:00:10. > :00:12.The Egyptian prime minister calls Israeli attacks on Gaza a disaster
:00:12. > :00:17.and demands an end to the violence during a short visit to the
:00:17. > :00:20.territory. Plumes of smoke can be seen in Gaza
:00:20. > :00:25.as a ceasefire for the PM's visit appeared to have been violated by
:00:25. > :00:28.both sides. Britain welcomes Syria's new
:00:28. > :00:33.opposition coalition for talks in London as new video images of a
:00:33. > :00:37.bombing by the Syrian air force on the town of Taftanaz.
:00:37. > :00:41.Welcome to BBC World News. Also in the next half-hour, Obama and
:00:41. > :00:45.Republican leaders wrestle on the edge of a fiscal cliff over tax and
:00:45. > :00:49.spending. Plus, Ikea and the Stasi prisons.
:00:49. > :00:59.The Swedish furniture giant addresses claims that it used
:00:59. > :01:04.
:01:04. > :01:07.forced labour in communist East Germany.
:01:07. > :01:10.Egypt's prime minister has condemned Israeli attacks on Gaza
:01:10. > :01:16.as a disaster during a short visit to the territory. Hisham Qandil
:01:16. > :01:20.said during a three-hour visit that Israel's aggression must stop.
:01:20. > :01:24.Overnight, the Israeli military struck at more than 130 targets and
:01:24. > :01:29.militants fired 11 rockets from Gaza into Israel. Since Wednesday,
:01:29. > :01:39.when the offensive began, at least 20 Palestinians and three Israelis
:01:39. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :01:45.have been killed. I am in a town in southern Israel.
:01:45. > :01:54.It has suffered several more rocket attacks from Gaza in the last few
:01:54. > :01:59.hours. You can see behind me, many people in those tower blocks had to
:01:59. > :02:03.run for air raid shelters this morning. A siren sounded. Not many
:02:03. > :02:08.people are on the streets. Not many cars are driving. People are
:02:08. > :02:13.nervous that there will be further rocket attacks. So far, Israel's
:02:13. > :02:19.military operation in Gaza has, according to the Israeli military,
:02:19. > :02:23.hit 450, as they call them, terrorist activity sites. The death
:02:23. > :02:28.toll on the Palestinian side stands at 21. On this side of the border
:02:28. > :02:33.in Israel, three civilians have died. They were hit yesterday when
:02:33. > :02:38.a block of flats was hit by rocket fire from inside -- a rocket fired
:02:38. > :02:41.from inside Gaza. The Egyptian Prime Minister was in Gaza today as
:02:41. > :02:46.a show of solidarity with Palestinians. He said he would be
:02:46. > :02:52.trying to mediate a ceasefire. Hisham Qandil said he was disgusted
:02:52. > :02:56.by what he had seen. TRANSLATION: The whole world should
:02:57. > :03:06.show its responsibility towards this aggression. Israel should
:03:06. > :03:15.respect the agreement it has signed. This strategy needs immediate
:03:15. > :03:19.intervention from all parties. This is what Egypt has started, and will
:03:19. > :03:27.continue working on until we hold that the aggression and have
:03:27. > :03:30.Palestinian unity for the sake of these people, so that peace can be
:03:30. > :03:34.achieved with the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital
:03:34. > :03:41.will be Jerusalem. Brothers, Palestine is the heartbeat of the
:03:41. > :03:45.Arab nation and the heartbeat of the Islamic nation. The nation will
:03:45. > :03:51.not be healthy if its heart is suffering. Those who have beliefs
:03:51. > :03:59.should be patient and steadfast. They will be victorious. I salute
:03:59. > :04:03.the great Palestinian people. God's peace be upon you. That was the
:04:03. > :04:09.Egyptian prime minister, on his brief visit to Gaza today. Let's
:04:09. > :04:13.join our correspondent in Cairo. This visit was clearly a show of
:04:13. > :04:20.solidarity by the new Egyptian government with the Palestinians in
:04:20. > :04:24.Gaza? Very much so. You heard Hisham Qandil say in the kinds of
:04:24. > :04:30.things that Palestinians and Arabs want to hear, and catching it in
:04:30. > :04:34.the language they like. It was very powerful from the Arab point of
:04:34. > :04:38.view. But also in terms of symbolism, there was one point in
:04:38. > :04:43.his speech where he said he helped carry the body of a little boy
:04:43. > :04:49.inside the hospital, and that boy's bloodstains were on his clothes.
:04:49. > :04:54.Those words will resonate around the Arab world, because they will
:04:54. > :04:59.show that Egypt, the most populous Arab country, seen as a diplomatic
:04:59. > :05:04.leader, is a powerful force in the Arab world and is standing more
:05:04. > :05:08.closely with the Palestinians than it did in the days of Hosni Mubarak.
:05:08. > :05:13.We heard from Hamas that they make a sharp distinction between what
:05:13. > :05:19.they call the Egypt of today and the Egypt of yesterday. That
:05:19. > :05:24.matters not just in terms of the symbolism, but practically, too.
:05:24. > :05:29.Egypt is a crucial diplomatic player in this. Lines of
:05:29. > :05:34.communications both to Hamas and Israel. So we look to Hisham Qandil
:05:34. > :05:40.for clues about what kind of solution Egypt might want to broker.
:05:40. > :05:46.Hamas will hope that Egypt leans its way in any solution that might
:05:46. > :05:51.be possible in the short to medium term.
:05:51. > :05:56.And although he was offering his support to the Palestinian people
:05:56. > :06:00.in Gaza, the Egyptian government do still have lines of communication
:06:00. > :06:07.with the Israeli government? They do. They withdrew their ambassador
:06:07. > :06:12.at the start of this, with minimum political response. But there is a
:06:12. > :06:18.history of intelligence co- operation. There are back channels.
:06:18. > :06:23.We understand the powerful head of Egyptian military intelligence was
:06:23. > :06:27.on that delegation today. He is working on this. Frankly, the
:06:27. > :06:33.prospect for a ceasefire does not look promising in the short term
:06:33. > :06:36.because there was that exchange of fire out of Gaza and the Israeli
:06:36. > :06:40.military response while the Prime Minister was still there. But if
:06:40. > :06:45.there is to be a solution, it Egyptian diplomacy will be at the
:06:45. > :06:49.heart of it. In the last few minutes, we have learnt that
:06:49. > :06:55.tomorrow, Egypt is facilitating a visit to Gaza by the Tunisian
:06:55. > :07:00.foreign minister. That is a reminder to Israel and the wider
:07:00. > :07:05.world that Egypt has a land frontier with Gaza. It can allow in
:07:05. > :07:10.and out whomever it likes. So it can keep up pressure on Israel by
:07:10. > :07:15.facilitating those kinds of visits, which will resonate in the Middle
:07:15. > :07:19.East and increase that sense of pressure on Israel, and reduce the
:07:19. > :07:29.Gazan sense of isolation, which in part was a big factor in the
:07:29. > :07:33.politics of this. For the duration of the Egyptian
:07:33. > :07:37.prime minister's visit today, there was supposed to be a ceasefire. It
:07:37. > :07:43.did not work out that way, both sides accusing each other of
:07:43. > :07:48.shattering the ceasefire. Let's go to Wyre Davies, our correspondent
:07:48. > :07:53.in Gaza. When the Egyptian Prime Minister came, we still had rockets
:07:53. > :07:57.being fired out from Gaza and apparently Israeli air strikes
:07:57. > :08:01.continuing? I was in Gaza City today during the prime minister's
:08:01. > :08:07.visit, and I certainly heard incoming air strikes which will
:08:07. > :08:13.probably, although we can't be certain, Israeli air strikes. At
:08:13. > :08:17.the hospital, two dozen civilians were brought, victims of an Israeli
:08:17. > :08:21.air strike during the Prime Minister's visit. The accusation
:08:21. > :08:28.from both sides is that this three hour truce did not hold. The signs
:08:28. > :08:33.are therefore not good for a longer term ceasefire. After these two
:08:33. > :08:36.days of rockets going out and heavy Israeli air strikes, the concern is
:08:36. > :08:41.that Israeli is preparing for a ground invasion to finish the job.
:08:41. > :08:45.For many here, that will bring back terrible memories of an operation
:08:45. > :08:49.four years ago, when more than 1000 Palestinians were killed when
:08:50. > :08:54.Israel sent in its tanks and troops. Israel has been warned by many of
:08:54. > :09:04.its supporters, including Britain this morning, that it might lose
:09:04. > :09:04.
:09:05. > :09:10.support if it were to send in tanks. And how much support is there for
:09:10. > :09:18.Hamas and the other militant groups in the Gaza Strip? Are people
:09:18. > :09:22.behind the militants? They are. Despite incessant air strikes from
:09:22. > :09:26.Israel, of which there were 130 plus last night, nobody in Gaza got
:09:26. > :09:32.any sleep and it was terrifying to be here because a lot of these
:09:32. > :09:35.rockets hit near populated areas, Israel says those strikes were
:09:35. > :09:40.against militant positions, but they also hit government buildings
:09:40. > :09:45.in the middle of Gaza City. There were civilian casualties.
:09:45. > :09:48.Nonetheless, people on the ground see Israel as the aggressor. Israel
:09:48. > :09:53.says this action was precipitated by hundreds of rockets being fired
:09:53. > :09:58.out of Gaza towards its territory. But the feeling here is that Hamas
:09:58. > :10:08.authorities have the backing of the people. Having said that, the last
:10:08. > :10:08.
:10:08. > :10:15.thing they want is another war with Israel.
:10:15. > :10:20.The situation has been escalating since it began. We can hear now
:10:20. > :10:26.from the senior director of the United Nations Relief Works Agency.
:10:26. > :10:33.It employs hundreds of Palestinian workers inside Gaza. He told me he
:10:33. > :10:36.is worried about the escalating situation. The Week in the United
:10:36. > :10:42.Nations are extremely concerned. Just yesterday, I lost a college.
:10:42. > :10:48.We lost a valued staff member. He was in northern Gaza to pick up his
:10:48. > :10:53.brother, who was in harm's way. Driving back home, there was an air
:10:53. > :11:00.strike near his car. He was killed almost immediately. His brother was
:11:00. > :11:06.badly injured. He was a 52-year-old teacher and a civilian. That is a
:11:06. > :11:10.tragic illustration of what can happen when these situations occur.
:11:10. > :11:16.I have been here for six years and lived through the operation four
:11:16. > :11:20.years ago. The situation of rockets and air strikes it is unsustainable.
:11:20. > :11:24.Ban Ki-Moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, has been
:11:24. > :11:32.working the phones over the last 48 hours. He has been in touch with
:11:32. > :11:39.regional leaders, urging restraint. Make no mistake, we serve 1.1
:11:39. > :11:44.million refugees in Gaza. Women, children, the sick, the elderly,
:11:44. > :11:50.the dying. That should be the central for all of our thoughts and
:11:50. > :11:54.diplomacy. We in the United Nations, the world's top diplomat, Ban Ki-
:11:54. > :11:59.Moon, included, have a more authority. Our work is informed by
:11:59. > :12:03.moral values. They have to prevail. You say it is unsustainable, but
:12:03. > :12:11.the last time there was an operation like this, it went on for
:12:11. > :12:16.a long time and hundreds of people died on the Palestinian side, 1400,
:12:16. > :12:20.and 13 on the Israeli side. Where I say it is unsustainable, and this
:12:20. > :12:25.is a worthy Secretary General regularly uses, I mean that to have
:12:25. > :12:30.a situation where the people of southern Israel and the people of
:12:30. > :12:38.Gaza are subjected to either rockets or air strikes, is
:12:38. > :12:48.unsustainable. Peace has to be found. That is what I mean. Long-
:12:48. > :12:51.
:12:51. > :12:54.term, this conflict is unsustainable. Let me show you the
:12:54. > :12:59.picture here in this town in southern Israel where we have had
:12:59. > :13:03.several more rocket attacks coming in this morning. On the beach
:13:03. > :13:07.normally on a Friday before the Sabbath, it would be packed. You
:13:07. > :13:12.can see it is almost completely empty. There are a few hardy souls,
:13:12. > :13:17.who despite the continuing rocket attacks, are still on the beach.
:13:17. > :13:23.When the rockets come in, Israel's anti-missile protection system
:13:23. > :13:27.kicks in. These are batteries that fire missiles into the sky to
:13:27. > :13:33.intercept the Palestinian rockets as they come in. Usually, that
:13:33. > :13:42.anti-missile shield is pretty effective. But yesterday, we saw
:13:42. > :13:52.three civilians killed in a nearby town. That is the latest from here.
:13:52. > :13:52.
:13:52. > :13:56.Let's show you some live pictures coming to us out of Tel Aviv. They
:13:56. > :14:01.have been sounding the air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, Israel's
:14:01. > :14:08.commercial capital and Israel's biggest city. An explosion has also
:14:08. > :14:12.been heard, according to a witness. Palestinians in Gaza have fired two
:14:12. > :14:17.rockets towards the city, one falling into the sea, according to
:14:17. > :14:21.a security source, and the other landing in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
:14:21. > :14:29.But it caused no damage or casualties. The distance between
:14:29. > :14:33.Tel Aviv and the border is about 20 miles. The key thing is that it is
:14:33. > :14:38.the first time since 1991, the first Gulf war, you have to go that
:14:38. > :14:48.far back to get to a time when Tel Aviv was on the receiving end of
:14:48. > :14:50.
:14:50. > :14:56.You're watching BBC World News. Still to come: The sofa made by
:14:56. > :15:06.political prisoners in Stasi camps. The Swedish furniture giant Ikea
:15:06. > :15:09.addresses claims it used forced Relatives of a man who was shot and
:15:09. > :15:12.killed by the UN peacekeeping force in the disputed Sudanese region of
:15:12. > :15:18.Abyei claim that he was attempting to prevent angry youths from
:15:18. > :15:22.destroying a mosque. The man who died was a local employee of the UN.
:15:22. > :15:25.It comes as the long running struggle to resolve the status of
:15:25. > :15:27.this territory, which is claimed by Sudan and South Sudan, approaches a
:15:27. > :15:30.new deadline. Our world affairs correspondent, Mike Wooldridge is
:15:30. > :15:35.in Abyei. The struggling the border between
:15:35. > :15:39.Sudan and at South Sudan, Abyei has been a place of conflict. There is
:15:39. > :15:46.damage to all of these buildings in this main town, evidence of the
:15:46. > :15:51.legacy of that conflict. The last major violence was in 2011. This
:15:51. > :15:55.remains a volatile place even though there are peace keepers here
:15:55. > :16:01.since that fighting. A few days ago, outside this mosque on the other
:16:01. > :16:10.side of the road, there was a confrontation between a group from
:16:10. > :16:14.the Northern Misseriya tribe, and local Dinka users. It ended in one
:16:14. > :16:19.of the Dinka being shot and killed by one of the United Nations
:16:19. > :16:24.peacekeepers. It turned out he was a member of the peacekeeping force,
:16:24. > :16:30.a local member. This has heightened the sensitivities here in this town
:16:30. > :16:35.at a critical time. There has been a referendum on the books for a
:16:35. > :16:40.long time, over the status of this territory, whether it should remain
:16:40. > :16:44.with Sudan or join the newly independent country of South Sudan.
:16:44. > :16:49.That two countries have been arguing over it. Khartoum says it
:16:49. > :16:53.does not accept current proposals of who should be able to vote in
:16:53. > :17:00.that referendum, and it seems to prefer partitioning this territory.
:17:00. > :17:10.The south is hoping -- is hoping the whole territory will go to the
:17:10. > :17:10.
:17:10. > :17:15.south. The African Union has set a date for compromise. Otherwise it
:17:15. > :17:19.will impose a referendum in October of next year. The question is
:17:19. > :17:25.whether that would bring a final resolution of this very long-
:17:25. > :17:30.running conflict, and a sure future to South Sudan. Or, whether it
:17:30. > :17:40.would simply mean all of the underlying issues which are at play
:17:40. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:48.here, continuing. And peace still This is BBC World News. The
:17:48. > :17:51.headlines: The sound of a large explosion has been heard in Tel
:17:51. > :17:54.Aviv, and sirens have sounded as Hamas continues to fire rockets
:17:54. > :17:57.from Gaza into Israel. Leaders of Syria's newly formed
:17:57. > :18:06.unified opposition coalition are holding talks with the British
:18:06. > :18:11.government in London today, in the Jamie joins me now with the
:18:11. > :18:14.business. President Obama meets with
:18:15. > :18:18.Congressional leaders at the White House later today, for the first
:18:18. > :18:23.time since the election, to try and break the deadlock over next year's
:18:23. > :18:33.budget. In case you need reminding, the fear is that, without a deal,
:18:33. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:38.the US economy will fall off a "fiscal cliff". Current tax cuts
:18:38. > :18:41.and government spending will expire on the 31st of December, taking
:18:41. > :18:45.$600 billion out of the economy, if they are not replaced. Estimates of
:18:45. > :18:49.the possible impact vary. Some economists say it could cost the US
:18:49. > :18:53.over two million jobs, and cut GDP by at least 0.5% or even push the
:18:53. > :19:02.US back into recession. The uncertainty is taking its toll on
:19:03. > :19:08.many US businesses, as Ben Thompson reports from New York State.
:19:08. > :19:12.In upstate New York, this company is assembling parts for planes,
:19:12. > :19:17.commercial and military. It is position skilled work and in a
:19:18. > :19:21.region where manufacturing has all but disappeared, the firm has
:19:21. > :19:26.created some much-needed jobs. Despite the recession, business
:19:26. > :19:31.here is good. This firm employees 90 people from all over the local
:19:31. > :19:36.area and it wants to expand even more. But the firm is worried about
:19:36. > :19:43.its future. It has been put him off big investment decisions over the
:19:43. > :19:48.concern of what the next few weeks could bring. The boss told me that
:19:48. > :19:53.the uncertainty has taken its toll. The US Air Force is one of his
:19:53. > :19:58.biggest customers. But the package of tax rises and spending cuts due
:19:58. > :20:03.to come into force also include a big reduction in defence spending.
:20:03. > :20:07.And that would hit business here as well. I would say it on buying new
:20:07. > :20:14.equipment, it has affected us. We have had discussions with our key
:20:14. > :20:18.staff and said we will wait to see and will after this situation is
:20:18. > :20:22.resolved until we make a decision about when and how many pieces of
:20:22. > :20:27.equipment we decide to buy. That has been replicated right across
:20:27. > :20:32.America. Many firms are sitting on cash reserves, waiting for some
:20:32. > :20:36.direction over when and how to invest it. So, our lawmakers that
:20:36. > :20:41.you to reach a deal, or will America and its economy teeter
:20:41. > :20:46.closer to the edge? Just before the end of the year, we will get a
:20:46. > :20:52.compromise, a temporary solution to the most important items, so that
:20:52. > :20:57.we do not hit an extreme form of fiscal Cliff, and it buys some time
:20:57. > :21:02.to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement. But that will be a
:21:02. > :21:06.little help for small firms. It may avert the looming deadline, but it
:21:06. > :21:11.does little to inspire confidence. We are that the mercy of the folks
:21:11. > :21:15.in Washington, that's the way everybody is. Hopefully they will
:21:15. > :21:19.do the right thing. From one fiscal cliff to another.
:21:19. > :21:21.Japan appears to be heading for its seventh prime minister in six years,
:21:21. > :21:24.after premier Yoshihiko Noda dissolved parliament this afternoon,
:21:24. > :21:27.and called snap elections for next month. Early elections were one of
:21:27. > :21:30.the key demands of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, in return
:21:31. > :21:37.for its support for an emergency legislation, to stop Japan falling
:21:37. > :21:45.off its own fiscal cliff. Our Tokyo correspondent, Rupert
:21:45. > :21:49.Wingfield-Hayes, says the deal on the new borrowing came just in time.
:21:49. > :21:54.The Japanese Prime Minister said, if you did not get this through by
:21:54. > :21:57.the end of this month, which is not very far away, the Japanese
:21:57. > :22:01.government would grind to a halt in early December because it simply
:22:01. > :22:06.does not have any money left. The Japanese government is in the
:22:06. > :22:10.extraordinary situation, not unlike the US, of not raising enough taxes
:22:10. > :22:14.to pay for its spending. At this time every year they run out of
:22:14. > :22:18.money and they have to push through an emergency budget bill to finance
:22:18. > :22:22.the rest of the year's spending. That is what they have been
:22:22. > :22:25.fighting over for quite a long time. It's getting quite close to the
:22:25. > :22:29.edge, finally they have pushed it through in this deal which is
:22:29. > :22:32.bringing about an early election. For The Swedish furniture chain
:22:32. > :22:35.Ikea is to publish a report later into allegations that it used
:22:35. > :22:38.forced labour by East German political prisoners during the
:22:38. > :22:41.1960s and '70s. Former prisoners of the Stasi secret police say they
:22:42. > :22:44.were forced to work on furniture, after Ikea gave contracts to East
:22:44. > :22:46.Germany's communist government. Ikea has asked an outside firm of
:22:46. > :22:49.accountants to investigate the allegations.
:22:49. > :22:56.Stephen Evans explains what we know about the relationship between Ikea,
:22:56. > :23:04.the East German government, and political prisoners.
:23:04. > :23:09.We know that contracts were given to the east German government. And
:23:09. > :23:13.we also know that former prisoners of the star sea macro secret police,
:23:13. > :23:17.political prisoners, say they recognise that furniture.
:23:17. > :23:23.Furthermore, some people who escaped from East Germany in those
:23:23. > :23:29.years then wrote to Ikea saying, I was making your furniture. What we
:23:29. > :23:39.do not know is whether I kier, how much I'd hear you about the
:23:39. > :23:42.
:23:42. > :23:45.contracts. -- Ikea. Britain's Foreign Secretary has
:23:45. > :23:47.hinted his government may soon formally recognise Syria's newly
:23:47. > :23:51.formed opposition coalition. William Hague was speaking as he
:23:51. > :23:53.held talks with the group in London. Such recognition could lead to
:23:53. > :23:57.western countries providing weapons to the rebels. Inside Syria, rebels
:23:57. > :23:59.continue to be pounded by the Syrian air force. These pictures
:23:59. > :24:07.from Thursday, posted online. Show bombing in Taftanaz, a northern
:24:07. > :24:12.town located between Idlib and Aleppo.
:24:12. > :24:19.Let us go back to what is happening in Gaza City, and 20 kilometres
:24:19. > :24:29.over the border into Tel Aviv, we have had reports of one, maybe two
:24:29. > :24:34.
:24:34. > :24:39.rockets landing in or near Tel Aviv. Reuters reporting on that.
:24:39. > :24:45.What are you hearing, what are you saying? I am five kilometres from
:24:45. > :24:50.the centre of Tel Aviv. Half an hour ago, we heard an explosion, a
:24:50. > :24:55.single distinct explosion. The sirens didn't sound in this area
:24:55. > :25:02.but we could hear them sounding in Tel Aviv. I have friends in Tel
:25:02. > :25:08.Aviv who said they headed to a shelter. It must be worrying for
:25:08. > :25:18.local president's macro who are well within the range of Hamas?
:25:18. > :25:28.residents. It has been a long time since anything like this has
:25:28. > :25:28.
:25:28. > :25:32.threatened Tel Aviv, not since the Gulf war.
:25:32. > :25:39.It doesn't look as if both sides are reminded to walk away from
:25:39. > :25:44.this? No, it is crucial, this threatening with attacks reaching
:25:44. > :25:49.as far as Tel Aviv, because Tel Aviv has been described as a bubble
:25:49. > :25:53.where it is possible to live on the beautiful coastline of Israel, and
:25:53. > :26:00.or less on a day-to-day basis, ignore the continuation of the
:26:00. > :26:06.conflict with the Palestinians. Now, it is coming home to roost. Because
:26:06. > :26:11.Hamas has now a quiet, this is new, Brocket's which can reach as far as
:26:11. > :26:16.Tel Aviv, that should concentrate minds over what should the long-
:26:16. > :26:21.term solution to this crisis be? So that the Hamas leadership in Gaza
:26:21. > :26:29.is not tempted to smuggle in even more sophisticated weapons for the
:26:29. > :26:35.next time there is a crisis. Looking at Twitter, one saying, we
:26:35. > :26:38.are shelling Tel Aviv with a home- made projectile. What It is a are
:26:38. > :26:44.using doesn't matter, it is the symbolism of the fact they can do
:26:44. > :26:54.it. There is talk in the Israeli press, it is necessary once again
:26:54. > :26:54.