hello, you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news," with me, david eades. our top stories, is it saturation point for syria's neighbors. tens of thousands of civilians still queueing to get out, but aid agencies say their passage to safety is getting tougher. and i'm lyse doucet in damascus where syria's deputy foreign minister blames arab's gulf states for the rise of arab state. we'll also be hearing from one of the moderate syria opposition leaders. the first photos we've ever seen from the surface of a

comet. the philae lander proves it's been there. we're talking about shell and a major oil spill in nige a nigeria. documents show the company knew about its pipeline problems years before the disaster. a disaster which caused widespread environmental damage affecting tens of thousands of people. shell denies it, but we're going to talk to amnesty international, who have been helping the victims. it's midday here in london. 7:00 a.m. in washington. 2:00 p.m. across syria, where refugees caught up in the country's civil war are finding it harder and harder to escape. more than half the population has been displaced in four years of conflict. millions of them have got out of the country altogether. but many of those who are now trying to escape find they

simply cannot. as the infrastructure of neighboring countries reaches its limits, refugee agencies say the borders are closing. in our second day of special coverage focusing on syria's war, we'll be talking to one of the world's leading experts on refugee issues and also taking a closer look at the moderate opposition fighting against islamic state and president assad. let's take you straight over to damascus now. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is there. lyse? >> reporter: yes. you join us again in the old city of damascus. it's early afternoon and the place is full of shoppers. people coming to offer prayers at the spectacular mosque, which is just beside us. but across the city in various areas, including the suburbans, the syrian army continues its fight against the rebels who are still trying to push towards the center of damascus. and the rest of the country, the ground keeps shifting between the positions of the syrian

army, the various opposition groups, and of course the islamic state, which continues to advance across north eastern syria, despite what have been months of air strikes by arab and western forces. over the past three years, my colleague ian panel has been visiting northern syria, visiting areas controlled by the rebel forces. and reports today on what he sees as a declining morale and the possible collapse of the opposition in some areas. >> reporter: they're the youngest victims of syria's war. children who have had to run for their lives now living as refugees in turkey. their smiling faces belie the horrors they've seen. they still sing about freedom. but the uprising their parents began looks close to collapse. >> translator: there was a lot of shelling and the situation worsened day by day. at first, it was one shell. that was normal. but then they used missiles and

then bombs. it was becoming worse and we became more afraid. >> reporter: their teacher is ibrahim. we first met him three years ago inside syria when he was a rebel fighter. ibrahim signed up for the free syrian army. a moderate group of civilians and army defectors. like many, he was afraid to be identified at the time, but very clear about why he was fighting. >> freedom. i want political freedom. social freedom. >> reporter: but the government had different plans. for three years, we've witnessed relentless attacks that have killed and maimed and driven millions from their homes. ibrahim's hometown is in ruins.

the free syrian army is long gone from here. replaced instead by radical islamist groups. defeated and disillusioned, ibrahim now lives in exile. >> we call for the west to come to help us in our war in syria. i'm surprised that after one year, hello, we are here. we are fighting for democracy. come here. no answers. no help. nothing. >> reporter: there are few moderates like ibrahim left inside syria today. those who are left behind fighting across this border are struggling on three fronts. against islamic state, al qaeda, and the government. many of them say the west's reluctance to get involved allowed the radicals to prosper. president obama says he'll still arm and train the moderates. but in practice, it's probably too late. these are american anti-tank

weapons in their hands. one of the group's vetted by washington. but the supplies have been few and this dwindling band of moderates is facing overwhelming odds. >> translator: the situation is extremely tense. some fighters have joined al qaeda because we're not getting enough support. after three years, we're fighting for survival. if we don't band together, the revolution is over. >> reporter: people have been shot and shelled for nearly four years, but the world's focus is on the threat from jihadis. as bombs continue to fall, there's growing anger at the west. there's pushing people into the hands of the radicals. the situation in the north has never looked so bleak. ian panel, bbc news on the turkey-syria border. >> reporter: the rise of the so-called islamic state forces has changed the calculation of all the warring sides here in syria, as well as their allies,

including lebanon's hezbollah movement, whose fighters have been on the ground here and making a huge difference in some of the areas where the syrian army has advanced. a leading member of hezbollah has given a rare interview to my colleague michelle hussein and accused the west of being slow to wake up to the threat posed by islamic state. >> translator: yes, we intervened when we felt there was a real threat to lebanon and the safety of the lebanese and the project of the resistance. if we look at this intervention, the whole world admits today that the main opposition in syria is to the radical jihadist and terrorist opposition and that is why we see this international coalition against isis and al qaeda organizations. and we've been pointing out that for a while now. therefore the responsibility for what happened in syria lies with those who refused the dialogue

and wanted to enforce their wishes on the syrian people. >> reporter: but you've always said that you need your weapons for the fight against israel. that is what hezbollah was found for, and today those weapons are being used against fellow muslims. >> translator: the term is used wrongly here. what really poses a threat to muslims is the likes of these organizations. this reflects badly on muslims because those groups kill more from muslims than israel does. they kill sunni muslims as well. we see that in mosul, in homs and the internal fighting between the opposition factions in syria. >> reporter: let's cross and join jim muir, who's in an area that's been blooded with syrian refug refugees. jim, can i begin by asking you about the comments of hezbollah in acknowledging that western nations and hezbollah now at least have a common enemy, but i

assume that any kind of collaboration stops right there. >> reporter: no, it's a long way, i think, from the kind of collaboration that some might think could ensue from the fact that they have a common enemy, isis. but there is a dropping of the handkerchief, in way, perhaps suggesting they could do their own thing but converge without necessarily collaborating. let's not forget the americans in iraq did some bombing basically on behalf of -- or in support of shia militias there. so it's not such a huge leap of the imagination to see the same sort of thing happening here, but of course it's more complicated. hezbollah is closely linked to the syrian regime. the americans have not yet reached a position where they're willing to say okay, let's work with the syrian regime against isis. let's team up. that's a long way away, too. in fact, president obama has reported to be basically asking his people to revise policies on syria to take into account the

fact that the conclusion may be that you can't get rid of isis without getting rid of bashar al assad as well. so all these things are in the mix and i think it's going to be some time before we see clearer policies emerging from what is really a terrible policy mess. >> reporter: and jim, you've been reporting in recent months about the pressures and tensions along the lebanese-syria border. the flood of refugees from syria going into the valley. the lebanese government recently announced it had to now shut its bord borders, couldn't take any more. what is the situation now? >> reporter: well, that is the situation. basically, the borders are pretty much closed now to the flow of refugees, which was really flooding lebanon. i think lebanon reached the point where really it felt saturated. it has got the highest ratio of any country in the world of refugees to the local population. and they just got to the point i think where they had to say

that's enough, i've got friends, personal friends that i've known for decades, liberal people, charitable people who are saying we've become refugees in our own country. it has to stop. so that is the feeling that lice behind the government's step to close the borders. registration of refugees now has dropped dramatically, down by something like 85%, 90% from what it was just a couple of months ago. so yes, lebanon is closing its doors. people -- a few hardship cases are still being allowed in. it is a pretty porous border, but anybody coming across now is going to be illegal, they're going to have problems with their papers. they may even have problems going back, if they have children here, for example. but for the time being, lebanon is doing what it can to close the doors and say we're trying to cope with what we've got. we just can't take any more. >> reporter: jim muir in lebanon, where the pressures are mounting on the ability of the lebanese government and people to cope with this huge influx. it's much the same in jordan, as

in turkey, which have also taken in large, large numbers of syrian refugees. and of course, there's no certainty as to when, if ever, they can actually go home. the united nations has been saying it's the biggest humanitarian test of our century. that's all from us for now here in the old city of damascus. back to you in london. >> thanks very much indeed. we'll be focusing further on that issue of the refugees. but as part of our special coverage of the syria war, later in the day today, our middle east editor jeremy bowen is beginning to be answering your questions, in a question and answer session on twitter, and you can contact him directly by tweeting your questions to @bbcbowen using the hash tag #askbbcbowen, or you can e-mail your questions at bbc.co.uk. let's bring you some other news now. president obama is expected to outline his concerns about democratic reforms in myanmar

when he meets the country's president. mr. obama said that while he's optimistic about political change, more work is needed on the reform process, which was begun by the military rulers four years ago. the u.s. president is due to meet him on the sidelines of the east asia summit. demonstrators have once again taken to the streets in mexico to express their anger over the disappearance of 43 students in the town of iguala in september. hundreds of protesters, most of them wearing masks, entered the state parliament building, this is in the regional capital, causing extensive damage. as you can see here. also setting fire to vehicles. two car bombs have exploded in the libyan capital tripoli outside the embassies of egypt and the united arab emirates. they went off just after dawn prayers. both diplomatic missions have been closed for several months because of the deteriorating security in the country. there are no casualties from either of these blasts.

do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come on "gmt," the little robot probe made a historic landing on a comet, but is it still in place? is it working okay? we'll find out. yeah so with at&t next you get the new iphone for $0 down. zero down? zilch. nothing. nada. small potatoes. no potatoes. diddly squat. big ol' goose egg. the new iphone, zero down. zero. zilch. said that already. zizeroni. not a thing. zamboni. think that's a hockey thing. you know what, just sign us up. okay - this way. with at&t next get the new iphone for $0 down. now get a $150 credit for each line you switch.

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now, after a somewhat hairy landing, the philae space probe sent out by the rosetta spaceship is now stable on the surface of the comet that it's been chasing for more than a decade. initially, it failed to land properly. it bounced up into space twice, in fact, before settling down, much to the jubilation of scientists at the european space agency. they're running the show. it's still not totally secure, though. as andy moore reports. >> reporter: the first close-up view of a comet from a spacecraft actually sitting on its surface.

at the bottom of the screen, you can see one of the legs of the philae lander apparently resting on broken terrain. the probe eventually touched down, not quite as in this an mar -- animation, but with a slow motion bounce. the ice legs may have deployed, but the harpoon designed to secure it to the surface didn't fire. the probe is now sitting lightly and precariously on the rubble-strewn surface of the comet in very low gravity. scientists have radio contact with it, and they're pondering what their next step will be. >> the descent was attuned to a particular point on the surface of the comet. the bounce would have made it go up and the comet rotating underneath. so we know if we're looking at an image, most likely the lander is somewhere on the right and now we're trying to refine that in terms of the it was traveling at this speed and the comet's rotating like this, to really start focusing on how serious the orbiter image is to see where it is. >> reporter: the planned

scientific exploration of the comet is on hold for the time being while scientists decide whether they want to try firing the harpoons again. they may decide that would actually be counterproductive. though there's some nervousness, there's also much to celebrate. the probe is now stable on the surface of an alien landscape, more than 300 million miles from earth. it's a foothold, but a precarious one. andy moore, bbc news. >> let's go live now to our correspondent rebecca morell, who is at the european space agency hq in germany. rebecca, good to see you again. precarious is the word being used there about the state of philae. how precarious, do they know? >> reporter: well, it's maybe getting even a bit more precarious still, so we've had a bit more information about where the lander is actually positioned on the comet. because it traveled so high up in the air on the first bounce, about a kilometer upwards, the comet was spinning underneath. so they think it traveled

several hundred meters across the surface of the comet during that time. and the area where it's come down we think is maybe not such a great area. it's very dark. it doesn't get much illumination from the sun. and this is potentially an issue, because the little lander only has 64 hours of battery life. it has solar panels on it, which rely on getting light from the sun to recharge those batteries. and at the moment, there's a question mark over is it in a place where it can get enough sunlight to keep on going. so they've got several options here. one they can just wait and see and hope for the best. but two, they might be able to do something. the lander has a little retractable arm. it's one of the experiments onboard the lander. so there is a suggestion that perhaps they could try a really risky maneuver, which would be to operate the army and get it to sort of push itself off the surface again, so it would go in freefall, back up into space,

and then see if it comes down in a better place again. and i think the issue is, you know, if it's not going to get enough light, well they might as well try something rather than risk the batteries running out. but there's still lots of science coming in. so even if they just get 64 hours worth of data, that is a heck of a lot of data. so all will not be lost. >> even as we speak, it's doing some work. it's doing science, as they say. >> reporter: yes. i mean, the scientists here are speaking to one of the researchers who's got an instrument onboard the lander earlier on and she's absolutely thrilled that they've got data streaming back in. because as soon as the lander set down properly and was stabilized, it's programmed so it's one of the science experiments. the one that hasn't started, it has a drill underneath, and if that drill is activated, that could push the lander back off the surface. so they've decided for the time being not to use that until they know a bit more about what kind of space it's in. and then, of course, there's

this retractable arm. but actually the arm, if it is deployed, could help it. i mean, the problem is if you cause it to bounce up from the surface again, last time it traveled almost a kilometer up into space. it might just keep on going. it might just bounce off completely. and that's the end of the lander. it would be on a journey through the solar system after that. so a lot of big decisions here for the scientists. >> it's tenterhooks stuff, isn't it? rebecca, thanks very much indeed. an inquiry by fifa has cleared russia and qatar of any corruption in their winning bids for the next two world cups. critics say the report can't be taken seriously, because russia refused to cooperate, and investigators didn't have enough power to compel people to give evidence, or examine phone records, for example. and in just the last few minutes, in fact, we've heard from the ap news agency that the report's author, the lawyer michael garcia, is to appeal the judge's decision to close this investigation. a lot to chew on.

with me is the bbc's sports news reporter. alex, can we just start with that last bit. i think i'm right in saying that fifa had said we're open to further investigation should there ever be the need. so is this -- i mean, what does this mean really? >> well, it's a dramatic development in the story, david. this was the summary of michael garcia's report that we got today from the prosecuting judge at fifa's ethics chamber, who effectively cleared qatar and russia of any wrong doing. in the past few minutes, you've had this statement from michael garcia, the new york lawyer that produced this report. he spent 18 months traveling the world, speaking to members of the various bids. there were nine in all for 2018 and 2022. they compiled a report of 200,000 supporting pages of evidence. he said today's decision to suggest there should be no rerun of the 2018 and '22 vote is

effectively wrong. he says it contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions detailed in his report and he intends to appeal the decision. >> so that is a pretty big deal then, isn't it? he's an interesting character in as much as he's billed as an independent judge, but he's been brought in by fifa for an internal fifa investigation paid for by fifa. >> and now there will be an internal appeal as well. it's part of the criticism of fifa. a fifa-run investigation. and fifa has effectively been cleared. if we go back to the findings, he said there had been certain incidents that were perhaps potential wrong doing, but not enough to warrant a revote. he looked into qatar. qatar had been subject to lots of allegations of vote buying, influence buying. but he said there wasn't enough evidence to prove that, and therefore the vote should stand. qatar should go ahead and plan for the 2022 world cup and there

was no evidence of wrong doing connected to russia's bid for 2018, although as was said before, russia didn't give them all the documents they're requesting. in fact, the computers used for russia's bid have been destroyed. >> well, that might bring a full stop to some of the proceedings, too. andy, thanks very much. police in india have arrested the doctor who's accused of botching operations on more than 100 women during a government sterilization campaign. 15 of those women have died of complications. many others are in hospital in the central indian state. >> reporter: dozens of the women are still here and the man in charge of this hospital has told me that some of them are in a serious condition. they're being very tight-lipped about what exactly the women are suffering from, but they have told us that they're continuously monitoring their blood pressure, because that's what's been fluctuating rapidly over the past few days. the doctor who performed the sterilization surgeries was arrested late last night. the government has also banned

six different types of tablets, because perhaps the medicine which was given to the women post the surgery is what was the problem. now, a panel has been set up to inquire into this incident, but the postmortem rrt of those who have died have still not been made public.eport of those who have died have still not been made public. so we still don't know exactly what has caused all of this. i met the husband of one of the women who died yesterday and he said that the harshest punishment possible should be given to those who are responsible for this. some significant news here coming in from liberia, as the president there has said there will be no extension of the state of emergency over ebola. the president saying that is not required. no extension of the state of emergency over ebola. it's an issue we're going to be look at in the next half of the program. we'll be seeing what olympians

in particular could be doing to assist in that fight against the virus. also, we'll be looking at the humanitarian cost of the war in syria. syrian lives inside and outside the country becoming more and difficult. we'll have the very latest from an expert on the question of refugees. that's on "gmt." how's it working for ya? better than ever. how'd you do it? added cell sites. increased capacity. and your point is... so you can download music, games, and directions for the road when you need them. who's this guy? oh that's charlie. you ever put pepper spray on your burrito? i like it spicy but not like uggggh spicy. he always like this? you have no idea. at&t. the nation's most reliable 4g lte network.

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welcome to "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm david eades. in this half-hour, are syrian civilians no longer able to leave the country in search of refuge? we'll be speaking to one of the world's most authoritative experts on refugee issues, as queues keep growing at the border crossings. also, we'll find out what this great olympian, indeed what all olympians can do and may be doing to help the victims of ebola. aaron is back with more on the series of europe's uneven recovery. >> absolutely, david.

today we're looking at the sharing economy. how tough times in the netherlands means more people would rather borrow than buy. yes, thousands of dutch are now sharing everyday items like drills, ladders, even coffee makers. we've got a special report from amsterdam. welcome back. after nearly four years of intense fighting, the syrian civil war has shown no sign of coming to an end. large swaths of the country lie in ruins, as president assad and his opponents continue their battle for control of syria. millions of refugees have flooded into neighboring countries since the war began in their desperate attempt to find safety. as tens of thousands languish in refugee camps, others have been granted asylum in europe. for almost a year, our correspondent followed two syrian families in france. this is his report.

>> reporter: once colonial france ruled syria from here. but last spring in the city, we met syrians for whom paris had become a refuge from war. they gathered in a public park. after the agony of journeying over desert and sea. by day, they had nowhere else to go and each night hunted for somewhere to stay. all had seen the terror of war. like this 10-year-old shot in the leg. and yaya, who was a successful businessman. so this is your family. he was working in europe when his wife and six children were engulfed by the war in syria. he rescued them, but lost his home. his wife, eight months pregnant, is exhausted. do you think you will ever get the life back that you had in syria? >> translator: no, i don't think so. that life is in the past.

i have seen the world and nothing can compare to the life we once had. >> reporter: this is all that remains of the world that yahya left behind. most fled here because normal life is impossible. but others because they've been targeted by the regime. tortured severely like belal, who saw seven people murdered in custody. with family still in syria, he asked us to hide his identity. for him, france is a place of hope. life in paris is beautiful and i want my son's future to be here, he says. when you have a child, the decision is no longer about you alone. last spring, we filmed with the ref joes as they sought shelter. back then, they didn't know that they'd be granted asylum, but yahya was hopeful. we're going to find a solution, he said. it's now 11:00 at night and they still don't have anywhere to stay. there are two pregnant women in

this group, and at least six children. all of this is happening in europe. eventually a sympathetic businessman found rooms for yahya, his pregnant wife and children. in this budget hotel, there was exhausted relief. a week later, they were given government accommodation in eastern france. >> hello, yahya. >> reporter: eight months later, we caught up with yahya. with their new son, the family is staying with refugee friends in northern france. his family's been granted asylum, but because he was working in europe when war erupted, his own claim is taking longer. he's not allowed to work. >> translator: i feel torn down within. i can't provide for my children. i'm in chains. i'm really scared of the future. i'm afraid of everything. >> reporter: they long for home and don't want their children to grow up in france, though their

baby was born here. i hope he'll be a good omen, amoun tells me, that he'll bring safety so we can start our lives again. but they enter their first winter in a place of industrial decline, where their unwelcome exile seems ever more permanent. bbc news, northern france. the countries next to syria are clearly finding it harder and harder to manage. refugees being turned back at their borders. and the number of syrians finding safety abroad has declined quite dramatically, according to a new report. let's look at these statistics. last year, around 150,000 refugees who were able to cross into neighboring countries every month. in the whole of october this year, the number of new refugees was below 19,000. that says something. a decline of 88% on last yore's average. that report was released by the international rescue committee. and the norwegian refugee

council, whose secretary-general joins me now. thanks very much indeed for coming in. let's just start with the figures there. and what is the evidence? i mean, you say that they're slowing down, they're not getting through. are they literally being turned back? we've seen the queues. >> many are turned back. others do not dare to try even now. if you've lost your documentation because it went up in flames, it was lost in the war, you cannot enter. if you're a palestinian, you have the wrong minority, you cannot enter. you may be deported. if you left your refugee place in jordan or lebanon or any other place to go back to search for relatives to bring them over, you cannot return, even with the relative or yourself, even though you had a safe haven. >> right. so they're tightening the noose, and is it specifically a case of saturation? they just can't cope with any more? >> i think that's the main

reason, really. we warned about this for years now as humanitarians. these countries have had it. they have taken 3.2 million, so you can hardly blame the neighboring countries. you have to look at the rest of the world. >> well, let's do that. let's look at the rest of the world then. at the moment, what is the commitment from the rest of the world in terms of taking refugees from syria? >> well, since last year until now, the u.n. has been offered 50,000 spaces in the rest of the world. 7,000 have arrived in safety. it's nothing compared to what is the need. tens of thousands waiting to get out of syria and not able to do so. >> so this is out of millions, we've got about 50,000, and only 7,000. what then is your message to countries -- i mean, we can take the uk, but germany do a reasonable job, but many of those other countries -- what is your message to them? is this a simple hard moral

message that they're failing the people of syria, or is it more pragmatic than that? >> it's both. it's a collapse of international solidarity, and it will haunt us for a generation. so when european countries like france, uk, the united states, and others take a few hundred, it is really nothing. a signal to the region we will not help you. >> give me an idea then, how many should they be taking? what proportion? this is 2%. what proportion do you want to see? >> we're realistic. we live in the real world. we say let's take now 5% of the 3.2 million for the rest of the world. 150,000. and let's offer to take the toughest cases. the disabled. the sick. with children. it's very hard for us to help them locally. palestinians who have no place to go.

secondly we're saying come now, these countries around the world, europeans, north americans, gulf countries. sit down with the neighboring countries and say what does it take for you to keep the borders open. how can we help you? how much money can we invest. and which groups should we take. >> a lot of questions for them. thanks very much indeed. > we can get more on that, on all aspects of the syrian war, on the bbc news website. we've got a special section devoted to the conflict. audio and video content. analysis and background. very moving piece about syria's disappeared. bbc.com/syria. time to catch up now on the business news. aaron has it all. bad news for shell. >> yeah, could be bad news. big legal battle in the making here. thanks very much, david. hello there. let's start with the oil giant shell. and claims that it knew an aging pipeline in nigeria was unsafe long before two major oil spills

in 2008, which certainly caused widespread environmental damage. they say poor maintenance was to blame and that they had internal company documents to prove it. shell says the leaks were caused by sabotage and people trying to steal from the pipeline. >> reporter: oil sprays into the air from a broken pipeline in nigeria in 2008. two spills spewed up to 500,000 barrels, according to a group of local people, including fishermen who are suing shell. they say 25 square miles of mangroves and waterways were affected. officials obtained a 2002 report six years before the spill by shell's nigeria operation spdc. in it, they say the company noted that the pipeline required replacement. in 2006, two years before the

spill, in a letter to the governor of rivers state, the managing director of spdc said that the pipeline was of immediate and utmost concern, and that there is a risk and likelihood of a rupture on the pipeline at any time. the claimants are suing for cleanup plus damages. shell said in a statement to bbc, we are in the process of preparing for a trial of which time internal documents produced by spdc will be set in their proper context. spdc dismisses the suggestion that it is knowingly continued to use a pipeline that is not safe to operate. shell says it has maintained the pipeline as best it can. the leaks were caused by sabotage and people trying to steal oil. it also says maintenance is difficult because of violence in the area. in the past, shell employees have been the subject of kidnappings. philip hampshire, bbc news.

>> let's stay with this. audrey, great to have you with us on the program. i believe amnesty international has been interviewing and talking to many of the victims and it's compiling its own reports. what are their complaints? just how widespread is this damage and the cause? >> in this case, the two cases are before the uk courts. we've been working with them for many years. and there was very widespread damage caused by these two spills. and one of the things that comes out in these court documents that we've been able to obtain is that shell underestimated and is now admitting that it underestimated the impact of both spills. which destroyed livelihoods. it destroyed the livelihoods of thousands and thousands of people. >> correct me if i'm wrong, some serious health issues? >> this is one of the biggest issues in the niger delta. we're talking about two spills, bearing in mind that there are hundreds every single year. there are huge health risks to live in with this amount of

pollution and petroleum in the water, on the land, on the air. but nobody has ever studied the impacts and companies deny that there are negative impacts, which seems almost impossible living in this context that there wouldn't be negative health impacts. >> mentioning the word deny. shell denies it. shell says the spillage came from theft basically, nigerians siphoning off the oil. and we have seen some evidence of that, haven't we? >> these two cases at the uk court, or the legal action in the uk, shell has actually had to admit that these two spills were caused by equipment failure, so shell's own equipment was the cause of this. but shell has for years been defending its record in the niger delta by saying pipes are sabotaged, there's theft of oil. but the basis for shell's claims are shell's own internal investigations of oil spills, which are widely discredited. and now discredited by even shell itself because it's had to admit that it underestimated the volume, and shell has admitted it underestimated the area that

was impacted. >> audrey, just briefly if we can, is there a case that this whole situation is being treated differently because -- let's be frank -- it's in africa and it's not somewhere in the developed world or the west. >> i think the point -- and we've looked at a number of different countries, a number of different oil and mining operations. companies behave well only when they're compelled to by law and strong regulation. there is no strong regulation in the niger delta. there's almost no regulation at all. so the companies just don't behave well and shell is not the only one. >> thank you very much for joining us. we've been looking at europe's uneven recovery. one area is the sharing economy. millions of people, we know they're sharing cars, even homes through apps like uber and airbnb. but in the netherlands, thousands are signing up to a site that allows users to share

everyday items. like a drill. a ladder. a coffee machine. anna holligan sent this report from amsterdam. >> reporter: the netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. people are used to sharing their space. and the economic crisis made the dutch more conscious about how they're spending their euros. instead of buying more material possessions, they're buying into the idea of sharing things. this is the headquarters of peerby. >> it just makes sense to not own things that you only use once or once every month. indicate um with the idea for peerby in 2009 when my house burned down. and suddenly i didn't have any things, i didn't have a house, and i had to depend on the people around me. i had to ask for help. it really made me want to do something that is about connecting people instead of consuming. >> reporter: so how does this

actually work? we're going to put it to the test. we've just moved in here. we don't have any furniture. but we do have family coming to stay this weekend and they need somewhere to sleep. so i'm going to see if we can borrow a hammock. lots of users in my neighborhood. enter your request. and nine people have offered to lend me a hammock. choose one, open the chat, and arrange collection. peerby now has 15,000 registered users in amsterdam alone. we've come to meet one of them. >> i needed to make coffee for 200 people. well, that's a lot. and i thought okay, i can go somewhere and rent it. i thought oh, no. so i put it on peerby. especially because you put a line with it, why do you need it? i said hey, it's for a neighborhood party. i think within three hours, i got this offer of four or five coffee machines. >> reporter: this is a system that relies on trust, which is sometimes abused.

some users report that their items haven't been returned. others say it's used for begging. what's unique about peerby is that there is no fee. at the moment, the company isn't making any profit. so the question is, is this a sustainable business model? anna holligan, bbc news, in amsterdam. >> i think that's great stuff. what do you think? what do you think about sharing? do you share? are you part of the sharing economy? follow me on twitter. tweet me. i'll tweet you right back. you can get me @bbcaaron. let's find out what david shares. what would you share? >> i suppose things like hedge trimmer, lawn mower. you could have any lawn mower, actually. i have no desire to mow another lawn in my life. >> you can have my bathrobe. >> oh, good. aaron, thank you very much. and thank you for being with us on "bbc world news." still to come in "gmt," ebola in the crossharris. we take a look at a new campaign

targeting the virus and we discover just who's involved. virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

hello, i'm david eades. the top stories this hour. tens of thousands of civilians queue to get out of syria, but aid agencies say their passage to safety is getting ever tougher. scientists receive the first picture of their space probe after it landed on a comet. they are now studying fresh data from the craft millions of kilometers away. now some breaking news we brought to you earlier on "gmt." liberia's president has lifted the state of emergency imposed earlier in the year to help fight the spread of ebola in her

country. now a night curfew does remain in place nonetheless. at the same time, as that's happening, the largest agency fighting the outbreak in west africa says that trials will soon start in three different potential treatments. msf says the trials are an exceptional measure in exceptional circumstances as they try to bring the outbreak under control. we can have a look at those, because those trials are certainly giving hope to those living in ebola affected communities. three of them in all. we'll move on from that, though, because there's also obviously a big drive to mobilize support. not least from arguably some of the greatest role models in the modern world. sports men and women who have competed in the olympics. one of them, the sierra leone olympian has founded target ebola, a campaign revolving around high-profile athletes to help fight the disease. and he joins me in the studio

now. thanks very much for coming in. obviously you're from sierra leone. you competed in two olympics. seoul and barcelona. you qualify in every level. but give me the personal story, because you've been back recently. >> yes, i've been back recently. i've been working with the task force. i was actually there when the outbreak started. and it's very personal, because it's not only transforming the whole culture, behavior of people of sierra leone -- >> in what way? >> from birth to death. you can just imagine someone of your family died and you're not allowed to bury that person. so you can't even do what you're supposed to do culturally for your father or your mother. or for a mother to have a child that is sick, and has contracted the virus and you have to break the bond between mother and child. >> so these are obviously important messages to get out and awful lot of aid and help is needed. i know you started recruiting world olympians. we've got one or two of them to show here. and these are seriously big

names. target ebola. #targetebola. that's the campaign. we all know who he is, of course, usain bolt. he's dedicated some shoes, some spikes. >> yes. >> here's carl lewis, also backing the campaign. and sergei bubka, the great pole vaulter. so you've got big names there, prepared to sort of lend their support. what difference do they make? what do they bring to this? >> well, they bring in a face to what's happening in west africa. you know, we need to have people be aware. there's a lot of domino effect, and it's actually affected the sporting world. for instance, if you've been following it last week, for you to lose all of that preparation, takes years to do. these are some of the domino effects. we might not be affected, but we are affected. >> can i ask you how much more perhaps olympians could -- i

mean, we're talking about tens of thousands of great athletes throughout the ages. how much do you think in terms of momentum they could achieve? >> well, we can achieve a lot. a lot of them, you only have to donate funding, but as you've seen, some of your memorabilia. for instance, right now, we've got prince albert of monaco. he's also part of it. we've got, as you mentioned, sergei buka. when you look at this, we're mobilizing resources to go into humanitarian crisis. these items will be auctioned and then they will come forward and those donations will be transformed into necessary resources that is needed by the community to prevent the spread of the virus. >> it could be amazing, fascinating perhaps to see what it would be worth if all these olympians were prepared to donate one item even for

auction. i mean, you can see the impact that could have. at the same time, you're recognizing that you're exploiting them, but for -- there could be no better cause, i guess. >> for a good cause. it's really for a good cause. because this is something that affects the human race. this is something that affects trust. this is something that affects our brothers and sisters that play sports. right now in most parts of west africa, all types of gathering is banned. so nobody's playing any kind of -- even practicing, you cannot practice more than two or three athletes. >> so these olympians have got a duty to get involved. >> definitely. >> you've got a t-shirt, which i think is more than fair to give it a plug here. #targetebola. thanks very much indeed for coming in and explaining that to us. and there's more on francis's campaign, if you go to targetebola.org, the hash tag as we saw on the t-shirt there.

#targetebola on twitter. later in the day, our middle east editor jeremy bowen is going to be answering your questions about our main story, the war in syria. it's a twitter question and answer session. be great if you'd like to take part. just go to one of those links there on the page. and thank you for watching "gmt." give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is, why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. (receptionist) 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.

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