hello, i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top stories. a giant of history. president obama's tribute to the founding father of singapore, lee kuan yew, who has died at age 91. we'll look at his successes and his tough methods. the charity msf says early calls for help with ebola were ignored by local governments and the world health organization. the indian sprinter at the center of a row over gender due to chance appeals again the ban. and the parents of a boy who were held in prison after taking him out of the uk for brain

tumor treatment say he's now free of cancer. hello and welcome to the program. tributes are being trade to one of asia's most influential statesmen, lee kuan yew, who has died in hospital in singapore. he was 91 years old. let's take a look at the scene live in istana, the presidential palace, where people are paying their respects. they're laying flowers and tribute boards have been set up for people to write their messages of condolence. well, mr. lee led singapore's transformation from a small port city to one of the wealthiest nations in the world. although his authoritarian zero tolerance approach attracted some criticism. his son, durnt prime minister, lee hsien loong, said he built

singapore and the country would not see another man like him. let's crossover once again to singapore. our correspondent ali moore is outside the presidential palace. and ali, people very much wanting to pay their respects. >> reporter: they are indeed kasia. it is the end of the working day here in singapore, so the steady flow of people that we're seeing through the course of the day has really picked up. the authorities say they are, in fact 11,000 condolence messages now on this board that you've been looking at in pictures that's just a few feet away from where i'm standing outside the gates of the presidential palace. earlier this morning, the body of lee kuan yew went through these gates. he's now here where the family is holding a private wake for the next two days before the body is moved to parliament house where he will lie in state until the official state funeral which will be held on sunday. there is an extraordinary outpouring of grief today. lee kuan yew did, as the title of one of his biographies said

take this country from a firstthird world country to a first world country in the space of a generation. his son, the currently prime minister lee hsien loong also paid tribute today and said his father's legacy needs to be preserved. >> i'm grieved beyond words at the passing of lee kuan yew. i know we all feel the same way. but even as we mourn his passing, let us honor him. let us dedicate ourselves as one people to build on his foundation and build on his ideals and keep singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come. >> reporter: of course lee quan yew was a giant on the asian political stage, not just here in singapore. he was charismatic and also controversial. he ruled this nation with an iron fist. my colleague jonathan head the southeast asian correspondent, has been looking back at the life and times of lee kuan yew.

>> reporter: iron willed, sharp tongued, and quit-witted, lee kuan yew was a towering political figure in post-colonial asia and a great nation builder. he made the creation and survival of singapore a personal project. as its prime minister for 31 years and as an influential adviser and commentator right up to his death. he was born into a fourth generation chinese family, in what was then the british colony of singapore. he lived through the japanese occupation in world war ii, at one point narrowly escaping execution, and went on to study law at cambridge university. on returning home, he entered the hectic political fray that proceeded independence, founding the people's action party, which still governs the island today. he became prime minister in 1959 as an autonomous city state, that was then passed over as the newly independent federation of malaysia. but the friction between the chinese, the majority in

singapore, and indigenous malays led to singapore being expelled from malaysia. a decision that mr. lee who feared the island state could not survive on its own, announced to his people in tears. >> the old, aristocratic way say, away with thee. and i said to him, is there no other way? can't we sort of loosen up and unscramble, have a an agreement? and he said, no, the only way is out with thee. >> reporter: lee kuan yew's answer to this was to cement himself and his party as the undisputed undisputed rulers of the party, using the fear of communism that had been stirred up in vietnam. >> i think it can become very ugly, much more ugly than south vietnam. singapore goes around, saigon would be nothing to what could happen here.

terrorism, violence. very unpleasant. >> he also set singapore on a path of rapid development, building modern infrastructure and education but attracting investments in technology and banking. under him, the city state became one of the world's wealthiest societies and one of the most stable and reliable allies of the west. the price was a strict enforcement of laws backed by fines and corporal punishment and limits on freedom of expression. mr. lee coined the term, asian values. thrift, hard work and strong government, which he said were more relevant to the multi-ethnic singapore than the liberal individualism of the west. >> people have learned to mute or suppress their instinctive rivalries or group aggressiveness or abrasiveness. i think it would take a very,

very long time to make one society, one nation out of many races. >> reporter: he continued to meet international dignitaries and speak out on issues that concerned him, from the rise of china to singapore's declining birthrate, until the end of his life. he remained fearful of his tiny country's international vulnerability. but the spectacular economic achievements he oversaw are a lasting legacy and an inspiration to other developing nations. jonathan head, bbc news. >> reporter: one among those, over 11,000 messages of condolence on the condolence board here outside of the presidential palace. in a message from one well wisher who joins me now, victor you were a teenager when lee kuan yew became prime minister of this country. what does this mean to you?

>> i was in secondary school and at that time the living conditions and the living conditions of today is extremely, very very different. and i am myself i know but i was there. i witnessed how he built singapore. when we were separated from malaysia he cried. and i salute this man, mr. lee kuan yew. the day he die, i cry. he's a great man. >> of course he did rule singapore with an iron fist. was the price in terms of limits to personal freedom worth the progress? >> we -- we were like you know, a citizen, we do not know what's happening. we are young. we do not know what's happening. he came from malaysia in order

to build this nation. and i know when he built this nation i salute him today. >> thank you victor. victor's views are very much reflected by numerous people who have come here today to pay tribute. many questions about the style of government but in the early years of singapore, most people will tell you that the price was worth it because singapore is what it is today. >> ali moore, our correspondent in singapore, outside the presidential palace. as always thank you very much. much more from ali throughout the day. let's pick up on some of those points she made with hazel gulag folly. we saw one gentleman, one singaporean saying he cried when mr. lee died when he heard of the news. of course in terms of economic progress, mr. lee drove singapore to such heights.

did the people pay a high price in terms of their personal freedom? >> yes we understand that this is a sad day for a lot of singaporeans, as obviously the prime minister the former prime minister lee kuan yew, had brought singapore to this success. but there was a darker side to the last call of decades, wherein freedoms of expression freedoms of assembly and other fundamental freedoms has been sacrificed. and with the passing of the former prime minister comes at a time where a few months before the 50th anniversary of independence of singapore, so in a way, singapore is coming into a new era. and in this new era, singaporeans and other people living in singapore would have to ask itself some very tough questions. should and could singapore maintain this success while sacrificeing fundamental freedoms. that's a question that a lot of the new generation will have to face now after mr. lee kuan yew has passed.

>> my question is can they continue with this incredible economic success, an economic success story that is completely undisputed, can they continue on this path with those strict rules. those strict laws. what direction is mr. lee's son going to take this country in? >> i think if we look at many countries around the world, we will be able to see that most of the successful countries have also allowed for human rights to flourish in those countries. it's not a debate between asian values and human rights. but these two can be put together. a lot of asian countries actually respect fundamental freedom, lu people to express dissenting views, for example. and this should be able to flourish in a political space within singapore, for it to continue having a strong civil society, at par with its very strong economic progress. >> hazel, good to talk to you and get your views. amnesty international's

singapore researcher, thank you very much, joining us from london there. now, let's get some of the financial success stories from singapore. aaron is here with all the numbers. and it's beyond dispute at just how quickly this country rose. >> kasia, it was just poof like that. but astonishing numbers we've put together. i'll show you. thanks very much. hello there. as you've certainly been hearing, the founding prime minister of singapore, lee kuan yew, has died but during his three decades in power, he masterminded his country's transformation from a small fishing port to a regional financial hub and technology powerhouse. in 1960 singapore's gdp was less than $1 billion. in 2014 take a look at that. it was just under $300 billion. in 1960 the country's gdp per capita was $427 per person in 2013, it was that. look at that $55,000 per person. by any measure, this is an

astonishing success story. so how did he do it? well, business-friendly economic policies, easy regulations, and low taxes, which certainly helped to attract massive investment. we're going to have more coming up on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. also this one, the greek prime minister alexis tsipras, is meeting german chancellor angela merkel in berlin today, amid of course we've heard it before but mounting concern that greece is running out of money. the two countries have kind of been doing this haven't they. they're at odds over the newly elected government's efforts to renegotiate the terms of its international bailout. the "financial times" reports that mr. tsipras had warned miss merkel that greece cannot meet imminent imminent debt payments without new aid, but germany is digging in its heels. in fact, on friday you may remember this germany said there would be no new money without reform. again, we're going to cover this coming up on "gmt." the saga continues, doesn't it? china has received a

critical endorsement for its proposed new asia infrastructure investment bank. 27 nations have already signed up but the u.s. has urged caution and certainly raised questions about the governance of the new bank. now the head of the international monetary fund the imf, miss christine lagarde, she has pledged cooperation with the lender. she has just wrapped a four-day visit to china. lots going on follow me on twitter, you can get me me @bbcaaron. that is it for the business but "gmt" coming up just over an hour's time. now let's bring you up to date with some of the day's other news. some election news for you. the french far right has taken just under a quarter of the vote in local elections. they were beaten into second place by conservatives, led by nicolas sarkozy. the united states says it won't participate later today when the

humane rights debates in the palestinian territory. washington normally defends israel on such occasions. the u.s. has given no explanation for the planned absence this time, but recently signaled it's reassessing its relations with israel. the republican senator of texas, ted cruz has become the first major candidate to announce he'll stand in next year's presidential election. mr. cruz a conservative, who battled against president obama's health care reforms, posted his intention on twitter. and four live shows of the bbc's "top gear" program are due to take place in norway next week have been postponed. the show's presenter is being investigated over an alleged clash with a producer. a report on the incident will be given to the bbc director general later this week. more than 10,000 people have been killed by ebola in the years since the first deaths from the outbreak of the disease was confirmed in west africa. the charity, medecins sans

frontieres, says there is no sign of the outbreak slowing. it blames what it calls a global coalition of inaction at the start to have the outbreak for making things worse. our global health correspondent reports. >> reporter: slowly and very cautiously life is returning to some degree of normality. schools have reopened in liberia after six months of children being told to stay away. but at the height of the outbreak guinea sierra leone, and liberia were under siege. this man later died after being turned away from a treatment center. in a damning report the medical charity msf says the world ignored its call for help early in the outbreak. it's particularly critical of the world health organization for not declaring an international health emergency much sooner. >> it increased the spread, because we weren't able to

mobilize enough resources to jump on isolated outbreaks, then the mobility of the west african population meant that people were moving huge distances and we weren't able to react quickly enough. >> reporter: the world has come a long way since the peak of the ebola outbreak. back in november in sierra leone, there were almost 600 new cases a week. now it's fewer than 60. liberia had managed a few weeks without a new infection, but now it's reported one fresh case. and look what's happening in guinea. after infections fell sharply, they're gradually creeping up again. until there is zero cases recorded in all three countries for at least six weeks, this outbreak will not be considered over. this is a timely reminder of the global threat the virus continues to pose. a british military health worker is still being treated for ebola after being flown home from

sierra leone. she will receive the best possible treatment with potential access to experimental drugs. but for those who have been fighting this outbreak since the start, many challenges still lie ahead. >> the biggest mistake we can make now is to see ebola decline and think, the job's done. the ripple effect of this outbreak has been enormous. surgical services are down, vaccinations, the ability to access a skilled midwife when you need to deliver, all of these have been dramatically affected, and it's a top priority at the moment to get those services back online. >> guinea, liberia, and sierra leone have lost hundreds of health workers to ebola. there are urgent calls now for their decimated health systems to be rebuilt, to help ensure an outbreak this deadly can never return to west africa. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. do stay with us here on bbc world news. we have lots more to come including, they risked prison

for taking their cancer-stricken son of a british hospital. now the parents of asher king say he is on-course to return home after pioneering new treatments overseas.

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welcome to bbc world news. i'm kasia madera. our main headlines this hour. singapore's founding father, lee kuan yew, has died. president obama has called him a giant of history. the charity medecins sans frontieres says early calls for help with ebola was denied by governments and the world health organization. the british parent who is sparked an international manhunt last year when they defied doctors to take their 5-year-old child overseas for cancer treatment say their son is now free of the disease. they said they feared their son, asher, would die if he continued to be treated in the uk. he eventually received experimental therapy in the

czech republic. his doctors say he will soon be allowed to go home. lisa hampby reports. >> reporter: asher king a very different-looking little boy than last summer when he was suffering from brain cancer and his parents took him abroad for treatment not available to them on the nhs. now they say scans show he's free of cancer. >> the main thing i found, i was so relieved inside, because we saw him making physical improvements, but we weren't sure of what was happening inside. so we now know that that was good news as well. >> they told the sun newspaper the results justify everything they did and if they'd left him with the nhs, they don't think he would have survived. mr. and mrs. king took asher out of south hampson general hospital last august, after disagreeing with doctors about his treatment. they traveled to their home in spain and wanted to go on to prague. but they were arrested at the request of the british authorities and briefly jailed.

it caused public outrage. the kings were finally released. and a high court judge ruled asher could travel to prague for the therapy that wasn't available to them in britain. the treatment targets cancers more precisely than traditional radio therapy. at the time, university hospital southampton, nhs foundation trust, said his chances of recovery with regular treatment were very good. when asher left the clinic in prague, doctors said there was every reason to hope he'd make a full recovery. now his parents say they're full of hope for the future. >> and we wish hem all the best. >> some great news there. an indian sprinter who has been banned for competing against other women after failing a gender test is appealing against the woman in switzerland. dutee chand says that the current rules are discriminatory and the science behind the

testing is flawed. >> she failed this gender test last year. she was 18 years old. she had just won the 100 and 200 meters gold medals at the asian junior championships and concerns were raised by we don't know by another competitor or perhaps an official, so she was forced to take this gender test a gender test that was introduced in the wake of the casper semenya controversy, people don't remember that back if 2009 the south african athlete. she failed it because her testosterone levels are too high. this is naturally produced testosterone. there was no question of her doing a doping offense of anything like that. this is something her body produces naturally. she was offered the opportunity to take therapy, hormone suppressing therapy, or even surgery. she declined. she said she was happy with her body she didn't want to change it, and thinks she should be able to compete as a woman, against other women, as she is. >> and she says the science

behind the test is flawed. >> she says there's no proof that this does cause, this does increase the levels of performance. she's also said it's discriminatory, because there is no similar test for men. that is the argument they put before the tribunal in switzerland. the iwf, on the other hand they will say they took a long time to come up with this test after the casper semenya controversy. they have to have a level playing field. for men and for women, throughout the world in athletics. and that's why they came up this testosterone test. there's a similar one that the international olympic committee has as well for the olympic games. so they'll be defending their test. as i said, it will take four days, but we probably won't get a judgment for weeks, perhaps not even months. >> our sports reporter alex castpic there. the effects of long-term travel in space on men and women are unknown, so nasa is using

twins mark and scott kelly as a way of finding out more. scott will spend a year on the international space station while mark remains on earth. scientists will then compare their physical statistics to measure the long-term effects of being in space. there is however, one difference, which is certain to come up. lack of gravity means scott will be a little bit taller than his twin when he returns to earth. good luck to both of them.

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our top stories. a giant of history, president obama's tribute to the founding father of singapore, lee kuan yew, who has died at the age of 91. the charity medecins sans frontieres says early calls for help with ebola were ignored by local governments and the world health organization. a strong showing for france's far-right national front in local elections. but nicolas sarkozy's conservatives come out top. and a british boy with brain cancer whose parents were jailed

for seeking treatment abroad says he is free from the disease. hello and welcome to the program. tributes are being paid to one of asia's most influential statesmen, lee kuan yew, who has died in hospital in singapore. he was 91 years old. let's take a look at the scene live at the presidential palace where people are paying tribute, leaving flowers and also leaving their messages of condolence on mourning boards, on condolence boards, that have been set up. of course, a lot of people gathering there. now, mr. lee cease son, the current prime minister, says that his father's legacy needs to be preserve edd. >> i'm grieved beyond words at the passing of mr. lee kuan yew.

i know that we all feel the same way, but even as we mourn his passing, let us also honor his spirit. let us dedicate ourselves as one people to build on his foundation, strive for his ideals and keep singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come. >> well mr. lee led singapore's transformation from a small port city to one of the wealthiest nations in the world. although his authoritarian zero tolerance approach to crime did attract some criticism, jonathan head reports. >> iron willed sharp tongued, and quick-witted lee kwan yew was a towering political figure in post-colonial asia and a great nation builder. he made the creation and survival of singapore a personal project. as its prime minister for 31 years and as an influential adviser and commentator right up to his death.

he was bourn into a fourth generation chinese family, in what was then the british colony of singapore. he lived through the japanese occupation in world war ii, at one point narrowly escaping execution, and went on to study law at cambridge university. on returning home, he entered the hectic political fray that proceeded independence, founding the people's action party, which still governs the island today. he became prime minister in 1959 as an autonomous city state, that was then passed over as the newly independent federation of malaysia. but the friction between the chinese, the majority in singapore, and indigenous malays led to singapore being expelled from malaysia. a decision that mr. lee who feared the island state could not survive on its own, announced to his people in tears. >> the old aristocratic way, a way. and i said to him, is there no other way?

can't we sort of loosen up and unscramble, have a an agreement? and he said no i thought it over very carefully, the only way is out with thee! >> reporter: lee kuan yew's answer to this is to cement himself and his party as the undisputed leaders of the country, using the kind of communism that had been stirred up in vietnam. >> i think it can become very ugly, much more ugly than south vietnam. singapore goes around, saigon would be nothing to what could happen here. terrorism, violence. very unpleasant. >> he also set singapore on a path of rapid development, building modern infrastructure and education but attracting investments in technology and banking. under him, the city state became one of the world's wealthiest societies and one of the most

stable and reliable allies of the west. the price was a strict enforcement of laws backed by fines and corporal punishment and limits on freedom of expression. mr. lee coined the term asian values. thrift hard work and strong government which he said were more relevant to the multi-ethnic singapore than the liberal individualism of the west. >> people have learned to mute or suppress their instinctive rivalries or group aggressiveness or abrasiveness. i think it would take a very, very long time to make one society, one nation out of many races. >> reporter: he continued to meet international dignitaries and speak out on issues that concerned him, from the rise of china to singapore's declining birthrate, until the end of his life. he remained fearful of his tiny country's international

vulnerability. but the spectacular economic achievements he oversaw are a lasting legacy and an inspiration to other developing nations. jonathan head, bbc news. >> and that legacy that jonathan was talking about is very much reflected through the public turnout of the presidential palace. our correspondent, ali moore, is there. >> reporter: well the stream of well wishers outside the presidential palace continues and among them is derek lowe. derek, let me ask you, why did you come today? >> i came to pay respect to a man whose vision transformed a country. and people of my generation have a lot to be thankful for. i think his views of pragmatic idealist something not easily understood today. it's a rarity for politicians and indeed a great man of history. and i would like to say thank

you very much, mr. lee kuan yew. >> he also ruled this country with an iron fist. was the price in terms of personal freedom too great or worth it? >> i think from an idealist point of view, he did whatever necessary to lay the foundation. what seems unnecessary in those days, today i feel like it resulted in security and safety for all of us and great stability as well. and all of this is rare in today's world. with instablility all the around the world, we can achieve that. >> of course his son is now the prime minister. do you see his death the end of a chapter for singapore? do you see singapore changing now? >> some say it's the end of an era. but i see continuity and i believe that lee kuan yew's dna in a lot of us. a lot of us inherited his sense of drive, hard work. >> reporter: that may not end, but it's now a very different

time to when lee kuan yew took office in the 1960s. this is a country where people are concerned about the number of foreign workers and getting jobs. do you think people will now start to demand a greater say in their government? >> well greater complexity. however, i believe that we must have faith in a government. i have faith. even though they may not say it but they do have the government that everything is fine. >> derek lowe many thanks. derek, just one of the well wishers that are continuing to flow here to the presidential palace to pay their respects on a day that really does mark the end of an era for singapore. >> yes, ali moore there at the presidential palace. and we expect the state funeral will take place on sunday but there will be a couple of days of private mourning and a wake at that presidential palace. we have lots more on our

website. now, more than 10,000 people have been killed by ebola in the years since the first deaths from the outbreak of the disease was confirmed in west africa. the charity, medecins sans frontieres, says that there is no sign of the outbreak slowing. it blames what it calls a global coalition of inaction at the start of the outbreak for making things worse. our global health correspondent reports. >> reporter: slowly and very cautiously, life is returning to some degree of normality. schools have reopened in liberia after six months of children being told to stay away. but at the height of the outbreak guinea liberia, and sierra leone were under siege. our bbc team watched as patients were turned away from full treatment centers. this man later died. in a damning report the medical charity, msf, says the world

ignored its call for help early in the outbreak. it's particularly critical of the world health organization, for not declaring an international health emergency much sooner. >> it increased the spread, because we weren't able to mobilize enough resources to jump on isolated outbreaks, then the mobility of the west african population meant that people were moving huge distances and we weren't able to react quickly enough. >> reporter: the world has come a long way since the peak of the ebola outbreak. back in november in sierra leone, there were almost 600 new cases a week. now it's fewer than 60. liberia had managed around three weeks without a new infection, but it's now recorded at least one fresh case. and look at what's happening in guinea, after infections fell sharply, their gradually creeping up again. until there is zero cases recorded in all three countries for at least six weeks, this outbreak will not be considered over.

this is a timely reminder of the global threat the virus continues to pose. a british military health worker is still being treated for ebola after being flown home from sierra leone. she will receive the best possible treatment with potential access to experimental drugs. but for those who have been fighting this outbreak since the start, many challenges still lie ahead. >> the biggest mistake we can make now is to see ebola decline and think, the job's done. the ripple effect of this outbreak has been enormous. surgical services are down, vaccinations, the ability to access a skilled midwife when you need to deliver, all of these have been dramatically affected, and it's a top priority at the moment to get those services back online. >> guinea, liberia, and sierra leone have lost hundreds of health workers to ebola. there are urgent calls now for their decimated health systems to be rebuilt, to help ensure an outbreak this deadly can never

return to west africa. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. the france now where the far-right national front has had a strong showing in the first round of local elections. the party took almost a quarter of the vote pushing the socialist into third place. but the voting system which includes a second round runoff between the leading candidates in each constituency could mean that the national front struggles to translate that support into victories. from paris, hugh schofield reports. >> reporter: every election in france, it's the same these days. how well will the far right do? marine la pen went in void to polls, suggesting the national front could come first. in the event, it didn't. but still, nearly a quarter of the vote a very strong showing. >> translator: the national front has managed in the local elections to surpass its european election results. this massive vote for the national front which is putting down deeper roots, election

after election shows that the french want to regain their freedom. >> reporter: official results with the count nearly complete put the national front at almost 25% of the national vote. that's some way behind the mainstream opposition led by the ump, which scored just under 30%. and in third place, the socialists are now allies at a little over 21%. they were hit badly by the government's poor reputation but also by rivalists from the far left. afterwards, ump leader nicolas sarkozy, made a brief statement acknowledging his party's success. the changeover of national power, he said is coming. but for the government prime minister valls said that there should be satisfaction that the national front had not done as well as they had hoped. >> even if support for the far-right was too high it's not the biggest party. i'm content with that because

that was my personal campaign goal. >> reporter: but they can't conceal the fact it was a miserable day for the french left. next sunday, the second round of voting, and in many constituencies, it will be a runoff between the right and the far right. hugh schofield, bbc news paris. do stay with us here on bbc world news. lots more still to come including the parents of a british boy with brain cancer who were jailed for seeking treatment abroad say he is free of the disease. it's the candy bar that's too hot for tv in all its naked glory;

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welcome to bbc world news. i'm kasia madera. our main headlines this hour. tributes paid to singapore's founding father lee kuan yew, who has died. president obama called him a giant of history. the charity medecins sans frontieres says that early calls for help with ebola were ignored by local governments and the world health organization.

the british parent who is sparked an international manhunt last year when they defied doctors to take their 5-year-old child overseas for cancer treatment say their son is now free of the disease. nagma and brett king said they feared their son, asher, would die if he continued to be treated in the uk. he eventually received experimental therapy in the czech republic. his doctors say he will soon be allowed to go home. lisa hensley reports. >> reporter: asher king a very different-looking little boy than last summer when he was suffering from brain cancer and his parents took him abroad for treatment not available to them on the nhs. now they say scans show he's free of cancer. >> i was so relieved we saw him making physical improvements, but were unsure of what was happening inside. so we know that's good news as well. >> reporter: they told "the sun" newspaper that the results

justified everything he did, and if they left him with the nhs, they don't think he would have survived. mr. and mrs. king took ashya out of southampton general hospital last august after disagreeing with doctors about his treatment. they traveled to their home in spain and wanted to go on to prague. but they were arrested at the request of the british authorities and briefly jailed. it caused public outrage. the kings were finally released. >> we've been dying to see his face for so long now. >> reporter: and a high-court judge ruled ashya could travel to prague for proton beam therapy, which wasn't available to them in britain. at the time university hospital southhampton nhs foundation trust said his chances of recovery with regular treatment were very good. when ashya left the clinic in prague, doctors said there was every reason to hope he'd make a full recovery. now his parents say they're full

of hope for the future. lisa hambly bbc news. >> let's does those issues farther with professor jane marsh, mcmillan's officer and a practicing oncologist. this is such an emotive case. it was so difficult seeing those parents being arrested and held in prison. they wanted the child to have this special treatment, which is available -- it's not available in the uk but it can be made available. in this case why couldn't they just get it? >> i think it's really worth thinking through this carefully. the first thing to say that ashya had a very -- i can't comment on the case, but blastoma there was an 80% chance that this child was going to be killed. so it's really important to say, she -- that he was able to have curative treatment. i think the other thing is that

a good outcome in children's cancer, which is now excellent means that you have to have a team of people working together. the surgery, the radiotherapy, the chemotherapy the rehabilitation, the imaging. all of those elements have to work if you're going to have a good outcome. and what about the complexities of taking a child overseas if it's really difficult, if the team don't know each other, to get those elements to work together? so, if at the end of surgery, someone is very ill and can't have the radio therapy, they need bridging chemotherapy. then the images need to say, is it possible or impossible for them to proceed. so because of that the really complex pathways have not up until now been part of the overseas program. for whatever reasons, that delays in relation to all the other elements could counteract any possible benefit from precision. >> i think one orr thing is that the blasatoma, proton beam

therapy is very good if you have a localized tumor and sensitive tissue around and you can spare the sensitive tissue. with this sort of cancer you have to treatment the whole brain. it's different from some of the other brain cancers that have access to the overseas program, because you have to treat the whole brain. so there are those two reasons why it has not been part of the very successful access program that we have in the uk. the complexity of the pathway, and the fact that you cannot spare the brain tissue. >> so, in fact when we say that proton beam therapy, it targets, it's very precise, it doesn't matter in this particular case because everything has to be treated. >> there may be some benefits when you've got the whole, you know when it's actually based in the uk as it will be when the manchester and the london centers open in 2018. but there are dangers and risks associated with it. because of the complexity of the pathway. >> and just very briefly, if you

would, obviously, the spotlight came under the hospital and the way that the parents treated, it was so difficult to watch. >> i think one of the real problems is that as oncologists, we have not communicated to the public the complexity of cancer treatment. we have not communicated that now that people are surviving, it's not just about survival. it's about the long-term consequences of survival. and i think we really need to communicate that better. >> okay. professor, thank you so much for your insight, thank you. now let's just get a quick update of some of the day's other news stories. the united states says it won't participate later today when they debate violations in the palestinian territory. washington formally defends israel on such occasions. the u.s. has given no explanation for the planned absence this time but renal signaled that it's reassessing its relations with israel. the republican senator from texas, ted cruz has become the

first major candidate to announce that he is going to stand in next year's u.s. presidential elections. mr. cruz a republican who's battled against president obama's health care reforms, announced his intention on twitter. and four live shows on the bbc's "top gear" program due to take place in norway next week have been postponed. the show's presenter jeremy clark, is being investigated over an alleged clash with the producer. a report on the incident will be given to the bbc director general later this week. the economic situation has worsened in venezuela, one of the world's biggest oil producers. it has left thousands queueing almost every day for foods and other basic goods. the bbc's daniel pardo takes a look at what ordinary venezuelans are going through. >> in most countries, when you're out of food or cleaning products, you just go to a shop and buy the essentials. but not venezuela.

here getting the basics takes a little work. and a lot of time. friday in the morning, and like many venezuelans, i'm going to go around the city looking for products. here, i have a list. eight essential goods. their prices are regulated by the state, which is partly the reason why they're so scarce. first off, my local supermarket. weird, no queue outside. but -- lately venezuelans are queueing some say because the government wants to hide the queues while others say it's because they don't want to get sunburned. so it's 9:10 in the morning. we're queueing here to get a number, so we can queue again and buy the products. we don't know what they have right now, but someone told us that they have cooking oil. queues are, of course the best place to hear what's the talk on the streets. they just told us that there's no cooking oil, so basically we

queued in vain. aha! i get a text message from fraend telling me that there's cornflower in another supermarket. motorcycles are the fastest way to move around. so it's 10:30 in the morning. we've been out for an hour and a half now. we haven't been able to buy anything. we got to another supermarket. we got our number. people here have told me that they've been looking for products since 5:00 in the morning. so i was finally able to buy something, cornflower which is one of the most precious goods here in venezuela. it's 12:30 in the morning. i've got to keep going. >> critics say the cause of shortages is price controls which makes re-selling too

profitable and producing, well the worst business ever. but the government says scarsty is part of an economic war, which hides smuggles to destabilize the country. to tackle this the government is trying to control shoppers. the last measure was installing fingerprint scanners in supermarkets. >> i've spent the whole morning looking for products. i just bought detergent and dish washing soap so in total, that's only three products on my whole list. studies say that venezuelans spend an average of eight hours a week looking for products. some people even take the day off to embark on the quest of finding basic goods. others have made a job out of selling the goods, selling them off at a higher price. now, i'll leave you with news that nasa has unveiled a new resource on its plan to send twins to march. they are identical twins.

the effect of long term space travel sun known, so twins will come into the frame. scott is due to spend a year on the international space station while mark remains on earth. and the effects of gravity means that scott will be a little bit taller than his twin when he returns. thanks for watch bbc world news. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement,

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