>> this is bbc world news. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> running scared, hillary clinton says china's efforts to resist democracy will fail. the former head of the english football association accuses top fifa officials of seeking bribes. flood warnings across the southern u.s. as the swollen. mississippi river surges towards the gulf. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers on pbs in america and also around the world. coming up -- microsoft's biggest buy. why has the company paid billions to skipe? and the duchess of york admits being not invited to the royal wedding was difficult to cope with.

>> china is running scared and trying to stop history, words of the american secretary of state hillary clinton published in the middle of high-level talks with the chinese delegation in washington in a magazine interview she goes on to say china will fail in what she says are efforts to resist democracy. discussions between the u.s. and chinese delegations have been described as frank. in a home we'll hear more about the talks but first our state department correspondent has more details on mrs. clinton's interview. >> well, hillary clinton's comments were in fact made about a month ago but they were published today in the "atlantic monthly" and she seems to suggest very strongly china may be trying to put an end to clamp down on human rights activists, authors even and said that's not sustainable. she said china's attempt to

stop the course of history was a fool's air and. it is an interesting comment and must have cause someday tension in the high-level talks that chinese and american officials were having in washington but this administration now seems to have decided that the issue of human rights is one that needs to be discussed in the open, and that is in stark contrast to how they approached the issue of china's human rights at the very beginning of the administration where their criticism was more muted and something they raised more in private and mostly an issue that they tried to work on by not necessarily talking to the chinese government but talking to human rights organizations and n.g.o.'s on the ground. >> on the talks between the u.s. and china covered a wide range of bilateral issues. details of what was discussed and what was achieved, here's will grant. >> if hillary clinton's comments about human rights in china had soured the talks, it wasn't immediately evident from

the warm smiles before launch -- lunch. this was the conclusion of two days of bilateral discussions in which washington's main objective was to tackle the thorny issue of the chinese currency which the u.s. treasury believe is unfairly undervalued. when the two sides aamericanned some hours later, all the talk was of progress but not on the key sticking point. >> good afternoon. the list of agreements and understandings reached is quite long. we have seen concrete progress on a wide range of shared challenges from the energy and environment to international trade and security. >> as well as more flexible exchange rates in china, washington wants greater access to chinese markets for u.s. companies. on that, they did have some success. the that progress had been made and said the difficult issues hadn't been avoided.

[speaking in chinese] >> we had a good conversation. that does not mean we agreed on each and every issue. however, after each round of dialogue, we successfully increased our mutual trust and cooperation. >> but behind the talks the bilateral relationship remains very tricky, as well as the question of human rights, washington wants exports and surplus to play a smaller role in chinese domestic growth. however, as the talks were winding up, china announced particularly large trade surplus figures for april, no doubt a topic for future discussions. will grant, bbc news. >> and stay with us, a little later in the program we'll have a special report on the disappearance of the chinese artist ai weiwei. some say american politicians will be allowed to see photographs of the body of osama bin laden. scientists serving in the

intelligence committee and armed services committee will be required to make an appointment to see the photos and go to the c.i.a. to view them. president obama announced last week he would not release the photographs to the public in case they would be used as a propaganda tool. once again, the world football body is facing allegations of corruption. the man who led england's bid to host the 2018 world cup has told a parliamentary inquiry, and he accused four members of the world governing body of acting unethically. david bond has the story. >> ever since england's world cup bid humiliation there have been questions and recriminations about the way fifa chooses its world cup hosts. but almost six months after that announcement, the former head of england's bid went

public with the most explosive claims so far. at the center of the allegations, the controversial figure of fifa vice president jack warner. it was asked that $2.5 billion pounds to build an education center. >> in my view the proposition was out of the question. and today is said in only what is described as a stage whisper, you certainly could have heard it around the lounge. you said, you must be -- i'll leave out some of the language, but you must be joking, jack, you're talking about probably $2.5 million pounds. >> another fifa member, a member of paring way, asked for knighthood in terms of his support from paraguay. >> i said it was completely impossible. we didn't operate in the united kingdom like that and he shrugged his shoulders and turned and walked away. >> and fresh evidence handed to the select committee by the sunday times pointed the finger

at two more executives accused at receiving $1.5 million at supporting qatar, winners of the race for 2022. lord treesman said it was here at the luxury hotel in chelsea jack warner asked for cash in return for supporting england's world cup bid and is one of a series of new claims which posed fresh questions about the way fifa handled the world cup bidding contest. a contest which left fifa's reputation in tatters. the fifa president has already seen two members banned from breaking fifa's code of ethics. with others up for re-election, the pressure is now on to take further action. >> now there is a new round of information coming in, so let us take time to digest that and to start investigation by asking evidence on what has been said.

>> today's revelations will not give england a second chance to win 2018 but could provide a turning point in the way world football is run. >> david bond with our story. let's get more on the journalist who set to run in opposition. thanks for joining us. how significant you think lord treason's claims are? >> they could be potentially significant especially the ones about jack warner, the president and chief, $2.5 million pounds is a serious allegations. >> what do you think fifa should do with the news and these accusations? >> what they should have done what they should have done a long time ago, they should have a investigation that is fully independent. when i announced i was running for fifa president earlier this year, i said the day i took

over i would have a full independent investigation using the guidelines of the united states foreign and corrupt practices act to find out how unclean or clean fifa really is. i also would do wikileaks on fifa and release all the documents internally to the public just so we can get a full accounting of what is going on here at fifa because the feeling worldwide at this point is that this may not be a clean organization, and fifa seems to be a rereactive organization that teams engage on these things once new allegations come up. >> it's interesting because allegations of this nature have plagued the governing body for some time now. what do you think fifa needs to do? you just alluded to an independent inquiry but how likely do you think that will happen, that outcome will take place? >> i think it's highly unlikely, unfortunately, seth bladder appears he's in a position to win another

four-year term, the election is june 1, and it doesn't seem to be in his interest at this point to initiate the full investigation that fifa needs to make the changes that it needs, the ones that the international olympic committee made after the salt lake city scandal earlier in the decade. >> there will be an inquiry by fifa itself into these allegations lord treason has made but if these allegations are found to be true, we don't know yet, do you think it raises question about the legitimacy of qatar holding the 2018 world cup in itself? >> well, i think we need to learn more about what the sunday times, you know, was doing in the sense that they did not release this so far in their own newspaper and yet it has come public. so they're certainly interesting allegations but more information needs to come out, and if fifa wants to investigate, it should really do a serious independent

investigation. >> very quickly, any ambitions to stand again? >> we'll see in 2015. my hope actually is that another outsider candidate who is known globally like a bill clinton or kofi annan or george wea might run for fifa president. it's too late to happen this year but four years from now, i think they will be able to do things that fifa really needs to make -- for a cleaner organization. >> well avoided that question. thanks for that very much, an american journalist speaking to us. now, the mississippi river has reached near record levels as flooding continues to affect some southern u.s. states. the city is coping with floodwaters not seen since the 1930's which have forced people from some 1,300 homes. our reporter steve kingston has been in washington for us and said the worst of the floods is possibly over for memphis but the waters are threatening else where. >> the waters reached an almost

historic high and inches shy of the record set in 1937 and low-lying neighborhoods have seen homes completely swamped. but the historic center of memphis, the downtown area, we are told, withstood the floods because of the system of levees that was put in place after the 1930's floods. and the worst is possibly past there. but this is going to be an issue that we hear a lot about over the coming days and weeks. roughly 600 kilometers separate memphis from new orleans where the mississippi will eventually discharge into the gulf of mexico. and it will take almost two weeks for the surge of water to flow from memphis down to new orleans. so communities all the way down the route of the river and alongside tributaries flowing into it are very much on alert and wondering how badly they will be hit. >> 1,300 people have been

evacuated during this situation, steve. is there a sense they might be likely to get back to their homes any time soon? >> well, again, even in memphis where the initial surge of water has passed, it will be days or weeks before the remaining waters reseed -- recede to normal levels. the mississippi swelled to six times its normal width in that city so people will have to be in this for the long haul. further south, communities like vicksburg, mississippi, are preparing and there are already homes under water there, whole neighborhoods under water and vicksburg won't feel the brunt of this until the weekend where the river will peak. in louisiana, we see prison inmates help prepare sandbags as they shore up their flood defenses there and those scenes are being repeated all the way along the flow of the river. >> steve kingston, you're watching bbc news. still ahead, a call for the art world to close its doors for a day to protest against the detention of the chinese artist

ai weiwei. here in the u.k., levi bellfield, a convicted double killer has gone on trial accused of murdering the school girl millie dowler and disappeared nine years ago when she walked home from school. her body was found in woods in hampshire six months later. bellfield pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnap. >> an ordinary 13-year-old who would have been a fine young woman, the words of the prosecution as they outlined the case against the man who they say abducted and murdered her. the jury heard levi bellfield was a predator and violent offender convicted of murdering two women in west london and attempting to murder a third. amanda dowler known by everyone as millie caught a train home from school in 2002. her normal routine was to catch a train nearest to her home but on this occasion she got off

here to share a plate of chips with friends and they were among the last to see her alive. levi bellfield lived with his partner and children in a flat close to the station, they had moved but he had access to the building and the prosecution claims cameras mounted opposite the flat captured the movement of a red car being used by the defendant that afternoon and during the previous day. the prosecution say the day before millie's disappearance there was an attempted abduction of another school girl, 12-year-old rachel cowels as she followed this route through shepperston and told her mother a man tried to entice her into his vehicle before a police car drove by. millie body was found 25 miles away. the prosecution claims there is no doubt levi bellfield is responsible for her death.

the trial is expected to last eight weeks. robert hall, bbc news. ♪ >> you're watching bbc news. the headlines. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has said china will fail in its attempts to dismiss democracy. the head of the football association accused top officials of seeking bribes. $8.5 billion microsoft has agreed to buy skype, the free internet telephone service. microsoft will have access to a user base of roughly 170 million who log on to skype every month. our technology correspondent has the details. >> microsoft powers more than 90% of the computers and the other is the firm that revolutionized the way many communicate. now skype is being swallowed up by microsoft. it's just eight years since skype started helping people to

make calls over the internet for nothing. and this is the third time it's been bought and sold. microsoft has been struggling to prove it can compete with the likes of google and apple. >> this is a big day for skype and this is a big day for microsoft. >> now as it tries to make an impact on the mobile phone world, it wants skype to help it become a bigger force in communications. the two partners in this huge deal told me they now had ambitious plans. >> it's really kind of a rare asset and the word skype in many senses means communications to a lot of people in the sense of i'll skype you. >> rest assured the skype brand is going to stay strong. we're going to have the great assets and opportunity of both companies to just really supercharge it and take it to the next level. >> skype is now used by 170 million people around the world, not just on their computers but on the move on their mobile phones and even on their tablet devices. microsoft wants to tap in to

this connected community, but it's paying a huge price for a business which isn't even profitable. the price tag on skype looks exorbitant but microsoft was competing with others to buy the business. >> this shows even though it doesn't make money, the idea for talking for free around the world is appealing as we look to sort of change the way we talk through twitter, through facebook, through email and other forms of communication. >> microsoft will now hope to bring skype to new places like in xbox connect gaming console, while it's paying a hefty price to prove it can be a force in the way the world talks. bbc news. >> more than a week after their wedding at westminister abby, the duke and duchess of cambridge have embarked on their honeymoon. details of their destination are secret but comes on a day sarah ferguson, the duchess of york spoke of her disappointment of not being

invited to the wedding. >> she told oprah winfrey that on the day of the wedding, she was in thailand. she was in telephone contact with prince andrew, her former husband and their two daughters, and seems they spent quite a lot of time talking that day. it sounds as if they tried to reassure her, they said they told her it was ok and prince andrew reminded her of the day that they got married. they also got married in westminister abby. and described, according to fergie as he's commonly known, he described that day as perfect. but oprah winfrey did ask her how it be effectively snubbed and not invited to the wedding. >> it was so difficult because i wanted to be there with my girls and to be getting them dressed and to go as a family. and also it was so hard because the last bride up that aisle

was me. >> so it seems she was hurt, but also that it wasn't necessarily a surprise to her. she went on to effectively acknowledge that she had been -- she'd made mistakes over the years and she wasn't surprised she hadn't been invited to that big day and indeed she went so far to say it was the right decision. >> did she talk about the reasons why she thinks she wasn't invited? >> well, clearly, she acknowledges and she talks about this in some detail. this is a show that has yet to be broadcast in america but oprah winfrey's company released a few quotes and they say she ago nols she made mistakes and that -- acknowledges she made mistakes and clearly the highest profile incident is when she tried to effectively sell access by offering cash to undercover newspaper reporters, sell access to her former husband, and she acknowledges now that

that was a big mistake. >> president obama has called for a comprehensive overhaul of u.s. imgration laws. speaking in the border state of texas, president obama said bringing illegal immigrants would be good for the country and allow bordering as to focus on drug traffickers and terrorists and it is estimated there are 11 million illegal immigrants in america. one of the u.s.'s most controversial politicians the republican newt gingrich made it known he will run for the presidential election next year. mr. gingrich, a former speaker of the u.s. house of representatives famously led the attempt to impeach president bill clinton in 1995. f.b.i. agents in puerto rico say they've arrested alberto gonzales who they believe was behind one of the largest robberies in u.s. history. mr. gonzalez allegedly took part in a robbery at the bank depot in the state of connecticut in 1983 at the time. the gang got away with $7

million. for five weeks there's been no sight of ai weiwei, the chinese artist and human rights activist who was detained at beijing airport. his detention prompted a global appeal by the sculptor kapoor and wants galleries to close for a day in protest and dedicated his latest work to ai weiwei. >> ai weiwei is considered by many to be one of the most important artists of the 21st century. it is this recent installation in london that brought the chinese artist to the attention of the wider british public. 37 days ago the globe trotting ai weiwei was detained at the beijing airport by the chinese authorities. nothing has been heard from him since. but his shows go on. one has just opened in new

york. meanwhile, here in london, there are two shows opening this week, and as you can see, the works arrived. but the artist hasn't. he was due to be here today helping to install this exhibition. the chinese government initially said he was being investigated for economic crimes. for that was some time ago. as the days mount without further word, friend, colleagues and fellow artists are becoming increasingly concerned. >> the chinese government needs to accuse him of something or let him go. i think it's also important that as a community of artists, we stick together. artists do all kinds of strange things, rarely are we dangerous. >> kapoor dedicated his latest sculpt chur which opened today.

both artists share the same gallery in london. its owner is frustrated. >> how do we put ourselves in the heads of the chinese authorities, what do we have to do to persuade them that what they've done is an error of judgment? >> ai weiwei is an overtly political artist. each of these backpacks represents a child lost in an earthquake. it is critical of the chinese government which he told me last year he'd like to see changed. >> they have to come to a much more liberal and democratic society. everybody know it. it's just matter of time and what is going to trigger the change. >> what do you think will trigger the change, is it ai weiwei [ >> yes, a few thousand of ai weiwei. >> today there is no ai weiwei. he has disappeared. his many supporters anxiously wait for his return.

. >> now take a look at these pictures of the first flights by the swiss jetman yves lati taken in the united states flying with a yet propelled wing attached to his back steered only by movement of his body. we'll see it launched from a helicopter into the blue sky over the grand canyon. he was airborne for about eight minutes, soaring 200 feet above the canyon before deploying his parachute and finally descending to the canyon floor. amazing pictures there. just bring you a reminder of our main news this hour. the american secretary of state hillary clinton has made a blunt attack on china's human rights record, saying it's running scared because of the popular uprisings in the arab world. you can keep up to date with us online visiting the bbc news website and twitter as well, follow me twitter.com. >> stay with us.

p >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of bbc world news online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from

small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles.