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range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, bbc world news. >> anti government protests are not going anywhere and is going to punish the protesters. washington pledges more money to protect internet freedom. standing trial. silvio berlusconi standing trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old. welcome to "bbc news". olympic organizers develop a schedule for the london games in 2012. the biggest night of the year for the british music industry.

nabhan and >> the opposition protests are going nowhere. he has vowed to punish the organizers. mahmoud ahmadinejad told state television that enemies are trying to tarnish the iranian state's brilliance. they are calling for the opposition leaders to be tried and sentenced to death. >> one day after opposition demonstrators gathered, it was the turn of iran's mp's to get together. they released a statement blaming the opposition leaders for what they called an act of sedition. a number chanted "god is great".

more pictures of protests are coming out. this appears to show a burst of tear gas. protesters run away, covering their faces. the u.s. government said they should have been allowed to demonstrate in peace. mind your own business, says iran's government. >> it is clear that iran has enemies because it has ambitions. it wants to change relations between countries. there is a lot of animosity even against the government. the protesters will not achieve their goals. monday's demonstrations were the biggest protests against iran pose a government since 2009. reports from tehran said some members want to continue protesting. security forces are out to stop them. >> the u.s. has urged all sides to exercise restraint following

anti-government protests by thousands of demonstrators. two people have been killed in clashes with police. in the capital, there is a focus of unrest. here is our security correspondent. >> in the tiny gulf kingdom of brain, protesters have come out in thousands. the demanding what they call absolute freedom. more power for elected mps. violence hovers in the wings. two people have now died. this was the funeral today. killed yesterday in clashes with riot police. teargas, rubber bullets, and birdshot were fired at protesters in response to what they say was a peaceful protest. >> i thought the police firing

at people and using tear gas and rubber bullets and shotguns. >> the king has promised to investigate the death and listen to their demands. >> as part of reform as we say and do always, reform is continuing and will not stop. on february 14, 10 years ago, we opened up all doors to freedom and responsibility out of love and respect for prosperous people. with word of future planned protests spreading on instant social networking sites, today's demonstration is unlikely to be the last. >> washington has announced it

is giving $25 million to help political dissidents iraq and the repression of the internet. the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton said social networking sites like twitter and facebook were important tools that gave voice to people 's aspirations. she noted that egypt's protestors attempt to stop protesting by switching off the internet was not successful. >> it have been people rather than the internet that toppled leaders in egypt. it is hard to imagine events happening so fast without the aid of facebook and twitter. social media's role of the great accelerator of peace will change. that is why cyber freedom must be at the center of foreign policy. >> our commitment to internet freedom is a commitment to the rights of people and we are matching that with our actions. >> that action is off to a $25

million check to get protesters get around sensors. >> we have our ear to the ground, talking to digital activists about where they need help and our approach means we're able to adapt to the brains of -- range of trouble they face. we intend to stay ahead of them. >> the new york based alliance has supported protesters around the world. they are skypeing advice. >> our goal and mission is to enable civil -- a civil society, putting those tools of their showing how they can be used. >> this does not appear to extend to wikileaks. lawyers were battling against a u.s. government ordered to

disclose the details of the private twitter counts of wikileaks supporters. secretary clinton does not see this as a contradiction. >> fundamentally, the wikileaks incident began with an act of theft. government documents were stolen just the same as if they had been smuggled out in a briefcase. >> internet freedom may have been her central message but the u.s. has struggled to apply that to wikileaks. >> 200 people were killed in clashes with rebels. double the number that was previously reported. including women, children, and priests as they tried to cross a river. south african demonstrators clashed with police in the eastern province in a second day of protests against what they say are a lack of basic services. last week, the president

promised to improve services such as running water and electricity. police in turkey have clashed with kurds after protests marking the 12th anniversary of the capture of the kurdish secretary. a judge in italy has ordered the prime minister to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with an underage nightclub dancer and abused his office to help her. mr. berlusconi describes it as a left-wing plot to remove him from power. >> for silvio berlusconi, there is a date in the diary. on april 6, he will stand trial for having sex with an underage prostitutes and abusing his

power to help her. today, he wanted to give the impression he was still an effective leader. he was focusing on the boats from tunisia that have brought 5000 immigrants to an italian island. this is a huge crisis for many italians. silvio berlusconi was visiting a potential reception center for the migrants. he would be facing three female judges, it was announced. the judge -- case focuses on a woman. he is accused of intervening to help her when she was investigated for theft. she has denied any sexual contact with the italian prime minister and his lawyer pointed that out again today. >> in regard to the sec's charges, it is difficult to

think of an underage prostitutes when that woman denies the sexual intercourse and having been paid. >> the parade of showgirls and escorts who have attended his party's has of late damaged his standing in the polls. some say it is harming italy's reputation abroad. thousands of women took to the streets, offended at what they described as the culture where success is increasingly tied to looks. many say they are ashamed. shame is not likely to force silvio berlusconi to step down. >> there is no legal obligation he has to resign and in political terms, he has shown himself over 17 years not to be the resigning tight. he is a fighter. he has survived many accusations and indictments. >> the italian prime minister was denied a meeting close friends. his future will depend on his allies in parliament sayinstayig

loyal to him. when silvio berlusconi was here, he chose to avoid a news conference. one thing is for certain. he will fight these charges. that is in his character. there is a sense tonight that this is the most dangerous of the many -- the many crises he has faced. >> a u.s. customs and immigration official has been shot dead while traveling in mexico. he was driving with a colleague between mexico city and monterrey. the second agent was shot in the arm and remains in stable condition. there were shot after they were stopped at what appeared to be a military checkpoint, they said. it is the first time customs officials have been targeted in mexico. our correspondent in mexico city gave me more details on the attack. >> the information coming from the u.s. homeland security department said these agents

were traveling from the mexican capital to the city of monterey. one of the most wealthy cities. it is a 900-kilometer road. it seems the incident occurred in a 300 -- occurred 300 kilometers north of mexico city. there were shot, one of them was critically wounded and died a few hours later. the other was shot in his arm and leg. he is in stable condition according to u.s. authorities. it is not known yet who was behind the attack or if it is related to the drug-related violence that takes place almost every day here in different parts of mexico. authorities are investigating and trying to bring the perpetrators to justice. >> we're being told by the reports we're getting that these attacks were on two special agents. this attack is very rare, is it not? >> it is very rare.

it is a course -- cause of major concern for mexican and u.s. authorities that these agents have been targeted or affected by the the wave of violence that is in some parts of the road. is known to be quite dangerous in some stretches. -- it is known to be quite dangerous in some stretches. it is not strange that agents are in mexican territory. this is a good collaboration in terms of security and collaboration. it is not surprising at two -- that two agents are in the country. >> the u.s. has been calling for more to be done in terms of stopping drug smugglers and human traffickers from entering the u.s. it is too early to tell whether this is linked to any violence associated with drug cartels.

>> it is too early. there has been no indication from mexico or u.s. authorities that this is related to the drug conflict. the fact that this is known to be quite a dangerous road in some parts makes many here in mexico think it could be a regular episode of carjacking or some kind of robbery that they came under attack. some versions said they were stopped at the checkpoint. some circumstances of the attack are not yet clear. we will be hearing about it in the next few hours. >> our correspondent speaking to me earlier. you were watching -- are watching "bbc news". the man of the moment. the parent companies of the new

york and frankfurt stock exchange will have a trading volume estimated at $20 trillion. the company will have headquarters in new york and frankfurt. >> they are saying this is a merger, not a takeover. this is bigger than america's nyse and it will take a majority stake in the new combined business. the stock exchange's boss said this is the right step. >> some have worried that the prestige will be eroded. >> what is in a name? a lot, it would seem when it comes to the new york stock exchange. the flow of the exchange is a symbol of american capitalism. it is no surprise that we have not heard what the new nyse company will be called. the exchange has been losing out to cheaper electronic trading platforms.

this deal would mean a bigger slice of the booming global derivatives business. savings of $400 million. executives are keen to emphasize to wary shareholders and regulators the importance of new york. the politics of this deal may overshadow its financial sense. >> the new york stock exchange's here, sort of a symbol of new york, a symbol of american capitalism and some politicians are concerned we are going to lose that. personally, i think it is silly. we see this from time to time. we saw this when sony, a japanese company took over colombia pictures. we have seen this before. >> both exchanges are keen. they want to see the deal than by the end of this year. -- done by the end of this year. >> the headlines.

iran's president warned protesters that their enemies and their leaders will be punished. -- they are enemies and their leaders will be punished. silvio berlusconi is standing trial on charges he paid to have sex with a 17-year-old. let's get more on the situation in bahrain. we can talk like to the leader of the white party. he isi in the center of these demonstrations. thank you for joining us. tell me what is happening where you are at the moment. >> we have gathered since the end of the funeral f. people moved into the center square.

and occupied the center square. they decided last evening they want to stay over. they are implicating the egyptian takeover. a lot of people are here, men and women. people have organized very well and they are [unintelligible] the catering, the media center, everything. this is a well organized -- we even have a clinic here. we are very peaceful. >> what is the atmosphere like? is there a tense feeling among the protesters? is it more of a party atmosphere? >> absolutely not. this is a festive atmosphere. people are happy that they have been liberated. there are signs all over. people are smiling. they are laughing at the government, media. their only a couple of thousand

yesterday. people are reasonably happy with their -- they know that this is a long march. towards -- we are trying since yesterday to rationalize the slogans and demands to make them something that is achievable. that is -- people are hesitant. >> what is achievable, do you think? >> people here have been raising the same slogan. for example, of the fall of the regime. that is not what we are demanding. we want to change the mottaki into a constitutional monarchy. people are convinced about this. the slogan has resonated from egypt into tunisia. the slogan has an emotional

feeling of this attachment to the egyptian and to nation. -- tunisian. this does not mean the fall of the constitutional monarchy. they want an elected government. these are the main themes of this gathering. >> we're going to have to leave it there. i am sorry to interrupt you. thank you for your time. thleader of one of the oppositin parties. the london olympics may be 17 months away but it is not too early to start marking your calendars. >> the big build is almost finished. it is time for the big sell.

well were continued at the aquatic center, olympic officials were releasing the competition schedule for the 17 days of the olympics. london 2012 is 17 months away. for the man in charge the next few weeks -- for the man in charge, the next few weeks could be critical. >> it is important to get the information out so people can get planning their days at the games. they know where, when, the price, and they have 42 days from march 15 to figure out what budget, what they want to see and how they will do it. >> what are the highlights? >> the first event is not in london but in cardiff. the millennium stadium, two days before the opening ceremony. the first british gold medal could come on saturday, july 28 with mark cavendish and the slope -- in the cycling road race. the world will stop to watch the

gold ribbon event. on sunday, august 5. and rounding out in the ten meter platform competition. the journey to 2012 has already involved years of hard work. for many of them, today was the moment the london games became a reality. >> being on home turf, it will be insane. it will be from the support and staff, not just from the athlete. and spectators. it will be a massive thing. we are looking forward to it. >> 2 million people have registered for tickets. an encouraging sign for organizers who must sell four times that amount.

>> he is the rising star of the urban music scene. tiny temper picked up two awards. our editor has more. >> voted the best british group. coming from a new venue. and more musiocc, much of it from the british urban scene. >> tiny temper. >> thehe comes from a thriving part of the u.k. music scene. for decades, americans have dominated urban music with their hip-hop act and r&b singers. the power is shifting to places like this and talented young people who live in inner-city

britain and are writing about their experience. >> it is ok, i am good. >> tiny tempore's single went straight to number one last year. five years ago, there were only seven urban number one's. none were british. last year british music notched up nine number one. what is up? >> a lot of people who have consolidated their fan base from the underground are making transitions into the mainstream and are carrying a long a fan base with them. >> homegrown urban music has been emerging for a while. brush star -- shortly followed by this lot. this south london collective.

with a top three single, chipmunk is the lettuce start to find inspiration from,-- latest star to find inspiration from his upbringing. >> this is britain. this is what we are doing. >> with four wins out of seven, it is fair to say that u.k. urban music is riding high. >> if you want to find out who won and who lost, you can find the information on that by visiting the bbc enwnews websit. stay with us.

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financial strength to work for wide range of companies. what can we do for you? "bbc world