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>> this is "bbc world news america" reporting from washington. >> game on. >> the first contest of the u.s. presidential race is decided by just 8 votes. where does it go from here? so young and so scared, syrians who have fled across the border to escape the violence of home still fear the reach of the assad regime. it is the headcount which would give know what a migraine. the london zoo is aempttt attemn inventory but its stock just keeps moving. -- it is the headcount which would give noah a headache. welcome to our viewers on pbs in

america. they spent a fortune, traveled thousands of miles, and in the end, only 8 voters actually mattered. the first contest of the u.s. presidential election could not have finished closer yet only 8 votes really did separate the republican candidates mitt romney and rick santorum in the iowa caucuses. now they headed to the next primary race to try to actually seal the nomination. >> he is celebrating. so is he. both think that they can win their prize. just 8 votes divided mitt romney from rick santorum but they are worlds apart. second place is sweet for the former senator, a christian

conservative, a hard-line opponent of gay marriage an abortion. >> what wins in america are bold ideas, sharp contrast, and a plan that includes everyone. >> some predicted that his pungent views mean he cannot win. supporters disagree. >> his message resonates. when you talk to this man and you look him in the eye, you can trust him. >> the media decided for us to our candidate was. they have been telling us it is mitt romney. we're telling them it is not necessarily mitt romney. we want creeks santorum. >> these incredibly tight results show that the party is torn between its head and it's hard. >> we will change the white house and get america back on track. >> coming out on top is good news for romney.

he cannot get more than a quarter of republicans. "25%, that is his magic number. he cannot break that number. -- >> 25%, that is his magic number. he cannot break that number. >> in iowa, it was meetings scattered across the state. this had a big impact on the race. ron paul came a strong third, newt gingrich is down but determined to fight, rick perry is down but not quite out. for michele bachmann, iowa was the last waltz. this will now move to new hampshire. john mccain backed mitt romney. >> we will make sure that we make mitt romney the next president of the united states. >> critics feel he is the establishment candidate unable

to reflect the grass roots. >> for more on this republican race to the white house as we look ahead to hampshire, i am joined by the washington bureau chief for "time" magazine. we have a clear sense of who will be the republican to take on barack obama? >> this is clearly mitt romney's legislation -- nomination to lose. it is a formality. there could be a pickup but all of the smart money here say that this will be mitt romney's nomination. >> rick santorum who came out of nowhere in the last week or two, you will write him off. >> yes. that huge block of anti romney votes has been moving from candidate to candidate for months really settled on rick santorum on the last day.

this is not very solid. he has not been tested or scrutinized. he is a bit untested. the last one he lost. in his own state, he lost by 18 points. he is not a great performer. we will discover that in the next couple of days. >> when you look at it it looks like mitt romney was the nominee, is the nominee, and probably will be the nominee. below the surface of that, this has been the most crazy race i have ever seen. >> there is a big piece of the republican party that is anti- washington, socially conservative, anti- establishment. mitt romney is none of those things. >> why will they nominate him? >> in all cases if you go back 35 years, they always nominate the guy who ran last time in

just nearly one. having said that, yesterday's results show that every vote counts and the strengths and weaknesses of mitt romney's campaign. the party is so fractured and so split and so unhappy with their choices it is possible that they will go into the general election split. >> if they nominate mitt romney, it will be on the basis that he will try to persuade him -- persuaded them that he is the candidate most likely to beat barack obama. >> it will probably be dead. you get the sense that mitt romney was the one that they were about. -- it will probably be that. you get the sense that mitt romney was the one that they were worried about. i think that they were not falling. they really do worry most about mitt romney compared to all of

the others. >> they don't want mitt romney to be the candidate that they will run against. >> as these things go they know that americans like to determine the president but not this change horses in the middle of the stream. -- but not change horses in the middle of the stream. this year will be anything but an easy walls to the white house. whoever the republican nominees will start off with about 40% of the vote. >> this will also be about what is beyond the white house's control. >> the economy has to perform better. things that are not improving are about to improve. that is a long shot. >> they have been watching greece with increasing anxiety.

from iowa to other news around the world. the arab league my jurors who arrived in syria or meant to shine a light on the violent repression where it is thought that more than 5000 protesters were killed. -- the arab league monitors who arrived in syria were meant to shine a light on violent repression. we have met syrian to have managed to escape into northern lebanon. >> the wounded from syria are flowing into lebanon, smuggled across the border. this man was shot by a government sniper, they said. hit twice, his chances of survival are 5050. -- are 50-50. for those that make it, there is

treatment in a lebanese hospital. no one shows their face, not even a 6-year-old boy. that could mean a knock on the door for relatives back home. this family said that they were shot as they try to flee the fighting. this 25-year-old was shot a demonstration. he tells me he does not believe government promises to the arab league to allow peaceful protests. as recent picture show, people are still being killed in the streets. i was hit in the leg, he goes on. i tried to help, one was shot in the head and died instantly. another dragging me away was hit as well. >> rebels are smuggling people out for treatment because they

say protesters have been murdered in hospital. one former nurse said that he witnessed four patients being killed. they shouted, come see this spy and then they beat him and they stabbed him to death with needles. the people doing this for doctors and nurses. -- were doctors and nurses. the chances of a peaceful end to this are dwindling. another soldier is injured in these fire fights. this man told me he had witnessed executions of soldiers refusing to shoot protesters. some of us shot in the air, he told me. one of us just refused to shoot at all. he laid his gun on the ground and a security officer killed

him there and then. we cannot independently verify such allegations but they go a long way to explaining why the syrian army has not already flat. if that were to happen, everything would change. there would be a bloody stalemate between government and protesters. >> chilling reports they're coming out of syria. in other news, doctors say surgery on ms. fernandez was successful. she is expected to remain in the hospital for at least three days. she began her second term as president in october after a landslide election victory. thousands of people have gathered outside the parliament to celebrate independence from britain.

it has been 64 years since a british colonial rule ended there. more than 900 prisoners were freed from jail as part of the brcelebration. the u.s. says that that number should be higher. some bad news for chinese fans of television dating shows and talent contest. and government -- the government is looking to curb the entertainment programming 2/3 in favor of those that promote traditional and socialist values. an evil crime motivated by racial hatred, that was the conclusion of the british judge who sentenced two white men convicted of killing a black teenager 18 years ago. gary dobson and david norris were sent to prison for 15 and 14 years respectively for the murder of stephen lawrence.

>> for the parents of stephen lawrence, justice was delivered today but not in its entirety. they welcome the sentences even though they know it is not over yet. they will now laid down in their beds and know that they're responsible for the death of my son. >> it might be quite logical not quite low, but the same time, their hands were tied. -- it might be quite low, but at the same time, their hands were tied. >> the court was packed.

seats were given up for some of florence's family. when the sentence was handed down, nothing was said by the convicted men. for somewere given noup family.hen lawrence's he was brutally cut down in the street by a racist gang. the pair were juveniles when they murdered stephen. under law, they were sent to is not as the mature men that they are now but the teenagers that they were then. extra time was added because of the racial nature. the resulting sentences are shorter than the 30 years a modern adult murderer could have

received. the judge hoped that the conviction of nprris and dobson would not result in the case file being closed. new information has come in. >> the other people involved in the murder of stephen lawrence should not rest easily in their beds. we're still investigating this case. if anyone has any more information or evidence, please tell us and we will do the rest. >> nine people remained of interest to police. three of them have never been convicted despite a series of allegations. in 1993, they were said to have attacked a youth. norris was acquitted.

in 1994, this man intervened in a nightclub fight that jamie acourt was having. he was stabbed in the heart. >> my heart stopped. >> jamie acourt was acquitted. a jury decided he acted in self- defense. they do not provide evidence that any of the three men killed stephen lawrence. they all deny that. police currently have no information to act on. the case has become one of the most significant in recent legal history. what happens next, nobodynows. >> you are watching "bbc world news america" still to come --

hard times in the mississippi delta that. 40 years ago, one photographer focused on this region. we return to see how little it has changed. the united nations is warning that thousands of south sudanese who fled the latest wave of violence in the region are in urgent need of emergency aid. the u.n. and and teheran coordinator says that a major operation is needed. -- the u.n. humanitarian coordinator says that a major operation is needed. an armed group marched on a village in the northeast. >> this is south sudan, remote, and develop, and home to a crisis. the united nations troops and south sudanese soldiers are

protecting what is pretty much a ghost town. last week, the people who live here fled fearing an attack by rebel tribes -- by a rival tribe. tens of thousands are living in the bush and no one can protect them. about 6000 of these people have been attacking the villages and shooting and the people they find. this is why they are all fighting, to steal each other's cattle. these animals are like the bank. young men need a large number of cattle to play dowry for marriage. tens of thousands are taken in raids. all of this is happening in a country that is just six years -- 6 months old. there was much euphoria when they broke away from the north. the government of south sudan needs to work hard to prevent

the return of civil war but they must also build bridges between the rival ethnic groups. only then keeping this fragile nation together. >> the mississippi delta, one oa body -- a byword for hard times. it is one of america's poorest places and has never quite managed to shake off the reputation for racial equality. when a young photographer said the area in 1967, the images he captured help to bring national attention to the region's plight. the last 40 years have brought some improvement, but not nearly enough. >> in the white expanse of the mississippi delta, change comes slowly. sometimes it does not come at

all. -- in the wide expanse of the mississippi delta, change comes slowly. >> it was squalor then and squalor now. >> he knows this region well. this house is tiny, home to three people and seven cats. they recognize images of the old neighborhood. >> that was your old house. >> uh-huh. ♪ ♪ >> we are still living in the same environment. they have just upgraded the house a little bit. >> some of the old houses have gone, others are being torn down. unemployment and poverty remain. >> we were assured by the city

administration at that time that this would be cleaned up. this is still here 45 years later. ♪ >> some things have changed. programs like this preschool center for low income children were to starting in the sixties. the need is still great. >> when i looked right here in terms of the number of children that are considered in poverty, under 6 in the state of mississippi, it is 93,290. that is a lot of children. >> for adults, job training programs try to tackle unemployment. in the 60's, infectious diseases ravage the delta. now there are problems dealing with obesity and diabetes. >> the younger generation, they do not have anything to do.

they don't have any jobs, no public transportation where they can get back and forth. they don't have anyplace to go and hang out. they are all standing around doing what they can to survive. >> for a while, cash -- cat fish farms kept the economy afloat. now there is competition from asia and the plants are closing , and there's no sign of anything taking their place. this man has watched the delta of all since the tumultuous days of the 60's. gone are the violence and coercion that defined daily life for african americans. >> paradise is not here. what really has happened is that we have broadened and deep into the democratic base for having a free society, and open society, not a rich society a free and

open process. >> the character of poverty has changed in the mississippi delta. year after year show that this is still the poorest corner of the poorest state. >> if only the animals went in two by two, the keepers of the london zoo would have an easier day. unfortunately, their annual stock take is not going that way. thousands of animals live at the zoo and each year they have to be counted, right down to the very last insect. >> they are counting all of the animals at london zoo -- pelicans, even the chickens.

welcome to the steamy humid world of the galapagos quarters. these animals are rather easy to count. >> 1, 2, 3. >> i think it is 3. >> the llamas are even helping out. other animals are a little bit more tricky. butterflies, beetles, stick in sex -- he is in there somewhere. -- state -- stick insects, he is in there somewhere. >> it is not an easy job to count them. they all looked very similar. it is very important to know exactly what we've got.

you enter all of the information into a huge databases. we need to make sure we have all of the genetics mapped out said that in the future we would be able to release some back into the wild. >> counting the camel's is not so bad because the animals themselves get involved in accounting. >> these pictures are from 1940. accurate global databases allows use to track breeding programs and effectively swapped in share animals. some of the animals like these jellyfish are so beautiful, so mesmerizing, the last thing you want to do is count them. but they will be counted along with the rest. >> what a crazy job. that brings the program to a close. thank you so much for watching.

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