this is bbc america, and now, live from london, "bbc world news." >> hello, i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news." our top stories. investigators look at new information from the crashed virgin galactic spacecraft. the safety device deployed early during the fatal test flight. under threat because of ebola, football officials meet to decide whether to postpone the africa cup of nations. tension in europe. the german chancellor sends a warning to the british prime minister over his plans to limit immigration. and walking his way into the record books above chicago, a man in the u.s. completes a

terrifying high wire walk blindfolded. hello, and welcome. new information has emerged over the crash of the virgin galactic spaceship. investigators say a safety device designed to slow the craft's descent activated early, but they warn it's too early to determine why the rocket broke apart. in california, debris is scattered across the mohave desert. >> reporter: picking their way through the wreckage, in the california desert, an investigation is under way which could determine not only the future of virgin galactic, but the space race as a whole. this dusty desert landscape is

now littered with pieces of the spacecraft which fell to earth. this giant part of the tail is just one of those pieces and it came to earth just a few feet from a nearby road. the plan now is to gather all of these pieces in a local laboratory to try to find out what went wrong. early indications are that pilot error was at least a factor in this disaster. crash investigators now say that a lever which unlocks the control mechanism for the wings, otherwise known as feathers, was pulled at the wrong time. >> what we know is that after it was unlocked, the feathers moved into the deployed position and two seconds later, we saw disintegration. that's the fact. we'll find out the analysis as a part of the investigation. >> reporter: flags at the mohave space sport have been at half staff in memory of michael alsbury, the pilot who died. his colleague, 43-year-old peter

siebo siebold, somehow managed to survive the disaster and is said to be recovering in hospital after an operation on his arm. his account of the final minutes of spaceship 2 could prove crucial to this inquiry. so too could footage from multiple cameras fitted on the craft. but officials say the inquiry could last as long as a year, during which a large part of the space tourism industry will be on indefinite hold. david willis, bbc news in the mohave desert. >> with me now is our science correspondent, john amos. this is a huge tragedy for the person who lost his life. his family, we heard about their loss. but also richard branson, his entire program. he is trying to get people into space. that looks like it's massively knocked. >> it has set this particular project back years, i don't

think there's any doubt about that at all. the repercussions for the rest of the industry, we have to wait and see what this investigation pulls out, because there are other groups that are trying to take people just above the atmosphere in rocket planes, take them high into the stratosphere in balloons. so the outcome of this investigation will have an effect on those groups as well. i'm absolutely sure about it. >> specifically, what do we now know for sure about what happened and why it happened? >> we had two key pieces of information released by the investigators over the weekend. one is this so-called feathering system. now, the way that the spaceship works is that it goes up into space and it breaks 100 kilometers, and then it comes back down. it has a very innovative system to make sure when it comes back down, it adopts the right position. belly down so that it can glide back to the runway. it's called feathering and it's got tail booms on the back of the spaceship and they go into a

90-degree position. it works a bit like a shuttlecock. the feathers always ensure that the projectile going over the net adopts the right configuration. this feathering mechanism does exactly the same for the returning spaceship. if you deploy what is essentially a braking mechanism when you're going faster than the speed of sound and accelerating, it's going to cause problems. you completely change the aerodynamics of the vehicle, the loading on the structure, it is asking for a catastrophe. now, they've said in the data that they have the cockpit video that they have, they can see one of the pilots, the co-pilot michael alsbury, who died in this accident, they can see him unlocking the position. a little bit earlier than would be expected. but they do not see the pilots, and there is no evidence in the data, that the pilots actually, physically deployed the braking mechanism. so we don't know why. it was uncommanded. it came up for some reason.

but that really is where the focus of this investigation is. the other key piece of the investigation report that came out was a lot of speculation over the weekend about the performance of this engine, because it was running a new fuel mix. they have found everything from that engine intact and there's no burn-through. no explosion. there was a lot of speculation that maybe the rocket engine had exploded. the evidence from the weekend would suggest otherwise. we're far from a cause, but we have some facts. >> it's too soon to say whether it was pilot error, that's what you're saying. >> the investigators are saying it was an uncommanded deployment of the system. uncommanded was the word that they used. >> thanks very much indeed. the government of morocco will meet african football officials later to decide whether to postpone the final of the african cup of nations because of the ebola epidemic. morocco has said it's unwilling

to host the tournament. it's suggesting postponing it until june. piers edwards is in the moroccan capital. >> reporter: this city should be hosting the cup final. moroccan organizers do not want the 16-team event and the thousands of fans it will bring in until the ebola outbreak is seriously contained. morocco has been ebola-free so far. any change could result in a serious human loss of life. and a damaging blow to the country's lucrative tourist trade. the nation's cup has never been postponed and sounding out alternative host nations should morocco pull out. few, though, are believed to be interested. meaning this could well go to extra time. and so, morocco's way. they want a six-month or 12-month postponement. a decision is expected today.

>> piers edwards. in other news, the pakistani prime minister has condemned a suicide bombing which took place on sunday near the country's only border crossing with india. more than 50 people were killed and at least 100 wounded at the attack. the daily flag lowering ceremony makes the spot popular with tourists on both sides of the border crossing. a british banker charged in hong kong with murdering two women has appeared in court. he was arrested after the women said to be sex workers from indonesia were found dead at his apartment early on saturday morning. both had been stabbed in the neck. he is due to appear in court again next week. a pro-russian separatist has won the leadership vote in the rebel election eastern ukraine. the central election commission has announced that he easily won sunday's vote as the head of the so-called donetsk people's

republic. the european union has condemned the elections calling them illegal. petro poroshenko called the ballot a farce. russia says it respects the will of the people. the bbc's david stern is following events from kiev. >> this is a juncture, a very important juncture, perhaps not the final one, but an important one along the way between the standoff, between russia and the west, as we've heard conflicting reactions to this. russia saying that they respect the will of the populations, or at least the population that voted in donetsk and luhansk, the west, saying this is an illegal, illegitimate, and also an obstacle to the peace process. the question is what happens next? the leaders in these self-declared luhansk and donetsk republic say this will lend them legitimacy, but the fear here in kiev where i am is that it will either lead to a frozen conflict, as we've seen in georgia and other parts of

the former soviet union, or perhaps to an escalation in the fighting, because there has been fighting ongoing ever since a truce was announced the beginning of september. 300 people in the last ten days. more than 4,000 since it started. so there's a great fear that this could lead, in fact, to even more or heavier combat operations than what we're seeing now. >> david stern there. now, at least 24 migrants have died after their boat sank in the black sea off the turkish city of istanbul. seven of the people have been rescued. the vessel was believed to be carrying about 40 people, including many children. let's get the latest now. our correspondent mark lowen is in istanbul. this is terrible news, mark. what's happened? >> reporter: a migrant disaster on the shores of europe. this morning, early on in the morning, a vessel capsized about five kilometers north of

istanbul. as you say, 24 bodies have so far been recovered. seven rescued. nine still believed to be missing. it's thought that around 40 people were onboard. many of them children. and if this was an unusual route really for a migrant vessel to take. turkey is one of the main departure points for those seeking a better life in the european union, but typically they take these overcrowded dingies and rubber vessels on the west coast of turkey heading for greece. now, to actually go across the black sea has led to speculation that they may have been trying to reach romania. a large rescue operation under way with rescue boats, helicopters and divers. but they fear that that number 24 could still rise. >> mark, thanks very much indeed for that. and of course, it's not the first disaster that we've seen on those shores. we've seen similar events, of course, in greece. we've seen similar events from

the north of africa over towards spain and italy. but we will keep you updated on what's going on there in the turk irwaters. now, let's get more on business. aaron has just joined us. >> you see me sliding in there. >> i did. >> can i get my breath back now? i'm joking. >> no. >> talking about the yen. good news for all those japanese exporters. the yen has hit a seven-year low against the u.s. dollar. this follows that rather surprise move by the bank of japan on friday. we talked about it right here, where japan is doubling the money. it's the big bazooka. doubling the money it pumps into the economy to the tune of $180 billion. the stimulus should make it cheaper and easier for japanese firms to invest, and of course the knock-on effect is that it's also made the currency more competitive because it makes japanese goods cheaper overseas for all of us to buy, so hopefully the idea is we buy more, and those japanese companies make more money. there you go. we'll keep across that one.

let's talk about this baby right here, europe's largest airline by passenger numbers. ryanair, it is riding high. first half profits, first half of the year profits, unbelievable. rose by nearly a third to 795 million euros. in dollars, just a pinch under $1 billion. the number of passengers traveling with the irish carrier also rose. in fact, we're talking about an airline now that carries nearly 90 million passengers a year. the group also raised its forecast for full-year profits and shares. sales have jumped by more than 8%. staying with travel somewhat. the annual trade fair for the travel industry, the wtm, the world travel market. it gets under way right here in london today, monday. and one thing is clear, despite the global economic slowdown, the popularity of holidaying overseas, it's going up, it is growing. travel and tourism continues to prosper globally with a rival. basically we're talking about the number of people who traveled hit a record 1.1

billion in 2013, that's up by 5%. and also 2014, forecasters see a further increase. what's driving the growth? now i can tell you it is the middle. and affluent classes from asia and the biggest spenders traveling overseas. who are they? yep, the chinese. they love to spend. in fact, they spend over $100 billion collectively last year traveling. lots going on. follow me on twitter. tweet me. i'll tweet you right back. more business coming up in "gmt." >> we did contribute to the u.s. economy. >> did you? very good. >> in a very strong way, i would say, thanks to my children. thanks very much, aaron. stay with us here on "bbc world news." much to come. the german chancellor sends a warning to the british prime minister david cameron over his plans to limit immigration. foreign markets. asian debt that recognizes the shift in the global economy. you know, the kind that capitalizes on diversity

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i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest headlines for you. investigators say a descent safety device on the crashed virgin galactic spacecraft deployed early during friday's fatal test flight. football officials are meeting the moroccan government to decide whether to postpone the africa cup of nations because of the ebola outbreak. more heavy fighting has been reported over the weekend in the syrian border town of kobane. 150 iraqi kurdish fighters have joined the struggle to prevent the town falling into the hands of militants from the so-called islamic state. well, the scene looking into kobane, this is the live shot as we're getting it at the moment, and the town is right on syria's northern border with turkey. many miles of that border are divided by nothing more than a railway line. our reporter has been to one border village to see how it's coping with the conflict. >> reporter: a strategic hill

now under the control of the kurdish fighters. it's located on the turkish-syrian border. before this air strike, the hill wascontrolled by i.s. militants and many of the villagers fled, fearing for their lives. but they have returned, and the sounds of the nearby fighting have now become part of their lives. >> translator: our children were scared at the beginning, but the war has continued for so long, we're used to it now. >> reporter: these vehicles left abandoned on the turkish border belong to kobane residents who were forced to leave their positions. some came here. prior to the war, the villagers along the war with kobane like this one relied on trade and sometimes smuggling goods across the border. since i.s. militants' attack on

kobane, not only have their lost that source of income, now there are extra mouths to feed. this was the village school. now around 20 refugee families are housed here in the classroom and the schoolyard. this woman remained in kobane to fight, but she fled with her daughter. >> translator: my home and belongings are all gone. i just took my daughter when i escaped. jihadists loaded our belongings into their cars and sold them. >> reporter: the villages help where they can, but with winter fast approaching, the kobane refugees can only hope that the newly-arrived peshmerga force will push back the jihadists so they can go home. bbc news on the turkish border

with kobane. >> now, the german chancellor has warned the british prime minister that his attempts to limit immigration from other eu countries could push britain out of the union altogether. angela merkel has said she would prefer the uk to leave the eu rather than compromise the whole principle of free movement. merkel is concerned the uk is approaching a point of no return. the paper said this is the first time ms. merkel has claimed the exit is possible. david cameron is pushing to renegotiate the terms of britain's membership. he's under pressure from anti-eu parties to try to cap immigration from the rest of the european union. our assistant editor says angela merkel has strong views on freedom of movement. >> there has been no denial. no one is suggesting these are not mrs. merkel's views and they

are significant because mrs. merkel really is the latest in a long line of senior figures in the eu who have been warning mr. cameron not to think he can cut some sort of new deal that involves changing the eu's fundamental laws on free movement throughout the eu. we had the outgoing president of the eu, mr. barroso here in london just the other week saying you won't get a deal on that. if you want to go down that road, you'll have to leave the eu. we've had president hollande saying it's not a priority for anyone else in the eu. we've had a number of eastern eu leaders saying exactly the same, and now mrs. merkel. why mrs. merkel's comments are perhaps more significant, it's not just because of who she is. the fact that she is the key pivotal player in europe. but also the tone of her reported remarks. her suggestion that really mr. cameron was leaving himself no room for maneuver. you've got a sense of her exasperation, frustration. almost resignation now that mr. cameron was incrementally taking

britain out of the eu. that said, when you talk to folk in downing street this morning, they are adamant that they are going to cut a deal, which they think is in britain's interest, and never mind what mrs. merkel is saying, they have to do what they think is right for britain. so at the moment, it seems to me we are in something of a standoff with mr. cameron insisting yes, i am going to try and get this deal, and with the rest of europe saying well, you won't be able to get it. >> norman smith there. in the last hour, the german government's been holding a news conference, and watching that for us is germany's state broadcaster. thanks for joining us. what was said in the last hour in the news conference? >> basically, the press speaker points out that germany wants to have a strong britain and a strong european union, but he also made clear that great britain should reflect on its role it wants to play in the future in the european union. and on immigration, merkel's

point is quite clear. the free movement of people is something in the european union that's a basic principle. it's something that's not up for negotiations and it shouldn't be undermined. and he also said in this press conference, he pointed out that the european union should focus together with the uk on how to combat benefit tourism coming from other countries and the european union. >> what do you think as an observer of the debate here is being left out of the way that we are talking about it here in the uk? >> i think two points. i think first of all, emotions. because yeah, i really think it kind of reminds me of the campaign against the scottish independence recently. i remember cameron saying we are better together, and i think there should be a politician now to say to the uk, we are better

together with great britain. because just think about what we did achieve in the last decade, for example. we achieve great things together. i think great britain is really an important country for the european union. so it's one thing to talk about principles and contracts and things like that, but somebody in this discussion who says we are better together, and to put a little more emotion in this debate, if you can say that. and i think the second point is there's a lack of honesty, because no one really says what it would mean if britain leaves the european union, because it's something which -- yeah, which can't be undone in the future. so a really heavy step. >> can you just explain briefly for me, from an emotional point of view in a way, why is the freedom of movement so important to germany? why is that such a key

principle? >> yeah, you know, when the european union was founded with germany, i mean, it was one of the founders, the three principles of the european union were the free movement of people and goods, a common foreign security policy, and the economic union. and therefore, the free movement of people is one of these key principles in the european union, and i think there's a fear -- not only in germany, but from other european members as well, if you touch this one principle that maybe the whole system would collapse maybe in the future. that it won't be the same european union as we know it. >> and how is the uk regarded by germany? is it recorded as a really important member? it doesn't want the uk to leave? >> sure, yeah. and that's what he pointed out, too. we wish to have a strong great britain and a strong european union and i think that makes quite clear that we do need great britain and the european

union and that we battle together and i think basically that's -- i think yeah, it's a very important member and, yeah, it should just stay in the european union. >> it's going to be a long debate. many thanks indeed. thank you. we are back in a few moments with all the very latest on all our top stories. (receptionist) gunderman group. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups.

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i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news." our top stories. new information about the crashed virgin galactic spacecraft. investigators say a safety device deployed early during the fatal test flight. victory for a pro-russian separatist in rebel elections in eastern ukraine. the european union and kiev condemn the result. under threat because of ebola. football officials meet to decide whether to postpone the africa cup of nations. and new research says obese people who have weight loss

surgery dramatically reduce the risk of developing diabetes. hello. investigators have new information about the crash of the virgin galactic spaceship. they say a safety device designed to slow the craft on re-entry activated early during the fatal test flight. but it's still too soon to determine exactly why the rocket broke apart. well, around 700 passengers have so far signed up for space flights in future with virgin galactic. the company says it's taken deposits which total more than $80 million. they include british scientist stephen hawking. also the canadian singer justin

bieber and actor ashton kutcher. just some of the celebrities hoping to become space tourists. well, in california, our correspondent david willis is there in the mohave desert where debris is scattered. >> reporter: picking their way through the wreckage, in the california desert, an investigation is under way which could determine not only the future of virgin galactic, but the space race as a whole. this dusty desert landscape is now littered with pieces of the spacecraft which fell to earth. this giant part of the tail is just one of those pieces, and it came to earth just a few feet from a nearby road. the plan now is to gather all of these pieces in a local laboratory to try to find out what went wrong. early indications are that pilot error was at least a factor in this disaster. crash investigators now say that a lever which unlocks the control mechanism for the wings, otherwise known as feathers, was

pulled at the wrong time. >> the lock unlocked part of what caused this. what we know is after it was unlocked, the feathers moved into the deployed position and two seconds later we saw disintegration. that's the fact. we'll find out the analysis as a part of the investigation. >> reporter: flags have been at half staff in memory of michael alsbury, the pilot who died. his colleague, 43-year-old peter siebold somehow managed to survive the disaster and is said to be recovering in hospital after an operation on his arm. his account of the final minutes of spaceship 2 could prove crucial to this inquiry. so too could footage from multiple cameras fitted on the craft. but officials say the inquiry could last as long as a year, during which a large part of the space tourism industry will be on indefinite hold. david willis, bbc news in the mohave desert.

pro-russian separatists has won the leadership vote in the rebel election in eastern ukraine. the central election commission has announced that alexander easily won the vote and has been elected the head of the so-called donetsk people's republic. the european union has condemned the elections, calling them illegal. petro poroshenko called the ballot a farce. russia says it respects the will of the people. with me is the bbc's ukraine analyst. thanks for joining us. where does this take us now, these elections? >> it takes us into uncharted territory, because i think what's happening in the eastern parts, donetsk and luhansk, parts that are still controlled by the rebels, is different from the situation in the crimea. there was a different kind of referendum, different kind of vote, which resulted in annexation. here it seems russia is stopping short of recognizing the republics after the vote. but the latest line from the ministry of foreign affairs in

moscow is that russia respects the vote. the leaders of those pro-rebel forces have a legitimate mandate and therefore kiev should now negotiate with them. something absolutely unacceptable certainly for the ukrainian president. and it's not just the european union. the united nations, the organization of security and cooperation in europe, they also say this is a farce, this is a bogus election in bogus conditions monitored by bogus groups. >> that's not necessarily how it's going to look, though to, the people in russia, is it? and, you know, in terms of looking back at what's happened in the last few days, the increasing fears about what russia is doing. you know, where are we would you say in terms of the tensions? >> i think most people in russia will see what the russian television will tell them about those elections, and the line from the russian television will be that this is a very democratic election, one of the most well-prepared -- i'm quoting -- elections ever. the turnout will be presented as

the result of the will of the people. we cannot simply verify those things, but what is clear is this creates another frozen conflict. frozen conflict in part of ukraine where there's a huge military standoff with tens of thousands of people on both sides. we're talking about very serious combat groups. we're talking about movements of very serious columns of armor and military hardware yesterday that was verified by the bbc and was observed by quite a number of western correspondents in the city of donetsk, for example. and we're talking about the death toll, which is rising. according to the united nations, more than 4,000 people have already been killed in the conflict, and the real figure may be much higher. and it's not clear how it will be resolved now with this very, very controversial vote, which will not be accepted either by the ukrainian government or by the european union, but certainly will be endorsed by russia, if not necessarily supported by russia. >> thanks very much indeed. the government of morocco

meets african football officials later today to decide whether to postpone the finals of the africa cup of nations. and that's because of the ebola epidemic in parts of west africa. mo morocco says it's unwilling to host the tournament in january and suggested postponing it until june. one of african football's biggest stars says he understands why morocco is hesitant to host the tournament. the striker says he too is worried. >> translator: it's quite normal that morocco is not willing to take the risk. that's altogether normal when you consider the comings and goings that there will be from a number of countries in africa. personally, i have this apprehensiveness. i'm naturally a bit scared. it doesn't need much. all it needs is for someone to touch you who has the virus and there you go. the difference is that it's not

like a flu. if you catch this, the chances of you getting better are slim, so there's this apprehension from the club as well. naturally they're concerned about their players. and above all, if i come back with this disease, i could contaminate the other players. so it's something very complicated, but also you have to represent your national team. at least 24 migrants have died after their boat sank in the black sea off the turkish city of istanbul. seven other people have been rescued. the vessel was believed to be carrying about 40 people, including many children. the boat capsized early this morning in the black sea, around five kilometers north of the bosphorous straight. a british worker accused of killing two women.

one of them was hidden in a suitcase. the 29-year-old banker left an out of office reply on his e-mail describing himself as an insane psychopath. from hong kong, juliana lui reports. >> reporter: saturday, the hong kong police said they received a call in the early hours of the morning, around 4:00 a.m., in fact. they rushed over to the address provided. a luxury apartment complex. there inside the flat, in the living room, they found a young woman who had passed away recently. she had injuries to her neck. after some point, they found another body. this one was actually placed inside a suitcase. and place told reporters that they believe she had been there for some time, the body had started to decompose. they immediately arrested the

29-year-old person who was living in that flat. he spent the last two days in police custody. this morning he arrived at the eastern magistrate's court. he had a brief meeting with the magistrate lasting only about 15 minutes. he had appeared not to have shaved during that time. he wore a black t-shirt to meet the judge. he spoke very briefly, only to say "i do" when asked whether he understood the nature of the murder charges against him. he's been remanded back into custody. he's not asked for bail. the judge has decided to resume the case next week in this particular court, but we do believe at some point that the judge will refer the case to a much higher court more used to dealing with murder cases. >> do we know how long this whole legal case could go on for and any more details about the defendant?

>> reporter: well, mr. jutting is a 29-year-old former investment banker. until about a week ago, he had been working for top tier global bank, bank of america, merrill lynch here in hong kong. he had only been here a year. he spent several years working for bank of america and barclays back in london, so he was fairly new here. i have spoken with people who are friends with him who said that he seemed to enjoy the night life here quite a lot. not a huge surprise. and what i also understand from talking to bar owners living in the area, working in the area, is that he was a regular at some of these bars, nightclubs where he was believed to have met these two young indonesian women. >> juliana lui in hong kong. coming up, calls to strap the

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i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest top stories for you. investigators focus on new information about the crashed virgin galactic spacecraft. the safety device deployed early during the fatal test flight. a pro-russian separatist has won the leadership vote in rebel elections in eastern ukraine. kiev has condemned the result. more than 3,000 europeans have joined islamist groups in syria and iraq. many are young men, brought up in europe. so what can be den to counteract the appeal of those radicals? our correspondent emily buchanan went to visit a project here in london which tries to rehabilitate extremists.

>> reporter: an ambitious project amongst muslims in northeast london. it aims to tackle extremism at its roots. maxwell is one of the foot soldiers. >> if you see young people with a group of boys, just tell them about you. it's better than staying outside. >> reporter: these community workers say the best way to tackle extremism is to come out here, night after night on the streets looking for young people to speak to, because this is a battle for the hearts and minds of young muslims. tonight, they find a group of teenagers in the park and quickly draft them into a game of basketball. >> we don't target a specific person. we engage with a lot of young people just to find out what they're about. >> so you're finding there's quite a lot of sympathy for islamic state? >> they don't want to own up or speak to us about them certain

things. it's when we hit into the youth center and engage with them a lot, we start to know more. >> reporter: at the youth center, they've observed local muslims being tempted more than ever by extremist ideology. the antidote, companionship and studying islamic text, which they say prove the new caliphate and its leader are bogus. >> people like them and groups like isis come up from within islam historically. we've been warned by our prophet many times that wherever you find them, cut them off. he would seek to destroy them because they are the cancer within the religion. >> reporter: the center uses former members of islamist groups to help deradicalize others. ali is one of these who doesn't want to be identified. he explained what once attracted him to a militant group. >> it's like a brotherhood. i didn't have any friends. so they were like my friends and my family. we would go out and eat in the restaurant. they're nice people. then hanif approached me at demonstration and told me more.

at the beginning, i didn't believe him. then i took his advice and stopped going. >> reporter: how did he manage to persuade you? >> this is not a slum. it's an act of evil, basically. they don't like to tell the truth. they sit here and tell people to go and do jihad or whatever while they're sitting here. why don't they go themselves? >> reporter: this man now teaches muslims to see through the militants' powerful religious message. >> these weren't stupid people. they're very passionate. very emotional human beings. just like you. >> reporter: this is a battle of ideas. workers here say it must be won if more people aren't to join the deadly fight in syria and iraq. emily buchanan, bbc news, northeast london. researchers here in britain

say obese people who have weight loss surgery could be cutting their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 80%. a study of more than 4,000 adults found that those who had surgery, including using gastric bands to reduce the size of their stomachs, were much less likely to develop the condition. with me is james gallagher from the bbc's health unit. this is such an interesting study. what does it say? >> quite simply, if you take two groups of people, incredibly big, but don't have type 2 diabetes. take two groups. if you give this group surgery and leaf this group to get on with their lives, go forward five years in time, there will be significantly more people who didn't have surgery developing type 2 diabetes. as you said, cutting the risk by 80% with surgery. it's a phenomenally big figure. >> and how big a threat is diabetes type 2? what is the scale of the numbers

here? >> about 300 million people around the world with type 2 diabetes. it's closely linked with obesity. at the moment, it's largely a problem of the big western traditional places. but you're also seeing it emerging in places like brazil and india, as populations get richer. they have a more affluent and western lifestyle and diet. they're getting bigger, and with it comes an increase in the symptoms of diabetes. >> and the symptoms are bad. >> they are. they can lead to amputations and blindness and a whole host of nasty conditions. it damages the whole of your body and leads to terrible consequences. >> so britain is actually thinking about giving very obese people surgery? what is the cost of that compared to the cost of treatment if they do develop the condition? some people will say just because you're having an unhealthy lifestyle and allowed yourself to become so big, why should we pay for surgery? >> this is a delicate balancing act between what is the cost of surgery, which can be around $12,000 to $30,000 with the

lifetime costs of treating people with type 2 diabetes. a tenth of all money spent on health care is currently treating people with type 2 diabetes. this isn't some kind of tiny little bit of the budget that's off to one side. this is a huge core of what the nhs in england is treating people with type 2 diabetes. so that's why it's being considered so carefully. an 80% reduction, how could you not be tempted? >> why is it working, that simply reducing your weight has this immediate effect? >> because the bigger you are, the more resistant your body becomes to this hormone called insulin. it goes around your body and tells all your cells in your body to start taking sugar out of the bloodstream. when your body becomes bigger, you become more resistant to the insulin. so the idea is you just do that in reverse. you make people thinner and then their blood sugar levels can be controlled by insulin again. >> this is a saltory warning for

all of us. thanks very much indeed. now, as the conflict in syria continues, three million refugees have poured into neighboring countries with many heading off to jordan. half of them are children. now one group is offering a look at the events through the eyes of children in the form of a giant canvas covered with their original art. >> reporter: a letter to washington from the children of syria. the insight into the minds of refugees living in opportunities like this one. a simple art project to keep the children occupied in the camp in jordan is now part of a global campaign led by hazami barmada. >> the average american is disconnected from that. when you're confronted with the child's picture, it does develop

a link of empathy that i think is very much lacking in the narrative that does reach the international community. the power of using art is that these kids tell their own story. ♪ it might seem crazy what i'm about to say ♪ >> reporter: they put out this video to give a face to their cause. restoring happiness to the children of syria. now the canvas is on tour, to show the world just what is at stake. first stop, the united states. and the audience could be anyone. from tourists, to runners the marine corps marathon, to u.s. soldiers past and present. >> this artwork tells their story. it tells about tragedy. it tells about injury. it tells about loss of home, loss of family. it's a very graphic reminder of the terrible devastation of war.

>> what we need to remember is the victims of these appalling conflicts are overwhelmingly children. >> reporter: assistant secretary of state ann richard worries about a lost generation and an apathetic community. >> we've been disappointed that the american public has not given more through private means to help syrian victims of the war. these are innocent families caught up in a war zone. this is not of their making. they are suffering in a way that is just terrible. >> reporter: this video highlights their resilience. organizers hope as the canvas is seen around the u.s. and europe, it will have an impact and help give the youngest victims of the syria crisis their childhood back. bbc news, washington. now, there are growing calls in japan to scrap plans for this. it is a brand-new stadium for

the 2020 olympic games. the stadium which will be the centerpiece of the tokyo games has been designed by the british architect. the design was changed in july to make it slightly smaller and kee cheaper, but it will still leave the city deep in debt. from tokyo, rupert winfield-hayes reports. >> reporter: there are very few places like this. this area of parks and sports fields that surrounds the old 1964 olympic stadium has been a sanctuary for nearly a century. but now, another olympic games is coming, and all this is about to change. you can see the fences are up, the work teams are ready, and in just a few weeks from now, the demolition here will begin. the old 1964 olympic stadium will be completely erased. it's going to be replaced by an enormous $1.5 billion u.s. stadium designed by british

architect zaha hadid. or is it? >> the height is 16 meters. the max height of the new stadium is 17 meters. so it means ten more meters above. >> reporter: this woman is so angry about the design, she set up a group to try and stop it being built. >> it is shaped like a spaceship. or cycling helmet. for me, it's more like a turtle thing. and the scale too big. going to cut down all those. >> reporter: there is no doubt the design is spectacular. it's also twice as big as

london's olympic stadium. but japan's sports council says it was chosen in a fair competition, and there is no need to change it. not true, says one of japan's most sell britted architects. fumiho kumaki says it was chosen by a small group of arrogant bureaucrats. >> i am saying it's ridiculous. they don't listen. because we are not a society where the voice of the citizens could be critical. >> reporter: professor maki fears tokyo will be left with another expensive white elephant, just like beijing and so many other olympic cities. rupert winfield-hayes, bbc news

in tokyo. >> let me know what you think about that, and any other stories in the news today. i'm on twitter. bbc news continues throughout the day. see you soon. eceptionist) gunderman group. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics.

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hello, i'm karin giannone. you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." our top story, have our investigators uncovered a crucial clue? experts say a device designed to slow the spacecraft on re-entry was activated without any command from the crew. >> the feathers moved into the deployed position and two seconds later, we saw disintegration. a major sporting event under threat from ebola. football officials meet to decide