parcels containing body parts have been found at a shipping office in thailand. hello, and welcome to the program. a game-changer, that is how australia's prime minister has described a free trade deal agreed with china. tony abbott says that it is the most comprehensive that beijing has struck with any country. chinese president xi jinping witnessed the signing while on a state visit to australia following the g20 summit. he also made a rare address to parliament. the deal, which follows nearly ten years of negotiations, will gradually open up markets worth a potential $18 billion to australia and will loosen restrictions on chinese investments. while the negotiations to achieve this deal had stalled last year before 11th hour talks, in short, the pact could be signed during president xi jinping's current state visit. >> translator: both prime minister abbott and i share a view that at this new starting point, the two sides need to seize the opportunities and work together to bring our volatile relationship to a new level, to underscore the high level and strategic and comprehensive nature of the bilateral relationship, we have decided to upgrade our strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership, thus charting the course for the future growth of our relationship. as a chinese saying goes, it take ten years to sharpen a sword, so we are very glad to see that after nearly ten years of negotiation, our two sides have announced the substantive conclusion to the bilateral negotiation. this will provide a bigger market, more favorable conditions, and better institutional support for our cooperation. >> let's get more now on australia's ambition to move from a mining boom to a dining boom, as it increases its food exports to china's growing middle class. james roy joins us via web cam from shanghai. so just explain to us this desire for australia to tap into this market, and this appetite that china has for australian goods. >> yeah, well, i have to agree with both prime minister abbott as well as president xi. it is great news for both australian agriculture, but it's equally good news for chinese consumers. you know, it's good for australia, which really needs to diversify its exports to its largest trade partner china, away from just minerals. i think australia has really been hit lately from declining prices of things like iron ore, which has hit the aussie/doll d. so diversifying and having agricultural products, wine, beef, dairy products, will really help them have a bit more of a healthy trade relationship. for chinese consumers, it's really good news. they are still very deeply distrustful of the safety and quality of the produce, especially the dairy and the meat that's made locally. even six years after the formula contamination scandal from 2008. they haven't seen the progress from domestic producers, despite a number of crackdown campaigns here, so they're looking to buy imports to really ensure what they feed their children is safe and they see australia as a really sort of trusted source for produce, dairy, as well as meat. it's a big boom for wine as well. the anti-corruption campaign in chain has dampened demand for wine somewhat, although that's really hurt the chinese high end liquors the most. still, there's long-term upward trends among the individuals towards drinking wine for their own use. we talked to a lot of women age 35 and up who have a glass of wine every night before bed, and australia is becoming more and more known as a source of wine. but anyway, what the trade deal will do is reduce the price for all of these because people have been paying very high premiums for australian imports. >> it sounds like this is predominantly aimed at the chinese middle classes rather than across the whole of china. >> well, the chinese middle class is big and growing, too, though, and you have a wider and wider swath of people who want these imported products and are willing to, you know, spend beyond their means to get them, but i think what the chinese government has heard is a lot of complaints by people who can't really afford the high price of imported products, so there's a concerted effort to make sure that products become more accessible, that people are looking for it to be safe. so you don't have people stuck by products that they really strongly suspect to be unsafe. so, you know, this will open up access to those prungt product broader swath. maybe not the entire population, but certainly people for whom it was beyond their means before. >> oh, james roy from the china market research group joining us from shanghai. thanks very much for your expertise. now, let's turn to europe because the dutch government says that a strain of bird flu discovered at a poultry farm does have the ability to infect humans and has imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs. the european commission will decide on whether temporary measures are needed later. anna holligan is near the farm in a dutch village and joins us now. just talk us through what the concerns are here at that farm. >> reporter: well, the concerns are -- the main concern is that this could spread. it's the h5n8 strain. it's highly contagious and humans can be infected. but we're told that's only in case where is there is close contact between birds and humans. you can see just behind me here, we're right outside this farm. if you have a look behind, you can see the gas canister there. 150,000 hens at this farm are being gassed, and this is one of the measures that's being taken to try to control the spread of this outbreak. >> and just bring us up to date historically, what has the past been like for the netherlands in terms of this particular disease? >> well, there has been an outbreak here in the past, so they're familiar with how to deal with it. the big concern here today is that there may be further restrictions imposed by the european commission. there was talk this morning about the possibility of an export ban on dutch poultry, but we're hearing now that they may not impose any extra restrictions. the dutch have been very quick to impose the transport ban, the nationwide transport ban, which is in place for 72 hours. there are 16 other poultry farms within this ten-kilometer radius. we've seen already trucks taking away what appeared to be dead hens, and just behind here, there are local television crews and reporters, and we've just been moved behind this police court. because there are fears, of course, that it could be passed on to humans and that's why they're taking these measures as fast as they are. we should say, though, that the h5n8 strain has never been detected in humans before. >> okay, for the time being, anna holligan. thank you very much. well, there has also been an outbreak of bird flu at a duck breeding farm in the north of england. the risk to public health is very low. work is being done to find out the exact strain of this virus and whether it's linked to that dutch outbreak that anna was describing. the poultry is being culled and an exclusion zone is being put into place. president barack obama has condemned the killing of u.s. aid worker abdul-rahman kassig as an act of pure evil. his parents say they are heartbroken at the death of their son, shown in an online video released by jihadists. he had changed his name from peter kassig when he converted to islam in late 2013. the french interior minister has said that there is a strong probability that an islamic state militant who appears on a beheading video is a french citizen. the video shows the beheading of at least 18 syrian men identified as soldiers. >> translator: the video has been analyzed by our intelligence services. this analysis suggests with a very high probability that the french citizen could have directly participated in carrying out these abject acts. the investigations are still going on, but there is a strong presumption that the culprit is max maxim. he traveled to syria in august 2013, following a stay in moratania in 2012. >> along with the murder of kassig and other hostages, islamic state militants are accused of murdering iraqis and syrians on a massive scale. western journalists cannot report from territory held by i.s. without a high risk of being kidnapped or killed, but our correspondent paul wood has spoken to a defector from the group about life inside the so-called state. a warning, his report contains some distressing images. >> reporter: islamic state fighters patrol in syria. to western governments, they're kidnappers, murderers, terrorists. here, they're the people in charge. a local cameraman shows the town quiet and prosperous. of course, he filmed under escort, closely supervised. everything here is tightly controlled. that control is exercised by foreign fighters. a fighter from asia dismisses american air strikes. a militia's crusader's campaign, he says. it's only increased our resolution. this man has a north african accent. we will conquer the americans, he declares. we will sell their women in the slave market, god willing. we spoke to an islamic state defector in turkey. face hidden, voice disguised. i joined them out of fear, he says. some really believe that killing and whipping is the way to spread islam. when they discover that's all wrong, they can't leave. many syrians have been killed by the jihadis, not just the western hostages. this is the so-called islamic state's capital, raqqa. they've captured three regime soldiers. they're beaten to death. the defector said he watched a commander give a knife to his 8-year-old son. he made him cut off a prisoner's head, he told me. he said the son of an amir should learn early. there are other defectors in hiding here in turkey. people disgusted with the killing and cruelty of islamic state rule. the jihadis have their supporters, too, and perhaps more of them because of anger over american air strikes. the battle against isis is a battle for sunni public opinion, an opinion in the rebel held areas remains deeply divided. and a new generation of jihadis is being indoctrinated. the islamic state, he shouts. it shall endure, the children reply. some sunni muslims want strict shari'a, or islamic law. some support the jihadis, not despite the beheadings of westerners and others, but because of them. paul wood, bbc news. now to a disturbing story from thailand, where police say that two americans have left the country after trying to smuggle out body parts. the men were questioned on saturday, but later released after a package containing the remains was inspected at a shipping office. they're reported to have been sending them to friends in the united states. our southeast asia correspondent jonathan head is following this from bangkok for us. jonathan, so how were these body parts packaged? >> they were packaged in five acrylic boxes, so quite carefully packaged. they're preserved body parts, preserved in formaldehyde. they presumably come from a hospital where such parts might be stored. they were labeled as being children's toys, only discovered when the shipping company put them through an x-ray before shipping them out. the police say they were then able to track down the two american men who sent them. they took them in for questioning. the parts were discovered on saturday night and questioned them for several hours. but couldn't find any way in which they had broken thai law. the men claimed that they had discovered these body parts by chance in a night market close to bangkok, had been fascinated by them, thought they were bizarre, and decided that they would send them to friends in nevada. that's where they were to be shipped to. because they hadn't broken a law, the thai police let them go, and the two men are now believed to have left the country, although the thai police do say they have informed the fbi in the u.s. in case there's any need to investigate further. in another bizarre twist, the police have named one of the men as ryan macpherson, and from photographs he appears to be a man very well-known, rather notorious, for producing very controversial videos about a decade in america known as bum foughts where he got homeless men to carry out acts of violence against each other and against themselves. very controversial. he was actually prosecuted at one point. so he's already a notorious figure. now, what he wanted to use these body parts, which included a baby's head, some tattooed human skin, and a heart that had apparent stab wounds in it, what he wanted to use them for is anybody's guess, as he's now left the country. of course, nobody can ask him. >> jonathan head from bangkok, as always, thank you very much. lots more as always on our website. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come on the program, we revisit the velvet revolution, 25 years on. just what remains of the communist legacy in the czech plug. ♪ ♪ ♪ to build something smarter. ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster... something safer... something greener. something the whole world can share. people come to boeing to do many different things. but it's always about the very thing we do best. ♪ hello. you are watching "bbc world news" with me, kasia madera. our top story this hour, china has signed a free trade deal with australia, its first with a major economy. it was signed after president xi jinping made a rare address to the parliament in canbara. the agreement will gradually open up markets worth billions of dollars. and aaron is here to tell us just exactly how much this is worth, and the amounts are staggering, aren't they? >> absolutely. and the general reaction in australia when this was signed, this is a big one! china and australia have signed this preliminary free trade deal, opening up the markets worth billions of dollars to aussie exporters. the deal, which has been ten years in the making, will provide new sources of growth for australia, which is certainly struggling to counter a rapidly slowing mining boom, and in return, the deal will give chinese investors more freedom to put a lot of money, to put a lot of their money in australia. let's take a closer look at some of these details. it would allow australia dairy farmers access to china's lucrative infant formula markets, without safeguards applied to places like new zealand. china has agreed to reduce higher duties that it recently imposed on australian coal export. tariffs on beef, seafood, wine, fruit and veg will also be either reduced or removed. in fact, in four years, 95% of all australian exports will enter china tariff-free. and overall, it could be worth some 18 to $20 billion to the aussie economy and get its budget certainly in the black. good news for australia, good news for china. not good news for japan because its economy has taken a back step. it's fallen into recession again, as figures show that it shrank in the quarter between july to september. the slowdown certainly much worse than expected. economists actually had been betting on some growth to come through, but didn't see that. what we saw was this. the japanese economy down 1.6% for the same period, or from the same period compared to last year, and that makes a snap general election more likely. this is, of course, the second quarter in a row that gross domestic product, gdp fell after an increase. we saw that increase in sales tax in april. that certainly caused a huge contraction in the japanese economy. it fell 7.3%. that was the previous quarter, the previous three-month period, and attention is now on this man right here, prime minister shinzo abe. will he delay a second planned hike in taxation and will he call this general election? we'll have to see. you can get me @bbcaaron. all the business coming up in "gmt" in just over an hour's time. >> we look forward to seeing you there. thank you very much. at least four people have been killed following landslides on either side of the swiss italian border on sunday. the heavy rain is expected to continue across the region, and both countries have issued major flood alerts. ben bland has the details. >> reporter: this is all that's left of a house that was hit by a landslide in southern switzerland. two women who were inside at the time were killed. another four people seriously injured. >> translator: we think that three people were able to save themselves at the time. it can only be luck that got them out. >> reporter: and across the border in genoa, this footage shows a similar land slip, which killed two people. it's after torrential rain and storms hit the region over several days. city streets became rivers with muddy water gushing along them. in the past two weeks, they've had as much rainfall as they would normally get in a whole year. and more severe weather is expected. looks like the next 24 to 36 hours will bring similar amounts of rain to similar areas. northern italy, up into the alps as well. a lot of snow falling. but heavy rain perhaps the main problem. once again being pushed in from the mediterranean, hitting those steep slopes, and then rushing down towards the coast. >> reporter: eventually, it should start to move away. i think the worst should be over within the next 36 hours. middle part of the week looking much, much quieter to allow the recovery efforts to continue. the weather is estimated to have caused $150 million worth of damage already in northern italy. some farmers fear heavy losses because their fields are water logged. people are now bracing themselves for more disruption in the coming days. ben bland, bbc news. it is 25 years since the revolution in former czechoslovakia. the process seemed so smooth that it was nicknamed the velvet revolution. but now it seems that disillusionment has set in. rob cameron reports from prague. >> reporter: incredible scenes, a quarter of a century ago now, as hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate against a morally bankrupt regime. within days, a student demonstration had become a full-scale revolution. within weeks, a dissident playwright had become president, a triumph of what he once called the power of the powerless. an awful lot's happened in the last 25 years as the czech republic is now a member of nato and the european union, and prague has changed enormously. that's the same balcony from 1989. today's occupants a very much a symbol of consumer society. these days, czechs drive the same flashy cars and use the same smart phones as everyone else, if they can afford them. however, few are politically active. today you'd struggle to fill this square for any cause. >> people like big moments of history. euphoria, demonstrations in the squares, candles, flowers, flags. and then the everyday is a little bit boring. they don't like that much and they have the tendency to retire into their private lives. >> reporter: but three years after his death, his critics are attacking him with increasing vigor. >> translator: the system that he represented has won. now democracy are being suppressed and apolitical or even anti-political movements are wing. >> reporter: some, however, say if there is disillusionment and disappointment in society, it's almost ingrained in the czech dna. >> i think that the complaining, it's our national holiday and we are complaining about politicians, we are complaining about everything. but we are just waiting that it's going to change itself. and it won't. >> reporter: there will be celebration this november 17th, a national holiday here, but protests, too, and much soul searching. some say the czech nation is now finally entering a post-revolutionary era, without the man who personified that tumultuous change. rob cameron, bbc news, prague. >> lots more on our website, but for me and the team, thanks very much for watching "bbc world news." 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(vo) meee-ow, business pro. meee-ow. go national. go like a pro. our top stories. china signs its biggest ever free trade deal, opening up markets with australia worth billions of dollars. >> a good day for australia. a good day for china. a good day for consumers in both our countries, and ultimately, a good day for workers in both our countries. france says there's a strong possibility that one of the militants involved in the murder of the u.s. aid worker is a french citizen. chickens and ducks are being culled after separate outbreaks of bird flu in the netherlands and britain. and forget counting calories. a mediterranean diet may be a better way to a healthier life. hello, and welcome to the program. a game-changer. that is how australia's prime minister has described a free trade deal agreed with china. tony abbott says it's the most comprehensive that beijing has struck with any country. chinese president xi jinping witnessed the signing while on the state visit to australia following the g20 summit. he also made a rare address to parliament in canberra. the deal, which follows nearly ten years of negotiations, will gradually open up markets worth a potential $18 billion to australia, and will loosen restrictions on chinese investment. while the negotiations to achieve this deal had stalled last year before 11th hour talks ensured the pact could be signed during president xi jinping's current state visit. >> translator: both prime minister abbott and i share the view that at this new starting point, the two sides need to seize the opportunities and work together to bring our volatile relationship to a new level, to underscore the high level and strategic and comprehensive nature of the bilateral relationship, we have decided to upgrade our strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership, thus charting the course for the future growth of our relationship. as a chinese saying goes, it takes ten years to sharpen a sword, so we are very glad to see that after nearly ten years of negotiation, our two sides have announced the substantive conclusion to the bilateral negotiation. this will provide a bigger market, more favorable conditions, and better institutional support for our cooperation. >> let's discuss this deal a little further with a specialist in modern chinese politics at the university of oxford, and he joins us now. professor, this deal will really open up that region for china, won't it? >> it really will. i mean, there's two reasons why this is such a major deal. one is economic. australia and china have really immense two-way trade. it's about $130 billion u.s. dollars per year. so the two really have a vested interest in each other's economies. but there's also a big political purpose. this is part of china's strategy to show its neighbors in the asia-pacific region that they don't have to stick close to washington, that china is not a country to worry about. by showing this kind of openness on a trade deal, president xi jinping is trying to signal through australia that the other neighbors in the region also need to think about making china their key economic and political partner. >> what about those questions over the territorial dispute over those disputed islands? has that come into play here? >> well, it's certainly very much the case that actors all around the asia pacific region who are allied to the united states, and that includes australia, but you also have south korea, taiwan, japan, have been very alarmed in the last year or so about the way in which china has chosen to push its claims on territorial claims on islands and maritime routes in the region. one thing that was very notable about xi jinping's visit to canberra was that he stressed that china would not be using force to enforce these disputes, and therefore the message we should probably take from that is using its economic strength as in this deal is an alternative path which it's going to try to use to grow its influence. >> what about concerns that china refuses to float its currency and australia could potentially be damaged by that? >> that is one of the criticisms that the opposition have put forward. and that's understandable. but in fact, it's notable that in terms of overall change in the last three, five years or so, china is slowly revaluing its currency. what is unlikely to happen is a very sudden sharp revaluation of the type that american and australian policymakers sometimes ask for. but that doesn't mean that over time it's not happening as it becomes a much more internationalized currency. >> okay, thank you very much for sharing your expertise. now, another story today, president obama has condemned the killing of u.s. aid worker abdul-rahman kassig as an act of pure evil. his parents have said that they are heartbroken at the death of their son, which was shown in an online video released by islamic state jihadists. he had changed his name from peter kassig when he converted to islam in late 2013. the french interior minister has said that there is a strong probability that an islamic state militant who appears on a beheading video is a french citizen. now, the video shows the beheading of at least 18 syrian men identified as soldiers. >> translator: the video has been analyzed by our intelligence services. this analysis suggests with a very high probability that the french citizen could have directly participated in carrying out these abject acts. the investigations are still ongoing, but there is a strong presumption that the culprit was born in 1992, originally from lure province. he traveled to syria in august 2013, following a stay in moratania in 2012. >> our security correspondent frank gardner is here to give us some more details. so just talk us through what we know here. >> well, the video that came out yesterday, the 60-minute video, was unspeakably graphic, cruel, sadistic, and gory, but it also gave away a lot of details, which i think they wanted the world to see. they for the first time showed the executioners unmasked. the camera lingered on their faces. so of course intelligence agencies will be doing facial recognition, working out who these guys are, because they've all got adopt ed -- meaning father of something, the frenchman, or the somali, or the malaysian. and it's clear from the faces of those who are about to murder their syrian captives, that they come from a lot of different places. so while the majority of isis islamic state fighters come from the middle east and north africa, a lot of their fresh recruits are coming from europe, from the caucasus, a small amount of asia, and what the french have announced is the latest thing that they have established is that one of those they think was involved in this mass beheading was this frenchman, 22 years from normandy. >> and so what more do we know about this particular frenchman? >> exactly that, that he's 22 years from normandy. that's all they've told us. he is, though, a part of a growing phenomenon of european-based jihadists going out to syria. some of them, not even jihadists when they set off. they've got humanitarian interests. they are appalled by what's happening to the people of syria, so they go out there with good motives, even though their governments say don't, because you're getting involved in a really messy civil war. now in britain, they are planning to introduce legislation that makes it really difficult for people to come back, even illegal, and that they might face prosecution when they come back. >> and what more about -- of course, we had a lot of comments about the british person involved in some of these videos. are we anywhere closer to finding out the identities of those particular people? >> we the media, no. we the media don't know. the answer to your question is no, we don't know, but i'm quite sure that the fbi and british intelligence have some idea who he is. this is the one who the media in britain are calling jihadi john, which is a cozy, familiar, chummy name for somebody who has taken part, if not directly in atrocities. he appears to have a london accent. he gives these very vocal pieces to camera, where he says this is your fault, obama, you're the dog of rome, things like that. he's got this kind of gangster london accent that is very recognizable. so i'm sure they know who he is. for some reason unknown to us, they're not announcing who he is. >> indeed. okay, for the time being, frank gardner, as always, thank you very much. our security correspondent frank gardner there. let's turn to the dutch government, because it says that a strain of bird flu discovered at a poultry farm does have the ability to infect humans and has imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs. the european commission will decide on further temporary measures later. anna holligan reports from the hague. >> reporter: this is a job that no farmer worker would ever wish to undertake. all of the 150,000 hens on this farm are being destroyed. co2 gas will be used to kill them in stages. it's likely to take a considerable amount of time, an unpleasant task for everyone involved. >> translator: i don't want to talk about hazards. we are alert, in control, and we do everything we can to keep the virus under control. right now i'm wearing this clothing, but when i'm going to the farm, i will be even better protected in order to reduce the risk of contamination. >> reporter: the h5nh strain of the virus is highly containous among birds, but according to the dutch economics ministry, humans would only be infected if they were in very close contact with the birds. this small farm sold eggs rather than chickens. the agricultural inspectors have imposed a nationwide ban on transporting any kind of poultry products. the produce from here was sold primarily in the netherlands with some exported to germany. earlier this month, the same h5nh strain was reported on a farm in the northeast of germany. inspections are now being carried out at 16 other sites in the same area. the transport ban will remain in force for 30 days for all of the poultry farms within a ten-kilometer radius of this site. all of them will be subject to enhanced security checks. anna holligan, bbc news in the hague. >> there's also been an outbreak of bird flu at a duck breeding farm in the north of england, the british government says the risk to public health is very low. work is being done to find out the exact strain of the virus and whether it's linked to the dutch outbreak. the poultry is being culled and a ten-kilometer exclusion zone is in place. some of the day's other news for you. romania's prime minister has acknowledged his unexpected defeat following a tight runoff election for president. the new head of state is the center right mayor, who has promised to fight corruption. authorities in burkina faso have chosen a former foreign minister as interim president. the move follows sunday's signing by military and civil society leaders of a charter mapping out a year-long transition to elections. the army took power briefly following violent protests against the president in october. portugal's interior minister has resigned in the wake of a corruption investigation over immigration permits. he said he was not implicated in the scandal, but was resigning to preserve the credibility of state institutions. police arrested 11 people, including the head of the country's immigration service last week. at least four people have been killed following landslides on either side of the swiss italian border on sunday. the heavy rain is expected to continue across the region, and both countries have issued major flood alerts. ben bland has the details. >> reporter: this is all that's left of a house that was hit by a landslide in southern switzerland. two women who were inside at the time were killed. another four people seriously injured. >> translator: we think that three people were able to save themselves at the time. it can only be luck that got them out. >> reporter: and across the border in genoa in northern italy, this police footage shows a similar land slip, which killed two people. it's after torrential rain and storms hit the region over several days. city streets became rivers with muddy water gushing along them. in the past two weeks, they've had as much rainfall as they would normally get in a whole year. and more severe weather is expected. it looks like the next 24 to 36 hours will bring similar amounts of rain to similar areas. northern italy, up into the alps as well. a lot of snow falling. but heavy rain perhaps the main problem. once again being pushed in from the mediterranean, hitting those steep slopes, and then rushing down towards the coast. eventually it should start to move away. i think the worst should be over within the next 36 hours. middle part of the week looking much, much quieter to allow the recovery efforts to continue. >> reporter: the weather is estimated to have caused $150 million worth of damage already in northern italy. some farmers fear heavy losses because their fields are water logged. people are now bringsing themselves for more disruption in the coming days. ben bland, bbc news. lots more still to come here on "bbc world news." do stay with us. including no longer just a man's world. women are playing an increasingly important role on the u.n. security council. ♪ ♪ ♪ duke's family only feeds him iams, for a love that can endure any fashion trend, with two times the meat than other leading brands. it helps keep him strong from tiara to toenail. just one of many iams formulas to keep love strong. hello, welcome to "bbc world news" with me, kasia madera. china has signed its biggest ever free trade deal, opening up markets with australia worth billions of dollars. france says there is a strong probability that an islamic state militant shown on the video of the murder of the u.s. aid worker and 18 syrian soldiers is a french citizen. some of china's top health officials have issued a dire warning. they say that the country is facing a cancer epidemic with all types of cancers becoming increasingly common. our correspondent celia hatton traveled to a coastal city to see how asia's largest cancer treatment center is handling this onslaught of new cases. >> reporter: scrubbing up for yet another surgery. this cancer hospital recently doubled in size, but it's still struggling to cope with demand. ten years ago, surgeons removed tumors once or twice a day. now they perform at least seven operations every shift. >> translator: even if we diagnose 50 patients every day, we cannot keep up. no matter where you go in this hospital, you will never find an empty bed. >> reporter: cancer rates are falling in many western countries, but they're steadily rising in china. blame the effects of pollution and unhealthy habits and an aging population. you can certainly feel the tension here as patients push for an appointment or jostle for extra time with a doctor. it's a situation that's echoed in busy cancer hospitals across china and it's certainly explained by the statistics. china's home to approximately one fifth, or 20% of the global population. but every year, it registers 22% of new cancer cases, and it's home to 27% of the world's cancer deaths. few chinese hospitals offer cancer screening programs. many aren't diagnosed until it's too late. in a single morning, this doctor meets ten new patients. all of them are found to have late stage liver cancer. adding to the problem, most are reluctant to even mention the disease by name. >> translator: chinese people think that cancer is a terrible thing. once you have it, you won't last long. >> reporter: this woman is being treated for breast cancer. it's increasingly common. it's now the number one killer of women in chinese cities, but she's been keeping her sickness a secret. >> translator: i didn't tell my colleagues or relatives because i didn't want them to worry. but when i came to the hospital, i saw so many people here with the same illness, and i felt better. >> reporter: at this hospital and across china, some are making a gradual realization. this country faces an epidemic. one that increasingly can't be hidden or ignored. celia hatton, bbc news, china. >> let's stay with health issues, because a mediterranean diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and oily fish may be a better way to tackle obesity than calorie counting. that's according to leading doctors right here in the uk. writing in the "post graduate medical journal," they said that a mediterranean diet quickly reduced the risk of heart attacks and stroke. so is this true? let's ask the report author and cardiologist. when we talk about the mediterranean diet, i immediately associate it with pizza, pasta, things that aren't necessarily that good for you. >> the traditional mediterranean diet isn't pizza and pasta. we know from scientific studies, the components of the mediterranean diet are known to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and cancer and dementia are whole fruits and vegetables, whole fish, extra virgin olive oil and nuts, known to have anti-inflammatory effects. it should be one that is low in sugar and refined carbohydrates, so that is avoiding sugar, or having less than two to three sweet treats a week, and eating less in terms of white bread. having more brown bread, for example. >> but high in fat. olive oil is high in fat. >> absolutely. and we know from randomized studies more recently that a diet that's higher in these fats from these foods and lower in refined carbohydrates, less chips, less white bread, no sugar is best for more sustained weight loss and for your cardiovascular health. >> we've heard for so long, low in sugar is better for you, but actually sugar is potentially more dangerous than fat. >> just to give you an example, we know that having one kind of cola per day strongly associated with the increased risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity, and that increased risk in type 2 diabetes and heart disease is even in normal weight people. a can of cola has about 139 calories. conversely, four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, which has been proven in studies, reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, has around 500 calories. but the body metabolized this differently. it's about how it affects insulin and hunger. the simple calorie has been unhelpful, and it's been exploited by the food industry. added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and is implicated in lots of diseases and this is particular already concerning also for countries in the middle east and in asia where there's massive increase in type 2 diabetes. strongly linked to sugary drink consumption. but also fast foods. we know that regular consumption of fast-food increases markers of inflammation in the blood. what's interesting about the mediterranean diet is the impact on your health can be quite rapid. so if world population was to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables by one a day and increase their consumption of nuts by up to twice a week, that would prevent 5.2 million deaths from cardiovascular disease from within one year, nothing to do with weight. >> that is staggering. thanks very much for explaining all of that. thank you. now, it used to be seen as a bit of an old boy's club, but now a record number of women are members of the united nations security council. they account for 40% of members of the u.n.'s most important decision-making body. but there is still no sign of a female u.n. secretary-general, as nick bryant reports from new york. >> reporter: this is a sight you now see much more often at the united nations. two male aides and a female ambassador. she is jordan's new representative, and not just a trail blazer blazer, but a record-breaker, too. for the first time in u.n. history, six of the 15 seats on the security council's horseshoe table are occupied by women. so is it changing the character of diplomacy? >> women tend to discuss more, to want to find solutions. there's something about wanting to find solutions. and this does not contradict in any possible way our government policies. nor the directives of our government. but we are faced with problems and we say well, you know, we should do something. this is not proper. we should find a solution. there's this desire always to find solutions. i don't know whether it's the mother factor or what, but there is that aspect that i noticed in the council. >> reporter: the security council chamber used to look like a gentleman's club, with women relegated to largely menial roles. it was not until the early 1970s that a woman presided over the council. historically speaking, the u.n. has been a male bastion. if you want to get a sense of how men have traditionally dominated the united nations, then take a look at this hall of fame. it shows the people who have served as secretary-general, the u.n.'s top post. and all eight of them have been men. of the five permanent members of the security council, remarkably only one, america, has appointed a female representative. >> i have been requested by my government. >> reporter: jean kirkpatrick was the first, and samantha power is the fourth woman to do the job. >> we want to live in a universe where men and women alike are raising issues of sexual violence against women, or recognizing that economies will only reach a fraction of their potential if women are not empowered and so forth. so we need to use our perches as women, but the men on the council need to do the same in order to optimize the outcomes that states are getting, and nothing's going to be optimized without women at the table. >> reporter: there are now 31 female ambassadors in new york. that too is a record number. but less than 20% of u.n. member states are represented by a woman. there may be more female diplomats at the table, but they're still heavily outnumbered by men. nick bryant, bbc news, the united nations in new york. still some way to go. lots more, as always, on our website, and don't forget, you can get in touch with me and the team. just let me know what you think of the program. but for the time being, thank you very much for watching bbc news. bye-bye. . ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster... something safer... something greener. something the whole world can share. people come to boeing to do many different things. but it's always about the very thing we do best. ♪ but it's always about the very thing we do best. intra bite size waynis. to enjoy the full size sensation of peppermint and rich dark chocolate. york minis, get the sensation. hello. you're watching "gmt" here on "bbc world news." i'm karin giannone. our top stories, president obama calls the murder of a u.s. aid worker by islamic state militants an act of pure evil. peter, or abdul-rahman kassig was kidnapped while helping refugees. one of his friends will be with us on the program. new pictures of the crash of mh17 in ukraine. what does the video tell us about how the plane came down? and the changing face of the united nations. we meet the female

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