:00:17. > :00:24.That is close to the Libyan border. Two people are known to have died
:00:24. > :00:31.when the plant was stormed on Wednesday. Dozens are being held
:00:31. > :00:36.hostage. There are reports that 30 Algerians and 15 foreign Hospice --
:00:36. > :00:41.hostages may have escaped. The complex, deep in the Algerian
:00:41. > :00:47.desert is the focus of this stand- off. According to some reports,
:00:47. > :00:52.there were clashes overnight between Algerian troops and heavily
:00:52. > :00:59.armed asked -- hostage takers. Governments around the world are
:00:59. > :01:03.swinging into action. Japan has set up a special government task force.
:01:03. > :01:08.TRANSLATION: Firstly, I would like to say these kinds of acts are
:01:08. > :01:13.unforgivable. After hearing the news last night, I said, at giving
:01:13. > :01:19.priority to the lives of the people. Second, gather as much information
:01:19. > :01:23.as possible. Co-ordinate as closely as possible with the relevant
:01:23. > :01:27.nations. On a visit to Rome, the UN Defence Secretary told reporters
:01:27. > :01:32.that the United States would take all necessary and proper steps to
:01:32. > :01:36.deal with the crisis, without specifying what those steps might
:01:36. > :01:42.be. The besieged plant is in the east of Algeria, close to the
:01:42. > :01:46.Libyan border. To the west is Mali, where the Government has been
:01:46. > :01:51.battling Islamist insurgents. The French have stepped in with the
:01:51. > :01:57.assistance. The group behind the kidnappings has said it is why it
:01:57. > :02:01.did it. Exactly what the demands up of its leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar,
:02:01. > :02:06.who has made millions from kidnappings in the past, remains
:02:06. > :02:09.unclear. The British government is holding emergency meetings. The
:02:09. > :02:17.Foreign Office has condemned the killing of a Britain in one of the
:02:17. > :02:23.storming full stubbed it is cold- blooded murder. -- at the storming
:02:23. > :02:27.of. It is now reported that some 30 local workers have managed to
:02:27. > :02:37.escape from the complex as Algerian authorities continue to seek a
:02:37. > :02:39.
:02:39. > :02:42.solution to this incident. That hostage crisis in Algeria has its
:02:42. > :02:45.roots in the continuing conflict in Mali. Up to 3,000 troops from
:02:45. > :02:48.across West Africa are preparing to join the military operation, begun
:02:48. > :02:50.by the French, in support of the Malian government. They are trying
:02:50. > :02:53.to push back Islamist rebels, who have been securing territory across
:02:53. > :02:57.northern and central Mali. EU diplomats have agreed to send
:02:57. > :03:02.military trainers to Mali. Troops from Chad and Nigeria are boarding
:03:02. > :03:08.planes. Our reporter is in a northern Algerian town as the
:03:08. > :03:16.troops prepare to leave her. The Nigerian forces are in high spirits.
:03:16. > :03:23.They will be going to Mali over the next few days. 900 will reach Mali.
:03:23. > :03:27.They will become the bulk of the forces from West Africa. It will be
:03:27. > :03:34.a difficult place to go and fight. In the north of the country, the
:03:34. > :03:38.terrain is very harsh. Nigerians have plenty experience. There has
:03:38. > :03:44.been fighting in Darfur. Also there is experienced in countries like
:03:44. > :03:49.Sierra Leone and Liberia. One of the issues for Nigeria is, here in
:03:49. > :03:54.the north of the country, they have been fighting against an Islamist
:03:54. > :03:59.insurgency for the past few months. It has been a very difficult fight.
:03:59. > :04:04.It has also given them relevant experience. What is clear is this
:04:04. > :04:11.conflict in Mali is becoming internationalised. More from the
:04:11. > :04:18.region shortly. First, an update on the business news. It is midnight
:04:18. > :04:23.there now for Dreamliner. Are any flying? We are just waiting for
:04:23. > :04:29.Ethiopian Airlines to make a decision. They are alone. We have
:04:29. > :04:37.just had Qatar same their grounding all their planes. The problems of
:04:37. > :04:45.Dreamliner arch -- are going global. Air safety regulators have
:04:45. > :04:49.officially grounded all of the planes. That is all pending these
:04:49. > :04:53.investigations into a fire risk, caused by the batteries in be
:04:53. > :04:59.aeroplanes. On Wednesday, All Nippon Airways was forced to make
:04:59. > :05:03.an emergency landing. That followed a string of other problems. Let me
:05:03. > :05:08.just add to this. There may be one silver lining when all of those
:05:08. > :05:13.clouds gathered over the Boeing Dreamliner. The main rival, at
:05:13. > :05:18.least one of their planes - the Airbus - has been overtaken by
:05:18. > :05:27.Boeing as the top-selling plane maker in 2012. The Dreamliner is
:05:27. > :05:36.bowing'his vision of the future of air travel. -- Boeing's. It helped
:05:36. > :05:41.it win some 1200 aeroplane orders in 2012. Airbus instead developed a
:05:41. > :05:48.double-decker, which packed in over 500 passengers on a flight. It is
:05:48. > :05:53.the Dreamliner which course -- caught the imagination and Airbus
:05:53. > :06:03.is trying to catch it up. When you look at the combined sales, you are
:06:03. > :06:04.
:06:04. > :06:09.talking 1300, 1400 units, compared with about 280 sales for the A380.
:06:09. > :06:14.This direct service with the long haul capable wide-body twin is
:06:14. > :06:18.actually the way forward. Airbus and Boeing make most of their
:06:18. > :06:22.profits not from long-haul giants but single aisle planes used for
:06:22. > :06:27.short-haul flights. Both companies are bringing out new versions with
:06:27. > :06:33.more fuel efficient engines. Cost- conscious airlines have been
:06:33. > :06:39.ordering hundreds of them. First they favoured Airbus. More latterly
:06:39. > :06:44.they have been favouring Boeing. Airbus was first off the mark a few
:06:44. > :06:50.years ago and brought in a few engine efficient models. That was
:06:50. > :06:55.very popular and they flocked to order it. It was not until last
:06:56. > :07:01.year that Boeing had a competing version. That has proved popular as
:07:01. > :07:06.well. 2012 was the year for Boeing against Airbus. The grounding of
:07:06. > :07:12.extreme miners in Japan little over a year after their launch has been
:07:12. > :07:18.a blow to its reputation. -- Dreamliner us. Airbus has promised
:07:18. > :07:23.an alternative. Let's just day with this story. The head of Airbus has
:07:23. > :07:29.been speaking at a press conference about the company's latest results.
:07:29. > :07:37.It says it is on track to do even better this year - 2013. That was
:07:37. > :07:42.not enough to be bowing, which has overtaken Airbus. It has praised
:07:42. > :07:52.the decision by the US aviation regulators to ground the aeroplanes.
:07:52. > :07:57.They say it is not their place to make such decisions. Both Boeing
:07:57. > :08:02.and Airbus give the same priority to safety. This is paramount. By
:08:03. > :08:10.the way, the track record of safety in 2012 was excellent, to my
:08:10. > :08:16.knowledge, for both companies. There is a decision and this
:08:17. > :08:22.decision confirms again that the air transport is probably one of
:08:22. > :08:29.the safest transport around the world. When there is a doubt, yes,
:08:29. > :08:36.it is better to look at it very carefully. OK, let's move on. Let's
:08:36. > :08:42.talk about the Greek divide. Ordinary Greeks are suffering
:08:42. > :08:45.biting austerity. There has been fury at the tax scandal that goes
:08:45. > :08:49.right to the top. Greek parliament votes on whether to investigate top
:08:49. > :08:55.politicians, including two former prime ministers and the ex Finance
:08:55. > :09:02.Minister for tampering with the list of suspected tax invaders -- e
:09:02. > :09:06.Vedas. The names were passed on by the format Finance Minister. -- the
:09:07. > :09:12.former Finance Minister. Just for viewers around the world, let's do
:09:12. > :09:16.this in an at Shell and explain the story. Christine Lagarde handed a
:09:16. > :09:20.list of the tax evaders to the Greek government in 2010. Since
:09:20. > :09:24.then, a few of the names have been removed from the list and no
:09:24. > :09:29.government has done anything about it. It has all the makings of a
:09:29. > :09:35.real-life political thriller. You have ministers and alleged cover
:09:35. > :09:40.ups. Suspected tax evasion. It reads like a spy novel. The tour
:09:40. > :09:45.starts in 2010 with a list of 2000 Greeks in Geneva. It was leaked by
:09:45. > :09:49.a bank employee and given by Christine Lagarde to George
:09:49. > :09:53.Papaconstantinou. He, and his successor, are accused of failing
:09:53. > :09:58.to act upon the list until it was leaked by an investigative
:09:58. > :10:01.journalist with three names missing - all relatives of George
:10:01. > :10:08.Papaconstantinou at the start today, the Greek parliament is debating
:10:08. > :10:12.whether to launch a criminal investigation on George
:10:12. > :10:18.Papaconstantinou. He denies any involvement. Peace as he did not
:10:18. > :10:25.doctored the list and has been made a scape goat. -- he denies. Greeks
:10:25. > :10:29.have been captivated by it every twist and turn. For them, it
:10:29. > :10:34.highlights the inequality gap between the wealthy and the poor,
:10:34. > :10:38.which has grown. Corruption eats at the heart of this country will
:10:38. > :10:43.start they are desperate to find somebody to blame, somebody to
:10:43. > :10:50.punished for the mess this country is in. Could this be that moment
:10:50. > :10:57.for ordinary Greeks? We will talk to you very soon. Let's take a look
:10:57. > :11:03.at the markets. You can see it right here, there has been positive
:11:03. > :11:06.news from the United States. Mild inflation. That means they can keep
:11:06. > :11:10.on the path to research the struggling economy. All eyes and
:11:10. > :11:14.ears in Europe are still on the eurozone. In particular, around the
:11:14. > :11:21.corner in February, the Italian election. Many are asking, could
:11:21. > :11:25.that rocks the whole eurozone vote? That is it. You are with BBC World
:11:25. > :11:29.news. We are about to take you inside one of the most powerful and
:11:29. > :11:33.influential locations around the world that few outsiders ever
:11:33. > :11:38.experience. The BBC has been given rare access to broadcast live from
:11:38. > :11:43.inside the Kremlin, right inside the heart of Moscow. It is an
:11:43. > :11:48.historic palace and the seed of Russian power, with the official
:11:48. > :11:53.residence of President Vladimir Putin. Let's go live to inside the
:11:53. > :11:57.Kremlin and our Moscow correspondent. Welcome to the
:11:57. > :12:01.cathedral square inside the Kremlin walls. A very snowy Cathedral
:12:01. > :12:06.Square. We only got here this morning and all the snow had been
:12:06. > :12:11.cleared. There has been a snowstorm since then. This is the official
:12:11. > :12:14.residence of Vladimir Putin. Behind is the official office - the office
:12:14. > :12:17.from where this country is officially Ram. We have been
:12:18. > :12:23.talking about repressive reputations of Russian leaders in
:12:23. > :12:26.the past. What about Vladimir Putin? He has come into a lot of
:12:26. > :12:31.criticism. The first Prime Minister has become a great advocate for
:12:31. > :12:37.greater democracy and free-market reforms. I asked him if he saw any
:12:37. > :12:43.echoes today from those governments of the past. Yes, of course there
:12:43. > :12:49.are echoes - a lot of echoes of that time. A completely different
:12:49. > :12:56.situation. I would say, the country is different. Of course, Russia is
:12:56. > :13:00.not comparable with the Soviet Union. It is a totalitarian part of
:13:00. > :13:05.history. President Putin is firmly set in his third term. We can get
:13:05. > :13:09.an idea now of what this third six- year term is going to be like. What
:13:09. > :13:14.are you seeing, positive and negative, from how it looks as if
:13:14. > :13:21.he is going to run the country in the next few years? We will
:13:21. > :13:26.continue to get power by it all means. That is why we could not -
:13:26. > :13:33.will not - have any development, I would say. We will continue to come
:13:33. > :13:40.to stagnation more and more. Also in the moral. The changes in
:13:40. > :13:45.Russian society is inevitable. That is why the issue of Time. We do not
:13:45. > :13:50.want revolution. That means free and fair elections. Elections that
:13:50. > :13:56.control civil society but not the civil services. How would that help
:13:56. > :14:01.the development of Russia? As soon as we re-establish all those
:14:01. > :14:05.freedoms, and people will understand that personal freedom is
:14:05. > :14:09.the major value ended his respected by all authorities and by the
:14:09. > :14:12.President, the Government and parliament. People will start to
:14:12. > :14:18.behave differently. That is personal freedom and would give
:14:18. > :14:24.them encouragement that there would be a new inspiration to deal with
:14:24. > :14:29.the business and then the signs and culture, etc. We need to install
:14:29. > :14:36.such an understanding that private property is untouchable. And the
:14:36. > :14:41.same level as a property is equal for Equality and the Government and
:14:41. > :14:47.the state are applied to defend the private property. That is the basic
:14:47. > :14:57.constitution for development of market economy. Of course, it will
:14:57. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:02.From the leader of Russia today, to be leaders of the past. I am now
:15:03. > :15:07.inside the cathedral. This is where the Sans were crowned. Where they
:15:07. > :15:12.got married and baptised their children. This is the Cathedral of
:15:12. > :15:21.the Archangel. This is where these ares were buried. They are all
:15:21. > :15:27.around me. These are their tombs. This is the tomb of Michael I, the
:15:27. > :15:34.founder of the Romanov dynasty. The BBC's Daniel Sandford there
:15:34. > :15:38.inside the Kremlin. Thank you. Stay with us, still to come: A
:15:38. > :15:43.state of emergency declared in Jakarta as floods submerged parts
:15:43. > :15:51.of the Indonesian capital. At least four people have died, 20,000 are
:15:51. > :15:58.evacuated. Who went Antarctica? For half a
:15:58. > :16:06.century, the question, like the Continent, remains frozen -- who
:16:06. > :16:11.owns Antarctica. Part of it was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth,
:16:11. > :16:17.for the jubilee celebrations. The problem is Chile has claimed the
:16:17. > :16:22.same area. The icy wastes at the bottom of the
:16:22. > :16:29.world. Wild and magnificent. Can they, should they, belong to any
:16:29. > :16:35.one? On Tuesday, President Pinera of Chile flew in to restate his
:16:35. > :16:40.country's claim to a stake -- a slice of the Continent. P planted a
:16:40. > :16:44.flag in the ice at what will become Chile's latest research station and
:16:44. > :16:49.said the country was there to stay. TRANSLATION: Today we are taking
:16:49. > :16:53.another step to strengthen our Antarctic presence. This new base
:16:53. > :16:59.will be one of the closest to the South Pole, after the Americans and
:16:59. > :17:04.the Chinese. It will allow us to protect our nation towards this
:17:05. > :17:10.Continent, the Continent of the future. Before the 19th century, no
:17:10. > :17:15.one knew Antarctica even existed. In the 20th, countries started to
:17:15. > :17:20.claim slices of it, beginning with Britain. Those claims were never
:17:20. > :17:24.fully recognised and just over 50 years ago, a treaty was signed to
:17:24. > :17:27.prevent new ones and keep the Continent free of military or
:17:27. > :17:34.industrial development. But the many territorial claims have not
:17:34. > :17:41.been abandoned. Britain's overlap almost entirely with chilli and
:17:41. > :17:44.Antarctica. An area of the Antarctic, and area... Last month,
:17:44. > :17:49.the British government named part of Antarctica Queen Elizabeth Land
:17:49. > :17:54.to mark the monarch's Diamond Jubilee. That provoked a protest
:17:54. > :17:58.from Argentina. Now the Chilean government is planting a research
:17:58. > :18:01.base in the same area. Sofa, everything is friendly at the
:18:01. > :18:07.bottom of the world but the question of who owns all this
:18:07. > :18:10.emptiness is not entirely frozen. Thousands of native Canadians have
:18:10. > :18:17.held a day of action across the country. That is over their long-
:18:17. > :18:27.running demands for better living conditions for indigenous peoples.
:18:27. > :18:30.
:18:30. > :18:35.You are with BBC World News. These are the latest headlines: Islamic
:18:35. > :18:39.militants holding foreign nationals hostage at an Algerian gas plant
:18:39. > :18:44.say they will only negotiate if government forces withdraw. This,
:18:44. > :18:47.as Algeria's official news agency is reporting some 30 hostages may
:18:47. > :18:54.have escaped. Hessay for regulators in Europe,
:18:54. > :19:00.the United States, India and Japan have grounded Boeing's Dreamliner,
:19:00. > :19:05.pending an investigation into a fire risk. At Somali militants say
:19:05. > :19:08.they have executed a French hostage who was the subject of a failed
:19:08. > :19:13.military rescue attempt at the weekend.
:19:13. > :19:19.Dennis Alex, a French agent had been held by Al-Shabab since 2009.
:19:19. > :19:23.French special forces tried to rescue him last Saturday, but they
:19:23. > :19:28.failed. Al-Shabab have used their Twitter feed to claim the group
:19:28. > :19:32.executed him last Wednesday evening. But it is believed he may have been
:19:32. > :19:37.killed during the failed rescue mission. The intelligence suggested
:19:37. > :19:45.that he was. They responded by saying it is the most heinous type
:19:45. > :19:51.of propaganda. They have made use of what happened at the weekend. A
:19:51. > :19:55.bit of detail about the operation. It was run by Special Operations
:19:55. > :20:00.Command which is the French equivalent of the SAS, supported by
:20:00. > :20:05.the three French forces. About 50 commandos were involved. There was
:20:05. > :20:11.a fierce 40 minute gunfight to try and rescue Dennis Alex. It did not
:20:11. > :20:17.go particularly well. Two commandos were killed. The feeling was he had
:20:17. > :20:20.been killed during the operation. Now to Indonesia. Flooding in
:20:20. > :20:25.Jakarta has brought the city to a standstill causing several deaths
:20:25. > :20:28.and forcing thousands of people to evacuate the area. A state of
:20:28. > :20:34.emergency has been declared in the capital, part of which are reported
:20:34. > :20:39.to be under two metres of water. The BBC's Indonesia correspondent
:20:39. > :20:43.Karishma Vaswani has more details. Jakartans are still trying to find
:20:43. > :20:48.some intrepid ways of getting to work in this intrepid City, despite
:20:48. > :20:53.the rising flood waters. I am in the central business district. All
:20:53. > :20:57.around me people are trying to get to work, wading through knee-high
:20:57. > :21:01.water, sometimes finding refuge here in the city. This is an area
:21:01. > :21:06.that is surrounded by some of the biggest department stores in
:21:06. > :21:10.Jakarta and some of the fanciest hotels. This area of the city is
:21:11. > :21:15.never as badly affected as it has been this time round. You can see a
:21:15. > :21:19.few public buses have been stranded because they cannot move any more
:21:19. > :21:24.because the water has reached far too high. Officials have warned
:21:24. > :21:28.that over the next few days, we could see even more rain that would
:21:28. > :21:32.mean waters in this part of the area and Jakarta would also
:21:32. > :21:37.continue to rise. Already, residents and some of the low-lying
:21:37. > :21:41.areas have talked about waters reaching two to three metres high.
:21:41. > :21:46.The Indonesian President has spoken with the national disaster agency
:21:47. > :21:53.and said all steps should be taken to protect Jakarta's citizens but
:21:53. > :21:57.so far there have not been any specific measures implemented yet.
:21:57. > :22:00.Over the past two am -- over the past four but three years, the
:22:00. > :22:05.statistics have become more familiar. Half of Spain young
:22:05. > :22:09.people are out of work. The country has just ended its third recession
:22:09. > :22:13.in four years. What is it like to live through such tough, austere
:22:13. > :22:17.times? For the first of our reports are in our new winter in Europe
:22:17. > :22:25.series, Katya Adler has been talking to families in the Spanish
:22:25. > :22:29.town of Alcala de Henares which has been hard hit by the recession.
:22:29. > :22:34.For David and Raquel, 7 o'clock in the morning means time to get ready
:22:34. > :22:38.for school, however reluctantly. Their routine never changes. Unlike
:22:39. > :22:45.that of their parents. Spain's economic crisis has turned their
:22:45. > :22:52.lives upside down. Mum Margarita lost her job a while ago. A husband
:22:52. > :22:58.has been told he is about to lose his. A loving kiss at the school
:22:58. > :23:04.gates. All over Spain, parents are trying to stay cheerful for their
:23:04. > :23:10.children. Behind many of the smiling faces lies a harsh reality.
:23:10. > :23:17.And of course, the children notice. The situation affects us all,
:23:18. > :23:23.Margaretha tells me, as she drives home from school. We are serious
:23:23. > :23:27.all the time now, she says. Raquel cries a lot and David asks if we
:23:28. > :23:32.will have enough money for food when his dad is out of work. 6
:23:32. > :23:38.million people are already employed in Spain. Once out of a job here,
:23:38. > :23:43.you are unlikely to find a new one. This man and his fellow workers
:23:43. > :23:48.have organised a round-the-clock protest outside their factory, to
:23:48. > :23:52.try and persuade bosses to slash wages instead of jobs. The men tell
:23:52. > :23:57.me they are desperate. Some have worked in a factory for decades, as
:23:57. > :24:01.their fathers did before them. TRANSLATION: Our company keeps
:24:01. > :24:06.talking about lay-offs but we are not numbers, we are people with
:24:06. > :24:11.mortgages to pay. Ask any of us here. This is the worst thing that
:24:11. > :24:17.could happen. I am the pillar of my family. If I fall, the whole thing
:24:17. > :24:21.collapses. It is freezing outside so the guys are taking it in turn
:24:21. > :24:25.to come in here to grab a bite surrounded by pictures drawn by
:24:25. > :24:29.their children. There have sad messages. One says my dad does not
:24:29. > :24:37.bring in any money any more. People have been telling me that if they
:24:37. > :24:42.lose their job, the whole family suffers. Often now in Spain, it is
:24:42. > :24:48.the grandparents who are picking up the pieces. Raquel and David's
:24:48. > :24:53.grand mothers have come to see them. Their support is not just emotional.
:24:53. > :24:59.They help financially where they can, although they live on a basic
:24:59. > :25:03.state pension. Spare pennies are saved for David's music lessons. He
:25:03. > :25:08.dreams of being a violinist but prospects for Spanish and
:25:08. > :25:12.youngsters are bleak. People talk of a lost generation.
:25:12. > :25:18.We have been hearing about winter in Europe. On the other side of the
:25:18. > :25:19.world, bush fires continue to burn in the intense heat of the
:25:19. > :25:26.Australian summer. This is Warrumbungle National Park in the
:25:26. > :25:30.north-west of not -- New South Wales. Locals are worried fires
:25:30. > :25:34.will spread to the town of Coonabarabran. Already, 40,000
:25:34. > :25:37.hectares of land have been scorched and homes have been lost.