>> 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. >> 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? >> and now "bbc world news." >> american special forces free

two aid workers in a raid on a somali pirates camp. the presidential election campaign moves up. president obama calls for a fair tax regime. microsoft's co-founder says that he's right to do so. >> taxes will have to go up and they should go up more on the rich than everyone else. that is just justice >> . hello and welcome. i am david eades. also, as pretty as a picture in the alps, but world leaders gathered to discuss a turbulent economic climate. we are live in davos. in egypt they are amassing once again in tahrir square about a year after the overthrow of their leader mubarak.

two aid workers, one of them american and another danish, held hostage in somalia have now been freed in a raid by american special forces. the hostages paul tisted and jessica buchanan were arrested in october as they were working for an organization. the u.s. troops who carried out the operation landed by helicopter, possibly several helicopters involved, in a pirate captain, under the cover of darkness. no. those holding the two aid workers hostage were killed in the process. we will have more from our correspondents in the region a little later. stay with us for that. a resurgent america and a fair amount america is the image president obama is keen to point to in his state of the union address. it has been seen by many as a

reelection rallying call in which he declared america get back. he also used a speech to maintain the debate about tax rates, saying there should be a fair shot for all americans. now this report from washington. >> the president of the united states. >> it is a great american ritual. by now he knows it by heart. but will this state of the union address be his last? tens of millions watching at home, this is a pitch for his own job. >> america is back. anyone who tells you america is in decline or that our influence is waning does not know what they are talking bout. >> there was optimism. jobs being created at last, an automobile industry and reborn. but what pains him is the

widening gap between the rich and poor. he said the nation faced a choice. >> we can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do very well while a growing number of americans barely get bite. or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their terror scare and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> that was the core message to voters and this for his republican opponents. >> you can call this class warfare. asking a billionaire to pay at least as a secretary in taxes, most americans would call that common sense. >> nodding in agreement, a woman who inspired that. the secretary of billionaire warren buffett sitting next to mrs. obama. he pledged that america would remain an indispensable nation and shouted a warning to washington's foes. >> america is determined to prevent iran from getting a

nuclear weapon. i will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. >> i have no doubt that this ought regime will soon discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed -- the assad regime. >> evokes the spirit of the navy seals who killed osama bin laden. but that is already a distant memory in a divided nation that will soon make its choice. bbc news, washington it. >> that is across the pond. there is a gloomy turned to this year's gathering of the world's richest and most powerful people at the world economic forum in davos. more than 2600 delegates coming in with fresh warnings that it international economy is in danger. organizer behind the conference maintains capitalism in its current form no longer fits the

world around us. our business correspondent is joining us. robert, what is the theme about the world economy at the moment? german business confidence is up. u.k. figures showed the economy. is shrinking economy >> when you get these official statistics on duty pay, they are backward-looking. u.k. figures are good. a contraction by 0.2% at its worst and people fear it was the case, however, when i talk to british and other business leaders they are not --[no audio] >> we have just lost his microphone. butbu aaron is here.

i know there was a thought beforehand it may be up a little bit or may be down a little. the fact is it is little. >> it is. we have seen a contraction. this is backward-looking, as robert said. 2012, there are not many expecting large growth. many predict within the euro zone the international monetary fund and just recently changed its forecast on the u.k. economy. but the growth of about 1.6% initially and now they say the u.k. will only see growth of 0.6% this year. tough times. real look at the numbers that made a contraction. the services sector at did not grow at all in the fourth quarter of last year. i am looking at some of the

numbers. factory output fell by about 1.2%. we have also very interconnected with what happens in the euro zone. that was one of the big worries and why we are keeping a close eye on what happens on that side of the continent. >> we will go back to robert where we have reestablished contact. one other area i wanted to ask. 2000600 delegates there. you might think it is safety in numbers for a lot of those used to the big money and big bonuses, an issue which is nearing its head again in the u.k. is it an issue of our time at across the continent? >> across the world we have had president obama in his state of the union address yesterday putting the widening gap between the rich and poor at the heart of his reelection campaign. the vast amounts of money that mitt romney, still seen by many

as the leading republican contender, a lot of money that he made in private equity will be a big issue in the coming weeks and months. almost everybody says the widening gap between rich and poor is a very important issue. the consensus up until the crash of 2007/2008 warned the gap was the price you pay for economic growth. we have not had much growth particularly in the west since then. those at the top are continuing to make vast amounts of money whereas those in the middle and at the bottom of the income spectrum are paying a very big price fora a mess that was made by the super rich, namely the

bankers. it's a great talking point in davos. whether it will actually lead to reform of the system, to what many would see as a fairer distribution of the fruits of growth, we will simply have to say. in my view, it will all hinge on whether or not we do get much of a recovery this year. just listening to aaron, not everywhere is slumping. germany is still doing quite well. there is sign of recovery in the u.s. this is a year where we will see whether or not we get out of this mess in reasonable shape. >> thank you, robert. that report was from davos. business at the top of the agenda at the world economic forum, understandably. but there are still plenty of people urging the business leaders not to give up on

charity. even more so, because things are so economically difficult. microsoft at's co-founder and philanthropist bill gates will travel to adopt later, but not before he delivers his annual speech. this year he will address a secondary school in london. he also spoke to my colleague and said that he agreed with president obama that the rich really should bear their share of the cost. of the cost. >> the united states has a huge budget deficit. taxes will have to go up. i agree they should go up more on the rich and everyone else. that is just just as. justice. >-- just justice. i hope we can solve the deficit problem with a sense of shared sacrifice, where everybody would

feel they are doing their part. and right now, i don't feel like people like myself are paying as much as we should. >> at the end of the day, davos will come and go and there will be important discussions, we h -- hope, but how optimistic are you that the poorest people in a world will not bear the brunt? >> i am hopeful that we will make the right choice. i know the economy will come back, the child that's not getting enough to eat, that is so fundamental, that if we wait to take care of that, they will not be around. i think we will do the right thing. i think we have seen some examples of that. we simply have to make sure we don't forget about them. >> bill gates there before heading off to die of those.

you're watching bbc world news. thanks for being with us. stay with us if you want to know the results from gazillion tennis open -- australian tennis open. u.k. arms personnel are being forced out of their jobs while no civilians are. now the explanation. >> the ministry of defense has announced two rounds of redundancy for thousands of military and civilian staff. just part of the cuts needed to get spending under control in britain. are those in uniform being treated unfairly when compared with those in suits? mp's say there is a shocking and grotesque disparities. while redundancies for civilian staff have so far been has beenary, it

compulsory for service members. >> the disparity between w bows outho go to afghanistan and actually fight for their country and those who don't struck us as being protesting unfair, something that requires a really good explanation. since we have two different explanations, neither of which we really accepted, we said the whole thing needed to be looked at again. say they should do more to offer those in uniform a chance to retrain. the defense says that is what is being offered. philip hammonds said the committee report is wrong. he said every opportunity is being given for military personnel to retrain for alternative roles in the armed forces or in civilian life. the again, mp's criticized state of that account, in particular highlighting concerns about levels of fairness such as

equipment like night-vision goggles and helicopter blades. spiders have often never recovered -- fighters have often never recovered. >> you're watching "bbc world news." u.s. special forces have freed two aid workers being held hostage by somali pirates. and more on that. those two aid workers being held in somalia were freed in a raid by american special forces. joining me from ethiopia is will. quite a spectacular raid. >> yes, a very daring raid. it seems to be the element of surprise that managed to secure the two aid workers. we are hearing reports from the area where this is a place that the attack or the rescue was

about 2:00 in the morning. there were either two or four american helicopters involved and a lot of gunfire on the ground and explosions. sources on the ground say that eight or nine of the pirates were killed. we understand that jessica buchanan and paul tisted are safe and are on their way into djibouti. that is where americans have a base. >> we are used to people being picked up at sea. that is common practice now. what does this tell us about the way in which pilots are prepared to operate now? >> they were picked up in central somalia in broad daylight, the two aid workers. the security team actually picked off the gang that held them at gunpoint. they were betrayed by their own security. haveof the attacks at seat

become more difficult because there are more armed guards protecting those vessels. so there has been a spy in the number of kidnappings and abductions in somalia and across the border in kenya. gangs are looking to try to take people hostage on land instead of at asea. -- at sea. nevertheless, it is the same people. then they are held on the coast and there's usually a very long wait for a large ransom. in this case they were taken back in october. so they are very lucky to have gotten out after a relatively short time in captivity. >> that's true. thank you very much. we will have more for you on president obama's state of the union address. used his grandparents as an example of how the american dream of prosperity and

security had been open to everyone. >> they understood they were part of something larger. they were contributing to a story of success that every american had a chance to share. the basic american promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement. the defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. >> that was obama. with me now is phillip thomas. this sounds like defining stuff for the election campaign. you can earn a decent living, says the president, you don't need to earn an obscene one. >> that's right. president obama try to talk about being on the side of the common man, a bit like bill

clinton saying i feel your pain when times are hard. he's trying to point to the fact that his likely opponent mitt romney paid only 14% on earnings of $21 million last year. so president obama says no challenge is more urgent than getting the 99% of americans a better deal. >> he spoke about class warfare. that is becoming the issue. the ability not to earn as much as you can, profit is a wonderful thing, but in times like these when things are difficult, really does that wash? that seems to be the argument they will have to face up to. >> that is an argument president obama shied away from in the last year. we had one big speech, but you do notice that kind of populist language in his state of the union. i think he is doing this to please the democratic base, say to americans i know many of you are struggling very hard.

he knows that the unemployment is still 8.5% even though he hopes the american economy is growing again. you also have to remember the past to be careful not to go too far down this road because at the same time the gets off the stage and those around to fund-raising dinners where it's thousands of dollars just to sit down. very wealthy private donors. >> you have to be written to take part. thank you. thousands of egyptians have gone back to tahrir square in cairo precisely one year after the start of protests which overthrew president mubarak/ arrival stage is set up this time. islamists who now have a majority in parliament are celebrating the anniversary. pro-democracy leaders now want more changes still. now the latest from tahrir square. >> we're not seeing an explosion

of anger. it is not the biggest demonstration i have ever seen in tahrir square. a lot of different groups have come here. 3 or 4 different stages. all the different groups competing for ownership from the revolution. many of them were here a year ago today. the muslim brotherhood is now the biggest party in parliament. you have the egyptian military saying that we are the ones who protected you a year ago. there are the guardians of egypt. [speakers talking on

loudspeakers] >> syria has agreed to extend the arab league monitoring mission to the country by another month. this comes as britain, france, germany moved to condemn syria for its suppression of protests. now this report from the un >> activists outside u.n. headquarters demand that the security council intervened to stop the violence in syria. the deeply divided council has been sitting on its hands, is the message, while syria and its ally russia have blood on their hands. more and more attention is shifting to the security council because the arab league has asked them to support a peace plan for syria because the arabs' observe

gue has failed. there's a plan to call for the syrian leader to step aside. western states c.b. arab league request for help as a way to pressboard with a strong resolution. they made that point in a debate on the middle east. >> it's time for the security council to take robust action in support of the arab league with the objective of stopping the violence. >> but russia was much. much. it and some other council members fear that any outside intervention could fuel a civil and sectarian war. >> attempts of outside forces to manipulate the situation from a distance or breach of power --

could bring to power one particular ethnic or religious group is fraught with consequences. >> syria has rejected the plan, which seems to close the door on any peacefully negotiated solution to the conflict. in the coming days the arab league will make its case directly to the security council. members will want to know exactly what it is looking for and whether that will be enough for western states or too much for russia. bbc news at the united nations in new york. >> having a look at tennis, the australian open. getting to the nitty gritty, the latest. >> the business end of the torment. maria sharapova playing terrifically at this tournament, as she has over last 12 months. she has gotten over a series of terrible injuries. she is back to her best. she won in straight sets today.

and then the italian was defeated in straight sets but she played hard. then maria sharapova beat the lady who had knocked out serena williams. you get a sense of how much sharapova is putting into that in that shot. >> needs a bit of dental work. >> it means that sharapova will now play in the semifinals. here's what sharapova had to say about her opponent. >> she is the one to be right now, playing the best tennis in her career and coming off of so many wins last year and playing at a high level. somebody's telephone is on.

i'm looking for to the matchup. i don't like losing so many times in a row. i will certainly be going out there and try to play my best. she would be a good schoolmistress. >> so we can look forward to that matchup as well. and kim clijsters playing tomorrow. four semifinals. >> allowed to play for. thank you very much indeed. and thank you for watching bbc world news. i want to take you back to tahrir square for a moment. we have live pictures. a year to date since the beginning of the downfall of president mubarak. we will keep you informed of bbc

world news. and don't forget the web site . >> 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

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