>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small busiinesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> over 200 are dead and hundreds more have fled their homes. nigeria's military battles radical islamists in the north. fresh hope in zimbabwe. we reports from inside the country on a new optimism about the future. two more hostages held inside iraq are believed to be dead. one remaining captives might still be alive. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast of our viewers on pbs in the states and around the globe. the right thing on the wall for these huskies as green led continues to melt. a special report from the west coast. and a hotel, part of cold war history that makes it a unique

place to stay. >> they have even still got the emergency brake. >> the nigerian military oppose the assault against the islamic insurgency in the north of the country is intensifying -- the nigerian military's assault against the islamists insurgency in the north of the country is intensifying. thousands of people have fled their homes. >> parts of northern nigeria are in a state of fear. violent attacks are being blamed on a radical religious group have caught the authorities of card.

religious buildings, job centers, and churches have all been attacked and torched. many of the images are too violent to it -- to graphics to show -- too graphic to show. it began here. over 70 men with machetes, crossbows, and guns attacked a police station. at the end of the day, dead were piled high in the streets, most of them always of the religious group. the sec responded, attacking three more police stations and government offices across northern nigeria. the nigerian government, it is an uprising. >> are going to continue -- we are going to continue to fish out any remnants and deal with them. >> thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police have poured into the group's headquarters,

which are now surrounded and being shelled. northern nigeria has a history of violence between different communities. the year of yet more killing is preying on many minds here. -- the fear of yet more killing. >> the zimbabwean president is committed to a power-sharing deal, despite fears that hard- liners are trying to undermine it. eight years ago, the bbc was banned from reporting from zimbabwe, and since then, we have brought you a series of undercover reports. this week, the government of zimbabwe told the bbc there is no ban on its operations, and it can resume reporting legally and openly. we return to the capital to report on the healing process now taking place in the country. >> believe it or not, things are picking up here. hardly a boom town, but they are

trying. on the streets, they are surrounded by a surge of optimism. >> good to be here. three zimbabwe -- free zimbabwe. >> schools are closed for a long time. >> a year ago, we filmed secretly this eerily empty supermarkets. today, the contrast is staggering. the shelves are packed with goods local and imported. and of course, we are no longer having to operate under cover. hyperinflation has been banished. the american dollar now rules. across zimbabwe, jobs and cash are still scarce.

>> very expensive. >> do you have a job? >> no. >> how do you manage to make ends meet? politically, things remain complicated, but we were given a rare and it -- invitation to president mugabe's stronghold. his right hand man greets us. >> welcome to my party headquarters. >> he insists the president is committed to a power-sharing deal. >> he is a principled man. once he agrees on a program, he wants that program implemented. >> do you acknowledge that there are elements that are trying to disrupt this agreement? hardliners? >> i do not think there are any hard-liners. zambia has committed itself, and we believe is in the interest of zimbabwe that the agreement

succeed. >> but they have not lost their taste for intimidation. party thugs recently attacked this man with an ax. [speaking foreign language] >> and get across the country, people are challenging president mugabe. human rights groups urging citizens to stand up. there is a window of hope. >> a court in sudan has adjourned the case of a woman facing 40 lashes for wearing what was called in decent clothing. the united nations employee was among a group of women arrested in khartoum for wearing trousers. she invited journalists and observers to purge trial to draw

attention to an unjust law. international monetary fund has announced it is sharply increasing funding to poorer countries to help them deal with the global economic crisis. the imf plans to increase lending to the developing nations by up to $8 billion over the next two years, $2 billion more than called for by the g-20 summit in april. microsoft and yahoo! have announced a partnership in an attempt to take over market leader google. under the deal, microsoft's new bing search engine will be used on yahoo!'s sites. iraqi police say seven iranians have been killed and about 300 were injured in an operation to take control of a camp housing iranian dissidents north of baghdad. clashes between police and residents are reported to be continuing inside the camp, which is run by an iranian opposition group.

our correspondent in baghdad has more. >> the one thing we should say about these very dramatic- looking pictures is they are coming from the iranian opposition inside this camp, so it is difficult to independently verify exactly what we are seeing or exactly when they were taken, but let's start with what both sides agree on. clearly, there were clashes on tuesday, and there have been clashes on wednesday. it is the number of fatalities where people start disagreeing. iranians inside the camp say that a number of their people have been killed. that initially appeared to be confirmed by a policeman at the scene that the bbc spoke with, but the iraqi government denies that there have been any fatalities among the residents of the camp, although they do say that a number of their own policeman had been killed -- a number of their own policemen have been killed.

the iraqis say they are within their rights to go inside the camp. it is part of the agreement they have with the united states, part of its handover of military control from u.s. forces to the iraqis. the iraqis said they wanted to establish a checkpoint inside the camp, put their own imprint. iranians say they are worried the iraqis are trying to clear them out or send them back to iran. iran has long demanded that this can't be closed -- that this camp be closed. that leads to people suspecting that baghdad is acting on the orders of tehran. they say they are merely implementing what is their right. they have to control the whole of their country as the u.s. hands over. >> two british men taken hostage in iraq are now thought very likely to be dead. they are among a group of five britons kidnapped just over two years ago as they attended a meeting of the ministry of

finance. the bbc pose a security correspondent has been following the story. -- the bbc's security correspondent has been following the story. >> two british hostages now thought very likely to be dead. this afternoon that the other two kidnapped security guards -- this after news that the other two kidnap security guards have been murdered. as the raf flew the bodies back to britain last month, investigators began probing a claim by the kidnappers that the of the two security guards were also dead. by last week, before an officer concluded this was very likely true, and they told the families -- before an officer concluded this was very likely true -- the foreign officer concluded this was very likely to. they are upset to hear that they died in the hands of their captors. it is a terrible ordeal for them all. it puts huge pressure on crisis

management teams. if true, four out of five hostages are dead. the government is revealing little. >> i do not want to disclose publicly the information we are getting, but we are intensively engaged through a variety of different channels, but i do not disguise the fact that we are extremely concerned for the safety of the hostages. >> the men were snatched from baghdad's finance ministry in 2007. around 40 gunmen are riding in vehicles disguised as policemen. they drove them toward the shiite area. what the kidnappers want is the release of several shi'ite militants from this u.s. detention camp. last month, one man was released. the kidnappers responded by giving up two dead hostages. there have been no further

prisoner releases. now, the focus is on saving this man, peter more, the last remaining british hostage. the most recent group was sent in march. since then, nothing. his family are praying for his safe return. >> staying in the middle east, iran's state news agency says trials around 20 people after the disputed presidential election result in june will be on sunday. they will be the first trials following the protests. the charges include belonging to terrorist groups, carrying weapons and grenades, and sending images to the media of the enemy. eight people are now known to be killed in the forest fires in spain, which have destroyed hundreds of hectares of woodland. a local convent and a number of homes were evacuated as a precaution. officials report the fires may have been started deliberately.

the families of 16 youngsters from the english midlands, who were all born with deformed hands or feet, have won a landmark legal battle against their local council. they claim deformities were due to mothers being exposed to toxic materials, but the local council says they have yet to see evidence of a link. >> today, these families arrived at court, not knowing they were on their way to make legal history. for 10 years, they have argued that their children's deformities were not a coincidence. caused by the cleanup of these old steel works. for decades, steele was their currency, employing more than 10,000. the closure of the plant was devastating. the council needed to replace old industry with new, but first, it had hundreds of acres of contaminated land to clean up.

this is what one of the old steel worksites looks like today, turning it into this, though, was a dirty, arduous job that lasted years. the roads around here were filthy. in different ways, all the mothers came into contact with that dirt when they were pregnant. what they did not realize at the time was that it was toxic. the judge said today the council had been negligent, and that that negligence was likely to have harmed those unborn children. families like this deal now is the time for the council to admit it was wrong. -- families like this feel now is the time for the council to admit it was wrong. >> my son and numerous other children have been born with a hand deformity, and it is not fair. >> they could now be in line to share millions of pounds with the damages, but they say money can never make up for their children's pain. knowing the truth, however, is priceless. >> you are watching "bbc world

news." still to come -- >> and i will be reporting from greenland, where the midnight sun exposure is a disturbing trend. people have no choice -- they have to adapt to a warmer world. >> police in spain are blaming the basque separatist organization for a car bomb in a northern city that has lightly injured nearly 50 people hit by flying glass. the bomb destroyed part of a police barracks. it left a crater 7 meters deep. >> the frightening aftermath of the early morning attack film by an amateur cameraman who was on the scene before the police. he captures vehicles still on fire. it is thought the bomb detonated in a van packed with nearly 300 kilograms of explosives.

the blast damaged 14 stores of the police barracks, ripping out the lower floors. over 100 officers and their family members had been inside. incredibly, there were only minor injuries. children were among those cut by flying glass. amid shop, there is this lady. her daughter was wounded. she had four stitches in her head. the attacks came without warning, and there has been no claim of responsibility, but immediately, the authorities blamed the rebel group. >> they are murderers, savage and crazy. it does not make them stronger, but obviously, makes them more dangerous. >> the group threatened renewed violence following regional elections in march, from which separatist parties were excluded. last month, the police officer was killed by a car bomb. the latest attack in the center of a historic city will put the authorities on alert that they

still have the violent means to make their point. >> it is that time of year when you might be thinking about holidays or maybe holiday reading is on your mind, in which case, spare a thought for the woman who may be the world's biggest reader. the 91-year-old woman has on average barr wrote two books per day from the local library. -- barbara -- borrowed two books per day from the local library. nigerian forces fighting a fierce gun battles with rebels in the north of the country. over 200 people are thought to have died in recent days. british government officials believe that two more of the five britons who were kidnapped in iraq two years ago are now dead. the motor racing legend michael schumacher is set to return to formula one.

that news comes as nasa was moved out of intensive -- as massa was moved out of intensive care. he has made rapid improvement since undergoing surgery on saturday. b&w, meanwhile, have confirmed that they will pull out of formula one -- bmw have confirmed that they will pull out a formula one, confirming that they want to focus on making cleaner cars. >> just when it's in formula one was back on track, another had a bump in the road. bmw spent four years and millions of pounds of developing their cars, but this morning at headquarters in munich, they announced they have had enough. bmw's chief executive said it has been a difficult decision, but they decided to focus on other areas of motorsports and new technologies. it is the end of an adventure

that had promised much. last season, bmw finished third in the title. their driver winning in canada. but this season has been disappointment. with the economic crisis affecting car sales, expensive failure is no longer an option. after honda's exit last year, bmw is the second car manufacturer to pull out. like honda, they simply underachieved. >> you have to look at results. they have been appalling. huge letdown to members of the board. people who believed that is what dr. tyson had said, who runs the team. he had said that they would win the world championship within the three years, and they did not do that. >> the motor sports governing bodies say they are saddened but not surprised and that it justifies their recent cost- cutting measures. other teams may also want to consider their future, but for bmw, it is already the end of the road.

>> in greenland, climate change is happening faster than the sciences are anticipating. scientists are warning of potentially dangerous impact on global sea levels and temperatures. we report from western greenland on the opportunities, however, presented by global warming. >> brain land is our planet's northern frontier -- greenland is our planet's northern frontier. but here, there are signs of change. the sea does not freeze in winter like it used to. that is bad news for the huskies. some get put down when there is no hunting on the ice. but the good for villagers -- but it is good for villagers who

cents an end to their isolation. >> as the climate becomes warmer, the amount of work in the village is growing. people have started moving back here. we are very good at adapting to change, and i see a bright future for us here. >> warmer summers, and longer growing season. finally, greenland is beginning to live up to its name. >> this is the kale, and then you have the leek, and the potatoes. >> he is doing something miraculously -- growing his own vegetables inside the arctic circle. man has barely left a mark on this vast island. with climate change, there is talk of forestry, agriculture, and a new interest in potential reaches deep underground. this is the second-biggest fjord network in the world, but it is not the extraordinary beauty of this place that excites the

geologists. they have already found telltale signs of gold and platinum down below in the rocks. they believe with new tests, new boreholes, they can prove that this could be valuable mining territory. >> precious metals, diamonds, oil, and gas -- in a warming greenland, exploration is a less daunting possibility. the potential could run for many hundreds of millions of dollars. there are just 56,000 green lenders -- greenlanders. denmark has just given them self rule. will they embrace change or resisted? -- or resist it? >> both in terms of how big this

industry can grow, and house small our society is, how to manage this -- how small our society is, how to manage this. >> the outside world sees this as a portent of outside help, but for greenland, climate change may bring unprecedented opportunities. >> a plane, which was used by the leaders of communist east germany, is back in service, but not in the air. a dutch businessman bought the aircraft and has turned into a luxury hotel. >> this four-engine propeller plane is a bit of a relic of the cold war. it was produced in the soviet union, but was used by leaders of communist east germany. today, nearly 50 years after the aircraft was built, it is in service again. although those east german comrades might be a little

surprised of what it is being used for now. on board, you can see that this aircraft has been given a five- star face lift and transformed into a luxury hotel. it does not fly anymore. the point is that you could take a vacation without taking off. the plane only has one bed, but plenty of creature comforts that even the communist elite could only dream of. including a jacuzzi and an infrared sauna. the businessman who bought the aircraft believes holidaymakers will be queuing up to check in. >> when you want to celebrate something -- an anniversary or a wedding -- and they are looking for something special, i think this is special enough. >> it did not look so special a few months ago. the aging aircraft had to be taken to bits to get it to the

new spot. but there is one part that has changed very little. my favorite bit of the whole hotel is possibly the least luxurious part. it is the cockpit. look at this. it has been left virtually untouched. it has barely changed since the time the pilot sat here flying communist forces across eastern europe. everything is written in russian, and is a kid's dream. there are buttons to push, wheels to move, and they even have these emergency exits that pilots would need if they needed to get out of the plan quickly. will anyone really want to spend the night here? the owners are certainly hoping that this combination of communist era history and comfort, the idea of checking into a hotel plane will really take off.

>> quick reminder of our top story -- the nigerian assault against the islamists rebels in the north of the country set to be identifying. four days of violence have now left more than 200 people dead. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small busiinesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?