hello. i'm david eades with bbc world news. our top stories. french sources have said the cockpit voice recorder on the germanwings flight which crashed into the alps suggests one pilot was locked out of the flight deck. iran speaks out against saudi arabia after it launches a series of air strikes against houthi rebels in yemen. >> the kingdom of saudi has large military operations in yemen. the objective is to defend the legitimate government of president hadi. and we're live in delhi, as india take on australia in the

cricket world cup semi-finals in sydney. hello. relatives of victims from the germanwings flight which crashed in the french alps are themselves now traveling to reach the site of the accident. and as they make their way there, reports have been emerging that the black box audio recordings from flight 9525 point to one pilot being locked out of the cockpit before the plane came down. sources close to the investigation are quoted as saying the cockpit door was heard to be opened and closed followed by the sound of someone knocking increasingly loudly but with no reply from inside the cabin. the germanwings plane, of course, left barcelona on tuesday.

it was bound for dusseldorf in northern german and crashed in the alps. pulling together all the latest developments lisa hamperly. >> reporter: as the investigation at the site of the crash continues, experts in paris have been analyzing material gathered from the airplane's cockpit voice recorder. "the new york times" and the french news agency are both claiming that it shows that one of the aircraft's pilots left the cockpit and was then unable to get back in before the airbus crashed. these pictures show inside the cabin of another airbus 5-320. it's claimed the pilot was outside the cockpit, knocking repeatedly, but there was no answer. >> obviously, the person leaving must have said something to the other crew member there must be voices recorded as well which

will explain to some degree at least, what was going on what was happening. and that information, well there is now much greater pressure for some full statement, official statement to be released. >> lufthansa says the co-pilot joined germanwings in 2013 directly after training. the captain had more than 6,000 hours of flying time. the families of the dead are traveling to the crash site. those in barcelona chose not to fly. the german relatives left from dusseldorf airport. around 100 people from both groups are to visit the site. they'll go to the small french town, which is now the hub of a major aircraft investigation. as they do so experts have been pointing out that claims that one of the pilots left the cockpit before the crash are unconfirmed. lufthansa says flight deck procedures, which are in line with german law, do allow crew to leave the cockpit for short

periods. meanwhile, pupils from the german town where 16 classmates and 2 teachers have been lost have been paying their respects at a shrine dedicated to them. today may bring more clues, including more detail about what's on the voice recorder. lisa hamperly bbc news. >> of course so much attention now on that audio recording and the supposedly locked door. our transport correspondent, richard westcott, has been finding out more. >> if a pilot needs to go out, just to go to the toilet for example, then the door is locked. when that pilot wants to come back in they enter in a code on a pad, and then that buzzes in the cockpit, and the person in the cockpit then lets them in. so it's a request, effectively. now, there is a system if that doesn't work there's also cameras, by the way, so that the pilot can see who's outside. there is a system to override

that in emergencies, for example, if the person on the flight deck has become ill, has had a heart attack or is unconscious or something like that. we don't tend to go into details of what that system is for obvious reasons, we don't want to tell everybody, but there is a way that the pilot outside can theoretically override the system and get in through that door. so in theory it shouldn't happen even if there's a pilot alone and ill in the cockpit, the other person should still be able to get in. and we know that this plane took around ten minutes to dive and hit the ground. so that's a long time. that is a long time to go through this whole procedure and try to get into the cockpit. >> of course this is exercising everyone on precisely what happened. but let's get over to seineless alpine, that is the scene where tim willcox is now where he follows all the developments. but tim, obviously, this issue

about the cockpit is just extraordinary. >> reporter: it is. a potentially dramatic development for the investigators here. and of course for the victims' families who are traveling here today in quite considerable numbers, we understand. just to repeat i mean the source quoted by "the new york times" is a different source it appears, from the source who's been speaking to the press. but they are saying that the guy started knocking gently at the door, having left the cockpit for some inexplicable reason, and then begins knocking more loudly, and more desperately, with more urgency. in fact ends up trying to bash the door down, as this plane begins that decent dropping somewhat 3,500 feet every minute, before smashing into the mountains, 6,000 feet above sea level. now, that is a worrying development, as far as the

families are concerned. they are presented with another layer of confusion, another layer of information, which has been released hasn't been officially confirm by the investigators. the families are traveling here and they should be arriving actually, in the next hour or so. some took planes work ss organized by germanwings from dusseldorf. i think we have some pictures we can show you here. others took flights from barcelona, although we understand about 14 spaniards in barcelona decided they couldn't face flying at all and they took a bus overnight to come to marseille. so not immediately clear where they will be taken to in this region. and actually you can probably just hear another helicopter flying overhead, which is ferry ferrying investigators to the crash site. we don't believe that these family members will be taken to the crash site itself because there are still, we understand

many dozens of bodies and wreckage strewn over that site. that would be too harrowing for them to perhaps confront. let's just get more details from anna holligan though who joins us from dusseldorf. anna, do we know how many of the victims' families were traveling on board? >> reporter: we're told by lufthansa that 50 of the victims' families were traveling onboard that flight that left here just over an hour ago, from dusseldorf airport. we saw some of the families, some of the relatives arriving here this morning, to catch that flight, and make what would be the most difficult journey, i would imagine, of their lives. some of them were wiping their eyes with tissues. others were trying to cover their faces to hide from the cameras that were waiting here. we've been speaking to psychologists who have been helping some of these families to deal with what happened. and they said for some of them it's the right thing to do to travel to this crash site.

for others it's better to stay here, to stay around our own family and people that they love. of course, the hardest thing, according to the psychologists, is just not knowing what happened. and these reports from what might have happened inside the cockpit just make it even harder. and of course they won't find any answers, necessarily, at the crash site but there's little else they can do. and at least this will allow them to feel as if they are doing something. >> okay anna holligan with the latest in dusseldorf. thank you very much, indeed. there is an incongruity, david, as you can imagine here on a beautiful sunny day here in the alps, beautiful scenery, for these victims' families traveling, traumatized perhaps more than they've ever been in their lives, having lost their families in such a dreadful catastrophe like this. there will then be some days, if not weeks, as these recovery teams try to bring back more bodies and wreckage parts. these families will have to go through many more ordeals,

including donating their own dna, so that that can be matched with the victims found on the mountainside. for now, though, david, back to you. >> tim thanks very much indeed. we'll keep atop of that throughout the day here on bbc world news. and indeed, if you want more on the story, do go to our website, bbc.com/news. we've got analysis more information, of course, on who the victims were as those details come in. iran's foreign ministry has reportedly demanded an immediate halt to what it termed military aggression after saudi arabia carried out air strikes against shia houthi rebels in yemen, who tehran is accused of backing. well saudi arabia says its help was requested by the beleaguered president, who has lost control, frankly, of most of yemen. the saudi task force itself is said to include 150,000 troops

on standby near the border with 100 more planes available. up to nine countries are also offering their support, including egypt, the united arab emirates, jordan, and pakistan. with me is mohammad from bbc arabic. we're into this sort of war of words, as well with the military action, but the scope of all of these saudi air strikes, how extensive were they? >> they targeted the capital sanaa, and at least three other cities. they targeted the command and control centers for the houthis. they hit aircraft military aircraft all the air defense systems that they had. so it was a big attack. and the -- what the saudi ambassador in washington was saying in his press conference yesterday is he was saying that the purpose of this operation is to do whatever is possible to

protect government. so it seems that saudi arabia and its allies are determined to prop up hadi's government and prevent him from falling. because the picture yesterday was completely different. it was the houthis were completely poised to take over the last stronghold for hadi and he was seen as many analysts as finished. today, we have a completely different picture. >> right, but it's still, at best hanging by a thread isn't it? we don't know where he is. we're not getting any sort of public pronouncements from president hadi. >> we don't know where he is and we don't know the extent of this operation, how far saudi arabia and its allies will go. whether there will be ground operations, naval operations. so it's a whole different situation, and it will be developing. >> and one of the developments of course is that regional volatility, if you like with iran's response. they obviously, want the houthi

rebels to finish the job, i guess. >> yeah iran's position was very clear over the past few days. they were saying they expressed support for the houthis. they called on president hadi to leave, to resign. and on the other side you will find there are regional that saudi arabia had a completely different position insisting that hadi is the president and they will support it. there was a lot to have talk over the last couple of days but this was backed up by action a lot of times. >> would we be right to be concerned about what this is doing to the region as a whole? i mean is it taking on that sort of hue now? >> all right yemen was on the verge of entering into a dangerous phase of escalation and violence. and now this gives it a completely different dimension, with regional powers and coalition forces that -- i mean the saudis are saying this

coalition consists of ten countries, so it's giving it a really regional dimension now. >> okay, we'll be watching very carefully. thanks very much. and thank you for being with us here on bbc world news. still to come in the program, wehle have the latest on the cricket world cup semi-final between australia and india. you're a hardworking professional with big aspirations. an advanced degree could help you get where you want to go. but sometimes your career can feel like it's getting in the way of your career. now capella university offers flexpath, a revolutionary program that puts you on the most direct path leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know so you can earn a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university.

learn more at capella.edu. ♪ edith piaf "no regrets" ♪ plays throughout ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ discover brookside and discover an exciting combination of tastes. rich, dark chocolate covering soft centers. flavored with exotic fruit juices. it's chocolate and fruit flavors like you've never experienced before. discover brookside. you pay your auto insurance premium every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out.

what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. this is bbc world news. i'm david eades. the latest headlines. french sources claim the voice recorder from the airliner that crashed in the alps on tuesday suggests one of the pilots may have been locked out of the cockpit in the moments before the disaster. there have been reports of casualties in the yemeni capital sanaa, following saudi arabia air strikes there. the kingdom says it's intervened in its southern neighbor to prevent it being taken over by shia rebels backed by iran. hello, there.

coming up in "sport today" with me chris mitchell in half an hour, is it over? it could be for australia, or perhaps india. we're live in both countries as the semi-final of the cricket world cup draws to a dramatic climax. and australia causing a shock as they draw with the champions, germany. and he's fit for the grid. alonzo is cleared to race in the formula grand prix in malaysia. it's all coming up for you in 30 minutes. >> >>. coming up for you straight away is aaron with news of a bit of a hike in oil prices for obvious reasons, i guess. >> absolutely worried about that region indeed. let's start with the price of oil. it has been surging overnight, after saudi arabia as beef been hearing, saudi arabia began a military operation against the houthi rebels in yemen. now, yemen itself not a big player in the energy market but the fear is very much that the conflict or conflict spreading

more widely in the region. let's just take a look at what's been happening on the market. because in the last few hours, we've saw brent crude futures jump as high as $59.71 a barrel. that is a rise of some 6%. although it has since come down just slightly. now, as well as oil, the middle east is also the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas from yemen. european exporters may be concerned, so we're talking about down here this is shipping it through this. it's called the choke point to get up to the suez canal. the water between yemen and jaless than 40 kilometers wide. its closure may keep tankers from the persian gulf from reaching the suez canal and then they would have to basically divert around the southern tip

of africa so all the way down there, adding to transit time and costs. so we're going to keep across that one in the price of oil. let me get this in. top business leaders and policy makers are gathering on the southern chinese island for a forum. the forum was founded 14 years ago to promote regional economic integration and bring basically asian countries closer to their development goals. china hopes the meeting will push for the joint construction of the 21st century maritime silk road which consists of a network of railways highways, and other forms of infrastructure as well as oil and gas palestineipelines, power grids, internet routes and air routes. we'll keep across that one. lots going on. follow me on twitter, tweet me i'll tweet you back. you can get me @bbcaaron. world business report coming up in 11 minutes. >> can't wait. aaron, thanks a lot. nigeria has closed all its borders for the next three days. this is ahead of saturday's elections. the presidential and

parliamentary polls, which are due to be taking place, it will be a tight race we think, between the incumbent goodluck jonathan and the opposition. in nigeria, it's fairly common for politicians to switch from one party to another. they're not the only ones though. our nigerian correspondent, will ross has meant some prominent personalities who have performed some pretty amazing u-turns. >> reporter: imagine you were locked up in prison for a crime you never committed. then what would it take for you to vote for your jailer in this election? when general came to power in the 1980s, he promised to clamp down on corruption. many people were held into prison without trial. >> it was really terrible. there was a lot of deprivation. there was the agony. nobody knew exactly how long it was going to last for. my children were young.

i was ready to die if it came to that. and i did say, at some point, just shoot me. it's just simple. and all these years later you haven't voted for general buhani before. he's stood in other elections. what's changed now. why would you vote for him now? >> i think that the need for change the economy is in shambles. the security situation is atrocious. and this country needs to step back and start it all over again. i think i trust general buhani with my wallet. >> reporter: then there are those who would flip their support the other way. i just met a man who's backing the president of the nigeria, even though he used to be in bu buhani's camp. he says these days in nigeria, people are free to hold whatever views they want.

>> nobody's in exile, nobody's in prison. >> so he's faced a lot of criticism and a lot of abuse, but you're saying he hasn't locked anybody up. >> he hasn't locked anybody up. >> but during the last election you were general buhani's spokesman, and you've now leapt across to the other side and you're now supporting president goodluck jonathan. how do you explain that leap. so you say he's surrounded by bad people? >> definitely. >> reporter: these are not the only nigerians to have jumped the political fence. very little is predictable at elections here in nigeria, and this time that goes for the result as well. will ross, bbc news lagos. let's talk a bit of sport. the second world final of the cricket world cup is taking

place. the australians batted fist and managed to knock off 328. so 329, target for india. we're going to go to delhi, because i think you can still say you're enjoying it sandra although it is looking a little bit rum for india at the moment isn't it? >> it is. it is, indeed. the music's still playing here but the energy has sort of disappeared from this crowd. a lot of downcast faces, because i think it's looking quite difficult for india at the moment. there's still a lot of die-hard fans here who are pinning their homes on the india captain. they think as long as he's there, anything's possible. but the kind of excitement and pulsating moments we experienced earlier in the day is noticeably -- has noticeably disappeared and somewhat surprisingly, somewhat downcast. there's still cheering though for every single run. because they say as long as the indians are out there, maybe they can still pull this one off.

>> you've got your back to the screen, i can tell you, there was another fore there. and without getting too crickety about it he is a brilliant finisher of a game isn't he? >> he is a cricketing superstar, often described as one of the best of international captains ever, certainly india acknowledges him as one of the best in the world. he does have the ability to climb some incredibly high mountains. this one is going to be particularly steep but as i said as long as he's there, this lot believe anything's possible. >> and just give us a flavor as to what's going on in india now. we all know that indians love their cricket. i guess what you've got there is being replicated right across the country. >> reporter: yes, that's right. all across the country, this is exactly what you're seeing. there's a giant tv screen here. they've got similar scenes everywhere in every city.

it's almost like they're recreating the atmosphere in the sydney cricket rounds right here in india, with fans who painted their faces with the indian flag, they're dancing to the music, they're cheering indians on. they're being egged on by some cheerleaders, as well. doing anything, really, to try to back their team who had a fantastic run in this world cup, unbeaten until this point, although it's looking a bit difficult right now. >> it's 177 for 4, it's not all over, but not looking great. that's the scene in delhi there. you can keep across the game by following him on twitter twitter @bbcsanjoy. the reigns of richard iii, the last king of england to die in a battle those remains are set to be reburied. his body was discovered just three years ago underneath a public car park. his coffin has been on public display for the last week. richard was killed in the battle of bosworth by henry tudor.

he'll be reburied in lester cathedral. just time to remind of you of main story. there are relatives of the victims heading there now to follow the recovery effort. we'll keep across it here for you on bbc world news.

vo: 85 percent of people who travel will go someplace they've already been. where's the fun in that? it's time to find someplace new. book the hotel you want with the flight you want and we'll find the savings to get you there. we love... love... love... chocolaty, creamy... with a little something extra. mmm deliciousness. cookies or almonds. yumminess. hershey's is mine, yours, our chocolate.

just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room.

fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business.

oh, boy. oil prices surge as saudi arabia launches a tax among those growing fears. the conflict in the region is spreading. and a 21st century silk road. yes, government and business leaders from all over asia gather to see if they can join forces on new integrated economic future.

hello, everybody. i'm aaron. welcome to the program. a fascinating and exciting snapshot of all in the world of business and money. let's start with the price of oil. it's been going up. in fact, it's been surging overnight after saudi arabia began a military operation against the houthi rebels in yemen. yemen itself not a big player in the energy market but the fear is very much of conflict spreading more widely in the region. let's just take a look at what's been happening on the markets. because in the last few hours, brent crude futures jumped as high as $59.71 a barrel. that is a rise of about some 6%. 6%. it's coming. although i have to say, it has come down slightly since then a bit. as well as oil the middle east is also the world's biggest

exporter of liquefied natural gas from qatar quelsas well as from yemen. but european importers might be concerned as they have to ship it via the gulf of aidan to the suez canal. the waters less than 40 kilometers wide. it's considered a choke point to global oil supplies. its closure right here may force tankers from the persian gulf may force them from not reaching the persian gulf diverting them all the way around the bottom and southern tip of africa. of course, which would add to transit time and cost. now, i'm going to keep this map up here for a minute and go over to an oil analyst. great to have you with us. i'm just keeping this map up showing, if we can come back to the map, because the concern here is not so much about yemen and its role in the energy market, it's that geographical

position, right now, can i show you the viewers of that little choke point. is that correct? >> absolutely. as you said yemen in terms of its own oil production it's not big at all. it produces only 150,000 gallons today. and that has been very erratic as well. the real concern is the fact that it sits in this vital choke point in terms of oil flows. close to 2.8 million barrels per day of oil is what goes through that choke point. and that's what the concern is at the moment. >> yeah, absolutely. can i also -- yemen's proximity to saudi arabia could -- if this thing sort of rumbles on could that have an impact on saudi's oil production by any chance? >> the proximity concern is still there, but most of saudi arabia is on the east coast. so, even though there are reports coming out, saying there are rebels firing rockets into saudi arabia et cetera actually oil production is still

not at risk unless we see a cascading effect through, in terms of the political landscape changing and that affecting saudi arabia. that's the big fear in the markets at the moment. saudi arabia obviously, produces 9.5, 10 million barrels per day. and the repercussion effect is what the market is sort of focusing on at the moment more so than yemen's own oil production. >> you mentioned the market's fear, but can i stress here, there doesn't seem to be a great worry at the moment because if we look around the world, there is industrial a glass, if you are, the huge supply of oil and gas, and demand around the world is still relatively weak right? how long can that continue that scenario? >> absolutely. there's a mismatch. pure oil market fundamentals, you're right we are at a surplus of $1 million per day. that's expected to widen, in fact, in the second quarter of the year. but the sentiment aspect of it from geopolitics, adds a different worry.

because if you look at positioning the oil market there are two keys now that we're looking forward, until going into the weekend. you've got the iranian negotiations and the yemeni geopolitical conflict. so expect a lot of volatility, because positioning in the oil markets is likely to get squared off because of what we're seeing. and that's where traders will be taking their cues from. >> we'll keep across that. sorry, i've got to keep going, mate. i'm sorry, we appreciate your time. sorry, we'll talk to you soon. let's talk about top business leaders and policy makers. they are gathering on the southern chinese island of highnan for the boram forum, it was founded 14 years ago to promote regional economic integration and bring asian countries closer to their development goals. china hopes the meeting will push for the joint construction o of a 21st century maritime

silk road, which consists of a lot. a network of railways, highways and other forms of infrastructure, internet, et cetera, oil and gas pipelines, power grids, aviation routes all in the eurasia area. let's go straight over to the forum itself. our own john there. i'm not sure if i said it correctly, but there is a lot on the plate, isn't there, for these guys to discuss. >> reporter: that's right. you're spot-on with the pronunciation. the town on the east coast of hainan has been the location for this discussion and there is a lot up for discussion. looming over the talks this year of course the shadow of slowing chinese economic growth. and often comparisons made between the boao forum and davos, with good reasons, to some extent.

perhaps, some negatively say that davos is fat cats on snow this is fat cats on the beach, the beach not far from where i'm standing now. but this is a forum with china very much in the driving seat. it holds a permanent chair. it takes place every year here in this chinese town. so it's no surprise that those sorts of initiatives like this silk road project, much talked about, but we're expected to get more detail on the mechanics of how this thing is going to work over the next few days. no surprise that they are so central to this agenda. they are exactly the kind of measure that china says it's going to bring forward to try to transition as its growth rate slows to this more sustainable level of growth and what says it needs to do to get that is to interconnect asia's economy. that's what the silk road initiative, they tell us is all about. >> i know it's kicking off, we'll talk to you later on throughout the day and we'll see if anymore comes out of boao. lucky man.

hainan, i've been there, lovely place. let's touch on some of the other stories making headlines all around the world. the u.s. justice department says oil equipment company schlumberger has pleaded guilty for violating sanctions against iran and sudan. it's agreed to pay a fine of around $237 million. they voluntarily ceased oil-filled operation in iran and as ceased operations in sudan as part of the plea of the agreement. russia's biggest lender bank has expected to report a slump in quarterly profits of around 60%. it's one of several large russian banks under western sanctions over the ukraine crisis, which limits access to the international capital market. these funding costs have risen sharply, after the russian central bank raised a key interest rate to 18% to 17%, in a bid to support the rubel and control inflation. and the london firm that builds the iconic taxis is to

create a new factory in the uk. the chinese giant geely is preparing. you can bit me at bbc aaron. a bit of sports is coming up right now. just stay calm and move as quietly as possible. no sudden movements.

google search: bodega beach house.

hello. i'm chris mitchell this is "sport today" live from the bbc sport center. coming up for you, is it over? it will be soon for australia or india. we'll be thrive in both countries as the semi-final of the cricket world cup builds to a dramatic climax. if they can't win the cricket world cup, how about australia winning the football version? they shock the champions, germany. and fit for the grid. alonzo is cleared to race at the formula one grand prix. palpitations sweaty palms, cricket is at the very heart of both these nations. but who will win this emotional classic semi-final. australia, the hosts, or india, the defending champions? hello, this is "sport today." the last semi-final of the cricket world cup is coming to a dramatic conclusion in sydney.

india is chasing 359, australia made 358. mitchell johnson, the baller made a quick and very handy, 27 off 13 balls. india started like australia, very well indeed but how are they getting on? we have a man inside the ground for us. it's lee james. lee, how are india doing on that run chase? >> well, you can have a listen you can hear it's gone very quiet here. it tells you that the very sizable support that india has inside the scg knows that their reign as world champions will probably be coming to an end very soon. there are 197 for five chasing 329 to beat the co-hosts australias. a huge task on their hands. they could go for it if they like, but it's not going to happen for them. a dropped catch, but it won't matter too much, because this really is all over as a contest already. australia did set out a very

competitive total, 328 for 7, built on the partnership steven smith and aaron finch, smith threw in 105, become the fifth man ever to score a century in a world cup semi-final. finch made 81. no other significant contributions beyond the 20s, but a late cameo from mitchell johnson who crunched 27 of 9 balls. we wondered if it was going to be out of india's reach. they had a couple of substantial partnerships of 70 at the top of the order. but it was always really going to be too much for india. australia's balls have been snapping up the wickets and india's challenge at the world cup looks like it will come to an end at the semi-final stage. >> lee, just before you go we'll be crossing to india in just a second. are you telling me that with

what nine overs left they can't cause 13 or 14 runs and cause a shock? >> reporter: well of course it is still possible. and whilst indian fans their captain says yes, they will always believe it's possible. the ball has just gone to the boundary for another four to his total and to india's. but at this stage, you have to say that australia have a real firm grip on this match. and whilst we have seen some incredible moments at this world cup, displays of batting, of flying towards all parts of the ground i think scoring out 14 and over now. >> thank you very much. india, 204 for 5, or 45 point over chasing 329. what about the reaction and overing. sanjoy is our correspondent there, in delhi at a fan park. oh dear. are they all glum over there

yet? >> reporter: well they're still cheer every run, they just keered for a dropped catch. they believe in miracles so this crowd is hoping maybe they can just pull it off. everyone recognizes that it's very very difficult. they're five wickets down but thal still have their captain. and so this crowd believes that as long as he's there, maybe he can pull it off. they're certainly going to be here until the very last ball. they've been waited with bated breath right through the day. many people have left but many people have taken time off work. and they're still standing with their eyes glue to the very large screen that's set up here at the south delhi shopping center. >> sanjoy, just before you go i've heard stories of football and soccer trying to make inroads into india, the same with basketball and other sports. we always hear that cricket is the heartbeat of the nation. how will you all cope if you don't make it to the finals?

>> reporter: i think there will be a lot of heartbreak a lot of glum, sorry faces. but i think by and large, india would be very proud of their team. no one gave india any chance coming into this world cup. they've had a disastrous tour of australia. they haven't won a single game and they've been unbeaten until this very last minute. of course, they're still hoping they can win today. but if they don't, i think everyone here will acknowledge that they have a very very fine team. and you know they'll be sad, but i don't think they'll be sorry. >> okay. sanjoy, you're sounding like it's been written already. so there you have it australia on their way to the world cup final. thanks very much, sanjoy. the world champions, german were held to a two-all draw in their international football frenzy against australia on wednesday. they're winning everything. as roy calley reports, it comes after what has been a difficult

24 hours for the host nation. >> reporter: a somber start to the evening, as players and fans play tribute to the victims of the french alps plane crash. once the game was underway though, australia, recent asia cup winners, were never over-awed by the world champions, but found themselves a goal down with 20 minutes where royce made the most of his opportunity. they didn't buckle though, and deservedly equalized just before the break. across from the buyline, deserted by james. as the second half got into its stride, it looked like history could be repeating itself. the last time these two met in germany, this was the score. but germany made their own history on the football field, and lucas with iz hhis 48th international goal. full of confidence. roy calley bbc news.

>> fernando alonzo has been cleared to race at this weekend's malaysian grand prix. he missed the opening race of the season after suffering concussion in a crash with pre-season testing. his mcclairin car will have an extra sensor fitted after the spaniard recalled heavy steering before the incident on an innocuous part of the barcelona circuit. that is good news for alonzo. india, 280 for 5, chasing 239. will they do it? i don't think so.

you can call me shallow... but, i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here? go national. go like a pro. now?

you probably haven't thought about it that much but when you go to the cinema the image is projected in a horizontal frame. but now there's a movement afoot offering us vertical cinema in which all the action takes place on a narrower vertical pane. under the aegis of an organization, a group of vertical cinema pioneers have been traveling to different

cities promoting a new way of watching moving images. vertically. >> vertical cinema is a certified movement of film projected vertically. so what you usually see horizontally is projected on a vertical axis. >> 13 filmmakers musicians, and artists were invited to create different vertical films for this presentation. it's an array of abstract films which all explore the potential of a vertical screen. >> we want to kind of challenge audiences to look differently and experience cinema in a different way, in a different surrounding, with different contents and vertical cinema is only one way of doing it. there are many many others and i'm sure this won't be our last project. >> essential to vertical cinema is the technology used to

project the image. basically, the resolve is achieved by turning a traditional film projector on its side, but it's a bit more complicated than that. >> the principles are simple but you have to align the light, you have to have the right lenses, you need to align the projector, here we are on the balcony, to make sure the projector is in the exact horizontal axis of the center of the screen to make sure there's no picture aberration. and it will show in the end, because many films are geometric geometrically perfectly aligned, and that's the trick for us to try to make it look like perfect. >> choice of venue is also key to making the vertical experience effective. vertical architecture is favored. >> we've been mainly working in churches, but it's mainly taking into account the architecture and a lot of the architecture is vertical. we were always unsatisfied with then having to put in a

horizontal screen. because you want to work and play with the architecture and use it to its fullest potential. >> audiences appeared transfixed by their experience. it's also the powerful sound system and space. >> it looks very monumental and the things we show they contain either a lot of sound or are completely silent. they look like abstract film and they're kind of overwhelming immersive pieces. >> it very much stems from the traditional expanded cinema which kind of breaks out of the traditional cinema space, and really looks into other spaces that -- and other architecture that can be used as cinematic spaces. but also looks at the limits maybe to how we can experience audio/visual projects. it's not a one-off. it's not something we just came up with. from the 1920s onwards, you see

a lot of expanded cinema experiments. >> audiences are becoming more accustomed to vertical framing, through mobile phones was vertical screens probably won't catch on commercially at your local multi-plex. for these pioneers that's not the goal. for them vertical cinema is to make people appreciate the moving image in a very different way. and they seem to be achieving it. please visit our website at bbc.com/talking bbc.com/talkingmovies.

hello. i'm david eades with bbc world news. our top stories. french sources have said the cockpit voice recorder on the germanwings flight which crashed in the alps suggests one pilot was locked out of the flight deck. a silent tribute to the 16 german students and their two teachers who perished in the crash. iran speaks out against saudi arabia after it launches a series of air strikes against houthi rebels in yemen. the economic fallout of that operation, the price of crude oil jumps 6%. also we're