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>> iowa prepares to fire the starting gun and the republican race for the white house. unemployment levels in spain it climbed to record highs. a man is charged following dozens of suspected arson attacks and los angeles. welcome to the bbc world news. the final round of voting gets underway in egypt's parliamentary election. how anti-piracy trading is happening in the philippines. the judgment day in iowa, first eight were republicans can vote for their presidential candidate. -- the first state wher

republice and can vote for their presidential candidate. from the campaign trail, steve kingston reports. >> on the iowan ice, a slow and arduous struggled to move in the right direction. america.p obama's >> i feel like he made a lot of promises prior to his election that has not necessarily come to fruition. he has not walked the walk. >> i think we need a change in direction. we need somebody that will get the economy moving again and get some confidence built back up to the people. >> this is a country where the mood of hope and change of four years ago has given way to disappointment, even disillusionment with barack obama. which gives the republicans of very real shot at the white house in 2012, if they can unite

around a credible candidate. >> this baby might just been autographed by the next president. >> and i intend to make it because i have lived it. >> mitt romney leads in polls, but to many republicans see is not conservative enough. after shopping around, some have settled on an alternative -- the socially conservative rick santorum. >> if you're looking for someone who is authentic, then i will put myself out there. >> is a message that seems to be resonating with iowa's evangelical christians. omthen there's ron paul, a libertarian with fanatical support, fighting to win a small state that punches above its weight. >> iowa is not first because it is important. the caucuses of for the first chance to see what real live members of a particular political priority think about their candidates.

>> historically, the winner has not always gone on to win the nomination. in a few hours from now, this contracts -- contest will have a much clearer direction. long queues have formed outside a polling stations in egypt today for the third and final round of elections for the lower house of parliament. these are live pictures coming into us. 15 million people have yet to post their boats. -- their votes. c's reporter joins me from cairo. what is turn out like today? >> the initial indications are that turnout is very good. pictures that are coming in from different parts of the country that are eroding.

there are nine governors voting over the next two days. there are long queues outside the polling stations. 7000 polling station and 14 million egyptians eligible to vote. this is going to complete the elections for the lower house of parliament, the people's assembly, which will be an important body. will be tasked with setting up a panel that will write egypt's new constitution. >> the islamist priority is -- party is doing well. >> they have done very well in the first two rounds. it is a complicated system. it is a mixture of proportional representation and party and voting for individual candidates. the figures we have suggested that the freedom and justice party which belongs to the muslim brotherhood has taken 60% of the vote. what surprised analysts is that the more fundamentalist party

has taken something like 1/4 of the votes. in these areas that are voting, although they are mostly socially conservative, poorer areas, in the south we have a large number of christian voters. >> now, thanks very much. we have new unemployment figures. >> for both germany and spain. but spain has some big problems. that is no surprise is given the fate of the spanish economy at the moment. the the new government and what rajoy has to deal with. these are monthly numbers. these are not the official yearly unemployment rates. these come from the labor department. the number of registered unemployed in spain rose to 4.40% in the month of december.

it is the highest level month we have seen since they started collecting these numbers in 1996. these are from the labor department, the labor ministry, not the national statistics office. they put down the unemployed close to 5 million, just under -- 4.97%. they say we have unemployment in spain at a 15 year high the of 21.25%, it is the highest unemployment amongst major industrialized countries. highlighting the challenge facing prime minister rajoy who said that is one of their primary challenge is to get people back to work. these figures from journey. they're raw numbers. the german jobless rate -- the proportion of people registered as unemployed against those that are actually working -- rose to 6.6%.

some also say that during the winter we tend to see certain jobs in certain sectors -- construction, because of the winter months, but germany faring a lot better. >> seasonal. >> that is the word i was looking for. >> bp is back in the headlines. is taking halliburton, a big company, the company that laid the cement around the drilling bit that blew when we had that - - on these pictures. this was filed by the suit -- lawyers to sue them for all the costs for the cleanup of that oil spill that has been $14 billion. that is expected to go into tens of billions of dollars. i will have a lot more on the rest of business in 55 minutes. >> police in the u.s.a. a former

soldiers suspected of killing a park ranger has been found dead. dozens of police and federal agents used dogs to search our remote wilderness for the veteran of the iraq war. 9 >> the search for the gunmen who was suspended -- suspected of killing a park ranger started on sunday. benjamin barnes, a 24-year-old veteran of the iraq war is believed to have fled to the park after an earlier shooting that wounded four people in seattle. his vehicle failed to stop edit check point where -- at a check point. mr. barnes opened fire on a park ranger that was patrolling the chuck point the. . >> there are researchers involved in the search for the killer. ranger mark anderson spotted what.

appeared to be a body in the primary search area. subsequently, this afternoon, a number of our tactical search teams were able to reach the body and confirmed that it was, indeed, the deceased primary suspect in this killing. >> benjamin barnes is said to have trouble returning to civilian life after his deployment four years ago. last year, he was involved in a custody dispute over his daughter. the park ranger who died -- margaret anderson -- is the first female park ranger killed in the line of duty. she is survived by her husband who is also a park ranger and two young children. >> the sports. arsenal in the headlines again. >> he may have had a new year's resolution -- he has broken that

already. the it after arsenal took the lead -- this is a game that turned around and the last few minutes. but they lost a player in 78 minutes. he got his second yellow card for pulling back bobby zomorra. after the first one, he was basically trying to goad zomorra into being booked for a second time. >> we missed many chances. some bad decisions from the referee today. the two together made the difference. >> i thought there was a penalty in the first half. i assume you agreed. >> 200%. anyway we know, we do not get penalties. we had one -- we had one today.

>> on that one, you have a point. i suppose what he is saying is he wants a bit more consistency in the referees. it probably was a fair sending off. the winner -- he was the player that was pulled back. >> the pressure continues. you are watching bbc world news. coming up, restoring an underwater wonder. one decision revive one part of the sea of cortez. should there be more control on the type of music videos that children watch? david cameron is meeting industry bosses to talk about how to stop children from watching sexually seductivuggese videos. >> every generation of parents

and children with in a world that is constantly changing. many parents are increasingly concerned that not every change is for the best. with the click of a mouse or a tap on the screen, children can access an endless stream of music and videos online. and, without even realizing it, parents say that puts them under increasing pressure to become consumers and, in a world which is more sexualize, -- instead of children being allowed to be children, it is too much pressure to grow up too quickly. among the recommendations are that music videos should be given age ratings and that more should be done to stop children accessing inappropriate material on line. the advertising standards agency has changed its guidelines for billboards close to school. anything deemed to be sexually suggested would not be approved. >> a new controversy has been

ignited around the chelsea football captain. his managers are considering taking legal action against a cigarette company, which is using a blurred image of the footballer. a government spokesman has said it is not clear how the image made it to the ad. a spokesman said that the concept was sent to the health ministry and they cleared it and circulated it. this is "bbc news." the headlines. the first day for the president -- for the public to choose a republican candidate for the white house takes place in the u.s. state of iowa. spanish unemployment has hit a record high.

4.4% -- 4.4 million uprising in december. tens of thousands of hungarians have taken to the streets in protest of the new constitution that came into force on new year's day. demonstrators say that it harms democracy in takes away the independence of the courts and the central bank. while protesters rallied outside the opera house, while the changes were celebrated by the countries political elite. >> inside the upper house, not just celebrations for the adoption of a new constitution, but also for restored national identity. no longer to be known as the republic of hungary. simply hungary. supporters see the constitution as a crescendo of the year of dramatic reform. it replaces a communist document with one that acknowledges christianity and backs a traditional view of marriage between a man and woman.

but critics say it also restricts the role of the constitutional court and interferes with the independence of the judiciary. it was signed into law by the president after consultation the the -- after consultation with 1 million hong garretts. on the streets outside, tens of thousands protest against the constitution and the 2/3 majority used by the government to drive to hundreds of new law. >> the whole thing is if orban is driving a bus tour is the abyss. only he can eject while the passengers are stuck. >> it protested a new law which they say favors -- parts of

constitution and banking reforms is not all to the progress of legislation. it has come soon as hungary began to talk on a 20 billion euro imf and european union loan to tide over the economy. >> france says iran should face the stricter sanctions of its nuclear program. the foreign minister says that he is convinced iran is developing nuclear weapons. he would freeze iranian central bank assets. iran denies it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. more and more ships passing the coast of somalia are carry an armed guards using water canons for protection against pirates. one nation has been affected more than any other. the philippines provides the one in three of the world's seafarers and more than 700

filipinos have now been kidnapped since 2006. >> a tanker makes it way through pirate infested waters. suddenly, it comes under attack. [bells ringing] this exercise is taking place on dry land, thousands of miles away from somalia. the government has now made it compulsory for all filipinos to go to see and be trained in how to evade pirates. >> we are not trained to fight the pirates. we were not trained to use guns. but we can prevent pirates from coming on board, because the moment they are on board, it is a hopeless situation. >> it is not that filipinos are singled out by pirates. it is just that so many of the work in the shipping industry. one in three of the world's seafarers come from here.

filipinos have are rich maritime heritage and they are cheap to hire. but this is the kind of danger they face. these photographs were taken by a captain when his vessel came under fire. >> i increased the speed to the maximum, but there was nothing else i could do. they called on the radio. capt., you must stop your ship. if you do not stop, i will kill all of you. >> he used his photographs to pressurize the ship's owners. after five months, the ransom was paid. the risk of piracy. it is clear that there are so many filipinos are vying for a job on the seat. this is the place in manila where they come to sign up. for many is an opportunity to get out. they sent $4 billion back home. almost any of these jobs could take them to part invested

waters. there are international patrols operating off the coast, but it is impossible to protect every ship everyday. >> what else can i do? this is the only job i know. >> so soon, like other former hostages, he will leave home again and return to the sea. >> now, have you made and perhaps already broken a few years resolutions? what does the man described as the happiest man on the planet recommend? his daily instruction is the ancient practice of meditation. [tone] >> just taking whatever time you need to settle. >> meet the man who's been

teaching me to sit, close my eyes, be less stressed. >> let your mind wander. that is fine. that is what - 2. >> it is called mindful list meditation. it helps us worry less and live in the present moment. and its claims has real science behind it. >> we can be certain that mindful this training of the sort similar to the program that we did will havle thlve the ratf relapse in depression. we know it is effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and other mood disorders. >> and if you want evidence, meets matthew, a buddhist monk who has been called the happiest man in the world. >> i have tried to make some any disclaimers.

no one believes meat. >> he is a little bit embarrassed. it was a phrase and drummed up for a newspaper headline. but there was some signs behind it. when neurosciences lifted his brain, there was activity in the area as a city with positive thoughts, compassion and happiness. the readings were off the scale. >> there was an activation of some areas of the brain that has to do with positive effect that were activated in a way that was so far unrecorded in neuroscience. the gamma rays -- the oscillations. thit was remarkable. >> he says that just 8 weeks of meditation can make a difference. i decided to give it a go alongside someone who has a real stress to deal with. she has lupus. >> at the moment, it hurts in my lower back the t, my neck, my lt

shoulder. >> mindfulness teaches you to practice is shifting attention. when it comes to anger. >> it is quite a many years that i got read in the face. >> it has been years? >> once i was -- i said, i remember now about 25 years ago. >> 25 years. 50,000 hours of meditation. we were hoping to see improvements and 30 minutes a day. we are using a brain scanner test results. and those you will see tomorrow. >> yes, and we will bring you his second report tomorrow. tune in then.

over more corner then the is facing a dilemma. it could soon become a multimillion-dollar holiday resort. the area south of bahia, california. putting a city in a desert area could put -- could damage the ecosystem. the sea of cortez. >> exploring one of mexico's best kept secrets. less than 20 years ago, it would've been impossible to imagine this amount of fish here, but the decision to suspend industrial fishing has made this section of the sea of cortez one of the world's richest marine reserves. the number of species here was once described as the world's aquarium doubled and the number of fish grew by 500%.

locals say the area is becoming a tourist magnet. those who come relish the stunning underwater experience. everyone agrees that this is a unique place in the world. the question is -- how do you manage the increasing number of tourists? should remain a small-scale operation? but does the future lie in development? in a couple of decades, a project is expected to accommodate more than 20,000 people. developers pledge that they will protect the area despite fears that the plans will ruin its ecosystem. >> we have the first interest in protecting the reef. we are willing to invest money and studies, we are willing to invest anything. to protect it.

>> but locals are not convinced. they argue the area can only sustain small-scale tourism. >> when we talk about it, what is it? a town, a village, very quiet in the night. if we want to conserve like this, i think the people -- they discos. o be bars or that's not for me. >> the natural beauty is at a crossroads. the debate about the access to outsiders to what some called paradise, the outcome of that debate will determine how crowded these waters will be in the years to come. bbc news, mexico. >> looks stunning. much more at the website

bbc.com/news. >> 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. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.