>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is 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 financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations.

what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> more revelations from the wikileaks web site. the british military is criticized for its performance in afghanistan. the military closes the borders of ivory coast. confusion continues over the presidential election. at least 40 people are killed in northern israel as a forest fire burned out of control. welcome to "bbc world news" broadcast on pbs and around the globe. coming up later, world cup glory. russia and qatar celebrate after winning at the opportunity to host the world cup in 2018

and 2022. weather causes travel issues across most of the country. the latest official american documents released by wikileaks contain harsh criticism of the british military efforts in afghanistan. the diplomatic cables say that u.s. and afghan officials believe that british officers were not up to the task of securing helmand province on their own appeared >> today, u.s. forces are fighting and dying in helmand. according to confidential cables are revealed by wikileaks, the u.s. and the afghan government in 2008 were critical of the

u.k.'s performance. one cable has haunted karzai telling a u.s. senator -- hamid karzai to take the british away and put in u.s. forces instead. they believed that there were not up to the task for securing helmand province for the elections. >> this suggestion the british are not prepared to fight as actively as american. the facts do not bear that out. there was a cohesive pulling together of the american and british at the core of nato, and we should not allow that very fractured position it to be distracted from by the leaking documents which are not helpful, not least the british and

american soldier who are slugging their backs guts out. mcneal was said that there had been a lot of action are narcotics but little progress. and he was dismayed by the british effort. they made a mess of things in helmand. anthony phillips and his son was killed in june, 2006, is dismayed by the sentiments revealed in these cables. >> at least we went in there. coulddone the best we with some of the finest infantry in the world. we have taken terrible casualties. and yes, the place is still a hotbed of violence, but i think it always will be. >> much of the criticism has been heard before. british tactics were also questioned. two years ago, british

commanders themselves -- said they wanted more troops and more resources to counter the insurgents in helmand. some of the u.s. criticism might be more muted today. the u.s. marines that took over suffered some of their highest casualties and there, too, losing 16 men there and a matter of weeks. >> meanwhile, wikileaks founder julian assange has lost an appeal against a court order made in sweden for his arrest. police want to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault. julian assange denies the charges. the military in ivory coast has announced the closure of the countries armed orders amid confusion over the results of sunday's presidential election. the opposition candidate, mr. ouattara, has been said to have

one. the u.n. security council has urged restraint. >> this is the man who claimed president of ivory coast for the next five years. for the time being, it is not a face you can see on the state television. instead, the independent electoral commission used other media to announce results sca. mr. ouattara said he would form a unity government hear. >> our ambition would be to unite the nation around peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. >>b but the outcome is not clear. the government is closing borders until further notice appear. alecto results was made away from their -- elect for resorts was made away from their

headquarters occurred >> the independent electoral commission handed it over to the constitutional commission. >> the delay in announcing results heights tensions. -- hides tensions. mr. ouattara's supporters accuse president laurent gbagbo of trying to block the electrode process. rocess.torlal p they attacked some people at his headquarters and killed four people. >> we heard gunfire for 30 minutes. after having killed people, they mounted the wall to get in here. they threw tear gas so that we would not see what was going on. when they finished killing people, they left they came to pick up the bodies and they took the injured with them.

>> the un security council has welcomed the publication of results and called on all sides to respect the democratic process. john james, bbc news, ivory coast. >> a forest fire has been burning out of control in killing 40s a rael, people. many of those who died were on their way to evacuate inmates from prison. >> firefighters say the country has not seen ablaze like this for over a decade. >> the fire is enormous. if we did not have the firefighters it would be difficult to take control of the fire. >> it is believed many of those who died were traveling on abbas. there were prison guards helping jailacuate inmates form rom a -- they were traveling on a

bus. the prime minister appealed for international help. >> a huge fire is raging at mt. carmel with many casualties. we are pulling all the countries resources to stop the fire. this is on a disaster we are not used to. >> hundreds of firefighters are working through the night to bring it under control, but they are not held by the fact the land is tinder dry. israel is suffering from drought, with little significant rain in the last six months. world governing body has chosen russia to host the 2008 world cup and qatar for 2022. fifa has faced widespread screening the encounter-- contrr

its governing body. fifa world cup will be organized in russia. >> it is the day the world cup headed into uncharted territory. first was russia, and then it was this. >> the 2022 fifa world cup is qatar. >> to many, qatar seems a more daring choice, a small country with no footballing pedigree. >> you will never regret. let us make history together. [applause] thank you for giving qatar a chance. we will not let you down. you'll be proud of us and proud of the middle east, and i promise you this. [applause]

♪ >> both countries have their work cut out for them. russia will have to build almost all of its stadiums from scratch and update its transport network, while qatar and will have to do with the temperatures of up to 60 degrees, building air-conditioning units. for some of the most glittering names of there was disappointment. england had prince william and david beckum and get their bids in is blessed with two votes. >> it is very sad. i'm so proud of them. >> fans in the u.s. were also disappointed. at least they have the world cup in 1994. but wall they commiserate, the winners concelebrate -- -- while they commiserate, the winners can celebrate. >> minutes after the

announcement, russia's prime minister said he was traveling to resort to thank -- to zurich to thank fifa. he said that modern stadiums would be built on time. we go to london. >> pure delight in moscow amongst the countries of legions of football fans, celebrating the first time the country has ever won the right to host the world cup. it is not a surprise here because russia has been the favorite for 2018 for some time. although they have seen a bit of a wobble in the next few days, in the end it made no difference. already amongst the fans, a sense of the huge impact this could have on their country.

>> there are opportunities for us, for government to make our country better. >> all the lavish promises made in the bid must be turned into reality. spending billions to build 10 new stadiums from scratch, and improve transport links between the host cities which is spread out across western russia. >> of course, we need to build a lot -- stadiums, airports, hotels, and roads. there is the challenge, but because it means development. >> it is hard to believe but this drab town hundreds of miles from moscow is set to become a world cup city. work here is already under way. >> you are watching "bbc world

news." soldiers on the street. they demonstrate for the first time in four decades in italy. it has been confirmed that the british aid worker taken hostage in afghanistan in september was killed by a grenade thrown by an american soldier trying to rescue her. >> the 36 year-old british aid worker killed in afghanistan in october. not by her kidnappers, as was first announced, but accidentally by a grenade thrown by the u.s. rest to work. in parliament, the british foreign secretary announced the decision. >> the investigation team found that the failure to disclose it breached u.s. military law. members of the rescue team had

been disciplined for failing to provide a complete account of their actions. >> in a remote province, or around 1000 troops went looking for her, kidnapped in late september. they attracted to a small cluster of buildings. the government gave the go-ahead for a rescue attempt, but it was feared that she could be passed to extremist. two helicopters full of troops took off, landing an almost total darkness. they soon came under fire. a u.s. service man threw a grenade in self-defense, and aware of how close it was to her. >> it really is a pleasure to be here with -- >> when it david petraeus came to london soon afterwards, his visit was overshadowed by the confusion over her death. now the facts are known. in scotland, her parents are still coming to terms with her death. despite what has happened, they paid tribute to the bravery of

the u.s. team that nearly succeeded in restoring their daughter alive. both the u.s. and britain say that the kidnappers were responsible for her death. >> you are watching "bbc world news." the latest leak of u.s. cables revealed afghan and american criticism of the u.k. forces in 2008. the military in the ivory coast has announced the closure of its borders after the announcement that the opposition leader had won at the presidential election runoff. freezing weather conditions are causing chaos across northern europe. heavy snow has disrupted rail travel. flights have been delayed in paris, amsterdam, berlin, and

geneva. >> the day started in a way that has become familiar since winter began. almost 1 foot of snow to be cleared before we could begin our journey. from above, the garden of england it acquired an alpine landscape. on the ground, those who follow their team had little time to admire the view. men and machines were trying to free the tarmac from its freezing blanket carry the airport is due to remain closed until 6:00 tomorrow morning, leaving passengers stranded, plans on raveling. >> everyone is positive. they have accepted what has happened. >> flights resumed in edinburgh. but with destruction around the u.k. and in moremainland europe

are likely to continue. real passengers have seen their patients tried. in kent, platforms were deserted, and the track was virtually invisible. train operators around the u.k. this set that have -- more than one such for their services were not running. passengers trapped overnight on a commuter service inurface in x filmed these images. >> there was no decision as to what to do with our passengers. that was the most frightening thing -- we had no indication of when we would make it back. >> this is the a-57. 200 drivers spent a second night in their cabins here. the man charged with reviewing our preparations for winter

travel says the u.k.'s unpredictable weather -- >> in scandinavia, canada, east coast of north america, they know almost to the week when their winter will come. they know how severe it will be, how much snow they will get. here it is completely different. >> roads did allow the first delivery for three weeks, into supermarkets. some shortages of food and fuel supplies are still in more isolated communities occurred . >> we have been three days without bread and milk. >> without -- wherever you travel, there is one other shared experience. school closures. some could see the positive side of the big chill. >> at least one motoring organization has criticized what it has called a lack of resilience in the uk's

infrastructure. the british government has begun a review into whether the country should have been better prepared. the opposition labour party accused it of complacency. our environment correspondent looks at how britain is trying to adapt. >> britain viewed from space today -- blanketed and white for the second winter running. can it cope? for a start, there are not enough snow ploughs, so farmers are lending a hand. raise simmons is one of those hired to keep the roads open. >> the council cannot avoid the costs. it is different abroad, when they can kick up for because there will never get snow. >> and we are never sure. counsellors spent millions of pounds of dealing with snow, but a cold snap can cost billions of pounds. ever won major they got plenty

of this stuff. -- everyone made sure they got plenty of this stuff. we need snow ploughs, but they are expensive. with the weather on certain as it is, the question is -- how much is it worth spending on getting ready? on the continent, they know they will get long winters. but even in the czech republic, heavy snow is causing paralysis right now. in poland, the trams in poznan have ground to a halt. in build some, it is easy to forget what ice can do. -- in brussels. should we prepare for more snow? >> last winter, it was the coldest in 30 years. we are in a cold cluster, which you will get. the climate change would tend to take us towards a milder, wetter winters.

this would be unusual, but this would happen again. carefully, the man appointed to recommend to how to improve britain's approach to snow. >> it is important to realize that this is an unprecedented dump of snow we've had. it is unreasonable to expect that our highway authorities are fully geared up to deal with 1 ft.onone foot or more. >> one answer? do what you can. their own snow ploughs. there are no easy answers. >> investigators have confirmed that an oil fire was most likely because of an engine class on a qantas jet last month.

in a preliminary report, the australian transport safety authorities said the manufacturing defect may still exist in the rolls royce engine used by 28 of the planes. the chief commissioner of the austrian transport commission explained. >> we are working with rolls royce and others, and we determined that there was a particular problem that had not been identified. yesterday, we issued a safety recommendation in relation to that, which was essentially a manufacturing defect in oil pipes in number 900 series engines. which of the potential to lead to fatigue cracking, liberation of oil, and the sorts of things that happened with the engine in the incidence. >> nasa scientists have

discovered the first arson-based life form. the bacteria found in a lake in california was in arsenic. life on other planets may have a radically different chemical makeup to our own. the professor is with the city of new york. he described this as spectacular. >> arsenic can masquerade like phosphorus. they are similar chemically. you can slip arsenic into a molecule. they are unstable and water. that is why are some it can kill you. -- arsenic can kill you. but these bacteria can absorb it without killing you. >> for the first time in four

decades, members of italy's -- david demonstration in r -- gave a demonstration. the italian prime minister faces a vote of confidence later this month. >> attention, the government. in italy, even the soldiers have gone on strike. several dozen protested along with police officers outside the ministry of defence. it is the first time in 40 years members of the armed forces have taken part in demonstrations. >> this police officer says that we are demonstrating for our constitutional rights occurred our soldiers bring those rights to people when they served overseas, but we do not have them in italy. there are cardboard cutouts of military personnel with knives,

a sign the government has betrayed them. members of the police force have our right to join them. but if we do, we could be sacked. there is no suggestion that the italian military is in a -- frame of mind. they have certain places like afghanistan. but with students, and car company employees all protesting in recent times, this is another sign of the restlessness of an italian society facing economic hardship and political uncertainty. >> let me give you a reminder of our main news this hour. the latest secret u.s. cables revealed by wikileaks exposed afghan an american criticism of british forces in 2008. also, the military in the ivory coast has announced the closure of all borders after a contested

announcement that the opposition leader, mr. ouattara, has won in an election runoff. >> 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. >> 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. presented by kcet, los angeles.