>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is 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? >> and now "bbc world news." >> militants opened fire on afghan officials visiting the village where a u.s. soldier killed 16 people. a cease-fire between is really forces and palestinian militants after four days of deadly violence. yahoo! accuses facebook of infringing its patents. welcome to "bbc world news." after months of trailing, president nicolas sarkozy leads the polls ahead of april's elections. how do you ward off evil spirits? the tools used by settlers in australia.

>> two of president hamid karzai's brothers are amongst those who have been fired on by afghanistan. since a u.s. soldier shot 16 civilians, the country has been on alert for reprisal. a government group is visiting the villages in kandahar. they themselves came under attack. afghan troops returned fire. there are conflicting reports about casualties, but there are suggestions and afghan soldier providing search security for the group has been killed. a former adviser to afghanistan's interior ministry told me the situation in the country is still very tense. >> the people are angry. they're asking for the public trial of the soldier who killed people in kandahar.

the attack is shocking, tragic, and damaging. shocking for afghan people. the military's soldier walks out of the base, fire on civilians, and kills women and children. it is damaging the relations between afghanistan, the u.s., and the international forces as a whole. it can put the mission in jeopardy. a few weeks ago, we had the burning of the koran at an airbase. now we have the u.s. soldier walking out and killing civilians. you feel like the ground is not very nice. this is coinciding at exactly the time when the taliban are preparing their spring offensive. this is a good, positive message for the taliban there to give. -- ben narrativtaliban narrativ.

now we've seen the of fired on president hamid karzai's brothers. >> do you have any information as to whether there are any casualties? >> there are unconfirmed reports. one, a detail security is killed and three others injured. there is no final report on the final conclusion. >> after four days of conflict, a new cease-fire has been reached between gaza militants and israel to halt all military activity. israeli air strikes have killed 25 palestinians and more than 200 rockets have been fired into israel by gaza militants. the cease-fire deal was brokered by each of. i asked rupert why this has come about now.

>> of the islamist government in gaza has been trying to put together a cease-fire since saturday night. it has proved more difficult than it was initially hoped. hamas and israel do not speak directly to each other. they have to go through the egyptian intelligence services. we understand that senior hamas officials and other officials went to cairo where they carried on these negotiations. they managed to reach a deal late last night. i think the sticking point was getting israel to commit that it would not carry out any more targeted killings against senior military leaders here in gaza. once they got that commitment, they were able to go through with a cease-fire during the night. >> a very difficult few days in the region. can you take us back and explain

what has been happening there since friday? what is the cause? >> this all began on friday afternoon when an israeli air strike hit a car in southern gaza, which was carrying the leader of a group called the popular resistance committee. israel claimed it had intelligence that that group was about to carry out an attack on israeli soil, so they said they had legitimate reasons to carry out that strike. the israelis clearly knew that would cause retaliation from gaza, and indeed it did. over 200 rockets were fired back at israel, mainly by islamic jihad and the popular resistance militants. the israelis fought back. we saw a couple of those

yesterday, where a rocket went out into the sky. within literally a minute, an israeli air strike targeting those airstrikes who fired the rockets. that's the pattern we've seen over the last few days. the problem has been trying to get both sides to call a halt. >> the international envoy to syria, kofi annan, has been meeting members in turkey. kofi annan says he expects a response today on concrete proposals he put forward. the u.n. general assembly says the number killed in the syrian uprising has now reached more than 8,000. police in bangladesh say 150 people are missing after a ferry capsized and sank. about 35 ansurvivors have been found. it's believed that the ferry collided with an oil tanker.

a u.s. drone has killed five militants in the remote tribal area of pakistan near the afghan border. the attack on the vehicle traveling along the border took place in south waziristan. now all the business. we are looking at the turbine tax. >> euro group ministers will be discussing this today in brussels. the financial transaction tax. george osborn has made it very clear where the u.k. stance. it believes that what this means is the tax would damage vital national interests. it also says brussels has no right to impose taxes on member states. it's estimated that more than 70% of the tax will be paid by firms in the u.k. you could argue he has a point. many other countries in the eurozone ahead

with this, especially france. >> china, a bit of a battle going on over resources. >> this is all about rare earth s. these are 17 special minerals escalated from the ground. they are used in fluorescent lamps and bones of an electric cars. the issue here is the united states, japan, and the eu are bringing a trade case against china. they say china is now controlling and restricting the amount of rare earth materials it's allowing out of the country and therefore damaging eu, japan, and u.s. economies. more on that and a few minutes. >> thank you very much for that. the >> one of rupert murdoch's most trusted british aid has been arrested.

rebecca brooks, the former chief executive of "news international" is being held on cause of perverting justice. her husband, the race horse trainer, charlie brooks, is one of five other people arrested. in the latest round of the increasing legal battles in the technology world, yahoo! says it will sue facebook. yahoo! claims that the social network has in french 10 of its patents -- has infringed 10 of its patents. facebook denies the allegation and says its puzzled that a longtime business partner has chosen to resort to litigation. thank you very much for joining us. can you explain what this is all about? why are they doing this? there are a number of reasons.

facebook is coming up to its ipo, which makes it very vulnerable to litigation. money.here's a lot of yahoo! has chosen this moment to say that all this clever stuff that facebook does, yahoo! thought the first. >> what is yahoo! trying to get out of this? >> money. it's very simple. it has over 1000 patents, but it is attacking facebook over 10 of them. it says facebook is using the same technology for its social networking. >> does this suggest that maybe yahoo! is running out of its own ideas? >> there's a lot of that going around at the moment. companies -- they are entr enched in one way of doing things. when they stopped coming up with new ideas, they try to find

other people using those patents. >> will anybody see the difference as a result of the lawsuits? >> not immediately. it would be hugely successful. you are set to capitalize on all that work. if someone comes out of the woodwork and says the patents we filed years and years ago -- it puts the dampening effect on innovation. >> in red meat could dramatically increase your risk of dying prematurely, according to scientists in america at harvard university. if you regularly eat red meat, you are at greater risk of getting heart disease and cancer. >> it has been generally accepted for some time that too much red meat is not good for our health. this american studies suggesting the risk may be greater than previously thought.

over 120,000 people over many years. they found that even in extra portion of red meat increased the risk of death by 13%. eating an extra portion of processed meat every day increase the risk of death by 20% to request they both have higher risk of premature deaths. the processed meat was much higher. >> of red meat can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. the people who eat a lot should consider cutting down. the advice from others varies. the world cancer research fund says people should avoid processed meat entirely. the meat advisory panel challenged the results of the latest research. it said meat was an essential part of a nutritious diet and this study should not be used to persuade people to reduce their intake. >> you are watching "bbc world

news." still to come -- best foot forward. we will tell you why these shoes were hidden in australia and bridges and buildings. is your daily cappuccino giving you the best that you want? a leading coffee chain is adding an extra shot to many of its drinks because customers are demanding a strong cup. research suggests the one in 10 people visit a coffee shop every day and they are not necessarily getting the same caffeine hit. >> they serve it dark and they serve it strong. at this coffee shop, it's all about catering to customer taste. >> we've seen a major increase in customers coming in for a caffeine fix, especially in the

mornings. first thing, they want a caffeine fix. >> 86 of his day with a double espresso -- he tops of his day with a double espresso. >> if i do not have it, i feel like something is missing. >> in the u.k., we've developed a real taste for coffee in recent years. we now get through some 17 million cups of it every day. one in 10 adults pays a daily visit to the coffee shop. >> it affects people differently. it will make your heart races and give you palpitations. it does help you concentrate. in my view, it can be very useful. perhaps on a long journey or a business meeting. >> caffeine comes in many

different sizes. there are now two shots or 100 milligrams in a cup of coffee from one of the major chains, which compares to around 40 milligrams in a cup of tea, or 60 milligrams in some cold remedies. demand for energy drinks has grown faster recently. 250 ml can can contain 160 grams of caffeine. pregnant women are advised not to exceed 200 milligrams per day. there are no guidelines for the rest of the population. >> it would be completely appropriate to have clear guidance on how much caffeine should be in a particular tree. most of us drinks division ffeine so when we do not have it, we have a withdrawl. >> this business is growing. there are now around 15,000 coffeeshops in the u.k.

many now serve double shots. they are sticking to singles. they say their coffee is strong enough. >> this is "bbc world news." militants opened fire on an afghan delegation visiting the village where an american soldier killed 16 people. a cease-fire is agreed to in gaza between israeli forces and palestinian militants after four days of violent clashes. president nicolas sarkozy has overtaken his left wing rival for the first time in an opinion poll in the first round of france's presidential elections after attacking the european union's trade and immigration policies. the leader of the far right national front party and france, said she has obtained

support of enough elected officials to make a run for the presidency, too. let's get the latest on this intriguing presidential race. why has mr. sarkozy taken over his socialist rival for the first time? >> we have to be careful with these polls. some are putting him in front. some are putting him behind. clearly, he is making some ground. the second round polls, he is over 10 points in front of mr. sarkozy. this is the reason you have seen sarkozy suddenly moving to the right. he knows that if he wants to defeat him, if he eliminates in the first round, he will be to carry all her votes. we've seen things like the with

strolling from the shanghai agreement, the open border policy in europe, and he's talked about only buying european. these are traditional policies. he knows by appealing to their boat, he could extract -- their vote, they could extract crucial votes. >> is placed to go forward? >> yeah, absolutely. she has been campaigning for some weeks. her campaign is under way. she has been sounding increasingly desperate. she does not have the 500 local elected officials, the signatures that she needs to be able to get herself onto the ballot. crisis averted today. some would say she has been trying to pull in more crucial support. back in history, he got on the ballot every year since 1988. she is finally through.

the battle finally begins on the right. if she takes away those crucial votes from mr. sarkozy, she will make it more difficult for him. he is not guaranteed to get to the second round, especially if she does well. she is up to 18% of the vote. mr. sarkozy will be watching very closely. >> it is really interesting to see what mr. sarkozy was promising at the weekend and what mr. hollande has been saying about very high tax rate. are these policies really going to hold after an election? >> the criticism by commentators is that some of these are populist policies. it only brings in -- it will not

solve the problems that france is currently experiencing. if you look at some of the labour reforms mr. sarkozy is advocating, they will not solve france's problems either. the one thing both of them have to come to grips with is the welfare state. it takes up about 1/3 of gdp. it is very expensive. it's the world's biggest welfare state. can they afford that in the years to come? no one is having that debate. we all know why. it's not election-popular. they will not talk about the real issues. there is concern in both camps that this is an election to lose. they will have some very tough decisions to make on may 6. >> a fascinating few weeks ahead. thank you very much. let's check up with all the sports. football tonight. >> just a little bit.

thank you very much. tuesday evening.cintillatin the two defeated finalist from 2010 go into their last matches. taking a look first at munich, hosting basel. giving the fans a bid of incentive. basel, unbeaten and they have the 1-0 advantage. munich could be without mario gomez, but they welcome back sebastian. >> can you hear us? >> the second when you were asking me about, 16-second leg

gang taking place on tuesday. both of those teams struggling in their respective domestic leakgues. lost 4 in a row in league. 2010 was the last time they won this competition. back to you. >> thank you very much. now to the story of how you ward off evil spirits. in australia, they think they've found the answer. items but there in the 18th and 19th century. >> a world famous bridge, an and an country house old prison.

what links the three sides? >> the practice of magic in 19th century australia. >> the story began in rural tasmania, where the historian was invited by the owners to give his opinion on some strange activities. >> you have been doing a little bit of worke. >> they came across some remarkable items in the attics. dozens of shoes, toys, and clothes from the 18 twenties. it was the start of a six-year investigation into the ancient practice of hiding artifacts to ward off evil spirits. >> they did their best to protect -- to provide protection. they would serve to decoy these evil a spiritual -- evil spiritual beings. >> researchers working on this product say they found hidden

artifacts at more than 100 sites across australia and every conceivable kind of building. over here, a very different story. >> under the famous landmark, workers dug this tunnel and made another find. >> there it is. >> a shoe. >> a fragment of a shoe discovered in 1998. >> the shoe of a child or a young person. certainly not an adult. >> he believes it was put your during construction of the bridge in the 1920's -- put here during the construction of the bridge in the 1920's to prevent evil spirits. again, another revelation. >> this is it. a convict's shirt.

>> every kind of artifacts hidden by all kinds of people. a practice brought by settlers from britain or australia to protect their families. >> they did not have available to them the medical practice and knowledge existing today. no medications. they were in constant fear of the illness that would take their child away. >> immigrants in a strange land, relying on familiar cultural practices to find comfort. >> before we go, these pictures out of japan. the volcano in japan, as you can see, is erupting again for a second day now. the volcano is at its most violent in two years. 50 cm-wide rocks thrown a distance of two kilometers. it has not caused any damage.

the volcano resumed activity in 1955 and has been active ever since. much more, of course, on all our news at the website, bbc.com/news. stay with us. >> make sense of international news. 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. >> "bbc world news" was