>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is 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 expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news."

>> crisis talks start as france and germany try to save the euro. the popularity of pow tin slips. afghanistan's future is being debated, but will pakistan boycott the conference? welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. also in this program -- the campaign against trade in&blood diamonds has a major setback. and there's 14 supercars involved. could this be the world's most expensive luxury vehicle pileup? >> should germany demand countries give up control of their budget if they want to stay within the euro and be helped through the current crisis? that's one of the key splits between france and germany in trying to come up with a

solution to the euro problem. angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy are meeting today. meanwhile, the austerity drive continues. in italy, one minister was reduced to tears when she announced how tough the future there looks. will grant reports. >> all year, france and germany have been trying to walk in step on the euro. but despite their broad agreement on how best to proceed, it hasn't always been easy. there were big splits over french calls for the e.c.b. to be the lender of emergency funds to indebted eurozone countries, something vetoed by germany. arguments sprang up, too, over the idea of cool pooling eurozone debt into bonds, again, overruled by chancellor merkel. today, however, the two leaders will need to make sure they're in sync. by their own admission, there's nothing left in the future of the euro at stake this week, and their meeting in paris marks the start of a crucial

few days in trying to save the currency from collapse. at the heart of the eurozone's troubles are countries like italy. its $1.9 trillion euro debt is considered too large to be bailed out like greece and ireland. the country's dire finances have prompted the new prime minister to announce deep austerity cuts, which he said were needed to save italy. but as his welfare minister tried to set out the details of the plan, she began to cry. little wonder it pained the minister to speak. the proposed measures include raising the retirement age and increasing the number of years of service to qualify for a full pension. the unions are deeply critical of the plan, but mr. monti hopes it will show his european counterparts that italy is serious about tackling its debt. for the two key decision makers in the eurozone, fiscal responsibility in southern europe will certainly be

welcomed. they're also due to unveil a plan for closer political and economic ties between the 17 eurozone countries, as well as tougher rules for overborrowing. france and germany agree on the road ahead. they now hope to bring the rest of the eurozone with them. will grant, bbc news. >> well, our paris correspondent, christian frazier, says while the two leaders agree in principle on the need for tighter fiscal discipline, the devil is in the details. >> yes, i think they're in agreement in terms of the idea that the rules that govern the eurozone are flawed. under the terms that were set out, the stability and growth pact, it was self-regulating. countries could decide whether or not to impose penalties on other countries that broke the budget rules. so i think both are agreed that there needs to be discipline and discipline needs to be imposed in some way by brussels. but the fundamental difference is how that happens.

is he putting the lisbon treaty, written into that treaty, is there a fundamental change to it? is it an addition to the treaty in terms of a protocol? and fundamentally, for the french president, how much of that power is transferred to brussels? he's at a very tricky moment for the french president. he's approaching an election in four months' time. he's already under fire from his opposition, from the socialist leader and also from the people who say you're giving away too much to brussels. but he's also talking about the need to revolutionize, if you will, the institutions of europe, to try to get ahold on its finances. they have to do that, because they have to restore confidence in the eyes of the market. >> in russia, there's been a surprise drop in popularity for the prime minister, vladimir putin. his party, united russia, has won the parliamentary elections, but with a substantially reduced majority. the results are embarrassing

for mr. putin, who plans to run for president again next year. our correspondent in moscow, steve rosenberg, told me the election results were unexpected. >> the latest projection is that united russia, vladimir putin's party, will have 238 seats out of 450 in the new parliament, the duma. that is considerably down on the last parliament. and i think there's a feeling here that russian voters were very critical of the party of united russia. they blame it for social injustice. they blame it for a rising gap between rich and poor. there's also a feeling that there's growing fatigue with vladimir pickup tifpble he's been in power as president and prime minister for 11 years now. there is a feeling that many russians are getting rather disenchanted with him. >> steve rosenberg there. miriam has all the business markets. how are they looking? >> let's look at the markets, because all eyes on paris

today, that important meeting between nicolas sarkozy and angela merkel. the market in london up .6%. in france, the market up 1%. i think the market in europe really are hoping that this week will be the week that we see some sort of definitive answer to the eurozone crisis. of course, if you remember last weekend, the european markets enjoyed their biggest weekly rise since the crisis in 2008 began. so it's been good week for the market last week. hopes are still high this week. but we have had disappointing data in terms of economic data from a couple of countries. >> spain? >> in particular, exactly. they showed that the services sector declined at its fastest rate since march 2009. hugely disappointing figure, especially because spain has just gone through its general election. the new prime minister has his work cut out for him implementing austerity

measures. this read does show that economists who are forecasting that spain will fall back into recession in early 2012 could well be right. >> good news for one travel company, though the outlook is not great. >> no, better than expected profits. it's europe's biggest travel holiday company. it basically faced falling rivals, and its biggest problem is dealing with banks. but today, we've seen it announcing a rise in profits, but share price is down. i'll have more on this and all the rest of business later on. >> those pictures are tempting, aren't they? thanks very much. now, if you're gay in nigeria, you could be jailed for up to 14 years. according to a new law that's currently being debated. amnesty international says the move threatens the basic human rights of many nigerians. our correspondent, jonah fisher, reports. >> this person says being gay is like living without oxygen, as he discovered when out

walking with a friend. it can be dangerous, too. >> we were attacked by a group of guys we didn't know. and all we seen is that we're homosexuals, >> the two men were badly beaten and rashidi left with a broken collarbone. homosexuality is illegal in nigeria, and simply saying you're gay takes a lot of courage. >> people who have this orientation, really make people go underground, under the closet. even if they wish to come out, they can't. >> the gay community here in nigeria say their priority is winning tolerance and acceptance, not the right to get married. but that hasn't stopped the politicians here at the national assembly with a bill making progress that could see same-sex couples who live together sentenced to 14 years

in prison. invited to give their views at a public hearing, which was the reception that awaited the gay activists. armed security was on hand to protect them, but not to stop the insults. >> they say you are evil, you are a devil, and if you are my brother, if you are my family, i'm going to kill you. >> watching on from the back of the room were british diplomats. their prime minister has threatened to cut aid to countries that persecute homosexuals. >> i don't think this is the right time. >> lawmakers have so far been undetered, and the bill has passed without opposition through the senate, having received backing from north and south, christian and muslim. >> should we allow -- everybody

want to do what everybody wants. >> so, while nigeria's majority pats itself on the back, the country's sexual minorities look set to be pushed still further into lives of secrecy and fear. jonah fisher, bbc news. >> now, if you're lucky enough to own a ferrari, i suggest you look away now, because this is probably the most expensive supercar pileup in history. 14 luxury sports cars crashed into each other at a motorway in japan yesterday. they were speeding on their way to a motorway festival. one of them quoted as saying they were going at something like 150 kilometers an hour. eight ferraris, three mercedes,

a lamborghinis and two toyotas. 10 drivers taken to the hospital, but no serious injuries apparently. and it looks as though one of the ferrari drivers tried to change lanes, hit the crash barrier, and then went back across the carriageway. the other cars collided, trying to avoid hitting that car. but a huge, terrible mess there in japan. the former president of ivory coast, laurent gbagbo, will appear before the interpret criminal court at the hague later. he's accused of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and persecution. here's our world affairs correspondent. >> laurent gbagbo was transferred from the ivory coast to the hague last week. it was a sudden move. he's now being held in the i.c.c.'s detention center. mr. gbagbo is the first former head of state to be brought before the i.c.c. since the

court was set up in 2002. he refused to step town as the leader of ivory coast when he lost the presidential elections a year ago. the country was thrown into turmoil until his capture in april. they say the violence in ivory coast did not happen by chance. there's ed of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians. he says mr. gbagbo is the first to be brought to account and there's more to come. human rights groups say it's important that the investigation looks at the crimes committed by other parties during the conflicts, including the forces of alassane ouattara, who's now the president. ivory coast has accepted the jurisdiction of the i.c.c., but laurent gbagbo supporters say his transfer to the hague amounts to a political hid capping. peter biles, bbc news, at the hague. >> tiger woods, lots to smile about today.

>> yeah, for the first time in two years, wodswoods has actually won a tournament, well documented problems in his personal life that haven't helped his game, his form. but, of course, well documented problems with regard to his injuries, because for a golfer to have achilles injuries, knee injuries, is very difficult, if you're one of the great golfers. it must be very hard to take. but this is tiger at the chevron challenge in california h. a one-shot deficit going into the final round behind zach johnson, but holed a couple of birdies, and you can see what it meant to him, because that's a characteristic tiger woods we haven't seen, and perhaps he is back on form, and perhaps we'll see the old tiger resurfacing. he is mid to late 30's with injuries, with problems. we're going to have to see if he can be the man we saw winning all those majors for many years. >> and nadal on great form again as well. >> yeah, yeah, playing at home in the veg's cup final, playing here against juan martin del potro. and this was a match that went

from end to end. nadal in the spanish colors, of course, passionate home crowd in seville on clay. it went to a tie-break, and nadal won it, which mean spain won the davis cup. but this is the crowd at the olympic stadium. >> look at those flags, fantastic. >> but del potro, he actually played very well at one stage, but no one was going to stop nadal. he was like a bull in a bull ring. he was going to win that. >> thanks very much indeed. you're watching "bbc world news." still to come -- the sensational stallion of a stage. "warhorse" becomes a film. scientists in australia have succeeded for the first time in freezing particles from the great barrier reef. warming oceans have caused it to decay. but a team base the in sydney have frozen billions of cells,

hoping to save them for the future. duncan kennedy reports. it's the only living thing on earth visible from space. 2,600 kilometers long, the truly great barrier reef. in fact, it's nearly 3,000 reef systems, longer than the great wall of china, now victim of climate change through warming oceans, a natural, but damaged gift to the planet. but the contents of this pot might be its savior. scored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 196 celsius are seven billion coral sperm cells and 1.5 billion embryonic cells, all taken from the reef, now frozen to preserve them for the future. >> if we were to use it right now, we'd have the ability to take the sperm and to thaw it out and re-animate it, so it's swimming around, and actually

fertilize eggs and create sexually produced coral. >> this is the first time sperm and cells from the great barrier reef have been frozen. it's a project being run at the zoo in sydney. rebecca is one of the scientists trying to safeguard the reef in the face of pollution, warming oceans, and greater marine acidity. >> we will never have as much on the reef as we do right now. that's why i think it's incredibly important that we start saving the reef right now, for whatever purpose we use in the future, whether it's in five years' time or 100 years' time. >> this is an spurns policy? >> that's exactly right. it's an insurance policy. >> the great barrier reef already suffers from bleaching, where higher water temperatures stress the coral, leaving it in a damaged state. by freezing particles before this happens, the hope is to create a bank of replacement corlse. with the rising temperatures of the ocean and increased acidity levels, about 1% or 2% of the great barrier reef is being lost every year.

while scientists involved in this freezing project hope they'll never have to re-introduce their cells back on to the reef, they know one day they may well have to. the team believes it can reintroduce some of the frozen cells in the next few months to see if the damaged coral can be regrown. but for large-scale regeneration to be successful, the oceans will first have to cool. not just the great barrier reef challenge. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at the zoo. >> more creatures above ground this time, scotland's newest celebrity. two giant pandas arrive in edinburgh yesterday from china. they go on display in the next couple of weeks. aren't they lovely? this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. the headlines for you -- it's the start of a critical week of eurozone talks. france and germany are meeting

to agree on joint plans to try and save the euro. and a narrow victory for putin, but his united russia party does take a bit of a hit. afghanistan's fight after the pullout of troops in 2014 is being discussed at a major conference in the german city of bonn. the west is hoping the meeting will signal continued support for the country. speaking at the conference, the president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, declared his country has made significant progress in the last 10 years. he also admitted it still has a long way to go. >> our biggest challenge, of course, arises from insecurity, which has taken a massive toll on the lives of our people. and planted our program in area of recovery, reform, and development. al qaeda and other terrorist organizations have been significantly weakened.

>> let's listen in now to hillary clinton, who is speaking at the conference. >> our international partners must remain committed to training, advising, and assisting afghan forces, even as together we continue to go after those who are unwilling to end the conflict or who are engaging in acts of terrorism. so let there be no doubt that the transition signals the beginning of a new phase of international support. second, with respect to the economy, the reforms that the president has outlined are heartening, as was the i.m.f.'s approval of a new three-year program for afghanistan in november. third, on the political track, we commend president karzai for his commitment to proceed with inclusive and fair presidential elections in 2014. and i think the international community must continue to provide robust support to

strengthen democratic institutions, including a free press and a strong electoral process. united states is pleased to announce we will be joining other partners in resuming financial dispersement to the afghan reconstruction trust fund so that those resources can be put to work. and finally, this process that we are engaged in, which builds on 10 years of effort requires all in the region, all of the neighbors, but the rest of the international community that has been committed. the entire region has a stake in afghanistan's future, and much to lose if the country again becomes a source of terrorism and instability, and that is why we would, of course, have benefited from pakistan's contribution to this conference. to that end, nobody in this hall is more concerned than the united states is about getting

an accurate picture of what occurred in the recent border incident. >> hillary clinton there, acknowledging the hit on -- the hit by nato troops on pakistani soldiers. let's speak now to our kabul reporter, who's in bonn. a reference there by hillary clinton of the dangers of afghanistan going backwards. but after 10 years of military and political effort in afghanistan, the truth is, isn't it, that the west will have been seen by many to have failed and there is much more concern now about those neighbors, notably pakistan itself and iran. >> well, the afghan government definitely hopes that pakistan would attend, balls the afghan government believes a lot of the insecurity is coming from pakistan, that pakistan has a lot of taliban and peace talks, and they would have seen pakistan here at this conference. obviously pakistan has

boycotted the conference because of the border incident. the afghan officials are still saying that they are still confidence that they could get a lot of international support for the country, despite the fact that pakistan is not here. some are asking why there's one incident in order to boycott this, given that so many pakistans have been killed in the last 10 years. i mean, what are you hearing there from the difference political groups? >> well, if you speak to the afghan president's office, they will tell you pakistan has been arresting several top taliban commanders in the last two to three months inside pakistan because they were involved in peace talks with the government of afghanistan. they would also tell you that pakistan wants to have what they say is a strategic depth in afghanistan, that groups are their proxies.

of course, pakistan denies that, but the afghan officials are very clear. they say that pakistan does not sincerely cooperate with the peace talks. you will not succeed in that. >> ok, thanks very much there in bonn. "warhorse," the story of the enduring relationship between a young english boy and his horse during the first world war has become one of the most popular british plays ever. after enjoying international stage success, it's now been made into a film by the acclaimed director, steven spielberg. the film doesn't open in patriot an until next month, but it had its world premiere in new york just last night. >> a big night for steven spielberg, the launch of his screen epic, "warhorse," the story of a farmer's son and his horse that plunged into the horror of world war i in france. it's a story that really resonated for one of hollywood's most celebrated directors. >> knowing people just see an animal like this, a

magnificent, handsome animal, and they see that, and they see how we forget our animosity, our hatred, our issues with each other, and we turn our full attention on to helping a horse that needs, at the moment, a great deal of help from us, and they see the healing that takes place on stage and now in a movie, and before that, in a book. >> what's massively wonderful is that he's kept the integrity of what it is, really. it's epic, very beautiful, horrifying, i was very moved, not just me at all. i lost myself in it completely. the >> the success of the while production depended not only on the 300 horses, but also on a little known british actor charged with carrying much of the picture, a 21-year-old jeremy irvine had a very minor part in a london play when he first auditioned for the big role of albert in the "warhorse" movie. >> i was playing a tree at the time. i was really struggling to get

work. the thought of getting this role was something i didn't even contemplate, you know? >> the big question is whether "warhorse," having won prize insist london and new york, can now get hollywood's top award. oscar watchers are predicting it could become a best picture contender, but that the competition will be tough. tom brooks, bbc news, new york. >> if you've ever thought someone was a little bit lazy just because they seemed to need a bit more sleep than everyone else, well, you might have been being unfair, because they have possibly just been born that way. that's the conclusion of the european study into sleep patterns and genetics. researchers in edinburgh and munich find that people who have a variant of the gene need almost 30 minutes more sleep each night than the rest of us. that's more than a week of extra shut-eye per year. so, your parents are more important than you think. i'm geeta guru-murthy. thanks 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?

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