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hello and welcome. i am george alagiah with a world of news and opinion. a u.n. human rights report on the violence in syria expected in the next hour. we will have the latest on whether it will make a difference. the big cleanup after riots in a french city. the president's call for law and order, but critics point to a deep-seated social problems. it's midday in london, early morning in washington, 9:00 p.m. in the australian capital where the country's highest court has given its support to what will become the world's toughest anti-smoking. smoking the cigarette packages will no longer show any branding and they will have to carry graphic images of the side effects of smoking.

critics argued that amounts to scaremongering. as duncan kennedy reports from sydney, the australian government believes it has taken the lead and wants other countries to follow. >> the decision means from december, will become the first country and abroad to have logo- free cigarette packages. they will be in plain colors and the only imaging will be graphic photographs of people suffering from cancer-related illnesses. the attorney general said 15,000 people per year die of smoking- related illnesses and that the court decision was a victory in the battle against smoking. >> we have taken on big tobacco and we have one. it's good news for every australian parent worrying about their child picking up an addictive and deadly habit. >> the new pacts are designed to be less appealing, especially to young people. the company's name will only appear in small print. several of the biggest companies, including british

american tobacco, philip morris, and imperial tobacco, have fought a the plain packaging, saying it robs them of their established brands and logos without compensation. and it may encourage a criminal market in fake or imported cigarettes. the move to bring in plain packaging is being looked at around the world. britain, some states in america, new zealand, india, they all share an interest in what's going on. while australia may be a small cigarette market, the tobacco companies know that losing here could lead to a deluge of legislation elsewhere in there really big markets. one company, philip morris, said it still had a strong case to take the world aid organization. still a long way to go before all the legal questions about plain packaging are fully explored. for now, legally, cigarette companies' last platform to advertise their products has

been denied. duncan kennedy, bbc news. >> we ask for your comments on this story. here are some of your thoughts. this person from china says when i started smoking, i never considered the branding of the packs. changing the packaging makes no difference to smokers. this person from nigeria says what we need is not different packaging but the control on where smoking should be allowed. and from liverpool in england, they say i don't care if cigarettes are packed with the crown jewels. if people want to smoke, they will. and a discussion. you can continue to have your say on that story or others on gmt today. if you are a twitter fan, sign up for updates. i'm posting updates on facebook as well, so please join our facebook page.

we will have more on that a little later appear on gmt. i will speak to a doctor, president of the australian medical association. let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world today. a bomb has gone off in the syrian capital damascus near a hotel used by united nations observers. the bomb exploded in a fuel truck and three people were injured. the opposition free syrian army said the bombing had targeted a military meeting. there were reports of other explosions across the city. from beirut, kevin connolly reports. >> in the heart of the capital, a bomb attack that brought the conflict dangerously close to the u.n. monitors and other hotel beside the military base which was the target. the explosives were attached to a fuel tanker. smoke from the fire could be seen across the city. its dramatic evidence the rebels' ability to penetrate

government security in damascus. the syrian minister and was quickly on the scene to put an official spin on the attacks. >> from the start, our main objective has been to guarantee the safety of the u.n. monitors. we thank god that not one single new and monitor has been harmed while on syrian soil -- u.n. monitor. >> someone from the u.s. talks about the syrian army. it's part of an american strategy to predict the assad regime will crumble. but these words from a senior military man will carry weight. >> [no audio] i'm stepping into a form

this militia to take some of the pressure off the syrian military. >> they will be exploring ways of getting more aid in an. valerie amos says the key to starting to improve daily life for syrian families is ending the violence. >> the fighting has got to stop. there's a separate political process which is trying to get the different sides to sit down and talk. we all hope that will happen. the people i have spoken to have spoken about the importance of peace, security, and stability. they want to go back home and rebuild their lives. >> this latest bomb attack in damascus will not change the course of the conflict, but it shows the rebels can pierce the tightest of government security. it offers no clue as to how or when the violence might end. kevin connolly, bbc. news, bbc >> the indian prime minister has warned the country's national

security could be at risk if economic growth figures don't improve. in a speech to mark independence day, he said the government was failing to achieve rapid growth because of a lack of peaceful consensus. the indian economy is expanding at its slowest rate in almost a decade. the paris prosecutor's office has said the french international footballers, two of them, will face paying for sex with a minor. -- they will face charges. the woman testified altman solicited her while she was under age. both players deny the allegation. the u.s. military have carried out a test of its hypersonic jet aircraft designed to travel at six times the speed of sound. the unmanned wingless jet was lost over the pacific ocean. it will have travel between london and new york in less than an hour, cutting about five hours of the average journey time. the aim of this test is to

develop high-speed missiles. the french interior minister has been jostled during a visit to the city of camamean. there were protests. he said law-and-order must be restored. hundreds of riot police have been deployed to prevent a repeat of the violence. our correspondent joins us from paris. it was caughquiet last night wih more police on the scene. but the mayor of the city says there are much more deep-seated problems than just law-and- order. >> he talked of urban guerrilla warfare. 17 policemen were injured, some of them hit with live rounds. he is a hard-liner. they want to get to grips with

the situation in his socialist party. they put in the riot police. over 250 officers in total, some using water cannons, rubber bullets, to keep the lid on this. no one in the country wants to see a repeat of 2005 when riots in paris spread to other areas. there were three weeks of violence back then. the terms of the micro or the macro you can look at it. there's high joblessness in the suburbs. difficult relationships with the police, particularly among the young people from immigrant backgrounds. in macro terms, we reported on the third quarter stagnation in france yesterday and the difficult economic situation, perhaps a warning to other governments. >> you mentioned the lack of economic growth. we all knew that francois hollande was going to have a tough time, but this adds to the problems for him. >> it does.

it talks about social justice and closing the gap between the elite and the disgruntled working class. it's a difficult challenge when you take into account the economic situation. a few weeks ago i was in a paris suburb which was the center of the riots in 2005 and one of the last big employers is closing down. that's 5000 workers at that plant. 80% employed right there. grinding decline. it's very difficult to keep young people employed if big employers like that are pulling out. he's trying to save jobs and appealed to the working class is. but if you cannot create jobs, that becomes much harder. >> thanks very much. today marks the 67th anniversary since the end of the second

world war. for many asian countries it meant the end of japan's colonial rule. for decades, there is still controversy over the way japan remembered its war dead. now this report from tokyo. >> thousands of people, including war veterans, gathered at the his opinion enshrined on wednesday to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. -- the yasukuni shrine. it is seen by japanese neighbors as a symbol of past aggression because it honors war criminals, they said. among the visitors were two cabinet ministers. despite the prime minister asking members of his cabinet not to do this. the prime minister himself was at a separate event where the country oppose the emperor and empress also attended. >> today 67 years since the end of the war we maintain our

pledge not to repeat war and tirelessly pursue world peace as a member of the international community. >> but japan still has territorial disputes with south career over the the island of takeshima or dokdo and a dispute with china over islands. japan's relationship with its neighbors remains fragile. bbc news, tokyo. >> still to come on gmt, is normality on its way to somalia with a new constitution, parliament, and president. we will speak with the current prime minister. just over three years since the army and sri lanka decided to crush the militants. our correspondent charles haviland has been to a narrow strip of land that became the tamil tigers' last bastion.

>> this is where the final bloody battle was fought in 2009. thousands of people perished in this place. since the end of the war, the area has been off-limits to journalists. after several requests, the bbc has been granted permission to come here to see extraordinary sights like thousands of burned out vehicles that you see behind me. some of these ordinary people's vehicles, small cars, rickshaws. some of them were trucks used by the tamil tiger militants. just across from here, a. poignant sight that is thousands of destroyed bicycles, ordinary possessions of civilians who fled the advancing army and were not allowed to leave, but were kept as human shields by tamil tigers. people left by every day possessions. we also see decapitated palm trees, many of which are just stomps, having been damaged

in the shelling. and nearby are the many ruined houses of civilians that are now trying to return home. they can come back because de- minging has taken place. the houses are so badly destroyed, they will have to pull them down and start over if with very little to start with. >> the president of ecuador will meet members of this government to of assessed the application for political asylum by wikileaks founder julian assange. officials stressed the move does not mean a decision has already been made. he has been taking refuge in ecuador and embassy in london, to avoid extradition to sweden. this is gmt from bbc world news. i am george alagiah. the headlines, australia's highest court upholds a law banning labels on cigarette packets.

un human rights report on the violence in syria is expected shortly on the day a bomb exploded in the syrian capital near a hotel used by un staff members. time for the business news with aaron. our lead story was the new law in australia banning branding from cigarette packages. we know the health value, but what about a? but what about a business argument? >> company shares are down to%. a few things to keep in mind. there are only three tobacco companies operating in australia. there's british-american tobacco. it makes 9% of its money from the australian market. there's imperial tobacco which makes 5% of its money from the australian market for. you also have philip morris.

australia is not a huge market for those companies. you also must remember, four australian smokers, there's no glitzy advertising and no cigarette package advertising. you buy from a shop and you buy from behind a metal shutter, so there are no displays. a zillion smokers for a long time have been used to buying cigarettes my name only. -- australian smokers. they need all this glitzy advertising in africa where they're trying to promote their brands, so they're watching this. this is what the experts told me this morning about what it is the tobacco companies are really worried about at the moment. >> japan tobacco had quite a fall overnight. and british-american tobacco has

reacted negatively, because they are worried about contagion, worried about other governments looking at australia. the clear difference in the trend is the americans are saying we want much more scientific approaches to tobacco regulation and only focus on things which actually cause him august smoking people do to decrease. -- cost people to decrease their smoking. >> two things have cut cigarette smoking. that is the cost, the duty that the government puts on the package and the places you are allowed to smoke. let's look at standard chartered. suddenly we find out yesterday on tuesday that they are coughing up $340 million to settle with u.s. regulators. that sounds like a lot of money.

>> it's a lot of money to you and i. but for a big bank like this, not a lot. last week u.s. regulators accused this bank standard chartered of hiding 60,000 transactions with iran worth $250 billion over the past 10 years. the bank has denied it. the bank of the bonds settled this yesterday at. as soon as he did, the share price opens up about 5% higher. there are other u.s. regulators closing banks. this particular bank was holding a license to operate in the u.s. had they lost that, they would have lost 45% of their revenue. let's listen to the experts. it's not the only bank that has been accused. >> we could safely say every major bank has some form of money-laundering. people are going to line when they open up bank accounts.

it's going to happen. if the amount of money laundering that you want to minimize. that's where technology comes into place. modern technology will be able to stop this. but you can never completely eradicate money-laundering. that will never happen. >> never ever. >> this is just the beginning. we'll keep an eye on it. >> thank you. after years of anarchy, the next few weeks in somalia could see the creation of the first normal political institutions in two decades. a brand new constitution, new parliament, and new president of for the transitional government mandate now ending. we spoke about his hopes for the country. >> we are in somalia in the heart of mogadishu. the prime minister is with us. you are running for the presidency. there's been a lot of presidents and prime ministers over the

years here. why will this election make any difference? >> tso malia is at across -- somalia is at a crossroads. it is dealing with lawlessness and instability and it's moving into a new direction now. somalia today is at peace with itself. somalia has been liberated. >> you believe anything can threaten that? >> this can be upset at any time. lawlessness and instability has taken its toll over the last 20 years, but that's the past. we have to have a new vision for somalia and chart a new course. the people are ready for new direction. i believe that somalia will

have a more democratic governance and a new future. >> usa al-shabab has been defeated, but they still control quite a bit of territory. -- you say that al-shabab has been defeated. >> 11 months ago it controlled 60% of mogadishu. nobody would have thought they would have been liberated from mogadishu and southwest and central somalia. we also stabilized the country and have services in some areas now.

it's just a matter of time before al-shabab will be no more within a few months. >> that was the prime minister of somalia. there is a new force on the italian political scene. a citizens' movement born on the internet, supporters of contempt for italy posted traditional parties and politicians. these citizens are shaking the establishment. now this report from the northern city of parma where the movement has taken hold. >> up goes the curtain, revealing what is one of the finest opera houses in all of italy. this is the city of parma's the header. -- theater. it stayed empty this summer because the city cannot provide

funds for the theater. it's more than $900 million in debt and in desperation the people decided to throw out their old political leaders. instead they are trying something completely new. they hope this man can ride to the rescue. he is an i.t. consultant who as an elected mayor. the lead assistance network council now. >> we have no political experience in running a city, but it's true, but we have our life experiences, good judgment that we can apply to political life. >> the rise of the citizens' movement is driven by contempt for italy's old-style parties. >> i voted for this mayor because i was tired of bad government, scandals, huge debt.

i did not feel like trusty old politics again. -- trusting. >> i voted for them as a gamble. past administrations have really messed up. >> the new citizen mayor listens to his council officers. he repeatedly asked his fellow citizens to help him make decisions. continual mass consultation is at the heart of the people's power idea. but some here doubt you can run a city efficiently if you are endlessly turning to the masses for answers. think the model can work. the problem is that they are a little naive, have no government experience. this is an experiment. they will eventually realize they cannot do without structure. >> can the new politics fix

this theater and the other problems in the city? plenty of people believe this experiment in democracy will fail. but if it somehow succeed, many other places in italy may decide that they should also try a little bit of people power. the bbc news. >> the next few minutes we will speak to the president of the australian medical association about the anti-smoking legislation.