this is bbc america, and now live from london, "bbc world news." hello. i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news." our top stories. the case against a british businessman accused of ordering his wife murdered on their honeymoon has just been dismissed by a south african judge. >> in my view, the evidence presented in this case falls far below this threshold. typhoon hagupit that carved a trail of destruction against the philippines has waeeakened. evacuees return to find their

homes under water or in ruins. a maid in uganda filmed trampling on a baby in her care pleads guilty to torture. and a festive welcome. the duke and duchess of cambridge are in new york for their first official engagement in america. in the that's 15 minutes, a judge in south africa has dismissed the case against a british businessman accused of ordering his wife's murder. they were on honeymoon in capetown when she was killed. three men convicted in connection with the case have testified that he paid them to kill her. but the judge said some of the evidence given by the witnesses was of poor quality. she said self-confessed liars had continued to lie. >> this man and his wife annie at their lavish wedding ceremony in india. but just two weeks after this, he was being comforted at their

honeymoon hotel in south africa. the bridegroom now a widower. annie's body had been found in an abandoned taxi on the outskirts of capetown. the couple had been robbed on their way home from a restaurant. shrien dewani had been released, but annie, who was 28, had been shot in the neck. this is the spot where the carjacking had happened. initially the police assumed it was just another random attack, but they soon became suspicious because they couldn't understand why a wealthy honeymooning couple would be in a township like this so late at night. this man gave them an answer. taxi driver zola tongo who the couple had hired for the week. >> he told police that shrien dewani had paid him to organize the carjacking and kill her,

along with two other men. the south africans wanted to question shrien dewani himself, but he had returned home to bristol and doctors claimed he wasn't well enough to be extradited. suicidal, they said, and suffering from stress. it took them more than three years to get him back to capetown, but in october this year, the businessman finally went on trial. annie's family have been in court every day, desperate to hear their son-in-law's version of events. and find out why he was caught on cctv handing over a package to the taxi driver just hours after the murder. >> why did annie die? there are so many things pointing at shrien. he needs to answer these questions and he must answer those questions. for ourselves, for himself. tell us what really happened. >> reporter: but shrien dewani's legal team argued there was no

credible evidence that he was involved in annie's death, and the case should be thrown out. they said the accounts of the taxi driver and his accomplices had been riddled with lies and contradictions. the three were given shorter sentences for testifying against dewani. the defense admitted that the couple sometimes had a stormy relationship. they accepted shrien dewani was bisexual and had used male prostitutes before the wedding. but they said none of that was a motive for the murder. was it really credible that a newly married couple would fly into capetown, check into their honeymoon hotel, and within minutes the groom be asking a taxi driver who he had never met before to have his new bride murdered? four years after the honeymoon murder, the judge has agreed that there isn't enough evidence to convict shrien dewani, and the case against him should be dropped.

the whole investigation will now face intense scrutiny. the time and money that's been spent. the pain felt by both families. and the many questions that still remain. john kay, bbc news, capetown. >> we'll be live there in the next few minutes. stay with us for that. first, we take you to the philippines, because thousands of people there in the eastern and central parts of the philippines are now slowly returning to their homes after typhoon hagupit battered the region. at its peak, heavy rain and winds at speeds of up to 250 kilometers an hour hit the coast. it's now weakened to a tropical storm, but people in manila are worried as the worst of the weather is expected in the capital by nighttime. many homes have been damaged and power lines torn down, but authorities say that their evacuation plan has helped to reduce the death toll. the philippine red cross says at least 21 people have been killed, but that is much lower than expected. compare that with a year ago when typhoon haiyan tore through the country.

it killed more than 7,000 people. our correspondent jonathan head has sent this report now from the philippines. >> reporter: a school an hour's drive from lagasby. for the past few days, it served as an emergency shelter during the typhoon. one of 3,000 in this province for those whose homes were most at risk. it was this well-organized and determined evacuation which has now been credited with the very low casualty figures during the storm. now that's past. the army can take them home. among them is verhinay. she's heading back to find out how her flimsy house has fared. they were all given five kilo bags of rice. an incentive to leave their homes for the shelter and help getting their lives back together again.

like so many filipinos, she and her family are squatters on this roadside strip of land. look at your roof. it's gone. the house is cobbled together with whatever materials they can afford. can you repair your roof? >> no. >> reporter: no money? >> no money. >> reporter: it's amazing. when you visit homes like hers, you realize just how precarious an existence is lived by millions of people here in the philippines and how vulnerable they are to the increasingly severe weather that this country is experiencing. jonathan head, bbc news, the philippines. in some other news today, protests have continued in cities across the u.s. against police brutality. in barkley, california, protesters have blocked a freeway after marching through the streets.

similar demonstrations have also taken place in philadelphia, chicago, washington, and miami. there will be no change in its operation to free hostages held by militant groups despite recent failures. chuck hagel made the comments out of the latest rescue attempt in which an american journalist and a south african teacher were killed by al qaeda militants in yemen. and the taxi service uber has been banned in delhi just days after a young woman was allegedly raped by one of its drivers. it comes out of protests in delhi on sunday over the case. police say a medical examination backs it up. the driver of the taxi has been arrested. uber says it's cooperating with the police. let's find out what is going on in greece today. aaron. >> lots going on, all to do with its budget, but will the international lenders agree? the greek parliament has passed its 2015 budget, and the prime minister has ignored those calls from international lenders like

the eu and the imf for an extra 1.7 billion euros of spending cuts, just over $2 billion. his government is feeling pressure from protesters, all of these people who are calling for an early exit to this very unpopular international aid program that has seen many years of austerity imposed on its people. eu officials are set to discuss whether greece has done enough to satisfy those lenders and end foreign intervention, in the way how greece runs its own economy. we're going to keep across that one for you. ouch. also more bad news for the world. japan's recession is worse than previously feared. new figures show output in wealth shrank at an annual rate of 1.9%. that's in that three-month period ending in september. prime minister abe has already shelved plans for a second rise in sales tax, so tough challenge

indeed. now, the french film body, that's the cnc, the state run body, has called cut on actors' pay. at the moment, most french films receive state aid from the cnc. 90% of those films, they don't make any money. they make a loss. but despite that, french stars like marion cotillard can earn up to ten times more in france than they would in hollywood. their huge salaries are funded by tax on cinema reseats and dvd sales. but now the cnc wants to cap pay in big budget french movies at just over a million dollars. we're going to have more on that, go live to paris on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. lots going on. follow me on twitter. tweet me, i'll tweet you right back. before i go, geeta, i've come up with a good headline for japan. it's having a downturn, and the prime minister is abe. downturn abe. >> it's quite good. i have to say. i wonder if everyone knows what you're talking about.

find out more. stay with us here on "bbc world news." much more to come. band aid at 30 has a new fundraising record out for ebola. but is it out of tune with africa? the rock star justifies hiss efforts.

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♪ this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. our top story today, the south african judge in the case of the british businessman shrien dewani accused of killing his wife, or ordering his wife's murder, has dismissed the case. that's happened in the last half an hour. well, we've been hearing about that judge. let's just listen to judge jeanette traverso, criticizing the evidence of the main prosecution witness, saying it was full of lies and contradictions. >> without the accused taking the witness stand and incriminating himself, they take the matter no further.

this case falls squarely within the following dictum. which for the sake of completeness, i repeat. clearly a person ought not to be prosecuted, merely in the expectation that at some stage, he might incriminate himself. that is recognized by the common law principle that there should be quote reasonable and probably end quote cause to believe the accused is guilty of an offense before a prosecution is initiated, and the constitutional protection afforded to dignity and personal freedom, sections 10 and section 12, seems to reinforce it. it ought to follow that if a

prosecution is not -- that a prosecution is not to be commenced without that minimum evidence, so too it should cease when the evidence finally falls below that threshold. in my view, the evidence presented in this case falls far below this threshold. in the circumstances, i make the following order. the application in terms of section 174 of the criminal procedure act is granted. the accused is found not guilty as charged, and he is not granted indemnity from prosecution. >> the judge speaking in about the last 30 minutes or so. we're hoping to go to our correspondent on the ground. we will return to capetown as soon as we can. meanwhile, to another case. a ugandan nanny filmed beating

an 18-month-old girl has appeared in court. the video of the maid allegedly abusing the young child was posted on facebook where it was watched more than 21 million times in just four days last month. the woman was charged with committing torture and has pleaded guilty, asking the court to forgive her. >> reporter: the woman told the courts that she was sorry for what she had done and asked for forgiveness. she pleaded guilty to committing torture when she beat the little girl in her care. the family was also present. her father broke down when he heard the woman's statement. the defendant did not have a lawyer representing her in court, even though one of uganda's leading advocates had offered his services, the magistrate turned him down saying he had not formally notified the court. the prosecution asked for an adjournment, saying it needed more time to gather the facts.

so the case was back in court on wednesday. the magistrate will make his final ruling and sentencing. let's go back to our top story, and andrew plant is in capetown for us. what's happening behind you? just take us through what's happened in the last 30 minutes. >> reporter: we've seen annie dewani's family leave court in tears just in the last ten minutes or so. it looks like some protests starting on the court steps, too. there was really high feeling amongst the south african public about the fact that they felt they needed to see this case continue. they needed the wheels of justice to keep turning here. as it is, it has finished halfway through the judge ruling about 15 minutes ago, that actually the evidence against shrien dewani was just credible. there was no real case for his defense team to answer and she has had to throw this out. she did remark on the fact that she doesn't need to take public opinion into account here. she just needs to look at the legality of the issues that she's heard over the past seven

weeks, and she said the evidence that she had received just wasn't good enough for there to be any realistic possibility of prosecution. essentially, shrien dewani, as soon as she said those words, was free to go. he went straight down into the steps that take him to the cells beneath port and then he will leave in a black top vehicle, the same way he's been arriving at court over the past seven weeks of this trial. his family too will be i'm sure making arrangements to have him go home after four long years of having the suspicion, the accusations hanging over his head, he will now be completely free to go, and even back in the uk in time for christmas. >> is he technically cleared and found not guilty? what is his legal status now? >> it's a good question. that is it. the judge said that he is not guilty. so essentially as far as the trial is concerned, it is over. obviously in the uk, under the uk legal system, you would go to the end of the trial and then the jury would have decided that here in south africa there are no juries. it's just up to the judge to

decide. this application was made two weeks ago by the defense. they said that after hearing all of the prosecution's evidence and the prosecution resting its case, they had said that it was so weak there was no real question of them having to defend it. there was no case for the defense to answer. the judge then took 13 days until today to make her decision. she started off slowly. and then very suddenly in the course of one sentence, all the suspicions hanging over shrien dewani just evaporated. in that one sentence, shrien dewani is not guilty of having to do anything with his wife's murder. >> andrew plant there in cape town. many thanks indeed. 30 years on from the original song, the latest band aid single, this one in aid of the ebola crisis, is officially on sale in the shops. band aid 30's "do they know it's christmas" features one direction and ed sheeran. the digital version has already gone to number one in 60 countries and has raised over a

million dollars. there's still been some criticism of the lyrics and of celebrity activism. bob geldof, who wrote the signal and founded band aid, of course, is in manchester to buy the first single. >> i bought it, i bought it. great. >> how much did it cost you? >> 3.99. >> and how much are you hoping to raise compared to the download version? >> the problem is the down loads are 99 p. it's message in lidgeabnegligib. so as a piece of pop art, it's disposable as well. this is 3.99. you get the four band aids. and that's significant money. one of the supermarkets in the uk, in fact here in manchester, ordered 250,000. that's a million quid already. the download and the text in donations has actually done more than a million. it's done more than that now, thank goodness.

also, the germans have done a version and the french have done a version. so we'll kind of end up more or less the same as we did in '84. >> i know you're probably sick of all the criticisms, but i ought to put them to you because we've heard a lot of people say not enough black artists involved, especially from the west african countries involved in the ebola crisis. that the lyrics are patronizing. why don't you get these pop stars to donate some of their own money. what do you say to all that? >> i love it. because part of what this does is it gets the conversation into the cafes and kitchens and bars and pubs. you know, that's really important. it becomes the common currency. it's all over the newspapers. it ceases to just be an okay christmas pop song that people can buy. and if you can focus that conversation into a political intent, then you quantify the money and the thought process. so for example, in germany, germany was giving very little to this crisis.

was giving less than half the cost of one of their football stadiums in the world cup. and i said this at the press conference. when the german record went to number one, merkel put 44 million extra into the pot. >> do you worry that ebola is slipping out of the headlines a bit? >> yes. >> because the numbers have stabilized? >> they haven't stabilized, because i'm getting daily e-mails from either the soldiers working out there or from the aid workers. i work a lot with the u.n. i mean, i've been doing this for 30 years, so i know a lot of the people. and in fact, on the bbc news three nights ago, geeta, your journalist said there is industrial scale dying. and freetown is not contained at all. business in sierra leone is down 60%. education is down 66%. these are last week's world bank figures. teachers don't go to school. they're afraid of catching it. children aren't going for the same reason. people aren't going into the market with their crops because they're afraid of catching it. this is a very, very serious

situation. and to all your world audience, it's one plane ride away from your country. i can't understand really when you're watching the societal collapse almost that people stand idly by and they talk about the lyrics of a pop song. it's not a doctoral thesis. it's people dying. >> but given all that, and you're right, we have seen some absolutely appalling pictures and many people have been entreating people like me saying what could we do to help, do you think you could have done it slightly different this time so you didn't aggravate people? >> no, but you forget that i came into pop in 1976. i am a punk. i enjoy disruption. people have the right to be offended by whatever i do. but that's fine. it is gris to our mill. we do focus these things after 30 years in a political sense. and it's good to be in britain at the moment because it leads the way. i mean, it was first out of the box to help. it gave the most, it sent a thousand volunteers from the

army down there. these are kids down there, very brave, helping to resolve, or hoping to resolve a situation. well-done. >> can i ask you one personal question, if you don't mind. you've been through agonies yourself. this is your first christmas without your daughter peaches. has work like this helped you to focus on something different? how are you feeling about all that now? >> not really. as i say, i've done it daily for 30 years. you know, i know it's odd, but i'm in africa all the time. i am an expert on this stuff. so i think i'm lucky that i was out on tour with the boom town rats, and that's very cathartic. but no, to your point, um, christmas will be difficult for all of us. >> sir bob geldof there speaking to me a little while ago. the duke and duchess of cambridge are in new york

getting a hugely royal welcome. our correspondent is with them. >> reporter: how do you greet visiting royalty? if it's william and katherine, and if the city is new york, you scream. that at least is what a good number of those who had been waiting for them did as the couple arrived at their hotel in manhattan last night. excited? you could say that. >> it was just exciting to see them, and can't wait to get a possible glimpse. >> i just think she's a beautiful young woman and a beautiful role model, and inspiration to people. i'm very excited that we'll get a glimpse and maybe bask in her glow for a moment. >> reporter: today there is more serious business, at the white house, no less, where william will meet president obama and where he'll press the case for concerted international action to stop this, the slaughter of thousands of animals like elephants and rhino in africa

for their tusks and horns, which are sold for considerable profits in asia and most particularly, as william will point out, in china. >> that's it from us for now. we are back, though, in about five minutes with a full round-up of all our top stories for you. join us then if you can. ours ofo playing. (singing) and five golden rings! ha, i see what you did... (singing) four calling birds...three french hens... (the guys starts to fizzle out) two... turtle... doves... i really went for it there ya you did... you really, really did now get 3 gigs of data on one line for $65 a month. switch to at&t, buy a new smartphone and get $150 credit per line. and you want to get an mba. but going back to school is hard. because you work. now capella university offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree.

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hello, i'm geeta guru-murthy on "bbc world news." our top stories. the case against shrien dewani, a british businessman accused of ordering his wife's murder on their honeymoon, is dismissed by a south african judge. >> in my view, the evidence presented in this case falls far below this threshold. typhoon hagupit that carved a trail of destruction across the philippines has weakened. evacuees return to find their homes under water or in ruins.

three days of mourning in the mexican city of guerrero after the first confirmed identification is made from remains of would have been the 43 missing students. and a help for street artists or vandals. we'll find out about people living in belgium's ghost town. hello. in the last hour, the british businessman shrien dewani has been dramatically cleared of the murder of his wife annie whilst on honeymoon in south africa in 2010. the judge dismissed the case after condemning the evidence of the chief prosecution witness. she said it was riddled with contradictions and highly debatab debatable. mr. dewani will now be released. john kay reports.

>> reporter: shrien dewani and his new wife annie at their lavish wedding ceremony in india. but just two weeks after this, he was being comforted at their honeymoon hotel in south africa. the bridegroom now a widower. annie's body had been found in an abandoned taxi on the outskirts of cape town. the couple had been robbed. shrien dewani had been released, but annie, who was 28, had been shot in the neck. this is the spot where the carjacking happened. initially, the police assumed it was just another random attack. but they soon became suspicious because they couldn't understand why a wealthy, honeymooning couple, would be in a township like this so late at night. this man gave them an answer. taxi driver zola tongo, who the couple had hired for the week. he told police that shrien

dewani had paid him to organize the carjacking and kill annie. along with two other men. the south africans wanted to question shrien dewani himself, but he had returned home to bristol, and doctors claimed he wasn't well enough to be extradi extradited. suicidal, they said, and suffering from post-traumatic stress. it took the south africans more than three years to get him back to cape town. but in october this year, the businessman finally went on trial. annie's family have been in court every day, desperate to hear their son-in-law's version of events and find out why he was caught on cctv handing over a package to the taxi driver just hours after the murder. >> why did annie die? there are so many things pointing at shrien. he needs to answer these questions. and he must answer these

questions. for ourselves, for himself. tell us what really happened. >> reporter: but shrien dewani's legal team argued there was no credible evidence that he was involved in annie's death, and the case should be thrown out. they said the accounts of the taxi driver and his accomplices had been riddled with lies and contradictions. the three were given shorter sentences for testifying against dewani. the defense admitted that the couple sometimes had a stormy relationship. they accepted shrien dewani was bisexual and had used male prostitutes before the wedding. but they said none of that was a motive for murder. was it really credible, they asked, that a newly married couple would fly into cape town, check into their honeymoon hotel there, and within minutes, the groom be asking a taxi driver who he had never met before, to have his new bride murdered? four years after the honeymoon

murder, the judge has agreed that there isn't enough evidence to convict shrien dewani, and the case against him should be dropped. the whole investigation will now face intense scrutiny. the time and money that's been spent, the pain felt by both families. and the many questions that still remain. john kay, bbc news, cape town. >> we'll be live on the ground there in cape town very soon. stay with us for that. now, thousands of people if eastern and central parts of the philippines are slowly returning to their homes after typhoon hagupit battered the region. heavy rain and winds with speeds up to 250 kilometers an hour hit the coast. it's now weakened to a tropical storm, but people in manila are worried as the worst of the weather is expected in the capital by the nighttime. many homes have been damaged and power lines torn down. but authorities say their evacuation plan has helped to reduce the death toll. the philippine red cross says at

least 21 people have been killed, but that is much lower than expected. compare that with a year ago when typhoon haiyan tore through the country. it killed more than 7,000 people. our correspondent jonathan head has sent this report from the philippines. >> reporter: a scohool for the past two days served as an emergency shelter during the typhoon. one of 3,000 in this province for those whose homes were most at risk. it was this well-organized and determined evacuation which has now been credited with the very low casualty figures during the storm. now that's passed, the army can take them home. among them is verhinay. she's heading back to find out how her flimsy house has fared. they were all given five kilo bags of rice, an incentive to leave their homes for the

shelter and help getting their lives back together again. like so many filipinos, she and her family are squatters on this roadside strip of land. look at your roof. it's gone. the house is cobbled together with whatever materials they can afford. can you repair your roof? >> no -- >> reporter: no money. >> no money. >> reporter: amazing. when you visit homes like hers, you realize just how precarious an existence is lived by millions of people in the philippines. and how vulnerable they are to the increasingly severe weather that this country is experiencing. jonathan head, bbc news, the philippines. >> i'm joined now via skype by allison kent, humanitarian

adviser currently in manila. just what is the task facing aid agencies like you now? >> well, oxfam is here on the ground already in many of the areas affected by typhoon hagupit, so we are in assessment mode in those areas that we can reach currently. so we are sending out rapid assessment teams comprised of experts in livelihoods and water and sanitation, in protection and gender to really start getting a better sense of the damage that's been caused by this storm. so far our reports from the ground is that there's been extensive damage to shelter in the area. there's a lot of inadequate shelter. poor construction materials used, and so those flimsy materials have been often blown away. we also know that given the large scale of evacuation that has happened, there are pressing needs in evacuation centers with

respect to access to clean water, access to toilets and access to emergency food. >> and the storm is supposed to be close to manila now. are you worried about the capital? >> of course. manila is a population of about 12 million people. and the city itself is often prone to flooding with smaller storms, and so our concerns are now focused in the metro manila area, and the rains have started a little bit here. we're expecting a lot more over the night. so we'll be keeping a close watch on the situation here in the city. >> what are you most worried about now in the next few hours and days? >> looking forward, we are most worried about those families and those households in affected areas who were already struggling before the typhoon. in areas that were hit by typhoon haiyan just a year ago, poverty leaves have increased. the debt loads of households has

gone up and a lot are still struggling to make those necessary repairs to their shelter or get back to farming and fishing and regain those needed incomes. and so this is a major setback for those families and households who are already struggling just to get by. >> allison kent, thanks very much for joining us today. in other news today, protests have continued in cities across the u.s. against police brutality. in barkley, california, protesters have blocked a freeway after marching through the streets. similar demonstrations have also taken place in philadelphia, chicago, washington, and miami. the united states has indicated there will be no change in its operations to free american hostages held by militant groups, despite recent failures. the defense secretary chuck hagel made the comments after the latest rescue attempt in which an american journalist and a south african teacher were killed by al qaeda militants in yemen. and the private taxi service uber has been banned in the

indian capital delhi just days after a young woman was allegedly raped by one of its drivers. police say a medical examination backs up the woman's allegation. the driver of the taxi has been arrested. uber says it is cooperating with the police. the interim governor of the mexican state of guerrero has announced three days of mourning. it comes after the family of the first victim identified among 43 missing students called for justice in a case that has shocked the country. our correspondent is with us, just take us through the mood and what's happened in the last 24 hours. >> the disappearance happened on the 26th of september. this is 43 students who were taken by the police, and then given to the drug cartels and then disappeared. the family has said that -- you know, all the family said we are not going to believe what the government says. the government has a lack of credibility. so when they saw the

investigation, they send some of the remains to austria where the dna now proved that one of the state of the unions was actually these remains that they recovered in garbage dumps. and so the family is saying well now we can rest in a way that we know at least our boy is dead. but that doesn't mean that our fight for justice will not -- you know, will not stop here. there's another 42 students, and the families are saying -- and they are demanding to the government to continue the investigations because they say that they will keep their hope, even with this news. >> what is the reason for these students being taken in the first place? >> well, it's just proof of this corruption, that it's a lot of places in mexico. so is it corruption between the police and the drug cartels. and it's just proof of what people have been saying before. and i think not even the

government thought that this was going to be so big, create so much protests and demonstrations. and the thing is, if you think about the figures, 20,000 people have disappeared in recent years in mexico. probably the government thought well, 43 students, they come from a very poor area in mexico, they're not going to create such uproar. and they had. and the people are saying, i'm fed up with this. i want results. i want a change in the corruption. and the government is promising some reforms. but of course, they have a lack of credibility. >> in terms of what the family believe is the reason for these people being taken, what do they believe? >> well, they believe that they've been taken because they were protesting, and it happened on the 26th of september, as we were saying. there was going to be a political rally. and the mayor of the city of iguala said to the police, take these demonstrators out because they're going to disrupt this meeting. and then they disappeared. and then consequentially, there

have been a lot of arrests and investigations. but it just shows how much the corruption is there. and so the people have created this image of the 43 students saying this can happen to everyone. this can happen to every family in mexico. and that's why we have to ask a change. and that's why they have these massive protests, where you get a lot of people who are getting out and saying this is enough, we need a change, mexico needs to change. >> many thanks indeed. thank you. stay with us here on "bbc world news." there's more to come. a love affair with larry. how paintings of britain's industrial past are striking a chord in china. woah! aah! he doesn't like to be touched there. mmm! [ male announcer ] pet the rainbow! taste the rainbow.

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this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest headlines for you. a south african judge has dismissed a case against a

british businessman, accused of ordering his wife's murder. and more than 20 people are known to have died in the philippines, mainly in flood waters as a typhoon has been making its way across the country. a ugandan maid has pleaded guilty to torture after being filmed beating a baby in her care. she faces up to 15 years in prison for the crime. the case shocked uganda after hidden camera footage of the abuse was made public. the maid was seen kicking and trampling on the toddler. >> reporter: the maid told the courts that she was sorry for what she had done and asked for forgiveness. she pleaded guilty to having committed torture when she beats the little girl in her care. the family was also present. her father broke down when he heard the statement. the defendant did not have a lawyer representing her in

court. et even though one of uganda's lawyers offered services, the magistrate turned him down saying he had not formally notified the court. the prosecution asked for an adjournment, saying they needed more time to gather the facts. so the case will be back in court on wednesday. when it's expected that the magistrate will make his final ruling and sentencing. now we go back to our top story. as we've been hearing, a judge in south africa has thrown out the prosecution case against shrien dewani. the judge criticized the evidence of the main prosecution witness, saying it was full of lies and contradictions. >> in my view, the evidence presented in this case falls far below this threshold. in the circumstances, i make the following order. the application in terms of section 174 of the criminal procedure act is granted. the accused is found not guilty

and is charged, and he is not granted indem -- indemnity from prosecution. now, pictures of everyday northern life is one of britain's best-loved painters. remarkably, for such an icon of modern british art, no solo exhibition of his work has ever been held outside the uk. but now a collection of lowery paintings has been shown in eastern china, as john sudworth reports. >> reporter: it's a side of british life that's long gone. but lowery's smokestacks and factories and his hurrying crowds of workers are still very much a part of china's industrial present. the landscapes of england now on display here in the city of nanjing, were just as china is today, places of mass mobilization and social upheaval.

>> i think it resonates with china so much, the white sky. we have air pollution issues, so the sky color definitely resonates with chinese audience. apart from that, i think the crowds also resonate with us a lot. >> reporter: so, like the british public before them, those suffering china's modern day pea soupers may find a champion in lowery. the british art establishment has always been a bit more snippy, snobbish etch about his grimy working class reality. no solo collection of his work has ever been shown outside the uk until now. "it's nice that he paints working people," cai, a street sweeper tells me. everywhere, we're all the same,

she says. larry's choice of subject matter, the ordinary, the everyday, like this chap taking a break here, is, of course, one of the things for which he is most loved by the british public. so it's perhaps apt that his first ever solo exhibition abroad has been brought here to china, a country to which much of britain's manufacturing industry has long since shifted. and some see in larry not industrial strength, but a bleak depiction of decline. china may find its present self and a worrying glimpse of the future, too. john sudworth, bbc news, nanjing. 20 years ago, this was a picture postcard home to more than a thousand residents, but two decades ago it was targeted for demolition, and now just a handful of villages remain. the village became something of a paradise for some of europe's best known graffiti artists.

although these days vandals are more common than veto artists and life is difficult in what's been known as belgium's ghost town. >> some people think it's now a ghost town. they call it a ghost town, because if you walk here in the week, you don't see anyone on the streets. ghost town, ooh. >> people are just smashing windows in, just to have fun, just no respect for the old buildings.

>> so, here you see a part of doel. there are a lot of empty places. what's left from the village are still about 200 houses. they want to demolish completely for the expansion of the port. on the other side of the river, you have the port of antwerp and they want to -- >> sorry, we're going to cut out of that and take you to south africa. the sister we believe of annie dewani is speaking at the moment. let's listen in. >> my family, my brother, my parents, for the rest of our lives. we have had four years of sleepless nights, and -- will we ever be able to sleep? we've had tremendous support from the south african public, and many others around the world.

and we're grateful to all of them, and thank them from the bottom of our heart. this is a really sad day for us. and yet we hope that no other family will ever have to go through what we have been through. we as a family will make no further comments. and we respectfully ask the media to give us some time and space for reflection. thank you. >> that, we believe, is the sister of annie dewani there, i think with our brother, too, looking understandably distressed, because they said all along that they wanted to hear from shrien dewani. he said that he would explain what had happened in court and he has not been made to do that because the judge has thrown out the case. under south african law, he is

now not guilty. he has been allowed to walk free, and the case has had a lot of attention in south africa amongst other places. we're going to just move on now to new york, because the duke and duchess of cambridge have been given a warm welcome there as they kick off their three-day tour. nicolas mitchell is there. there is some flash photography. how do you greet visiting royalty? well, if it's william and katherine on their first visit, and if the city is new york, you scream. that, at least, is what a good number of those who had been waiting for them did, as the couple arrived at their hotel in manhattan last night. excited? you could say that. >> it's just exciting to see them. i can't wait to feel a possible glimpse. >> i just think she's a beautiful young woman and a beautiful role model and an

inspiration to people. i'm very excited that we'll get a glimpse and maybe bask in her glow for a moment. >> reporter: today, there is more serious business. at the white house, no less, where william will meet president obama and where he'll press the case for concerted international action to stop this, the slaughter of thousands of animals like elephants and rhino in africa for their tusks and horns, which are sold for considerable profits in asia, and most particularly, as william will point out, in china. that illegal trade in animal parts like horns and tusks will be the subject of a speech william will make later at the world bank, when he's expected to refer to what he'll call mankind's ignorant craving for trinkets and ornaments. nicolas mitchell, bbc news in washington. firefighters in los angeles are battling a huge blaze in the downtown area of the city. the building is believed to be of residential and commercial nature, but it's thought that no

was one living or working there at the time. 250 firefighters are in attendance, which has closed freeways in the local area. the fire broke out at 1:20 in the morning. a spokesman says the extent of the damage won't be known for a while. that's it for me. i'm back tomorrow. see you then. alookin' good! close it up! got it.

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hello. you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. our top stories, a judge dismisses the case against shrien dewani, accused of hiring a hit man to kill his wife while they were on honeymoon. mr. dewani is now a free man. it's a dramatic end to a case that has made headlines for the past four years. we'll take you live to outside the court. more than 20 dead in the philippines as typhoon hagupit barrels over the country, as the storm approaches the capital, a million people are returning to their homes to see what damage