aleem maqbool, thank you very much indeed. staying with that, pakistan's interior minister has told the bbc that this government will survive. he's been speaking to our correspondent in islamabad. >> i think this is unnecessary. the demand given by the people of pakistan is five years. well, if you're referring to whatever is going on in the country, it will not affect, and democracy, ups and downs will be there. yes, we do have a bumpy flight, but this is a really nice way, so i think it is totally uncalled for. but this is not going to go properly, and we'll have election in time. >> but aren't you having a real crisis now with the army? there's open speculation about -- >> well, i won't say crisis, no. the difference of opinion is always there, but you can't say there's some kind of distress going on. we are on the same page, and, of course, they were subjected to this, and that will happen in due course of time. >> if you're on the same page with the army, why are the statements between and the army so hostile? >> well, i

let's go now to the capital there, islamabad, aleem maqbool. the civilian government under pressure from the military in the last few days, and now from the court. >> yes, and it was thought that perhaps if this government was going to collapse, it would be the courts that would do it. this is a very serious step forward by the supreme court. they gathered behind me in the supreme court building earlier in the day, and they have now started contempt proceedings against the prime minister. if he is found guilty, he will be disqualified from office. if he doesn't attend that hearing later in the week, he'd also be reprimanded t. is a serious step forward. they did have other options they could have taken, like, for example, handing this case back to parliament. but they have decided toe begin these proceedings on the basis of the fact that the prime minister has not obeyed rulings from a couple of years ago. the supreme court said a couple of years ago that the government had to move to reopen corruption cases against the president. the governmen

the bbc's aleem maqbool is in islamabad. he sent this report on pakistan's growing political crisis. >> the prime minister appeared here in pakistan's highest court for about an hour and a half this morning. the supreme court had called him because they started contempt proceedings against him because of a ruling they made a couple of years ago. they told him that he had to move to reopen corruption cases against the president, asif ali zardari. he hasn't done that, and that's why he was called here, and they do have the power to sack him and his government if found in contempt of court. there's also a history of animosity between some of the top judges and this government. but the prime minister came here, and his home is very conciliatory. he said he very much respected the court, he was there with his cabinet ministers as well. but, however, he did still say that he was right in not reopening those corruption cases against the president because the advice he was given, he had immunity from prosecution. so he has managed t

aleem maqbool, bbc news. >> they really can hit a ball, can they? i want to show you something which is really quite extraordinary. it's a tunafish, not just an extraordinary one. a, it's a whopper. b, it just sold for $750,000. now, 269 kilos was the weight. it was brought about you a local -- it was bought by a local sushi restaurant owner. they reckon they're going to get something something like 10,000 sushi portions on it. that's about $70 a portion. so they're talking about possibly having to subsidize it, but the message being this is a great start to what they hope will be a revitalized japan in 2012. aaron will be back with more in "world business report" in just a matter of moments, and then we'll have sport today. this is the website for you, bbc.com/news, for more on all our stories. >> 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. >> you're no long neither service, only an outsider can find the d

joining me from islamabad is our correspondent, aleem. you have the judiciary versus the government. this is a constitutional crisis. >> it would appear so. the government says it is on pretty solid ground. it says it has not reopen the cases against president zardari because the president has immunity. nonetheless, a dramatic day. most of the attention was just a short distance to my left at the supreme court. earlier in the day, the court decided -- instead of handing this issue back to parliament, for example, it decided it was not going to let prime minister gilani off the hook. now the focus has shifted to the building behind me, the parliament. mp's are about to vote in what amounts to a confidence motion. >> what is the likely outcome in that case? >> in this case, the government has played it very cleverly. they have not called a confidence motion. prime minister gilani said he was there because of an election, because of the democratic process, so you decide whether you want this democratic process or not. that is what they will

. >> aleem, thank you very much. japan's prime minister has reshuffled its cabinet to break a parliamentary deadlock. he has appointed a former foreign minister as his deputy with responsibility for pushing through a controversial plans to double the country's by% sales tax. the united states has warned of a terrorist threat in bangkok. it is urging u.s. citizens to exercise caution. the thai government says security has been set up. the meeting between ahmadinejad and fidel castro. they talked for two hours after. ahmadinejad describes castro as it and healthy. one week ago, president ben ali came the first to be ousted. since then, there have been elections and a new interim government is in place. joblessness remains a pressing issue. >> to news said today, the shackles of oppression, and people in the streets with smiles on their faces, no longer having to whisper. on the surface, at least, this is a much changed country. it's a far cry from a year ago. the dictatorship that ruled for 20 years was overthrown. a d

aleem, it is rather worrying. there appears to be a rift. in a country like pakistan, that is bad news. >> yes, and it seems to be getting worse and worse. every day, it seems to bring more news bringing this confrontation to crisis points. the news is -- the defense secretary has been sacked by the prime minister. the retired general was essentially an army man within the government. he was recommended by the army chief. he is someone who also said on record recently that the government has no jurisdiction over pakistan's army operations. that is something that has angered and worry people within the government. this is just the end of a long line of incidents. the prime minister spoke of of evidence that the military was preparing for a coup. there was a purported memo discussed in the united states that appears to show the pakistani government asking for american support to weaken the pakistani army. this is worrying. once again, as this has happened so many times in pakistan's history, the competition between the military and civilian go