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union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies to mall businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> now, bbc world news. >> for the work of the american richard holbrooke has died at a age 69. >> the tragedy of this for america and afghanistan is the era of holbrooke was about to dawn of a negotiated settlement. the italian parliament to vote on confidence motions that could force berlusconi out of office. welcome to news news. also coming up, the resilience and trauma of somalia's displaced people. >> these women were all raped within the last two months which shows the problems against women

living in these camps is a very real one that is going on right now. >> president obama has led tributes to one of america's most experienced diplomats richard holbrooke who died following emergency heart surgery. mr. obama described mr. holbrooke as one of giants of american foreign policy. he was best none for helping to broker the dayton peace agreement which ended the bosnian conflict. his most recent role was as obama's special representative in pakistan and afghanistan. we look back at his life. >> peace negotiator and veteran troubleshooter richard holbrooke served as envoy to more than one u.s. president. he was point man on probably

america's most troublesome overseas problem, averages and -- pakistan and afghanistan. he was famous for blunt speaking behind the scenes despite the hand shakes and courtesy in public. >> with president karzai, i carried a personal message from president obama. >> his active interest in asia spanned his career as a diplomat. he made frequent visits during his tenure as u.s. ambassador of the united nations, like here to china. he started his career as a vietnamese specialist on the delegation at the paris peace talks that ended the vietnam war. but it was his role in ending europe's war in bosnia with its siege of sarajevo that first made him famous. in the unlikely surroundings of dayton, ohio, he more or less forced the warring sides to

negotia negotiate, never afraid to bulldoze his way to a solution. he got them all to sign an accord in 1995. >> on paper we have peace. to make it work is our next and greatest challenge. >> it was a challenge. fears of serb ethnic cleansing brought a new crisis in kosovo. he was sent to belgrade to talk tough to president milosevic. nato responded with a 70-day bombing campaign. more than once picked as a possible secretary of state he was perhaps always too confrontational. but his razor sharp analysis was admired and he will be remembered as a dedicated diplomat who didn't duck difficult challenges. >> certainly plenty of tributes coming in not least from number 10 downing street where the

prime minister said that richard holbrooke was a formidable force of american diplomacy and champion in the cause of peace who worked tirelessly for a better world. the former british ambassador in kabul joined me a short time ago. i asked him what he thought made holbrooke stand out. >> he had a first class mind. he understood the nature of conflict. he understood how conflicts ended. but he also had a compassion for ordinary people. he was a democrat. he was a man who had worked with the peace corps in the me congress dealt -- mekong delta and he cared about the ordinary people who are the victims of war whether the balkans and afghanistan or southeast asia. >> presumably to get that what he didn't care for necessarily was the niceties that might stand in the way. >> no. but you had to push back. he could be infuriating.

but he could laugh at himself and he knew there was something absurd about his manner and he took it as well as doling it out. for people who didn't get on with him are the people that didn't have the confidence to push back and cut through the bluster to the real giant human being underneath. >> obviously what he achieved within the frame of the balkan conflict will always stand out as perhaps one of the hallmarks of the holbrooke action. was he doing anything equivalent in kabul and islamabad? >> yes. that is really his tragedy. he delivered, i think, what is one of the most sensible packages of policies toward pakistan the united states has ever had and for which he has had very little credit. on afghanistan it was we are in the hour before dawn dark where the people are going to see the military tragedy is not working, that as general patraeus's

manual says it is 80% politics. holbrooke understood that from the beginning and i think the tragedy of this for america and afghanistan is that the era of holbrooke was about to dawn with the hour of a negotiated settlement. >> that is interesting because you can see how by force of personality in the balkans he had his impact. what you are suggesting here you couldn't do it the same way? >> no. but i always said to him you will come into your own in that final stretch when we've got the leaders of the regional powers, leaders of the afghan factions around a table. and we need holbrooke's mixture of charm and cussedness to get people to hammer out an agreement. he was not so good at the niceties of diplomacy. he was good at cutting to the chase of an issue and this very strong compassionate side to

him. >> richard holbrooke deadline at the aim of 69. the prime minister of italy faces possibly the most testing vote of confidence in parliament. we go there because they have been debating the vote in the couple of hours and are due to vote on it very shortly. they indeed have started that process. it is fair to say mr. berlusconi is expected to win in the senate. but in is another test to come in the lower house later on, much tighter there and of course having had a politic with his ally for a long time, he may be deprived of the majority he needs to win a vote of confidence. that would probably lead to fresh elections. let's get more detail with duncan kennedy from outside parliament in rome. >> david, a real sense of drama and anticipation building here ahead of those two votes you are speaking about there.

i'm here right in the heart of's political district. behind me is the lower house, the camera where that key vote of confidence will be taking place the next couple of hours. you have been watching the senate there. >> we were watching silvio berlusconi in the senate a few minutes ago listening to the final debates. i have to say he looked very serious, studying every word, making sure people were online, those people in his party and his supporters. he is not taking anything for chance. but the questions is is he about to lose his job or has he done enough to survive? >> this is the arena that will decide the future of silvio berlusconi. italy's lower house of parliament, where his deadliest opponents are organized. the prime minister came to persuade and also to warn of the consequences of his political demise. >> i'm convinced that right will prevail. if it doesn't, i'm certain the italian people gave this

government to get the proper response. >> it is in the lower house the s.l.i. party has most support. months ago they were part of his government. they have now set up a rival party age ared by his turbulent personal life and poor recorded on reforming italy. >> berlusconi should leave? i don't think he is respecting our expectation -- i'm sorry for the game of words -- and i'm going to fight for this. that is what i have been trying for the last six months and honestly for the last 55 years of my life hoping for the country that is respected. >> the escorts, dancing girls and off-collar public comments have alienated support for the 74-year-old prime minister. many see that as part of his charm and affect activeness. >> he has no problems in the senate.

and if he wins even by a small margin, if he prevails that is more margin in the house and will be an enormous political victory for him because friends and foes, of course, were absolutely certain of his political death. >> the prime minister's future could be decided by a handful of votes. do they stick with him and will it be elections if they don't? >> just in the past few seconds, as you are watch tag report, the results from the senate have come in and mr. berlusconi has won that vote. we haven't got any figures yet. it was expected that the prime minister would win in the senate. 320 senators there. he had a majority and that has stuck. he is through in the senate. a few minutes earlier than we were expecting. we were not expecting it for another 20 minutes. he will be relieved of that. but that was expected. the biggest test is to come in the next couple of hours or so.

that is when the attention will move here to the lower house, the camera, where there is much more opposition to mr. berlusconi and the vote simply isn't being called by any credible commentator one way or the other. they say it is too close to call. a vote or two either way could way it for mr. berlusconi or against him. the drama now moves to it bit of rome. >> for the drama and the political effect we have the appetizer, haven't we? what is there that makes people believe nonetheless that this time -- because let's be honest, it is hardly as if it is volt of the blue to have a vote of confidence against berlusconi but there time he may be toppled. where has been the change of support in >> the difference is the previous votes of confidence have been like flying kites with no hope of them taking off this. is serious because it involves a breakaway party from his own

party. they set themselves up about a month ago because they were fed up with the direction of mr. berlusconi. the new party is the f.l.i. led by the speaker of the lower house. he's a topnotch political operator and very serious politician. he has about 30 or 40 members of the lower house who sided with him in the lower house. that is enough to deprive mr. berlusconi of his safe majority. until now, the numbers were stack stacked in mr. berlusconi's favor. with fini that has disappeared. that is not to say he will lose. he could win albeit by a small majority. but that certainty has been removed because the new party is saying he is taking the center right in the wrong direction. it is the girls, it is the gas but it is also the lack of policy that they want to see enacted as a result of the election win they had 2 1/2 years ago. a sense of disappointment. they set up their own party and

they want to take italy in a different direction without silvio berlusconi on board. >> thank you, duncan. as that second vote comes in we will bring it to you on b.b.c. world as we have done with the senate vote. we now have the business news focusing on the fed again. qe-3? >> no, fed is starting their two-day meeting. it will be the last for 2010 before the new year begins. you will certainly remember that last month's decision that very heavily criticized announcement of $600 billion, the bond buying cram. qe-2 being pumped into the system. the idea of this meeting would be to basically like a report to take a look at the effectiveness of the $600 billion. and there are a lot of critics, many were saying it just won't do enough.

stock prices rose on that announcement of the last stimulus measure which bond yields dropped but here is the problem. we saw mortgage rates rise and unemployment rise. so it is not doing enough to boost the economy. they will just basically keep an eye on where the $600 billion and they have not spent it all at the moment. >> we will talk more about that on the world business report and japan cutting corporate tax. big deal for them. >> thank you. you are watching bbc world news. still to come, a proud day for peru as the winner of this year's nobel prize for literature returns home. >> questions are mounting in sweden over the background and motives of the suicide bomber who blew himself up in stockholm over the weekend. he was educated and lived in britain before moving to sweden. he died in the attempted bombing.

weedon's foreign minister says he was just minutes away from wreaking carnage among christmas shoppers. >> the moment that terror came to the streets of stockholm. on saturday evening a car explodes on a busy shopping street. minutes later a second blast which killed the bomber. now identified,ish authorities are convinced his aim was to kill as many as possible. >> he was heading into a place where if he exploded all the ordnance he had with him it would have been mass casualties of the sort that we haven't seen in europe for quite some time. >> the bomber's facebook page hinted at his extremist views. investigators will be trolling this and all aspects of his life for clues to which organizations he was involved with. but there is no guarantee that he had accomplices.

>> if he was following orders, this will be part of al qaeda's strategy to continue 9/11 style big attacks. if he was acting alone, it is likely that he's following the current instructions that we are seeing a lot of english language propaganda material from al qaeda saying essentially do what you can to kill as many people as possible. >> parallel investigations are under way in sweden and in brita britain, though a swedish citizen had lived here an english town he went to university here and was tkrefrp out of a mosque for espousing radical jihadist views. moments before his first device exploded he sent an e-mail saying he was protest being the publication of cartoons of the prophet mohammed and presence of swedish troops in afghanistan. but it appears his balls detonated prematurely, meaning the only life he took was his own. but such a near miss is a sad

experience for sweden and the hunt is on for potential accomplices. >> now the military standoff in ivory coast between supporters of the two men who claimed victory in the recent presidential election is showing no sign of ended. the president of the last 10 years is refusing to give up office. this is despite the fact that his opposition rival has been recognized by the u.n. and the african union as the clear winner. the rival soldiers are deployed outside the president's quarters. you will get more on the website. b bbc.com/news. >> thanks for being with us on bbc world news. the headlines, president obama has led the tributes to the work of the american diplomat richard

holbrooke. he has died at the age of 69. the italian prime minister silvio berlusconi just won a confidence vote in the upper house of parliament ahead of a more uncertain vote in the lower house. we have the sports. things moving quickly at the moment. you have a story out of russia to focus on. >> basically what we have been talking about the continuing debate about the merits of the host for 2018 world cup and russia and i found on saturday there was violence. football fans were protesting against the murder of a moscow fan and it got quite you cannily. because riot police were there and they stepped back until those protesting fans started to attack some african nationals. then the riot police stepped in and they really, the fans, became quite violent and the mayor of moscow has held a news conference and he has assured --

he said the various nationalities that live in the city we have a duty of law enforcement in terms of protecting them and he said we will do what we have to do. and, of course, that has been a big debate about racism in russian football in particular. 2022 the first muslim state to hold the finals. there is no drink being allowed in public but they say they will do something to help fans who want to have alcohol. the problem is homosexuality is also illegal. and they asked about gay fans attending >> they should refrain from any sexual activities. no rb no, we are leading in the vote of freedom and i'm sure that when the world cup will be in qatar and this will be in 2022 and you see in the middle east the opening of this culture, it

is an other culture because it is another religion. but it football we have no boundaries. >> thanks indeed. now to the conflict raging in somalia which shows no sign of abating. the transitional government and militia with links to al qaeda are battling it out there. the human cost of the fighting has produced one of the world's worst refugee problems. in the first of two reports we have been given rare access to displaced people's camps in northern somalia. >> this is home to 30,000 victims of one of africa's longest running conflicts. despite the misery of this camp, these women gave austin can i

warm somali welcome. >> these women what are they singing about? they seem pleased to see us? is that because they don't see people from the outside very often? >> they have been through a lot and they are coping the best way at t they know how they can cope and they want all the help they can receive from around the world and anywhere. >> the u.n. refuse jae agency tries to help displaced people earn a living through projects like this. the women here assemble furniture kits which they sell to the u.n. for distribution. but female members of these camps are at risk of sexual attacks and rape. most victims are too afraid to speak out. >> these women were all raped within the last two months, which shows the problem especially attacks against women living in the camps is a very real one that is going on right now with the authorities, wherever they are, whoever they

are, unable to protect them in any which. >> i was trapped by six men on my way from my workplace to my house within the settlement. i don't know the names of those men and i don't know their physical appearance. i don't know them. >> they also stabbed her here. >> to show how hard it is to tackle this kind of violence against women. they are trying hard but in somalia in operates in extremely difficult conditions. >> looking at the situation, we do not see the possibility of any improvement. >> having said so, there are lots of things that can be done and lots of things that can be done been what we're doing now and i appeal to a stronger international solidarity to allow for the somali people to be morte >> the people here seem

genuinely grateful for the handouts they receive. but it is hard for them to forget what they have lost through two decades of conflict. >> the winner of the nobel prize for listen has arrived in his native peru after receiving the award in stockholm. the 74-year-old author is the first per raoufrian to win it and -- peruvian to win it and he faces an agenda of awards and celebrations. dan collins is there. >> after what must have been the most exciting but exhausting week of life he finally touched down in his native peru. he told waiting reporters he was very happy to be back home but also very tired. his life had been turned up side down by the nobel prize win and he said he was eager to resume his normal routine.

>> of course, the nobel prize has affected my life very much. it is a kind of revolution in the life of a person who was surrounded by media and curiosity. you receive so many suggestions, invitatio invitations, that it is very difficult to deal with all of these. but what i have very clear is what is important in my life is my work, my writing and i don't think these will be changed by the nobel prize. >> after sharing his views on everything from personal freedom to peru's next elections, he left the media behind carrying his granddaughter and surrounded by his family. a host of state tributes, award ceremonies and dinners await him. but he will be pleased to be back at his home in lima which is a virtual shrine to a man obsessed by listen.

here you can find the first editions of dozens of his his acclaimed works. some have been translated into more than 30 languages. as you might expect he had an enormous library. but he has always kept a foothold in the real world as a one-time politician, journalist and an outspoken critic of certain latino,american leaders. for per raoufrians that is -- peruvians that is what makes him more than their grand old man of letters. as the publicity slowly subsides peru's greatest living intellectual will be glad to return to the writing desk. >> more of that on the website at bbc.com/news. we are bringing you the latest regarding silvio berlusconi. he has won the vote of confidence in the national, 162-135. that is pretty comfortable.

but it was expected. what is following is the vote in the lower house where it is expected to be close are. if you stick to the website you will get that as it happens, keeping you right across all the news. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and take the play video report. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth expert reporting. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

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