>> this is "bbc world news. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network 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. >> a british journalist has been smuggled to safety after being injuried in an attack in the syrian city of homs. an italian cruise ship and its passengers are toted to safety. welcome to "bbc world news." can you get fit with just three minutes of exercise a week? new research suggests less is more. and we'll meet the feminist group ahead of the presidential elections.

one of the journalists injured in shelling in syria was pulled. he is said to be safe and sound now. he was rescued with assistance by the -- of the syrian opposition. we will bring you more on both of those developments in the next few minutes. but the person injured in that shelling has been smuggled to safety. meanwhile, the human rights council will hold a meeting on the deterioration of the conditions in syria. and president assad is said to

have sent troops there. >> a nighttime protest against president assad. the pictures taken earlier this week, although they cannot be verified. then this. the government's response. [gunfire] >> a wounded protester lies in the street. people try to help him, risking their own lives. to stop the violence, the human rights council holds an emergency session today. but with russia and china opposing any intervention, that proves it not helpful.

governments denounced it as a farce. of course none of that matters here in the syrian uprising. daniel, "bbc world news." >> well, paul conroy, the photographer, just to let you know the news coming into us, he is a british photographer. he has been pulled out of homs and taken to lebanon. he was working for the "sunday times" and his colleague marie colvin, she was killed in the same attack last week. her mother, rosemary said all shetchts is her daughter's body to be brought home.

>> i hope the good people of syria should just stop and let these people go. stop the convict by some other way other than killing each other. that was my daughter's desire and she put her life on the line so many times to bring stories like that out so we can stop it. i'm so worried and concerned about the people injured there and the other correspondents who stayed, and i want my daughter back. and i can't rest, myself. i can't have peace in my life with my daughter's remains in that country. >> the mother of marie colvin, the international journalist killed last week in homs in that shelling. and we've heard in the last few minutes that paul conroy, the british photographer, he was

injured in that attack, and he has now been brought to lebanon for treatment. he is said to be safe and sound in lebanon, having been brought out of homs. and he was in the rebel-held neighborhood of baba imr. and there is a french journalist who also is reportedly now safe and safely evacuated. her injuries were more severe, we understand. it's not yet clear whether she has yet arrived in lebanon, so we have to be slightly -- i'm sorry whether she has left syria. but we can confirm paul conroy has left syria and will be receiving treatment for his

injuries in syria. >> an italian cruise ship which was adrift for more than 12 hours is now under way to the nearest island. it was left without power when a problem upset the generators. >> it ran into trouble 200 kilometers left of the area. a fire in the ship's generator room caused it to lose power. they have no air-conditioning or cooking power. >> apparently all the passengers and crew are safe and all spent the night on the outside decks, because the heat in the ship was too great and also there was no lighting, so

it was dangerous to be in the corridors, so i believe they spent the night under the stars. >> it's now headed for the islands under toe. >> a fishing vessel reached the area and towing the ship. we are making arrangements for all the passenger and crew to have food and relax and speak to their families and then we will also transfer them back to where we have our international airport. >> it's been a bad year for the costa company. this ship is from the same fleet as the one that capsized. and i think it will define this

company for as long as it continues, which may not be that much longer. >> sew mally pirates -- somali pirates have never attacked a cruise ship, but the immediate priority so get the passengers to safety. >> 18 people have been killed in a bus attack in pakistan. police say the motive wasn't clear. our correspondent said this is the latest in a series of attacks. >> it sounds like an horrific attack. what apparently happened was this bus was stopped by several men in military fatigues.

all of the passengers were taken off this bus, and police say their i.d. cards were then checked and then from that the militants got an idea from the names about which were shia and sunni muslims and all of the shia passengers, as you say 16-18 were then executed. they were shot dead. this is just the latest in a series of attacks that the minority have faced over the years. >> is it clear exactly which group is behind this? >> no. not yet. police are still investigating. they are still at the scene. but this comes just 10 days or so after an attack on a shia community. there was a suicide bombing outside a shia mosque, and around 30 people were killed there. but the shia community there accused the state of not doing

enough to protect them from these attacks and releasing militants suspected of carrying out such attacks. >> it's clearly why we're seeing these attacks now. >> well there were big attacks even as far as back as last year. at the beginning of last year we saw an attack on a shia religious procession. but there is a growing strength among religious parties. a lot of those parties form a group called defend pakistan, and they are coming out and a lot of these groups believe it is ok to attack minorities in pakistan. so we are seeing that campaign gather in momentum, but as we are seeing, these attacks have

been growing. >> and in business news -- portugal is getting news? >> a review. from the i.m.f. i'm. and the c.c.b. they will see if they are doing what they are supposed to and then about $15 billion will have been lent to the country. it seems portugal is doing everything it is meant to be doing in terms of reforms, but let's hope over the next few months, 18 months or so, it will start to grow. the deadline is september of next year. that's when it has to go back to the markets. if it -- when it does, it will be up to 12% to borrow which is completely not doable.

if it doesn't manage, we will have a real crisis. probably people will prethat he want crisis if they feel growth is not coming back to the economy, and then we will have a growth situation again. >> interesting pictures coming out of the u.s. >> this has to do with the uber rich finding out they are not as rich as they thought they were. some of the houses of some of the richest people some of them halving in value. and these houses, as soon as you get any kind of recovery in house prices, a wave of new houses come on. >> thank you.

coming up, forget about spending hours at the gym. a new research says three minutes a day is all you need. >> now in the united states a student has been shot dead and four others injured after a student opened fire in cleveland, ohio hero. the teenager was chased by the building -- teenager was chased by a teacher out of the building. the student is now being questioned. >> a former shop worker has pleaded guilty to stealing as much as $90 million in public money in nigeria.

he embezzled funds to offshore accounts via london. more at www.bbc.com/news. >> this is "bbc world news." the headlines today, the british photographer paul conroy has been smuggled to safety after being wounded in an attack in the syrian city of homs. more on that. let's get to beirut. the bbc's jim muir is with us. what do we know? >> well paul conroy were -- was smuggled out late on monday during the day. and then during the night, he was smuggled back across the lebanese border, probably the same route they took to get in

there, traveling with opposition people. now ambassador officials here who have been working hard to bring a resolution to this issue have now confirmed he is now safe and well in lebanon. we do not know exactly where he is and when he will head home, but we assume he will fairly quickly make his way back to his home and family. >> and the newspaper -- another newspaper has had a worker injured? >> well, we can't confirm she, too, has come back across the border, but she was a trickier case, because of the nature of her injury, which is a very complicated fracture of her left leg, which had to be kept straight, so really she

probably should have had a proper ambulance to take her out. but it seems they decided not to do that and get her back by unofficial means. we can't confirm that 100% but it does seem very likely. >> we just heard a clip from the mother of marie who was a great friend of yours and tragically killed in that attack and she is asking for the situation to be resolved as soon as possible. she wants her daughter's body back home. >> yes. and i'm sure it is being worked on and everybody is aware of how important it is that marie should be brought home. >> thank you. a new report in today's nuclear disaster in japan last year suggests the government did consider evacuating tokyo.

the inquiry said they feared the disaster could engulf the capital. for the first time international journalists have been allowed inside the nuclear reactor. our correspondent was one of the first in. >> every day, around 3,000 people are working inside the fukesheama plant. before they go in, they have to come here. this is what you have to wear. you can see here i've got this, gloves, a surgical mask and of course a full facemask to protect us from anything that's in the air. so this is the main control center. these are all men sitting at

laptops. the reactors themselves just next door, but because the air is filtered in here, they don't have to wear protective clothing, but over there on that wall there are good luck messages. including the flag and the japanese character which is a symbol for hope. >> it's only when you come here that you can appreciate the strength of the explosions. those reactor buildings. you can see a few men up there working in the skeleton of the building. these reactors are known as [[inaudible] but it remains highly radioactive here. it could take up to 40 years.

>> sending some of the first pictures back from inside the fukushima reactor. now how often have you used the excuse i haven't got time to go to the gym? new research claims just three minutes of intense exercised a week -- intense exercise a week can be enough to keep people healthy. >> it's like me. you thought exercise was just about pounding the streets or hitting the gym for hours on end. be prepared to be amazed. >> i have been meeting scientists who have been changing our view of exercise. >> come on. you can do it. >> they have discovered we all respond to exercise in very different ways.

>> i have looked at extraordinary research which suggests we can get enormous exercise from just three minutes a week. >> three, two, one, and you're done. >> that seems rather tempting. professor jamie told me more. >> it's based on some concepts described in the literature of 1960. it's not defying the laws of physics, so in many studies ranging from three to five minutes, the muscle contraction breaks down the fat and things stored in muscles. what we were surprised to see was you also get the cardiovascular improvement at the same time. >> so what do you have to do? >> you are doing 20-second bursts, three of them -- so you

cycle as hard as you can for 20 seconds then take a minute rest then again then the third and that's your training done for the day. if there was a bike in the corner of your office, you could do that. >> so how many times a week? >> three times a week. the total is three minutes of cycling, three times a week. >> we've always been told you have to do it 20 minutes a day at least three times a week? >> well it's based on the fact that people who work in epidemiology, they look at how much people exercise with

correlation to their health. we see we can change the risk factors but the key is you have to do it very intense. >> thank you. now, with just under a week to go to russia's elections, vladimir putin is expected to win but his critics have been finding unusual ways to express their opposition. >> they have asked us not to reveal where they are or who they are. it's all very hush-hush. but not for long. this punk band, is releasing their latest song about vladimir puttin' and you don't have to understand russia. here they pray mr. putin will soon be chased from power.

but why? this singer who goes by a code name says she believes mr. putin cheated in last year's parliamentary election. that's why she wants him out. when they arrive, they select high-profile venues like this roof. opposite a jail where anti-government protesters have been locked up. earlier this month they conquered red square and sang "putin's wet himself." the concert only lasted a couple of minutes before the police showed up. punk protest songs right on the kremlin's doorstep. it shows how the music and protest scene has changed. after all it wasn't long ago when putin was at the top. >> there was a time when girl

bands sung songs about putin. >> and these sang "my love is called vladimir, pu ty, puty, puty. >> the more criticism, it makes power realize they are vulnerable, and they are not invincible. >> there's still one girl band which is backing putin for president. these rapping russians have become an internet sensation with a song about how clever and athletic putin is and warn against electing anyone else. vladimir putin hopes come election day, voters will be singing the same tune. "bbc news," moss cow. >> before we go, let me remind

you of the breaking news coming out of syria. one of the injured joirnlist -- journalists has been smuggled out of syrian. he is said to have been rescued with the assistance of the syrian opposition. paul conroy was killed in the same attack that killed marie colvin. and marie colvin was killed in that attack and her mother was saying all she wants now was for her daughter's body to be brought home. still not clear the whereabouts of the french journalist who has been injured.

much more at our website www.bbc.com/news. you're watching "bbc world news." >> 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. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major

corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.