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>> and now "bbc world news." >> a picture of happiness for the u.s. and burma. but hillary clinton says much more reform is needed before sanctions can be lifted. britain pushes for more measures against iran after attacks on the u.s. ambassador in teheran. >> i hope this will equal the economic pressure of iran. >> china's factory slowed down as export orders fall in the u.s. and europe. >> welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up, the emotional journey to a land who lost a percentage of -- why the secret to earthquakes may lie with these little reptiles.

>> thanks for joining us. although historic talks have been taking place between the u.s. and burma, hillary clinton says sanctions against the country will not be lifted until the country makes much more democratic reform. burma has been promising reform but their actions have been insufficient to warrant the lifting of sanctions. and described the visit as a milestone. china, burma's main ally called for international sanctions against burma to be lifted. in the center of thailand our correspondent said china's call for those sanctions to go will be seen as premature by the americans. >> all sides are kind of

feeling their way and trying to work out where this whole process may lead. burma finds itself in the middle now of a situation where everybody wants to try to engage with the country and try to pull it or push anytime certain directions. china has long been engaged with burma politically and economically and stolen a much from the west. china didn't have any such problems and has made huge investments in burm abu now the u.s. looks saying what happened to our backyard because china shares a border with burma and burma is in the middle of the u.s. and china game and trying to play one up against the other. it's wanting friends both in the west and the east. >> given what you just said to what extent do you think talks in burma are actually driven by the political concerns of the

americans and chinese rather than the country itself and what's going on in the country itself. >> that's certainly a view i've heard expressed by burmese. they are concerned burma is in the middle of perhaps a new great game. that may be putting it strongly but given its strategic position between china and india, there's a feeling the united states and china and the burmese government led by former generals but those still with close ties but all these people are in it for their own end. but what about these burmese people? hillary clinton is due to be on her way to meet with him this evening for a private dinner then talk, so she will hear directly what the pro democracy movement wants to see to ensure this is a nooment benefits all people of burma and not just a

select few. >> now measures against iran are to be discussed at a meeting of the foreign ministers in brussels after the closure of the iranian ministry after the storming of the ministry in the area of teheran. the government describes the moves as hastey and warned it would take further appropriate action if needed. william hague stayed u.k. would be looking to increase the economic pressure on iran. >> the rest of the european union on this and against this grave violation of the vienna convention by iran. in addition today of course we will be discussing measures on iran, additional measures the european union has taken many measures already, but additional measures that will be an intensify indication of the economic pressure of iran

-- legitimate economic pressure particularly to increase the iranian sector. >> william hague in brussels for the meeting of the foreign ministers, and our correspondent is also the impact that the imposition of economic sanctions by e.u. ministers could have. >> even if they do take measures and are united there's really another problem they face and that's this -- the european union is not iran's prime market. essentially that's in asia in particular, japan, china and south korea and india. so if the european union takes measures iran can simply turn to asia and focus its business there instead. >> we've heard france, germany, the netherlands have all appointed ambassadors to talk what about they should do and any thought they are likely to follow suit and pull out?

>> we have not caught any suggestions of that at all. clearly three have been called for consultation leaving many more in iran and we may see other symbolic moves like what happened in 1997 when ambassadors withdrew from teheran for reasons but -- >> james in brussels. other stories from around the world starting in iraq. a car bomb exploded in the town of cally killing at least 0 people and wounding another 20 people or so. a curfew was immediately imposed on the town lying about 0 kilometers north of baghdad. and an international accused saudi arabia of -- said thousands of people have been arrested and most of the unrest

has been confined to the shia minority. >> and three civilians were killed after troops loyal to president abdi abdullah tried to storm the citycenter. another sign for you of the global economy weakening. official data just released showed the chinese manufacturing output has fallen rather unexpectedly for the first time in three years. because of a sharp drop from europe and the yithe. domestic demand is also weakening somewhat. our correspondent is in beijing says there's growing doubt as to whether domestic growing economic issues would help. >> people were expecting a fall

but this new data out today from the chinese government stays personal managing tipped from being just over 5% to 49%. that signals a contraction in manufacturing in china's giant manufacturing sector, and that's pretty bad news, suggesting that it's coming on the back of the falling orders from the euro zone euro zone and the united states because of weakness there but also crucially the part of the index that looks at new orders from within china which has tipped into contraction, so everybody's idea that china's domestic economy might be able to drag it along is looking shaky. >> but they can move on these things pretty quickly. what actions are they taking? >> actually even before this data came out last night here and probably in anticipating

this data, what we saw was the central bank, the people's bank of china cut what is called the reserve ratio requirement. that means the amount of cash banks here have to keep on one side and have to hold in their vaults if you like, they cut that but one half of 1%. that's a strong percent, because we saw that ratcheted up, because china was worried about inflation and housing prices and asset bubbles. now focuses have shifted from concerns about inflation to concerns about growth in the face of this worsening global situation. >> that's damion in beijing. one thing they cannot expect for european export de and no rise. >> it shows what i'm saying how exposed china is in the global economy. and today we've seen the

disappointing figures from the euro zone euro zone. also importantly we've got an italian and spanish bond auction happening and that's a signal of how much appetite there is in the euro zone euro zone. the markets are a huge story because today markets are pretty much hovering over their usual but after the news from the central banks, look at the kodak. it's down slightly. france everyone is awaiting news from president sarkozy. he is supposed to be giving his strategy on the economy. very important in the wake of the elections in april. may not go down well with the french but tighter fiscal union and monetary union and perhaps even more power to brussels which isn't going to make him very popular with the french public, but huge for the growth

of the exi. more on this short limit >> thank you. the united nations stays international community has made extraordinary progress in the past decade in the fight against aids. there's a problem, though. it's a funding crisis which is now putting those gains at risk. 34 million people worldwide suffer from h.i.v. yet donations so desperately needed to treat the disease are falling. tom barrenen jer reports. >> retro vy ral drugs are a lifeline for these fans in south africa. a country with one of the highest rates of h.i.v. in the world. most of these young children inheritted the virus from their parents at birth. the fans receive the dose and in many cases they lead very normal lives. but as the world's youngest

victims live, the fighting against h.i.v. and aids still remains. >> i think it has declined. but denial is i think part of the problem. we're still seeing the deaths, because people are not going forward to be tested. they are keeping it hidden. >> while progress is being made in much of the world, russia is one of the few places where h.i.v. is still rising this despite warning young people against sharing needles and the risk of unprotected sex. in boston h.i.v. aids patients held a thanksgiving lon jeffty party last week. >> my hope for the future that they do finally find cure. my fear is that people get complacent and forget that this is still an epidemic and that

we still need to be diligent in this fight. >> on the eve of world aids day, crowds marched in bangladesh. and that there should be no new h.i.v. infections and no aids-related deaths by 2015. for some the announcement will seem realistic. but the u.n. hopes such a goal will avoid complacency. tom, "bbc news." >> time now for that toad story i mentioned in the headlines. scientists say they may have discovered how toads can apparently predict an earthquake. in 2009 toads disappeared from their home in l'aquila and italy three days before the earthquake, which i'm sure you remember a devastating quake it was. researchers say stressed rocks actually release charged

particles ahead of an earthquake and they release water and it's thought toads may detect the chemical change before the plates actually move. quite a proposition there. you're watching bbc world news. you can get more online and coming up in a moment, the afghan women who fear they will lose their freedom when international troops leave the country. if the 10th anniversary of the scrapping of charges of britain's national museum, and newspapers show there's one of the reasons why there's been a 150% increase in the visitors. an age of austerity, can the museum remain free? we ask our correspondent.

>> it has been a golden age for britain's national museums huge new buildings and a new emphasize on creating interaction and spectical. it's brought record crowds, and it's been free. this is the natural history museum in london. >> it's certainly a grand space. but it can get a little crowded these days, because an extra 3 million people now pass through the doors here at the natural history museum. that's almost a theefold increase. however, just a 15% cut in their grant. the age of plenty is over. so what does that mean for the age of free entry? >> as long as we can possibly maintain free admission, i would want to do that. >> but if you added 15% on the

existing 15%, life would be tough and yes, we would probably have to look at alternative economic models to the current one. >> even a small fee cut visit ors in half. and it's faced an even deeper squeeze and facing charges in the summer that even that would make up the short fall. >> we're losing 35% of our yearly budget. the charging, if we're lucky might bring in 100,000. so we're looking at other economies. >> so a five-pound fee? will people pay? >> probably not. not now. i'm retired. >> not a lot of money, five pounds. would go a long way. it's a bit cheeky, really. >> however, for the fastballs

such as the victorias and alberts, manchester's museum of science and industry and 4 others, free entry has certainly brought crowds and even in our age of austerity the commitment at the moment to keep it that way. "bbc news." [no audio] >> hillary clinton visits burma. she also says much more reform is needed before u.s. sanctions can be lifted. britain calls for more measures against iran after an attack on the u.k. tpwheafed teheran.

[no audio] >> united at home -- it's that kind of result that gets the hypers and people talking. because that's indeed what happened. they lost to -- [no audio]

>> time since we'ved that sides featureing a sort of -- end of competition. >> and you've got liverpool and -- city. some would tharg would be the type of sponsors and perhaps -- news for the championship. it's a very strong division. and some words of praise from alex. he said i wish them every success. hopefully they'll get to the finals. because it was a mammoth effort and he's actually apologized to his own supporters saying that was not a manchester united performance. >> thank you very much indeed. now the mass donian capital has recently inaugurated a holocaust museum, fourth in the world after washington, and berlin. macedonia lost the highest proportion of its jews, 98% of

them murdered in the holocaust. traveling to the former yugoslav republic to make this report. >> the flicker of the haunting past. they are some of the 7,144 mass donian jues lost in the holocaust. with 98% of the community killed, it was the most complete annihilation of jues anywhere in the world, and for an area that saw genocide again, a museum was added recess nance. >> it will send a message to the balken region that problems can be solved by education not by guns. >> the exhibits tell how jues expelled by portugal settled in the balkans. the jues were sent to their death in concentration camps in poland. it's hard to imagine that a few

decades ago this was a thriving jewish area. several thousand strong. today just a couple of hundred remain. an important european jewish community almost totally wiped out. but to many along the borders, virtuely an unknown story. but this person knows the tragic details too well. she lost 20 family members and only survived by joining the communist resistance force. >> i didn't even say goodbye to my family. i was hiding and i heard screams and the soldiers were shouting faster! faster! i can't forget about that scream. i hear them still and when i laugh something in my heart aches. >> a passionate community. >> this is our homeland. this is our father's land. this is where we are and what

we know and who we are. >> decades ago, only jues made up this choir. today just two members are jewish. but macedonia's jews sound a defiant note. small in number with a painful history but determined to keep their voice heard. mark, "bbc news," macedonia. >> women's rights activists in afghanistan say the international community is preparing to abandoned them in their rush to withdraw troops from the country. they fear the advances made by women over the course of the last 10 years could go into reverse because of the tabble. from -- from the taliban. from kabul. >> fashioning a new future for themselves and their country. every stitch, testament to a fragile freedom. under the taliban afghan women were trapped at home, uneducated and unemployed.

to move forward 10 years, they make up half the workforce and is booming. a kabul design company where they toil alongside men. she says she is proud to be the breadwinner for her two younger brothers. but the company's founder worries about the outlook if there's reconciliation with the insurgents. >> none of the taliban have come forward to say i'm a moderate and i believe differently. we're fooling ourselves if we believe that taliban has changed their mandate and their view has changed and their philosophy has changed, you know? because they have not said they have changed and they are going to be different. >> there are big plans for this business. the hope so begin exporting to the united states and europe and eventually to create a few hundred jobs here. all of that might be possible in the future if the future isn't shaped by the taliban.

>> in areas under their control women are still voiceless and defenseless. this is sedeka, 25 years old. her final moments are captured in this footage which emerged in january. for the crime of adultery, the taliban stoned her then shot her dead. >> this person is another of their targets. she's a prominent member of parliament who survived a taliban ambush on her car last year. this outspoken activist refuses to be sy lensed but fears afghan women could soon be abandoned by the international community which promised them so much. >> it's a kind of turned their face to the woman issues and said we just want to say goodbye and leave us. which that could even put a -- but what we want.

>> her eldest daughter is studying hard. she wants to be an aerospace engineer. but she and her younger sister are afraid for themselves and their mother. they want a future outside afghanistan. "bbc news," kabul. >> now we had some amazing surfing picture. surfing at night. not something we would usually recommend but a group of surfers from sidney who have not let the coffer of darkness stop them. this is the bond i've beach. strange. lit up as the surfers went in their glow in the dark surf boards and wet suits. the ride was organized throughout sum they are in australia. great pictures there. just to remind you of course bbc.com/news is the place to go

for all our news stories and analysis. they are available there for you. thank you for watching. >> 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.