>> "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. newman's own foundation. 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 businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> the italian prime minister, silvio berlusconi, has warned they could be plunged into economic crisis. >> we need to have the capacity to decide. we need everything except a crisis in the dark. >> expelled from a british mosque for being "to radical." the bbc looks at the background of the stockholm bomber. and looking at the man internationally regarded as having won at the ballot box. welcome to "bbc world news."

coming up later for you -- out of the country and out of office. iran's long serving foreign minister is sacked willis on an african tour. -- whilst on an african tour. >> ♪ i found my thrill on blueberry hill ♪ >> and is there no end to the talents of russian prime minister vladimir putin? now, it has been a day of speechmaking and persuasion by the italian prime minister, silvio berlusconi, as he tries to win over two key votes of confidence. the confidence votes have been called after months of infighting over his colorful

private life and what his opponents call his policy failures. duncan kennedy has this. >> silvio berlusconi was using at the hours before the confidence votes to charm his way to victory. here the lower houses, and he knew his speech had to be a mixture of firmness, but one that also reached out. italy would be in crisis without him, he said. now was not the time for change. >> if the no-confidence motion is rejected, as i believe it will be, then tomorrow we will work to rebuild. we will enlarge the current majority to include everyone who shares the policies and values of the moderates, including the great family of freedom which is the european people's party. >> opponents say his general

behavior is now becoming a head of government. but mr. berlusconi has confounded his critics with of color remarks. >> i say, battered you like girls than to be gay. >> such comments have overshadowed his successes, such as saving the state airline, reducing illegal immigration. but it has not been enough for one of his most -- one of his former allies leading the revolt in parliament. he calls mr. berlusconi and embarrassment who has failed to introduce reforms. an italian seem divided on the prime minister. >> this man says i hope the right wing coalition will lose and go home. this man says, i think mr. berlusconi will make it, which would be a terrible disaster.

>> all this matters outside italy as well. the biggest economy in the euro zone. mr. berlusconi has called for stability and continuity. that may not be enough to save him. bbc news, in rome. >> of federal judge and the american state of virginia has declared part of president barack obama's health-care law unconstitutional. it is the first time a case against the reform has been upheld. two other judges previously ruled in their favor. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has welcomed the united states to abandon its call for freedom for is really a settlement groups. it is the first paul -- public comment since the u.s. changes policy on friday.

the latest diplomatic cables released by wikileaks say the irish republic leaders were in the military ira as recently as five years ago. they also say both men would have known about the $40 million bank robbery that has been linked to the organization. both men say the claims are untrue. swedish officials say they believe they have identified the man who set off two bombs in stockholm saturday. they say they are 90% certain he is taimour abdulwahab al-abdaly, who was born in iraq, grew up in sweden, and study here in england. we have more with our cure -- security correspondent. >> at the swedish bomb plot. taimour abdulwahab al-abdaly, an man who spent more than a decade living in britain.

today, questions what may have been behind his past. a car exploded in a busy shopping street in stockholm moments later, he was found dead at following a second explosion. a suicide bomber, but one who had failed to kill anyone else. police raised his -- raided his house in louton last night. his neighbors had not seen him for more than a month. when he tried to spread it extremist views, he was confronted in a mosque. they did not inform police. >> we cannot characterize him as a terrorist. it could have just been his political views. >> should i have really expose him publicly and make him storm

out? maybe i should have worked with him. >> neighbors talk about an ordinary family man, but the security services will be investigating how and when he might have been radicalized, and crucially, the loyalty might have been in contact with. what do we know about taimour abdulwahab al-abdaly? he was born in baghdad, iraq and 1981. he attended school in sweden. in 2001, he studied at the university of bedfordshire and settled in louton. he sent an e-mail saying he was protesting the publication of the cartoon of the prophet mohammed. swedish prosecutors want to establish whether or not he was working alone. >> we should suppose that he had others behind him, if they are

accomplices or inspired him to it in some religious way. >> he had expressed extremist views on his facebook page, and today a jihadist web site posted an unverified claim he had fulfilled a pledge linked to al- qaeda. was he alone radical or part of a wider conspiracy? investigators are in sweden and britain will be trying to find out. bbc news. >> that the price is our correspondent in stockholm. matthew, what progress with the investigation? >> investigators are telling as a team from the fbi is heading over to work with them and their close working, as you would imagine it would be, with their counterparts in the united kingdom. although they are still officially billing with the line the believe he was working

alone, there is an acknowledgement if you look at similar attacks in the european nations and other parts of the world, that there is often an individual or group of individuals behind a bomber of this nature. what -- whether just inspiring them are going further to provide materials. the investigation will be focused on that. what had this bomber been doing over the past two weeks? where did he get his explosives? and do, in this country and beyond, might have helped them? >> what is it like in stockholm today for swedes? they've had to accept a suicide bomber attack on home territory. >> one columnist here, one observer of swedish life if you like it like this -- it sounds strange at first. it might sum up the feeling here. she says it is a little bit like the aftermath of a school

shooting. by that she was not downplaying the significance, but she was saying it is a shock. it is something everybody is talking about, but it is not going to change the way that we swedes live our lives here. i think that is the context. >> thank you very much. troops and the ivory coast have deployed to the headquarters of the man declared by the u.n. and the african union to of one last month's presidential election. forces loyal to his opponent, who is refusing to accept defeat, at his heavily armed supporters are defending the hotel, alongside u.n. peacekeepers. on the line from the ivory coast, john james. john, the story is moving very quickly, almost by the hour. what is the latest? >> an hour or so ago, things

have calmed down a little bit. there are still checkpoints on the main entry points. just around the hotels. you can get to what he called the military checkpoints. you have the u.n. peacekeepers and at the front of the hotel, you have various u.n. peacekeeping, tanks, armored vehicles, and as you say, rebels from the north of ivory coast in there as well. a lot of weapons on both sides. there is a standoff. the area is very quiet indeed. not busy as it normally is in the evening. >> there is a cabinet meeting scheduled for later this week. in reality, pocono go-ahead? >> the cabinet -- each side has taken an oath of office. yes, the prime minister said on friday his cabinet will hold a meeting in the state offices. that is not possible at the moment.

the government of the opposition is limited to the hotel. it is difficult to know. that would involve a major change on the ground. at the moment, there is no way they could leave the hotel and have been meeting in the state of this is barry >> john james. thank you very much. the iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki has been sacked. u.s. bank for his services, but no reason was given for his dismissal. he was currently on an official visit to senegal. he is being replaced by the head of the atomic energy association. our tehran correspondent, gene randall's, has this report. >> the foreign minister has been relieved of his duties. >> manouchehr mottaki has been fired, news which may come as a surprise to him himself. he is currently on a field trip

to africa and he heads home without a job. manouchehr mottaki was iran's foreign minister for the last five years. last week he was an increase for talks. but he did not go to geneva for a recent round of nuclear talks. that reason means that iran may have changed their approach. >> we emphasized the talks, which had just started in geneva, will continue with a different political configuration in iraq. >> and here is the man who fired the foreign minister. president ahmadinejad earlier in iran this year. getting rid of his foreign minister while on official trip is a dramatic way of making his point. and this is the man he takes over as caretaker foreign minister.

he has been in charge of iran's atomic energy association. he confirmed iran's first consignment of yellowcake, a material needed to enrich uranium. james reynolds, bbc news. >> you are watching "bbc world news." still to come -- the biggest ever joint military exercise with an eyewitness report from our asia correspondent. they spent two months trapped underground and emerged as international bureaus. and now the miners from too late have been -- chile have been meeting their heroes. david guest reports from england. >> when sir alex makes a

signing, there is usually a lot of interest. but the man on the left is not a soccer star. but he and his colleagues have become celebrities in their own right. when they finally emerged, they were hailed as international bureaus. -- international heroes. >> claudio hernez said the life of he and the other miners changed completely when they emerged from the pit. >> we want the opportunity to thank them, you know? >> so united in one of their sponsors and arranged for the men to visit -- united and one of their sponsors are arranged for demand to visit. this is a place they have only

seen before on tv. earlier today, they met the players and took the opportunity to go autocrat hunting. tonight, the men will be guests here. it is not clear how many of the miners are die-hard reds, but it seems that they have more than a few potential footballers in their midst. in fact, they have enough to make up a team. perhaps they could bet on united. next year, perhaps. bbc news. >> you are watching "bbc world news." at the top stories -- the italian prime minister silvio berlusconi warned of an economic crisis if he is ousted by a vote of no-confidence. and the man described as the stockholm suicide bomber was expelled -- from a british mosque for radical views. an israeli human rights groups

is claiming the israeli military police are breaking their own law by detaining palestinian children. this comes at a time when there is increased tension between palestinian and jewish settlers. here is our correspondent. >> these palestinian children are playing a dangerous game. and it is all about to go wrong. the gray car is being driven by a jewish settler. terrified, he flees the scene. the child is mercifully not badly hurt. a few days later, a 12-year-old and his parents are at home with their lawyer. >> i warned him from getting in the road, but the kids have no place to play. sometimes, it comes to them.

they do not understand how dangerous it is. >> look closely, and you can see the rock thrown by a child. immediately, a response of teargas. that is a good example of events that happen here all the time. the police drove up on the streets behind. immediately children in the alleyways and on the roof tops began signaling to each other and the stone-throwing began. >> this 11-year-old has been arrested four times. the last time, he says, he was severely beaten. >> became and dragged me -- they hit me and dragged me on the floor. i was very scared. only when my father arrived did they stop. >> the israeli police flatly deny such treatment takes place. the israeli police told us all

teenagers questioned are escorted, with their parents, and questioned by police officers who were specially trained and speak arabic. >> we have mounting evidence of young children and their families is state the political oppression, whether it is when they are arrested, and also during interrogation. there was a violence when they were being interrogated. >> the children are being arrested at a rate of nearly one per day. as a result, a growing number show symptoms of post-traumatic stress. bbc news, east jerusalem. >> the u.s. secretary of state, hillary clinton, says the special representative for afghanistan at richard holbrooke is in critical condition after

surgery. mr. holbrooke, who is 69, is best known for at brokering the peace accords that ended the war in bosnia. initial results from elections and impose a vote suggests -- in kosovo suggest a winner. there were concerns over fraud in two districts. the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, chernobyl -- and ukrainian spokeswoman says specialist are working out state groups through the area so more can be learned about the explosion that crippled the area in 1986. in the past few weeks, but japan and south korea conducted large- scale joint military exercises with the united states. china calls this up in " an

attempt -- "an attempt of american contain a." our aging correspondent joined in american air -- our asian correspondent joined an american aircraft carrier, the uss george washington. >> is in china's backyard. and menacing force, reaching up the coast of japan. the u.s. has been fleeing war games with japan for 50 years, but never on this scale. for decades, the americans will be seized of east asia. but a confident china is starting to flex its muscles. the disputed japanese islands which the chinese claim is theirs. in september, a japanese coastguard ship and chinese

trawler collided, damaging relations. there are claims that this whole stretch of the south china sea belongs to china, despite protests from their neighbors. the conflict is a very long way off. >> there is no danger of a clash between them. look at the situation between the u.s. and soviet union. no matter what happened, they never shot at each other. >> these waters are vital trade routes for goods being shipped across the world. there are massive reserves of oil and gas. >> we have national interest here, a vital national interests. certainly other nations that interest in freedom of movement, free trade, the ability to grow and prosper. >> diplomacy and engagement are

one way of keeping the peace. shouting about the military might be another. >> [unintelligible] it is this kind of display that shows the power that america and its allies still have around the world. yeah the -- asian countries like the wealth that our relationship with china brings, but they are also intimidated by it. that is why america is still an important ally. bbc news, aboard the uss george washington, off japan. >> he is one of the most powerful men on the planet. president, prime minister of russia. many people would expect to vladimir putin to not seeing

blueberry hill at a charity event. he is not the first politician to take to the stage. >> always expect the unexpected from vladimir putin. whether he is in the boxing ring or elsewhere, he loves the limelight. there is one thing he had yet to do in public, until now. >> ♪ i found my thrill on blueberry hill ♪ >> please welcome vlad the vocalist or the kremlin crooner. at a charity event, he sang his version of "blueberry hill," in english. the hollywood stars and in the audience had never heard anything like that, and neither had the russians. this is a side of the prime

minister russians had never seen before. but vladimir clinton is not the first international statesmen -- vladimir putin is not the first international statesman to sing in public. boris yeltsin. bill clinton played the saxophone. and hugo chavez. but what you russians make of their musical prime minister? >> he was super, really cool. >> but not everyone thinks so. >> i like a politician when he governs under the rule of law. putin does not do that. >> and one more surprise. goodman, the one-fingered pianist. p utinm, -- putinm, the one-

fingered pianist. >> do not forget, you and find a story and more online at our website -- bbc.com/news. you can also see what we're working on on our facebook page. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> there is one stage that is the met and carnegie hall. >> o, that this too, too solid flesh -- >> it is the kennedy center. >> check, one, two. >> and a club in austin. >> it is closer than any seat in the house, no matter where you call home. >> the top of the world, and i'm there, i'm home. >> pbs -- the great american stage that fits in every living room. your support of pbs brings the arts home. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. presented by kcet, los angeles.