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>> frustration over europe's food poisoning is mounting. officials consider $150 million aid for farmers. >> in the grandson of a german and i love the country, but it's clear that the german authorities in this case have rushed in without due caution. >> welcome to gmt i am naga munchetty. also in the program, 01 hundred 20 security personnel are killed in -- 120 security personnel are killed in a syrian town.

life-and-death on the front line. british troops reportedly tension and terror of combat duty in afghanistan. midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 1:00 p.m. in luxembourg, where europe's agriculture ministers are meeting. after almost two weeks, 22 people have died and two thousand have been struck by illness. nobody has been able to work out where the bacteria originated. the european commission has warned against spreading unjustified fears. the damage has been done. farmers are struggling to sell their produce and are now demanding compensation. this report from hamburg -- >> it's not getting any easier for the german authorities. over the weekend, they identified this farm 60 miles south of hamburg as the likely

source for the e. coli outbreak sweeping across europe. instead of relief at locating the origin of the crisis, there's no confusion. green sprouts grow here are tested, but early results show they're not contaminated after all. the farm is not fully in the clear, but the negative results are not good news for officials try to get on top of the outbreak. agriculture ministers from the european union 27 member states are meeting for emergency talks in luxembourg to discuss food safety concerns and the growing economic implications of this crisis. russia maintains a ban against all eu vegetable imports and spain is repeating its demands for compensation. spanish vegetable farmers are struggling to fill their order books after a cucumber farmers were wrongly accused of being the source of the e. coli. >> i would like to stress that

national authorities june not rush to give information on the source of the infection, which is not proven by analysis. as this spreads unjustified fears in the population all over europe and creates problems for our food producers selling products in the eu and outside of the eu. >> the numbers presenting themselves are slowing, but in germany, health services are already overstretched. many are hoping for their testing will provide a positive answer to the increasingly desperate question of where this outbreak started and when it will end. >> joined on the phone now by diego lopez. thank you very much for joining me. how do you think they crisis has

been handled by the german authorities? >> i think -- first of all, i would like to say that germany -- a dreadful health crisis. they have our solidarity. i think that is the first question. i think we have not create new problems -- accusing, for example, the spanish cucumbers or other products of being the origin of disease.

in that way, we create new problems without resolving the former problems on the ground. that is the lesson. >> you mention it has created more problems. explain how the spanish farming industry has been affected. >> it has been a complete disaster. the accusations coming from german authorities created -- panic, in relation with the spanish products and paralyzed of the production of crews coming from spain all over europe. not only spanish products, but

many other european products. the first accusation left in efficient resents -- left in efficient reasons. this has to be compensated. that has to be our message today. >> how much compensation do you need? $150 million has been talked about. is that enough? >> i think it is an enormous amount of money that was lost by spanish producers. the calculations of the amount of money to calculate, to fix, technically, but the question today in brussels -- the median

-- is to adopt a solution. >> spanish eu secretary of state, thank you very much for giving us your views today. take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today. people in the syrian town of jisr al-shughour say they fear a slaughteter. protesters posted online messages saying they fear there could be large loss of life. middle east editor has this report. >> syrian state tv has been showing this, women asking for the army to come into jisr al- shughour, demanding protection,

saying they have been attacked rooftops.s from root crop they have also been showing a video designed to back the regime's consistent message that it is dealing with an armed insurrection. it cannot be confirmed by the bbc. foreign journalists are not allowed into the country. so many people have been killed by anti-regime forces, it seems that in that area, at least an armed insurrection is what is happening. the interior minister went on tv and promised tough action and what he called a decisive response. there is also plenty of evidence of continuing unarm to protest. this is video sent out of a country in the center of

damascus with today's date on a placard. on friday, a big protests were reported from hama. >> president bashar al-assad is under increasing pressure. the campaign human rights watch said his forces have been killing and torturing with complete impunity. the report said the actions resulted in crimes against humanity and said the un security council should take action. there are fears that the reported killings of syrian security forces by armed demonstrators will be used to justify even tougher action against protesters -- whether or not they carry weapons. >> libyan rebels are hoping for more support from nato. apache helicopters and their french equivalent began operations over libya last friday. it has not carried out any attacks in this area.

rockets continue to cause damage to civilian targets and rebels on the front line. from there, this report. >> a filled ambulance carrying another casualty from the front line. he was one of almost 20 meant to be injured or killed. another ambulance and volunteers like this medical student had eight lucky escape when another rocket hit a mosque -- had a lucky escape when another rocket e.t a moscoqu >> this is near us. >> we are inside. >> plumes of smoke mark the places where rockets have hit. this growing impatience among fighters the british and french helicopters are not taking more effective action against them.

they seized six of muammar gaddafi's soldiers and killed others. >> they want to kill us. they want to kill us and they want to go to misrata. >> do you think helicopters would make a difference? >> yes. it would make a big difference for us. >> for now, the rebels are strengthening their defenses. been containers, getting ready to form a new front line. >> the front line is moving forward container by container and they're hoping that british and french helicopters clear the rocket launchers out of their way. in misrata, the first volunteer police officers after a fast track training scheme. the rebel side is looking more and more like a functional government every day. >> there has been more violence

in the south of yemen days after ali abdullah saleh left the country for medical treatment in saudi arabia. at least 15 people have been killed in heavy clashes in the town between government forces and what officials say are al- qaeda militants. japan's official nuclear safety agency has doubled its estimate of how much radiation escaped in the fukushima nuclear plant after it was crippled by the earthquake in march. the revised radiation figures are 15% of what was released at chernobyl. tons of ash have fallen to us near the country's border with argentina. a thick layer of ash is forcing local authorities to bring in bulldozers and other heavy equipment to clear cars.

coming up on gmt -- british troops record the hague and terror -- the hate and terror of combat in afghanistan. a united states congressman has admitted sending a lewd photograph of himself to a young woman using social media. anthony weiner, democrat of new york, said he did a dumb thing and admitted his actions. he made it clear he was not going to resign. >> it took just one week for anthony weiner to go from this -- >> this is a twitter hoax. >> this is a picture of me and i sent it. >> he delivered an abject apology to his wife and the media in blunt language.

>> once i realized i posted it to twitter, i panicked. i took it down and said that i had been hacked. i have exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years. >> among those women -- >> i liked that he stood for something. >> she said she received increasingly risque photos and she sent these in return. >> he was eager to hear if i wanted him. >> many of his constituents seem willing to forgive. >> hopefully he will get through it and move on. >> the disclosure cannot help his campaign or his role as a leading candidate for new york city mayor. anthony weiner insists that despite the controversy, he will not resign. >> he also says he does not

believe any government resources were used to send the messages. that may be a key point of congress pursues an investigation into what even the congressman has called weinergate. >> you are watching gmt on "bbc world news." . i am naga munchetty. the european union is working on the aid package of up to $150 million to compensate farmers who lost earnings because of the e. coli outbreak. residents of the syrian town of fear bloodshed if security forces tried to regain control. time for the business news. many are excited about this. >> nintendo is unveiling its new

video game machine in los angeles this tuesday. it has provided little details so far, beyond saying it will offer a new approach to home consoles. its predecessor, the wii, certainly did that, but the stock has crashed back down again. what we can expect from nintendo today -- >> it is a closely guarded secret. the motion controller, again, will be key. we think there will be a build in touchscreen in the middle of it. you'll have the big screen where

you play the main game. perhaps if you have a racing screen where the controller becomes a wheel -- you'll have that on the little screen. >> explain to me where it is in the market at the moment and what it is trying to achieve. >> i think nintendo needs to reinvent its lniche. it did it with the wii. nintendo said, there's a huge untapped market out there of what one could call casual gamers -- family members, like to have simple games. they made their money on that. for many years, they al sold the playstation -- out-sold the playstation. now they have been declining. the large part of that -- apple

has caught them with its launch of the ipad and ipod touch continues to capture the casual gaming market. >> the casual gaining market is quite interesting. they buy your products, but they do not by much software. they tend to restrict the number of games. >> not necessarily. apple has changed the model. with the nintendo and the other big game manufacturers -- with the apple store, you pay two or 3 pounds for it. people go through games quite rapidly. they pay for extras. even if the game is free, -- angry bird might be free, but you have the add-ons. >> is there much growth potential out there?

>> i think there is, but it would have to have something truly innovative. if they just have a nice high definition screen -- so what. they need to be innovative with the hand-held controller and a touch screen on that. >> australia has kept its interest-rate on hold. the decision came one week after data showed it suffered its biggest gdp drop in two decades at the start of the year. analysts say there is still a good chance of a hike to help rein in inflation. the prime minster of greece has suggested he might hold a referendum over further austerity measures. the package on wednesday it was sent to parliament. more than 80,000 people protested in athens. and the dutch grocery giant has

posted a $425 million first quarter profit and strong than expected sales in the united states. the british entertainment chain has refinanced its debt with its banks, giving it breathing room to carry out a change in strategy. the pagoyota with held the post earthquake outlook when it posted results last month. the markets are positive, but not a huge amount. we have the mining stocks and the finance stocks moving up. we see the market's trading within a range. that's the ftse, anyway. >> now the left-wing former army officer has won the presidential

election in peru. the right wing candidate recognize that she had lost by a margin of around 3%. the incumbent president congratulationcongratulated himl peruvians to support the new government. >> the president elect meets his rival. one of the most closely watched contests. the campaign was often acrimonious. in the end, she lost by just 3% of the vote. >> during the entire campaign, i always said i would accept the results at the will of the peruvian people. humala is the winner, and we accept the official results. i wish him good luck. >> meanwhile, investors reacted

to mr. humala's victory by dumping stocks. if forced officials to suspend trading. for financial markets, nervous that the president-elect would try to control the economy. the supporters -- jubilation at his victory and the promise to better share the country's wealth. >> very few of us have any idea of what it is like to be a front-line soldier on active service in a major war. now, a series of recordings have been released by the u.k. ministry of defence that gives a unique insight into the lives of british soldiers in afghanistan. for most, it was their first experience at war. it was filmed on a helmet camera by the platoon's sgt. a 19-year-old was killed in the

taliban ambush. understandably, you may find some of the report distressing. >> some are little more than boys. they arrived in helmund in 2007. by the end of the tour, one of them would be dead and many others injured. the summer would change their lives. the sergeant was filming the whole six-month tour of what was for many their first taste of battle. >> the town was completely dead. we knew something was about to happen, but we did not know when. >> the base had already seen fighting between the taliban and british troops. they knew that friday, the 13th of april would be a tough day. the major operation against the insurgents just weeks after arriving in helmund. >> the taliban.

>> where? >> remember walking down an alleyway and thinking this is my first contact. i looked at chris and he did the rock-on signal to me. >> we got the upper hand. he turned and looked at me. next thing, man down. man down. >> where? >> where? >> two of the front. two of the back. life-and-death. do not walk. >> he said, "gentlemen, i'm

sorry. chris gray is dead." >> i did not realize that i have his blood on my shirt. when i carried his body armor, that is when it really hit me. i just broke down and started crying. >> as the end of their tour, they renamed their base after their fallen comrade. today, footage of the tort remains a remarkable firsthand account -- footage of that tour remains a remarkable first an account. >> the top story this hour, the european union is working on an aid package worth $150 million in order to compensate european farmers after many of them -- because of the ongoing e. coli crisis. that is it for us on gmt. we will be back soon.

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anwide range of s.mpie what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles