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>> and now, bbc world news. >> the violence has taken the syrian city of homs. will it change with the arrival of observers? new flood warnings for the philippines days after a thousand people died after a tropical storm. protest and to be in india as thousands demand an end to corruption. welcome to bbc world news. i'm david eades. also -- we have a special report from the region where a great ape's last habitat is under serious threat. and why this iconic cathedral in paris was not always a top attraction and the french capital.

18 of arab league observers has arrived in the syrian city of homs to see if the violent crackdown has come to a halt -- a team of arab league observers. protesters are reportedly taking to the streets for a sit-in protest. if you hours ago at least 20 people were killed in the city from heavy shelling. the protests have lasted for nine months with thousands killed and there is no sign it is coming to a close. or correspondent in beirut is monitoring event. he says there is clear evidence the syrian army has been carrying out attacks in homs. >> there is little doubt the syrian army has been using mortars and tanks because of the kind of damage you cannot fake, that we saw in youtube images yesterday, it shows traces of the explosion debris all over the place, people lying dead in pools of blood having been hit by shrapnel or just the

percussion of the explosions. definitely it has been happening. what we do not know is the degree of resistance the people are putting up -- or degree of resistance, because the syrian army would not be engaged in attacking places like this because they have become no go areas if there was not armed resistance going on. that is the kind the puzzle for us. we could see to some extent with the syrian army is doing, or the security forces, but we do not know what degree of provocation or attacks on them, but there are military funerals just about every day. >> difficult for us to work out. what about the observers from the arab league? it will not be easy for them, is it? >> it is going to be very difficult. unless they kind of maintain a permanent presence h permanent presenceooms, because as soon as they turn their back things could revert. already one or two of the activist groups are putting out

detailed scenarios of what the authorities have done with these tanks. they have named schools and other places where they have hidden tanks away on a university campus. some of these tanks they say has been taken away, just five minutes strive to get back. >> i should just say, if you want more on the international efforts to bring the violence in syria to a close, you can head straight to our website, bbc.com/news and jim, above all, is giving the view of what the main hopes and fears to the arab mission to syria are. let us give you some of the news now. the prime minister of guinea- bissau described an attack on the general staff headquarters and military bases in the capital as an attempted coup. carlos gomez says many arrests have been made in relation to the attack. among those detained with the navy's chief of staff. last week, a rebel general who tried to seize control of the

army was arrested. an ethiopian court sentenced two swedish journalist to 11 years in prison for helping of promoting the outlawed national liberation front rebel group. a man was arrested as well -- along with the photographer in an ethiopian region in tonight. police in mexico arrested one of the alleged leaders of the countries most powerful drug cartels. philippe de cabrera, also known by the nickname "the college grad" was accused of being charged -- in charge of security for the billionaire head of a cartel, guzman, who is wanted for a series of murders and kidnappings. just days after a tropical storm killed almost 1500 people -- actually, i understand it has been downgraded to about 1200

to 1300 in the philippines. the weather forecasters have issued a new flood warning for the country. it is feared thunderstorms across the southern island monday night could lead to flash floods. the number of people known to have died in the disaster could yet go up. the coast guard sending it is still recovering bodies from the seed. joining us on the phone is the mayor of one of the city's worst affected by the threat -- floods. thank you very much for talking to us. at what might -- must be a desperate time for you. what do you need above all? >> yes, sir, well, you can see we are recovering, trying our best to rise above where we are right now. as of the moment, more than 5000 families are inside evacuation

centers. they need food, clothing, water, medicine, milk, and all kinds of help that they need. but as we are doing this, we are also attending to the more important solution, or attending to their housing or been rehabilitation settlement and relocation. so as of the moment, our concentration now is to look for a land where they may be resettled. as of today, we identified more than 20 -- where more than 5000 families can be relocated. as of the moment, there are 473 dead in our city and 173 cannot even be identified. 102 are still missing.

recently, there has been no retrieval -- no survivors already, and they are feared and presumed dead. overall, a total of 875 dead in our own city alone. that is a very large number. so, going back, we are now looking -- at a housing concerns of our affected brothers and sisters. and we are very happy that the national government is helping us out. it and there is even international -- and there are even international donors, very kind brothers -- like today, we have the organization of islamic conference countries, and a pledge of support. >> i hope the pledges of support continue to come in. we are thinking of you in what must be a desperate the

difficult time. thank you very much, indeed. >> a freight train has been swept off a bridge in flooding caused by ice like -- by a cyclone in northern australia. the driver and co-driver of the train were trapped in a for a while but they have been rescued and flown to a hospital near the northern city of darwin. there are also suggestions or been media reports that has a discount -- chemicals escape from the train, obviously straight in the water, the train was transporting iron ore to dar one. at a 20-carriage train coming off the tracks as it tried to get across the bridge after the tropical cyclone. what a mess. once again, the issue of corruption in india is set to take center stage as parliament considers a bill to set up a correction ombudsman, after a campaigner went on hunger strike

and he will start a three-day fast are today saying the legislation is not tough enough. our reporter has been to a rally in his support in mumbai. >> thousands of people have come out in support -- protesting against the anti-corruption bill that has been tabled in the parliament. the indian parliament is discussing and debating this bill. he says the bill was weak and useless. leading authorities said the final word will be that of the parliament. he did a contingent -- it similar fast 12 days in august. at that time, thousands of people joined him, asking for a strict anti-christian war -- watchdog. today 7000 people have come to support him. security is extremely tight.

after this three-day hunger fast, he plans to go to delhi replants to sit in protest outside of the house of parliament president. >> to japan, where the government says it is easing its self-imposed ban on exporting weapons. it does not sell any overseas and only develops them within the united states but new rules will allow it to work with other nations, including australia, and provide military equipment for humanitarian missions. existing business development. >> good reason, given the problems of the economy. exacerbated with everything from fukushima. >> fukushima was operated by the jeep is are operated by tokyo tepco.ic power,

there was enormous debt this station. tepco has been told by the japanese government you have to consider the possibility of taking a $13 billion cash injection, possibly in the summer. talking about the fact of nationalization. in the last few moments, the japanese trade minister said it would be -- all possibilities will be considered. but $13 billion is a pretty eye- watering some of money. but it is not just the cleanup of the compensation, the victims, but people who lost their lives and livelihood. talking very serious figures. this was one of the worst nuclear disaster since -- japan's 25 years. >> interesting views and the u.s., heading into an election year. looking for signs of real economic revival. >> we do not know yet. but we should know in a couple

of hours. two economists in the united states put together an index, case-shiller -- house prices might have dropped by 3.2%, but went with it -- what we are looking at is the weight of increase. not necessarily a bad thing go forward. unemployment, even though it has gone down, there are still a lot of people who have not got a job and a struggle and to pay mortgages. >> thank you very much. thank you for watching abc world news with me, david eades. more news, including the afghan president hamid karzai naming three new election commissioners after criticism over the polling process. the richest countries in the world are simply not doing enough to respond to a large scale disasters, so says the british international development ministry. it is warning that the number of

earthquakes and others humanitarian disasters is likely to increase next year and wealthier nations must pay their fair share for the u.n.'s emergency relief fund. hop >> last year, 263 million people lives were blighted by floods, famines, and other natural catastrophes, and more. this year's drought in the horn of africa left millions fighting for survival. the british government says with the scale of such disasters only likely to increase in the coming year, the world remains unprepared. without giving any names, accusing some rich western nations of not doing enough to fund the united nations emergency response system, designed to speed up relief with one central fund. but many countries still choose to give much of their aid

bilaterally. despite large -- of money to help those suffering in the horn of africa, the international system was seen as slow to respond, putting lives at risk. >> the main point is if you actually put money into a fund in advance of what are going to be more predictable emergencies around the world, such as floods or earthquakes, you can save a lot of lives by being able to respond very quickly as a result. >> britain has already pledged to contribute 20 million pounds to the un emergency fund in 2012, but the fund faces a shortfall of 45 million pounds. the government warned future funding depends on the new response to such crises. >> hello, and david eades. this is abc world news, and these are the headlines. a team of arab league observers

arrived in the syrian city of homs to see if the violent crackdown against protesters has come to a halt. we have been speaking to one eyewitness in the city of homs. omar shakir says syrian forces have continued attacking. >> that are monitors are arriving in the city, but the assad army continues the shelling, especially in an area between the bridge's. >> sorry, it is a little bit difficult hearing you. since we know observers have now come to homs, in the course of the last few hours, have you seen any change? >> no, there is nothing difference. the assad regime and just tries

to hide. you can hear the gunfire shots now. they'd try to hide the security force, replacing their ideas with new ideas for police. >> it is if any use to you, to the people love homs, to know there are arab league observers in your city, to have a look at what the military are doing? >> until now we just heard they arrived in the center of homs, but we do not know if that is true or not. >> tell me, if you can, what are conditions like for living in

homs now? >> the conditions? >> in the city. >> yes, yes. to live here in homs, you are a project of shahid, because you know there is always gunfire, all with shelling. you do not know if you can make it. in my house, they shall my house -- shell my house, and luckily i survive and luckily my family wasn't in the house. >> one view of the situation in homs in syria. let's move on now. a rattans -- oranutans are the

only great aid exclusively in southeast asia but their habitat has been shrinking for years. mostly confined to indonesian islands but the spread of palm oil plantations have led to hundreds of killed each year -- hundreds of them killed each year. where the clash between humans and great apes is most marked. >> this eight-year old would never survive without a keeper pearson lost among workers chased her away from a palm oil plantations. she was brought to the sanctuary and for the first few months she fell ill. it is not clear whether her mother is still alive. now the baby depends on rosa for care. >> she usually cries when i leave, so i need to always be

close to her. >> 20 years ago, most of the orangutans brought to the country was saved from people's homes. one was rescued from a circus. but there has been a disturbing trend. more and more of them brought here has dropped from -- then brought from palm oil plantations, and environmentalists say they aren't urgent need of the rescue because they face in injured or killed on the plantation. i traveled out to the area where there have been a number of reports orangutans recently. for miles on end, palm trees where force stood. we ask the workers with of a herd of the killings. but all of them denied any knowledge of the horrific acts. palm oil firms have also this associated themselves from the deaths of the apes. but finally, one of the workers spoke.

>> i have co-workers who said they found an orangutan and given to the company and will pay $100. the company was to get rid of them because they see them as pests. >> conservationists have recorded footage of orangutans the found beaten and bruised on the plantations. this one suffered grave injuries to his head and legs. and could not move until the activists came to help. but environmentalists say it is not the workers who are to blame, it is the palm oil companies. orangutans in the wild will become extinct in 12 years because of the way the plantations and the mining companies are expanding. this island is a habitat. >> back in the central news, the rescued ones wait until they can return to the wild. many have already been here for years. emerson, now to unruly to play

with others, has spent nine years in the sanctuary. these great apes would not be the return to the homes again until indonesia's forests are safe once more. >> the husband of britain that it queen elizabeth, prince philip, has left the hospital where he spent the last four nights, over christmas, of course, being treated for a heart problem. of the prince is 90 years old and he was smiling and waving as he left the hospital in eastern england. he was taken and on friday to receive treatment for a blocked coronary artery. he made the journey to the queen's estate in eastern england where his family are all gathered for the christmas holidays. most famous and most photographed buildings, the cathedral,sacre ceour, both political and religious monument. as christian frazier reports, it

is not always been a source of inspiration for some french people. >> even on a murky winter's day, the white domes of sacre ceuor so aluminate the skyline. you cannot as much visit the basilica, the climate. 10 million people make the ascent for the spectacular views from the top. but some corners remain behind locked doors. like its towering -- virtually hidden from public view. and every friday, bills will call the faithful to prayer -- 15 minutes before the afternoon mass. this dome was laid in 1875, officially to commemorate the franco-prussian war. it was also to reinforce the image of the catholic church, whose power was waning. significantly during the 40 years that it took to build a, another great monument of --

appeared on the skyline, challenging and only the imposing white of sacre coeur but found in the principles. in the late 19th century, france was divided between good and bad -- those whose lives were alone and by science and medicine and those who look backwards to god and religion. in 1889 they expressed the newfound faith in progress and democracy in the shape of the eiffel tower. despite those divisions, one of three people lived through the 44 years it took them to build the basilica would have paid something toward its construction. and what a project was, even building the foundations? tourists -- 83 chefs were driven into the rock to keep it up right. following the break out of the first world war, the constant -- consecration of the puzzle co was delayed until 1919. worshipers prayed on the spot every minute for the past 125

years. today, high above their heads, the artist ramon gomez sees a different kind of the enlightenment -- the inspiration to paint. then i could spend hours and hours of there. i could even sleep here. i would not mind staying appear without food as long as i have my paintings in this place. this could keep in man alive. it could keep me alive. >> from the dome, the eye is always drawn to the imperial statute of the eiffel tower -- stature of the eiffel tower but from other parts, it is the brilliance of sacre coeur stands out. perhaps in the 21st century there is a place for both. >> afghan president hamid karzai named three new commissioners to the independent electoral commission, a body that faced quite some criticism. joining me from kubota -- kabul

is caroline wyatt. what difference you think it will make? >> a thing the attention -- a lot of debate amongst the young afghans here in kabul -- is what will happen in the titular wind -- in particular when the very outspoken and independent minded human rights commissioner goes, who has been a critic of election fraud and also abuses of the past. as he and two colleagues leave the commission there is a fear of the thousand-page report looking back 23 years -- war crimes, atrocities, naming people, that that report might perhaps not see the light of day or perhaps not see the light of day in its current form because it means people who are still in the influential positions. today, meeting opposition of civil society to see what happens next.

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