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>> assessing the damage the united nations says syria will allow u.n. agencies limited access to the country. greece looks set to receive another massive bailout. one credit agency says the country is in default. italy demand answers from britain over the failed rescue mission in nigeria, which left two western hostages dead. welcome to bbc news. one year on from the tsunami, a new test -- new details emerged about the scale of disaster at the fukushima nuclear plant. the lesser of two evils, wired norwegian researchers said the hallucinogenic drug lsd might

fight. the denomination's humanitarian chief says syrian authorities have agreed to admit u.n. agencies said they might make a limited assessment of the situation in the country. she was speaking and turkey, having visited syria. 1.5 million people in syria are in need of food aid. she also toured the refugee camps along the syria-turkey border. >> this is how dinner is served to more than 2000 refugees living in an old tobacco factory. one of six camps built by the turkish government over the last six -- 10 months.

it is filling up with new arrivals. many of them feel about the let down by the lack of international support. like this family, who arrived three weeks ago. >> we do not ask anything from other countries because so far, they have been no use to us. what we want is for them to give weapons to the free syrian army. if they do that, we can save our country. >> the decision to pull back has not saved former opposition stronghold from the relentless retribution of president bashar al-assad's forces. areas where the people dare to display their defiance are shrinking. u.n. humanitarian envoy stopped briefly in turkey, following a visit to turkey.

>> the syrian government has asked for more time to look at the agreement that i put to them. it is very important that we get unhindered humanitarian access. however, the government has agreed to a limited assessment, exercise to be conducted by a u.n. agencies and the syrian authorities. >> many who could make it are choosing to flee. when these syrians first arrived last year, most imagined they would only be staying a few weeks. the numbers are not going down, they are actually increasing. there is no answer, nor any end in sight. they are exiles along the border.

>> the united nations and the arab league special envoy to syria, scheduled to meet the syrian president in damascus the south -- this saturday. he will be leaving the country on sunday. he has called for dialogue towards a political settlement. richard murphy is a former u.s. ambassador to syria. he is now a scholar at the middle east and tatoos. he has this assessment. -- at the middle east institute. he has this assessment. >> the message is, stop the violence and get on with efforts and a political solution. the regime would be delighted to have a solution on its terms. they have tabled a draft constitution, they have come up with some ideas which they think are appealing to the

opposition. the opposition has not found any worth and those ideas. it is a standoff. the opposition is not militarily strong enough to prevail. on the other hand, the regime has not been able to stamp out the protest, to stamp out the efforts to express the opposition's opinions and to take the fight into the streets. >> ambassador richard murphy speaking from new york. greece looks certain to receive a second enormous bailout after a decision by private investors to swap their old bonds for new ones. it is the largest restructuring of government debt in history. the new bonds are only worth half as much. regulators have declared it's a credit event. in other words, it is a default. investors have lost out because of the new arrangement, they now are able to launch insurance

claims worth billions. >> it is an important step for greece, though it is not the end of a sawedga. private investors will see the value of their holdings of greek debt slashed in a planned process unprecedented in modern times. the greek finance minister harold the final deal with investors, which wipes out a chunk of the government debt burden. >> this agreement we have reached with the private sector is excellent. it is an historic day for the greece and the greek parliament, for the greek people, and the national economy. >> how far does this deal with private creditors go to help greece balance its books? private institutions and individuals hold 206 billion euros of the debt. they have agreed to take losses which will cut that to 101

billion. that leaves 162 billion euros of other debt held by european authority's and the imf. in total, it is still projected to be at least 120% of gdp. with that burden still hanging over a weakening greek economy, some experts think the country will struggle to pay back the loans. >> at the moment, economic output is in freefall. they have been in recession for the last four years. this is where greece needs investment, structure, reform, and to get economic output growing. you are unable to pay back any amount of debt without it. >> the german finance minister was urging caution. >> greece had a clear opportunity to recover, but it would be a big mistake to give the impression the crisis had been resolved. >> one part of the greek debt

drama is being played out in the city of london. a group of market experts has been meeting today to try to work out whether insurance payouts will have to be made with investors to have lost money. >> they have decided those payouts will have to be made, though possibly totaling only a few billion euros. that is another reminder the great financial crisis is not over yet, though a significant milestone was passed today. >> israeli air strikes in gaza have killed at least eight palestinians, including the leader of a local militant organization. he led the popular resistance committee. his predecessor was killed in august in a similar air strike. reports from the moroccan news agency said a court has sentenced to nationals to death over the terrorist attack in

marrakech. 17 people died, 21 were injured. the victims were both moroccan and foreign citizens. italy has demanded an urgent explanation from britain about the circumstances surrounding the failed attempt to free two hostages in nigeria. the men were both killed during the operation. italy's president says there was inexplicable that he was not informed before the rescue mission was launched. >> the bullet holes or evidence of a fear and -- fierce and bloody battle, a battle that took place in this residential compound in northwest and nigeria. as british and nigerian forces tried to rescue to the zero hostages. chris mcmanus and franco lamolinara had been held for 10 months by a violent al qaeda- linked salad. italy's president asked why his government had not been

consulted before the raid. >> the behavior of the british government in not informing elite is inexplicable and -- informing italy is inexplicable. >> we had to make a decision very quickly. to go ahead with this operation, we had very limited time. that constraint on the trigger able to consult others. we were able to inform after the operation got under way. >> why did it all happened so quickly? the nigerians confirmed the hostages location after arresting a suspect to days ago. then came fears the kidnappers had been alerted to a possible rescue. with intelligence that let's let the hostages in imminent danger of being moved or killed. under pressure, the prime minister authorized the raid yesterday morning. and then informed the italians.

the british special boat service went in first in a daylight raid, killing one gunman. they found the hostages had already been murdered by the time they reach them. >> it was a fleeting opportunity. to extract to people -- two people whose lives are very much at risk. some outstanding intelligence work identified them. the opportunity had to be grabbed then and there. >> today, chris mcmanus's former colleagues paid tribute to the 28-year-olds. >> my reaction was devastating. he was a good team player. >> chris mcmanus's family believed everything that could be done had been done. the tragic death of the two hostages has led to questions in italy about whether it had to end this way.

>> why the world's most famous -- are changing some of their ingredients. >> in the world within our world. >> the male voice -- will win and send more of a chance of selling movies? -- women at soon get more of the chance of selling movies? >> efforts continued to keep the troubled football club in business. the biggest is for taken by the department of international -- the measures should ensure that they can fulfill the remaining obligations this season. >> the players deserve great credit. we are no doubt the disagreement is the best way to achieve the necessary cost savings to ensure

the continuing operations of the club. while preserving the fabric of the plane squad. -- playing scott. >> the agreement has also prevented substantial job losses among the non planning staff. -- playing staff. this has been a very difficult week for the club. we are pleased that we can move forward and focus on the steps in the recovery process. >> these are the headlines. the united nations says cereal will allow u.n. agencies to make a limited investment of the humanitarian situation in the country. greece looks set to receive and other massive bailout, but one critic agency says the country is in default. a year after the japan was struck by an earthquake and tsunami, the documents suggest the government knew the focusing

the nuclear plant was facing a meltdown hours after it had been hit. the skill of the crisis was kept secret for months. so far, it has cost of down $130 billion. radiation is preventing 100,000 people from returning to their homes. our correspondent has been back to see how life has changed into communities close to fukushima. >> you cannot see it, it is absorbed by the trees, the radiation threats is all around us. >> at this point, everybody had to evacuate. >> a year ago, this was home to 6000 people, 25 miles from the fukushima nuclear plant. today, it is too radioactive to live here. japan's government wants to clean up several thousand square kilometers of contaminated land all around here. nothing like it has been done

before. not even after the chernobyl disaster. this professor is trying to work out how to find it. it's spread over an area several times the size of greater london. the radiation will last longer than a human lifetime. >> the government says there will decontaminate everywhere, but it is a huge area. i do not think they can do. it'll cost a colossal amount. " the reactors are still fragile, and many are too fearful to live in the shadow of the nuclear plant. just 15 miles from it, this is bisected by the nuclear exclusion zone. a third of the population fled last year and they have not returned.

across the town, the top 5 centimeters of soil is being removed. war radioactive particles keep falling from the trees. -- more radioactive particles keep falling from the trees. at this nursery school, they take radiation readings every day. all the children were masks. the school is one of the few places that has been completely decontaminated. radiation is a little above normal, but within safe limits. >> they have cleaned up our nursery and playground. that is all. we cannot even take the children of the front gate. our life is limited to these tiny spaces. >> even when all levels are low, many parents will not bring their children back here. living with radiation is a risk they do not want to take. >> president obama has seen a

positive job figures as evidence that the u.s. economy -- the u.s. economy is rebounding. 227,000 jobs were added in february. the trend is moving the right direction. speaking at a fund-raising event in texas, the president said the recovery was accelerating and the united states was coming back. >> we just found out that last month, we added 233,000 private- sector jobs. [applause] more companies are bringing jobs back and investing in america. >> our business reporter gave us her assessment of the figures. >> for the past few months, we have seen the labor picture starting to approval. we have gone from an unemployment rate of around 10%

last year to about a quick 3% right now. slowly, americans are beginning to find their way back into the work place. it is still an unacceptably high level. millions of americans cannot find jobs, even though they want to. but it is a move in the right direction. economists see this as a positive sign. when you look at some of the other data, manufacturing, industrial production, we have been seeing more positive news coming out of the u.s. lately. this confirms some of that data and the picture that economist are getting that the recovery is starting to build. >> coca-cola is changing the ingredients of its world-famous drink in order to avoid a california law that would require it to be bad as a cancer risk. pepsi is making similar changes. coca-cola says the move did not

amount to a change in the recipe. it is everywhere, and is what goes into these bottles that makes coca-cola did billions of dollars in revenue. world domination does not make it easier for the browns to abide by the laws in the countries where they have sold. in america, it is time for both countries to -- both companies to make changes. these are some of coca-cola's key ingredients. they appear on cans and bottles. it is the caramel and the chemical coloring that give it its distinctive dark color. the manufacturers said they have instructed their caramel suppliers to reduce the amount of a constituent chemical. california has a 29 microgram benchmark for that chemical. a recent sampling of coke and pepsi in the washington area showed levels ranging between 103 and 153 micrograms.

earlier this, a watchdog deemed such levels unsafe in cans of coca-cola, pepsi, and a range of other soft drinks. critics say the cancer risk is based on one study performed only on mice. one consumer organization in the u.s. says a person would have to drink 2900 cans every day for 70 years before they would be at risk of getting cancer. changes are being made. once which coca-cola says will not affect the taste of its most valuable drank. -- drink. >> researchers nra have suggested lsd could be used to treat alcoholism. this audit results from a collection of trials in the 1960's. they say one dose of lsd could have a positive affect on alcohol abuse the last for

months. we take a look at the checkered history of the drug. >> without this man, we may never have heard of lsd. in 1943, this swiss scientist was working on a synthesized chemical. he started feeling strange. >> a kind of dream world. . appeared. a feeling of oneness with the world, a very strange experience. >> lsd had been bottled up and found its way into psychiatric wards, where it was hoped it would be of benefit to patients. this english hospital even had its own lsd block. >> after receiving a small dose of lsd -- >> the cia were conducting its own experiments.

>> sprayed the drawdown enemy troops. but the recreational use of lsd and related drugs and became apparent. in 1955, the british mp was filmed by the bbc using the drug mescaline. >> there are definite effects. >> it has the most extraordinary the facts. >> the results were obvious. the film was not shown for another 30 years. iran the same time, -- around the same time huxley was beginning his experiments with lsd. in the 1960's, lsd use exploded. by this time, the negative effects have become apparent to many. the drug could cause extreme anxiety and paranoia, leaving its users vulnerable and exposed.

it could trigger prolonged mental illness. >> for many of us, the weekend means a trip to the cinema. have you ever stop to think why so many of the trailers for films are voiced by men? men with very deep voices. >> in a world within our world, they created a world unlike any world. >> the hollywood studios rely on male voices when it comes to promoting their films. >> they tend to go with men, there have been occasions where women have done trailers, but it has been few. >> why is the business so dominated by men? >> the physicality of a male voice tends to be a stronger presence, especially on trailers where it is in a theater and

there is action and noise. >> welcome. >> she is one of the few women who has voiced a movie trailer. she believes a female voices can sell a movie, but concedes male voices may be better for certain kinds of funds. >> if that is specific to a genre, i totally understand, but when it comes to chick flicks, i think women do it beautifully. >> what about the moviegoing public? what are their views? >> i think women should do voice-over is on movie trailers. i think it would be quite appealing. >> guys do it better. >> a lot of people would

disagree. science has been used to justify excluding women from the business. a study revealed all both men and women like listening to female voices, they trust a male voice more. many believe women's voices can do the job. >> life evolves. it is the next frontier. i think women have that at their door front right now. they will have that opportunity. >> it has been a man's world. >> experience the adventure of a lifetime. >> any change is likely to be incremental. >> for these make-believe heroes -- >> the united nations send an estimated 1.5 million people in syria are in need of food aid. the special envoy to syria is

due to meet present bashar al- assad in damascus on saturday. >> 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 use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.