>> 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."

>> more anti-government protests in egypt as authorities cracked down on positions regarding the muslim brotherhood. >> in a reshuffle of the cabinet in tunisa. nelson mandela undergoes testing in the hospital. the u.s. official in pakistan is charged with double murder. there is fears of entire american backlash. and international condemnation over a leading gay rights activist.

>> there are reports that access to the internet in mobile phone services have been widely disrupted in egypt. this is the head of demonstrations against the country's government later today. they are taking decisive action calling for the overthrow of the president there. at least seven people have been killed in a wave of civil unrest that has engulfed the country in a recent uprising. here is the report. >> in a small town in the desert, yen men join a protest. one is shot. his friends could do nothing to save him. he died later. flying into cairo tonight, a nobel peace prize winner and would-be candidate for egyptian president. he said he has joined the demonstration.

on the streets of central cairo, more arrests and more violence after a tense, a fairly quiet day. there were demonstrators at the union. >> people are telling him that they can handle any problem on the streets. the demonstrators and the authorities have spoken about some of the demonstrations in tunisia. the overthrow of the president after 23 years in power energized arabs who want more political freedom. for more authoritarian arab rulers, the big question was, who is next. on tuesday this week, demonstrations started in egypt. it was imitating tunisia. they wanted in 30 years of one

person's role. -- rule. what happens here is closely watched. and today, in the yemen capital, there were demonstrations against the ruling president. 33 years in power. all three countries, they have all had long serving rulers, all regarded by the west as reliable and vital allies. john population's frustrated by corruption and lack of freedom and blaming -- the young populations are frustrated by corruption, lack of freedom. >> it affects every sector of society. >> some prominent members of egypt's ruling party loyal to the president believes he must distance himself from the streets. >> what happens in egypt happens everywhere else.

this moment is important not only for egypt but for everyone. >> for others, the lesson is that concessions local week and it will lead to more protests. cracks are appearing across the region. it may not be possible to fix them. >> a prime minister has reshuffled his cabinet under the ousted president's. his foreign ministers have been replaced. this comes after weeks of street protests. here is the report. >> the jury is faces of the protesters in -- the joyous it departure wasrs inunmoments, mr. ghannouchi to

overhaul the cabinet. >> we need elections that are fully free and the results reflect the will of the people. >> while the protesters celebrate, there are those that say this is not enough. they can only draw a line under the previous government with the departure of all of its militants meeting that mr. ghannouchi is also in frame. people are encouraged to speak out. one writer who was jailed for wantsing the government' much freer governments than this one. >> we want a general amnesty ended the release of all

political prisoners. that would really be a strong gesture that would give us a trust in politicians. >> at least one large trade union has expressed its support for the changes in the government. they hope -- mr. ghannouchi hopes that the actions now will help him stay in office. >> routine tests in johannesburg are being conducted on nelson mandela. friends and family say he has become increasingly frail. here's the reports from johannesburg. >> they have been streaming into the hospital all day long. france, grandchildren, and winnie nelson mandela. it is hard to tell what type of

gathering this is, but the health of this frail 92 year-old is on the minds of everyone. >> you have seen it all. we say god will be done. >> south africa's president attending a conference in switzerland is urging the public not to get carried away by rumors and speculation. >> president mandela given his age, he has been going to the hospital for check ups. i am sure they are more frequent than when he was a healthy, young man. this is one of those checkups. >> we have not heard anything official since wednesday. he has been in the hospital for more than 24 hours.

it may not be cause for alarm, but it is significantly longer than previous checkups. as the hours go by, people are becoming a little bit more anxious here. >> i feel like the family should tell the nation what is really wrong with him. >> he is a wonderful statement and everyone in south africa loves him. i wish him better soon. >> this morning, children at a school overlooking the hospital sent their best wishes to a man whose life is already a legend. >> we appreciate what he has done for us. [unintelligible] >> his last birthday party, a former prisoner, liberation hero, and president is rarely seen in public. he has become a distant but

iconic figure. tonight at the hospital, not quite a vigil but in an easy weight. bbc news, joe hit -- easy weight. u neasy -- uneasy wait. bbc news, johannesburg. >> one region has seen an upsurge in violence between christians and muslims. a brazilian man has been arrested on suspicion of keeping his wife locked in a cellar for the least eight years while he lived in the same house with his girlfriend. a 64 year-old woman was lying naked in a basement and officials found her. the man told authorities that he locked her up because she was mentally ill and aggressive.

and a body was found in a presidential palace. they are trying to determine if he was killed or committed suicide. police in pakistan have charged an unnamed american official with double murder. he shot and killed two motorcycle riders in an eastern city. american official is believed to be fought to do some robbery. >> local television crews are at the scene of the shooting. it shows his car with bullet holes across the front windshield. a crowd surrounds the vehicle and kept the american at the scene until police arrived. a local officer described the attempted carjacking made by a

motorcyclist at a traffic single. >> he stopped the road crossing. two robbers pointed guns at him. according to reports we have seen so far, he fired in killed one of them in the crossing. the other one has since died. >> police recovered weapons from the bodies of the take a man. in a tragic development, a third passer-by was run over and killed by a second car from the u.s. consulate rushing to the scene after being alerted to the incident. two americans in that vehicle also face charges. in washington, u.s. state department spokesperson told reporters the man was a u.s. citizen working for the consulate, but did not confirm whether he had diplomatic status or if the official was authorized to carry a firearm. he promised that america would work hard to ensure the tragedy did not damage to relations.

with the dozens on the streets blocking the roads in protest of the killings, there is concern in washington that the incident could lead to an anti-american sentiment in pakistan. questions will be asked as to why the american was carrying arms and why if he was a diplomat, he was not provided with armed protection. bbc news. >> still ahead, dancing the night away at a club. metropolitan police have promised to leave no stone unturned to investigate fresh claims regarding a newspaper. attempts were made to access messages last week according to one person. >> they are famous faces that once helped sold news around the world.

now they want to know if their personal lives were hacked. lawyers say one person may have been targeted as early as last year. this court document shows the phone company has been ordered to identify anyone accessing her voice account. this is an extensive investigation but no evidence found to support the allegation. now at the center of the affair, a police investigation is reopened. senior metropolitan police officers told authorities this morning that the decision was made because of new evidence from news of the world inquiry. >> this is the first significant new evidence that may be admissible, and we have set up a meeting to deal with that. >> it is thought that the two phone hackers convicted may have

targeted several thousand well- known people by logging into the voice mail. police insist they can only bring charges in a handful of cases. one reason is that they were working through legal guidelines and they can only prosecute where messages were intercepted by the hackers. read before the person to whom they were intended. executives under pressure and are trying to root out any legality at the news of the world. no comment from the editor today. this is not over yet. bbc news. >> you are watching bbc world news. more anti-government protests are planned in egypt as authorities cracked down on the opposition. and a tunisia prime minister is reshuffling his cabinet. let's get more of those

demonstrations in egypt. earlier i spoke with our colleagues in washington. the latest protests put the united states in an awkward diplomatic position. >> this is tension between america's short-term and long- term interests as many people in washington see it. in the short term, interest of egypt being able work of stability and peace in the middle east, helping with efforts to stop the spread of islamic terror. and pushing for peace between israelis and palestinians. that is the short-term way washington would see it. in long-term, the barack and obama administration is pushing human rights, democracy in the world as a whole, but particularly in the middle east. that kind of philosophy is part of the receiving the nobel peace prize a couple of years ago.

there is tension between the two things and mixed signals coming out of washington over the past couple of days. >> which you make of the arrival of mohammad? his arrival could change the nature of these protests. he could offer leadership if the u.s. would be inclined to support him? >> question has been put to white house officials, president spokesman. he refuses to be drawn on individual personalities. one of the questions being asked here is who or what is this opposition. are we talking about a genuine grass-roots democratic movement, or a pro-islamist faction? does mohammad represents some democratic opposition? the people here will be watching very closely on friday as bigger expected protests take place. if you look at this, washington line has been a little bit

confused. on wednesday, many people thought the white house was leaning towards the protectors. hillary clinton said this is an important opportunity at this moment for the government in egypt to implement change. 24 hours later, barack obama was making his comments, and he was coming closer to offering some personal backing to that president saying he had been very helpful to the united states on a range of tough issues. that is something that the spokesperson for the president had not said 24 hours earlier. i think the white house like everyone else is wondering what will happen next. >> just from your understanding, do you think washington fears that the current state in the region is on the verge of collapse? >> they have been very careful here not to portray this as a kind of wide movement, a wave of democracy uprising that will sweep the would middle east.

they have been very careful to say talking about niemen that it is different from lebanon and different from egypt in different from tunisia. seeing a sudden falling apart of the region, washington does not portray it as such. >> there has been international condemnation at the murder of a leading gay rights activists in uganda who was attacked in his home on wednesday. president obama said he was deeply saddened by the death of him. he had showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. here is the report. >> david was murdered in his home, bludgeoned with a camera. police say it was a robbery. not everyone is convinced. in uganda, the gay scene is vibrant but hidden. homosexuality is illegal. david was on the front one campaigning for gay rights.

he made enemies. [unintelligible] this ugandan net -- newspaper called for the death penalty of homosexuals. it printed the photos and names of some people who were gay. david was on that list and sued the paper for invasion of privacy. in many parts of africa, homosexuals are frowned upon and it is seen as being illegal. >> the standard is to marry a woman. the two should become one. if you are other such as a man with an -- with another man, you are not living up to the standard. >> we have the churches speaking -- preaching a very particular

message end of reaching audiences of thousands. the general climate is quite conduces. it is an easy political message to make if you want to score cheap political points. >> whatever the outcome, many still connect his murder and his work campaigning for people's rights. bbc news, nairobi. >> an official report from the united states says the american banking crisis that brought the global economy three years ago had excessive risk-taking on the part of the financial industry. the brazilian government has announced plans to provide free housing for those who were homeless due to mudslides. some new homes will be built in rio de janeiro. many were killed early as this month. it was the worst natch -- natural disaster in decades. the late j.d. salinger who

cultivated a reputation of being publicity shy, may not -- had not been interviewed for 30 years or published works since 1965. our arts editor has this report. >> face a reputation is hard won in easily lost. -- they say reputation is hard won and easily lost. a fresh look at the character of j.d. salinger. he became a very famous with the publication of "the catcher and the ride." -- rye." he hated the media attention. he shuns the media, and they portrayed him as a reclusive we're there. that was a bit unfair -- weirdo.

that was a bit unfair. his friends reveal him as a warm, open man. he loved hamburger's, theater. daughter has a docto' different look on him. >> when you read that book, he has a catchy style where he talks directly. he is casual and is chatty, he talks as if this is a conversation. he can be quite poignant. >> his estate was not enthusiastic about these letters being revealed. >> i think j.d. salinger would hate the idea of these letters

being read by people. the justification is say they were shakespeares' letters, you want to read them, because you learn something about the man who created this. >> this may be the last time that j.d. salinger is in the news. there are talks of unpublished manuscripts. a year after his death, the author famous of being publicity shy still cannot escape the public eye. bbc news. >> drug smugglers in mexico have been caught on video by using a catapult as a new way to smuggle drugs over the border. it is the middle of the night of the border of mexico and arizona. these men are unaware that they are being filled by national guard patrols of the u.s. using night-vision cameras. they launched marijuana across

the border by using a catapult. it was found near arizona. mexican army officers say they receive 16 kilograms of the drugs. perhaps you have reached an age with the thought of going to a nightclub, some of you would dread with too much noise that you cannot bear it. but there may be something you have been waiting for. it is a silent discussion. the name is a little deceptive. >> in most nightclubs, it is unlikely you can hear yourself think. a pounding rhythm turned up to the max. this club in an austrian town has things that are different. they are given their own set of wireless headphones. they can choose whichever track they want.

it makes for an interesting sound. >> silent disclose started in england three years ago. in a town like this, you cannot party loud. >> it is popular around here. when you read the headphones, everyone is singing along. it is amazing said this man. people are just joining in. even people that normally stay away from clubs like this. >> a good friend of mine joined the club because he likes the acoustic silence. he has piece at the bar. peace at the bar. >> extraordinary step. there are reports from egypt of destruction of the social networking side on the internet as authorities prepare for the possibility of another day of anti-government protests.

>> 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 financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major

corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.