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>> large crowds are turning out to vote in egypt's parliamentary elections. there's lots of enthusiasm, but reports of i go we arities -- reports of irregularities. the queues starred early this morning. >> welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy here in london. also in this program -- the congolese are also voting in elections today in spite of violence and huge logic stahl problems. cuts by pakistan oil tanker drivers in protest of the deaths of 24 soldiers in nato air strikes. emergency workers are dropping off supplies of thousands of people stranded by floodwaters in southeast australia. and the controversial british film director, ken russell, has died, aged 84.

>> welcome to cairo. the egyptian capital, it's voting day today, an historic day in a country that toppled its leader, president hosni mubarak, earlier this year in a protest egyptians call a revolution. but this process is overshadowed by uncertainty and insecurity. just 10 minutes down the street is tahrir square, where protester are still gathering, saying they don't want to take part in this protest. they see it as a sham, in a country still under military rule. across the nine governments casting their votes today in a protest that will last for months, enthusiasm is high. look at the polling station right behind me at a school. this is a voting station for women. the queues formed early this morning. they're moving slowly because this is, aside from everything else, a very complex voting

process. it takes a long time to figure out a very complicated ballot. but it's all been very orderly and very peaceful. but we have reports, as we look at some of the pictures from elsewhere in cairo, there are reports that it hasn't gone so smoothly at other polling stations. in some others, the queues have also been long, but there are reports of polling stations opening late, ballot boxes not turning up on time, and also some scuffles outside some of the polling stations. also complaints of some irregularities with campaign workers showing up not just to direct the voting, but also to distribute campaign fliers. we've seen it ourselves here at this polling station. in other areas, including alexandria, another big city that played a big part in egypt's continuing protests, voting was brisk there, long queues were also polling around many polling stations. in fact, we had reports that some people went home because they waited for hours for the

ballot boxes and the ballot papers to turn up. when they didn't, they decided it wasn't worth waiting. well, there will be two days of voting across these nine governments, and then the process will continue until january when voting will then start for the upper house. but there is a great deal of excitement. we've been talking to some of the voters, and presidential hopeful, a former egyptian foreign minister, was one of those who cast his ballot this morning. let's hear what he had to say. >> this is the beginning of a new era in egypt, democracy in action. not in theory, but in action. >> what do you think should be done? >> after the elections, you will have your deputies that you have elected yourself. but if you want to go to tahrir and express another point of view, why not?

this has to be a free country, but disciplined. >> what kind of things -- >> we have reached an agreement, a very important one that the old elections, including the presidential elections, would come to an end before the beginning of july. so by the 30th day of june, all the elected officers should be in place and start a new era in egypt in the government of egypt. >> thank you. >> he used to head the arab league, now hoping to take part in the presidential elections set to take place by the middle of next year. i have to say that the people we spoke to in that voting queue share his enthusiasm for this protest, but some others don't. some are boycotting these elections, both voters as well as candidates. we're joined here by a woman who's in the no-military trials

campaign. she joins us now. you're boycotting the poll. i should tell our viewers you're also limping because you were hit by a rubber bullet this week, fired in the protest that took place just down the street in tahrir square. why do you think it's not important to take part in the voting? >> i've never voted before, and i see absolutely no reason why i should vote now. not much has changed. the military is supposed to be securing these elections, just a few meters down the street only two days ago. the judiciary is still not independent. i see this as a big show to say we have had parliamentary revolutions, and we have a revolutionary parliament where they were killed down the street only a few days ago, and until this day is tracking down on activists, on bloggers, on

regular people who just choose to protest and not choose to take part in this show, >> you mentioned the ruling military council, but what is not is a ruling party, president mubarak's party, alza accused of rigging the polls. it's meant to be the freest and fairest egyptians have seen. >> that was not the only thing that made the elections not fair. many members want money for the elections. the dictatorship is still there. the armed forces is still mubarak ruling this country. the ballot boxes are going to spend the time with the police and the army, so the elections and army are literally in bed. had i felt like this was a different count, i would have voted. >> seems like there's a large turn out. >> it's such a shame. i would have hoped to see more

people boycotting, the more revolutionary parties boycotting. staff has been really murdering people, slaughtering people down the street. i work at the make-shift hospital, so i said the make-shift hospital, and the army and the police attacked the hospital several times and tried to play with the evidence that we had. it's horrible. >> thank you very much for joining us and taking time to come over to join us here outside this polling station. and so, you see that this is very much a country that's divided with some believing in this place moving forward. but some people believe it will just be holding it back. i suppose that's part of democracy, too, that everyone has their own point of view and defends it passionately. we're going to keep an eye on all the processes today and beyond. that's all from us in cairo for

now. >> thanks so much. we will be back with you throughout the day. staying in the country there, the gas pipeline has been blown up. the explosion was set off in the west. it's the ninth attack on a pipeline this year. egypt supplies israel with nearly half its gas under a heavily criticized deal agreed by the former president, hosni mubarak. let's catch up with business. aaron is here. and we're just looking at events from paris, aren't we? >> absolutely. excuse me for having to read some of these. it's hot off the press. in fact, the press conference for the organization of economic cooperation and development is taking place as you and i speak right now, geeta. they're delivering their latest, basically their latest economic outlook report. certainly no surprise, it makes for grim reading here. they are saying the -- the oecd saying the world and policy makers must be prepared to face

the worst. they continue in looking at europe, they continue blaming, if you will, or pointing to the failure by e.u. leaders to stem the debt crisis that they're saying has spread, of course, from the likes of greece to much bigger countries like italy and the likud. it could escalate economic disruption and end in highly devastating outcome, and i quote there. they're looking at the u.s. economy. they're saying that the u.s. economy may face a graver threat from europe's debt crisis than previously thought. let's just dip in and have a listen to what the oecd is saying right now. >> becoming entrenched. several negative side effects develop. of course, it's severely effected, but also lower growth going forward, the potential outfit is elected, and if you recall my remarks in confidence, it faced little prospective of finding a job

going forward and are not in the condition to feel more confident. also to the unemployment channel, a negative feedback on the situation. what is policy doing? well, monetary policy throughout the area and also outside is becoming more accommodative as you recall, the e.c.b. recently lowered the rate. to stop doing that even more, there is hope for continuing with unorthodox measures in other regions as well. and in emerging economies, as inflationary pressure ease a little bit, policies fade in terms of monetary accommodation can be available. fiscal consolidation is ongoing. let us not forget this scenario

continues against a background of very severe fiscal consolidation needs, which is a result of the crisis. >> there is the chief economist there. and look, you know, i sort of said this at the beginning, no surprises from what they're delivering. this is a global impact. >> one line saying the e.c.b. should step up action for the eurozone to credibly contain the debt crisis. >> oh, of course. you just got to convince the germans, and in particular the chancellor, angela merkel, who is adamant and very heavily opposed to the e.c.b. stepping in to be the lender of the last resort. but many leading financial experts i spoke to say it is really the only salvation for europe. the the e.c.b. does have power, but they've got to step in. the backstop to guarantee all of that would be germany, so

one of the reasons germany is opposed. i'll have a lot more on this on the world business report coming up in just under 20 minutes' time. we've got moody's, a threat against all of europe, and also this i.m.f. possibly bailing out italy rumor over the weekend that now doesn't seem to be true. >> market is still up? >> market still up. plenty to talk about. >> thanks very much. the main pakistani association that delivers field to nato forces in afghanistan says it has no plans to resume supplies. shipments to nato forces in afghanistan arrived via pakistan, but after 24 pakistani soldiers were killed saturday in an apparent nato air strike, the all-pakistan oil tanker owners association says they'll only resume if islamabad accepts an apology for the incident. let's get the latest from kabul. also, the army spoke from pakistan sounding like they are not going to want to cooperate potentially here with nato.

>> well, it seems like it, something like this has happened in the past, but it was not as serious this time because a number of pakistani soldiers have been killed, as you just said. i've been speaking to truck drivers and after an guarder officials in the southern province of kandahar, and they just told me more than 1,500 are stuck on the other side of the pakistani border, most of them bringing fuel and other equipment for nato forces in afghanistan. >> and, of course, if pakistan cannot be used as a route, then presumably governments have been talking to other countries through which they could bring supplies to afghanistan. ultimately is that where things are going to go? >> well, it seems that there are very few options. nato would have to use the route from the north of the country, but again that route

passes through the volatile province in northeastern afghanistan, so iran is not an option in the west of the country. it seems that pakistan was one of the most convenient and the most easiest routes that supplied nato with all these equipment, including others. >> ok, very difficult situation there. more on this certainly, thanks very much indeed for now. you're watching "bbc world news." still to come -- the search for a missing 3-year-old in australia's flood. thousands of homes have been cut off by floodwaters. a confrontation between colombian forces and guerrillas has arrived in bogota.

>> after more than 12 years in captivity, sergeant louise alberto is back in bogota with shrapnel wounds visible on his face. the sergeant quake a quick victory sign and thumbs up from the tarmac before being whisked away for medical checks and a full debrief with his superiors. most importantly for him, a reunion with his family. but this will be no moment of celebration for the colombian government, who has a solitary silver lining among clouds. during the military operation in southern colombia, the fark executed four other hostages, all of them members of the security forces who were held for at least 12 years. human rights groups have said it could amount to a war crime. one of the hostages, jose martinez, had never met his son, and his wife was six months pregnant when he was kidnapped. his now-teenage boy spoke

directly. >> fark, you broke my dreams of meeting my father and hugging each for her, for which i have been waiting 13 years, 11 months, and five days. i've been praying to god for my dad to be liberated, but the chains of his kidnap be broken. i never expected that you would kill him. >> colombia's president said the farq actions should be condemned around the world. some family members are angry at the government, too, for deciding to mount the military operation. conscious of the farq's republican tuesday for brutality with at least 14 other security personnel still in the rebel hands, the government will have to carefully weigh up any future attempt at rescue. >> the talks from iraq say 11 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack north of baghdad. it's reported that a suicide bomber detonated an

explosive-packed vehicle at the main entrance of the prison. at least 20 people were injured in the attack, including policemen and prison workers. six people are feared dead after a cargo ship sank in the irish sea. two of the eight crew men were rescued by the british air force while the body of a third man was recovered from the area. the ship floundered off the coast of wales on sunday morning. the search for survivors will resume later. three people have been killed and more than 20 injured after a suspected bomb explosion at a hotel in the philippines. the explosion started a fire at the hotel, which was full with guests from a wedding party at the time. much more, of course, on all our news at the website, bbc.com/news. >> this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. just a minutians are voting at polling stations in their first election since the fall of

hosni mubarak in february. it follows a week of mass protests against military rule in the country. also voting going on today in the democratic republican of congo for the president and parliament there. the runup to the elections has been marred by violence and fears that the commission is not ready to actually hold the event. some 11 candidates are running for president and more than 18,000 candidates are standing for a place in the 500-seat parliament. let's go live to kinshasa. will ross is there. what's the turnout been like there today? what has the mood been like there today? >> well, it's been a fairly slow stream of people coming in. we had a heavy downpour here in kinshasa here early on, which kept many people away. but we're hearing some problems with the organization, but generally things seem to be going on ok. there were, of course, lots of

rumors and speculation that the whole election was going to be postponed because people said that the he leble early to commission simply wasn't ready. at the last minute, they had to scramble helicopters and planes to get the electoral material right in the way across this vast country, which is roughly the size of western europe. very few areas are accessible by road, which makes the challenge even greater. but so far, anyway, the whole event is going on ok here in kinshasa. unlike many elections inside the polling booth, you don't have a ballot paper, you have what is effectively a ballot booklet of vast documents, 13 pages was the one i saw in there, covered with a different names of different candidates, because, as you said, for the national assembly, the parliament, 18,000 people going for those 500 jobs. so, quite difficult for the voters to find the candidate of their choice. >> ok, we'll have to leave it there. will ross, thanks very much indeed. the annual united nations

climate summit has opened in south africa amid stark disagreements on the pace of progress. well, the e.u. and poorer countries vulnerable to planet impact want to achieve a new global deal as soon as possible, but there is a divide in this rich nation. well, the state has been set for a stormy summit, as japan and russia have been joined by brazil and india reluctant to implement a new deal by 2015. a 3-year-old boy has died as a result of flooding in australia, and nearly 82,000 people are in southeastern australia have been cut off by the floods. emergency supplies have been flown to the area, but more wet weather is forecast. a large corner of northwestern in new south wales has been affected, as our correspondent is in sydney. duncan kennedy reports. >> australia is entering its summer season, but just look at this.

vast areas of new south wales under water. flooding has been building over the past few days, and now thousands of acres of land have been deluged. some of the major routes through the region have been cut off. while bigger vehicles have made it through, others reveal the depth of the rising waters. towns and settlements have faced the worst flooding, but nearly 2,000 residents have been left stranded. only aerial drops are keeping it connected to the outside world. >> we don't expect further evacuations at this stage, however, some can remain in the area up to 10 days, and there is more rain predicted in the middle of this week. >> rescue teams have been searching for a 3-year-old boy who was swept away by the powerful waters. other people are trying to get out themselves. emergency services have received 900 calls for help.

as everyone in these community watches the weather and the water. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in sydney. >> the film director, ken russell, has died. he was 84 years old. one of britain's most prolific filmmakers, he became famous for his flamboyant style. films include "women in love" and "tommy." he was criticized for his use of outrageous images, and many of his later movies were released as ridiculous. >> ken russell, one of a series of acclaimed documentaries he made for the bbc in the 1960's. they were beautiful to look at, deductive to listen to, and thoroughly self-en dull -- self-indull incident. they marked him as a filmmaker of talent, some said genius.

>> at the bbc, he learned his craft as a director and developed his trademark style. flamboyant and visually extravagant. he moved into cinema, where his second major feature, "women in love" was acclaimed as a masterpiece. >> accuse me of exposing political chicanery, and i will plead guilty. >> but as time went on, his films became more extreme. "the devils" reflected his fascination with sex and religion and was widely panned. >> he was once loved! >> there will a feeling of death in the air, and death not mattering, and people were so indifferent to death in a very

odd way. >> "tommy," made in 1975, was typically overblown. >> ♪ he stands like a statue ♪ >> it followed more than 30 years in which his films grew progressively less successful and the difficulties he faced in financing them progressively greater. >> i think it's great, and i call vampire vigilantes, and it was really exciting, and it eventually came back about six months later signed by somebody i never heard of, a name, thank you for your script, it's not cinematic enough. i nearly went mad! not cinematic enough for me!

>> action. music. >> better to remember his successes, like the musical "the boyfriend," starring twiggy, a reminder that russell, however self-indulgent and undisciplined he sometimes was, could also be wonderfully entertaining. >> a look back at the life and work of ken russell, the british film director, who died at aged 84 this weekend. much more, of course, on the website on all our stories. we're just going to show you these pictures coming in to us from damascus and what looks like a huge pro-government demonstration. you can see the pictures there of president assad. syria is facing the start of sanctions from the arab league, which could curb travel and tourism, all agreed at the weekend. much more at the website. i'm geeta guru-murthy. stay with us.

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.