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>> and now "bbc world news." >> welcome to "newsday" on the bbc. >> i'm in new hampshire. >> i am babita sharma. in london. the headlines for you this hour. the u.s. republican mitt romney wins the new hampshire primary. the latest stage in the race to take on barack obama in november's presidential election. >> he has run out of ideas. now he is running out of excuses. >> 400 deaths since december. the u.s. and condemns syria as the president at vows to continue the crackdown. buried under 5 meters of snow, alaskan town has declared a state of temergency.

>> is 11:00 p.m. in new hampshire. >> it is 40 am in london. broadcasting to viewers on pbs in the u.s. and around the world. welcome to "newsday." the former massachusetts governor mitt romney is one step closer to becoming the republican candidate for the presidency of the united states and taking on barack obama in november. he has had a decisive win tonight. he has become the first candidate since 1976 to wind the iowa caucuses and new hampshire primary. it's hard to see how someone else could begin to the nomination. let's have a quick look at where the numbers stand. 77% of the votes counted in new hampshire. mitt romney had 39% of the vote.

ron paul, the libertarian candidate, had 23% of the vote. and jon huntsman who had bet the bank on doing well has 17% of the vote. this has romney ro, been a very good night. he goes on to the primaries in south carolina. with the momentum behind him, trying to convince his priority that he is the guy they need to support. when he gave his victory speech, it did sound more like an acceptance speech. >> we know that the future of this country is better than 8% unemployment. it is better than $15 trillion in debt. it is better than the broken promises of the last three years of a failed leadership of one man. the president has run out of ideas. now he is running out of excuses.

and tonight-- >> mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt!! asking theght, we're good people of south carolina to join the citizens of new hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time. president obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. in the last few days, we have seen some desperate republicans joined forces with him. this is such a mistake for our priority and for a nation. the country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. we have to offer an alternative

vision. i stand ready to lead us down a different path, where we are lifted up by our desire to succeed, not dragged down by resentment of success. >> mitt romney there focusing all this attention tonight on one person -- president barack obama, who he thinks he's going to be the person to take on in november. he ignored the rest of the republicans, including the guy that came in second, congressman ron paul, a libertarian candidate. he also had a pretty good showing here in new hampshire and congratulated mitt romney. >> i called governor romney and congratulate him because he had a clear-cut victory. but we're nibbling at his heels. >> the third place in new hampshire went to jon huntsman,

the former governor of utah, former u.s. ambassador to china under barack obama. he had really hoped to do well here in order to become the alternative candidate to mitt romney. he says he will stay in the race and go the rest of the way. it's not as good showing as the would have wanted, but he found a positive in his victory speech. >> i would say third place is a take it to ride, ladies and gentlemen -- a ticket to ride. hello, south carolina. ladies and gentlemen, we are here tonight because of you. we've got the greatest volunteers this state has ever seen. give yourself a hands. >> jon huntsman there sounding confident here in new hampshire and going onto south carolina. he came into the new hampshire

primaries with six men in the race. we leave with six men in the race. no one has dropped out. what does it all mean for that critical presidential election that comes up in november? i am joined by my colleague. he's the nominee? >> i think he is very, very close. south carolina 08. he's the tripled to steal it. he won in iowa. a very good results. he has done it here. there would be some people who quibble about the scale of the victory and talk about the opinion polls. does not matter. he has one. south carolina awake. if he can take south carolina, he will win florida. >> when we start coming through the numbers and you know that they are doing that in the republican party and in the white house, one thing that surprised me -- mitt romney did well amongst social

conservatives and evangelicals in new hampshire. he did not win that group in i owa. >> interesting. because so many people had been staying in the weeks before the primary that his problem would be that yes, he would probably win, yes, she is the most electable, but he would not bring social conservatives or evangelicals. and they would not even turn out and campaign. they were muttering months ago that they might to oppose them if he was the nominee. that doesn't look like is happening. bill looks like he has persuaded people he is the most electable than -- he has persuaded people. looks like that they will turn out for him. >> he came under attack in the last 48 hours from his fellow republican candidates. what does this tell you about the nature of the actual general election when we get to november? what is the backdrop going to be? >> we will see the democrats

honing in romney's weakest point, and this is the time that he spent in a private equity company. they will hone in on his record. i was talking to a senior democrat who said that we were destroyed romney. we will wait to see what happens in south carolina. there are attack ads coming out right now on this very topic of bain capital. he will face a something of an onslaught in south carolina. remember, this is what the primaries are for -- a toughened up a candidate and get him ready for the general election. >> the victory speech he gave a couple of hours ago was the tough speech people would have liked him to give. it is hard for conservatives and republicans to attack him on his capitalist past, it will be easy for the democrats. you know they are watching at the white house tonight. >> absolutely.

see how much the better he was in that speech? there was some fire in his belly. it was romney getting ready to be the republican candidate. >> an interesting night in new hampshire. not so much -- we suspected that mitt romney would win, but he won big. he goes on to south carolina. they are watching this in the white house. it is a prelude to that critical presidential election in november. >> thank you. now in other news. the u.s. and france have condemned a speech by syrian leader al-assad that claims an external conspiracy for the mossad uprising. the un says an estimated form of the people have been killed in syria since an arab league mission arrived in late december. >> it was a moment that people

all over syria had been waiting for anxiously. this was only the fourth time president assad had spoken to the people like this since the troubles began last march. would he showed a hint of compromise? might there be some way forward out of the conflict? he seemed relaxed enough as he came onto the stage at damascus university, almost like a candidate up for election. his audience of hand-picked loyalists represented a definite body of opinion in syria, people scared that the demonstrations would end and a violent breakup of the country. most of the cites on the wall behind him have seen demonstrations. but there was to be no compromise. >> our priority now is to regain security in which our country has enjoyed for decades.

could only be achieved by hitting the terraces with an iron fist. there will be no leniency for those using weapons to kill our civilians. >> yet, the demonstrations continued today, though. we have not been able to verify these pictures. according to the opposition, 35 people were killed today along. arab league observer is currently inside syria watched the president's speech as clear as anybody. he was not complimentary about their mission. >> the arab league is a reflection of the arab situation. it has failed for six decades toward arab interests, we should not be surprised if has failed today. >> but who is influencing the president to keep on cracking down on the opposition? hard liners in his own circle, but syria's last major friend is iran and force worked

in iran back in 2009 when there were huge protests against the highly questionable results of the presidential election. essentially, the demonstrators in tehran and elsewhere were hammered into submission. out,keep on toughhing it iran will be telling assad, and you will succeed. but the crackdown has not been enough so far to cow the demonstrators. they have not made a breakthrough. today's speech changes nothing. it is still deadlocked. john simpson. >> you're watching "newsday" on the bbc. as romance is oingoing out, declining birthrate sent shockwaves through japanese society. at least one person has been killed in south africa in a

stampede of -- at the university of johannesburg. a woman was trampled to death when the crowd surged forward and the gates opened. >> survivors of this morning's stampede still looking for lost belongings. thousands of potential applicants stood outside the campus for days, but they're only 800 slots in the university. the desperation among the students caused the frenzy. >> everybody was trying to get there, but people in the back were pushing. they did not understand what was happening. >> everybody was pushing. there was a lot of screaming. it was terrible. >> this is where the stampede took place today. the parent who died was at the front of the queue. she was here desperately trying to find a place for her child when a crowd from behind pushed people in the front and that is

when she fell and died. this is an indictment of the south african higher education system, where the country is the richest of the african continent. university management expressed sympathy for the loss of life which happened outside the campus, but said the crowd was uncontrollable. >> we cannot go in and punish them. but nevertheless, the university's vice chancellor has announced that there will be an inquiry so we can see what needs to be done. >> the unemployment rate is as high as 50%. there is more hunger for education since the end of apartheid, but there is not enough places. >> this is "newsday" on the bbc.

i am babita sharma. in london. the u.s. republican mitt romney has won the new hampshire primary, the latest stage in the race to take on barack obama in november. texas congressman ron paul took second place. syria's president has vowed to continue the crackdown of protesters. the u.s. said that for the people have died since december. tim geithner is in china to meet senior officials. he is discussing the global economic issues that will also raise the subject of international pressure on iran over the country's nuclear program. our beijing correspondent is following events. >> no real details yet from the american side. along the chinese side, only the briefest of comments about how

difficult economic situation is looking and late on tuesday, treasury secretary tim geithner met the vice premier in china. and the vice premier said the economic outlook was very complex and grim. it is an indication from the chinese side that they are willing to discuss measures to tackle the economic downturn, the economic difficulties facing the world economic. as yet, not really any details on how they will do that. >> of course that thorny issue of iran's sanctions will be discussed. tim geithner is hoping for some level of cooperation from china. will the get it? >> probably not. the americans are keen on pressuring iran over its nuclear programs. a couple of weeks ago, president barack obama signed into law the

possibility that new sanctions could be brought about against any financial institution that dealt with iranian central bank. that essentially is a target in the iranian oil industry. iran has lots of money from exporting oil around the world, and one of those countries is china. china imports 20% of iranian oil. if sanctions are going to work, the u.s. has to persuade china to stand with it. already looks as though china will not do that. the vice foreign minister said a couple of days ago that china's oil imports have nothing to do with the nuclear industry, the nuclear issue. that is a clear indication from china that it will not stand alongside america with these sanctions. >> at least 13 people are

thought to have died after a landslide triggered by heavy rains swept through a town in southeast brazil. it is believed that more people may be buried under the mud. >> a town torn apart. the mudslide ripped through the heart of this hillside community. the authorities had begun clearing up and rescue workers are still hunting for survivors. but there is little hope now of finding anyone alive. >> they scream. >> we've lost my cousins, our friends, who were like brothers. this is terrible. >> there is nothing to say. we only need to ask god for the authority to find the bodies and putting end to are suffering. >> the landslide came after days of heavy rain that led to flooding across southeast brazil. all this at the start of the country's and will rainy season.

worst hit has been the state of rio de janeiro. that left homes under water, roads impassable, and thousands of people evacuated. for many of those left behind, this is now the only way to get around. the government has promised help. >> we'll do what the state government should do. the governor anwill spare no effort on helping cities rebuild themselves. we believe that we must have a national solution to help all of the city's. >> but this is a fight against nature. nearly 1000 people died last year during brazil's rainy season last year. forecasters are warning that more torrential rains are on the way. box an american coast guard boat has rested -- has found 6 iranian boats in the gulf.

it's days since a u.s. navy helicopter helped save an iranian boat from somali pirates. libyan officials are supposed to decide by tuesday it, but the deadline has been extended to january 23. japan's population is in decline. trying to boost the birth wrate, steps have begun to increase access to a child care. 1/3 of young men and more young women have no interest in sex. >> the center of tokyo on a bustling afternoon. big crowds. there seems to be no shortage of

people, but japan's population is shrinking. the birthrate is among the lowest in the world. the expense of raising children, the pressure of work, all kinds of things have been blamed. a recent government survey has found that there may be a more fundamental reason -- young japanese are turning their backs on relationships. ♪ the anime film on tv is all about romance, but he admits there is little of that in his life. more than 1/3 o f young men say they have no interest in sex. it has doubled in the last two years. >> in building a relationship seems like too much effort to get her to like me. for me to like her. i would have to give up everything i do at the weekend for her. i do not want to do that.

>> fertility experts are worried. . relationships, and government handouts to encourage people to have more children are bound to fail. >> we offer free medical care and the cost of delivering babies is free. these measures are not enough to encourage people to have children. they are reluctant to do so. >> many in japan feel young women are getting stronger and even as men are becoming more passive. this group meets every weekend to do laps at the imperial palace. finding that you can keep up with them is tough. >> sometimes people tell me i am too and bubbly. maybe we are getting too strong, but it is sad to be told that when i am living my life in the way i would like. when i speak to women, they are more positive in looking to the future. when i talk to men, they seem very negative.

♪ >> falling in love with each other seems increasingly difficult for japan's young, a worrying sign for a country already on the brink of a demographic crisis. >> you would expect the people of alaska would be used to snow, but not this month. the state of emergency has been declared in one town. more than 5 meters have settled -- that began falling in november. they are running short of fuel. >> alaska is used to snow, but not this month. this winter wonderland has turned into a living nightmare for the 2,200 residents of cordova. >> hi. welcome. i would love to -- some

help. >> many houses are completely buried under snow drifts. in some places, workers are trying to remove the two leaders of snow from rooftops. >> since november 1, we have had 177 inches of snowfall, and all that has stayed on the ground. it has not melted. accumulation on roofs is causing structures to collapse. roads have been closed. we have 50 national guard to help with shovelling routes and structures. >> we are clearing snow in cordova this week. oh, my god, beth's roof just went. >> they had twice as much snow as it would normally get in the entire winter. there is little space to dump it. >> when this roof goes, right now it is being held up by

ground to ogutter icicles. >> the town of ghome is iced in and running out of fuel. a russian tanker carrying heating oil is struggling to reach the area. residents are pinning their hopes on the u.s. coast guard vessel. >> there are in 2-3 feet of ice. it is under considerable pressure today. with the wind blowing on the floes. there's a light snow cover. they're having a more difficult time than they were yesterday. >> the national guard said there is of high risk of avalanches in the mountains. and weather forecasters are warning residents to brace itself for another storm in the next few days. >> you've been watching "newsday" from the bbc. i am babita sharma. stay with us. headlines are on the way next fo

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