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>> and now, "bbc world news." wife hello, and welcome -- >> hello, and welcome. praxair reef and uncertainty. north korean mourns the death of kim jong il, but the world wonders what happens next. the united states condemns the treatment of one female protester in egypt. >> sectarian tension and rises in iraq. the international monetary fund is to receive billions of dollars in the latest attempt to bail out the eurozone. >> it is 10:00 in the morning here in singapore.

>> and welcome to newsday. >> the united states has consulted its allies in east asia after the death of north korean leader kim jong il. south korea and japan say they are preparing for any unexpected security issues. for nearly two decades kim jong il ruled north korea. his son has been named as a successor. john simpson. >> this is the weird, reclusive figure who ran the most secretive country and did it as if it was his own private property. looking on is his son, who was around 28.

he will takeover to regard -- takeover. the old leader died on saturday, but state television only announced its today. the news unleashed a storm of emotion. in north korea you have to mourn a leader as noiselessly as possible, especially if the cameras are on. if you are a member of the political elite, you may be a release sorry he is gone. no one knows what will happen to the nation now. kim jong il leaves behind a country that is appallingly court. this girl was filmed secretly while collecting grass to eat. in an orphanage in the southern

part of the country, children are being treated for malnutrition. in the 1990's 3 million people died of hunger. this is where the money actually goes. the army is 1 million strong. with a recklessness, the north korean have shelled south korean territory, and last year they missed out right war and now i sinking a south korean -- the risk out right war by sinking a south korean ship. they have developed missiles capable of handling nuclear warheads, so will the death of kim jong il to change all this? >> we hope it will be a turning point. we hope the new leadership will recognize engagement offers are

best prospect of improving the lives of north korean people. >> kim jong-il was the leader of the last and most extreme of the world's dictatorships. he was visiting the odd, sometimes gentle and sometimes capable of frightening rages. he seems to be born in russia and was always destined to succeed in his father, but when the soviet union collapsed, russia and no longer propped up north korea, but kim jong il's lifestyle was unchanged. by someone with an iron rule, responsible for the death of thousands, but with these personal idiosyncrasies, love of cognac, beautiful women, hollywood movies, oversized

sunglasses. >> for now, an inexperienced 28- year-old controls the future of north korea, but the theory is they could end up with a nasty power struggle with the older military elite and a nuclear state that seems seriously out of control. >> for more on the impact of the debt on kim jong il, i am joined by our correspondent. any new developments on either side of the border? >> the latest bulletin released in the early hours this morning described citizens continuing to mourn and wheat for their dead leader into the night. new -- and weep for their dead leader into the night.

it is hard to tell how genuine and it is. we can assume much of it is highly choreographed. here on the south of the border, things continue as we saw a guest today. the military and government departments on a heightened state of alert and, but no signs of anything untoward, and i think most analysts believe what we are seeing is the start of an orderly transition with the backing of the military as power passes to the youngest son. rights have there been any anti-north korean protests in south korea? >> we saw some of those yesterday, groups of conservative activists, many of them ex members of the south korean military celebrating the news of kim jong il's death. that is to be expected.

that is a strong part of public opinion, but we ought to mention it is quite possible many south koreans are feeling a sense of sadness of the passing of an opportunity. many saw kim jong il as someone to be respected and felt he was a man who offered a chance of peace and negotiation. >> there is a debate on going in south korea whether or not they should be sending a message of condolences to north korea. >> there is indeed. it is the same debate we heard in 1994 when his father died. the calculation is it maybe there is an opportunity at the moment.

there will be reformed-minded members who might see this as an opportunity for south korea. perhaps this is a moment to send a delegation if they are invited for the funeral or of the very least to send condolences and open the possibility of dialogue, but do not forget this is a conservative administration, much more hawkish compared to predecessors, and it will also be calculating many supporters will find it distasteful to seem to be paying homage at the grave site of a dictator. >> thank you for the update. footage of the violent protests -- violent suppression of protesters has sparked condemnation. >> shocking and disgrace. those are the words of hillary clinton, who use them to describe the treatment of one

female professor in egypt. deadly clashes have continued to rage into a fourth day. this report contains some disturbing images. >> this is the shock that has enraged the egyptians, a veiled woman being beaten and virtually stripped by a group of soldiers, but the video is worse. first, they beat her, kicking her in the head. then they expose her bare flesh, and then a vicious kick to the flesh. it is hard to watch, even harder in this deeply conservative muslim country. as other protesters tried to rescue her, the soldiers in advance, this one firing his gun into the ground. today at the spot where the beating took place, i met one of the woman's friends.

>> we are here to demand justice. the army is here to protect us. >> there was another funeral today, anot cut down by a bullet on sunday night. in the spring many of these people were hailing the egyptian military as heroes, but after the violence, the mood has completely changed, and these people now lows of the egyptian military and accuse it of stealing the egyptian revolution. the military who in the -- junta tried to justify its crackdown. he says the military has been restraining itself. it is the military's job to protect public property from attack. some fear the military campaign is working.

the population is turning against the protests. >> we do not want any more protests, and we know people will support them common people who actually listened to the egyptian media, people who are not young. they will believe them. >> this evening the fighting has started again. the hopes of january replaced by the bitterness of december. >> iraqi authorities have confirmed a warrant has been issued for the most senior politician over a leaded links to terrorist activities. he has been and now an outspoken critic of nouriel maliki. his group has announced it will boycott meetings of mr. and how maliki's cabinets. again -- of mr. maliki's

cabinets. >> it is very worrisome. the most important of iraq's fault lines between the sunni and shiite communities. the fact the prime minister is threatening prosecution of a very senior syrian -- sunni leads many to think they could be next. the u.s. presence in the country had until recently served as a stabilizing influence, persuading sunnis they would not be suppressed by a shiite majority. with the present john, the situation is considered more dangerous. >> how dangerous the you believe it to be? we are looking at perhaps a collapse of the government in a worst-case scenario. >> the worst case scenario is a

decline spiraling into violence of the 2006 scale, but if things are going ahead in that direction, it would start with moves not unlike what we are seeing now. we may not get there, but it is a disquieting series of events. >> what you believe will be the response of supporters to this issue? >> i think they are hoping the prime minister can be talked down from this. this is not the first time maliki has tried things like this. for years he has used new rule of law pretexts to try to arrest sunni political figures he thought were threatening. it has always been easy to talk him down from aspects of this. i suspect they are hoping it can happen again, but part of the

way he was shot down in the past is through the use of leverage. fortunately, it is less available than it has been in past episodes. >> more than 120 people have been killed today. reports suggest more than half of those who died were army deserters shot while trying to abandon their posts. damascus agreed to monitor progress. the official death toll in the philippines has risen to more than 900. the government says more bodies have been recovered. there are many more people missing. the authorities in the coastal city and never forced to bury most of their dead and -- in the

coastal city were forced to bury most of their dead. >> following in his father's footsteps, we take a look at the path as he becomes a ruler of north korea. >> a race against time. an american man trying to visit as many post offices as he can before they disappear. the man who buried his fiancee in cobbled now was found guilty of murder. the woman used her engagement ring to free herself. the report contains some flash photography. >> she was buried alive by the father of her child, and today the fiancee was found guilty of trying to murder her because he

was bored with their relationship. it was there she was twice son with a taser. she told the cops the plame lasted 10 minutes and felt like she had been kicked. -- the pain lasted 10 minutes and felt like she had been kicked. another man helped carry her out of the house in a large cardboard box. the 27-year-old was taken here, of where both men dug a hole in the ground, covered the box in soil, and plays of branch on top. once she was alone, she used her engagement ring to scratch her way out of the tape on her legs. she found a small hole, and she managed to tear the box apart. the jewelry was shown. the ring she used saved her life.

here is a cardboard box. you can see the tape left on it. she said trying to escape was exhausting, and while she was inside, she cried for help. today he was found guilty of attempted murder. >> the headlines for you this hour. world leaders have called for a peaceful transition of power after the sudden death of kim jong il. >> the united states has condemned the treatment of one female professor.

as we have been reporting, the successor was named in north korea ahead of his brothers. it is thought his elder brother of fallout of favor while caught trying to enter japan on a fake passport, and another brother was also overlooked, so the new young north korean leader faces a daunting task of leading the country. >> only last year did north korean thrust him into the limelight as heir apparent. he appeared in a military parade, recognized as the sun to be groomed for succession. very quickly, his father took

him around the diplomatic circuit, meeting officials from china. it is thought this was him as a schoolboy in switzerland, where he enrolled under another name, but he was only there for two years and left abruptly in the middle of a term. his work so far has included giving guidance to factory workers. is privileged education would have done little to prepare him for this strange and ruthless society. unlike his father, he knows very little about the rivalry with other factions. his mentor is expected to be his uncle, a party leader steve in

north korean in fighting. he is married to kim jong il's sister. she, too, knows how to work the system. thousands of portraits are being prepared of the great successor. how soon they go up and what prominence will decide how much support he really highs. trucks more reaction to the deaf. >> -- >> more reaction to the death. the prime ministers were formulating reaction to the debt. what has the reaction been summone? >> he is in washington. now they agreed it was in both of their interests for there to be a stable transition into

north korea and to maintain peace and security. the biggest concern is that kim jong un might go in for some saber-rattling. japan is very aware that it is in range of north korea, something it was reminded of in 2009, when korean missiles were fired over the country. another concern is the fate of the abductees, japanese citizens taken in the 1970 costs and the 1980's. could this be a breakthrough, or could it with their return further away? >> on certain times. -- uncertain times. a number of countries have agreed to provide money to the international monetary fund, which could be led to troubled countries using the eurocurrency. contributions come from germany

and italy and spain, which may be in need of help. our european correspondent look at whether the imf has enough money to solve the problem. >> it was meant to be 200 billion euros. it has come down to 150 billion. economists have spoken something in the order of two trillion euros or three trillion euros. it could be probably enough to stave off investor fears about a possible collapse in another few eurozone countries, but at the same time, the temporary funding mechanism meant to bail out eurozone countries and the stability mechanism are having problems in terms of raising funding needed, and today there was a downbeat assessment from the new head of the european central bank here in brussels.

everybody knows 2011 has been a miserable year for the euro zone, but 2012 is likely to get worse. >> now to an institution that has been a heart of american life for centuries. the u.s. postal service can trace its roots to 1775, but these days e-mail and social media have taken a chunk out of its business. thousands of post offices across america are facing closure. one new yorker is rushing to visit as many of them as he can. >> when i graduated, i realize i really wanted to see more of america, and because i grew up in the vague -- in the big city.

over time, i began to start documenting some interesting experiences. there are so many favorite post offices i have been to for many different reasons. there is some of the old 1930's depression era of post offices. it is a little sliver of land. it is quite photogenic. the post office has been a vital part of the founding of communities and their everyday lives throughout america, so i do hope i can at least preserve

their history, through the post marks i obtained in person and photographs i take and inspiring others to go around with a little more appreciation. >> his mission is to collect as many u.s. postmarks as he can. an ambitious plan to expand subsidized food program to cover almost 2/3 of the population. this is expected to increase the government's food bill by more than $5 billion. critics accuse the government of using this to shore up political support. >> you have been watching news today on bbc. >> a reminder of our main news this hour. the united states has consulted its allies in east asia after the death of a north korean leader kim jong il. more of that to come.

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

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