♪>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> freedom for a british hostage held in iraq for more than two and a half years. his family is overjoyed. >> absolutely fantastic. i couldn't believe it. he sounded really well and was cracking jokes. >> u.s. officials say eight americans have been killed by a suspected suicide attack in southeastern afghanistan. reports from the u.s. suggest the government knew a terror attack was being planned weeks before an attempt to bomb a plane. welcome to "bbc world news." also, coming up for you -- survival against the odds. a baby born on the first day of israel's assault on gaza. and a century-old campaign for independence in india. >> hello to you. two and a half-year ordeal is over for peter moore. he was one of five men sized -- seized as the iraqi finance ministry in 2007. three of them were shot dead and their bodies returned to the u.k. there's still no, world on the fifth man but british officials believe she dead. but peter moore is now free. >> from the murky complex world of iraqi hostage taking and negotiations, that's some good news. >> i've been held here for nearly eight months now. i miss my family very much. >> peter moore, the british i.t. expert from lincoln has been freed after two and a half years in captivity. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. >> the government broke the news within hours. >> i've just had a very moving conversation with peter himself. peter is in good health despite many months of captivity. he's undergoing careful medical checks and he's going to be reunited with his family as soon as possible back in the u.k. he's obviously, to put it mildly, absolutely delighted at his release. >> peter moore's adoptive parents, seen here on the right, were told the news this morning. >> i can't describe it. i just burst into tears and kept asking if it was true. it was just surreal. >> total denial from my point of view. just could not believe it. more than a couple of tears after two and a half years. a lot of stress going out of the system very hard. >> he sounded really well and was cracking jokes. he asked about his step brother and sister and said that he'd seen quite a few of a appeal broadcasts, which had kept him going and made him realize that people were out there fighting for him and hadn't given up. it was brilliant to hear him. >> but this is still a tragic tale. peter moore was grabbed in 2007 with his four british body guards from this building in baghdad. three of those body guards are dead. they were murdered by their iraqi captainives. the fate of the fourth body guard is uncertain but the foreign office believes he, too, is dead. as for peter moore, seen here before he went to iraq, his new found freedom will take some adjusting to. >> if he can come out from that experience and into this other journey, which means first of all he'll have his medical and other debriefings, he will be reunited with his family. he will then do something with the media and get that out of the way. and then, if he takes the advice, the advice almost certainly will be withdraw for a while. get away. take it step by step. don't try and do too much too quickly. >> the british ambassador in baghdad has been at the heart of britain's longest running hostage crisis in nearly 20 years. yes questions will be asked as to whether everything possible was done to save these five men. >> at at least 23 people were killed in a double suicide attack in a mwadi. the governor of anbar proindividuals was injured. his condition is describe -- described as very serious. a first attack was inside a protected zone. the son of iranian opposition leader, seen here on the left, is strongly denying reports from the official states news agassi that he and the other main opposition leader have fled tehran -- tehran from the north. in tehran itself there have been demonstrations in support of the government. footage of live crowds have been broadcast. doctors in brazil say a 2-year-old boy had at least 31 suing needles inserted into him is out of danger after a third operation. the boy's step father has confessed so -- to inserting the needles as a religious rich intellectual to get revenge on his wife. eight americans have been killed in an apparent suicide attack in afghanistan. let's get the latest from washington. our correspondent richard is there. what are you hearing in >> we've now had the first official confirmation of the dethsdz of these eight americans. a state department spokesman saying eight americans were killed in an attack on a military base in a region east of afghanistan. they're withholding details pending noferingse of next of kin. this is in the eastern host province, on the boarder -- border with pakistan and had been targeted before. other officials suggest it was the result of a suicide bomb attack and that the suicide bomber may have penetrated the base perimeter and carried out the attack inside the gymnasium of the base. if true, this represents a very serious blow to u.s. forces who will be now looking very closely at their security arrangements. >> it doesn't say much for security on the base, especially if it had been hit before. >> yes, that's right and i suppose the question will be asked exactly who this individual was. we're still trying to get calculation on who those killed were. the report suggests that they were civilians. the pentagon has suggested to the bbc that this were civilians. they were killed on a military base. they could have been contractorors or civilians involved in the reconstruction effort. but that's pending notification of next of kin. >> richard, thank you very much for that. well, there are more reports in the american media about warnings received before the christmas day attempt to bring down a plane over detroit. the report suggested there was intelligence about a nigerian in yemen being prepared for a terrorist attack. umar farouk farouk abdulmutallab is said to have told police he was trained in yemen. >> it's not conclusive but it seems more and more likely that umar farouk abdulmutallab was in league with coiled. weeks before he boarded the flight for detroit, the u.s. government had intelligence that coiled in yemen was preparing a nigerian for an attack. abdulmutallab's father had warned the u.s. ambassador in nigeria of his son's radicalism. he was put on a counterterrorism watch list but never on a no-fly list and his u.s. visa was never revoked. it seems that only luck prevented the explosives sew into his underwear from going off. america's homeland department of security is reeling. they suggested there would you believe the enough intelligence to stop him. >> there was never throughout the law enforcement commuregets never information that would have put him on a list. >> not so, said the president last night. >> had this information been shared it could have been compiled with other intelligence and a clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged. it would have triggered red flags and the suspect would never have been allowed to board the plane. >> mr. obama has firmly acknowledged that the system failed. the clues were there, just not put together. across america, airport security has once begun -- again been tightened and is the system flawed? >> when someone has a u.s. visa and derogatory information is received by the u.s. government and his visa is not revoked and he's still allowed to travel to the united states, as a citizen that makes me very, very concerned. >> for mr. obama a difficult moment. can he reassure americans they are as safe as they can be from terrorist attack under his administration? how, for example, will he handle the presence of al qaeda in yemen? will there be more u.s. strikes there? the president remains on vacation in hawaii. he's due back here in washington at the weekend. now, americans have been rudely reminded that a terrorist threat may come not only from afghanistan or pakistan but from a country perhaps like yemen. far off and little understood. mr. obama must show that he can manage that threat too. >> well, the bbc's arabic tv correspondent is in the yemeni capital. he said despite claims of the suspect's keckses to the country, the government there is trying to play down the presence of al qaeda. >> while the yemeni government has admitted that he was present here during a certain period, on two occasions, but there's no concrete information on what kind of training he got here. however, one has to note that government officials are trying not to exaggerate the presence of al qaeda here in yemen too much. they're saying basically we're not afghanistan, we're not pakistan, yet there is a danger of al qaeda and we would like any help that we can get. they're trying to maintain a indict balance between not ruining the country's reputation and putting it on a state. >> the family of a british man executed in china for drug struggling have returned to the u.k. akmal shaikh was executed in china yesterday. his family say the chinese courts failed to take his mental health into account. daniel has the story. >> arriving back from china two cousins of akmal shaikh's who had traveled there hoping to save his life. they visited him in prison but could not prevent his execution. they wrote out statements. >> we've restrained ourselves in any comments in the hopes that akmal may be spared. now, however, we would like to let the chinese authorities know our anger and disgust with anywhere arrogance and the high-handed way in which they dealt with akmal's fate. the only thing that everyone who has ever melt akmal since 2007 has asked for has been a proper medical assessment. >> 53-year-old akmal shaikh was arrested in china in 2007 and convicted of smuggling heroin. his family and supporters say he was duped into carrying the drugs and despite compelling evidence of meantal illness, chinese courts ignored this and his cousins said the courts had already made their decision before they arrived. >> this is borne out by the fact that akmal's clothes were laid out by the guards while we were still talking to akmal. the decisions had obviously already all been taken. >> the government has don -- condemn it would execution, which went ahead despite protegstations over two years. they resent external criticism of china's legal process. >> stay with us if you can. still to come, more on the british hostage field after two and a half years in iraq. we asked how the deal was done. first, three decades after margaret thatcher took power in britain, many of her government's secret files are opening to the public, including details of the decision to replace the nuclear system. >> may, 1979. margaret thatcher arrives at number 10 with a clear and forceful agenda for the future of britain. it had been a landslide over a labor government left in tatters after the winter of discontent, a time of economic crisis and may -- high unemployment. the records show the new prime minister lost no time in dotting her first battle with the civil service. cuts of 3% had been suggested. no, she noted clearly. mrs. thatcher wanted to see at least 5%. ideally, closer to 20%. the new prime minister was also keen to establish her strength on the world stage. weeks after the election she had a meeting with the soviet prime minister. he suggested that britain had an unfairly exaggerated view of soviet military capacity and aggression. oh, you're being too moddest said the woman already nicknamed the iron lady. no one who's seen your tanks and missiles would understood estimate your capacity. the files also show jim callahan bent the rules to help. he wanted to see a replacement on the outdated polaris missile system, suggested by u.s. president jimmy carter. >> the incoming prime minister should be briefed on the need of replacing it or otherwise and decide whether to make her own approaches to president carter. it's a very, very unusual document indeed much >> the files are an insight into where britain was to be led for over a decade, how the personality of britain's first female prime minister shaped her policies. >> the latest headlines for you this hour on "bbc world news." a british man held hostage in iraq for more than two and a half years had been released in baghdad. peter moore is reported to be in good health. eight americans have been killed by a suspected suicide attack in southeastern afghanistan. let's get more on the reels in iraq now. the cowlor of the iraqi ambassador in london said negotiations for mr. moore's release went right to the top of the iraqi government. >> i think there has been a lot of work behind the scenes on both sides of the iraqi government and the british government and that was of the highest level. you can really imagine prime minister gordon broken, prime minister maliki and the president of iraq was involved. and our prime minister was involved. the foreign secretary was involved. a lot of work has been behind the scenes before this release of peter today. >> was there a tradeoff? did money change hands? >> no, there was no trade-off, no agreement whatsoever. >> and yet it is known the kidnappers were seeking the release of several shiite mischamen, including the leader of the group. the leader of that group has been handed over to iraqi authorities by the u.s. military. the expectation is that he will be released. >> there has been talk about son-in-law sort of release on some of the prisoners but today's results haven't come back on that situation only. it has been on the humanitarian situation as well. >> but is that not in effect the tradeoff? did the kidnappers not get something in change -- exchange? >> no, there was no tradeoff at all. >> doesn't that amount to the same thing? >> no, it's not. >> there are, of course, many people held hostage. many iraqis. why this kind of high-level di loam si for this hostage? why not for everyone? >> you have to look at the security level and security situation in iraq. it has been a problem because there were kidnappings near the ministry of finance. there has been work on both sides and to be honest, they were merely doing a job they had contracted and they were unfortunate in that situation. >> heirs to an argentine media empire say police have raided their homes to secure d.n.a. about whether they're victims of a forced adoption scheme. they were ordered to give blood samples on tuesday. they say tuesday's blood samples are not reliable enough. the u.n.'s revpblg agency has asked laous to access for more than 4,000 ethnic monks. the monks say they faced prosecution. the tye government regards them as illegal economic migrants. a year since israel began a three-week military operation in gaza, they say conditions are still bad and likely to get worse over the winter. gas tave government's doesn't recognize israel's right to exist. we followed the fortunes of a baby girl born on the first day of israel's operation. ♪ happy birthday to you >> miriam was born a year ago into a word of conflict and violence. it was the day israel began a three-weeklong assault on her home, the gaza strip. there were chaotic scenes as gaza's main hospital hours after she came into the world. israel said his operation was aimed at palestinian militants. the thousands of civilians were injured in gaza and hundreds were killed. born prematurely, miriam spent the war here in an ink baitor. her mother was sent home to make room for the wounded. i met the mother days after the war. she'd just been reunited with her daughter. >> yes, i'm always holding her. i don't let her out of my sight now. it was very difficult. miriam was in the hospital without me for 21 days. we couldn't leave our house to pick her up because of the shelling. israeli soldiers were based across the road from us. >> one year later, gaza is still bruised and battered and miriam is still sickly. we went with her and her mom to a u.n. clinic. she's examined regularly here but the medicine she needs is often often unavailable or too expensive. bureaucracy makes things worse. israel allows emergency supplies in to gaza but still has a crushing block aid in place to put pressure on the military, it says, but orlando anywhere people suffer. >> and before we cannot -- we have 65 beds and under the poverty line. i think our situation is going to detorrey rate, decline. >> life is hard for my daughter and there's no hope things will get better. their hope is to play and be free like children everywhere but she can't. israel controls our life. >> 12 months later, hamas, israel's enemy, remains in power, while ordinary people feel unable to pick up the pees of their lives. miriam cease family, like so many others here say they trust no one and fear for the future. >> campaigns across india for new states. now they've agreed to split up a southern state. most of gorkans live now in the state. >> driving up into the darjeeling hills and one thing quickly becomes apparent, the green, white, and yellow of gurka land is everywhere. the demand for a separate state within india has been heard for 100 years. now it's impossible to avoid. and some are prepared to sump to see their dream come true. hunger strikes have been taking place. starving is a painful experience. david, a 54-year-old teacher, told me what made him take this extreme stem. >> it's about itty. we are indians but when we go out outside, we are indians. and people are [inaudible] >> and all sections of the society are getting involved in peaceful protests, strikes and demonstrations. no one is paying their tacks or utility bills. also talk of coercion. the di sent isn't tolerated. >> no, it's not true. our movement is trying to appeal too everybody in the hills, including minority groups. we are not out to isolate or intimidate anyone. >> but what would be the effect of gurka land on darjeeling's famous states. 70% of people here rely on places like there for their livelihood. the estates have dominated the local economy for more than 150 years, but even the tea industry seems ready for change. >> i think it will help because it means more funds to allocate a separate state, which means, in turn, the infrastructure, which is sad lilacing right now. >> they analyst -- insist they don't want independence from india. all they want is recognize of their distinctiveness. and you can hear similar demands for more local democracy springing up across this vast country. the gurkas think their time has come but they've been disappointed before and changing the status quo is never easy. >> and worth saying, chris has written a much more detailed report on his experiences online on bbc.com. you can get all the sbrbles news there anytime you want it. thanks for being with us on "bbc world news." >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates, jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding 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