have and from what we've been we've been talking to people it seems entirely orchestrated for an excuse to start this conflict and i don't want to call your conflict because one side is on the back of the state and it's completely oppressing the other so it's not done with like the et

ones likeertain burma and thailand. enchildathe whole involved in the whole revenue creation. , the of local commanders prime minister as a corporate sponsorship. movedhe people have to be they are not called in as government offices. they are called in almost as guards for higher. the revenue transparency is a big problem with burma. you have toys said push the military not just on the abuses but on the revenue transparency. then the issue of them just being involved in private business needs to be pushed. the idea that is not appropriate for the military to be in business. .e are all for dialogue it is about telling them what is up and what to do to change this. i just have to respond to this moral issue in cambodia. human rights watch obviously agrees there is a moral obligation with cambodia. the paris peace agreement of 1991, the u.s. was party to those agreements. the agreements obligate all the signatories to promote human rights and democracy in cambodia. our position is when you have somebody in power for 27 ye

the very name, burma, refers actually to only one of these groups. have in common, however is a thanaka, a sunscreen from tree bark that masks many of their faces. at first jarring to see, it quickly becomes something you get used to and take for granted. yangon's gravitational pull broken, and with darkness falling, the train picks up speed. at times terrifyingly so. >> if this thing is going to be derail at some point. they have lost how many wheels yesterday? on this one train? so truly it's about being in the right car, the one that keeps its wheels. >> derailments or rail splits as they've referred to more is more benign sounding than rolling off into the rice paddies, which are not uncommon. one can't help wondering what the engineer and conductor are thinking as the train speeds heedlessly on faster and faster. >> all right. it must be like 40, 50 miles per hour at this point. >> i wonder if anyone has ever flown out of their seat out the window. you don't want to be holding a lab dog. >> or baby or anything. >> yeah, try -- in the bathroom an

change in burma brings trouble. south african president jacob zuma says that nelson mandela has been visited in the hospital and is showing up proven -- and showing improvement. he went to the hospital with a lung infection. facebook released their brand new software. it will put it feeds on the social network on the homepage of the phone. higherk shares edged following a demonstration of the product. in france, the government is coming under increasing pressure to reveal who knew what about the tax-evading activities of the budget minister. this week, he said he had hidden hundreds of thousands of euros in offshore accounts. the scandal is threatening to engulf francois hollande government. enforcer, a former budget minister, confessed he had taken hundreds of thousands of euros from the taxman and he lied about it. what did his ministers know? it is a scandal that threatens the french government just 10 months into office. he repeatedly denied allegations that he stashed an undeclared fortune and the bank. he late

i think most people in burma would say that there has been no real change in their lives since 2010. >> reporter: the nobel laureate has suggested she's ready to further the push for democracy by working with the military and other forces, her former opponents. >> we've always said that the key to a better future for our country is national reconciliation. it's cooperation and it's working together toward -- toward shared aspirations and shared goals. >> reporter: some experts say aung san suu kyi could be president following an election in 2015. >> i'm confident that there's every chance that i can become president of this country. but i would not like to say i'm confident that i will become president of the country because that's assuming that the people will vote for me. and it's for them to decide, not for me to decide for them. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi is aiming to revise myanmar's constitution, which gives preferential treatment to the military. but to do that, her party will need to win the 2015 general election, and she has to gain the support of the military, which stil

i think most people in burma would say that there has been no real change in their lives since 2010. >> reporter: the nobel laureate has suggested she's ready to further the push for democracy by working with the military and other forces, her former opponents. >> we've always said that the key to a better future for our country is national reconciliation. it's cooperation and it's working together toward -- toward shared aspirations and shared goals. >> reporter: some experts say aung san suu kyi could be president following an election in 2015. >> i'm confident that there's every chance that i can become president of this country. but i would not like to say i'm confident that i will become president of the country because that's assuming that the people will vote for me. and it's for them to decide, not for me to decide for them. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi is aiming to revise myanmar's constitution, which gives preferential treatment to the military. but to do that, her party will need to win the 2015 general election, and she has to gain the support of the military, which stil

he won international praise and sanctions against a country which is also known as burma. aung san suu kyi's national league for democracy, the largest opposition, won 43 of the 45 seats up for grabs last year, in parliament bye elections, she became a member of parliament. she said her country still has a long way to go. >> for me, reform means real change in the lives of our people. and i don't think there has been enough progress in that direction. i think most people in burma would say that there has been no real change in their lives since 2010. >> reporter: the nobel laureate has suggested she's ready to further the push for democracy. by working with the military and other forces, her former opponents. >> we've always said that the key to a better future for our country is national reconciliation. it's cooperation, and working together towards, towards shared aspirations and shared goals. >> reporter: some experts say aung san suu kyi could be president following an election in 2015. >> i'm confident that there's every chance that i can become president of this coun

so this thing was pat innocented in the low-tech, no internet penetration place called burma. this, of course, couldn't come without getting into the traditional campaign, so 2008 obama campaign used the new media in a new and a very, very creative way. this become a blue print for use of the new media throughout the globe in political campaign. so we can say that churchill and also hiterer won their election on radio, if they say kennedy won them on tv, it was obama who won it via alternative digital media. of this campaign was made by a funny little guy with this lovely smile. so david plouffe used the new media in a new and very uncharacteristic way. first, recruiting. over two million grassroots voters were recruited through this campaign. it was led by a great harvard professor, marshall, who i have the pleasure to know. $700 million u.s. or dollar cans basically from small donations was used to fundraise, so fundraising is a second big function of the new media in this cam campaign. use of the social networks, late 2008 right before the elections obama was leading madonn

independent journalist beg i recently interviewed from the ground in rangoon i'm sorry in rangoon burma recently wrote about the woman who are being taken hostage by the burmese government and there's growing evidence suggesting that the military is keeping these women as sex slaves it's important that more visibility is given to this crisis before countless other innocent people die. and finally i want to talk about guantanamo bay prison currently ninety three of the prisoners were just more than half of the inmates at the prison camp have now joined the hunger strike is reaching the end of its third month the source of the frustration among detainees is the realization that congress and the obama administration have fully turned their backs on the idea that get motion be closed the detainees at the camp path of whom have been declared innocent and cleared for release are losing hope that they will ever be set free and they're literally killing themselves right now as a plea for help. to add insult to injury us corporate media has also conveniently taken the same position as obama choo

how it all fits together and the dangerous precedent it sets for the world i'm joined now by jason burma's independent journalist and host of unbound radio dot com jason thanks so much for coming on thanks so much for you. this is very alarming if you look at the terms that the i.m.f. is now setting for cyprus they're talking about going into bank accounts there and taking forty to eighty percent haircut although they're saying they're only going to go after accounts that are one hundred thousand euros or more but at the same time you read this article and it says that the poorest will be spared the worst cuts but not all of these cuts all of this the same time when they're saying they're going to have to retool their pension plan and actually raise taxes now going back to the levo california in two thousand and eight when they declared bankruptcy they were told within a few years they would be back in the black and not in the red and that just has not happened so now they're being asked to retool their pensions as well and the main focus in stockton california which is a huge micro cars a

another tragically overlooked story that continues to unfold is the persecution of rohingya muslims in burma since the second massacre took place last october the world has continued to ignore what more and more officials are referring to as a genocidal ethnic cleansing conservative estimates suggest that over one hundred twenty thousand people remain homeless after buddhist extremists caused mass arson violence in a string of massacres that resulted in at least two hundred rohingya muslims needlessly slaughtered unfortunately a media blackout in the country is helping the world to ignore the plight of a people who've been acquired by the un is the most persecuted minority group in the world. independent journalist assad begg i recently interviewed from the ground in rangoon mainland sharm sorry in rangoon burma recently wrote about the woman who are be being taken hostage by the burmese government knowing evidence suggesting the military is keeping these women as sex slaves so important that more visibility is given to this crisis before. countless other innocent people die. and finally i w

another tragically overlooked story that continues to unfold is the persecution of rohingya muslims in burma since a second massacre took place last october the world has continued to ignore what more and more officials are referring to as a genocidal ethnic cleansing conservative estimates suggest that over one hundred twenty thousand people remain homeless after buddhist extreme. this caused mass arson violence and a string of massacres that resulted in at least two hundred rohingya muslims needlessly slaughtered unfortunately a media blackout in the country is helping the world to ignore the light of a people who've been acquired by the un is the most persecuted minority group in the world. independent journalist assad begg my recently interviewed from the ground in rangoon i'm sorry in rangoon burma recently wrote about the woman who are being taken hostage by the burmese government and there's growing evidence suggesting that the military is keeping these women as sex slaves it's important that more visibility is given to this crisis before countless other innocent people die. and final

we went to burma. spain, to italy, morocco, south africa, kenya. in 2006 i'm not -- we ended up creating a friendship with them. his last words were to me in 2006 was, remember christian and muslims, we are all brothers. i went and spent two days with him. i think i learned a really important lessons about travel at about the importance and significance of it. that is, muslims and christians, just as he said, he wasn't an educated guy but he was a smart guy. but whatever was we have more kinship with people around the world than we have difference. fascinating to go to burma, aung san suu kyi, should still under house arrest them, to see the situation. to me burma was a lot like cuba. and that is very repressive, totalitarian societies. and see a world in which you can't, you're going to a bookstore and there are maybe 20 books in the bookstore. everything is censored. or go to cuba and try to find an internet cafÉ and you can't find one. to see situations where people don't have the freedoms that we often take for granted, were a limit i would say

i think that chapter in burma achieves part of that as well.here you see her -- two amazing wimg for different reasons who come face to face who never met before. it's emotional and very historic. because of who these two women are. and in a way, again, you know, whatever you think of hillary clinton, i think everybody can agree on the fact she is, you know, is a global figure with an important stature on the global stage. she probably rarely meets women or people in general who are to some extent on the same historic level as hers. i -- write in the book how it's a moment of recognition. and it's not everyday she has the opportunity because she's been under house arrest in burma for so long. she has the opportunity to meet world figures like that. so it was that moment that made the trip special, and that's why i agree with you. it's a great chapter. it's also to see american diplomacy in action and to see a tangible -- if you want to use the wonkish board deliver. there aren't many of those. the opening of burma. still ongoing. no guarantee o

burma is a black box and the office to agree with it.gence file in the country and the leadership and the military leadership is thinned. it's upstairs. and sparse not because there's isn't information it's because it is not written down in the -- that's the problem you see again and again. less so in indonesia and thailand and pakistan but definitely more so in burma and come bode ya and places wheren't there a lot of hard written down evidence and what the history is. you add on top of that the problems with data that exists. and you have a recipe for a lot of misplaced assumption. you just don't know what you're doing. donald rumsfeld call a lot of unknown unknowns. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible] special operation one of my favorite quote is -- [inaudible] i think it was a litmus test -- [inaudible] are not only did we shut down everything -- [inaudible] getting their student out the military schools. there's a huge void of relationships developed for with that pakistan officers who are now senior pakistan officers with the --

, burma is likely to continue along a promising path of renewal. for other countries in regions in transition, the way forward is much less clear. and again human rights is going to be a key factor in shaping their destiny's, like the countries of the arab awakening. this is a movement that started with the demand for greater rights, dignity, and opportunity. the tunisian a fruit vendor who lit himself on fire didn't do so because -- based on an ideology are a religion. he did so because he wanted dignity and respect. he wanted the ability to be able to sell his wares without interference, without corruption. the students and tahrir square who brought us the revolution in egypt were driven by religion or an ideology. they were driven by their aspirations to be able to have jobs, education, security, and the future. and that really is the difference. where entrenched regimes have been swept out and new governments have been slow to guarantee those rights and protect the most vulnerable and build accountable, democratic institutions, we still see res

. >> coming up on this weekend's show, you travel to myanmar, country formerly known as burma.i've been fascinated by. my first reporting assignment i snuck into burma with the rebels, hooked up with some students fighting the burmese government in 1991. but i haven't been there since. what's it like? >> there's the sense that i'm sure you felt even more intensely, wow, i'm sighing some incredibly beautiful things and nobody else has seen them. the temple complex is as impressive and yet very few people have seen it. it is an incredibly beautiful country. what i found remarkable about myanmar, aside from its beauty, which is just spectacular -- i've been to a lot of places 20 years after the soviets left, 30 years and people still shy away from the camera. they still don't want to talk to you. they see a camera, it's bad things. they close up at the approach of an outsider here. myanmar, place where just about a year ago you were tossed in jail for consorting with foreigners, everybody was incredibly open. oh, yeah. this is the good stuff. >> what is it? >> yakatori. they're ju

. >> translator: we all intended to return to burma should the situation change there. but the survey results are a real surprise. >> reporter: this is one of the refugees who said he hopes to go on living here. he runs a restaurant in central tokyo that serves myanmar-style cuisine. he lives with his wife and teenage children. his son and daughter were born in japan. they have never visited myanmar. >> translator: do you want to go to myanmar or not? >> translator: i want to stay here. >> translator: how about a university in myanmar? >> translator: university students i see in town seem to be enjoying themselves and look so cool. >> translator: any plans after you graduate? >> translator: moving to myanmar after graduation? no way. i'd have to start from scratch. >> translator: he was in the audience when aung san suu kyi spoke. >> translator: i'd like not only those to return to myanmar but also those who stay in japan to think about their home country. >> translator: he made up his mind to support myanmar's democratization but he plans to remain in japan. >> transla