hello and welcome to bbc world news. i'm daniela ritorto. our top stories. vital talks are taking place as eurozone finance ministers try to solve the crisis over greece's bailout. u.s. military sources say a force of iraqi and kurdish fighters is being put together to retake the city of mosul from islamic state. this murdered woman may become the face of the struggle to end violence against women in turkey. and continuing our "richer world" series we're in tennessee, where the manufacturing sector is on the rebound.

welcome. it could be the final act of a greek drama, with eurozone finance ministers due to meet in a couple hours' time and try to reach a deal on the country's bailout. let's have a look at some of the figures in play here. in total, greece owes more than 320 billion euros in debt. that's a huge 175% of the country's gdp, its annual economic output. and as a proportion that's one of the highest in the world, because if you were to split up greece's mountain of debt over its entire population each person would owe almost 30,000 euros each. and so far, greece has received 240 billion euros in bailout deals. but those agreements as we know, have been tied to strict

austerity measures. and those measures is have hit the economy hard. the majority of young people are unemployed. so, greece's loan agreement will expire on the 28th of february. and without a deal it would be unable to pay its bills within a matter of weeks. in a moment we're going to hear from the street of athens. but first, here's the german finance minister on why the greeks must stick to the promises they have made. >> the room is limited and it's not only by member states. it's altogether and therefore everyone has to work again. the thing is that we don't destroy, otherwise it will not work. >> we hope that the solution will be found again, because we don't want to leave the euro the eurozone or the euro.

but we cannot go on in this situation. >> well, dr. michael fox is economic adviser to german chancellor angela merkel. when i spoke to him, i asked why his government was so quick to reject greece's offer when some quite liked it. >> first of all, we had a very clear agreement on monday on the last economic meeting with finance ministers. they said very clear that all the agreements which has been made have to be accepted by the greek government. and the letter which has been sent by mr. varoufakis, did not snow that he was accepting the so-called memorandum of understanding, which was the one that gave all the austerity measures or showed all the austerity measures. and he didn't want to accept the austerity measures. that was very clear. it was an offense against what had been okayed on monday. and therefore, i mean it's

logical that we can accept it. >> yes, but doctor this is an negotiation, isn't it? there's some give and some take and greece has backed down the middle of this. >> it's not give and take. we are talking about taxpayers' money, not only in german but also all over euro. the taxpayers don't have an understanding that the greek guys don't want to go to any austerity measures anymore and just want to take it easy. and europe has to pay. that's not acceptable anymore. and that's the reason we said very clearly, yes, all the contacts which have been fined prior to the agreement with the old government have to be fulfilled and then we will keep on financing greece. but, you know, they have to do something. >> and if they don't and greece is forced into a corner and out of the euro zone that would be a disaster. you don't want to see that. >> it is, of course a disaster. we don't want greek to step out, but greek was on a good path i have to say. look at the figures.

first time a primary surface, which is not the final thing we want. we want to have a real surface. but a primary surface already is showing that they're on the right way. but if they've not changed the way back to the old system that's the reason we refused to accept this letter yesterday. he was fully right. he has got the full organization of all the german parliament. >> yes, and i'll take that point that he has the authorization and the backing of the german parliament, but doesn't this government have the backing of a majority of greek people which voted them in just a couple of months ago and asked them to find a way out of austerity? >> well yes, we want the greek government to find a way out of austerity, but this has something to do with being competitive or not. and if the greek government is not competitive anymore and the greek people is not competitive anymore, they will be never able

to come out of the crisis. and they have to know the right way and we want them to fulfill what they have signed. i mean it's contracts and this is something which everybody knows. >> dr. michael fuchs there. let's get aaron's thoughts on this. what struck me about what he had to say there is there's no give and take. this is taxpayer money here. >> what's the greeks are saying. you accept or reject. big stakes. hello, there. we are also looking at greece and its battle to ease the term of its bailouts. and of course it's a q&u funding before it runs out of cash and being forced out of the eurozone as you've certainly been hearing. the finance ministers from the 19 eurozone nations meet again this afternoon to consider another proposal to extend its eurozone agreement for another six months. yesterday, germany very quickly rejected the new greek proposal calling it a trojan horse, allowing athens to dodge its

commitment. so is it still deadlock or are we any closer to a deal? i'll tell you what, the financial markets think a deal is around the corner. in fact germany's stock market closed at a new record high of just over 11,000. the value of greek bonds, that's greek debt, also rose pushing down the yields on the three-year bond by a third, and it came down top 17%. that sounds like a lot in terms of interest rates, but consider the very same debt had a yield, had an interest rate of 128% before the most recent greek bailout back in march of 2012. what does this mean? it means that investors are far more confident now than they were back then. but many greeks are preparing for a possible exit of the eurozone. look at this number. greek households and greek businesses, they have sucked out, they have drawn out 18 billion euros out of those greek banks since december and that is piling on the pressure on the country's financial system.

but on thursday, the greek central bank governor denied there was a problem saying outflows withdrawals, are under control. we'll be hearing a lot more about this in fact on the business coming up on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. so we go from of course high-stakes negotiations to high fashion, because, yes, london fashion week is just getting underway. the this was naomi campbell's charity show last night, featuring designs from big names like vivian westwood, dolce and gabbana, but there's a warning this morning from many younger, less-established designers involved because they are at greater risks than ever to losing rights to both their names and creations within just hours of their catwalk shows. the biggest threat coming from china. more on this on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. follow me on twitter. you can get me @bbcaaron. >> thanks, aaron. >> i know you like the fashion. >> maybe. >> yes. we're going to move away

from business and all things greece and get some of the day's other stories now. u.s. military forces say that iraqi and kurdish forces are planning a major attack. its aim is to retake the country's second largest city mosul, from the militant group calling itself islamic state. an official from u.s. central command says that up to 25,000 troops will be on the move in april or may. the u.s. would provide military support for the operation, including training air support, and intelligence. well, our correspondent in baghdad is ahmed maher, and i asked him if it comes as a surprise that this plan has been made so public. >> well the iraqi prime minister himself concerned the news a few days ago with an interview with the bbc. he hasn't set a timeline for the military operation, but he said it's high time the iraqi army

backed by militias volunteers, the peshmerga, of course the united states and at the air power of several countries, to retake and reclaim several towns, not just mosul, which is the second largest city but several towns and cities that were recaptured by the well-armed jihadists calling themselves the islamic state. so it's not a surprise that such a strategic tactic if i kacan say, to announce the military operation, a larger scale military operation, as happened before in iraq, if we remember, in fallujah with a few years ago, to recapture the city as well. so it is a military tactic. however, the military reporter said that if the iraqi forces were not ready, it could be delayed. >> let's focus next on turkey

because two gruesome cases of violence against women in the last week have shocked the country. in particular the murder of 20-year-old oscar gam aslan who was violently killed while resisting rape. it sparked protests in many cities. some human rights groups say the number of attacks against women is on the rise in turkey. >> reporter: there was shouting you will never walk alone. since the murder thousands of women have been asking for one thing, an end to the violence against women. she was stabbed to death by her husband two years ago. she was under official protection. but that didn't save her. >> translator: she was killed because she wanted a divorce. she was subject to violence for 13 years. she had had enough. they tell me this was her

destiny. no i don't believe that. my sister was left alone to die. >> reporter: this week women were invited to wear black in solidarity with aslan. here in this city most women took up that call. on a stage here is called "love and fascism." there's a scene of a woman being attacked on public transport. she was killed in a mini bus, and that struck a strong chord in turkey. many women felt it could have been me. women's rights organizations say violence against women has risen sharply in the last decade. many women think it's time to take control of their lives. >> there are so many many you

know governing and so many men deciding on our point of view what we should do about, you know, how many children we should have or about abortion and all these kind of things. you know there are so many male powers deciding what we want to do. >> reporter: feminists are cautiously optimistic. they hope her murder will become a watershed moment. >> translator: this society always finds excuses to justify the rape and murder of women. but now there's no excuse to whitewash the murder. women and men from all political backgrounds have been protesting since her death. i think this gives a hopeful message for turkey. >> reporter: protests still carry on but much smaller in size due to bad weather. she might become the face of the struggle to end violence against women in turkey.

do hope you can stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come, join the club. the compromise by spanish authorities to allow users to enjoy cannabis without being arrested.

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this is bbc world news. i'm daniela ritorto. our main news this hour efforts continue to try to reach a deal on the greek bailout. eurozone finance ministers again meet in brussels after germany rejects a greek compromise. fewer americans filed for jobless claims last week than economists had expected. that's, of course a good sign. fewer claims naturally mean that more people are at work. it's particularly important for the manufacturing sector which was hollowed out during the recession, but it's now adding jobs once again.

mindy yu reports from tennessee. >> reporter: a car rolls off the assembly line every 20 seconds. this nissan plant is the largest automobile factory in north america and one of the biggest in the world. and it's located in tennessee. >> i think there was a sense of wonder if southerners could build vehicles i think we cut our teeth and proved to every one that we could build vehicles in the south. >> nissan has assured a move to production to the plant. although wages are higher in the u.s., they're only 10% of the cost of making a car. and other costs, like energy are coming down in america. plus, it's getting more expensive to manufacture in places like china. just three hours away is one of america's leading technology hubs. once this secret location where the atomic bomb was developed, this quiet area of eastern tennessee continues to receive federal funding to promote

innovation. >> so what you're looking at here is what's called deposition modeling. >> reporter: this is the machine that made the world's first full-scale 3-d printed car. oakridge national laboratory works with businesses to give them access to technology like 3-d printing to help them develop high-tech manufacturing. this is what manufacturing now looks like in america. these are modified plastic granules. they enhanced normal plastic to make it strong enough to be the body of the 3-d printed car. that's why innovation can't be separated from production anymore. can this revival of manufacturing last? >> this is short-lived, but there have been some job gains. and we expect job growth to continue in manufacturing through 2017 but then return to that long-term trend decline. can america reverse the process

of deindustrialization that has led to a loss of good production jobs? innovations like 3-d printing have revived made in america products but it's still a small part of an economy that's largely based on services like the businesses that run the music industry. but for now, cheaper energy rising overseas wages, and american innovation have made manufacturing in the u.s. competitive again. and nashville, the home of country music and southern barbecue, is enjoying a new title as the new detroit. linda yu bbc news nashville. many countries around the world are debating whether or not cannabis should be made legal. the czech republic and portugal as well as several american states have been experimenting with the idea. in spain, however, they have

reached a compromise. production and supply remain illegal, but habitual users aren't punished. tom barridge went to find out more. ♪ >> reporter: so here are the rules of a spanish cannabis club. no tourists. locals only. members only. over 21. in spain, it's legal to present or smoke a small amount of cannabis, but you can't sell it. so to stay within the law, private clubs like this one charge their members an annual fee. and on top of that members make contributions to the club. in return the members share the food drinks and the club's cannabis crop. and that's legal.

>> and london law lecturer has been studying the spanish cannabis club model. >> as long as the cannabis club is providing cannabis to those who are already thathabitual users, have themselves contributed to the funding of the cultivation, then they seem to be outside of the law. >> reporter: but there wasn't a change in the law here. these cannabis clubs sprung up. there are now as many as 800 in spain. but the spanish government told me it's illegal for clubs to cultivate cannabis. so the clubs keep their crop in a secret location. regional governments like here in barcelona, often turn a blind eye. in the club, members have a menu offering some strong varieties of cannabis which can cause some people mental health

problems. problems. >> a panic attack psychotic symptoms with anxieties. >> reporter: but the cannabis connoisseurs of this club argue it's better that people buy the drug and consume it here. >> it's always better to come here to get your marijuana and, you know you're getting a good quality, which is target by us. >> there's quality control, which is very important. that's the main issue that we want to know what we're smoking. >> reporter: so unlike in britain, in spain you're not breaking the law if you supply cannabis to friends, and that's essentially what these private clubs do. the cannabis clubs sprung up here without any change in spanish law. they've just learned to live with it. tom barridge bbc news in

barcelona. hollywood is gearing up for its annual big bash. the academy awards and this year's oscar spectacular sees neil patrick harris taking over the hosting duties. allison lito is behind the scenes. >> reporter: after weeks of grins, frocks and flashbulbs the culmination of the annual awards season is almost upon us. the big question, will eddie redmayne win best actor? >> when you make films, it's so out of your control. you always pour your heart into everything you do but there's an alchemy that happens in filmmaking and it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. >> he was humble a few weeks ago, but come on you would love an oscar. >> unless oscar keaton's birdman sweeps in to take the gold. >> the gloss seems to have come off cumberbatch's performance. >> i think bradley cooper has

been nominated every year for three years. he's probably due as well. >> i got a military-aged male on a cell phone. >> reporter: "american sniper" has made so much money, that you almost wonder if that's going to tip it over the edge and the academy is going to love it for that. >> in terms of the top prize, best movie, "boyhood" is also well placed. it did take them 12 years to make. the carpet is almost down the preparation is moving swiftly, and everyone is working towards the big night. wolfgang puck, people have been starving themselves for months. what's the reward at the end of it? >> everybody gets the golden chocolate. so now we wrap them up and put them in a little box so we can take them home as a souvenir. >> do you enjoy this? it's a great event for los angeles. we don't have the queen coming for dinner or anything like that. we just have the oscars. >> reporter: the oscars cost an absolute fortune to put on. not just all this preparation, but the hidden money, the hundreds of thousands of dollars

spent lobbying to attract the attention of the academy, which incidentally is more than 90% white, three quarters men, and an average age of over 60. >> if you look at the top categories of best picture, i think five of them are about white famous men. if you look at that there's no way you can even question that there's an inherent bias for people rewarding films that represent themselves. >> reporter: the winners are still under wraps, but soon all will be revealed and then hollywood can get back to the hard work. it's all uphill to next year's academy awards. >> and the oscars begin on sunday in l.a. you can find out more about the stars and the films which have been nominated for an academy award by going on our website, bbc.com/news. the bidding for a suit worn by the indian prime minister narendra modi has reached nearly $200,000. mr. modi wore the suit which featured pinstripes and gold threads spelling out his name when he hosted the u.s.

president, barack obama, in january. his political rivals said it was a waste of money in a country where millions of people live in poverty. well the auction ends in just a couple of minutes' time, so stay tuned and we'll bring you the results here on bbc world news. we'll see you then. hey, how you doin'? it hurts. this is what it can be like to have shingles. a painful blistering rash. if you had chicken pox the shingles virus is already inside you. as you get older your immune system weakens and it loses its ability to keep the shingles virus in check. i just can't stand seeing him like this. he's in pain. one in three people will get shingles in their lifetime. the shingles rash can last up to 30 days. i wish that there was something i could do to help. some people with shingles will have long term nerve pain

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hello and welcome to bbc world news. i'm daniela ritorto. these are our top stories. vital talks are taking place as eurozone finance ministers try to solve the crisis over greece's bailout. two powerful cyclones have battered different parts of australia, forcing a thousand people to be moved from their homes. people in the middle east woke up to the unusual sight of snow after blizzards hit the region. and india's prime minister my modi auctions his gold-threaded pinstripe suit for charity after it's condemned as a waste of money.

thank you for joining us. it could be the final act of a greek drama. with eurozone finance ministers due to meet in just a few hours' time to reach a deal on the country's bailout. let's have a look at some of the numbers we're talking about here because in total, greece owes more than 320 billion euros. that's a huge 175% of the country's gdp, its annual economic output. and as a proportion that's one of the highest in the world. if you were to split up greece's mountain of debt of its entire population each person would owe almost 30,000 euros each. so far, greece has received 240 billion euros in bailout deals, but those agreements have been tied to strict austerity measures. . and it's those measures which

have hit the economy hard. the majority of young people there are unemployed. so greece's current loan agreement will expire on the 28th of february. and without a deal it would be unable to pay its bills within a matter of weeks. in a moment we'll hear a few from the streets of athens but fist here's the greece finance minister about why the greeks must stick to the promises they've made. >> the rule of law is limited and it's not only by member states. it's altogether and therefore everyone is involved again. the precondition is that we don't destroy, otherwise it will not work. >> german minister should have more and not be negative about everything. >> we hope that the solution will be found again, because we

don't want to leave the euro the euro zone or the euro but we cannot go on in this situation. >> let's catch up with damien mcginnis in berlin for us. damien the hard line that's being taken by wolfgang schauble and the rest of the german government, does that have the german public in lockstep support behind it? >> well, what's interesting is that the vast majority of public opinion supports mr. schauble's tough line. according to a tv poll which has just been conducted on a german news channel here in berlin 94% of german voters want mr. schauble to stick to this tough line. and that's because the feeling here in german that there's no point throwing money at the problem. what you have to do is think about the long-term solution. in berlin's minds, the long-term solution is economic reform. that means austerity, how much

austerity, how fast that's the big question. but for berlin there's no question of accepting this letter this deal that athens offered yesterday. because there's no commitment in berlin's eyes from athens to firm commitment to push through economic reform. you have to remember of course german voters and the german state have so far put forward 60 billion euros. there's very little appetite here in germany to put more money into the problem, without knowing there'll be a structural reform which will help make greece long-term more competitive. >> thanks very much for the view from berlin. we'll now get the view from athens and talk to a journalist with one of the main conservative voices of the greek media. he's also the author of the book "the 13th labor of hercules" on the greek crisis. well yanis, thank you very much for speaking to us. you've heard the views from germany. german taxpayers, that is just don't want to throw more good money after bad.

isn't that fair enough? >> actually i don't think it is fair enough, for the following reasons. the way the program has worked so far or hasn't worked i should say, makes it more unlikely that they will actually get their money back. so given the fact that the greek government has moved away from its unrealistic proposals, that it was talking about before the election and that it has made significant compromises, it will be in berlin's own interests to agree to an extension which will allow the two sides to renegotiate the program, allow greece to return the growth and make it much more likely that greece will be able to repay its creditors. >> yanis, just describe to me the mood in greece after yesterday, when it looked like a deal was going forward. yeah, it was a bit of a back down on anti-austerity but, you know, a compromise, nonetheless. and then there was that immediate german rejection.

>> yes, i mean this further exacerbates a mood that's been growing here since the election which is actually quite dangerous. it's a mood of intense national pride, a sense that we are sort of, you know standing up to our creditors, in a way that we weren't before. and especially if the other side the germans and the euro group are perceived as not being willing to meet us at least some of the way, and there's a sense that they want us to capitulate, i think that will create a really anti-european feeling here and it would make it very difficult for the greek government to achieve any sort of agreement. >> i was speaking to dr. michael fox earlier, an adviser to chancellor merkel and he said what frustrates him is the fact that greece was, under the

previous government on the right path. and now they're taking the country backwards? >> if you look what they're proposing, they're not proposing to go back to primary deficits. they want a slightly smaller primary surplus than what has been agreed to in the program. and they want basically to keep the same level of primary surplus that the previous government achieved last year about 1.5% of gdp. going from 1.5% to 4.5% in an economy that's lost more than a quarter of its income and has more than a quarter of its people unemployed is frankly economic madness and it's not going to create the kind of environment that would allow the kind of reforms that the europeans want to have if greece, you know? greek people hear reform and they wonder how much money they're going to lose. >> yannis can i ask you very, very briefly, what do you think is going to happen today? >> i think it's very uncertain.

i mope is that there will be a very tough negotiation at the end of which they will be able to come out with the outline of an agreement for the extension. >> so a little bit of hope there, yannis thank you very much speaking to us from athens. appreciate it. indonesia has delayed the execution of two australian drug smugglers by at least three weeks. andrew chen and myron are believed to be the ring leader of the so-called bali 9 heroin trafficking group. indonesia has said they would face the firing squad by the end of february but the government says that's been delayed due to technical reasons. indonesia says it will not cancel the execution because of pressure from australia. the argentine foreign minister has told the bbc that he believes opposition figures and powerful business interests are using the turmoil after the death of a public prosecutor to try to destabilize the government. hector timmen spoke to our correspondent and explained why he sent a letter to the u.s. and israel demanding their security

forces stop interfering in argentina's internal affairs. >> reporter: 400,000 people marching through the argentine capital, amongst after the death of a special prosecutor. president cristina fernandez dekirchner called it part of a conspiracy to undermine her government, a allegation qualified by one of her most senior ministers, hector timmen. >> yes, there was a very important merge of people who were angry against the government. i have to respect. i have to lead them. >> but was this a kind of soft coup -- >> not against the people who are merging. i think some people and businessmen are trying to stop cristina of governing the country. >> reporter: special prosecutor alberto nisman was investigating

the 1994 bombing of a jewish cultural center which killed 85 people. he'd accused government officials of conspiring with iraq to absolve it of any blame. and while the foreign policy doesn't deny secret talks with the iranians he rejects allegations of conspiracy. >> i know, i exactly know that he draft an arrest against myself. and i will defend myself in court. >> but you say in this case you have done nothing wrong. neither you or the president? >> nothing at all. on the contrary we did more than any other government in order to find out who committed these terrible crimes against the jewish center. more than any other government. >> reporter: he denies that argentine has been thrown into crisis, but in sending open letters to the united states and israel this week does he suspect the work of foreign and domestic intelligence agencies

nisman's death? >> i think that there are countries whose intelligence services operate in third countries, without the organization of the countries. and what i'm saying in my letter is just telling them that if they are doing that they should stop. >> is this all coincidental? i mean are you sending these warning letters to t americans and the israelis because of what we've learned from the nisman case? >> i -- that's something i do not want to answer. >> if i can push it slightly differently, i mean do you have evidence that there were foreign agencies at work? do we know -- >> we don't send letter -- >> do you expect or have you had any firm response from the americans or the israelis? >> not yet. >> reporter: and defiant from her confrontational response to

alberto nisman's death, cristina fernandez de kirschner has a loyal foreign minister who has no doubt she'll complete her term in office. >> i'm very proud of my government, i am proud of my president, i'm proud of my country. we are able to keep fighting but if there is one thing that 99% of arrangegentina will agree, we want to live in a democratic society. do please stay with us here on bbc world news. still to come -- and the winner is! but what comes next? the guide to making that all-important oscar acceptance speech.

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this is bbc world news. i'm daniela ritorto. these are the latest headlines.

they hope for progress at finance talks. they now say athens's latest request for a loan extension offers a starting point. parts of the middle east are blanketed in snow, as a rare blizzard hit the region. it is the most talked about suit in the industry of indian politics, and it's being sold at auction. we should have the final price any minute now, but bids have topped can you believe this $450,000. let's have a look at this controversial suit. it was worn by the indian prime minister narendra modi when he hosted barack obama in january. what's so special about it is that it has modi's own name pinstriped down the suit in gold the lead. his political rival said it was a huge waste of money in a country where millions of people live in poverty. well as someone who's been monitoring this very closely in delhi is the bbc's charlie yed

yedeb? and the bidding is still going on? >> reporter: it is and there's a lot of anticipation around it. the highested by that they've heard so far is that of $450,000. the actual price of the suit was around $16,000. so you can imagine the kind of anticipation and the excitement amongst those who are there to bid for his suit. >> shalu, who is bidding for it? >> mostly the traders in the diamond hub, the city of sulad, which is actually hometown of many, many diamond traders of india. and those are the people with a lot of money in their pockets. >> and has prime minister modi now accepted that perhaps it was a little bit extravagant to have this suit made? >> well he hasn't come out and

given a statement himself, but his party has been trying to,, you know -- it's seen as a damage control exercise because there was a lot of controversy around it. it was called not just a fashion faux pas, but also a pr faux pas, because when narendra modi came to power, he had the image of a humble man, and now he is wearing expensive designer suits, which are making headlines for the wrong reasons. >> shalu, thank you very much we'll leave it there for now and keep an eye on that auction. thank you. let's go to australia now, where a powerful cyclone has hit the central coast of queensland. the cyclone has uprooted trees and torn roofs off houses as it made landfall with wind gusts up to 250 kilometers an hour. it has now weakened, but it's headed for the south, where residents are braced for possible flooding. phil mercer reports.

>> reporter: it has taken queensland by surprise. the cyclone intensified unexpectedly, and when it hit the coast, it unleashed its full fur fury. one official said the storm was a monster. the authorities in the state of queensland have warned that it was so powerful that widespread damage was inevitable. >> this is going to a calamity. there is absolutely no doubt about that. our primary focus from this point on and it's what the premiere has certainly made sure that we are focused on is the safety of all human life in that area. >> reporter: the storm has been downgraded, but remains dangerous as it tracks to the south near the coast and towards more populated areas. hundreds of residents have crowded in to evacuation centers, as the chaos continues

to unfold while others have sought refuge at home. >> my message still stands firm. stay indoors, don't go outside. we're not through this year. stay with your family. listen to your radio. and don't go out on to the flooded roads. just stay inside. >> reporter: the presidents say that amid the damage and flying debris, it's the deafening noise that's so frightening. some areas are expecting downpours of more than 500 millimeters over the next 24 hours. this is a country that's well used to nature's extremes. >> we are used to a difficult and dangerous summers in this country. it's good that we have managed to get through this summer so far without too many major incidents, but this is a very serious storm and let's hope that we can get through it without too much damage and certainly without any loss of life. >> australia has been bracing for not one, but two tropical

storms. in the northern territory, cyclone lam has crossed a sparsely populated stretch of coast and has battered several isolated aboriginal communities, but so far no injuries have been reported. cyclones are low pressure systems that form over the warm waters of the tropics. their powerful winds can extend hundreds of kilometers from the eye of the storm. phil mercer bbc news sydney. so while those winds have been causing problems in australia, it's bitterly cold in other parts of the world. with me is weather presenter, sarah kate lucas, the bbc weather department very busy at the moment. >> absolutely, daniella it's a busy period of weather around the world at the moment. there's been some unseemingly cold weather in both the middle east and north america, have been the best time in the northern hemisphere. people in jerusalem woke up to around 25 centimeters of snow after the second major blizzard of the winter swept across the

holy city. snow started to fall on thursday night, and by friday morning, jerusalem looked like this completely white. schools closed for the day and urban bus services were limited, and the two main highways into jerusalem in both directions were also closed. in neighboring jordan we see a similar scene. snow has also been falling since thursday and on friday it paralyzed most of the streets in the jordanian capital, amman. well authorities warned people not to leave their home and the capitals municipality announced a state of maximum alert during the winter storm. meanwhile, in north america, a bitterly cold air mass has brought dangerously cold weather to the eastern half of the united states. temperatures are at least 10 to 20 degrees celsius, below their normal levels of february. from new england right down to florida. conditions for pennsylvania residents have been difficult due to the arctic temperatures and officials told local media this unique formation called an ice volcano is at least 16 meters high. so what's going on? well, we've got a plunge of very

cold air, which has been sweeping down from the canada yard arctic down the eastern side of the usa, as far down as florida. milder air out to the south and the west too. so temperatures in the south and the west run about average this time of year 18 degrees or so in los angeles, but if we pan our away across to the other side of north america, a very different story here. temperatures in new york minus 7 degrees, but add on the bitterly cold winds coming in from the northwest the windchill making things feel bitterly cold. and that's the middle east. well here's the latest satellite image. it shows a band of clouds that's been working in from the eastern mediterranean. we have heavy snow across parts of turkey and now it's pushing across. it's been heavily in jerusalem and working its way farther eastward over the course of friday and into the weekend as well. by saturday, we're still left with a cold air flow the wind coming in so jerusalem, for instance, there'll be a bitterly cold windchill, combined with further heavy showers, some

thunderstorms and some snow to come, rain at lower levels as well. tel aviv also seeing heavy showers too. syria, the windchill is a big problem there too. but contrast that to what's happening a little bit farther east. we have much warmer weather. 8 degrees or so in jerusalem, but as we cross the persian gulf, it's a different story altogether. very warm weather is non moscow. >> that looks much nicer for me. thanks very much sarah. the weather in north america also brings us this story. firefighters in the u.s. state of massachusetts have rescued a man and his two dogs from a frozen marsh. rescuers rushed on to the thin ice with sleds after the man's two dogs thunder and lola found themselves trapped on a patch of ice. the little dog lola was rescued, scooped up from the ice, while the bigger dog, thunder, had to be pulled on to a raft to lead them to shore. despite the freezing temperatures, both dogs are very happy to report are fine and

their owners have thanked firefighters for saving them. oh, aren't they gorgeous? well, hollywood's annual big bash is almost here. get ready for those designer dresses, tears of joy, and of course the speeches. but how do you thank everyone in just 45 seconds. we asked a speechwriter on his tips for finding just the right words for that perfect acceptance. >> my name is brian jenner. i work as a professional speechwriter. and here are my tips for deliver the very best oscar acceptance speech. when you're reacting to the fact that you won an oscar, i think the most important thing is to be utterly surprised, even though you've been rehearsing for it for the last three months. you can script the filler lines. wow!

holy mackerel! something like that. silly, which gives them a chance to think about what they have to say next. when you stand up at the lectern, you have to get the audience's attention. so a little tear a deep sigh something quivering in the voice can help you get settled and ready to deliver your speech. wherever you give a speech it's absolutely essential that you have written out your text and that you know exactly what you're going to say and thinking about how you thank each individual person. you've only got 45 seconds, and that really should be 90 words, which given that actors it's their job to remember words, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. some people use little cards to remember what to say, but i notice that they tend to go on

40 seconds longer than people who don't use notes. if you have a prop like this when you're standing up giving your speech in many ways you can use it you can hold it down here, you can hoist it in the air, triumphantly. it's a great way of using a gesture to express your emotions. if you want to be remembered and you want to get on the news programs obviously, a good one-liner is absolutely a brilliant way to do it. i would like to say a word about my director. he has about two temperamental outbursts a year. each lasting about six months. i think it was crocodile dundee who said the structure of an oscar speech should be be grateful, be gracious, get off. >> yeah keep it short and shiny, good advice there.

well, the oscars begin on sunday evening in l.a. and you can find out more about the stars, which films have been nominated for an academy award, all by having a look on our website, bbc.com/news. thank you for me daniellary tor doe, and all of us here. we'll see you again soon. bye. it's the candy bar that's too hot for tv in all its naked glory; stripped of chocolate, with nothing but salty roasted peanuts on soft sweet caramel. a payday bar will get you through your day. expose yourself to payday.

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hello you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news with me david eades. our top stories, is this the biggest poker hand in eurozone history? hundreds of billions of euros, massive political capital, even eurozone membership at stake, as greece seeks an extension to its bailout loan. it was the city which made the world wake-up to islamic state. now the u.s. lays out plans to help iraq re-take mosul, including a timetable to do it. also the snappy dresser. india's premiere auctions