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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> one of our main stories tonight is being described as the world's worst natural disaster. over 500 people have been killed by mudslides. thousands of people have been made homeless. the local governments are being blamed. some of the remote areas are yet to be reached by relf rkers. >> and they were gone in minutes. here in the mountains around rio the janeiro, the landslide slept -- swept away entire streets. brazil's president has been brought down to earth by a

natural disaster. a visit to the affected areas to reassure local authorities. >> we will work with the state governments in rebuilding efforts. the rebuilding is also used as an opportunity to prevent future disasters like this. >> the flimsy buildings purchased on the hillside did not stand a chance. more than 400 people have been killed. there are extraordinary tales of survival. of the woman stranded while her house collapsed around her. a lifeline is the wrong. -- piranha -- thrown. she takes the plunge. people plead with her to hold on. slowly, painfully slowly, she is

pulled to safety. many others were not so lucky. some of those swept away may never be found. heavy rains are nothing new here, but the problem is made worse by overcrowding and illegal construction in the mountains. >> it is unstable, saturated by too much rain, too many people in housing that are built out of code. they are on hillsides. >> there has been some successes. a baby boy was found alive after 12 hours trapped under the rubble. his father survived, too. his mother is dead. >> residents of brisbane are counting the cost of the powerful flooding.

the floodwaters have peaked and thousands of people have seen their homes engulfed by muddy water. at least 25 people have died. earlier, i spoke to phil and brisbane. he told me of the effects the floods that on residents. >> residents are slowly returning home. some will face the utter destruction of their property and their belongings. thousands of people have seen their homes and businesses inundated. others will be lucky. but what we are seeing here in brisbane is that the brisbane river is slowly receding. the levels are slowly going down. that will give the community some respite. what now begins is a huge reconstruction effort. state officials in eastern

australia say that will effectively amounts to a postwar per boat -- proportions. >> i understand some 3000 people have been forced into evacuation centers. house and before they can return to homes or houses -- house and before they can return to homes? >> some people may never been able -- and never be able to go back to their homes that they loved so quickly. those properties will have to be rebuilt. that could take many, many months. emergency centers -- emergency shelters are being brought in. in other parts of the country, there are other flood in warnings to the south of brisbane. a river there expected to peak sometime this afternoon. the official word is that those levels -- those levees in that

town will hold. it will be a very nervous wait. for the assault in the southern states of victoria, flooding there, too. last year was a very wet here. >> at least 25 people have died. these figures are surely likely to rise. >> we just do not know. we have the authority saying that as the cleanup continues, we are likely to have the authorities engaged in the grisly task of finding some of those people who are listed as missing. the authorities in australia say that 55 people are officially listed as missing. they hold grave concerns for a dozen of those people. the pictures of the physical devastation, but it is the damage that the community and to human life and to families that

is at the heart of this crisis here in australia. dealing with floods and bushfires has made australia extremely resilient to these natural disasters. it is hard wired into the australian psyche, if you like. dealing with all the people who are missing will test the resilience. >> the sheriff's department in tucson, ariz., has released radio communications between police officers in saturday's shooting. six people died and 13 were injured in the attack. congresswoman gabrielle giffords is still in the hospital. doctors say she is making progress. >> the police have released about 6.5 minutes worth of audio, communications between

the control room and tucson and phoenix out in the field. -- and police out in the field. no images of what took place. police are looking at surveillance video still. it paints a pretty a vivid portrait of the mood in those first crucial moment and a sense of urgency to those who rushed to the scene. >> there has been a shooting at the safeway. somebody has an semiautomatic weapon. he shot at people. he was heading toward the walgreen. he is wearing blue jeans. it is hard to believe that gabrielle giffords was shot.

it sounds like many people are shot. customers have tackled the suspect. they are holding him down at the safeway. >> just a note, they have confirmed that a bad has been recovered that had been linked to the suspect, jared loughner ar. that that was the quantity of ammunition and further tests are being conducted. >> give me an update on congresswoman gabrielle giffords. the report we heard that yet -- the president visited her in hospital. have you heard anything else today? >> he broke the incredible news that she opened her eyes for the first time. she has repeatedly opened her eyes for periods up to 15 minutes. the congresswoman has also been able to move for arms and legs.

this is a great leap forward. they are being cautious with that, saying that there is an awful long way to go in terms of the recovery. >> tunisia's president says he will not seek another term and. in office. earlier, security forces opened fire on demonstrators. killing or wounding seven. the international community has criticized the government's response to the unrest. you may find some of the images distressing. >> gunfire and violence have shaken the capital of one of

north africa's most stable nations. protest an anger from the people who feel marginalized. >> none of us had any work or money. we have had enough and we will carry on protesting until we bring down the government. demonstrations began a month ago and have escalated to a crescendo. today, protesters paralyzed the center of the capital. this is a culmination of years of resentment. many of these people are graduates that have come out of the universities with no jobs. these people are angry and they feel the government doesn't care about them. authorities say 23 people have died in four weeks of

disturbances. interest, it is many more than that. the government tends to control the circumvent of interest -- of the information. after an emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon, president zine al-abidine ben ali spoke on television to one increasingly sceptical nation. he tried to reassure them, saying that he told the army not to fire live ammunition. in the shops, the price of food has soared. this deserted market, evidence that a few people can buy fish because they can barely afford basic food stamps. people are frightened to voice dissent. >> he did not want to show his face. he had no faith in the government do to unemployment

and corruption. tonight, at a second curfew. a city that relies on taurus and the money they bring in. the second largest foreign revenue -- source of foreign revenue under threat. >> labor has convinced -- labour candidate say they have declared the winner of the contest. larger than the past in the 1997 landslide victory. she sent a clear message to downing street. the liberal democrat shares 32%. that represents 80% increase. the liberal democrats remain unchanged. the swing to look -- the swing

to labour was 11%. here is what she had to say. >> the rain is pouring down. someone described it to me as them having hand-to-hand combat with the liberal democrats at the polling stations. in the end, they did manage to do that. they manage to do that better than they expected, predicting a bigger majority than tony blair's labor,td÷c party got hen 1997. >> you are watching bbc news. a breakthrough for british scientist. the chicken and the fight against bird flu. police have revealed she was

strangled for a purse. her funeral takes place on monday. >> the coffin containing the body was driven away from the hospital mortuary this morning. it passed mostly unnoticed. yesterday, the three hotel workers charged in connection with the murder appeared at the local district court. last night, one of them gave a statement to the police implicating the other two men. but police said this morning, one of the two men charged with the murder confessed to his part in the killing. >> they went inside the room. they took for wallets. -- they took occur wallets. she entered the room and she

asked, what are you doing? you are stealing my money. she did not have time to escape. >> the three days after the murder, the body has left the mortuary here at the victoria hospital. this marks the first stage of the long journey home. it is a tragically different, coming down the one plant by her and her husband when they set off as newlyweds on their honeymoon. >> colombian police they have captured a notorious drug trafficker with links to mexican cartel. he is also wanted in the united states. the man was in charge of getting planes to land on illegal runways to transport large amounts of cocaine.

>> you are watching bbc news. the brazil president has promised to rebuild homes and towns devastated by floods and landslides. arizona police have released tape recordings related to the tucson shooting that left six people dead. besides brazil and australia, she learned that has also been hit by flooding. -- sri lanka has been hit by flooding. rain is still falling and water levels are still rising. >> i am on a road that would normally be a connecting road. the road has become a causeway. surely further on from where i am, it looks like a great inland

lake. people are trying their luck in the water. they've only got small fish so far. perhaps more dramatic is the site of a lot of growing crops. they have been ruined by a large irrigation tank that has burst its bank a couple of days ago. it's lots and those crops. -- it flat tetened those crops. >> what is the situation when it comes to food and medical supplies? >> they are getting fruit. -- they are getting fruit. -- through. from where i have just been staying, they have been launching an operation to get a dry ration to people.

it is a base for feeding about half a million of the affected people the people cannot cook are being given cooked food. the supply of that cannot match the very considerable demand. yousef has been doing the more sanitation and water related things. -- unicef is doing more of the sanitation and water related things. sources in the united nations said yesterday they did feel that the situation is quite grave. some people cannot be reached by age. -- aid. >> british scientists said they have managed to genetically modified chickens. the discovery creates the potential to breed a generation of gm farm animals that are resistant to viral diseases. >> with a growing population and

greater demand for meat, scientists have to find new ways to feed the world. here, researchers are inserting an artificial gene into this embryo. here is the result. a genetically modified chicken and which does not spread bird flu. >> it will protect a whole flock from infecting bird flu. that is really exciting. bird flu is a real challenge to the production of poultry. if this was introduced into poultry breeding, it would protect large poultry production. >> anyone coming into contact with the gm bird has to scrub up and restoral clothing -- and

where sterile clothing. this chicken could be among the first of a new generation of farm animals that has been genetically modified to be resistant to the virus. the technology has the potential to speed production and reduced cost to the farmer. is it something that consumers will accept? in europe, there has been resistance to gm crops. the poultry industry has given a cautious response to this prospect of gm animals. >> we have to have a big debate in society. >> organic farmers say it is better to avoid diseases in the first place than to create disease resistant farm animals. >> we do not suffer much from diseases on this time anyway. we believe that the organic type of husbandry really does not encourage diseases.

the animals are well placed and they live in a natural environment and they eat farm -- food that has been grown on the farm. >> swine flu resistant pigs are next on the list of animals. despite reservations, many scientists believe that gm animals will be needed. >> the united nations has strongly condemned attacks from u.n. peacekeepers in the night -- and the ivory coast. they said fired to u.n. and catapults. they blame the u.n. for armed opposition forces. >> this is the latest -- a u.n. vehicle set afire.

these men despise the peacekeeping troops. >> it is an opportunity for us to show that weak -- that we can also take action. for each state we were here shooting, we will burn 10 cars. >> 3 u.n. peacekeepers have been entered in the past few days. un troops protecting were trying to predict a find themselves trapped into ivory coast. -- drive into ivory coast. his rival is refusing to cede power. the past few days, neighborhoods where many of the supporters

live have come under attack. people love fled for their lives when security forces moved in with heavy weapons. this has been seen as one of the most provocative attacks in recent weeks. the u.n. has been left at the tent. -- impotent. with the wind force is being considered a legitimate target, the stalemate has entered a new phase. military chiefs are meeting next week to review and they're likely to face calls to action. >> the global economic council has hit mexico cards and hundreds are struggling to make ends meet. an increasing number of people

are selling everything they can to put food on the table. >> hundreds found in mind waiting and hoping that the jury will be worth something. once they reach the evaluation window, they are weighed to determine their value. >> i'm going to pour my jewelry in order to pay for my ticket fares and food. it is a difficult situation, but i need to come here. >> as one of the fastest financial resources available, it is difficult to get money. >> this pawn shop has 85 branches nationwide. branches nationwide.