>> this is bbc world news. 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." >> the floodwaters continued to rise in northeastern australia with more storms and heavy rains in the forecast. a standoff in ivory coast. the delegation of african leaders failed to persuade gbagbo to stand down, and there is an investigation about videos on an aircraft carrier. coming up later on for you, a big step forward in the nuclear power program in france, which could provide energy for thousands. and to sell, sell, sell. advertising.

in australia, floods have now turned large parts of queensland into a lake. more than 20 towns and cities are inundated with about 20,000 people affected so far in the river that is still rising. it is more like an island. more like an inland sea. but we have this report. >> queensland is supposed to be australia's sunshine state. it is beautiful one day and perfect the next, but that must sound like a sick joke right now to the people in the 20 towns and cities amid the most widespread flooding in its history. in north hampton, a coastal city of about 75,000 people, what tourists from the still rising river have cut off the main highway leading to the state capital. with the city cut off in

virtually every direction, rockhampton is looking like an island surrounded by an inland sea. so the australian military has swung into action. defense force planes delivering vital supplies. but plans are being made -- >> plans are being made to bring supplies in. " >> they have turned into lagoons, with the residents taking to boats. meanwhile, the streets of a town further inland, these images were sent into the bbc note -- into the bbc.

three people have now been killed since the new year began, and can have lost their lives since the rain started back in november -- and 10 have lost their lives. now, it is reaching its peak. bbc news, enear rockhampton. >> we are going to go live to rockhamption and talk to a man whose wife is on one side of the water, and he is on the other -- we go live to rockhampton. >> basically, it is flooded. you probably know that, i would assume. we can still get out the south.

we are fairly comfortable. things seem to be getting through and what not. >> tell us about the devastation though. it is hard for us to take it all in, although we can see some pictures. >> a lot of water around. i think the cleanup is going to be fairly extensive. this is probably one of the biggest floods we have had getting up that way. the water is still rising. i could not see it from outside my front door yesterday. now, there is quite a decent lake forming right across the road. >> your wife the standing on the other side of these waters.

it is bizarre for this to be happening to you. >> it is quite different. they're all wanting to get back into rockhampton, and they are intent with all of the amenities and stuff like that, and as it has worked out, oddly enough, they are having trouble getting in bread and all of those things into rockh pitampt -- rockhampton, but we have got bread and stuff year. -- here. >> thank you for joining us. >> police in israel have arrested some working for the consulate in connection with an alleged terror plot. our correspondent is in jerusalem. >> consulate officials have confirmed that two men who work

at the consulate in east jerusalem have been arrested in connection with an alleged attack on the stadium in jerusalem. there are a number of other sporting events that take place there. a group of men, conspirators, are alleged to have planned a missile, rocket attack. it was still in the planning stage. it appears that the two employees at the british consulate are two locally employed palestinian men. they did not have particularly high security clearance. what we understand is that they were arrested in the last few weeks, although the news of these arrest has just now, out. -- these arrests have just now,

out -- now come out. there was a planned attack on the stadium in jerusalem. these people up consulates in east jerusalem were arrested. >> there is still no sign to the end of the standoff in ivory coast. they were not able to persuade the incumbent president, laurent gbagbo to cede the position to alassane quattara, seen as the winner. >> they came to get him to step aside. after hours of talks, they came away with little to show for their efforts. >> we have had very, very

important meetings. i can only say that the discussions are over. >> this was the delegations second visit in less than one week. they are also joined this time around by the kenyan prime minister an envoy to the union. international pressure has been piling onto laurent gbagbo, but he stands firm, refusing to accept that he lost to the person recognized internationally as the winner, alassane quattara. they are in a hotel on the other side of town, guarded by u.n. peacekeepers. mr. quattara says he will not

renounce. the disputed presidential elections have brought violence and fear to ivory coast. the u.n. says more than to wonder people have been killed -- more than 200 people have been killed in the last month. after monday's apparently fruitless talks, the question now is what can be done next in the standoff between these two men? bbc news. >> and some of our other headlines, iran has invited several countries to take a tour of its nuclear sites. this comes just weeks before they follow on recent talks. the second round of talks is due later this month in turkey. the prime minister of pakistan is meeting opposition leaders.

there is a no-confidence vote. the government faces loses its majority. now the mqm party has announced it is going into opposition. two boats with african migrants have capsized outside of yemen with people on board. they managed to find only three survivors. the yemeni government says most of those killed were you legal. -- were illegal. for the u.s. navy, the last few days have been an exercise of damage control. there was a video made on the uss enterprise. it was shot several days ago -- several years ago, and it contains a slurs, led by the second most powerful officer on the ship.

the incident has opened a new debate about what is acceptable. we have this story. >> slickly produced and distributed across the ship. the captain has this morale boosting video, which now seems like a giant foot placed into his own mouth. >> chicks' in the shower. >> it has colleges of a tumor and body jokes, talking about private body functions, and most damaging for the captain, repeated derogatory comments in reference to gay men. >> [beep] >> the u.s. navy for is played down the league to material. they said they were intended to be humorous skits, but the videos, it now says, are clearly

inappropriate, and investigations have been launched >> i have every confidence in the professionalism of our service men. >> president obama swept away the do not ask, do not tell on gay men and women serving in the u.s. military. the video predates that decision by several years. the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier uss enterprise is heading into sea off of afghanistan. that man was to be leading it, but now that is unclear. they are looking into whether it was known about by high level officials. bbc news, washington. >> it isjerry brown is sworn ins

california's governor. here in britain, the sales tax, butvat, has gone to 20% -- the sales tax, the vat, has gone to 20%. the leader of the opposition says this is the wrong tax at the wrong time. >> retailers have had a nightmare winter so far. conditions kept many customers away from the shops before christmas, and now it rise in the vat could scare them away again. vat, or value added tax, is paid for by the customer. customers have mixed feelings about the intended height. >> 50 pounds on things i am

supposed to buy today, perhaps more, like to appliances. >> the cost of living is getting costlier. at midnight, it will rise to its highest-ever level to 20%. but it will not apply to some items. most energy companies are raising their prices. attitude that, the cost of filling up our cars grocery near record level every week. this is the flagship element in the government's effort to cut the bloated deficit, and they hope to raise 13 billion pounds over the next years. the danger is is that if consumers feel this is a tax hike too far, they may rein in their spending when the government does not want that. an additional worry is that this vat is on popular items like

washing machines, and it pushes prices up even higher, and that could push up the cost of borrowing at a time when the economy can least afford it. >> you are with bbc news. the headlines this hour -- in australia, floods have turned queensland into a lake. there is still in deep political scandal in ivory coast. the delegation of african leaders failed to persuade laurent gbagbo to step down. coptic christians are on high alert after a suicide bombing in egypt, which killed 21 christians. there was a christian area of cairo pigment they are investigating threats made against coptic churches, and in germany, some copts have asked

for protection. we have this report. >> for this 7-year-old, even the slightest movement is agony. the lone girl is burned pretty much all of her body. -- the little girl. it is not an easy sight to watch. her brother -- her mother is suffering her own agony. >> they are not human beings. they are not people. they are animals. >> the doctor shows me the bits of shrapnel that have been moved -- remove from the bodies of the victims. -- have been removed. it includes nuts and bolts. inside the church, but the explosion nearly blows the doors in. of sight in the street, and least 21 allied dead, and others

are injured. -- at least 21 lie dead. there were the riot police that were brought in, too plate -- late, according to some christians. never before has there been an attack on the scale that took place here on saturday morning. whoever planted the bomb outside the church behind me here appears to have wanted to deliberately inflame tensions and hatred between the 8 million christians in egypt and more than 70 million muslims. on egyptian television, muslim and christian elders have made a very public display of unity. like the egyptian government, they are blaming the bombing on foreigners. but out on the streets of cairo, the crowds of coptered protesters were in no mood to hold hands. they are angry, and they want revenge. with the copter christmas just a few days away, the fear among

christians is that the bombers may be preparing to strike again. bbc news, in alexandria. >> china has taken a big step forward with its nuclear program. they have developed technology to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. it is now embarking on a program to build several new nuclear power stations. we have this report from beijing. >> chinese scientists have been working on this technology for 24 years. state television says they have no perfected being able to use spent nuclear fuel. the recycled material can be used again. china is not the first country to develop this. france, britain, and india already have their own

operations, but this breakthrough will have major implications in china. the country is building a number of nuclear power plants in an effort to find energy sources. in the moment, it mostly relies on coal. state television says they have enough uranium for at least 70 years. it could mean it that the supply could now less for 1000. bbc news, beijing. >> the turkish fence along the border. greek opposition parties have condemned the plan as in human and ineffective, and the european commission says that the bars were only short-term measures which will not tackle the problem of illegal immigration. an investment by goldman sachs

and a russian investment firm, and they have valued facebook at $50 billion, which is more than the bay. it is created and run by mark zuckerberg. he has always maintained -- the u.s. democrat jerry brown has been sworn in as california's 39th governor, returning to the office that he left years ago. he is inheriting a much different in trouble state than the one he had then. succeeding arnold schwarzenegger, he warned of sacrifices needed ahead. we have this report. this land is your land ♪ >> it started with this modest

singing. arnold schwarzenegger. next to him, gray davis, the man whose governorship he terminated. the new one took the pledge for the third time. >> i, jerry brown -- in 1975, it was the ending of the vietnam war and a recession caused by the mideast oil embargo. now, as we gather in this restored auditorium, dedicated to those who died in world war one, it is fighting in iraq and afghanistan, a time when we are caught in the undertow of a deep and prolonged recession. >> jerry brown chose centrist tendencies. >> i want to be a governor not of a few of but of many, democrats, republicans, independents, everybody in this

state. >> he is using the governorship of california to aim for the white house? and there was the governator, a political novice, would show biz dial. >> this is like receiving an oscar. >> but the popularity of on a schwarzenegger did not last. he leaves the state in dire economic straits. >> california, here i come, right back to where i started from. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> and they congratulated the new leading man. governor brown will unveil his new budget next week. deep cuts loom. they will try to restore the gleam to the golden state. bbc news, los angeles. >> the power of the internet is causing advertisers to use much more sophisticated ways of promoting products these days.

in addition to commercials, companies are using subtle techniques to blend their messages into film, television, and every aspect of media. from new york, we have this report. >> look closely at this movie scene. see anything unusual? >> welcome to the ace. thank you. >> we are all used to seeing a product placement in the films, but what if the product becomes part of the story? >> because i am piss and need a drink. >> a short film, shot entirely at the ace hotel in new york, submitted to film festivals. >> we have certainly done product placement in films for years. hotels, cars. that is common.

but this is our first foray into generally branded entertainment. >> it is sort of like when a friend tells you about something. an endorsement. >> the consumer relationship evolving, and now advertisers are moving towards more interactive experiences. they are breaking down the contents and commercials. it is a far cry from the days when showcasing products was more black-and-white. these days, a traditional ads around them, like white noise, so are any of the messages really getting through? advertisers are finding new ways to make the consumer part of the advertisement, spreading the message from the street to the screen. companies are using some sites

to get consumers to do the selling for them. the idea is that you imagine yourself as part of that burberry community. >> it is an enormous difference in how advertising functions and how people relate to it. it is infinitely more difficult, because what you look at when you're inside is not a stable environment to allow things to stand out. and to remain fresh in our mind. >> if advertisements are so invisible, would people buy the products? they are everywhere. bbc news, new york. >> well, that is the wrap-up of our world news.

good night. >> 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.

from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world ne