>> 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." >> we stand for tolerance and self-determination. president obama says the world still needs american and european leadership. >> our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more just. >> three weeks after the bin laden raid, troops are pulling pulled. the permanent opening with gaza despite israeli objections. welcome to bbc news broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. coming up a little later for you, there are fresh corruption claims against senior fifa officials including the man who wants to be its leader. >> this is what i was called to do. >> and after more than 25 years on air, the queen of daytime television has said farewell.

welcome once again to bbc news. president obama addressing both houses of the british parliament has said europe and the united states remain the greatest catalysts for global action. mr. obama said britain and america were the most willing to stand up for tolerance and self-determination, but he added that the west needed to overcome charges of hypocrisy in the middle east. he hosted a bang yet for queen elizabeth. this is nick robertson and does contain some flagstaff photography. >> yes, that really is the prime minister cooking a burger and the president serving one up. this was the day when barack went out of his way to prove that he gets on with david and

his country has not forgotten how much it needs ours, and joked about the typical london weather. this barbecue for american and british soldiers at the garden at number 10 is a reminder that the relationship, whatever it's called is forged by war. president obama and prime minister cameron presented themselves as very different from the war-time partnership between bush and blair and yet today, they are talking about how not to lose an old war in afghanistan and a new one in libya. today's talks focused on how soon they could safely get troops out of afghanistan and how they can secure victory in libya without sending troops in. on libya, it was david cameron who led and barack obama who considered and hesitated. more than two months on, colonel gaddafi is still in power. >> we should be turning up the heat in libya. i believe the pressure is on that regime. you see it in the fact that the

rebels have successfully liberated much of misrata. you see it in the success in parts of the country. i believe we should be turning up that pressure. on britain's part, we will be looking at all of the options for turning up that pressure. >> but the president stressed the limits of what could be achieved given their decision that unlike in iraq, they wouldn't invade. >> gaddafi and his regime need to understand that there will not be a let-up in the pressure that we are playing. once you rule out ground forces, then there are going to be some inherent limitations. >> from there, he progressed to parliament to become the firstever u.s. president to speak in westminster hall where for hundreds of years monarchs have been honored or tried or laid in state. former prime ministers lined up to hail a man who declared that the time when their two

countries should lead the world was not over. >> we have always believed that the future of our children and grandchildren will be better if other people's children and grandchildren are more prosperous and more free. from the beaches of normandy to the balance cans to gaza. >> the libyan people would be protected, he said, arab states encouraged to embrace democracy and -- >> we are now preparing to turn a corner in afghanistan by transitioning to afghan lead. and during this transition, we will pursue a lasting peace with those who break free of al qaeda. >> this was above all an optimistic speech which presented america, a country formed after war with britain, as an example to the world. >> it is possible for hearts to change and old had a treads to pass. it is possible for the sons and daughters of former colonies to sit here as members of this

great parliament and for the grandsons of aikenan who served as -- a kenyan who served as a cook in the british army to stand before you as president of the united states. >> there was no doubt that britain was in love with obama. today he sought to end the doubts about whether he likes us. nick robinson, bbc news, westminster. >> for much more on the president's visit to britain, look at our website. there is an in-depth look at past presidents tours of the u.k. and which was the most successful and what they achieved and more on the website. we're getting breaking news that the u.s. military has announced the withdrawal of a number of troops from pakistan. the pentagon has said it had received a request from islamabad to reduce its presence in the country. joining me from washington is our correspondent adam brooks. is this an unplanned withdrawal by american troops? >> all we know is that the

pentagon received a written request from pakistan a couple of weeks ago to reduce its footprint in pakistan. that was the wording of it. now, this refers to a very small number of troops that the united states keeps in pakistan overtly, at least, between 200 and 300 trainers attached to the pakistani military. so it will be some of those who are coming home. obviously, the speculation is immediately turned to the notion that this is in some way pakistan signaling its displeasure with the united states in the wake of the raid that killed osama bin laden, but there is nothing specifically in the request that we know of that makes it clear it is some sort of retaliatory step. that's where we are. >> adam, in your opinion, do you think this is as much for public consumption in terms of the pakistani government to show its people that it's standing up to the united states and possibly the most important operatives would remain in pakistan?

>> it's hard to say. it may be. it may have that effect in any case. what this doesn't tell us is the degree to which the rest of america's presence, its intelligence operations in pakistan, special operations forces that we here are operating in pakistan in cooperation or at least the to sit acceptance of the pakistani government, we don't know if that request applied to them as well. as far as the overt presence goes, in and of itself, it's not important, but it does remind us that this is a very fragile and complex relationship at the moment. >> and do we know how important american troops in pakistan are to the whole security in that region and, therefore, the fight against global terrorism? >> bearing in mind the rest of the u.s. presence in the region, 100,000 troops in afghanistan next door, a handful of troops that are operating in pakistan are not particularly significant as far as we know.

the drone strikes that the united states carries out with the to sit acceptance of -- tacit acceptance of the pakistanis are pretty important. the united states government claims it is the most potent tool that the american government has in the fight against the afghan taliban and al qaeda in save havens inside pakistan. that's an important part of the equation. the troops that they are talking about bringing home will not be tactically or strategically of themselves very important. >> adam brooks in washington, thank you very much. european makeses have began circulating a draft resolution against syria. it calls for an immediate end the violence. it urges the syrian government to meet its people's demands for political reforms. so far russia and china have blocked efforts by europe and america to get the u.n. security council to condemn syrian actions. in yemen, there are reports of

fighting between security forces and tribesmen and has closed the international airport which serves the capital, sanaa. hundreds of people have tried to the latest clashes. 40 people have been killed. however, yemen's embattled president continues to cling to power. he claims al qaeda has stepped up attacks in his country since the protests began. our correspondent reports. >> once again, opponents of the yemeni leader have taken to the streets to demand he step down. the latest demonstrations come after he refused at the last minute to sign a deal agreeing to go. many of these protesters did not like that deal either. they want the president to go unconditional alley with no immunity from prosecution. and today they also sent a message that they would not lead the country into civil war as the president has warned. this time there had been attacks on public buildings

with government opponents gaining control of buildings that included the state news agency and the national airline. inside the presidential palace, the president was as calm as he has been throughout this prolonged crisis. speaking to the media, he seems to be rejecting the mediation effort led by yemen's neighbors that so nearly brought a deal over the weekend. this, he insisted, was an internal crisis to be solved by yemenis alone. >> we do not want the yemen cause to be international. this is an internal affair. and all political parties in yemen should engage in dialogue. the solution is in their hands. it is not from the outside. >> with the upsurge in violence in the capital, yemenis have been ing their homes taking with them what they can. so yemen's prolonged and violent crisis continues with still no clear end in sight.

>> egypt has opened permanently the rafah border crossing with the gaza strip saturday. the crossing is the only way in and out of gaza that bypasses israel. opening it will be a major shift in policy for egypt. the perform president hosni mubarak opposed the hamas administration in gaza and helps israel enforce a blockade of the strip. this is a former advisor to the palestinian leadership and he is with the u.s. think tank and he has been explaining what the opening of the crossing would mean for 1.5 million people living in gaza. >> it would mean the first time in more than four years that palestinians in the gaza strip, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, can move in and out of the gaza strip more or less freely. up until this point, it has been what many people have described as an open air prison. i think it will have a major

economic impact when you allow people and goods to move back and forth, but also psychologically, just the sense of siege i think will be lifted. >> egypt says it hasn't consulted any foreign country in making this decision. there has been no official reaction from israel. what do you think the reaction from tel aviv will be when it comes? >> well, i mean, i think it's clear that they're unhappy about the decision. we have heard statements in the past, i mean, and the fact that they have maintained and insisted on maintaining the blockade for all of these years. we know they won't be happy with it. it's a sign really of the dramatic changes that are happening in the region, the change in government in egypt and with it, a very different kind of foreign policy orientation. i mean, this event really is sort of at the nexus of two major developments in the region. the first is the so-called arab

spring and the change in egypt in particular and the second is the collapse of the israeli-palestinian peace process. and so this development is really at the nexus of both of those. >> riot police in georgia have cleared anti-government protesters from outside the parliament building in pleasy. they broke up the protests ahead of independence day celebrations on thursday. they are calling for the president to step down. they accuse him of monopolizing power and failing to tackle poverty. you're watching bbc news. still to come, work hard and overcome your fears. the first lady of the united states has given some personal advice to british teenagers. switzerland has become the very first european nation to announce plans to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the accident in japan. the government says the

country's five nuclear power stations will close gradually over the next 20 years. the anti-nuclear lobby wanted more immediate action. will grant reports. >> switzerland has some of the oldest nuclear power facilities in europe. following the disaster at the fukushima nuclear plant in japan earlier this year, it was the first european nation to stop plans for new development. the government has gone a step farther. not only will there be new reactors built, but the current ones will be gradually phased out. >> the government made the decision that we will leave our nuclear power plants working, but when they come to the end of their safety period, we don't want to build any new nuclear power plants. >> switzerland has five nuclear reactors which will be slowly shut down over the next 23 years.

the government says it's going to make up for the shortfall in production by investing in renewable energy sources instead. for many anti-nuclear campaigners in switzerland, the decision didn't go far enough. they had called for the immediate shutdown of the country's two oldest reactors including this one. but with fukushima still fresh in the memory, the decision to move away from nuclear will be broadly welcomed in a country which regularly experiences seismic activity. will grant, bbc news. >> all flight restrictions in europe have been lifted after a disruption caused by ash clouds from an icelandic volcano. the nation's forecasts suggest the skies should remain clear for some days to come. this is bbc news. the headlines -- a major speech in london, president obama h st

american and european leadership because they stand for tolerance and self-determination. mounting anger in pakistan over the u.s. raid on osama bin laden's compound, it seems to have caused washington to withdraw some of its military advisors from the country. now in the past couple of minutes, we have got some news from the u.s. state department which is clearly concerned about the rising violence in yemen. it has advised the state department nonessential u.s. diplomats to leave the country and it's also urging private americans to leave. that's just coming in from the state department in washington. two of the most powerful figures in world football have been accused of bribery. the allegations against fifa's vice president jack warner and mohamed bin hammam, the man who is hoping to replace as the fifa president are the most serious corruption claims that the world football body has faced. here is david bond. >> fifa's plush headquarters in switzerland have been under siege amid a series of damaging

corruption allegations filed against its most senior officials. and today the most damaging so far levels against this man, mohamed bin hammam running to be the next president. he told me earlier this year he wanted to clean up fifa. a second member of the executive committee, vice president jack warner is also implicated in the corruption allegations. according to sources i have spoken to tonight, bin hammam and warner are accused of trying to bribe caribbean football officials with bundles of cash in terms of supporting him in next week's vote. the claims are backed up by signed affidavits are the significant claims to hit fifa yet because they come from inside the governing blowing. here is the whirlle blower.

-- whistleblower. the crisis puts a big question mark on whether the fifa presidential election between the current president and benham on wednesday will go ahead. bin hammam has declared the charge a tactic used by those who have no confidence in their own ability to emerge successfully from the presidential election. >> it's difficult to see how allegations or smears as serious as this can be properly investigated and decide upon in a matter of days or hours next sunday as it appears to be the intention. >> short on time or not, many will applaud fifa for finally taking action. whatever the outcome of this latest inquiry, the repercussions for world football could be felt for years to come. david bond, bbc news. >> well, there is another election to come and diplomats say there is increasing support for the french finance minister to be the new head of the international monetary fund.

she is attempting to replace strauss con. she has the support of the european union countries and diplomats say the united states is also backing her. however, brazil and other emerging commission urge the west to stop automatically appointing a european. the mexican central banker is also a credible candidate. he has told the bbc he is at a disadvantage. >> many countries are waiting to see what the other countries, what their characteristics are to make up their mind. certainly i think that as time passes, probably certainly more support will come along. we don't have emerging markets. we don't have an organization as the europeans have to present a candidate and i think that's the main difference. what i hope now is that

countries start doing this in an objective fashion, the characteristics, the advantages, the merits of all of the different candidates and after that, they should make up their mind. >> and the former head of the i.m.f. has been moved to a new location in new york city. he was seen smiling as he left an apartment in manhattan. he will remain under house arrest on sexual assault charges until he is due back in court on june 6. there are no words to match this moment. that's how oprah winfrey described greeting the studio audience for her final broadcast. after 25 years, the queen of american tv's daytime talk has said farewell to the program which brought her both worldwide fame and untold richardson. steve kingston reports from washington. >> she appeared alone, no guests, no real fanfare, just an adoring public and a moment

of intimacy watched by millions. >> something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. this last hour is really about me saying thank you. it is my love letter to you. >> the stars had come out 24 hours earlier to salute the queen of chat and lament the vacating of her throne. >> i know you don't have children of your own, but you have mothered millions. >> however they spend week-day afternoons, oprah's departure leaves a large hole in the lives of millions of americans. >> she is a big part of american culture. i do believe in a lot of the topics that she had on her show as being very inspirational. >> she has shown people that in the united states if you really work hard, you can accomplish anything. >> this is the little girl born into the biting poverty of the deep south who would become a

billionaire mega star. destiny called in 1986, this was the first nationally televised show. and here oprah appeared alongside a cart load of fat to illustrate her dramatic weight loss. >> this is what 67 pounds of fat looked like. >> your family is here. >> if there was a heart string to tug, oprah tugged it confronting the trials of life, hers and theirs together. >> every woman, every man, every child who watched the show and made a decision, had a thought about changing something in their life. >> oprah even gave away cars to her studio audience. >> everybody gets a car! >> unashamed extravagance, compelling television. and in her own words, this is how it ended. >> i won't say goodbye.

i'll just say until we meet again. >> steve kingston, bbc news, washington. >> and finally, while president obama was addressing both houses of britain's parliament on wednesday, his wife, the first lady michelle, was talking to a group of school girls from london. she met them two years ago. on wednesday, she spoke to them in oxford. >> the first lady is as much of a star draw as her husband. the audience here may not be as big as or grand as at westminster hall. for michelle obama, it's just as important. >> i want to recognize these brilliant young women from the elizabeth garret anderson school. >> it may not seem that way on the surface, but michelle obama sees herself in these girls. >> i felt this strong sense of connection with all of you because in your stories, i saw so much of my own story.

and i knew that i wanted to visit with all of you in a place like this. look around. just look at this. all of us believe that you belong here, that this is a place for you as well. >> the message is about dreaming big and aiming high as she did, princeton, harvard, and top lawyer and being mom-in-chief is right up there. >> the most important thing to me is raising strong women and raising my daughters well probably because that's what my mother did for me. i push my girls and more importantly, i love them a lot. that's what i feel for all of you. i want you guys to feel that in your lives so that you can be excellent, ok. >> and then it was almost time

to say goodbye. michelle obama has often pointed to her own humble origins growing up on the south side of chicago as the closest example of regardless of ballgame, high achievement is always possible. with her commitment to education, she has inspired many young people with a single comment. it's good to be smart. for some, this was the second meeting with the first lady. >> it was definitely more exciting now. being in oxford and also getting to hug her as well. >> michelle obama wants these girls to have more than just a day trip to oxford. they are smitten by her face in them. >> inspirational. >> memorable. >> perfect. >> mission accomplished. >> well, the obama state visit to the united kingdom has now come to an end. they are heading, at least the president is to france for the g8 summit. you're watching bbc news.

>> 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 presented by kcet los angeles.