>> 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, shell, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> the syrian government is asked to observe a two-hour daily ceasefire to give special access to aid workers. the head of the red cross holds talks in damascus to press for urgent demands to help reach injured civilians. hello and welcome to gmt. i am zeinab badawi. also in this program -- why did he do it? the korea and community in california after a caribbean- american killed seven people -- a korean-american killed seven

people at a college. the debilitating disease devastating families across uganda. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 3:00 in the afternoon in damascus, where the head of the international red cross is meeting syrian officials to try to agree on how to get humanitarian aid to civilians. the civilian government has in principle said it except the international peace plan. there is skepticism that it will stick to its promises, which it has broken in the past? . muir reports. >> heavy shelling was still going on on monday. syria has committed to calling of the crackdown within one week. at the moment, there's no sign

of the whole. according to activists, the town was still shelled on tuesday. syrian troops and tanks are supposed to be pulling out of towns and cities already. this internet footage, which we cannot verify, showed them still in the city on monday. the syrians have told kofi annan that they agreed to his first step of pulling out the population centers. they insist the opposition must then follow suit. there's widespread skepticism. the important thing is that mr. annan has got the russians on board. the >> [speaking foreign langua] >> this plan is that syrians have to take the first step. we support this initiative. if those who fight against the syrian government do not follow this example, i don't think we will achieve any results. >> hoping for better times, the

international red cross president, jakob kellenberger was in syria. he wanted two-hour daily truce. he also wants access to detainees. activists say that in the meantime, the authorities are punishing known opponents by demolishing or setting fire to their houses in many areas, including this one. there are fears that there may be more of this sort of thing as next week's deadline approaches. jim muir, bbc news. >> in the last few minutes, a spokesman for the u.n., kofi annan, has said an advanced team is due in damascus in the next 48 hours to discuss the deployment of international monitors. james robins has joined me here. you kind of get the feeling you

have been here before. nevertheless, what do we know about this advanced team? what is going to try to do exactly? >> it is very interesting. clearly, kofi annan is trying to apply pressure on both sides. clearly on the regime and assad. he intends to get an advance team to try to start the ball rolling on a far bigger monitoring mission to enforce the cease-fire. this is all designed to push the regime, and the opposition, for the position where they accept fully that the cease-fire is their obligation. kofi annan has been saying that president assad and his regime are committed to a ceasefire by april 10, this weekend. another 48 hours for the opposition rebels to meet their obligations to stop violence, as well. this is all about trying to maintain the momentum and the pressure so that neither side,

and especially the regime, cannot slide away from commitments as they have in the past. >> they have so in the past. we had the arab league monitors going into syria. general consensus was of the authorities kind of ran rings around them by being selective about what they saw. do you think it will be harder for the authorities to do that with the u.n. mission? >> it will be a lot harder. a lot has changed diplomatic since -- changed diplomatically since then. russia has sent out a message that it expects the syrians to get fully behind kofi annan. that's a huge sea change from a few weeks ago. if the russians are going to use their significant muscle -- my understanding is the russian ambassador has contacted the regime every single day. he, of course, is the point man for moscow. he is in a stronger position to pressure syria.

the 48 hours for the rebel opposition to fall in line, as well -- there we see that happen is another issue. >> on a separate matter, rifaat al-assad, the uncle of president bashar al-assad, has said president bashar al-assad's days are numbered. he fled syria after he challenged his brother. do you think this will have any impact when he says his days are numbered? >> it is interesting, of course, when a member of a family, albeit one who is forced into exile -- the fact he is saying this confirms what many observers believe, that president assad may now be passed the point where he could be a credible syrian leader ever again. that is the significance of this. it is possible the uncle is

speaking for quite a significant sector of syrian opinion, even those who have been regime loyalists up to this point. this will not be a game changer, his intervention, but it seems consistent with the level of pressure now applied on president assad. >> thank you very much for joining us here. thank you. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world. in the united states, the korean community in the california city of oakland is in shock after a korean-american allegedly carried out a shooting rampage, killing seven people. the suspect, named as one l. goh, is a former student at the college. >> a familiar scene as an american campus is placed on lockdown. police swat teams arrived at the private christian university to find students and teachers running for their lives. the gunmen had opened fire in

the classroom, targeting one victim -- the gunman had opened fire in the classroom, targeting one victim at short range and then shooting indiscriminately. >> i heard one woman scream. >> there were many gunshots, probably sixth gunshot but i went back in a classroom and evacuated the students -- probably six gunshots. i went back in the classroom and evacuated the students. >> please have named the suspect as 43-year-old one l. goh of korean origin. he fled the scene before officers arrived, but was arrested 1 mile away at a safeway supermarket after reportedly confessing to a security guard that he was the shooter. police retrieved a handgun and a car, apparently seized from one of the victims. >> it looks like they took him out the door. this so if he had anything in

his pockets that he had stolen. there was nothing stolen. >> five of the victims died on campus. two more in the hospital. this man's sister survived being shot. >> he did not go to school there anymore. he just showed up and started shooting. >> what did she do? >> run. >> she got shot because she held one of her friends. >> detectives are not looking for anybody else. they hope the only suspect will himself explain what would drive him to commit mass murder. steve kingstone, bbc news, washington. >> india has welcomed the decision of the united states to offer $10 million for hafiz mohammad saeed, accused of the mumbai attacks in 2008.

he denies widespread allegations that it serves as a front for continuing military activity. in france, the prosecutor says he will seek terror charges against 13 of the 19 alleged militants arrested on friday. they could be held -- the period they could be held without charge and has expired. the series of raids took place after seven people were killed by gunman in toulouse last month. a fire on the outskirts of moscow has killed at least 15 migrant workers. reporters say the victims were formed former soviet republics and central asia -- were from former soviet republics and central asia. it has a severe impact on the development of children and causes uncontrolled seizures and

in many cases, death. scientists are baffled by a mysterious disease that has swept across parts of uganda. far east africa correspondent, will ross, sent this report from the north of you guganda. >> desperate families line up for help. known as knodding syndrome, is severely impairs their mental and physical development. the 13-year-old can hardly stand. he has frequent seizures and rarely utters a word. with more than 3000 reported cases in northern uganda, screening centers have been set up. the disease has also been documented in south sudan. scientists are baffled. they do not know what causes it.

they have not yet come up with a cure. in the words, badly burned children -- they had seizures when near a cooking fire and were unable to move. >> others are still in critical status -- unable to eat, unable to walk. they are most likely to die. >> driving through these villages, it is absolutely staggering how widespread the problem is. just about every home will stop that, the parents have said one or more of their children are affected. for years, this region was ravaged by war. the lasting legacy is deep poverty. many parents cannot even afford to get their children to a

health clinic. for those suffering from nodding centro, the attacks tend to kick in at mealtime. as they start to eat, the 12- year-old and 14-year-old quickly dropped into a trance-like state. >> [speaking foreign language] >> their mother has seen the disease rob her of two children. she says she now looks after them like flowers in the home, knowing there are of no use to the family in the future -- knowing they are of no use to the family in the future. with no remedy, this disease stalks the community. >> still to come on gmt -- we go to scotland, which a few days ago was the hottest place in europe, basking in high temperatures. now smell is covering the

ground. what is going on -- now snow is covering the ground. >> two british crewmembers injured in and around the world yacht race have arrived safely in california. marriott was struck by a huge wave -- their yacht was struck by a huge wave. >> it was not long before they were escorted from the deck. they had been injured 640 kilometers out at sea when their vessel was struck by a huge wave. once spotted, it took a coast guard 48 hours to reach the yacht. >> the helicopter remained overhead orbiting. we also had a c-130 aircraft orbiting.

we lost our small boat. we were able to keep the injured crew members and to our boat. >> other sailors in the race to testify to the conditions they had to contend with in the pacific ocean. >> the biggest we saw were probably eight to 12 meters. really steep,'re it can be very dangerous. >> the sailors and counter the treacherous seas in the closing stages of a 9,000 kilometer leg. nick, sitting on the right, had sustained a pelvic injury. d injured ribs.an

bbc news. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am zeinab badawi. these are the top headlines. the head of the international red cross is meeting top officials in damascus to persuade them to allow humanitarian aid. 13 people of until after a gunman opened fire at a christian university in california. a 43-year-old man has been arrested. the business for news. aaron heslehurst joins me in the studio. we have the unemployment figures across the eurozone on monday. spain is breaking records on this front. >> if it's not one month, it appears to be another when spain continues breaking records. the problem is, these are not records you want to be breaking. today we her that nearly 39,000

spaniards joined the unemployment line last month. that's an astonishing number. if you look at the complete picture in the country, it means more than four million people are receiving jobless claims. for a government that tried to save money and cutting back on spending, that represents a huge problem. the problem is the unemployment picture in the country is an absolute nightmare. 5.3 million people out of work. you mentioned the unemployment rates. spain, 24%. that's the highest in the industrialized world. spanish youth do not have a job. >> the government brought in those labour reforms. they're very controversial new laws that make it easier for companies to sack people. the thinking was that the severance payments in spain were much higher than other countries. if you are a small company and

your profits are dropping and then you have to lay people off and pay them these payments, it could be the final nail in the coffin. >> on friday, we had the new budget announced by prime announcedrajoy. -- announced by prime minister rajoy. >> another big business story today is the electronics giant making inroads into china of. >> this is a very interesting story. we're talking about the world's biggest memory chip maker. samsung announced a plan to invest $7 billion in building a factory of its own in china for the first time. why is that interesting? i will tell you. a lot of people for a long time have been asking why it has taken so long for samsung to get into china and the first place. here is the reason. the south koreans have been very worried that they're very advanced technology, if on the

ground in china, maybe leaked me into the wrong hands. today is a very important day for samsung. this is a market, an industry, that's very competitive. >> the idea that china might be four years behind the technology in south korea has added to those worries. leaks in china could really undermine that kind of investment. the government has been asking in terms of thes fro monitoring of operations there. >> south korean officials and the governments in to have been appeased by the government of beijing that nothing will be linked. >> thank you, aaron heslehurst, with the business news. colombian farc rebels have released all hostages in a move

that mediators described as a gesture of peace. hundreds of civilians have still not been released. however, farc has promised there will be no more kidnappings for ransom payments. colombian president juan manuel santos has welcomed the move, but says it's not enough to open direct peace talks with the rebels. >> the hostages are finally out of their presence. they hopped down from the helicopter sent by brazil that look to them from the jungle and the hands of their farc captors. some of these soldiers and policemen had spent 14 years in captivity. it marked the end of an era. farc have promised not to engage in any more kidnapping. they also abandoned any hope of forcing the government into a prisoner exchange, admitting failure in the attempt to get their comrades in jail back into rebel ranks. the farc are hoping they are

offered -- hoping their offer to sit down and have peace talks will be accepted. president juan manuel santos made it clear that more was needed. >> [speaking foreign language] >> this release, and above all, the promise of the farc not to return to kidnapping is a jester we appreciate. we appreciate it in all its dimensions. without doubt, it's a step in the right direction, a very important steps. >> the rebels still hold anything up to 400 kidnap victims for ransom. many are believed dead. others are still held, awaiting the payments of the ransom demanded. the farc have been battered over the last 10 years. their numbers have to. they have been forced to retreat into the jungles -- their numbers have been halved.

they have been forced to retreat into the jungles. in 1999, the last time the farc the government set down to peace talks, the rebels were in such a strong position that they were able to ask for and received a safe haven the size of switzerland -- cleared of all troops. this time, it is the government which will be setting the decisions. president juan manuel santos has decided the time is not yet right. the negotiated settlement is within reach. jeremy mcdermott, medellin. >> we've all experienced extreme variations in the weather in recent months, but conditions in scotland seem to be even more bizarre than usual at the moment. just a few days ago, the area was the hottest place in europe, basking in temperatures of 23.6 degrees celsius. now snow is blanketing the

ground in scotland. .ou don't know what to wear a few days ago you were in your bathing suit. today, in your snow gear. >> it has really taken many of us by surprise. last week, we were the hottest place in europe. many people were basking in the .unshine today, there's about a 20-degree difference. we've had about 6 inches of snow to the northeast of scotland here. a few inches of snow is not causing too much disruption. the fact that people are waking up to this. they are not really understanding exactly what is happening. we have 3,000 homes in the

northeast without power. the power company hopes to have them read connected by this evening. apart from that, the rail network -- scottish government has had everything on standby for the last 24 hours. it is not unusual for us to have this kind of weather in april. it is unusual to go from 23 degrees celsius to zero degrees celsius in such a short space of time. >> what are the weathermen and saying about that?women >> the weather system has totally changed directions. last week, all the weather systems came from the warmer south. this week, today, we have this arctic blast. they are blaming dreamland for our weather today -- they are blaming greenland for our weather today.

they say it's a sharp, icey blast. overnight, we expect temperatures to go down again. yes, we're hoping the good weather will return by next week. the >> thank you very much. they are in central scotland. somewhere between edinburg and glasgow. keep warm. thank you very much. before we go, let's remind you of our top story on gmt. the head of the international red cross is meeting top syrian officials in damascus and is trying to persuade them to allow humanitarian aid to injured civilians. in a separate development, advanced team from the u.n. is due in damascus in the next 24 hours to discuss the deployment of international observers to monitor a cease-fire in syria. that's all for the moment. stay with us on "bbc world

news." i am zeinab badawi. goodbye. >> 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.