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>> and now "bbc world news." >> a nation in mourning. north korea has reportedly begun in today's of services for its leader, kim jong il. thousands rally against the extremists, trying to enforce and gender segregation. now the u.s. accuses damascus of stepping up attacks against people. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting on pbs in america and around the world. fears over a toxic chemical leak in australia as a freight train is swept over a bridge in a tropical cyclone. and an outdoor escalator

transforming lives for one of colombia's poorest neighborhoods. hello, and welcome. the latest reports from john dain, the capital of north korea, say the few -- from p'yongyang, the capital of north korea, say the funeral has begun it began in the palace, where his body has been lying. north korea's only tv station is still showing previously reported footage of mourners and scenes from his life. in foreign delegations were not invited to attend. let's take a look at the latest pictures from john boehner. you can see the snow, and many

mourners are dressed in black, anticipating the two-day state funeral. people are sweeping away at the snow in anticipation for the official state ceremony to began. i spoke to hazel smith, a specialist at the university in the u.k., where she visited the country several times, and i first of which she made about the public reaction to his death. >> some of it will reflect a genuine feeling this is the head of state, even if they do not think he did very well as the head of government, as the head of state, who has now died. no one is sure what will happen next. i was in north korean in 1994,

and there was a lot of uncertainty, and some people will be upset about this. some of the a motion we are seeing will not be about kim jong il, but about what will happen in general, and some will be orchestrated by the states. >> i was saying you visited the country several times over the last 20 years. can you give us some insight into the situation in north korea, and the north korean kim jong soon will be the ruler of is and who -- kim jong un moowil be ruler of nine will be different from his father. >> north korea has been characterized by two things. one is absolute poverty of almost the entire population, and the other is the establishment of military

dictatorship, so what we see now is with him jong-il dying, and that dictatorship is continuing. kim jong un will take over as head of state, but we may find it is more of a ceremonial position than that but was held by his father, so the government will be held by the military and by senior party people, and as far as we can see, the collective organization, which has been ruling the country for some years anyway. >> that was hazel smith speaking to me earlier. several thousand israelis have demonstrated against the behavior of ultra-orthodox jews who want to enforce segregation between men and women. this happened after some alter orthodox men harassed a girl on the way to school, accusing her

of failing to dress modestly. the military says a minority is acting outrageously. now >> by early evening, thousands have gathered, an angry at the treatment of women by ultra-orthodox jews, who want greater segregation between the sexes. many israelis have been shocked at images of grown men hurling abuse at school girls, some as young as eight. their crime is dressing in modestly. -- immodestly. israeli television showed pictures of her struggling to get her daughter to school. on monday police clashed with hundreds of ultra-orthodox, who had been trying to force women

and girls to walk from a different side of the street from men. israel's political leaders are often critical of intolerance in muslim countries and are ordering a crackdown on intolerance at home. >> all of us should stand as one. we must protect the identity and the character of the state of israel and give the minority that interrupts national security an outrageous way. no one has the right to threaten a young girl or woman. we are all citizens of the state, and there is not one group that rules. >> to around one in 10 israelis are ultra-orthodox jews, but it is estimated that figure will increase to one in five in 20 years' time. one protester told me this was a fight for israel's sold a curio

>> twoel's soul. \ people were injured. a group of frequently fires rockets at israel said the dead man was one of its members. israel says this is and what they call a terror squad. tens of thousands of anti- government protesters have taken him who the street in syria as arabs arrived on a peace mission. 39 people have been killed in recent attacks. this has become one of the main centers of protests against the government. jim is monitoring the situation from the roots. >> still bearing their extent and -- now the situation from beirut. >> thousands turned out to mourn those who died in the latest

violence. the observers were eagerly awaited by big demonstrations. this is one of several district of have seen repeated efforts to crush the finance, but it is clearly still there. when they reach one of the hottest areas, the observers found themselves besieged by angry residents, eager to tell their story. even while they were talking, gunfire rang out. the presence of observers may have lessened the violence. activists say more people were killed or martyred a. >> there are more than five people and wounded. we want to aid people who have died by security forces shooting and correctly. >> another defiant city to the

north, there was more shooting as protesters tried to converge on the square. peaceful demonstrations are supposed to be allowed and certainly not shot at. the arab peace plan was supposed to end sites like this, but the observers have no magic wands to waves. this has given them a taste of holland difficult and deadly this crisis is -- a taste of how difficult and deadly this crisis is. >> let's get some financial news. some disappointing news for japan. >> that is right. disappointing news to go with other news we have seen from asia this week. it was pulled down by the strong yen and weak loan region weak

global demand and also by thailand. japan is one of the world's biggest exporters. it cut its growth forecast as well. they predicted it would shrink 5.1% 36 3.1% by the end of march, and it has been hit -- it would shrink 0.1% by the end of march, and it has been hit by floods. we also saw the japanese yen it levels exporters say makes their goods fairly expensive for foreign buyers, and they have economic problems in the eurozone that is a threat to the country's economy and many others in the region as well. other people are watching the financial markets, most of which are lower.

they are still very low volume as being traded due to the holidays. some economic news coming out of the united states, consumer confidence surged to an eight- month high, but offsetting that with home prices, which fell in the american cities tract. we are also watching companies like nec tepco -- like tepco. back to you. good >> many thanks. now it has been announced in argentina the president has cancer. the government says she developed cancer in the thyroid gland's but it has not spread to other parts of the body. hernandez started her second term after a landslide election victory.

the announcement came as a surprise to many in argentina and curator -- many in argentina of. >> it started us a program which several controversial laws. we have been very active, and then there came the announcement that she will have surgery and will then have to take 20 days of rest and recuperation. >> do you think this affects her popularity. she has only just started a second term, but do you think there will be concerns she might not be fit for the presidency? >> i think they will go through great lengths to say she is very fit, but she will take 20 days

off and will be back in action shortly afterwards. i think if anything, it is sympathy. she is still in mourning for the death of her husband in october 2010. she is still in mourning from ath.debts, -- from the des >> still ahead, the colombian city opens a giant outdoor escalator for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods. police investigating the murder of a teenager in front of shoppers on oxford street say he was stabbed in the heart.

11 people have been questioned over the death of the 18-year- old. >> stabbed in broad daylight, this was a boy killed on the busiest shopping street in london. this shows the aftermath of the incident as officers tried to hold about a curious and agitated crowd while paramedics tried to save the teen-ager's life. the incident happened shortly before 2:00 p.m. yesterday. police cordoned off to erode as thousands of shoppers flocked to the west end looking for bargains. police are appealing for witnesses to come forward, especially those who might have captured the crime on camera. >> there were several inside the store and outside the store and saw part of the incident or the aftermath, and we are interested in any of those people coming

forward. >> video has a emerged showing fighting on oxford street yesterday. detectives have recovered a number of weapons from the scene, including this knife. just hours after he was killed, another young man was stabbed in the leg. he survived the ordeal. officers do not yet know if the incidents are linked. as for shoppers, they say there is already a price, but they are reviewing if the number of officers needs to be increased. >> a third man has been arrested over the murder of an indian student shot dead on monday. he was studying at the university of lancaster.

this is bbc news. the headlines, the russian news agency is reporting the funeral of kim jong il has begun. they have not yet broadcast any pictures. thousands of israelis have condemned the behavior of ultra- orthodox jewish extremists who are campaigning for gender segregation. from get more on reports p'yongyang. our guest joins us from the singapore studio. how is the region feeling as the funeral takes place of the former leader of north korea and paves the way for a new leader we know very little about other than he is young and

inexperienced? >> i think they are nervous because of concerns. change like this means there is a risk for instability given the nature of the regime in north korea, but they also hope the new leader may embark on a lot of reform on pressure internally and externally, but now i think the overall priorities are stability and to make sure no. 3 honors its new leader -- to make sure north korea honors its new leader and to move forward into prosperity. parks as the new region -- is there a feeling there has -- >> is there a feeling there has been a failure to embrace north korea and get a better understanding of it? if you look at how the world has changed since the fall of the soviet union and the new

democracies and the arab spring, north korea continues to go from one leader of the regime to the next, and people continue to starve and suffer, and the world continues to be threatened by this isolated country. >> yes, you said the right words. isolated means north korea is isolated. even china costs access is very limited -- china's access is very limited. i think it is a failure for international communities to bring in this regime, but the nature of the regime has decided it will behave like this, but now the question is will it change. that is a question we have to answer, but of a is a challenge

comes from wind and in north korea, because there are so many factions -- the biggest challenge comes from within north korea, because there are so many factions. can he stay in control? his biggest threat comes from his own family, his older brothers, his aunt and on call -- and uncle, but even if the new leader can really stay in power and keep control, he also has an enormous pressure from outside. ironically, the biggest shallot is coming from china, because china does one no. 3 get to change in the direction of china, and china also realizes -- china does wants north. to change in the direction of china, but how to do that is a big question. i think north korea also has some leverage, because it

understands that is how it plays the game. it understands all the powers around north korea are global powers, and the problem is all of those powers are not on the same page. they are different from each other on many important issues, like nuclear weapons, reunification, and so forth. this kind of indifference or inconsistency in policy gave north korea some leverage to play the game that is fair, but this leverage is very limited, and other powers want north. to change and opened up, and this is -- now other powers walked north. to change and open up, and i would be optimistic, because under this new leadership in north korea would have few choices but to go in the direction of the international

community's favor. >> many thanks. there are fears in australia that hazardous substances may have been released in the flood waters covering a large part of the north of the country. of brit was washed away, after a cyclone since -- the bridge was washed away after a cyclone swept away in the northern part of the country. >> this is the devastating power of mother nature, and australians are fearful some hazardous content have been swept away. local reports suggest it was carrying 120 pounds of copper concentrate, which may have tainted waters. good the owners are being cautious about explaining the exact nature. >> there is nothing we can do until the water subsides, and then we can do what we need to do. >> there are suggestions that

the bridge collapsed as the trains are coming from the mining areas. it was destined for the port of darwin, from where many substances were exported. it was a scene of devastation worse than anything he had ever seen. that is a sentiment likely to be echoed by the northern territory. they are under more than a meter of water. many had to be rescued from rooftops. good >> what can you do beaumont you cannot we did what can you do? you cannot be mother nature. >> weather forecasters are predicting it could strengthen over coming days. tracks the course in cairo has ordered a stop to force virginity test now on female prisoners in jails. allegations of the practice

first surfaced. uproar.icaused an large queues have formed outside spanish embassies in latin america on the final day that the sentence of spanish textiles can apply for citizenship. more than 200,000 people whose parents or grandparents fled spain and not during the civil war have been recognized as spanish the lines are long as in cuba. the court in switzerland has ordered the documents relating to a scandal on world football are to be made public record an agreement was reached in 2010 were officials repaid when then $6 million -- repaid more than $6 million in bribes.

residents in a shantytown in colombia have been given an outdoor escalator system to help get around. >> for some residents, life is more down than up, but in the shantytown, that may now have changed with the opening of a giant new outdoor escalator. the town clings to the side of a steep hillside. before the escalator, residents had to use hundreds of steps to get to and from the city center. now the half-hour height of the hillside takes just five minutes, and it is philippe. -- it is free. >> it is a dream come true, and i it was one of the first to use it. >> this is the murder capital of the world. this new escalator is part of larger renovation plans to improve the city and its image. now this project will radically

change the perception of the neighborhood. that is for sure. this remains one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods. in may not be a stairway to heaven, but the authorities hope new escalator will be are grouped into more social and economic prosperity for its -- to more social and economic prosperity for residents. >> you should never smile at a crocodile. this is a suit in australia where a crocodile attacked. the crocodile lost two teeth in his fit of rage. zookeeper's were able to contain its. he seems all right though. you are watching bbc news, and we will bring you the latest from north korea as a funeral

begins of the former leader. >> 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. >> you are no longer in the service. >> i will do my most. >> all i want is one code name. >> it will take a master spy to catch a spy. >> you have to assume you are

watching. >> what are you doing down there? mark >> things are not always what they seem. ericsson tinker, tailor -- >> tinker, tailor,,ated r..