hello. you're watching "gmt" here on "bbc world news." i'm karin giannone. our top stories, president obama calls the murder of a u.s. aid worker by islamic state militants an act of pure evil. peter, or abdul-rahman kassig was kidnapped while helping refugees. one of his friends will be with us on the program. new pictures of the crash of mh17 in ukraine. what does the video tell us about how the plane came down? and the changing face of the united nations. we meet the female ambassadors

making their mark in what's been traditionally a male-dominated club. also in the program, aaron is here and a landmark trade deal between australia and china. >> karin, this is where many aussies would say it is a whopper. a first for these two countries. a free trade deal that will benefit many of australia's famous exports and a deal that will give china greater access to that aussie economy. so stay tuned, we're going to break it down and find out what all of this means for that chinese-australian relationship. hello. midday here in london. 2:00 p.m. here in eastern ukraine. 2:00 p.m. in syria, where the murder of hostages by islamic state militants goes on. a video that emerged over the weekend showed the beheading of american aid worker abdul-rahman kassig, along with 18 syrian airmen. president obama described his murder as an act of pure evil.

we'll be talking to a close friend of mr. kassig in a moment. but first, this report from david willis. >> reporter: peter kassig experienced the middle east as a soldier, a student, and an aid worker. working for a time at a hospital in lebanon set up to help the victims of syria's bloody civil war. >> in the hospital, i was able to share a little bit of hope and comfort with some people. they were able to teach me something about myself that i wouldn't have known otherwise. and we each were given an opportunity to look at the conflict in a different way. >> reporter: mr. kassig's parents, paula and ed, had campaigned tirelessly for his release. in a statement, they said they were heartbroken, adding that their son lost his life as a result of his love for the syrian people and his desire to ease their suffering. our heart goes out to to families of the syrians who lost their lives along with our son, they said. the u.s. coalition has launched more than 800 air strikes on

islamic state positions since the campaign against them got under way. but some, like america's most senior general martin dempsey, seen here on a visit to iraq at the weekend, believe that may not be enough, and that the u.s. may need to augment its air strikes with troops on the ground. and that's something that president obama has so far been reluctant to do. he's committed just 3,000 troops to iraq, but arriving back after a week-long visit to asia, there were signs that peter kassig's death might prompt calls for a greater american commitment against islamic state. david willis, bbc news, washington. >> from beirut, i'm joined by michael downey, a close friend of peter. michael downey, thank you very much for joining us. i wonder if you could talk about a little of the emotion that you've been through since you heard the terrible news about your friend. >> it's been a really long year.

a lot of not knowing, hoping, little bits of information, and then this past month has obviously been the most difficult. and when it's this long, you're so emotionally drained, that it's just -- no one should have to go through this. and i can only imagine what his family is feeling right now. but, you know, we're a really close community here in beirut. it's like a family. so there's a large void that's missing with pete gone, but, you know, we're focusing on the man that he was and the wonderful work that he did, and, you know, we're not giving in to any of the isis propaganda. you know, we're going to celebrate him for who he was and not this brutal monstrous act that they committed. >> tell us about the man that he was. tell us how you met.

>> sorry, what was that? >> can you hear me okay? tell us what peter, abdul-rahman was like, how you met. >> i first met him in september 2012. my roommate at the time josh told me that his friend peter was going to be staying with us. and i remember the first time he rang the doorbell, just huge smile on his head, and he just -- didn't even know me and he gives you a big hug. he called everyone brother. and he stayed on our couch for almost a month while he looked for an apartment and still would always end up on this horrible, awful, uncomfortable couch, and he would lovingly call our apartment the donkey farm. i mean, the guy just always had a smile. he had a huge heart.

one of the most selfless individuals you'd meet. i mean, there's very few people that are that genuine, remarkable, and that leave such a lasting impact. i mean, you'd see it in the camps that he'd work in, the people who -- you know, refugees that would be arriving from syria who have gone through horrific things, and they'd see this young man who left his life in america and gave everything to help these people, and, you know, in a bleak situation, really was this light of hope. >> did you dare to hope that because of the circumstances of peter or abdul-rahman's life, how he converted to islam, how he was working helping syrian refugees, things might have turned out differently? >> i can't really -- i don't know much about him -- the details behind his conversion.

but i do know that he had a very deep connection to the land and the people and the culture here. and he was just a really kind person. and, you know, obviously this case was a bit different than the others. we were past the two-week mark. and there was a lot of hopes that also with a lot of outreach from the muslim community, including when a senior commander even said he remembered peter helping people and actually operating on some wounded syrians, and that -- you know, obviously, you know, you're hopeful, but you still expect the worst, but it's still doesn't make anything easier. >> michael, all that time, you described what a difficult year it's been and what a terrible last month it's been. was there anything that you and his other friends were able to try to do at least? >> you know, for this past year,

up until the video came out, there was a media blackout and there wasn't a lot of information being passed on. and it was really limited contact from third parties. but this past month has been -- the amount of support, friends, colleagues, even people who didn't know pete, has been remarkable. the community here in lebanon, syria, turkey, even the u.s. who worked day and night constantly to track down people that pete had helped, worked with. you know, anyone who had a story that they were willing to share, and, you know, it was -- you know, obviously you didn't want to feel like it was in vain. the most important thing is that the lasting effects of this remarkable person, and to remember that, you know, he never dwelled on negativity.

he was never a hateful person. to learn from this kindness, and this selflessness, and really, you know, try and be more like him. and just not forget that. >> michael downey, thank you very much to you and our sincere condolences to you. thank you for talking to us there in beirut. as well as hostages, islamic state is accused of murdering iraqis and syrians on a massive scale. western journalists can't report from territory held by i.s. without a high risk of being kidnapped or killed, but our correspondent paul wood has spoken to a defector from the group about life inside the so-called islamic state. his report contains some distressing images. >> reporter: islamic state fighters patrol in syria. to western governments, they're kidnappers, murderers, terrorists. here, they're the people in

charge. a local cameraman shows the town quiet and prosperous. of course, he filmed under escort, closely supervised. everything here is tightly controlled. that control is exercised by foreign fighters. a fighter from asia dismisses american air strikes. a malicious crusader's campaign, he says. it's only increased our resolution. this man has a north african accent. we will conquer the americans, he declares. we will sell their women in the slave market, god willing. we spoke to an islamic state defector in turkey. face hidden, voice disguised.

i joined them out of fear, he says. some who join really believe killing and whipping is the way to spread islam. when they discover that's all wrong, they can't leave. many syrians have been killed by the jihadis, not just the western hostages. this is the so-called islamic state's capital, raqqa. they've captured three regime soldiers. they're beaten to death. the defector said he watched an amir, or commander, give a knife to his 8-year-old son. he made him cut off a prisoner's head, he told me. he said the son of an amir should learn early. there are other defectors in hiding here in turkey.

people disgusted with the killing and the cruelty of islamic state rule. if jihadists have their supporters, too, and perhaps more of them, because of anger over american air strikes. the battle against isis is a battle for sunni public opinion, an opinion in the rebel-held areas remains deeply divided. and a new generation of jihadis is being indoctrinated. the islamic state, the speaker calls out, it shall endure, the children reply. some sunni muslims in places want strict shari'a, or islamic law. some support the jihadis not despite the beheadings of westerners and others, but because of them. paul wood, bbc news. let's bring you some more stories from around the world. police in thailand say they're

looking for two americans who left the country after a gruesome discovery in parcels inspected at a shipping office. they contained human body parts, including those of a baby, as well as tattooed human skin and a heart. they were labeled as toys and were destined for the u.s. the colombian president has suspended peace talks with the farc rebel group. the general was inspecting a rural energy project in western colombia when he and two others were snatched by armed men on sunday. pope francis has announced he'll visit the united states next september. it will be his first visit since becoming leader of the roman catholic church. he plans to attend the world meeting of families in philadelphia. japan's economy, the third largest in the world, has slipped back into recession. the poor economic results surprise the markets, and prime minister shinzo abe is thought to be considering a snap election.

rupert winfield-hayes has more from tokyo. >> these gdp figures are very bad. much worse than was expected. and in fact, one analyst here in tokyo today called them worse than disastrous. so what has gone wrong? well, essentially, ordinary people here in japan have simply stopped spending money, and you can trace that stoppage back to april 1st and the rise in consumption tax here from 5% to 8%. japanese consumers, ordinary people, have reacted very, very badly to that rise. and they've stopped spending money, particularly on big things like housing. this has now put the japanese economy back in recession and has put prime minister abe's government in a real fix. so what we'll see almost certainly is prime minister abe dissolving parliament and calling a snap election for mid december. why is he doing that? he will say it's because he needs a new mandate. he needs to change his economic policies. he may need to call off the next step in tax rises that was going to take place next year, and to

do that, he needs the consent of the japanese people. that will be the official position. the less official position is that mr. abe's popularity is rapidly falling here. as japanese people become discontented with these economic policies. at the same time, the japanese opposition, the democratic party, is still pretty much in disarray. so mr. abe has a window of opportunity. to go for the election, to lock in another ldp victory, albeit maybe smaller, and to get four more years of ldp rule, during which time he hopes his economic policies will start to work. >> that's rupert winfield-hayes in tokyo. aaron is going to have more on the japanese economy as well as a huge free trade agreement between china and australia a little later coming up in business. stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come -- chicken and ducks are being culled after separate outbreaks of bird flu in the netherlands and britain.

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pro-russian separatists have been blamed for shooting down mh17 with a missile, nearly 300 passengers and crew were killed. it's not so much what we see in these dramatic pictures, it's what we were hearing from people living around the site. >> we hear several things. one is that people are clearly distressed. some are saying we need more buckets because not enough buckets to put out the fires. some people are saying debris is falling through the roofs, and this is horrible. and there is this chaotic scene of distress that people are

witnessing. but somewhere in this footage, on one minute, 16 seconds, there is a very interesting admission, not admission, but phrase from one of the local people, saying the rocket shot off from the ground apparently, and the rocket hit the engines. and they mentioned the word rocket in russian several times. obviously this is quite essential, because there's still this controversy -- only last week, russian television in its primetime program on first national channel asserted that it was a ukrainian jet fighter that shot down the mh17, the malaysian boeing. it appeared that that footage was -- those satellite images that were presented as evidence, they were fake. so it is still a battle of evidence. there isn't a final word from the dutch investigators. the preliminary assessment was that it was a high-energy impact

from outside the plane consistent with a missile strike, but obviously, the whole controversy will continue. however, this evidence from the locals are in the immediate aftereffect, the immediate proximity to the site and very close to the actual explosion of the plane is building up this case that perhaps it was a missile after all. >> so that one observation from that one eyewitness could play a part in that investigation, saying they actually saw a rocket coming from the ground. >> it is not a smoking gun, but this adds to the conclusions that were drawn up by quite a number of investigators, including independent investigators, that this is a buk missile, somehow facilitated by russia. those assertions were made in the bbc panorama program. there is direct evidence, and

certainly the russian government denies that and the separatists are denying it, but there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that this was a rocket fired from the rebel-held territory. >> thank you very much. the european union is expected to adopt a series of emergency measures to contain a highly contagious strain of bird flu. it's warning that the virus does have the ability to infect humans. anna holligan reports from the hague. >> reporter: this is the farm at the heart of the dutch bird flu outbreak. you can see behind us here a truck carrying a gas canister, 150,000 hands are being slaughtered here. and this is one of the measures being taken by the dutch authorities to try to contain this outbreak. we're talking here about the h5nh strain of the bird flu virus. it's highly contagious among birds and it can be transmitted to humans, but that's very rare.

it's never been detected in humans before. and would only ever occur according to the dutch economics ministry if there was close contact between humans and birds. but as you know, with the bird flu virus, it does have the potential to evolve or mutate, and that's why these increased security measures have been taken at this farm, but also in the surrounding area. the whole of the netherlands, a nationwide transport ban is enforced. poultry products cannot be transported around the country. that will remain enforced in this area, and a radius of ten kilometers around this farm for the next 30 days. the police cordon is here. earlier there were television crews here from across the country. they've all been moved. we are also being moved out of this area for security reasons.

the slaughter of these hens is expected to continue throughout the day. >> that's anna holligan in the netherlands. it used to be seen as a bit of an old boys club, now a record number of women are on the united nations security council. they account for six out of 15 members of the u.n.'s most important decision-making body. but there's still no sign of a fell secretary-general for the u.n., as nick bryant reports from new york. >> reporter: this is a sight you now see much more often at the united nations. two male aides and a female ambassador. jordan's new representative is not just a trailblazer, but a record breaker, too. for the first time in u.n. history, six of the 15 seats on the security council's horseshoe table are occupied by women. so, is it changing the character of diplomacy? >> women tend to discuss more, to want to find solutions. there's something about wanting the find solutions, and this does not contradict in any

possible way our government policies, nor the directives of our government. but we are faced with problems and we say well, you know, we should do something. this is not proper. we should find a solution. there's this desire always to find solutions and go beyond. i don't know whether it's the mother factor, or what, but there is that aspect that i noticed. >> reporter: the security council chamber used to look like a gentleman's club with women relegated to largely menial roles. historically speaking, the u.n. has been a male bastion. if you want to get a sense of how men have traditionally dominated the united nations, then take a look at this hall of fame. it shows the people who have served as secretary-general, the u.n.'s top post. and all eight of them have been men. of the five permanent members of

the security council, remarkably only one, america, has appointed a female representative. >> i have been requested by my government. >> jean kirkpatrick was the first, and samantha power is the fourth woman to do the job. >> we want to live in a universe where men and women alike are raising issues of sexual violence against women, or recognizing that economies will only reach a fraction of their potential if women are not empowered, and so forth. so we need to use our perches as women, but the men on the council need to do the same in order to optimize the outcomes that states are getting, and nothing's beginning to be optimized without women at the table. >> reporter: the appointment of dina kuwar -- less than 20% of women states are represented by a woman. there may be more female diplomats at the table, but they're still heavily outnumbered by men. nick bryant, bbc news, the

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i'm karin giannone. in this half-hour, just how effective are global efforts to contain the ebola outbreak? we'll get the latest from one of the worst affected countries sierra leone. a government spokesman joins us on the program. ♪ heal the world let them know it's christmas time ♪ >> pop stars join for a new

format. will it be effective? also in the program, aaron is back. not good news. japan has done it once again. >> yes, japan is back in recession. so despite all the attempts by this man, prime minister shinzo abe, japan's economy is still not working. stay tuned, we're going to try to find out if he can ever get the world's third largest economy back up off its knees. a surgeon in the united states is in a critical condition in a hospital in nebraska after contracting ebola in sierra leone. he had been working in a hospital in the capital freetown. sierra leone is one of the three worst affected countries by ebola along with liberia and guinea. so what is the situation like there right now? how has international aid made an impact?

with me is the deputy government spokesperson for the government of sierra leone. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me. >> could you give us an assessment of how sierra leone is coping right now? >> it's still very challenging. we still need a lot of help. as of right now, the international intervention is scaling up, and that has made a lot of difference. we need a total of 1,500 beds. i believe we have about 700. the british have done quite a lot. they are putting out beds for us. and because you have the beds out there now, and you have the treatment centers, you have the holding centers, people have a place to take the sick, and that is why you see a spike in the numbers now. the numbers are going to go up and they're going to come down. we also have laboratories now that have been put in place, put in place by the british, which

has the capacity to do as much as we had before then. so all of that is clearing up all the backlog that we had. so you'll see the spike, and then it will go down. >> so you are anticipating a further rise in the rate of new infections. because we've been reporting that in liberia, the number of new infections is actually dropping. >> right. liberia is a much different situation. the situation is kind of unique, in the sense that for liberia, most of their cases really are far out in the provinces, and for us, sierra leone is such that you can move from one end of the country to the other in five hours or maybe in three hours. because of that, there's been an increase in the spread. but like i said, because of the intervention, the international intervention and the support we are getting, we still need more, mind you, but we are able to bring the numbers down, but they are going to go up first before they start coming down. >> are the pledges that have been made by international donors, by other countries, being delivered on? >> well, those pledges i must

also tell you don't come directly to the government as in cash. those pledges are actually going to ngos and organizations of their choice. and they will in turn provide us with the goods and services. it takes a while for their paperwork to go through. it takes a while for what they intend to deliver hits the ground, and that is why we're appealing to the government of britain. we're saying thank you for the support, we appreciate the support, but we also want you to provide us with details of those that are pledging and how those funds should be spent so we can follow those funds and make sure we're getting the benefits out of them. >> and presumably not just the united kingdom, the rest of the country. >> the rest of the country. i say the united kingdom in particular because 70% of the support we are getting in cash is in britain and we appreciate that very much. >> what is the economic impact like of ebola? obviously this disease is not just affecting the people who are infected. there are all sorts of other

ramifications like food stribution and the whole economy. >> in one word, it's adverse. slow economic growth. we're projected to grow 11.3% gdp. that has now been recalculated to about 4%. we were considered the second-fastest growing economy. now, like i said, we're at 4.0%. there's been a rise in domestic prices. increased fiscal dedeficit. increased financial stability. depreciation of local currentsy. the mining companies that we had are gone. the cultural work is no longer there. planes are not coming any longer. exp expatriats are slowing down. >> thank you very much.

now in china, there is a dire warning from some of the top health officials. the country is facing a cancer epidemic. cancer of all types is becoming increasingly common. our correspondent celia hatton traveled to the coastal city to understand how asia's largest cancer treatment center is handling the onslaught of new cases. >> reporter: scrubbing up for yet another surgery. this cancer hospital recently doubled in size, but it's still struggling to cope with demand. ten years ago, surgeons removed tumors once or twice a day. now they perform at least seven operations every shift. >> translator: even if we diagnose 50 patients every day, we cannot keep up. no matter where you go in this hospital, you will never find an empty bed. >> reporter: cancer rates are falling in many western countries, but they're steadily rising in china.

blame the effects of pollution and unhealthy habits on an aging population. you can certainly feel the tension here, as patients push for an appointment or jostle for extra time with the doctor. it's a situation that's echoed in busy cancer hospitals across china and it's certainly explained by the statistics. china's home to approximately 1/5, or 20% of the global population. but every year, it registers 22% of new cancer cases, and it's home to 27% of the world's cancer deaths. few chinese hospitals offer cancer screening programs. many aren't diagnosed until it's too late. in a single morning, this doctor meets ten new patients. all of them are found to have late stage liver cancer. adding to the problem, most are reluctant to even mention the disease by name. >> translator: chinese people

think that cancer is a terrible thing. once you have it, you won't last long. >> reporter: this woman is being treated for breast cancer. it's increasingly common. it's now the number one killer of women in chinese cities. but she's been keeping her sickness a secret. >> translator: i didn't tell my colleagues or relatives because i didn't want them to worry. but when i came to the hospital, i saw so many people here with the same illness, and i felt better. >> reporter: at this hospital and across china, some are making a gradual realization. this country faces an epidemic. one that increasingly can't be hidden or ignored. celia hatton, bbc news, china. now, it's time to turn to the business news, and aaron mentioned something about a little trade deal being done

earlier with a couple of country. >> you know what i said. it's a whopper of a deal. >> you like saying that. >> very big deal. let's show everybody. thanks very much, karin. china and australia have signed a preliminary free trade deal. certainly opening up markets worth billions of dollars to australian exporters. the deal, which is a longtime coming, it's been ten years in the making, will provide new sources for growth for australia, which is struggling to counter the rapidly slowing mining boom. the deal will give chinese investors more freedom to put their money in australia. let's take a closer look. it will allow australian dairy farmers tariff-free access to china's lucrative infant formula markets without restrictive safeguard caps that apply to places like new zealand. china has agreed to reverse higher duties that are recently imposed on australian coal exports, so the coke and coal duty will be cut to zero.

tariffs on beef, seafood, wine, fruit and veg will also be either reduced or removed. in fact, look at this. in four years, 95% of all australian exports will enter china tariff-free. overall, it could be worth some 18 to $20 billion to the australian economy and get its budget in the black. let's go to laura tingle, political editor of the australian financial review and joins us via skype. laura, great to have you on the program. many elements to this agreement -- i'm just wondering in your mind mind, i guess what are the key aspects or the most important aspects to this deal? >> aaron, i think the key aspects are the fact that it is so extensive. i don't think anybody really expected we would get such a huge concession on things like dairy, like beef. and the really big thing i think for australia that's been a real surprise in this deal as far as

we have seen it so far today in australia has been in the services sector. in the future, australian hospital providers, age care providers will be able to go into china, set up their own organizations, their own operations and just be allowed to operate in these sectors, which the chinese recognize we're very good at and they're going to let us have pretty much free rein in those areas. >> is it a balanced deal? because there seems to be a lot on our side, the aussies' side. but are the chinese getting the same deal? >> well, this is the really extraordinary thing. i think the chinese have always hung out -- this has been going on for ten years that we've been talking about this, and the chinese want to be able to get into australia, want to be able to invest. and what's really interesting about the deal is that the big sort of deal breaker for so many years has been getting restrictions removed on their state-owned enterprises, which, of course, are a pretty

significant part of the chinese economy. australia has always said look, no, we're not going to just let you come in as a state-owned enterprise and do whatever you like in australia. and essentially the chinese agreed to take that off the table. they've also sort of not agreed to a few things, like letting cotton exports from australia into china. but they've been prepared to make this deal, which has a lot of concessions for australia in the short-term. the deal will be reviewed within three to four years, and obviously there's going to be a lot more. but i think they think if they can get australia in, if people can become reassured that it's a good deal for australia, they may become much less suspicious of chinese investment in australia in the future. >> that could be a point indeed. sort of a two-part question here. so bear with me. we talk a lot over here about the boom time in australia, what that has done to the aussie/dollar, it's pushed it very high. in fact, it's kind of destroyed or at least reduced some industries in australia.

the exporting industry. so a deal like this surely one would imagine will only boost the economy, which could continue pushing the dollar high. i'm wondering if it's going to -- here's the other part, if it filters down to the aussie on the ground. >> well, i suppose you could look at it as boosting the aussie/dollar, but i suppose also the government here is really focused on shifting economic activity into that services sector because the resources boom is fading. and this is really a services industry-based strategy, if you like. so even though it might be happening over in china, local services industries will benefit from that. so i suppose whatever the currency effect of that is still to be seen and of course, the chinese don't exactly have a free exchange rate. i suppose in terms of the trickle down effects, it should be good for australia, particularly because if you're in the services sector, but more

broadly, if you've got a much more free movement of people between the two countries, if you get a lot more students and business people coming here, there will be job opportunities out of that and i suppose it comes to the point where people are still a bit concerned in the aftermath of this announcement today, which is whether it ultimately will mean a lot more chinese workers coming into australia and at much cheaper wage rates than we enjoy here. and the government is insisting that that's not the case. but people are concerned about that issue still. >> absolutely. it's a wait and see, i guess. laura, we really appreciate you joining us. i know it's late over there. laura tingle joining us. good news for china and australia. bad news for japan. its economy has fallen into recession again after the economy shrank for a second time between that three-month period, july and september. the slowdown, i have to say, much worse than expected. in fact, economists were actually expecting a boost, some growth to that economy.

let's take a look. gdp, gross domestic product in the world's third largest economy fell 1.6% from the same period last year, worse than expected, and it is now -- now makes a snap general election more likely. second quarter in a row that gdp actually fell because in that second quarter, the economy there shrank 7.3%. much of that blamed on an earlier increase in that sales tax, which kicked in in april. all attention is now on this man, prime minister shinzo abe, who will see about a delayed hike. let's find out. the head of asia analysis at ihs joins us. great to have you with us on the program as well. boy, i mean, what do you say? we'll talk about what the p.m.'s next move could be. but over the past year or so, he has laid bear a very strategic growth plan to pump billions and billions of dollars into that economy. and what, it hasn't worked?

>> i'm sure prime minister abe would agree with you, but that is fundamentally the problem. the tax hike back in april led to a larger than expected decline in consumer spending, which has essentially been the trigger for this technical recession. and he's in a real pickle now. >> isn't the problem here also -- i mean, when they put these plans in place, we did see the yen drop, which meant the exporters in japan were making a lot more money. some would say look, the stock market went higher, but only 20% of the country played the stock market. so the rich got richer. those big exporting companies sat on all that cash. and consumers are pretty -- they're stuck. they're stagnant. >> and that's part of the political problem for prime minister abe at this moment because the common man or the common perception is that the common man has not gotten anything out of his reforms. and that's the thing that's

really going to be around his neck if he decides to call for a snap election, because while he almost certainly pushed back plans for another tax hike on the consumption tax, whether or not he calls in an election could be a a political risk for him. he's not the most popular leader right now. his popularity ratings dropped about 10% in the last month. the candidate he backed in the okinawa election just lost the election. and now with news of a technical recession kicking in, it's probably not the best time to call for an election. >> election aside, in about 20 or so seconds, what must his next economic move be? >> well, what was likely to happen now is that the bank of japan will probably come in and help him out with some monetary easing that will perhaps relieve some of the pressure on him. so perhaps we might see a slight uptick in the numbers in the next quarter. but that's essentially what he's relying on at the moment. >> okay. omar, great stuff.

we really appreciate your time. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> lots going on. follow me on twitter. tweet me. i'll tweet you back. that's it with the business. back to you. >> aaron, thank you very much. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come -- ♪ feed the world >> it's 30 years on. a new generation of pop stars has been gathering to record their version of the band aid charity song and this time it's to help with the fight against ebola. [ man ] we thought it might be a little more tense. you miss the drama? yeah. [ technician ] ask him whatever you want. okay. ♪ do you think my sister's prettier than me? ♪ [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] research, price, find. only cars.com helps you get the right car without all the drama.

hello. i'm karin giannone. the top stories here on "bbc world news." france says there is a strong probability that an islamic state militant shown in the video of the murder of the u.s. aid worker and 18 syrian airmen

is a french citizen. china signed its biggest ever free trade deal, opening up markets with australia worth billions of dollars. now, the new charity band aid has already raised over a million dollars, according to the man behind it. the new version of "do they know it's christmas," which includes stars like bono, chris martin and one direction, is trying to raise money to fight ebola. let's have a look at the result. ♪ feed the world let them know it's it's christmastime ♪ ♪ feed the world let them know it's christmastime ♪ ♪ feed the world let them know it's christmastime ♪ >> there is the 2014 version.

speaking to the bbc, sir bob geldof praised the response in the uk, but he said other countries need to do more. >> germany i think is pathetic. they're the largest economy in europe. where is the leadership? it could be equally in hamburg or berlin tomorrow. their government is eighth, just a fraction above canada. canada has an economy 2/3 less than germany. why aren't they doing this? why aren't they living up to their global responsibility? call yourself the european leader, lead. the artists in germany are recording "do they know it's christmas" today in germany. the french will be doing it next week. but essentially, where is russia? i'm sick of putin saying unless you give us our money, we'll take over your country. get real, you want to be a proper leader, help others. >> with me, natalie jamison. she was at the recording session. pretty frantically trying to get it on air yesterday afternoon.

>> yes, it was. it was a mammoth undertaking to get all these artists to join in. they had one day in the studio on saturday to record it. and then it all had to be produced and edited and mixed and then it debuted on british television last night. so it was a very quick turnaround, let alone trying to get all these artists in the same country, in the same place at the same time. >> a real mixture of old and new in terms of artists. people listening to the 1984 version might have actually heard of. >> this is actually the fourth version that we've had of this band aid song. there was another one in 1989 and another one in 2004 for the 20th anniversary. now we're on to the 30th anniversary of band aid, and some of the original acts were back again. bono returned from u2. and also roger taylor from queen, he provided the drum parts as well. there's a new wave of people as well that weren't around the first time around at all. they weren't even born when the original band aid was released. some vloggers from youtube as well, alongside people like

chris martin, ed sheering, poloma faith, and seal, he was a surprise last-minute addition as well. >> people might be surprised that there has been quite a lot of controversy about this new version. some of the lyrics have been changed. and whether certain people actually took part or didn't take part. >> yes. the lyrics have been changed. not dramatically, but some of the lines have been changed to reflect that all money raised from band aid is going to help the fight against ebola in west africa. so we have lyrics now such as "where a kiss of love can kill you" and bono's famous line has been changed to "tonight we're reaching out and touching you." >> tonight thank god it's them instead of you. that's been taken out. >> replaced by this other line, indeed. because it's not relevant, a lot of the lyrics around in 1984 were to do with famine and ethiopia and now the landscape has changed. but you're right. fuse odg is one of the acts that

decided to pull out of the last minute. he was due to attend the recording but he had a conversation with bob geldof where he discussed that he wasn't happy with the portrayal overall that he felt the lyrics gave of africa. he said it wasn't really representative of what he felt new africa in particular was all about. bob geldof respected that decision. he disagrees with it. so this is very specifically about ebola and doesn't think that this song sort of plays into any negative connotations that sometimes go on about the continent as a whole. this is specifically about ebola and west africa. but nonetheless, he pulled out and bob geldof said he had to do with that. >> feed the world, they're still singing that. >> they've changed the ending as well. the big chorus, there's "feed the world." but they also say "feel the world," because bob geldof's main point was that this disease could physically touch people. and also heal the world is on there as well. there are also versions of this song being done. there's band aid germany, band

aid france and there should be another band aid america, a usa version happening as well. >> thank you very much indeed. we will be listening. that's all for today. let's turn it to lucy to tell us what's coming up on "impact." >> do join us in a few minutes time for "impact." i'm going to be joined by the former australian prime minister kevin rudd. we're going to get his take on this massive trade deal that's been done between canberra and beijing. ♪ ♪

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