>> 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 understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> a rare foreign ally, sergei lavrov. the president of the maldives resigns after the police force joins public protest. welcome to "bbc world news. the $90 billion merger which will create one of the world's largest natural resources company's. 200 years of charles dickens, celebrating the writer of oliver twist and great expectations.

welcome. no sign of respect for the residents of the city of homs. the fourth consecutive day it has been attacked in syria. these are live pictures. [gunfire] the situation is very dangerous. most residents have taken shelter indoors. that was the sound of gunfire. attacks in their fourth day. the interior ministry of syria vows to armed terrorist gangs in

the city, they say. this is a picture. it is one camera positions in the city. there's gunfire in the background. we are not clear what direction that is coming from. these are live pictures coming from that city. a huge battery of fire. paul wood has been there along with our cameraman fred. their report does have some distressing images. >> daybreak. the artillery fire was just beginning. we steered gently to safety. in this part of the city it is the worst they have endorsured.

a man shouts "god is great" in defiance. we are hearing shelling every few seconds. there's also some kalashnikov fire. i witnesses say that a field clinic was hit and injured are being moved. over several days of this, most of the casualties have been civilians. the houses don't have basements. there's nowhere to hide. >> where is the arab league? >> the woman in a shouting. this woman's son is badly wounded. she screams, "to give us guns,

we cannot defend ourselves." most hide their faces. they say there's no telling what they're regime will do. >> we want the arab league to give us help from the united nations. then the un abandon us. >> some of the dead or armed. this man died attacking government sniper position yesterday. the regimes of the violence is caused by the fighters in the free syrian army. the rebel commander says that is not so, everything we do is to defend our people. the regime cannot get to us, so it retaliates against civilians

instead, he says. they are firmly paying the price. a seven-year-old girl dead. like all the dead, she must be buried in darkness. daytime is dangerous. and littlefamily dignity. they must hurry even now. there will be and many more such desperate lonely burials. bbc news, city of homs. >> the syrian army has been shelling the city in the last few hours. a resident of the city told me what's been happening.

>> there is a food shortage, especially of bread. they are using all sorts of heavy weapons and explosives. explosions could be heard all around the city. rocket shelling stopped about 30 minutes ago. there is a bbc.[unintelligible] they are using tanks and machine guns for the attacks. it is very hard. they are bombing houses.

we have so many people wounded and so many martyrs, but we cannot get the correct number because there are machine guns everywhere. >> what have you seen yourself? have you seen people injured? >> this morning there was a rocket bombing. we pulled some injured people from the street. we saved one person, but not the others. most of the buildings are shaking from the rocket bombings and rocket shelling. it is a dangerous situation. we don't know [unintelligible]

it is the obligation of every human being on earth and every government. homs is being destroyed completely. what are they waiting for? >> that was one resident in the stricken city. we have been getting pictures from the syrian state tv. [no audio] sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister has arrived in damascus in the last hour. his convoy has been seen driving through the city.

people have been coming out onto the streets of the main square, agnes square with their banners, despite the rainfall. our correspondent in athens.

>> a sign of continued opposition to the austerity measures and cuts greece is under pressure to pursue in order to receive its 130 billion euros a bailout money that it desperately needs in march when it will have to pay out a huge bond redemption that it cannot afford. if it does not secure the money by them, it would default on its debt and would cause the economy to go into a tailspin. the country is under pressure to make big cuts in the public sector. we think it has agreed to cut 15,000 public workers this year and to reduce the minimum wage by 20%. whether that will satisfy the imf and european union to release the funds, it's not clear. people facingeace further cuts in the standard of living and job cuts, how difficult is daily life?

>> extremely difficult. and there is widespread pessimism about the future. the fifth straight year of recession in the country. unemployment nudging 20%, double that among young people. impact of the austerity being felt in homelessness increasing and the crime rate increase in an anti-immigrant violence. people are beginning to feel the future is extremely bleak. they are saying they are aretoo squeezed by the austerity measures to the. breaking the the government has a difficult road because it has to pursue austerity measures in order to satisfy the international community, which is frustrated at the slow pace of reform. they're facing an increasingly depressed and antagonistic public that feel the future is very dark. >> thank you.

let's catch up with all the business news. a big mining deal. >> between xstrata and glencore. everything to do with the deal is big. very interesting. glencore is a commodities trading company. it. dig. -- glencore does not dig, but xstrata has asked reserves of nickel and copper. they are combining in a $90 million merger. it will become the number-one in coal and zinc and be the biggest independent producer of copper. good news for shareholders because they will see a profit in the first year of the merger if and good news for the executives. this merger could mean higher prices for the buyers of raw materials, like china. if china has to pay higher

prices, that would be passed on to us consumers. the european commission may look into this particular deal over competition issues. >> bp has turned itself around. >> in the last few months of last year the company made a profit of $7.6 billion. for the whole year it made $24 billion. they made a loss of $5 billion prior. higher oil prices helping. more in about 15 minutes. >> thank you very much. you are watching "bbc world news." what is in store for the 200th birthday of one of britain does in most iconic ofauthors? as the cold weather continues in

europe, eight people died after heavy rain caused flooding in southern bulgaria. the government declared a state of emergency. two rivers surging down to turkey. governments have taken emergency measures to conserve gas supplies. flood waters continue rising in eastern australia. thousands of people evacuated. the town of st. george was the worst hit. the water is 15 meters higher than normal. police on strike in the brazilian city of bahia who have clashed with soldiers. they've cut off electricity to force out several thousand police officers and their families. the murder rate more than doubled in the state capital since police stopped work on tuesday to demand better pay. there's more news at our website.

this is bbc world news." thousands of assad supporters in syria have lined the streets to greet the russian foreign minister. the army bombardment of the city of homs has entered its fourth day. the president of the maldives has resigned following weeks of protests after he ordered the arrest of the country's top judge. joining me from there is a representative of an english speaking news outlet in the maldives. when was it clear what was happening with the president? there was confusion there. >> [no audio] the president announced he was

going to resign after receiving word that protests had broken out in the main square. elements of the police joined opposition protesters. >> is it clear what has happened to the president? >> the president has stepped down. we are not sure of his whereabouts. the vice president is currently being sworn in as we speak. >> why has this happened? " there's been three weeks of the chief againconcerning judge. that kicked off after he was summoned by police to be

questioned regarding allegations going back to 2005 of corruption. >> how concerned will people be of the new political uncertainty? >> the political situation is uncertain. the move this morning was extremely quick. we saw groups of people joining with some of the affected police officers, being targeted with teargas and grenade fire from the military headquarters. there seems to be in a concerted assault on the military base. 16-70 soldiers there to join the demonstrators outside. thereafter a state broadcaster reverted to its previous title under the president of the maldives.

>> thank you. let's catch up with some sport. mike looking every bit the superstar. >> another trophy. i suppose it's like the oscars of the sporting world. these are the laureates. he has been voted the sportsman of the year in london on monday. he has dominated in men's tennis over the last months. the fifth man in the open era to win five in a row. >> who the winner for the women? >> vivian cherio, a runner from kenya/ rory mcilroy was honored along with another

golfer. bobby charlton was given a lifetime achievement award. the legendary footballer. >> the president of sri lanka says u.s. sanctions against tehran will be victimized more countries like his own. it gets 90% of its crude oil from iran. now the island nation is considering sancalternatives. >> people depend on the sea for a living, but the money they make from fishing is unstable enough. just as bad as uncertainty over the price of their kerosene, diesel, and petrol. the sanctions against iran are likely to creates scarcity. >> we are dependent on oil.

depending on engines and petroleum products. >> the sanctions matter because 93% of the imported crude oil to shore like a comes from iran. it is processed into usable fuel at just one refinery and is distributed from nearby roads and by rail and generates about half the country pose electricity. bacon only refined iranian oil. alternative sources are hard to find. -- they can only prrefine iranian oil and similar oil. >> we're not getting the same output. >> some of the oil producers like oman are offering oil.

sri lanka would rather keep the petroleum flowing from iran. columbo uses tehran as a dependable ally and friend. iran is the second biggest consumer of sure alatea from sra and buys the highest priced varieties. but sanctions are causing iranian companies to delay payment to sri lankan exporters. >> the final impact, the negative impact is on the small owners. >> the country is not going to run out of altogether,

but is feeling squeezed in a geopolitical game. it may seek some kind of exemption. the livelihoods of many here are at stake. >> celebrations across britain today to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the. writer charles the in london the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall will attend a special service at his tomb in westminster abbey. >> he was born in this house not far from the dockyard. he went on to become one of the most famous riders in the world. charles dickens turned his own observations and experiences to good use. his characters and the world they inhabit live on and will be remembered at today's service. >> if ordinary if people of england felt he was likened to them, that has gone on being true. people felt that he felt he

wanted to show the poor people, servants, ordinary people, crushed, disabled people were real and mattered. >> charles dickens would be surprised to find himself remembered in this way at westminster abbey. he asked to be buried in the area that he loved so much as a child, rochester. but such was the public demand that he be treated as such a great national figure, they decided an alternative plan. >> hundreds of people memorialized here did not expect this to happen. the same for charles darwin. he expected to be buried at his local churchyard. >> later this morning under the gaze of playwrights and ports from history, family members will give tribute to the writer who asked to be remembered as an ordinary man. bbc news, westminster abbey. >> the latest pictures now and sounds from the city of homs in syria.

ey is preparing an initiative to try to help those in the country. >> 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 understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.