this is bbc america and now, live from london, "bbc world news." hello, i'm with "bbc world news." our top stories. japanese prime minister abdo kills two japanese hostages. >> translator: it is unforgivable and i feel resentment toward human life. i demand the release of the two japanese. >> china's economic growth goes to the lowest in years.

bowko haram militants killing hundreds of people. hello and welcome to the program. the japanese prime minister ap doe demands they release two japanese hostages after the jihadists threatened to kill them. they showed two men in orange jump suits. they will be killed unless a ransom of $200 million be paid by japan. this is a day after a pledge of around $200 million in military assistant. speaking in israel he demanded immediate release and said there would be no change in japanese

policy. >> translator: they have released a video which threatens to kill japanese citizens. it is unforgivable and i feel strong resentment toward the human life. i demand they release imimmediately. i have instructed my government to respect hughman life. japan will continue working with the international community to contribute to the peace and stability. japan will not change this policy. >> that's abe talking from the middle east where he is there with a delegation of japanese businessmen. let's go to tokyo. rupert no doubt, a huge concern back in japan. >> reporter: yes, there is huge concern. the spokesman for the government spoke here at a press conference as well reiterating what mr. abe

said in jerusalem saying studying the video and they will do whatever they can to release the hostages. in short of paying this enormous ransom. it's hard to see what they can do. he will not change policy. that suggests he's not intent on paying a ransom although the japanese government has paid ransoms in the past to get the lives of japanese hostages back. there will be public pressure here in japan to pay up. the attitude here generally, from many in japan is human life is worth more than money and worth paying to get people back. >> the figure $200 million, this is the same amount that abe pledged the country's fighting islamic state for military aid. they are very much making a statement here. >> reporter: yeah they are

making a very explicit link to japan's country fighting against the islamic state and the amount of money they are demanding for the citizens. that puts him in a difficult position politically here at home. he has been permanent here extremely active on the international stage. he's taken a much more active role in international affairs, but diplomatic affairs. that's unpopular here in japan amongst a large constituency. many people his enemies will pounce on this and say, look this is the result of you going out and doing these things and, you know immediately japanese lives are threatened by your actions and we should rntn't do this. >> in the middle east on this trip. this is all, i guess, a relationship with japan and the

middle east at the forefront of everything now. >> it is. again, it's something he has been pushing very hard. japan has not taken an active role in the middle east over the last 20 years. when the invasion of iraq the afghanistan war, led by the americans and with britain and other allies japan has sat in the background. mr. abe is a very different prime minister, he's a nationalist prime minister but in favor of a strong relationship, a strong alliance with the united states and other countries like the united kingdom and australia. that's why he's there in the middle east taking this more active role. again, as i say, his critics will say this is the result. immediately japanese citizens under threat. >> yes, indeed. thank you for talking.

do stay with us for that. now, let's move on. the world east second biggest economy, china, is experiencing the slowest expansion in a quarter century. it dropped to 7.4% in 2014. they are warning the public to expect reform of jobs replaced with private sector. we went to the northeast city which has been in a pinch facing the world's second largest economy. >> reporter: nice and cool on a frozen counter. the city is next to russian siberia and markets itself to tourists as a winter wonderland. no city can live on ice alone. it's got inefficient factories propped by banks. real estate with money pouring

in. now, all of this is threatening not just here but china's economic miracle. >> translator: my teachers have been telling me it is becoming difficult for us to find jobs. i think it's because our economy is having some hurdles. i'm a little concerned about my future. >> translator: i work in the construction business. we rely on real estate industry. it's not been promising. it's hitting us directly. all of us feel the impact of a slowing economy. >> reporter: the government is threatening of cutting the lifeline of the old economy an get resources to individuals and private sectors to deliver jobs. in the short term painful sets. for the sake hopefully, of sustainable growth in the future.

the government calls it the new normal. if it works, it means a new path of wealth to china but it is risky. there will be parts of the economy out in the cold and they are not going to like it. >> yes, china's economy is slowing. what about the rest of the world. aaron is here to fill us in. >> china's debt last year was equivalent to india's economy. china has a lot of debt. that's something to keep our eye on. let me tie the china story in with the slow down or stagnant euro zone. this year and next the imf predicts growth of 3.5% and 3.7% respective respectively. the forecast was publiced back in october. imf said even though for many countries, a blessing is the oil prices that is going to be

offset by weaker investment. we are going to keep our eyes on all of that. global unemployment good news here, will rise over the next five years, as i mentioned. the world economy ended a period of slower growth widening in equality. this according to the report from the ilo, the international labor organization. the ilo says 212 million people will be out of work. that's up from the current 201 million. how about this number? more than 61 million jobs have been lost since the start of the global crisis in 2008. more on that coming up in gmt. let me link it with this employers spend, on average, less than nine seconds scanning a candidate cv. could be your cv before they move on to the next one. lack of attention is due to huge

volume. one compares it to the dating app, kinder that uses scroll through profiles before they find one or one they like. how do you stand out if you have less than nine seconds to make your mark? we are going to have more coming up on gmt in over an hour's time. there you go. nine seconds. you better make your mark. follow me on twitter. this is not mine. no. follow me on twitter. i'll tweet you back. you can get me at bbc erin. >> you can tweet me. you can tweet me. tweet aaron, tweet me. thank you very much. we'll see aaron very very soon. let's look at the other stories. the international medical group called on pharmaceutical companies to slash the price of

children's vaccines and reform the way they are sold and produced. the most common vaccinations is 68 times as expensive as it was in 2001. it criticized lack of openness about prices saying some developing countries pay for the pneumonia vaccine. eyewitnesses in nigeria are witnessing the boko haram attacks. in the past 18 months more than 5,000 civilians lost their lives. one of the bloodiest attacks was in the remote town. this is an exclusive report. >> reporter: what's happened in the nigerian town remains a mystery. trying to find out is a 15-hour journey into the desert.

we set off early on sandy tracks. drove through rivers. and were carried across others by makeshift rafts. finally, some of the thousands who fled. we found this 7-year-old incon soluble, calling for her father. when we met her mother in the camp, she told us of that day. my husband had gone to buy fish when the attack began, she says. women later found his body floating in the lake his hands tied. his heart cut. she is now alone, forced to beg

in a neighboring village to feed her three small girls. most of these women, children and men have lost relatives in the attack. they say boko haram fighters rushed them into the brush. people fled in all directions families captured, now separated with no means of finding each other again. this 31-year-old made it here alone in the terrifying confusion, he lost sight of his wife and their baby. you don't know whether they are alive? >> i don't know. i don't know. >> reporter: how do you feel about that? >> i'm angry. i'm angry.

i cannot listen in the night. if i went to my bedroom so if i stop sleeping -- i'm just thinking of them. >> reporter: you are thinking about your family? >> yes, thinking about my family. >> reporter: agencies are starting to distribute kits everyone on the island arrived with nothing at all, not even a blanket. there have been claims that as many as 2000 people were massacred. these counts were certainly overestimated, but boko haram took their fight across the borders and this looks more and more like a regional war. bbc news. a cease-fire in yemen's capitol appears to be holding. the government called for all political parties that signed up

for peace agreements to attend an emergency meeting chaired by the president. the leader of the forces which seized control of the capitol is due to make a speech. stay with us here on bbc news. we have more to come. we will look at whether the popularity of democratic leadership is on the decline. i've been called a control freak... i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees.

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state post add video. let's talk to a professor, a terrorism expert from king's college here in london. thank you, professor, for joining us. what is islamic state trying to do? once again, we are seeing horrific video. this time they are asking for a ransom, the same amount of money that abe pledged the countries that are fighting islamic state. they are bringing everything together here. >> it is possible this is still about money. but the size of the sum demanded and the timing does seem very political in nature and previous videos where hostages were discussed and threatened were calibrated to events in the western amongst the allies. this is a political step. having said that we shouldn't underestimate ransom money for the groups. >> let's talk about the money

they have the funds they have because a lot of the money they get is from oil funds. revenue from oil is coming down. are they cash strapped at the moment? >> they really don't know. it is unlikely that is or isil is still generating the same oil revenues as last year. it probably is still generating a lot. however, with holding territory comes great expense. they are trying to act like a state and carry out attacks to buy weapons. the numbers that are discussed in the billions that may be bringing in income. still doesn't make them immune to need to keep generating more gas through taxation selling or ransom. >> we saw them release a number of people they captured previously.

that wasn't from any belief. this is running after money or they were expensive to keep they were unwell. >> the reasons for kidnapping is varied. in this case they might be coming together. i.s. does not do things without a purpose and it may have suited them in those circumstances to make that release. the key problem and it is a good point to make that most kidnappings involve people of the country in which their group is operating, do not involve international figures. of course we notice it's when nationals of other countries are in videos. this is exploited by isil in this way. nevertheless, the sums of money paid are so large, this is a relatively low risk and high reward activity for terror groups and worst of all for the

criminal networks that in some cases are taken to order and handing them to terrorist groups. >> thank you for making your point. an expert in terrorism. thank you for your expeer tease. let's turn to the crisis in eastern ukraine. an escalation in violence there. the city has been badly shelled. prorussian rebels say they control that airport. each side accused the other of breaching a cease-fire agreed on last september. let's talk to a journalist from the kiev post. he's 60 or so kilometers north. thank you for talking with uls. yesterday, we were showing images of the absolute devastation of the airport. there was discrepancy of what was in charge. what is your view of what is happening at the airport? >> reporter: it's difficult to get a picture of what's

happening at the airport. we have reports the ukrainians are in the third floor of the building using the supplies. fights on the second and third floor of the main terminal and ukrainian soldiers in the basement. >> maxim, in terms of there's a lot of finger pointing and a blame game we are hearing moscow is saying that poroshenko did not respond to a letter asking for the violence to be de-escalated. what is your position? >> reporter: i think it's difficult for the ukrainian side. constant shelling throughout the cease-fire. they have failed to agree to

stop arming and providing with support. what they have done is launch an offensive to regain the ground they are beginning to lose in response to that. the offset of that is now the conflict sat on the conflict lines in towns. i was just speaking with victoria here and rockets landing around the apartment building. she had to take the children and run to the nearest bomb shelter. everywhere is devastation. it's a sad time in ukraine. >> thank you very much for sharing your experiencing maxim tucker a journalist from the kiev post. thank you very much. now, all day today, we are

looking at democracy and the issue of whether it's working in 2015. let me show you this report by mike aldridge. >> reporter: berlin celebrating a quarter of a century since the fall of communism in eastern europe. a triumph of western democracy. today, this new report says eastern europe does not have a single full democracy and the old democracy is facing new challenges. there's been falling turnouts at the polls and in a number of countries in western europe a sharp fall in membership in mainstream parties. we are seeing elections in many established democracies is down to the unprecedented level of

antagonism between parties and the popular. most people do not feel the policies and approaches of the mainstream parties are able to address their concerns. >> reporter: and the kind of pop list party that's been creating new unpredictability. in france, in greece the far left potential winner of this coming weekend's elections. the u.s. the tea party. a means of protest. now it appears they attract people who see them as a solution. then, there is china. it's communist government arguing democracy wouldn't work at all for its people and the rapid economic progress proves a point. but w the rising middle class, can it be sustained? >> china has been very effective in raising the income level of the population, but it's far

from clear it signals democracy. if we look at the historical experience, no country managed to raise income levels to status without fundmental political change. >> we have lots more on whether democracy is or isn't working on our website. for now, thanks for watching. you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before

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"bbc world news," our top stories. abe condemns a threat by the islamic state group to kill two japanese hostages. >> it's unforgivable and i feel strong resentment toward this threat against human life. i demand the release of the two japanese. >> warnings of painful reform as chin's growth falls to the lowest level in more than 20 years. >> reporter: i'm live at westminster hall the home of the

uks first elected parliament. we'll explore the states on the special bbc coverage. hello and welcome to the program. the japanese prime minister abe demanding the islamic state group immediately release two japanese hostages after the jihadists threatened to kill them. the group posted a video online showing two men in orange jump suits. the man there says they will be killed unless $200 million is paid by japan and he directed the message to the japanese prime minister. it comes days after a pledge by mr. abe of around $200 million in military assistance for countries fighting islamic states. abe demanded their immediate

release and said there would be no change in japanese policy. >> translator: they have released the video that threatens to kill japanese citizens. it is unforgivable and i feel resentment toward the threat of human life. they do not harm the two japanese and release thim immediately. i have instructed by government to prioritize the respect of human life and look at this as a matter of urgency. japan will work to contribute to the peace and stability. japan will not change this policy. >> that's shinzo abe in the middle east on the tour of the region. let's get more on the actual video. we are joined by bbc asian regional editor and bbc arabic. thank you for being here. great concern in japan. what is their relationship with

the middle east? >> the japanese always tried to tread cautiously in the middle east despite being a close ally the japanese like to take a backseat. they have big economic interest not least the fact they rely on most of their oil in the middle east. they are reluctant to get involved too deeply in the middle east. due to pressure from the united states and due to the demands from their alliance with the united states, they have tended to contribute nonmilitary aid. as you were hearing there, in cairo, mr. abe put forward a pledge of $200 million for nonmilitary aid, it's for refugees and people affected in syria and iraq. mr. abe is a much more proactive leader and wants to play a bigger role in the international community in general. he has lots of threats in the region from china, russia and north korea. he's more dependent on the

united states than ever before. in a sense, he's been dragged into this against the wishes really of much of the japanese public. >> now, that pledge charles is talking about, the 200 million dlarls in nonmilitary aid, there's no coincidence, is there, islamic states are asking the exact same amount of ransom money. >> this is more of a propaganda exercise to embarrass the japanese government. especially that isis is known to demand ransom for hostages. this was always in the region between $3 million and $5 million. this is a huge amount. >> a huge amount indeed. what is the normal policy for japan, remind us. >> they have in the past paid money or paid ransom for hostages, we believe. this is a different circumstance. this is dire. the sum is really obviously

unrealistic, $200 million, three days to pay. they suggest it looks more like a prop gan ta initiative and attempt to put mr. abe on the spot and punish him for the offer he made to the u.s. and allies. >> in terms of financial wealth for islamic states how are their finances? it's expensive running a state while revenues are down. how are they coping? s the islamic state group is thought to be the wealthiest jihadi group in the world. they have a self-sufficient entity. the most important source of revenue is oil. so, they extract oil from the areas they control and they sell it to traders on a very discounted price, plus they have some refineries and they are making a lot of money from operating the refineries. they also use extortion and

various sorts of taxes on people in the areas they control. they get money from people who sympathize with them and make donations. they took over advances when they took over in the summer of last year. they took a lot of money in the banks there. also, they are reported to be selling ancient artifacts and antiquities. >> thank you very much gentlemen for talking us through all of that. we are continuing to monitor that situation and any reaction we get, we will bring it to you. let's bring you up to date. china is experiencing the slowest expansion in nearly a quarter century. the rates dropped to 7.4% in 2014. the chinese government is warning the public to expect painful reforms.

we are in beijing. >> i think you have to look at this as chin's growth on the way down in terms of speed. the government carefully managing expectations among the chinese public. they are the biggest stake holder in the economy. many macro economic levers. they don't want to let growth plummet too far. 7.4%, a tiny bit under target is a way of saying we are slowing down but managing it. the difficulty i suppose, that they have is china has become addicted or certainly very high growth rate double digits in the '80s and '90s. a lot of parts of the economy now just expect it and rely upon it. that creates problems for industrial sectors, infrastructure and creates problems for individuals and families. i went to the northeast city to

look at the slowdown through the eyes of one chinese family. >> the law of gravity says when the family goes up they must come down. for the first three decades, the chinese economy hasn't lived by the law of gravity. it's a marathon. a family at the festival. they have never had it so good. and they expect their children's lives to be better still. but, beyond the winter wonderland harbin looks like this, a miracle economy in trouble. enterprise choked by state factories. a real estate bubble spiraling down. if chinese don't stop the risky habits, the economy may freeze all together.

they have to take stakes in the short term for sustainable growth in the future. the government has a slogan for this exercise. it's called the new normal. parts of this new normal is more private enterprise. when he's not out with the family he is in his shop selling accessories for bu diss. religion is growing fast especially among business people. a string of prayer beads can sell for up to 10,000 pounds. >> translator: i like to spend more on buying better quality products. i'm confident this market is going to keep growing. after all, people think praying will help their business. and if things go well for me, i'll move to a bigger shop. >> reporter: dad has big dreams but right now, mom is the main breadwinner. she runs an elevator repair

business, which helped pay the extra costs of having two children in a country where you are only supposed to have one. slower growth hit their income but she says short term pain is worth it for long term gains. >> translator: a slow economy is actually better for us because steadier. our generation is so much better off than our parents and going to be better for our kids. it's the quality of the growth that matters, not the speed. >> reporter: china has gotten used to speed, slowing down and making space for the market is the promiseland. but new direction, new danger it's a risky transition from fairytale to new normal. >> so it is risky. the strike rate in china is rising. this is before even some of

the slowing growth has hit in major sectors. of course the state sector in cities like harbin is massive. you start removing industrial subsidies, you are going to get a lot of people out of work. the idea that private enterprise and innovation and the green economy is going to replace all of this is one not everyone in terms of the public and not everyone in government buys into. there is a lot of nervousness in the macro economic government about how they handle it and how fast they can go. the direction is clear. unless they take the reforms, china's growth is about to slow down. it will slow all together. that is almost unthinkable in political consequences. >> let's bring you up to date. a protest from hundreds of asylum seekers in australia

ended without serious violence. then the compound where migrants trying to get to australia barricaded themselves in. it began with the detainees harming themselves by sewing their lips together to go on a hunger strike. >> the baby at the center of a sar ga si has brought them -- she was born with down syndrome. his sister went home with australia parents. he'll have health care in australia. indonesian investigators say they have found no evidence terrorism is a factor in the crash of airasia flight 8501. analysis of the voice recorder began 162 people on board are believed to have died when it crashed into the east java sea more than three weeks ago.

the prime minister of new zealand has told bbc his country is looking at ways to contribute to the international battle against so-called islamic state. on a visit to the uk he said they would likely send troops alongside of australia. he said it was clear the world was facing a very different terrorist group. >> we were given money -- but, publicly we are exploring where we will see the training with australians in country in iraq. not to accompany those forces as they go out to prosecute the islamic state, but our training capability. i think for a country like new zealand, we are not immune from the issues and we can't solely rely on britain. i think all countries do it to make a contribution and it's a realistic one.

>> how do you convince -- in you send people there and they die, that is worse. >> of course that's a challenge. tragically see a result of it. i think the second thing is ultimately, we are going to be part of the club and follow intelligence or ultimately rely on them to support our need. we do know when it comes to the united states and canada and australia and great britain and others, we can't rely on them. if we don't have the resources to fly someone out of a country, it is a problem. i think, if you are going to take that view you can't say when the going gets tough, leave

it to the other guys. this country is small and could be proportional. there could be a contribution. it's the price of the club. it can come with great human cost. if we didn't do this and in case of the islamic state they become more powerful greater risk. >> new zealand's prime minister there john key. carried out the uks first organ transplant from a newborn baby. the kidney and liver cells were given to two different patients. doctors in london say it was an act of extraordinary generosity by her parents. the two were prohibits from this procedure. >> called companies to slash the price of children's vaccine and

reform the way they are produced. the most common set of vaccinations is 68 times as expensive as it was in 2001. it criticizes the lack of openness about prices saying some developing pricings pay more more the pneumonia vaccine, for example. stay with us here on "bbc world news." we have more to come including the chinese man with a life saving donation for a boy in england who he's never met. why didn't we think of these years ago? i got a big meeting. i'm going to pitch my idea for bite-size twix. oh, that's a good idea! this could be my big... [ thud ] [ male announcer ] your favorite bars: bite-sized. introducing twix bites.

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hello, you are watching "bbc world news." i have headlines for you. japanese prime minister shinzo abe says the threat to kill two hostages is unforgivable and

demand their release immediately. china gets ready for a new normal as tough reforms kick in. the uk government has been open and transparent according to global ranking looking at public data. the man who invented the worldwide web says the uk is doing well but is one of the worst countries for internet spying. he's calling on governments to publish data for true transparency. we went to meet him as part of the democracy day. >> in general, when you look at the world, they are ahead of open data and getting things collected while developed countries are much further ahead than other countries. still, a minority of companies use the well 40%. >> is it about wealth and development or some government almost deliberately trying to

prevent citizens from using open data? >> yes. itis got a lot to do with it clearly. on the other hand also if you look at the list some countries despite a big wealth gdp per capita kenya, for example. they got excited about it. other countries, they are there, but the government is actually blocking and spying on people. >> can you name some names? the villains around the world. who are the bad guys? >> when you are looking at documents you would think overseas, you think of countries like iran syria and others. >> are you an optimist when it comes to this kind of thing? >> at the end of the day, when

it comes to humanity yes, i'm an optimist. there are ways in which governments attempted to seize too much control. even a good government can be tempted to give itself control but wouldn't want the next government to have. we have to make sure that we have the checks and balances. >> you must be immensely proud that you are the father of this. you are father of the web. you have created a world to connect in that way. >> it's been created by international people. it's been really really exciting. the people out there who decide to put together a website, even though it's not their job, oh i'll try that. people come out of the wood work

doing things because they are excited and find a world they are building. those are the people i'm proud of. >> that was him speaking to edgar about democracy. we are in westminster in london. arguably the heart of british democracy there. >> reporter: it is thank you. yes, there's a celebration going on here today. 750 years to the day since the first elected parliament sat here. a very different system then. the elected representatives were picked by a limited pool of electors electors. over the years democracy involved in a way everybody over the age of 18 having the right to vote. the interesting thing about what has gone on here in britain in terms of parliament is the way it's impacted other nations as well. that system transported to other countries. other countries replicating it.

other elements of the system of elected politicians. but this building itself was commissioned by a king in 1097. when he built it, it was a symbol of the power of one man alone. it's stood up to various difficulties that survived fires and terrorist attack and it's survived bombing in the second world war. this really is a great symbol in the uk of parliamentary democracy over the years. >> we can see, there's people busy behind you. what can we expect in terms of the rest of the day and also there's so much more coverage on the bbc as well. a real democracy day here on tuesday. >> reporter: there is. seeing children turn out because

of the anniversary of the first elected parliament here and around the building here you can see the various banners which mark landmark moments on democracy. it's part of a special day of coverage. the bbc is looking at democracy and how it evolved around the world. bbc.com/democracyday. >> thank you very much. in the heart of british democracy. images of the democracy done in a rather different way. this is a different parliament. this is here in nepal where lawmakers have been. look at this. opposition politicians who, as you can see are unhappy with plans to push through a new constitution. even attack the parliamentary speaker. democracy in action. more on our website. now, how far would you go to help a total stranger?

she is donating stem cells to someone he does not know. listen to the donor. >> translator: today is a very special day for me. i'm donating by stem cells to a 7-year-old boy in the uk. i work as a driver for the shanghai government. i took part in the donation program without much thought. i was quite surprised when the red cross called to tell me they had found a match. i was even more surprised that match was with a foreigner.

>> translator: the process is not painful. it is just a system of tubes that draws blood out of my veins, extracts the stem cells before returning the blood. no one inserted big needles into my spine, which is the sort of thing many people imagine happens. in fact i didn't feel a single thing. only that the whole procedure lasted over three hours and i was sleepy. many people including my family asked if i was scared. i wasn't. not at all. >> translator: i hope my stem cells can extend to the uk soon

so that little boy can receive them as soon as possible. i hope he will be brave and strong get healthy again and live a good life. this is my biggest wish. >> we hope so too. what would you do? let me know on twitter. thanks for watching "bbc world news." push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure.

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hello, you are watching gmt on "bbc world news." our top stories, islamic state threatened to kill two japanese hostages if they have not paid a $200 million ransom. the sum matches the amount he pledged days ago. mr. abe condemned the videos. >> translator: it is difficult and i feel strong resentment toward the threat against human life. i demand the immediate release of the two japanese.