>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freepman foundation of new york, stow, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation and union bank. >> union bank has put its global

exer tease to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> unside syria hundreds of refugees escape the violence. we have a special report. reforming morocco, team mohammed offers changes. >> we hear from a libyan student who's traveled home from britain to join the battle against colonel gaddafi. welcome to "bbc news" broadcasting to america and across the globe coming up later for you. >> saudi women go online to fight the ban of the wheel. >> what's the name? how a man came to the rescue of a resident of a small u.s. town.

>> hello and welcome. the south korean military says the troop stopped it after mistaking it for a north korean plane. they fired the rifle at the azeana airline which had more that 100 passengers onboard. thiness den comes amid high tensions between north and south korea. we will bring you more on that when we get it. back to one of our main stories, government forces in syria are reported to have shot dead 16 people after a demonstration against the rule of president assad. across the country thousands have joined in anti-government rallies. 10,000 people are estimated to have fled the violence taking refuge on the border with neighboring turkey. journalists are banned from syria. but matthew price has crossed

into the country and has a special report. >> we took the route the smugglers used, winding through the olive groves and down the hillside to avoid the border patrols. after an hour's hike, we were inside syria. this is how some 10,000 now live here stranded along the border, too scared of their own army to return home. in one tent sat fatmak kabichi, frail. i came here because of the violence, she said, because of the army. we're frightened of them. everyone here has a tale of horror. few will tell theirs on camera, too afraid of repry sals. but their stories are similar. >> we were watching from a place in the city so that we could

tell our family what is was happening. the soldiers went in with tanks and army vehicles. they brought bulldozers and they started to attack the buildings. they stole whatever they wanted and then tay set fire to them. >> the people of syria have been all but sealed off for three months now as the president has tried to crush a rebellion he blames on religious extremists. >> what many people tell us that the syrian army and police are getting closer to this edge. we believe they're two or three miles in that direction. on the other side of the country, we also know that army units are getting closer to centers of rebellion along the iraqi border. the tactic seems clear, the army, the regime is trying to assert its dominance across the country to quash the rebellion. >> and this many here told us is how the army's doing it. we can't show this mobile phone

footage. it's of a dead man with a long bloody wound along the top of his skull. what does this make them think of their president -- >> assad she's a trader, he told us. he should give us our free do such open decent was once unheard of in syria. it is perhaps a sign that this brutality is actually fanning its flames. >> king mohammed of morocco has proposed reform that will increase the authority of the prime minister and parliament. the king set forward the plans in a speech to the nation three months after announcing a review of the constitution following anti-government protest. >> the pressure on king mohammed has been mounting for months. protestors have been on the streets since february, inspired

by the arab spring, they've been demanding reform. then in april an explosion killed seven tourists. all that added to call for change. now in a rare appearance on national television he said he'll surrender some of his powers to parliament. the king said he was committed to a new constitution which he said it represented a watershed for the country. but left unsaid the king keeps much of his power and stays on as head of his army. but will it be enough to satisfy the people of morocco? a referendum will be held in july. that's when they'll get to have their say. >> rebels in libya say that at least 10 people have been killed by colonel gaddafi's forces. rebel numbers have been swelled by some libyans who live aboard

join the fighting in misrata. one student left behind his studies in britain to join the front line. >> in high spirits, rebels heading for be sieged city of misrata. and the front lines that surround it. >> among today's reinforcement, a young math student from lancaster university. >> in england i couldn't do much for this revolution. so i decided to go and hold the gun for the first time in my life. >> his father has come to greet him but gaddafi forces has taken 16 members of their family. within hours a shy earnest student seems transformed. it's a short journey to the front lines.

but is sadik ready for this? those were uncomfortably close. gaddafi'ses superior fire power is a constant threat to these part-time soldiers. >> this is a very front line here -- very active front line. colonel gaddafi forces just down the road. we can hear the missiles whistling over head. nato patroling the skies too. the men here are braces themselves for what they can believe could be an eminent gaddafi offensive. in a quieter moment sa dick's train -- sadik'ses training begins. he hopes his math skills will help with targeting. >> i don't want to kill anybody, actually. i tell my friends, they do want to kill me. but we have to fight.

so where's the enemy now? over there. >> sadik's lack of experience is nothing new here. the rebels need weapons and too many are dying. >> and so after a mere hour or so of training, sadik joins the ranks. either we live in peace and freedom or we die. or we die. >> engineers at the earthquake damaged fuke shima nuclear plant in japan has suspended an operation to clean more than 100,000 pounds of raid active water. we -- radioactive water. explain why this clean-up operation has been suspended? >> it's been suspended because a radioactive material built up

than had been expected and they're trying to find out the cause of that. and this operation is critical because clearing the radioactive water from the plant is a vital first step to bringing the reactors under control. what they've been doing ever since the march 1 1 earthquake is hosing down the reactors to keep them cool. that means more than 100 tons of water has been there. they need to clean it. it's the rainy season here in japan. so the fear is that the pools of water could overflow spilling more radiation in the pacific. >> this will become a setback for tetco a company ha has been criticized about its own handling of this. >> the government has been criticized as well. and tetco is saying that this isn't a malfunction, it's just something unexpected.

but this operation filtering the water has hit some setbacks. they discovered leaks in the system. tetco is saying that it's still on track to bring the crisis under control. it aims to do that by bringing the reactors to a cold shutdown by jab january at the latest. but some experts do believe that that does sound to be a little bit optimistic. >> and roland, is there any concern about this radio activity spreading now? >> there is certainly a concern about radiation. there's a 22 primster and some fields have been evacuated. the government says that it's monitoring. they're describing as radiation hot spots and their likely to be evacuating soon. >> roland with the very latest from tokyo. thank you very much.

still ahead, china plans to build an exact replica of an alpine village and austrians who said they were not consulted. >> mexico's liquid gold is falling into the hands of criminals. that's according to one of the company's companies. it says it's facing massive losses because of criminal gangs tapping at the pipes and stealing the contents. >> mexico is the world's seventh largest oil producer and profit from the state-owned oim joint make up a third of a country's revenues. illegal tapping has reached an all-time high and it's hurting its finances. [speaking in spanish] >> this year through april our estimated losses tooment $251 million. it's slightly above the total

amount stolen in 2010. [speaking in spanish] >> this means that almost 70% of the company firsts quarter profits were lost to organized crime gang. they steal the oil from pipelines using state of the art technology and then sell it in mexico and according to the mexican government in the united states. officials admitted they gangs have kidnapped pemex workers. 28 people were killed in the city of puebla and other similar blasts are in the country. mexico's war against organized crime seems to have opened a new front. >> the former head of football's world governing body fifa joel is being investigated over corruption allegations. it follows claims in a bbc

programs in he was given $1 billion bribe from i.s.l. fifa has refused to investigation the allegations. the committee has asked to examine the bbc's evidence. you're watching "bbc news." tens of thousands of people across syria has defied the security forces to sage anti-government protest. >> the king of morocco has reform in response to the unrest sweeping the arab world. >> the leaders of the two largests euro zone economy has provided a new package. the german chancellor and nicholas sarkozy have been meeting in berlin to discusses the proposal. >> gavin hewitt reports.

>> a cabinet reshuffle greek style. european leaders and the financial markets watched as a new cabinet was sworn in. facing violent unrest the prime minister dumped his finance minister, a desperate gamble but a new team could more easily push through osterity measures and so prevent a devastating default. outside parliament the protestors remain at the gate. late evening, they were sitting in. they heard that the new finance minister might try and negotiate with his european pay masters to suffer some of the reforms. the protestors were skeptical. the mood here was uncompromising, no more osterity. >> the more osterity you have people are more unemployed, the economy's collapsing. it's an obvious thing.

the protestor who is have been campaigning here for weeks are trying to make it impossible for the government to implement carts. >> away from these pro-tersors there have -- protestors there have also been division about how to protest this. their two leaders were meeting in berlin. >> the smiles didn't disguise the tension between president sarkozy and chancellor angelo merkle. they wanted to shoulder some of the burden of a second greek bailout. the french disagreed. today angelo merkle backed down. >> our economic strength depends on a strong euro and because of thisly do everything to ensure the euro'ses stability. >> greece's debt mount stands at

$298 billion pounds. just a year ago greece was loaned $95 billion in a bailout. it didn't do the trick and a seconds bailout of $106 billion pounds is being considered. >> europe has to make up its minds where they're going have the will and the financial resources to address this finally and definitively or whether it faces a kind of chaos. >> the next big test will come early next week with a confidence vote in the prime minister's leadership. >> it's been announced that the u.s. congresswoman gabriel giffords will visit tucson for the first time since she was shot there in january. she was released five months after a gunman opened fired at one of her campaign events. six people were killed in the shooting. >> women in saudi arabia have been openly driving cars in

defiance of an official ban of female drivers in the ultraconservative kingdom. the action has been organized on social network sights. >> it's friday the 17th of june and i'd like to go to the supermarket says the woman at the wheel of a car. a routiner rand but in saudi arabia, a mission strictly clan december stein. the pictures have come from a -- clandestined. the pictures have come from a website. and she drives in the early hours of the morning. all this is about is that if i need something i can go and get it. saudi arabia is the only country where women are prevented from driving. there's no written law as such. but driver licenses are not issued to women. now, though, campaigners have turned to the internet to gather support.

>> we should have courage in this country at the highest levels. the leadership in the country should resolve the issue so women are not deprived of their natural rights. women are part of this society. they form at least 50% of this community. why deprive half of the community of their rights? >> this youtube video show assaady woman driving while talking to a passenger. we want change in the country, she said. last month the authorities arrested her. she's now been released but tens of thousands offer people have said to join the campaign calling for her acquittal. the determination defy the ban on women driving has made the government nervous in this era of instant communication. >> in a matter of 30 minutes, i guess we were reported, we were attacked at the bus. six cars were surrounding us and

they took us to the police station. we weren't allowed to leave unless our guardians came and signed a pledge to take us to town. >> some saudi women experience problems of harassment when driving in taxis. driving themselves would allow them greater independence and security. public protests in saudi arabia are extremely rare and it's why this poll for social change has drawn for so much attention. >> in april the town of filcambo was almost destroyed of a tornado. residents were celebrating their hundreds university but canceled their plans by -- because of working on their homes.

it's a unique and philanthropic event. [sirens] >> the path of the storm was from a mile to a mile and a quarter and even a little bit wider than that in areas. we were notified that it was on the way there. gave us about seven minutes to prepare. and it didn't matter. if it's a mobile thome 12 feet wide or a $250,000 home same effect. this ef-5 tornado did a clean sweep. this lays in ruins. the twister sliced through the middle o town taking homes snapping trees like toothpicks and taking lives. it was the deadliest storms in alabama's history. >> a lot of people we found were alive. a lot of people we found that were di ceased. -- deseesd we were fortunate not

to lewis more than 120 people. are >> the residents are slowly starting to clean-up and rebuild. now they have help frp a group of men who share a unique link from the town of phil campbell. the original idea is to have -- meet in a place that bears their name. it was decided that we would still come. there was a little bit of a pause well, what can you do. then excitement. kind of growing enthusiasm for the idea that we were still committed and trying to make a difference. >> and collectively they are making a real difference. >> everywhere you look through this devastated community there are signs of reconstruction and rebuilding but with the help of phil campbell, phil campbell and phil campbell and all the other phil campbells heading from all over the world, this is now an international relief effort. >> to be able to be come here and do even a little bit to help

and to raise money, and with our connection phil campbells, it's a wonderful opportunity to try to help. people have been just also savage time, really. >> i guess i couldn't wait to get up in the morning and talk to people and see how they was doing and you know, really get firsthand knowledge and see if i could do anything. >> all i can do is empathize and support them in the best way that i can. and that is to use my name in the the same way everybody else the taking part. it's indirectly get donations to help them rebuild. >> so far the phils have raised over 30,000 dollars. but perhaps more importantly, they brought hope to their newly adopted home. andy gallagher, "bbc news" phil campbell, beal. >> picture this, a scenic

village enlisted as a unesco world heritage sight. now it seems they like it so much they decided to build a replica in the guanzon province and the austrians have not too happy about it. >> it's easy to see why people like this place. majestic mountains nestling on an alpine lake. some of these buildings are thousands of years old. >> asian and chinese visitors inundate the streets of the village all year round drawn by its history and stunning scenery. but the chinese love it so much they decided to build an exact replica thousands of miles away in guan dong province. needless to say, some residents

were angry and shocked that the chinese had kept their intentions secret. >> i saw these pictures, the most indepth documents with the most detail plans of houses, balconies, gables, win doughs, -- windows, and even the trinity statute behind. >> in guan dong province, construction is already underway. the bulldozers have moved in. and buildings are springing up. but the views at the chinese version at the unesco world heritage sight bears little resemblance. they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. but it may take more than a lake and some hills to the stature of this place.

>> now the largest emerald from the world has been displayed for the first time in colombia. it weighs about five pounds. it was found five years ago in boyaka. that's 75 miles north of bogota. according to specialist a one carat emerald can be sold between $s 1,000 and $100,000 depending on its quality. theer raled value is not even measurable. -- the emerald value is not even measurable. a reminder of our breaking news. the south korean military says troops fired at a sill villian airline. official -- civilians airplane. they fired their rival at the flight from china which had more than 100 passengers onboard. much more at the top of the

hour. you've been watching "bbc news." >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freepman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global financial strength for a wide range of companies. >> "bbc world news" was present