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>> this is a special edition of "bbc world news america" reporting live from des mo ines, ioaw. -- iowa. for the candidate, it has been one last spring to make their case and for many, it means it is a family affair. >> i have the experience to turn the economy around, you look at my dad's background. -- she has the spirit to turn the economy around. >> 18 years after the event, two white men are found guilty of the murder of a black teenager.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america. in a few hours, we will know who has won and who has lost in the first test in america's president election campaign. the headline of the local newspaper says that it is decision day for the voters of iowa. republican candidates have would the state for months now but will it give a clearer idea of who will take on barack obama in november? >> on the ice, a slow and arduous struggle to move in the right direction. an image that for many here sums up obama's america. >> i feel that he made a lot of promises prior to the election that have not necessarily come

to fruition. >> i think we just need a change in direction. someone that will get the economy moving again and get some confidence in the people. >> this is a country where the mood of hope and change of four years ago has given way to disappointment, even disillusionment with barack obama. this gives the republicans a very real shot at the white house in 2012, if they can unite around a credible candidate. the polls suggest this man, mitt romney, has the broadest appeal and the best chance of beating barack obama. the front runner was already looking ahead to november. >> the president said that he would like to fundamentally transform america. i don't want to transform america, i want to restore the principles that made america. this is the america that we love. i will make sure that we take those principles to the white

house. >> more conservative republicans are suspicious of rummy. they think he is not one of them. -- more conservative republicans are suspicious of mitt romney. that explains the surge of rick santorum. the other main challenger here is ron paul, the plain speaking champion of small government. for weeks now the republican rivals have been tearing each other apart. >> he has more baggage than the airline. >> the attack advertisements are brittle as a candidate seek the tiniest it vanished. >> iowa is important because it is first. these offer the first chance to see what members of a political party think about their candidates. >> the man whose job they covet our right back at the white

house after a christmas break with family. barack obama will have a close eye on iowa. >> they will definitely be watching this from the white house. it if there's one thing that stands out about iowa is that campaigning here is a family affair. you not only get to know the candidates but you talk to their spouses and children as well. that is what i found out when talking with mitt romney. mitt romney is a family man. in the world of conservative america, that is a political card worth playing. >> let me have my family come over here. >> here they all are in iowa, wheeled out to vouche for dad,. i caught up with one of his sons. he is looking better than he

should. >> he has a lot of energy. he likes being out here. he likes the energy of the crowd. the enthusiasm that has been built in the past few months. >> are you concerned about this threshold that he cannot seem to get over, the enthusiasm deficit? >> you look in new hampshire at the polls and how we are doing, he is doing really well. i think that we will do really well. >> you know better than anyone else, this image that he has of being someone who people cannot seem to pin down. having one position and then another. does that strike you as your father? >> my father has conviction. he has been married to the salmon for 42 years.

the mitt romney that i no is a man of conviction. -- he has been married to the same woman for 42 years. the mitt romney that i know is a man of conviction. he has private-sector experience. this will really be an election about experience. has the experience to turn the economy around? you look at his background, he has built businesses as a career. president obama was a nice guy but he does not have that experience. but last three years it has been tough and people are ready for change. they recognize that my dad will bring it. >> before he can change america, he will have to turn iowa. he lost badly here four years ago and if he wants his party's nomination, he cannot afford to do that again.

for more on mitt romney's fortunes and the state of the caucuses, i am joined by a political prize winning columnist with the "washington post." what needs to happen for the republican party here in iowa for them to maximize the chances for taking the white house? >> one of two things happens. either mitt romney winds and wins big, then the contest is over quickly. he would win in new hampshire and then in south carolina and they can turn this into a general election campaign. that is what they need to do because that is what president obama is doing on the other side. also a strong conservative alternative to mitt romney could emerge. one in the next two or three primaries could establish primacy. either way, we want to get to

this over as quickly as possible. >> and then they can move on to the general election campaign. to what extent are republicans thinking that those candidates, i actually have a shot at being the next president? >> they do think that they have a shot at being the next president. they are very discerning. they are aware of their role as the first in the nation primary , and so they are trying to pick someone that they think would be a good president. on the other hand, the republican party is really conservative. more conservative than most republicans in general. the last time it was mike huckabee who appealed to the evangelicals and who won the caucus here. expect the winner if it is not mitt romney to be someone very conservative and who will not play that well and the general

election. >> to what extent -- 1500 journalists, millions of dollars being spent in iowa, how much does this represent what will happen in the presidential election campaign? >> historically, it is not rep but it is important. this is about all the journalists, the money, the scrutiny. what it does is it puts candidates through this sort of trial by fire. >> we have certainly seen that. we have seen them come to the forefront and then disappear very fast and scrutiny. >> some can take the heat and some must get out of the kitchen. there are some campaigns that are capable and there are some capable candidates who are not. we knew little about barack obama four years ago before the iowa caucuses.

afterwards, we know a lot about him. pay attention to how he won iowa, you learn how he would win the presidency. >> which is the candidate that the white house would like to be running against for the rest of this year? >> ron paul, they would love to run against him. they would love to run against rick perry. >> anyone but mitt romney. >> the least like to run against, mitt romney, mitt romney. >> thank you for coming. we will have more on the events in iowa later on. is a case that came to define race relations in britain, the murder of a young black man. two white men had been found guilty in the trial of stephen's

lawrence's murder. >> an unprovoked racist attack near a bus stop. a young black man fatally stabbed. a notorious murder. the police watched their suspects. public anger boiled over. a bereaved family fought for justice. today, after 18 years, they got it. as she's mother wept heard the verdict ran out. >> how can i celebrate when i knew that the state could have happened 18 years ago when the police identified my son's killers failed so miserably. this is not a reason to celebrate. >> we pay tribute to mr. and mrs. lawrence's efforts.

they have made a contribution to the law and society as a whole. >> gary thompson was convicted of murder. -- gary dobson was convicted of murder. david norris had never been charged. this is part of a cold case review. clothes and evidence were subjected to months of modern forensic tests. clothing fibers were collected from the garments and the backs iran. on this colorful jacket taken fibersobson's house, which matched stevens closed. -- clothing fibers were collected from the garments. >> there was a stain on the back

of the caller. it would not have been in the pants. >> whose blood was it? >> the dna indicates that that came from stephen lawrence. >> it was a breakthrough. fibers and hairs linked the two suspects to the killing. despite these police surveillance pictures, all of the suspects had to be released. the detectives tried fitting a covert camera. they watched the group of friends and their obsession with knives. the months turned into years. nts 995, stephen's paretn

tried to prosecute three of the men themselves. the case fell through. there was a 1999 inquiry which produced a report critical of the police. the case remains open. nine people are still of interest to the police. the original five who appeared at the first inquiry, a key are guilty. -- two are guilty. what of those that remain? stephen lawrence is buried in jamaica. his mother still tends his grave. >> the pictures began to wear out. >> it has been 18 years. for him, the british justice system has now finally delivered. >> the case that came to define race relations in britain. a look at news from around the world. there has been a second day of

protests in nigeria after the case -- after the price of petrol doubled. this came after the government dropped $8 billion in subsidies. they say they can make better use of the money elsewhere. trade unions had a mass strike. egyptians have been voting in the final round of parliamentary elections. this is the first election since the overthrow of the host the mubarak regime. -- hosni mubarak regime. the taliban has said they're considering opening an office outside of afghanistan. president karzai said he would support the opening of an office in qatar to strengthen the peace process. relations between the u.s. and iran are under the spotlight after the u.s. said that they will carry on sending aircraft

carriers into the gulf. this comes after iran warned to stay away. last week, an aircraft carrier left the area after iran started naval maneuvers. >> the military chief looks at the war games. iran's forces have conducted 10 days of exercise. they are feeling bold enough to make threats against the united states. keep your aircraft carriers away from the gulf. >> in my opinion, those enemies who needed to leave have left. after argyrol, the enemies carrier was moved. -- after our drilled, the enemy's carrier was moved. we are ready for any threats and we advise them not to return. we are not in the habit of repeating our warning.

>> iran sees the gulf as its own waterway but international law says otherwise. the u.s. says that it will not change its navy deployments to suits iran's demands. >> there is increasing evidence that the international pressure is beginning to bite there. they are feeling increasingly isolated and they are trying to divert the attention of their own public from the difficulties in side of iran including the economic difficulties as a result of sanctions. >> iran's government has plenty to worry about. new sanctions threaten to go after the country's oil exports. the value of iran's currency has fallen. events the government is keen to dismiss. >> this issue has nothing to do with the issue of sanctions.

the sanctions have not been implemented yet. the two countries, the u.s., and england, which announced that they would impose sanctions have no banking interaction with us. >> for iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad, there's a lot to consider. the armed forces might speak with confidence but the government's future might rest on the state of the economy and iran's ability to keep selling oil to the rest of the world. was a little footnote on the story. from here it -- >> a little footnote on that story. i was talking with mitt romney and the first thing he mentioned was the situation with iran. they're watching that here in iowa. you are watching "bbc world news america," -- still to come. the use of the vote is back. you will hear what they have to

say. vote is back. more than 4800 brush fires have started in australia. temperatures have risen to 45 degrees celsius causing a new wave of fire spread to the prime minister has added her voice to the warnings for people to be cautious around these fires. -- temperatures have risen to 45 degrees celsius causing a new wave of fires. the prime minister has added her voice to the warnings. >> the bush fires are breaking out across the southeast of australia. in victoria, the firefighters can barely keep up with a number of places breaking out. >> in the last 24 hours, we have had approximately 100 fires. three of those are relatively significant proportions. all of the fires are under

control. all of them including those three. >> they have tried to dousing the flames from the air, others in inaccessible countryside. many are close to people's homes. they keep breaking out, fanned by a 20 kilometer mile per hour wind and droughts that turned -- and plants that turned from green to brown. >> we are making sure that communities are aware. >> the fire season has kicked in hard. enough to warrant warnings from the very -- from the prime minister. >> to those suffering through those conditions, keep safe. listen to your emergency announcements and make sure you do when you're asked to do by emergency workers. quest amenities -- >> committees are on pins and

hooks over the conditions. >> you may not know the man but you have more than likely seen his work. the influential british cartoonist has died at the age of 91. he created the world of misbehaving girls in a comic and creative school. we have in looking back at his life. >> these drawings of anarchy, these girls made ronald famous. this was only a part of his work. >> there was so few drawings, there was no more than about 60

tribes probably and to me it was a series of drawings but it was of no particular consequence. >> he sold his first cartoon as a teenager. his grim experiences as a prisoner of the japanese left with the drawings of a different sort. in the 50's, his images were everywhere. when it was turned into a film, the characters took on a new life. even when he tried to blo{7hv se things up, the public wanted more. >> he created these, which we all love it. he despised them because he could not get away from it. he did many other things. he worked in france, america, germany.

he is known to throughout all of these countries and yet we mainly know him through this. >> he moved to france to produce books and graphic arts. his dark wit and a claim -- historical it won him acclaim. >> and the cartoonist who has died at the age of 91. returning to the iowa caucuses. four years ago it was barack obama who won here. he has young people to thank for that. they turned out and record numbers. this time they are back. they are speaking out for their chosen candidate. they are braving the cold for occupy iowa. ron paul might be in the mid 70's but his campaign has the

backing of those half a century under. >> when my friends showed me clips of him and that is when i became aware of his message. >> if we allow the central bank to print unlimited money. >> a lot of his dancers are progress of messages that seem -- a lot of his stance is our progress of messages that seem to be forgotten by democrats. >> i was an obama supporter in 2008. i think that young people today are increasingly disillusioned with obama's message. >> it is not enough to demand change. it is better to demand specific change instead of relying on hope. >> less hopeful young people have been at the heart of the occupy movement which set up

camp right here in des moines rightthis week. >> there was a generation before the internet generation. >> everyone feels like they're moment has passed. we don't know what change looks like we're taking our first ups towards that. >> through traditional votes, young people are searching for a representation. in the last election, young americans were overwhelmingly in one camp -- barack obama's. this year, their support is up for grabs. >> that brings our special report to a close. of course, we will be covering events right through the night. thank you so much for watching.

>> make sense of international news. bbc.com/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 work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions and capital to meet your growth objectives, we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.