>> the wikileaks founder is behind bars. the man who oversaw the release of american secrets is accused of sexual assault. >> many believe julian assange to be innocent, myself included, and many believe the prosecution is politically motivated. >> in occupied palestinian territory and the destruction of buildings. new research hints at a wonder drug. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america, also around the globe. my name is mike embley. coming up later for you -- she denied it spying for russia on behalf of the british parliament's. and 30 years after the murder of

john lennon, the first british journalist on the scene recalls one of music's saddest days. ed hello to you. the latest twist in the wikileaks drama unfolded in a london court. julian assange is now in a british prison until another court hearing next week. he faces allegations of sexual assault. his supporters summoned at a large sum of money to get him out on bail, but this was refused. frank gardner's report does contain flash photography. >> and get back. >> and media throng at this afternoon as the elusive wikileaks founder was called to westminster.

julian assange is accused of sex crimes in sweden, which he denies. >> i believe it that he could have been released today, but the judge had a different view. and now we will see the evidence against him so we can test the strength of these allegations, which we believe to be very thin indeed. >> this has been headline news in sweden where two women have told of allegations of rape and sexual molestation. these are allegations the swedish prosecutor initially dismissed. today, his supporters offered to raise bail. >> i am here because i believe this is about principle, the universal right to freedom of information, and our right to be

told the truth. >> the swedish prosecutor is adamant. this case, she says, is about alleged sex crimes. it has nothing to do with politics. an organization -- his organization has released thousands of american files. he is an undeclared public enemy of the u.s. government. visiting afghanistan, the news of his arrest was broadcast. >> i had not heard that. >> washington is clearly desperate to fend the issues. but the wikileaks founder has not been charged with more. he is coming under mounting pressure from visa and mastercard, pressuring finance companies to stop making donations to the site.

it is as site -- julian assange is spending his first night behind bars. whichever way this case goes, we have not heard a lot from wikileaks. the flow of cables is set to continue. >> the allegations in sweden and called allegations of sexual misconduct among the female wikileaks volunteers, which julian assange has denied. here is steven evans. >> this is his next destination, a peculiar place, particularly for someone accused of rape and coercive actions. >> there are three people and know what happened.

my good clients, and these two women these two women have nothing to do with wikileaks or the cia, nothing whatsoever. >> the justice and monetary -- miss -- minister was satisfied. >> i've seen the arrest warrant. that does not speak to what sort of crime a person has discussed being done. >> if he is extradited here to stockholm, then he could get extradited to the united states where his situation might be much more serious. the swedish prosecutor who once impact and in stockholm says that would not happen. >> she says it could not happen without the consent of britain, where he is now, and sweden, it became here.

the authorities here are adamant. they are not just going after this man to please the american authorities. they say it is simply a matter of an alleged crime under swedish law. bbc news, stockholm. >> we have been hearing that washington is abandoning attempts to convince israel to seize settlement building in the occupied west bank as a way to revive talks between the israelis and palestinians. the negotiations have been on hold since september. our state department correspondent has the latest from washington. >> american officials tell me that after consulting both parties, the palestinians and israelis, the of come to the conclusion that demanding that israel stop construction in the occupied territory is not likely to revive the talks. the last round of talks between

the two sides was in the middle of september. the american officials also say this does not mean that their position about israeli settlements have changed. washington still use them as illegitimate. it also does not mean the obama administration has given up on peace in the middle east. in fact, the israeli and palestinian negotiators will be going to washington in the coming week. hillary clinton will be making a speech about peace on friday. american officials also said that they will be discussing how to move forward but but the israelis and palestinians, but it is a little bit unclear what that really means. >> that for us from washington. a week after ireland applied for help from the imf, its finance minister has made plans to take

6 billion euros. >> the scale of this adjustment is demanding, but it demonstrates the seriousness of our intent. a gap between government receipts and spending is on as 19 billion euros this year. that gap must be closed. >> the european union finance ministers have decided not to provide extra money for the bailout fund for european countries in financial trouble. the international monetary fund has concern at that spain, portugal, and possibly other countries will join ireland and greece and any help. almost all tamil civilians have now returned to their home area. 300,000 tamil civilians were living in a camp a year-and-a-

half ago. that has fallen to 20,000. nigerian authorities have filed charges against nine people, including the former u.s. vice- president dick cheney. the charges date back to when he was ceo of halliburton. he has denied wrongdoing. he blames the issue on a subsidiary of halliburton that has split from the company. ed new news that a drug can it stop the risk of dying from common cancers of 2 1/5. it has side effects, of course. our medical correspondent reports. >> aspirin is a 90 cent medicine still making headlines in the 21st century. it can cut the risk of heart attack and stroke, among those

of high risk. now, there is evidence it can protect against our range of common cancers. scientists trapped 20,000 patients and found those who had taken 75 milligrams of aspirin daily for at least four years had 25% less lower risk of death from cancer. this benefit continue long after they had stopped taking the drug. for 20 years, their risk of cancer death was cut by 20%. from age 5275, they might have -- 50 to 75, they might have bigger benefits. >> it reduces the chance of dying by one in 20. >> but how might aspirin protect against cancer? our bodies are constantly we

producing cells. sometimes healthy cells are damaged. one theory is aspirin either helps sell -- cells to repair dna or to commit cell suicide, thereby preventing cancer at the earliest stages. the tablets cost less than 90 cents each. the benefits and cancer reduction have to be balanced against the known risk that aspirin can cause serious internal bleeding in a small proportion of patients, especially the elderly. >> the damage of aspirin should not be underestimated. a substantial number of people will suffer significant bleeding. >> one scientist suggested taking aspirin with milk at night.

but they will want to speak to patients before this becomes part of their evening routine. bbc news. >> jack warner, the vice president of fief up -- fifa has broken his silence about the 2018 world cup vote. he spoke about allegations of corruption at the organization. mr. warner in these pictures and in the center is said he was insulted by the media and in the worst possible way. good to have you with us on "bbc world news." still to come -- protesters as international talks about iranian nuclear ambitions continue. first though, more than 35,000 may be lying undiscovered in

cupboards are running world. scientists are unsure of how many species are still on recognize. here is our science reporter. >> we are in west london. this is a herbarium. this is a place where they collect plant species around the world. they keep them come out waiting for botanists. joining me, the director of the garden. professor stephen hopper. professor, how can this happen? >> plant diversity -- this is a fundamental infrastructure in much people have a repository of knowledge. >> according to new research, these are not just great new

building features. they may contain half of the world's undiscovered plant species. professor, we are finding new species even today? >> we have discovered -- we have to thousand new species undiscovered iran the world. -- 2000 new species. this is an example of a new species of shrubs. this turned up this was in the name of parts of mozambique. >> it is estimated there might be as many as 70,000 plant species out there still to be discovered. e>> the latest headlines this hour on "bbc world news."

a court in london has remanded julian assange for seven days while it determines whether he should be extradited to sweden. and the u.s. has abandoned attempts to persuade israel to scrap its building program in occupied palestinian territory. in iran, the leading world powers will be meeting to discuss the nuclear program ending in geneva. they have agreed again early next year. talks became more fruitful after sanctions against the country were scrapped. >> after a day and a half of talks, the decision to keep talking and in january. a senior american official said expectations were low, and i cannot say they were exceeded. if sanctions have hurt iran, it did not produce any behavior.

in tehran, signs of the country's strength and humility. in a direct attack, the program will continue. a leading iranian nuclear scientists was assassinated. in geneva, a chief negotiator repeated that the program would continue. >> with a picture of the assassinated scientist next to him, he said he would not discuss the cessation of the program in january either. iran denies it is making a nuclear bomb. >> the countries i represent are united in seeking the resolution of the international community

regarding iran its nuclear program. it is the central purpose of these talks. we recognize iran's right, but we insist it fulfill its obligations. >> iran has reiterated that it intends to ignore in the u.s. declarations despite sanctions. it will take time on both sides if this is going to work. they may not have any of those things. the crisis over the nuclear plant could be the middle east war. jeremy bowen, bbc news, geneva. >> the taxi driver who has admitted to murdering a woman on her honeymoon in south africa has alleged in court and man paid to have her killed. our correspondent, karen allen,

has this. >> celebrating what looked like a fairy tale wedding. days later, she was dead. her father was in court to hear the dramatic allegations. and testimony by this taxi driver who drove the couple. he said that he and two others were paid to kill the bride by her husband. it is a claim that he says is simply ludicrous. >> [unintelligible] >> found guilty of murder, he will be a key witness for the state. now he begins his turn in jail. her father made no comment about the confession. he had these words as he left court. >> i would like to say thank

you to the south african people for their support and thank you to the whole world for the messages and to our family. >> in the town that was the scene of the attack, a tour guide showed us around. here late at night, their car was attacked by armed men. his wife's body was discovered with a bullet wound to the head. but despite today's conviction, -- >> believed this was a carefully planned murder, and they want the full extent of the law to be brought to bear. the family of the bride fines the claims that he was involved in setting, but they were not surprised. >> it is totally untrue.

there is no substance. no foundation to any of this. >> the dramatic allegations will now be contested in court. he has not been charged, but that could change. karen allen, bbc news. >> she has been accused of being a famous british -- russian spy in britain's parliament. he dismissed as rubbish reports that he had been part of this. we have this from the family home >> it is 3,000 miles from the houses of parliament to here. the whole town is alleged to have been part of spying. here they are together. he is on the right.

and memories seeping out from a restaurant years later. he was unconventional, elena says. and used to tell people how beautiful she was. as school, they schoolkatya as -- at school they remember katya as a student who loved england. >> here at the school they are astonished of former student was allegedly a spy. but still no charges have been brought. she says she is determined to fight her deportation in u.k. if she fails, this is where she might end up, back at the family home. when we go to see her father, he

was not too keen to see us. he agreed to let us in. andre denies that katya or anyone in his family have links to russian intelligence. he maintains his daughter is innocent. >> my daughter's name might be cleared. i believe the appeal will be successful. >> to the family, it is a case of mistaken identity. the british authorities, she is a spy at the heart of british politics. bbc news. >> still in the intelligence world, or not, egyptian suggestions that's the israeli intelligence was behind shark attacks is being dismissed by israeli intelligence as a "

ludicrous and." -- of a " ludicrous and." an israeli spokesman has said that the egyptian minister must have seen "jaws" one to many times. for fans of the beatles, tomorrow is the anniversary of when john lennon was shot and killed outside his home. we have this. >> and john lennon first set foot in new york as a member of the beatles in 1964. >> ♪ help me >> he commented on the freedom he enjoyed in his new dwelling. >> i am just known on/off, but

on known enough to get around, which is nice. >> but his peace was about to be shattered. >> on december 8, 1980, mark david chapman it shot john lennon. drummond was taken to the nearby roosevelt hospital. -- john lennon was taken to the nearby roosevelt hospital. >> i tried to massage the heart. we knew there was no way we could restore circulation. >> back in britain, the news is that was broken on the today program. >> our reporter tom brook. >> they are playing lyndon music. a lot of them are in tears. >> ♪ imagine all the people living life in peace

you ♪ >> on this 30th anniversary, some of the biggest names in music are paying tribute to him. >> my whole life as an artist was shades by hand -- was shaped by him. >> in one of his last major interviews, he said, i do not believe in destiny. i believe in what i am doing now. critics say 30 years after he died but he and his music are still of great interest. bbc news, new york. >> much more on that and all the international news anytime, of course, on bbc.com. you can catch up with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley.

you can see what is coming up on facebook. thank you for being with us. >> hello and welcome. >> see t the news unfold, get te 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.

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