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>> french police arrest 10 people in a raid. hit romney takes a commanding lead in the race to take on barack obama in november's elections. the u.s. sends marines to australia to strengthen american military presence in the region. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. also in this program -- turkey's army has had to account for the first time as two generals go on trial for leading a military coup. and india rejoins the nuclear club. it's the sixth country in the world to have its own nuclear powered submarine. >> police in france have launched a new series of raids against suspected islamist

extremists. reports say at least 10 people were arrested in predawn sweeps in a number of locations, including the southern city of marseilles. it's the second such raid in france in the last week. prosecutors have now charged 13 men who were held in an earlier operation with terrorism offenses. joining me from paris is the bbc's hugh schofield. what more details do we have on what's happened today? >> not a great deal more. but as you say, about 10 people were in the north and the southwest and three or four other towns around france have been named. now, they're not suggested members of a network. what we're being told is they have the profile, a profile similar to those of the toulouse killer. in other words, the lone wolf type, people who presumably have been in the eye of the intelligence services for a while, not because of belonging it a network, but because maybe

they're logging on to radical web sites. it's said they are people who are the profile. type of person who would go out to afghanistan or pakistan. it wasn't directly with mohammed, as suggest these people knew him or anything. but the fact that this is clearly connected to that case, that affair, as the police and intelligence services clamp down on people who have a similar kind of profile. >> and prosecutors have charged some of the men from the earlier arrests. >> yeah, well, that's a separate affair. that was the arrest last friday, and these are people who managed to be linked to a group called knights of pride, and particularly its leader, and there appears to be evidence, certainly what we've been told, that some kind of plot was maybe just at the very rudimentary stage to carry out a kidnapping or kidnappings,

and there's been the name of a jewish judge, i think jewish, and that may well have been a factor while he's allegedly a target. but the details are very, very sketchy, and of those people are now placed on the formal investigation effectively charged. >> we are, of course, in the run up to an election in france, but is there public support for this sort of action by the authorities, there's still a lot of interest in what happened in toulouse. >> i would say that there is support tinged in some courses with a certain degree of skepticism, and certainly we're hearing voice of raids, both on the left and far right, that are critical of the government and president sarkozy and are suspicious that this is all done for the effect, the media impact that this will will in advance of the elections. one certainly hears that, and it's a legitimate question to

ask whether this would happen with such haste, whether or not elections. i think the government would answer, well, after what happened in toulouse and the horror of what happened in toulouse, it would be irresponsible not to take some kind of followup action and make sure we're clamping down on similar types. >> we'll leave it there for now. thanks very much indeed. in the united states, it's looking increase going like that will mitt romney will be the republican nominee to take on barack obama in november's presidential elections. the former massachusetts governor has won all three of the latest primaries, picking up a narrow important in wisconsin. the victory by larger margins in maryland and washington, d.c. does this mean game over for the other candidates? our correspondent, steve kingston, reports from washington. >> wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c., we won them all. >> a hat trick of victories for a man who now looks and acts

like the nominee. mathematically, hit romney is not there yet, but he looked past his republican rivals to a november showdown with barack obama. >> there is a basic choice that we're going to face. the president has pledged to transform america, and he spent the last four years laying the foundation for a new government-centered society. i will spend the next four years rebuilding the foundation of an opportunity society led by free people and free enterprises. >> it's now extremely unlikely that any of the other candidates will reach the 1,100 delegates needed to secure the nomination. but in his home state of pennsylvania, which votes next, second-placed rick santorum sounded a note of defiance. >> ladies and gentlemen, pennsylvania and half the other people in this country have yet to be heard. and we're going to go out and campaign here and across this nation to make sure that their

voices are heard in the next few months. >> the man they all want to beat believes the republican race is over. this week, for the first time, the president has attacked mitt romney by name. >> under barack obama, domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. >> in a obama television advert denounces him as a friend of big oil. as they square off, it remains for rick santorum to prove that he can prolong the republican contest. and if he loses at home in pennsylvania, it really will be game over. steve kingston, bbc news, washington. >> 200 u.s. marines have arrived in australia's northern territory for a six-month deployment. it's part of president obama's plan to strengthen the u.s. military in the asia pacific region, although u.s. and australian leaders have stressed it isn't an attempt to contain china. let's get more now from duncan

kennedy. >> fox company is only putting 200 extra pairs of boots on the ground. their footsteps can be heard all the way to beijing. in military terms, this is a modest deployment, politically and strategically, it represents a major shift for washington. the troop numbers will rise to 2,500 over four years. it's not the size, it's the symbolism that matters, especially for china. >> it is not just the rise of china, it is the rise of china, the rise of india, the rise of the economies combined, the emergence of indonesia, not just as a regional influence, but a global influence. and as the world moves in our direction, australia, our region, these communities have to adjust and accommodate to that. >> american and australian forces have trained together for decades. now president obama is committing forces permanently to this new part of the pacific. the president says this is not about isolating china, but his

ambassador says it's imperative to enhance the american presence in the region. >> the way we accomplish that is by ensuring practice trade routes are open and we're prepared for any issue that could come up. so the opportunity to train here is ideal for having the ability to do that. >> the americans are having to tread very carefully with this. they don't want to antagonize the chinese, but they say they can't simply ignore beijing's increasing economic and military presence, especially when the united states has its own allies and interests in the pacific region. china has already spoken about feeling encircled, but australia is another important dot on the american strategic map, as washington slowing but profoundly realigns its global foreign policy. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in sydney. >> well, the rise of china is also thought to be at least partly involved in the latest

military move by india. it has rejoined a very exclusive club, becoming the sixth country in the world to have its own nuclear powered submarine, which it's leasing from russia. it has a checkered history. 20 russian crew members died on board when a fire safety system went off by mistake. india has renamed the vessel. our correspondent reports from the southeast indian port. >> this is the india's latest acquisition, a russian-built nuclear-powered attack submarine, the latest of its class, fastest and quieter than anything at the moment. in the distance, you can see its crew. it will have a complement of 80 sailors. it has the ability to remain underwater for vast stretches of time virtually undetected. as its commander told me, with this submarine, he has the ability to outrun any potential threat. but what's the threat? this submarine is going to be

deployed off the eastern indian coast. the it's not pakistan they're looking for, but china. india is emerging as one of the world's largest arms fire. it will take possession of seven warships. it's all in the process of building another nuclear submarine, this time built indigenously, deployed sometime over the middle of next year. they're aware of increased chinese military presence off india's waters. this is the first of several series of small steps to counter that potential threat. >> aaron is right here with me today. the e.c.b., interest rates likely to be held, aren't they? >> absolutely. i think it's a very cautious move by the european central bank, despite the fact that two weeks ago we heard the european central bank telling us that the worst is over in terms of the financial debt crisis, although i don't think anybody's told those in spain and portugal, both of which

countries go to the bond auction today to raise many-needed money. the interest rate they pay, it has been creeping up. but look, i think interest rates will stay at the record low 1%. what will be interesting is to see what they're going to announce or do with their crisis fighting mode, which is basically that one trillion euros that the e.c.b. has pumped into the financial system at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. it's basically all these european banks. the problem is it hasn't worked. that money really didn't get out into the real economy. these bank have been holding on to that very quietly. and there has been a big push, led by other central bankers in the core of the eurozone, for the e.c.b. to start preparing an exit plan that many think look at this whole region. it's still way too fragile to mention an exit plan. >> the young boy who came up with plans. >> he is indeed. >> exactly. but cars, because in america,

car sales often have been watched. >> and they've been doing very well. >> and there's a car show that was done? >> that was yesterday. loved the flying car thing. today's new york car show kicks off, and it's a big one, one of the biggest in the world, and all the car companies had models. here's the problem. we're seeing a dramatic change in america's car culture, and that is a troubling trend for carmakers around the world because we're starting to seeing fewer and fewer young americans driving. 30 years ago, 1/3 of all americans driving were under 30. that is only 22%. now it's the older age group that are driving. the young ones aren't driving because they've got the internet and things like that. >> i find it impossible to believe. >> they're yelling at me. i've got to go. i'll have more on the "world business report" in 20 minutes' time. >> thanks very much. you're watching "bbc world news." still to come -- activists in russia learn the bite can be worse than the bark when it comes to local politics.

>> in the u.s., an emergency has been declared in parts of texas after a series of tornadoes caused widespread damage. the twisters were so powerful, even large trucks were tossed hundreds of feet into the air. in the dallas area of texas, it is still on alert. >> emergency warnings along the airways as a huge tornado tears through one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. it's the middle of the day, but the skies are black, as the storm picks up whole trucks and spins them around a parking lot. in the aftermath, graphic evidence of the tornado's tower, no detailed account of the damage yet, but this area is home to six million people and countless businesses. >> this is a severe thunderstorm season time in this area of dallas in texas.

we peak in the april time frame. but to see, you know, tornadoes strong enough to toss an 18-wheeled tractor-trailer into the air, that's somewhat unusual. we probably see things like this maybe once every 10 years or so in the dallas area. >> with emergency calls flooding in, police and fire crews arrived in the worst-affected areas, suburban homes ripped open, trees and power lines down. amid the chaos, reports of survivors trapped in buildings and vehicles. texas is used to extreme weather, sitting at one end of what's torn -- what's known as tornado valley. but today's tornadoes bring different concerns. the past two years have seen a succession of devastating storms. evidence suggest tornadoes now affect more of the country than ever. scenes like this increase going

familiar. -- increasingly familiar. >> this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. the headlines for you -- the french police have launched a new series of raids against suspected islamist extremists. and mitt romney has won the latest round of republican primaries, moving a step closer to securing his party's nomination to challenge barack obama in november's presidential election. >> in sport today -- magical messi twice hits i the spot for barca. the giants book their place in the last place of the champions league. the day before the masters, and tiger says he feels as good as ever, but admits rory mcilroy is the one to watch at augusta. and venus and serena makes good starts to the clay season. both williams sisters breeze through the opening round in charleston. that's all in sport today in

half an hour's time. >> 33 years ago, turkey's military staged the last of a series of coups. dozens of people were executed, many more jailed and for toured. constitutional protection meant no one stood tile for their actions. but that's changed, now two retired generals are standing trial for the power grab. jonathan head is in istanbul. why is this trial happening now? some people are saying this is part of the government's move against the military in general to secure their imposition. -- to secure their own position. >> this fwovet, which has its roots in islamism, has been in competition ar at rivalry with the military and tussled with them really for this almost 10 years it's been in office. at times, it looked as though the military might even be able to unseat it. the fact that they can put these generals on trial now tells you how far the tables have turned. it's not just these generals,

remember, over the last three or four years, the government has supported prosecutions for alleged more recent anti-government conspiracies. and the military haven't been able to do anything about that. they really have been pushed back to the barracks, but this was a big coup. it transformed turkish society, had huge human costs, and up until 18 months ago, all the generals who carried out the coup had immunity under a clause that they themselves inserted this their constitution. and this government had the confidence to go to the country with a series of amendments in september 2010 and won a referendum on that. and after that, complaints started immediately from many of those who suffered under the coup, criminal compliance against them, this court case is a culmination of those complaints. >> and just tell us about the two men. we're seeing old footage of them, but they didn't actually appear in court today. >> no, they didn't. general kenan evren, the leader

of the military council that took over the coup, is 94 years old. he lives on the agean coast in retirement, and his health is pretty frail. his lawyers have argued -- and the same with his co-defendant, tahsin sahinkaya, who's also a general, who's 86 -- both their lawyers have argued their health is not sufficient for them to travel here. i have to say sahinkaya has not yet been accepted by this court. this first hearing is largely procedural. the test will be later on when testimony is required, whether the courts will allow them to do that by video link or whether the judges will reject the argument and demand that they appear in person. for those who've been pushing for this trial, in a sense, that doesn't matter. this was something that i don't think any turks believed could have happened, even up to three years ago. and outside that court in ankara, you have many people different on the left wing, which suffered most of the coup, posters of those hanged by the generals, a real chance to show that at last they feel

they're getting the justice for what happened more than 0 years ago. >> jonathan head in istanbul, thank you. a london think tank is warning that al qaeda could be looking to partnership in saharan and sub saharan africa to try to open a global jihad, as the terrorist network's central leadership is weakened. there's a report there's talk of regional instability across africa and across to somalia and kenya. the report cites the example of nigeria, which is still focused on a local campaign, but recent deadly spectaculars suggest it's building connections with other groups. the u.k.-based think tank says there are new groups. our world affairs correspondent joins me now. this is really pulling together information that we've had coming in for a while now, but what are the main findings?

>> well, i think implied in this report, first of all, is that al qaeda has been on the back foot, it is weakened, but it is looking for new partnerships to regenerate and regroup. and i think what this report does, if you like, is underline what weapon intelligence has been saying for some time in terms of the shift, for example, towards africa. but the scale of it, you know, potentially a huge sway of territory across saharan and sub saharan africa, and the challenges that potentially represents for intelligence services and western intelligence services in getting to grips with and tracking that kind of threat in a potentially huge, ungoverned space in west africa in particular. >> and the problem with intelligence obviously pretty difficult. >> yes, at the same time, it also points to the fact that there are potential problems for al qaeda as well. you know, there are very levels

of links already between al qaeda and with al-shabab, hints of links elsewhere, as you mentioned with haram, but also unresolved tensions. al qaeda has a trans national agenda. at the moment, one group clearly doesn't so. there are those issues. there's also the potential spillover effects for countries like the u.k., for example, new concerns about new or greater radicalization in new subsets of british youth. there's been signs of that with somali community, but it could also spread, the report says, to other sort of east and west african minority communities. >> and that could obviously be, again, across other parts of the world. how much is it thought that the groups are very much focused on being in africa and how much would they again spill over any potential? >> well, i think that's, if you

like, a work in progress, as far as this trend is concerned. but clearly there are links at varying levels and how those are resolved and what the dynamics of that will be, if you like. the potential concerns. >> no numbers as yet on what they think the likely levels are for here in this region? >> well, it clearly is a problem that exists and potentially could grow. the question is whether, to some extent, the success in establishing those groupings, whether they go on beyond, for example, the basic tactics to an actual agenda to spread jihad, as it would be described. >> ok, very interesting stuff, thanks very much. we're getting reports of an explosion in the somali capital of mogadishu, the national theatre. the building has recently been reopened. it's not clear what caused the explosion, nor if anyone was injured. we will bring you the reports as they come in.

at least 10 afghans have been killed and more than 20 injured in a suicide attack in northern afghanistan. nato personnel are amongst those hurt. afghan television reported that the attacker targeted foreign troops in faryab province. a spokesman for nato-led forces told the bbc he he was aware of an explosion, but couldn't give more details. it's one month since vladimir putin was re-elected. huge anti-government protests, which have dominated life in the russian capital in recent months, seem to have heated up. but russia's interest in politics hasn't disappeared. moscow residents have been finding other ways to put pressure on the authorities. steve rosenberg reports. >> a boxing call might seem an odd place for a municipal council meeting. then again, this one is about to become a bit of a battleground. first they argue over who gets to be the chairman. the man with the microphone

represents the old guard. he says he's in charge. but his opponents don't agree. they're part of a new wave of opposition activists who are getting elected in moscow at municipal level and trying to change the way politics is done. the party of power, though, is about to bite back. quite literally. this is vladimir's first experience of local politics. he didn't expect to be bitten at his first council meeting. it's all getting rather carrot i can. district councils like this one have few powers, but it appears that russians are getting interested in politics on their doorstep. just a few months ago, local government meetings in russia attracted little attention, and few visitors. now russians' interest in politics is much greater. this is people power at the

grass roots level. away from the council chamber, vladimir campaigns on local issues. opposite a school, the authorities plan to turn this building into a center for drug addicts. vladimir is trying to stop the project, but he never planned to go into politics. >> i'd never even heard of municipal council, vladimir says, but when the street protests began after the rigged parliamentary election, i read on facebook that new people should run for office. >> steve rosenberg with that report there from russia. let's get more, of course, for you on our one-minute news summary, bbc.com/news. more on our top story, french police have launched a new series of raids against islamist extremists. 10 people were arrested in marseilles and several other towns and cities. you're watching "bbc world news."

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