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what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news." those are the dogs, there ises podium, as we await the announcement of this year's nobel peace prize. this is the chairman. >> ladies and gentlemen, the nobel committee has decided that the nobel peace prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between ellen johnson sirleaf, thorbjoern jagland to full participation in peace-building work.

we cannot achieve democracy and peace in the world unless women have the same opportunities of men to influence development at all levels of society. in october 2000, the u.n. security council adopted resolutions 1325. the resolution for the first time made violence against women in armed conflict an international security issue. it underlines the need for women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes and in peace work in general. ellen johnson sirleaf is africa's first democratically elected female president. since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in liberia, to promoting

economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women. lema boman wanted to bring an end to the long war in liberia and to ensure women's participation in the elections. she has worked to enhance the influence of women in west africa during and after war. and in the most trying circumstances, both before and during the arab spring, he has played a leading part for democracy in yemen. it is the november best committee's hope that the prize to ellen sirleaf johnson, lema, and karman will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many

countries and realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent. thank you. >> so, there's the announcement coming from thorbjoern jagland. mike wooldridge is with me to run through this. you mentioned ellen johnson sirleaf, she was the first name out of the hat. it's a female. >> and she faces potential re-election if she's to win just next week. so maybe an important point she's been chosen now. but the committee has said in advance that they thought their winner -- they said in advance yesterday it would just be one winner and would be widely accepted, much more consensual candidate this year than last year. so an interesting choice that they spread it beyond ellen

johnson sirleaf to widen it out , also very much known as a peacemaker, peace activist, organization there, the women of liberia mass action for peace. they'll be involved in monitoring those elections, so interesting for that. and then the third figure, so-called karman. >> which is sort of a rain spring link if we're looking for one. >> precisely. and that's a name that had been at least as much in the speculation at all. but once again, it's a woman confirming that they particularly wanted to emphasize the role of women in society and peace making more broadly. and i think that, in her case, this is yemen as well, again, an interesting choice of country in terms of the whole arab spring movement. >> but it's dominated by women. i understand there have only been 12 women to win this in 100 years. >> absolutely. so all in one go here now, so it does address the balance

just a little. and indeed, the sort of enigmatic comments ahead of this, the chair of the committee has been saying that the winner this year would be representing a team that had been very important throughout his life. >> well, as we got the three names, just wondered if we'd have a listen, and questions coming in to him, the former prime minister of norway. >> the main people behind the changes there. lama was the main person behind the pressure that women put towards the peace process and this led to the fact that the men around the table had to listen. and as a consequence of this, ellen johnson sirleaf it was elected as president. karman in yemen has been a very strong, young woman with three

children who, long before the revolution, has stood against authorities there, and she started the network with between women journalist and also in the same way, long before the revolution, she forged for women's rights. she has also been linked to the muslim movement in the country. it has been a very controversial prize the last two years, particularly last year. how do you think this one is going to be received? i don't think this one is going to be attacked from one particular country as last year's prize was. i think this particular prize will be accepted throughout the world because we are lifting up very important subject in international politics.

>> a reference to last year, china furious, and boycotts and the like following on. they've diluted the likelihood of condemnation today. >> back from that kind of controversy, that's right. it's important to note, whereas originally the prize was very much recognized for peace underway, classic notion of peace making, but in more recent years they broadened the definition of the whole thing hugely to include the environmental movement. one winner who died just recently, the prize winner from just seven years ago, and now today, once again, taking it in new directions. but again, if you like it, it's all about a work in progress, particularly with the choice of the rights activist in yemen. but it's very much to encourage the possibility of peace and justice. >> you're going to be broadening the net. let's have a little more listen in to mr. jagland.

>> well, sorry about that. we're not going to listen anymore, but we do have -- and i should perhaps just remind people -- oh, we got him back. maybe he can remind us instead. we'll have a listen in again. >> namely to include the women in the revolution and in new democracies. there will be no new democracy. because this is the most important issue in all of the a would be world, the oppression of women. they will not set aside the women. and therefore, we are giving the signals that if this succeeds with this effort to make democracy, one has to

include the women. there are several times now that the women again are the missing part. >> we've been told that they're winning the prize, and have they had any reaction? >> we believe that leymah gbowe has been told, but we have had some problems the last few minutes to reach the two others. you have mentioned some of the signals that you've given off, particularly vis-a-vis africa and the arab world. what do you think the prize will lead to? the hope, it will give more focus on the human rights problem that women are constantly raped. that they are forced into

sexual relations, have been a weapon in war. and we hope that we will be able also to focus how women are important when it comes to providing peace. >> it's interesting, mike. clearly, it's more than just three names and just three women. this is almost like a concerted message and theme and possibly campaign for the nobel committee here in terms of highlighting the plight of women and the ability of women at different societies as well. >> absolutely. it's a very clever prize indeed. of course, let's not forget the liberian civil war was one of the most brutal of wars of recent times, much use of child soldiers and so on.

ellen johnson-sirleaf puts herself in prison for a while. she fell out with the regime in particular, went into exile. when she came back to take over in 200e5, she recognized -- i was there 100 days after she took office to see how it was going. she said, to reconnect with her own people, acknowledging this might be very difficult. she was seen by rural people as somebody who lived abroad for a long time, set about trying to do that, just trying to bring reconciliation and to tackle the enormous poverty in her country in the aftermath of that. so, her own experience very much addresses what you're just saying. and with leymah gbowee, operating very much at a grass roots level in that same society as well. and then again, alongside that, yemen as well. we mustn't forget, that is the poorest nation in the arab world. that's also all about poverty as much as it is about conflict, and poverty is an element in conflict.

>> it's a huge challenge to pick people who are whiter than white, isn't it? i mean, even with ellen sirleaf johnson, the truth and reconciliation commission in her own country, which she promoted and helped to ens gait, was still prepared to say you're one of those people who consorted with some of the warring factions. very difficult path to tread. >> she did acknowledge that herself. she did past the regime by going into prison. but you're right. hardly any candidate is without controversy at all, and indeed, she indicated five years ago she might not do so. but maybe the effects of that, again, she's not the only winner. the committee obviously wants them all to be seen alongside one another for the very different contributions that they've made to a common cause. >> mike, thank you very much indeed. let me remind use of the three joint winners of the nobel peace prize for 2011.

there they are, two from liberia and one from yemen. more, of course, here on "bbc world news" on the analysis and ramifications of that. in the meantime, let's turn our attention to libya, because forces loyal to the interim authority there have embarked on a major attack on sirte, one of the last big cities held by followers of colonel gaddafi. the city has come under, in the last few hours, the most aggressive assault by interim government forces. some forces believed to be within a mile or so, a kilometer or two, from the center of sirte itself. the bbc's jonathan head is with the fighters on the outskirts of sirte. a short time ago, he described just how prepared he felt the anti-gaddafi forces are for the battle this time. >> on the east side, they're far better trained and they've been pushing in very close to town center, but stopped about probably less than a mile from the center where they're pinned down by snipers. they've been waiting for this

assault in the west. these are volunteer forces. they've been very disorganized up till now, but we've seen really significant numbers. hundreds of machine guns mounted on them, numerous tanks. we don't know how many, but we've seen about six moving in position, and they are focused on specific targets. there's been a really deafening bombardment going on since the very early hours of the morning, pretty much since sunrise. that's a little less noisy now. we've now seen groups of fighters going in, training their machine gunfire on the buildings on the outskirts of sirte and moving forward. it's been a very busy day, and it certainly looks a great deal more organized with commanders on the ground, using radios and directing their forces, so much greater extent than we've seen up till now. >> right. it's one thing, jonathan, to bombard, isn't it? it's another -- it's not perhaps the best language, but to close this out. do you get a sense that they have the numbers and indeed the wherewithal to do that? >> they have the numbers.

i think training has always been an issue. some of these commanders have been really quite fearful. what we're not seeing today is individual trucks charging forward and letting off rounds, which we've seen a lot in the past with just one more unit. that should make it much more effective. it's going to be very tough. what amazes me is the bombardment was deafening this morning. there were huge plumes of smoke appearing. we've seen blasts hitting the buildings. yet the fighters inside are still resisting. they're still firing back. we've had shots flying right over our heads. it's extraordinary. you think, why are they still doing it? that suggests this is going to be tenacious resistance, and it may come down to fighting house to house. these guys aren't that well trained for that, but for any army, that's a very difficult job. so they've been telling us, it could all be over by the end of today. that will only happen if the gaddafi loyalists suddenly give up their resistance. nothing we've seen so far suggests they're ready to do that. >> jonathan head there. i wonder if in a year or two,

some people in libya might form part of a peace laureate themselves. let's go back to oslo, because the announcement has been made of the winner of the peace prize, the nobel peace prize for this year. in fact, it's split three ways. ellen johnson-sirleaf, liberian president, and the liberian activist, leymah gbowee. from yemen, tawakkil karman has been fighting and campaigning against president saleh for some time, a huge focus, therefore, on liberia. we can actually speak to thomas, who's on the line in monrovia. big day, thomas. >> yes, it is a big day here. i don't think that the line beerian people have realized yet. -- the liberian people have realized yet. it's pretty quiet now, but let's see how the day develops. >> tell us a bit more about

leymah gbowee. we know more about the president than we do about her. >> it seems thomas has dropped off the line, unfortunately. let's just see if we can get him again. thomas, can you hear us? no, i think we've lost thomas, unfortunately. we'll try to get back to monrovia, because the realization will be seeping through any minute, i guess, as to the fact that two liberians have been announceds the nobel peace laureates for this year. we'll move on for the moment. aaron is here with business news. the news is a raft of downgradings by moody's. let's focus on portugal first, not least because it's one of those -- the most fragile in the contagion link. >> it's not going to help. it's going to make the costs of borrowing for these banks, which is the last thing they need, up. when you cut a rate, a rating

from a bank or even a government, it makes the cost of borrowing go higher, but moody's has struck once again, and they've downgraded nine of portugal's banks. now, moody's deciding the reason is it's off the back -- they're worried about the quality of loans that these portuguese banks have to the portuguese government. we've been talking about it all this week, the momentum has been growing this week of the worry that the sovereign debt crisis could be turning into a banking crisis, and that's the reason we've seen these calls for recapitalization of most of europe's big banks, pumping billions into these banks from the eurozone, the eurozone countries, the european central bank, just to shore them up, make them stronger so they can possibly withstand the likes of default from portugal or greece or more hiccups in italy and spain. >> they're kicking the shins, what is the significance of that? >> well, this was anticipated.

in fact, the markets had priced this in further for some time, but moody's has downgraded 12 of the u.k. banks, five big ones, seven small ones. the big ones include, i should say, some of the state-controlled or at least the parts owned by the government, royal bank of scotland, lloyds, they've downgraded them. it's not because these banks have seen any deterioration in their financial position, but because of the u.k. government's attitude, the mood where we may not see u.k. government's support for banks that get into another crisis or trouble in the future. so that's basically off the back of that. no major economic significance at the moment certainly for the u.k. economy, but again, it will make it more expensive for these banks to borrow money. >> nuts and bolts for a moment, samsung. obviously spent a lot of time looking at apple in the last day and a half, treal, but they're selling more units of

smart phones than i thought. >> yeah, and that could very well increase. a couple of days ago, apple kind of did this soft launch of a new version of the iphone 4. instead of bringing out an iphone 5. that should fall into the hands of samsung. well, that's what they say. but they saw operating profit coming in at about $3.5 billion for samsung. it is a 40% dip from a year earlier, but 12% higher than what was expected, and it is the smart phones -- samsung is the second largest maker of mobile phones in the world, but also their p.c. tablets are gaining market growth. i'll have a lot more on all of this, the banks, samsung, on the "world business report" in about seven minutes' time. >> i said we'd have more on the nobel peace prize. joining me from cairo is bethany bell. among those winners, the third name to be announced, tawakkul

karman, tell us about what she has done over the course of the last year. >> she is an activist for press freedoms, for political freedoms. she's been one of the leaders of recent protests in yemen, which, of course, was seen a lot of turmoil, clashes, and she's one of a handful of women to have a major role in public life in yemen, which traditionally was very male-dominated. she's on record of having side that the day will come when people who violated human rights in yemen will pay. and she also believes that the struggle for freedom can't just take place without actively going out and protesting on the streets. so, i think this is a sign perhaps in a place, a country like yemen, where there are a lot of concerns about its stability, whether it's falling into the possible danger of

civil war, that this is something to encourage activists there, and most particularly, women activists. >> she'll no doubt feel this is a great thing to have, but in the middle of a job, certainly only half done. also, interesting to hear, bethany, the reference to a muslim element being brought into these three peace winners. >> very much so. i think this is a nod, if you like, to the enormous changes going on in the arab world this year in terms of the arab uprisings. to pick a country like yemen and a woman in yemen, a muslim woman, this is something clearly that the nobel peace prize organizers feel is an important signal at this time of chaos and difficulty, particularly in yemen, which, as i say, has seen extremely severe clashes where there are very strong fears about whether it is slipping towards more conflict.

>> bethany, thanks very much indeed for that. let's move on now to pakistan, where a government commission is calling for a doctor who's accused of helping the c.i.a. to find osama bin laden to be tried for high treason. shakil afridi is in abbottabad, where bin laden was killed, in an effort to obtain a d.n.a. sample. he was arrested shortly after the military raid in may. >> this is all coming out of the abbottabad commission, a commission set up after the events which led to the killing of osama bin laden. it's a commission not to find out why osama bin laden was in pakistan, but how the americans were able to carry out an attack on pakistani soil without the authorities here knowing. and it is believed that dr. afridi, a doctor in northwest pakistan, began this vaccination campaign, this hepatitis b vaccination campaign, at the behest of the

c.i.a., who wanted to get into the compound in which they believed osama bin laden was in. now, it's not believed that he was able to obtain those d.n.a. samples. apparently one nurse was able to get into the compound, but not to take samples. but, even then, the pakistani authorities rounded up a large number of people actually after that raid in which bin laden was killed. dr. afridi being one of them. he is just one of those who remain in custody. now the abbottabad commission says a case of conspiracy against the state of pakistan, and, as you say, high treason, should be launched against him. >> the latest there from pakistan. now, we're going from one set of nobel peace prize winners to one individual laureate, because in south africa, archbishop desmond tutu has been celebrating his 80th birthday. it's been quite a celebration. we've had all sorts of

superstars appearing on the screen, but there's also been a church service in the course of the last few hours. at st. george's cathedral, this is in cape town, and among the congregation, again, big names. the popular bono from u2, the wife of former president nelson mandela as well. now, one person who wasn't there and who was expected to be there has been very notable for his absence has been fellow peace prize winner, the dalai lama, the south african government not granting the tibetan spiritual leader a visa in time. on a brighter note, some words of celebration for desmond tutu. >> ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday, dear desmond happy birthday to you ♪

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