>> and now "bbc world news." more revelations from up wikileaks and hillary clinton admits to the bbc that she spent much of last week's shooting ruffled diplomatic father's. international aid to try to stop brushfires that have killed dozens. the u.n. says it does not accept the ivory coast elections. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. coming up later, just 12 years ago, how will hosting the world cup affect the tiny state of qatar. an iraqi athletes of fighting to make it to the 2012 games. -- and iraqi athletes the fighting to make it to the 2012 games.

hello. hillary clinton told the bbc that she spent much of the past week reassuring world leaders about the way the united states conducts its diplomacy. answering questions in bahrain about the wikileaks controversy, she said she had expects -- expressed her regrets to anyone offended by the leaked information. she also regretted suggestions that washington does not value the sacrifices made by british troops in afghanistan. >> the storm has swirled up all week. the secret cables making headlines around the world have been deeply embarrassing for the u.s. and a full implication of this unprecedented leak are not yet known. the latest to be published criticized british troops in helmand. in 2008, the u.s. embassy said

without the help of extra forces, the british are not up to the task of securing helmand for elections. in another cable to the then- afghan foreign minister, he said that british forces were not ready to fight as actively as american soldiers. >> i personally want to convey to the people of the united kingdom both are deep respect and admiration for the extraordinary efforts and our regret that anything that was said by anyone suggests to the contrary. >> what else have we learned? the saudis privately urged the u.s. to attack iran over its nuclear program. they wanted to cut off the head of the snake. we found out the u.k. had deep concerns about the safety and security of pakistan's nuclear weapons. and russia, europe's major energy supplier, was described as a virtual mafia state.

hillary clinton has been busy apologizing to world leaders all week. the secrets spilled and on fought during -- and unflattering comments revealed. >> in the short term it is bad for relations, which is an essential element of our diplomacy, and i am sure there are some leaders seeing material published about themselves who will think twice about how candidly it will speak to us on future occasions. >> wikileaks is finding it increasingly difficult to operate. the internet may also be closing around its founder. he is wanted in sweden on charges of sex crimes, which he denies. from hiding somewhere in the u.k., he managed to answer questions on the guardian's website this afternoon. whatever happens to him, there are plenty more revelations in the pipeline.

president obama has left the main u.s. air base in afghanistan after an unannounced visit. he was doing to visit with president hamid karzai, but the white house said bad weather prevented the travel. they talked over a secure telephone link. he also spoke with american troops at the american air base and thank them for their service especially during the holiday season and told them they are making important progress against the taliban. >> it is great to be back. i apologize for keeping you guys up late. coming on such short notice. but i want to make sure that i could spend a little time this holiday with the men and women of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. i want to thank general

petraeus, not only for the introduction and the t-shirt, but for general petraeus' lifetime of service. this is somebody who has helped change the way that we fight wars and win wars in the 21st century. and i am very grateful that he agreed to take command of our efforts here in afghanistan. he has been an extraordinary warrior on behalf of the american people. thank you, general petraeus. >> president obama at the airbase. we followed the speech from cobble. -- from kabul. >> the white house said this was mostly about boosting the morale of the forces. there is also some meat to this physic and that is the white house is in the middle of a strategy review, the results of

which will be announced toward the ends of the second week in december. president obama said in his speech that he ordered a surge in troops a year ago. the previously announced that surge will start to move away in july of next year. the question is will all of those extra troops leave or just some of them. that is the decision he is having to make over the next couple weeks, having consulted presumably with general petraeus and other commanders on this visit. a huge forest fire is still burning in israel, destroying homes and forcing 15,000 people to leave. at least 40 people have been killed. we have this report from the scene and northern israel. >> still burning more than 24 hours after it started, israel's worst forest fire and over a decade, showing little sign of letting up. most of those who died were

traveling on this bus, train the prison guards trying to evacuate a nearby jail. thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. at these stables, they're trying to save the horses and in themselves. despite the dangers, they don't want to go. >> we have a responsibility for the business and for the office. a lot of people work in our place and we need to think about this issue also. >> every available firefighter in israel has been called up to tackle this blaze. but with fierce wind, it is out of control. the fact is the israeli fire service is stretched and the government has called for international help. and that help has come, firefighting airplanes from greece, russia, turkey, and jordan are all trying to douse

the flames. a british team has also been flown in, but it is difficult work when the earth is tinder dry. there has been no significant rain here more than six months and people are already asking how the fire started. as is often the case, arson is suspected. the pressing for those who are wondering if their houses will be standing when they return. spain's government is considering raising taxes on tobacco to help clear its budget deficit. the spanish cabinet approved an austerity package this week including plans to sell a stake in the state lottery, privatize airports, and cut benefits for the unemployed. the u.s. unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in november, seven- month high. just 39,000 jobs were created, far below analyst expectations. these numbers are a first estimate and may be revised, but

analysts are concerned that high levels of unemployment are undermining the economic recovery in the u.s. one of china's best known artists has been it said -- has said it that he has been stopped from leaving the country for the peace prize ceremony for the jailed chinese dissident. the tiny emirate of qatar is still in shock, struggling to believe that fifa has awarded at the 2022 world cup. it is a controversy of decision. the gulf state has only one stadium and a june temperature that can top 50 celsius. we have this report on what the next 12 years have in store. >> the morning after the night before and qatar is now a small country with a bid to do list. its successful bid to host the world cup in 2022 have taken many by surprise, but the mood

today was one of enthusiasm. >> the people are passionate about it. last night when they heard the news, all of the people share the same emotions. i could feel the joy. >> i have come here to work. i have had a fantastic time. the people are great. it is really friendly. i think it will be a huge success. >> when they heard about the victory in zurich, celebrations went late into the night. qatar is a dry country, so there was no alcohol to fuel the party, but that did not dampen the spirits of the fans. there was a solemn promise to deliver the goods. >> we will deliver with a lot of passion and we will make sure that this is a milestone in the history of the middle east and a milestone for fifa. >> as their bid team prepares to

leave it is a wreck in return, they know there is no time to waste. qatar now has just 12 years to transform itself from the sleepy small gulf state to a nation capable of posting the biggest sporting event on the planet. qatar is one of the world's richest countries and no expense will be scared as it prepares to bring the world cup to the middle east for the first time ever in the history of the offense. if it will spend some $50 billion on infrastructure, building new stadiums and building a brand new airport and proper public transport system that will transform this tiny nation. central to their winning bid are ambitious plans to build 12 super high tech stadiums equipped with special cooling technology to help keep the veracious summer heat at day. after the world cup, there will

be dismantled and shipped over seas as gifts to developing countries. but there is a lot of work today. it is not so much a blank slate as a blank desert, and will take a huge effort to bring this bid to life. there is hope that the arab world cup will help change perceptions of the middle east but at the same time it will also thrust this tiny island state firmly into the spotlight. stephanie hancock, bbc news. still to come, olympic gold medalist at the princeton is in baghdad with olympic dreams of the rhone. austrian investigators are saying the qantas airbus a380 that suffered a mid-air engine explosion were not have arrived without a quick thinking of the true. the safety bureau has published

its preliminary report confirms an oil leak as the likely cause of the blowout. >> we have always known what caused the emergency landing of the world's newest and biggest aircraft last month, the burned out rolls-royce engine telling its own story, but the report reveals how the drama unfolded and the key role played by the crew. >> the aircraft would not have arrived safely in singapore without the fabulous and effective action of the air crew. a m within moments of leaving port, the crew heard a series of loud bangs. the resulting damage was caught on camera. one of the four engines had suffered a major failure, aircraft components -- engine components tearing through the aircraft fuselages. for 1.5 hours, they circled above, dealing with a warning messages from the onboard computer.

they could not dump fuel or lose -- or use the flaps on one wing, so it came in too heavy and too fast. the the pilot's fault overshooting the runway. all of the passengers and crew escaped unharmed, a testament according to some of the airbus design. >> it shows even with major damage, the airbus a380 has a lot of redundancy. >> the likely cause of the failure is this tiny oil pipe which is thought to have been fractured. it is now being checked or replaced on all the rolls royce engines currently in operation. the latest headlines on "bbc world news," u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has told the bbc that she spent much of the past week reassuring world leaders about the conduct of

american diplomacy. contested election results of the ivory coast. the united nations says it does not accept that he has retained the presidency. thanks to wikileaks, the controversy all thoughts of america's top diplomats have been exposed to the world. how will that affect some of the longest running conflicts. p'yongyang and beijing are tricky at the best of times. our correspondent reports on how china has been affected by the leaks. >> north korea and china, allies. it has been issuing grown weary of kim jong il? wikileaks quoted one chinese official as saying that p'yongyang's posturing and missile tests was acting like a spoiled child. another said the north has little value to china as a buffer state. the reality is the cables are on closer reading just diplomats

chatter, not a change of policy. there may have been some awkwardness for north korean and chinese officials on wednesday. both sides know that china continues to back kim jong il's regime, propping it up economically. >> north korean leaders are all paranoid. they are always suspicious about china. they will have read the information and will make them more suspicious, but they need china more than ever, so they will not ask china about it. and if they do, will explain that it is just diplomatic gossip. >> damaging in china's eyes is the cable clamming hacker attacks were ordered by the communist leaders. there is no proof, but just the suggestion is highly sensitive. another cable talks about the chinese premier and a chinese firm seeking contracts in north korea, speculating payments were

made to the unidentified recipient to secure his support. >> i do not want to comment on absurd content of the website. china's position on the relevant issue is consistent and everybody knows it. >> with the release of all this confidential information, it will complicate america's already tricky relationship with china. future chinese officials and diplomats will be more cautious about talking to their american counterparts. the founder of wikileaks has talked about opening up societies like china, but the response has been more predictable -- access to wikileaks on the web has been closed down here. at least half the city of venice is under water thanks to a combination of bad weather and high tides. water levels are at their highest this year. in rome, the river tiber has reached record highs after months of rain.

>> the historical center of venice, need deep in december flooding. it days of heavy rain and higher than normal tides have led to water rushing into the lagoon city. more than 50% of the center has been the loose. the water recorded at 136 centimeters above sea level, the highest this year. some raised walkways have stayed intact. others have been submerged and tourists told to keep off of them. dennis has well rehearsed procedures at times like these, -- venice as well rehearsed procedures at times like these but cannot control nature. shopkeepers and businesses have been trying to fight the invasion. the city is on orange flood alert, one short of the most serious warning. venice has fault decades against flooding. unesco warns that they are threatened by climate change. the long-delayed flood barrier

will not be finished for another two years. rome has not escaped the appalling whether either. torrential rain has raced the river tiber to dangerously high levels. there was daily -- there was barely a day in november where it did not rain in the capital. that is why this is swollen. the island in the middle of the river looks more isolated than usual. local authorities took a break in the weather will help the volumes to subside, but this city and others like venice, if given a chance to dry out and recover. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in rome. when it comes to winning olympic medals, iraq does not fare well. they have won one bronze 50 years ago. years of of people have made it challenging for athletes to take part. as part of our series, world

olympic dreams, we have went to baghdad to meet two rowers battling the odds to make it to the olympics. >> not coming out for another day's trading. not many are doing it in baghdad, though. they made up half of iraq's olympic team for beijing in 2008. 2012 is a chance for them to improve on their 13th place. looking at this see it in the evening sunshine, it is all very tranquil, but trading has not always been like this. -- but training has not always been like this. the river is part of the front line, literally, for the war in 2003. even after saddam hussein was toppled, the river served a dark purpose.

>> 2006 to 2007 was very bad. nobody could go in the streets. we still came here, at training. we see a lot of bodies in the river. we are still trading, just 3 meters. there were bodies that were staying there two weeks, three weeks. >> we might be from different countries and different cultures, but we talked the same language. what happened here? >> the water has backed down, i crashed. >> it is obvious what effect they have had on young rowers in baghdad, but the olympic experience goes much deeper than

that. >> it organizes the village. i think sport has united all the iraqi people. sports is a beautiful thing. >> the olympics is often cited as a chance for people to come together in peace to compete with pride for their countries. normally it is easy to be cynical about how much that means to the athletes. not here in iraq. just a reminder, you could read about all the preparations for the 2012 olympics on our website. that includes more about all of the athletes hoping to make their olympic dreams come true in 2012. that is on bbc.com. the united nations secretary general has refused to it except that laurent gragbo has kept the

presidential election. instead, they have backed the victory of the opposition candidate. that declaration prompted the ivory coast military to close the country's borders on thursday. they then declared invalid, that is still president. >> there has been on rest in some towns of the interior. some of the people have gotten onto the streets, set up barricades, tires burning, exchanges of stones. some youth are celebrating, some are protesting, and reports of gunfire as well, possibly to persuade protesters. there was a curfew that came into force an hour ago that should last all night, but still protesters are out on the streets. but sides are claiming victory and protesting about the other side's claim as well.

>> the u.n. in new york has said that mr. ouattara has claimed to be the victor. at least four people have died there recently. the united nations has congratulated outtara on his victory. this is the secretary and general effect endorsing a position of his representative, the u.n.'s rep and the country. that representative has retracted the final voting results, upholding the provisional results which support the opposition candidate. we will bring you more on that as it develops. for spanish airports have been closed because of a shortage of air traffic controllers. madrid airport and three others are affected. the spanish airport authority says many controllers have called in sick and suspect this is an unofficial strike in a long running dispute over pay

and hours. there has been a deadline issued by the government and a threat to send in troops. we are waiting to hear what happens with that. he may be smaller than a domestic cat at the moment, but one new arrival at a zoo in the united states is a giant. the one-month old giant panda cub would shun have been -- were shown having his regular medical exam. he actually belongs to china, as do all of the panda cubs in the united states even if they are born there. keeping in chinese tradition, he will only be named after his first 100 days. this is their third cup together. the u.s. to carry of state hillary clinton has told the bbc she has spent much of the past week reassuring world leaders about the conduct of american diplomacy, speaking in the wake of the wikileaks controversy. she said that diplomacy was a

tough business. much more anytime on bbc.com. we are on twitter and facebook as well. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> there is one stage that is the met and carnegie hall. >> o, that this too, too solid flesh -- >> it is the kennedy center -- >> check, one, two. >> and a club in austin. [woman vocalizing] >> it is closer than any seat in the house, no matter where you call home. >> ♪ the top of the world, and i'm there, i'm home ♪ >> pbs -- the great american stage that fits in every living room. your support of pbs brings the arts home. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.