>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> car bombs rocked syria's second city. the government blames terrorists. the opposition says the government was behind the attack. anger over the greek austerity measures bills into the streets. the prime minister says that the faulting would cause chaos. the u.n. secretary general tries to calm tensions over the falkland islands after argentina and britain stepped up their war of boards. -- war of words. coming up later, a victory for britain's secular society. prayers are taken off of the secular agenda.

preparation for the queen's diamond jubilee. the violence in syria has spread to the country's second city of aleppo, an area that had been previously untouched by the unrest. at least 28 people were killed by powerful bombs. the government has blamed the attack on armed terrorists but activists say that they were carried out by the security forces as a campaign to destroy the opposition -- discredit the opposition. >> outside of a base, the syrian security troops, mangled wreckage and rubble suggests the extent of the blast. even armored cars were destroyed and a grim toll of dead and wounded. the bbc was with the journalist

shown are round here by syrian government officials who passed the blame on what they called terrorist gangs. >> these criminal acts committed by those groups will not prevent us from continuing our efforts in order to crush terrorists in the city. >> and no one has claimed responsibility and rebel activists blamed a government plot designed to discredit the opposition. >> and the explosions reported by syrian television, we can see that they are ready to film it immediately. there are shots before the explosion takes place. we lay the responsibility entirely at the hands of the regime. >> all morning, syrian state television reported from both bombsights, the other from a military intelligence compound. the regime claims they are up

against terrorists trying to tear the country apart. the syrians are loyal and scared of what could happen next. the turmoil has been largely absent from damascus and aleppo. state employees, businesses, and minorities, are worried that without president assad, things could be worse. the sunni, the majority, have a lot to gain. the ruling elite may worry that without the assad regime, they will lose out. they fear that there will be less religious tolerance. meanwhile, more amateur video of continued shelling by government forces. tonight, these american satellite images allegedly of other syrian military deployments towards homs and

other towns. a further worry in sign. -- worrying sign. >> the greek press minister has said that his country must do whatever it takes to avoid catastrophe. -- the greek prime minister. in athens, violent clashes broke out between police and >> how much more of this can greece take? protesters and police clash and once again in athens. this is after the start of a two-day general strike against government plans to make more cuts in return for a bailout to save greece from financial ruin. >> i will not be able to live off of the salaries mandated by the new measures. a large number of people lose their jobs and even a working family cannot manage to get by.

>> for much of the day, government ministers came and went, debating the new measures. they were finally passed but only after these two ministers and other members of the cabinet resigned in protest. the cuts have to be approved by the greek parliament this weekend. for the prime minister, the question is simple, cuts people cash, otherwise no bailout and greece would face bankruptcy. -- cuts equal cash, otherwise no bailout. >> it is obvious that whoever disagrees and did not vote for the new program cannot remain in the government. >> for these demonstrators, greece has become a country of recession, unemployment, shrinking salaries, and now more cuts. many feel it is too high a price to pay for bailouts. >> several people have been arrested in the spanish capital of madrid during clashes

with police. they were protesting the reform plan. this would allow companies to change a severance packages, change the hours people work, and how much they are paid to the government says the new reform will have to kick start of the country's economy and restore investor confidence. international agency standard and poor's has lowered its credit ratings for 34 italian banks. this affects nearly all of the italian bank said the agency ranks including the biggest financial institutions. last month, they lowered italy's credit rating by two notches. the u.n. secretary-general has called on argentina and britain to avoid any further escalation over the falkland islands. argentina said a formal complaint after britain sent a destroyer to the region. >> the argentine of the 21st

century sense diplomats, not soldiers, to make the country's case over the falklands. the country has embarked on a major diplomatic exercise to restate its claim to the island. after listing to the foreign minister, the u.n. secretary general appealed to both sides to call the attention. for argentina, this meeting was a moment to denounce britain before the world, accusing the country of not only sending an ultramodern destroyer but a nuclear submarine. for >> the u.k. says they are not trying to militarize the south atlantic but they have increased four fold their naval power. why do they need four times more power than what they had until recently? >> the ministry of defense says the dispatch of the destroyer is retained. as is the recent deployment of search and rescue duties for

prince william. tonight, the british ambassador to the u.n. refused to comment on the claims about the submarine but insisted that the u.k. was committed to peace. >> it is only because argentina illegally invaded the falkland islands in 1982 that since then, we have had to increase our defense posture. nothing has changed in that defense posture in recent months. >> this dispute has been heightened by the discovery of oil reserves in the waters. this issue has come up repeatedly in argentine statements and will only grow in importance. none of this means that the secretary general or the leaders of argentina or britain believe that the countries are close to a military clash. the past four decades, there have been 10 u.n. resolutions, none has had any affect on the status quo.

argentina has been building support among its latin- american neighbors. some have refused falkland ships access to the ports. the aim is to isolate britain in a region of growing importance. with the 30th anniversary of the war to end april, the campaign of diplomatic attrition is set to become increasingly bitter. >> an american man has confessed she was guilty of kidnapping a child that she raised as her own for more than two decades. -- an american woman has confessed she was guilty of kidnapping a child. she took the child in 1987. the u.s. republican party hopeful mitt romney is looking to win over voters at the conservative political action conference in washington where he said he was severely concerned. rival, rick santorum who won a

hat trick of states, and newt gingrich addressed the conference. holding prayers as a formal part of the council meeting is unlawful. the test case against the town council was brought before a formal counselor who is an atheist. the judge ruled that the town council had no statutory powers to make prayers part of the council meetings. this could have far reaching implications in england and wales. >> we hold before god and prayer, our sovereignty the queen. >> with a monarch who governs the state church, christianity has a privileged position in britain. >> she will spend a few moments in silent prayer. >> in practice in schools, send an ceremonies of national

commemoration. for generations, christian prayer has become council meetings slosh begun -- christian prayer has begun council meetings. >> we have these skewed in the direction of elderly church boulders. councils are for everyone, not just a few people. -- these are skewed in the direction of elderly church goers. >> the high court said that although the counselors could hold prayers before meetings, they must be excluded from the formal agenda. the national secular society said that religion in government must be kept separate. religious leaders denounced the campaign. >> the national secular society would like to take us inch by inch of removing any vestige of religion and we are determined

that the that should be resisted. >> repeatedly, senior judges have ruled against christians when they have been pitting their beliefs against secular values. marriage counselors, airline check-in clerks, have all failed to turn the tide steadily excluding christianity in public life. the case could have far reaching effects. more than half of council's began meetings with prayers. some christians fear that religion elsewhere in public life could be under threat. the senior ministers said that the new laws should prevent that happening. >> this is on an imported part of life. we have the church of england, the queen is the head of it. i should be able to do this and the house of commons. if i have that right, why should someone in the parish council have that right? >> some counselors say they will

continue to say prayers but for now, this will leave them off the official agenda. >> this is "bbc news," still ahead -- nearly a year after the protests in bahrain, opposition groups are looking to make their voices heard. police took a man into custody and they drove him away from the scene after armed officers stormed the rest taught at half past 11. the man had been on his own. the minister will press ahead for his plans to reform the health service in england. an official conservative website has called for a new strategy.

the tottenham manager says that he is flattered to be considered for the england manager position. he said simply, there had been a misunderstanding. you are watching "bbc news," these are the headlines -- dozens died as government forces attack syria's second city of aleppo. anchored over greece's austerity measures spilled into the streets. -- ananger over greece's austerity measures. joining me from baltimore is our guest from human rights watch.

thank you for your time. tell me what your organization knows about the situation in the city of homs. seven consecutive days of the city has been bombarded. was there very briefly. we will try to get him back. moving on to bahrain, it has been almost a year cents opposition groups demanded change. unlike the movement's in tunisia, libya, and egypt, the regime is still in place. they have largely been pushed out of the capital but this is still attracting support. >> it is nighttime and in the district's outside the capital, crowds are slowly moving along the streets.

the people are heading to this anti-government demonstration. opposition rallies may be allowed, they certainly have an air of a rock concert about them but they are very serious. underneath all of the glitz, there are some heartfelt story is being told. these -- this human-rights activist has been to jail where he said he was beaten. a visit to his house reveals windows that have been smashed in attacks by security forces. >> there is a high rate of unemployment among the shi'a. you see a high rate of people with no nationality of month shi'a. >> pro-government forces say greatlyy're not been affected by the protests. >> we were looking for the

regulatory framework which was offered by the central bank of bahrain. it has an excellent infrastructure. the proximity to saudi arabia is definitely another reason. >> around the financial district, there is anecdotal evidence that the economy is suffering. in the streets of the capital, western tourists are markedly absent and many that sided with the opposition have lost their jobs. this woman has a ph.d. in economics and was fired because of her association with the protest movement. >> my husband came home for lunch and he left and he was ambushed and kidnapped from the car parked and he was gone for 10 months. i have a very little access to him and he was beaten up.

>> with the anniversary coming on february 14th, it is possible that tension bubbles to the surface once more. there is a lot of anger in the poor districts of bahrain. >> back on the line from baltimore. tell us what you know about the situation? seven days of continual bombardment by syrian government forces. >> this is utterly direct. there has been a marked escalation of this crisis in the week since the russians and the chinese vetoed a draft resolution. this would have signaled some kind of international consensus on what to do about the crisis. the syrian security forces have mounted a major assault on the city of homs which has been the

center of resistance. 400 people have been killed. one of the features of this assault is that many of the wounded people, civilians have been unable to reach medical assistance because the field hospital that had been set up was deliberately targeted. those who are try to bring wounded people to the hospitals and two medical clinics are being deliberately targeted by government forces. >> do you see any point in the future where bashar al-assad will appear before the international criminal court and be charged with crimes against humanity? >> we have said that crimes

against community were committed. we have been documented this from the beginning. there has been a gradual escalation and crimes against humanity have been committed by the security forces. to write up aable those crimes. we have called for the serious situation to be referred to the international criminal court. obviously, that is not going to happen. the diplomatic track remains. it is essential that the west of the security council in cages them and gets them back to sit around the table to hammer out an international consensus about what to do about the situation in syria. >> thank you very much for your thoughts. firefighters and police in

brazil are maintaining their strike as they seek pay rises. it is one we to go before the world's biggest conable gets under way. -- carnival gets underway. they're hoping to avoid the soaring crime rates that happened in another state. >> firefighters are only responding to emergencies. the police have left many areas of this crime-ridden city unguarded. >> i witnessed the theft and the robbers took my backpack as well. i went after them, they just went after my face. i tried to defend the girl. i hid in a hole over there and i could not do anything. i did not know if they had a gun. >> a last-minute attempt to get

a raise. for the officers, it was far from enough. >> we want some dignity. we want firefighters to be able to live in a dignified way and not in shantytowns. we don't have money to buy their own home. >> to provide security for the world's biggest carnival next week if the strike does not end, the federal government has offered the services of 14,000 soldiers stationed in a rio. further north, there are also concerns over security for the carnival, the second-largest. the police here reached the 11th day of their strike which had seen them occupied the legislative assembly building and engage in angry standoff with the military as the crime rate source of. the brazilians trust that the

agreement will be reached in time for conable next week but with both the world cup and the olympics on their way, there is concern that it might not be a permanent solution. -- the brazilian stressed that the agreement will be reached in time for carnival. >> winter weather conditions are continuing to recap it in europe. in italy, public offices were closed. the italian news agency reports there have been at least 40 deaths, more snow forecast for the weekend. the cold weather has claimed at least 13 lives in romania. this has cut off hundreds of roads leaving towns and villages completely isolated. in some places, people were left without electricity. parts of the river danube have frozen over, the strips have -- the ships have been stranded. as britain prepares to celebrate

queen elisabeth moss diamond jubilee, photographs of the murders that were taken 60 years ago -- photographs have emerged that were taken 60 years ago. >> the photographs are very private. prince charles cuddling his sister. it might have been a very tiring for the shoot for the prince. >> i said, just wave. they did. >> these are wonderful memories for the photographers family who are now releasing them. he even snapped a picture of himself with all three of them in the mirror. >> he was always worried that he had done it but he took the chance and he got the picture of charles and anne with him.

>> this is believed to be the first formal photograph of elizabeth as queen. it was used for an official portrait. just imagine coming here in 1952. your job was to photograph the new monarch. she was a young monarch coming to terms with her official role. more and more material like this is being released giving a rare insight into her private life. one expert says the collection is unique. >> the picture of the queen, she is made to look like a movie star. i've never seen her so relaxed. >> now, they are a perfect souvenir for the diamond jubilee. >> you can get all of our

stories on the bbc news web site. for the moment, good bye. >> 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. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries.

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