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>> and now bbc world news. >> hello and welcome to newsday on the bbc. >> just days before the deadlines, the cease-fire in spirit, the government -- tested before the deadline -- just days before the deadline for a cease- fire in syria, the government unleashes new fire against its people. scuttled by the u.s. coast guard, the ship that made its way across the pacific. >> broadcasting to viewers in pbs in america and around the world. this is newsday.

>> syrian government forces have launched a brutal attack on a suburb of damascus just days before a u.n.-brokered cease- fire is due to take effect and it is one of the most violent assaults since the uprising began a year ago. an alarming number of casualties are still being reported, despite attempts to negotiate peace. [expletive] -- [explosion] >> just four days from the deadline to call off the crackdown, the regime seems to be pulling out all the stops to finish off resistance wherever it finds it. activists say there is a real state of war here. even closer to the city center,

and verified video shows large numbers of the government troops engaged in a crackdown. there is no sign here of the with a drawl that the syrians say they have already begun. and defiance to the regime continues. protesters laid siege to a local government building and tried to raise the rebel flag there. >> far away to the north, government forces were also in action, including this one. but the third biggest city in central syria continues to take the brunt of the battery. several quarters have been struck for days. some of them from the free syrian army go to the hospital on tuesday. under coffee and non -- under

cease-fire, it would take effect next tuesday. he briefed the un with daily concern of the daily contention. >> all points of the plan are crucial. but one is most urgent. the need for cessation of violence. clearly, the violence is still continuing. alarming levels of casualties and other abuses continue to be reported daily. military operations at civilian opposition centers have not stopped. >> it is clear as day that, even if the opposition was armed to

the teeth, it would not defeat army and their would- be destruction and violence for many years. >> these families are crossing into turkey by night. the boy said they have had shelling in my town and i have had to flee to turkey. there may be many more to follow. >> a judge in the united states has sentenced a russian arms dealer to 25 years in prison. he was found guilty of conspiring to sell weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, arabia. >> the notorious russian arms dealer has learned his fate, 25

years in jail could that is a sentence he has received after promising to sell missiles to colombian rebels willing to kill americans. the former soviet military officer was sacked by u.s. informants. >> they could have given him as much as life. he is critical to her for carefully considering the facts and circumstances of this investigation. he intends to move forward into the court of appeals and commit necessary, to the united states supreme court. >> he used his network of cargo airplanes to move weapons around the world. he fuel conflicts around africa. the phone "lord of war" is believed to be based on his

exploits. the case led to tensions between moscow and washington. russia claimed they u.s.'s pursuit of ham was politically motivated. american prosecutors say that boot was ready, willing and able to form terrorists. the man once called the merchant of death is beginning his sentence, confined to prison, unable to deal in weapons. >> doctors say they are in a race against time to halt the spread of potentially untreatable malaria pit a strain has emerged in the border of thailand and burma that is resistant to treatment. experts say that, if it cannot be defeated, many more lives can be lost to the disease with the strain spreading onto india and africa. the managing director of the office of u.s. special envoy to

military says that the world must act quickly. >> it is unclear how long it would take to spread to india and africa. just about four years to five years ago, when resistance started emerging in cambodia, we now see it on the thai-burmese border. at that rate, in six years to seven years, we could see it spread to parts of india and africa if we do not do anything about it. fortunately, we are. >> new medicine is being developed? >> yes. there are two very promising products that have been approved in the last few months. there are some very interesting products coming down the pike in the next couple of years. in addition to that, the world health organization last year launched a very aggressive plan for containment pick if the plan is executed, we will be able to slow the spread of resistance

considerably. >> what makes this particular strain of it so bad? how is it able to basically defeat medicines we already have? >> malaria is probably mankind's oldest foe. the trick has always been to stay a step ahead of it. the chromosomes in the parasite mutate and grow resistant to the medications we have a good one of its key reasons for why we feel the spread of barthelemy finance -- of arthamethimens. they are used in oral form and mono therapy. the trick really is to make sure we take this drug in combination form while

monitoring and finding a way to learn where resistant cases are. >> the whole fate with malaria, if someone is going to an area that is affected, what would your advice be? >> like any place it are going to that is a malaria-infected area. it doesn't mean that the drugs are completely useless. what researchers understand is that how much of the parasite stays in the bloodstream stay is longer than it takes to clear. we certainly don't want people to panic. we don't want people to feel as though there is no other option. but we want the world to understand that we need to start and scale of some fairly aggressive plans to monitor and contain the instance where it is. >> rigo you have more on the coast ship floating off alaska.

>> that is right. the u.s. coast guard has opened fire on a vessel in an effort to sink it because of the dangers it poses to other ships. what makes this even more remarkable is that the ship has been drifting across the pacific after it was swept away from last year's tsunami in japan. >> haunted and abandoned, that is how this vessel is often described. this fishing trawler has turned into a metaphor of japan's tsunami. the waves would rip the this vessel from its moorings. it would then tracked for 4,500 miles across the pacific. it's the journey's end is canada's islands. it will not be the last piece of some americans to make the journey appeared as much as 5 million tons of debris have been estimated to wash out to sea. , the united states coast guard

say they have no choice but to sink the ship. there are fears that it could still have these long board. the coast guard says that the threat of pollution is minimal because in the fuel would quickly disperse. it should take about an hour for the ship to disappear. >> petty officer says that the ship is still afloat. >> the vessel is currently located about 195 miles from the town of sitka, alaska. it is well offshore pick our operations to sink it commenced about 1:00 p.m. local here in alaska. we're continuing to work on sinking the vessel. it is on fire and is taking on water. but it has not completely solved. >> before it undertook this operation, did you ask the permission of the japanese ship

owner if you could undertake this operation? >> we were in touch with the japanese government and the owner of the vessel could neither individuals or the garment themselves wanted the vessel back. it was declared a derelict bustle and a direct hazard to shipping -- a deraa vessel -- a derelict vessel and a direct hazard to shipping. >> what other dangers does this japanese ship posen? >> the main danger is the shipping hazard if no one -- chipping hazard. if no one was on board, it has no lighting. once we have sunk it, we will take care of any floating debris that is left over and clear the situation and then we will no

longer have the hazard to navigation in that area. >> president barack obama has signed new legislation to help small businesses and make it easier for startups to raise capital. it could be a game changer for entrepreneurs. it could found the next microsoft or facebook. the legislation will create employment. but critics say that it could leave investors vulnerable to fraud. >> for startups and small businesses, this bill is a potential game changer. right now, you can only turn to a limited group of investors, including banks and wealthy individuals, to get funding. laws that are nearly eight decades old make it impossible for others to invest. a lot has changed in 80 years. it is time that our laws did as well. because of this bill -- because of this bill, start-ups and

small businesses will have access to a big new pool of potential investors, namely the american people. for the first time, ordinary americans will be able to go online and invest in entrepreneurs that they believe in. >> you are watching news day on the bbc in singapore and london. to be tried in the u.k. and not in the u.s. we have an exclusive interview with the terror suspect. >> we also look back at the legacy of jim marshall, the man behind the amplifier. it is time for our newspaper review where i look at the stories making headlines around the world. we start with the story dominating european papers and the market's being punishing -- and the punishment bill about to spain.

the risk premium rose to the highest level isince november. merrilles in london's election disclose their tax records. a new deal for a tax chief. swiss authorities have agreed to pay germany billions of dollars in funds hidden there by german tax dodgers. jobless claims levels have fallen to the lowest since 2008. in the u.s. >> this is newsday on the bbc. >> the syrian government watch as fresh attacks against opposition forces just days before the deadline for a cease-

fire. >> the russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in new york. south korea, china, and japan are stepping up their security operations ahead of the north korean plan in april. john yang plans to launch a satellite into orbit on the back of a long-range rocket over the next few days. japan and south korea have indicated that they will shoot it down if it violates their airspace. >> it will be a big topic at this trilateral summit. japan and south korea have both been very harshly critical of north korea's plans and they have both talked about making contingency plans should that rocket threaten their territories. it will be a big topic of sorts.

america has already said it urges north korea not to go ahead with the launch and it will withhold the plant today if it does so. there is real possibility that serious consequences will follow from this action if it goes ahead. we will have to watch to see what happens out of these talks. >> with just over two weeks to go to the presidential election in france, nicolas sarkozy unveiled his manifesto, giving french citizens a sharp warning. re-electon or face the kind of debt crisis that has hit greece and spain. >> president sarkozy is fighting for his political life. there are less than three weeks ago to the first-round of the presidential election. he has edged up in the polls, but currently, he is not the favorite to win.

today, the french president used his manifesto launch to issuers dark warning could re-elect him or face the kind of debt crisis that has greece and is now buffeting spain. >> if we ruled that even the slightest from our commitment, it will lead to a crisis of trust and we will feign the -- we will face the same situation as spain. >> sarkozy's depicts his main opponent as being ill-prepared for office while stressing that he is the only leader who can be trusted with a major crisis. his focus in the past few weeks has been on security since the shootings in toulouse. there have been high-profile raids against suspected islamic militants. his main rival is francois orland. he has promised to reduce the

speed of spending cuts and squeeze the rich. in a tight race, the president is raising a fear -- change team leader with the eurozone crisis flaring up again. >> a british tourist suspect who's facing extradition to the u.s. says he wants to clear his name in a british court. he has been held in custody without charge for a record 7.5 years. dominick reports. >> he is the longest serving personal -- serving prisoner in a british jail never convicted of a crime. the u.s. authorities are fighting to extradite him. they claim he ran extra -- they are claiming he ran extremist web sites that fueled terrorists. he claims he has been denied justice by the british authorities. >> i would urge the director of

public prosecution to please put me on trial in this country and to find out what has gone wrong in my case. there has been a serious and unprecedented abuse. >> the high court -- he has been held since 2004 in maximum security awaiting extradition to the united states. >> detention without power is the most psychological torture anyone could think of. >> and devin coleman is an extremism expert who is likely to testify against him in america. >> there has never been a sight like this that had a direct line in, not just to radicals or extremists, but people who are murres and shakers in the world of jihad and the others. >> he will be tried, but the question is where.

his alleged crimes took place in computers in london, but he is wanted in connecticut. this is where his website servers were based and this is where u.s. prosecutors say he should face justice. but he says the metropolitan police sent his case to america when he could have been prosecuted at home. >> the outsourced my case to the americans and asked them to keep my extradition. as a result of that, i have been in this nightmare. >> the police deny wrongdoing and the crown says that he cannot be charged. there will determine next month whether or not he can be sent to america. >> the british news broadcast a " sky news" has admitted that it has packed into the accounts of those accused of criminal activity. they passed this evidence on to police and insists they were

acting in the public interest. >> the closest it got to the hacking scandal was reportedly from its newsroom. today, it was the news with the revelation that journalists were authorized to break the lock and hacked into e-mails in pursuit of a story. john door when sent e-mails to darwin sent e-n garlan mails to his wife. the head of news wrote a " we stand by these actions as editorially justified." there are rare occasions when it is justified for a journalist to an offense in the public

interest. >> of course, is down to the discretion of the police and whether or not they take this forward to court. once it as to court, it is in the hands of a judge and maybe a jury. >> many awaiting for the inquiry into standards and the crown prosecution service to provide guidance on such matters. >> i think this story underlines the importance that this is not just about phone hacking, but obtaining information illegally. there are other methods, e-mail hacking being one of them. >> for rupert murdoch, it is anotherritation. fskyeb is already under investigation. police meanwhile said that inquiries were ongoing as to how the e-mails were obtained.

>> he was known as the father of a loud. jim marshall, the man who helped to shape the sound of rock, has died at the age of 88. ♪ >> jimi hendrix, just one of the legendary rock guitarist who swore on the marshall amped. so did eric! that is inserted eric clapton and led zeppelin. >> as far as smashing of the cabinet is concerned, it was just the clock on the front with the speakers. he just tore it. you just put a new speaker front on. >> jim marshall was the man who put the real power into the world's most noisy art form. it came out in 1962, set out to

create the world's dirty is sound. the secret was old-fashioned valves made in russia. ♪ you will find marshall lamps where the rock music plays. he said he never met a deaf and guitarist. they are still popular with the latest generation of musicians. >> everybody who has picked up an electric guitar has at least once plugged into a marshal amped. it is related to rock-and-roll. but it can be bluesy as well. i am a blues guitarist and i had used martial amps for years. >> he gave millions to charity. he has now gone to a better place which just got louder. >> you have been watching newsday from the bbc from london

and singapore. >> make sense of international news @ bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vt., and honolulu. newman's own foundation, union bank. ell.shal >> this is kim. he is about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we are developing more efficient fuels in countries

like malaysia to get the most out of our energy resources. let's use energy more efficiently. let's go. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet lo