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>> welcome to newsday on the bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. here are the headlines. the fight against malaria. scientists could be losing the battle. he is known as the merchant of death. this arms dealer is sentenced to 25 years in a u.s. prison. >> days before the deadline for a cease-fire in syria, the government launches fresh attacks. the coast guard finally sinks the ghost ship that spent a year drifting across the pacific. it is alive and in the morning here. >> it is 4:00 in the morning here. broadcasting to viewers around the world. this is newsday.

doctors say they are in a race against time to halt the spread of malaria. a strain of the disease has emerged on the border of thailand that is resistant to most treatments. experts fear if it cannot be defeated, many thousands of lives could be lost. the strains betting on to india and africa. the managing director at the office of the un special envoy says the world must act quickly. >> it is unclear how long it would take to spread over india and africa. four years ago, when it first pettit emerging in cambodia, we are announcing it on the burmese border. -- are now seeing it on the burmese border. we could see it spread to parts of india and africa. that is if we do not do something about it. >> we are. >> new dennison is being

developed? >> new medicine is being developed. there are two products that have been approved. there are products coming down the pipe in the next couple of years. in addition, the world health organization launched a very aggressive plan for containment. if it is executed, we will be able to slow the spread before it gets to the shores of india or africa. >> what makes the spectacular straying so bad? how is it able to defeat the medicines we have? oldestria is mankind's foe. the trick has always been to stay a step ahead of it. the chromosomes in the parasite to mutate and do grow resistant to the medications we have. one of the reasons for the --

mutation is the spread of unregulated medications in drugs. in many unregulated shops, they are used in oral form, not combined with another drug. we feel that has accelerated the spread. the trick is to make sure we take this drug in combination form while monitoring -- finding ways we stamp them out. >> malaria, if anyone is going to one of the areas, what would your advice be? >> my advise would be if they -- would be the same if they are going to any area. just because there is resistance does not mean the drugs are useless. what we understand is that the parasite clearance, how long it stays in your bloodstream, it

takes longer for it to clear. not that the drugs are useless. that is not true. we do not want people to panic. we do not want people to feel as if there is no other option. what we want you to understand is we need to scale up a plan to monitor and maintain a resistance. >> the office of the un special envoy for malaria. viktor bout, the merchant of death, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail. he was found guilty of conspiring to sell weapons including surface-to-air missiles. prosecutors described him as a businessman of the most dangerous order. we report from new york. >> the notorious russian arms dealer has learned his fate, 25 years in jail. that is the sentence he agreed -- received for agreeing to sell weapons to colombian

rebels. it is a lie, he shouted out. the former officer was snared by a sting operation. the rebels were actually u.s. informant. >> the judge could have given him life. he is grateful to her. considering the facts and circumstances, he intends to move forward in the court of appeals and it to the united states supreme court. >> bout became famous for using his net worth of cargo planes to fly weapons around the world. by supplying arms, he field conflict across africa. the film "board of walord of wad on him. russia claimed the u.s. was

politically motivated. bout's lawyers criticized the way this otis set up a sting operation. american prosecutors said he was ready, willing, and able to arm terrorists. the man once called the merchant of death is beginning his sentence, confined to prison, unable to deal and weapons. bbc news, new york. >> there has been more violence in syria. >> that is right. syrian government forces have launched a brutal attack in a suburb of damascus just before a brokered cease-fire is due to take affect. an activist calling it one of the most violent assaults since the uprising began. the special envoy, kofi annan, said an alarming number of casualties are still being reported. from beirut, we report.

[gunfire] >> just a half an hour from damascus. schelling's and shootings. just four days in the deadline for it to call off its crackdown, the regime is pulling out all the stops. activists say there is a real state of war. even closer to the city center, and verified video shows large numbers of troops engaged in a crackdown. no sign of the withdrawal the syrians said they have begun. the fines to the regime continues. -- defiance to the regime continues. they tried to raise the rebel flag. far away to the north, there were also in action, attacking several towns.

the third biggest city in central syria continues to take the brunt of the battering. all courses have been shelled and rocketed four days. clashes go on. rebel fighters seemed to have dug in. some of them will go to the national hospital on tuesday. under the peace plan, rebel fighters are supposed to stop their attacks within two days. everything depends on the government complying with the tuesday deadline. kofi annan briefing the u.n. was concerned about the continuing bloodshed. >> all points of the plan are crucial. what is most urgent, the need to end the violence. clearly, the violence is still continuing. alarming levels of casualties

continue to be reported. military operations and civilian operations have not stopped. >> russia played a key role in securing syrian compliance. it is critical of western and arab support for the opposition, especially those calling for it to be armed. >> it is clear as day that even if the opposition is armed, they will not defeat the syrian army. there will simply be slaughter for many years. >> despite the imminent peace agreement, civilians are still fleeing across the border, like these families crossing into turkey by night. they have been shelling my home town, i had to run away to turkey. some have already fled to turkey, lebanon. if the plan fails, there may be many more to follow. abc news, beirut.

>> the u.s. coast guard has managed to sink a ship because of the danger it poses to other ships. what made it even more remarkable, the ship has been drifting across the pacific since last year's tsunami in japan. we have more. >> lome, haunted, abandoned, that is how this vessel is described. such language turning this fishing cooler into a metaphor for japan's a tsunami. it was last march when the ship from its this moorings. it drifted across the pacific. it will not be the last piece of tsunami wreckage to make the journey. 5 million tons of debris is estimated to have washed out to sea. much of it is expected to head for the north american coast. the united states coastguard say they have no choice. it has no lights or

communication systems. there are fears it could still have diesel on board. the effect of pollution is minimal. and the fuel would quickly dissipate. >> for more on that, i am joined by petty officer from the u.s. coast guard and alaska. thank you for joining us. which meant it did the u.s. coast guard used to sink this -- which method did the u.s. coast guard used to sink this method? >> we utilize a high-powered cannon to puncture holes and cause it to take on water and sank. -- sink. >> did the u.s. coast guard seek the permission of the japanese government and the japanese ship and air before it a bit of this operation?

-- ship owner before it took on this operation? >> we did contact them. there was no interest. at that point, it was considered a derelict and a hazard to shipping. we needed to act accordingly. >> now that the ship is sinking, what is going to happen to the debris? >> the ship sank at 6:15 alaska time. it sank in over 9,000 feet of water. there has been a little bit of fuel. it should quickly dissipate. any debris we will collect. >> petty officer david moseley and alaska. thank you so much for joining us. you were watching newsday on the bbc. still to come, the economy moves

to the center stage in the french election with a stark warning from sarkozy. >> he was known as the father of loud, we look back at the legacy of jim marshall. it is time for our newspaper review where we look at the stories making headlines around the world. we start with this toy dominating european papers. the punishment being doled out to spain. reporting on the follette after the countries risk premium rose to its highest level the times analyzes the increase in americanization of british politics after the candidates in london's mayoral elections disclose the tax records. -- disclosed their tax records. the paper says swiss authorities have agreed to pay germany billions of dollars on funds hidden there by german tax

dollars to restore the image of its banks. gulf news highlights the fall in u.s. jobless claims to the lowest level since 2008. the figure comes from a government report that shows healing in the legal market -- in the labor market. this is newsday on the bbc. >> the headlines this hour. disturbing data. scientists could be losing the battle to contain malaria. the russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. >> the presidential election in france. the incumbent, nicolas sarkozy, unveiled his manifesto. reelect him 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 before the first round of elections. he has edged up in the polls. currently, he is not the favorite to win. today, the french president used his manifesto launched to issue a stark warning, reelect him or face the debt crisis that has hit greece it is but in spain. >> if we roll back even the slightest from our commitments, it will lead to a crisis of trust. we will face the same situation as spain. >> president sarkozy -- sarkozy shows himself as a strong leader. he depicts his opponent as being ill-prepared. he stresses he is the only leader who can be trusted. his focus in the past few weeks has been on security, since the

shooting in to-do's -- france. there have been raids against islamic militants. his main rival is the socialist. he believes the federal economy can help him win the election. he has -- the fragile economy can help him win the election. in a tight race, the president is raising fear, a change in leader leading to the crisis flared up again. -- flaring up again. >> stepping up security after north korea is scheduled rocket launch. four ministers will meet this weekend. they plan to launch a satellite into orbit on the back of a long-range rocket. we have the career representative for the asia foundation. he says the launch needs to be seen with more perspective. >> i think there is an

overreaction that is taking place in washington and especially in tokyo. >> what role can china play in order for them to stop the north koreans from launching this rocket? >> they could stop north korea from launching it by threatening to cut off assistance to north korea. i do not think there are any conditions under which china would do that. beijing has shown us that no matter what north korea does, they can live with it. >> for north korea, do you see them backing them on from this rocket launched which will take place in about a week and a half? >> no. unless there are technical difficulties, i would say there is a 99.9 percent chance they

would launch. what i am not so sure of is what is the third stage would be successful. that is the purpose of this test. they tried in 1998. they tried in 2009. they failed. i would not that this is going to succeed. i do not think any country has the capability of intercepting the missile. i think that is low. i did not think the test will work. >> if it does, what is your call? what could happen after this situation? what could be the repercussions in terms of relations between china, south korea, and north korea? >> it would make north korea more lethal? it would mean that they would potentially be able to hit american territory, even in hawaii or alaska. i do not think they would have

any intention of doing that. sooner or later, we will have to return to the negotiating table. we cannot watch -- launch a pre- emptive strike. we do not want a war. we will have no to this but to find a way to negotiate with them. >> from the asia foundation in seoul. the government has come up against an unusual challenge after announcing plans to build a highway through an ancient burial ground. activists are calling for the preservation of the chinese cemetery which they say is rich in cultural heritage. we report. >> just a few of the estimated 100,000 tombstones in singapore is cemetery. rather than resting in peace, some of the dead have to be moved to make way for an eight- lane highway. some of the most prominent

citizens and pioneers are buried here. the place also has significant cultural value that is unique to singapore. soldiers guarding the chinese tim. even though the government has made some concessions, it seems its days are numbered. heritage, habitat, and the concerns of the afterlife will have to make way for more earthly development. this has several activist groups up in arms. >> it is a repository of singapore's history for 150 years. 25% of our population -- 12 species endangered have been identified. >> the government has made concessions, such as a bridge over the most ecologically sensitive areas. they need to enjoy a good use of the land.

it can potentially house homes for 50,000 people. the man who was once managing singapore's public housing as the challenges. >> when we increase the population, something has to give. the location, the accessibility and convenience to the population. it is right in the middle. >> families are coming together to pay respects to their ancestors during the chinese festival, burning paper money to ensure their relatives will have a prosperous afterlife. it is customs like these that many fear will die out because of the development. it will be replaced by highways and homes that add to the prosperity of the current generation. bbc news, singapore.

>> the italian government has launched a multi-million dollar project to preserve one of the greatest archeological treasures, the ruins of pompeii. reports from rome. >> they are an archaeological plunder, a treasure for italy and the world, the ruins of pompeii. they were lost for centuries, buried when the volcano erupted some two dozen years ago. today, they attract vast numbers of tourists, drawn by a chance to see a piece of the roman world froze and in a moment of disaster. -- frozen in a moment of disaster. pompeii has been in a state of neglect and decline. part of the house of the bloody this came crashing down 18 months ago.

-- of the gladiators came crashing down 18 months ago. there have been other collapses. the crumbling of a walled late last year. nell, the government has decided to act. the prime minister launched what is being called the grand plan for pompeii. he promised that well over $100 million will be poured into preserving the ancient homes and villages. critics of the way the site is being managed have welcomed the project. they say it is just a start and what its needs to be -- in what needs to be a huge effort to save pompeii. >> he was known as the father of loud. jim marshall, the man who helped shape the sound of rock has died at the age of 88.

he pioneered the guitar amplifiers that were introduced in the 1960's. >> jimi hendrix, one of the legendary rock guitarist. so did eric clapton, of van halen, as for pete townshend, he is to destroy his onstage. >> he was very clever. the clock on the front of the speakers. he never damaged the speaker. they would put new speaker frames on them. >> jim marshall put the power into the of four. his first amp was designed in 1962 to produce a dear dear son. -- dirtier sound.

the secret, old fashioned fells made in russia. -- valves made in russia. you'll find marshall amps wherever rock music is played. he said he never met a death guitarist. they are still popular with the latest generation of musicians. >> everyone who has picked up an electric guitar has plugged into a marshall and. it is the sound of rock. it has been synonymous. it can get very busy as well. i am a blues guitar player. >> he helped shape rock music and give millions to charity. tonight, his colleagues said he had gone to a better place which had just gotten a whole lot louder. >> you have been watching newsday from the bbc here from london and singapore. stay with us.

>> 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, union bank, and shell. >> this is kim, about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we're developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources. let's use energy more efficiently. let's go.

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles. steves: the dramatic rock of cashel is one of ireland's most evocative sites. this was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries.

st. patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a.d. in around 1100, an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this monastic community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. it looked out then, as it does today, over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it ireland's best farmland. on this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland.