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what can we do for you? >> and now bbc world news. >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. >> more than 30,000 u.s. troops will leave afghanistan by the end of next year. president obama sets out his plans for its withdrawal. >> future challenges remain. this is the beginning, not the end of our effort to wind down this war. >> he admits he has his back to the wall, but will never give up the fight after 19 civilians are killed in nato bombing raids. >> two months in detention, he has been released by authorities. >> it is 9:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> and it is 2:00 a.m. here in london.

>> hello and welcome. president obama has announced the withdrawal of 10,000 u.s. troops from afghanistan this year and another 23,000 by september 2012. mr. obama -- mr. obama's announcement outlined the exit of the forces he sent. the reductions are larger and faster than military commanders have advised. while president obama said u.s. forces were fulfilling their goals in the afghanistan, it led to this announcement today. >> we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this year. we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge by

analyst at west point. after this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as afghan security forces moved into the lead. our mission will change from combat to support. by 2014, this process of transition will be complete and the afghan people will be responsible for their own security. >> he added that, by working together with their allies, the afghan forces are ready to meet the challenge . >> in afghanistan, we have inflicted serious losses on the taliban and taken a number of its strongholds. along with their surge, our allies also increased their commitments which helped stabilize more of the country. afghan security forces have grown by over 100,000 troops and, in some provinces and municipalities, we have already begun to transition responsibility for security to the afghan people. in the face of violence and intimidation, the afghans are fighting and dying for their country.

they are establishing local police forces, opening markets and schools, creating new opportunities for women and girls, and tried to turn the page on decades of war. of course, a huge challenges remain. this is the beginning, but not the end of our effort to wind down this war . >> president obama with the details a week -- of the withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. stay with us because we will be speaking with richard white, the director of the center for political military analysis. the colonel gaddafi has accused nato of murdering civilians in its bombing campaign against its forces. in a message broadcast by libyan television, first public reaction to two recent raids in which chileans died. he said that nato was telling lies by saying that it could do everything it could to avoid non-military targets. the held funerals for the victims of the bombings on

monday. jeremy has sent this report. >> an hour's drive west of tripoli, nato killed 15 people here, including at least three children and two women. this man is one of colonel gaddafi's closest advisers and the owner of the house that was destroyed. two of his grandchildren and his mother are among the dead. >> nato is killing our children. youyou are a killer. >> nato pulverized the country estate on monday. close monitoring showed that it was a command center. the families say that it was of their home. was the decision taken of killing civilians here to save others elsewhere?

>> this is my soul, my kids. these are -- this is not an army. these are kids. what do you want here? >> the deaths raise the moral question at the heart of the nato mission in libya. it's and it is to protect civilians. so is it ever justifiable to kill them? told the people here that nato's mission is clear, to kill innocent civilians and to occupy this country. this will be very disquieting for people in countries to do not believe in aid in the first place. nato says it has saved thousands of lives, worked hard to avoid civilian casualties, and that they gadhafi regime does not. but every time a mission that is supposed to protect civilians kills them, the doubts about it will grow.

>> an outspoken largest and a dissident has been released on bail in china. what more can you tell us about this? >> quite a bit. china's most famous living artist has been released. he had been arrested at the beginning of april and taken into custody prompting an international outcry. chinese state media say he was arrested after tax evasion. but released due to ill health. >> released in the middle of the night, he arrived home after three months in a secret chinese detention center. you cannot talk to? you're not allowed to talk. >> i am on probation . >> on bail, he cannot talk about what happened there. he looked thinner and has aged markedly since he was seized. he gave his thank you for his release and those who campaigned

for his release and is just happy to be home. he is china's most famous living artists. last year, he filled a london museum with his flour's exhibit. in the months before his detention, he had become one of and the most vocal critics of china's communist ruling party. many believe this is why he was targeted. >> your phone is tapped and you are followed and your e-mail are all being monitored. then they come five un brainwash you and scare you or intimidate you or wrongly accused you. >> dozens of other government critics have also been detained. some of them have been sent to labor camps. others have just disappeared. china, in its biggest crackdown in years, is employing a middle

east operation. china's premier wen schaub bao is to visit the uk this weekend -- when joe -- win jao bao is to visit the uk this weekend. >> why have the tennis chosen to release him now? >> we simply -- why have the chinese chosen to release him now? >> we simply do not know. there was a statement from the state news injury saying that he had been released on bail. he had been released because he had apparently confessed to his crimes and was willing to pay the tax that he supposedly is mated over the last few years. that is all we know. the authorities do not say why

they released him or why they held him in the first place. we can obviously speculate that is because the premier wen will be traveling to europe, germany, hungary, later this week. the has been great international pressure on china about his detention. many human rights organizations believe this has played a part. this is why the chinese government has released him. they do not want their premier gun to these countries and facing demonstrations and criticisms -- premier going to these countries and facing demonstrations and criticisms. >> he was released on bail. so what happens to him now? could he be placed under house arrest like other critics of the regime? or could he be sent abroad into exile? >> we simply do not know the answer to that. he returns home late on wednesday night, simply saying,

after being asked how he was held and what you do now, that he could not speak. that appears to be a condition of his release, of the bail conditions. there may be other conditions. he may not be able to speak for some time to journalists or in public. he may have to report to the authorities at given times and they may be able to call him in whenever they want. they might also hold his travel documents. he may not be able to travel abroad. all those things might have been put in place to allow him to be released. we simply do not know at the moment the answers to that question. he has not yet spoken about them. >> thank you for that. and now to the state of the global economy. we have been closely watching the financial fallout from greece. now the u.s. economy has another bitter pill to swallow it as a gaullist that u.s. growth has

slowed and the u.s. -- bitter pill to swallow. it has acknowledged that the youth growth has slowed. >> some recent labor market indicators have also been weaker than expected. >for example the unemployment rate has risen by 0.3% points since march and unemployment insurance has moved somewhat higher. the reduced pace of the recovery partly reflects factors are likely to be temporary. in particular, consumers' purchasing power have been dampened by higher food and energy prices and its aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in japan has been associated with global supply chains, especially in the auto sector. >> we will have a lot more on that dennis van. >> yes. we have been hearing now president obama has announced that 33,000 u.s. troops will be

withdrawn from afghan by the end of the summer of next year. listening to president obama's speech was richard white. he is from the hudson institute in washington. what did you make of the announcement in the sense that president obama has been criticized for withdrawing too quickly and for using this for political gain? he cannot win, can he? >> in a way, there are a range of options being proposed. mine impression was -- my impression was that the flight house was considering them seriously. in a way, he chose a middle course. they will take out 10,000 soon, 30,000 later, but, again, there are actually two surges under the obama administration. when he came into office, there

were 40,000 troops there. early on, he wanted to put in 30,000 and then another 30,000. he is a leak withdrawing the remaining 30,000. there is no right answer. you cannot be sure what will be most effective. some people think that we should try to keep as many troops there as long as possible. that is in the hopes it will stabilize the military situation and that ensures a more benign environment for transition for the afghan government. but there is a problem that they antagonize the afghan population and make it difficult to settle such disputes. by withdrawing the more rapidly, you would force the afghan garmin to step up to the plate. -- the afghan government to step up to the plate. but there were to leave, there would have to get more serious about counterinsurgency. we do not know the answer.

the president has chosen an option and we will have to see how it goes. that is why he said it could be conditional and they would continue to moderate -- monitor .t appeared >> >> these initiatives will include the taliban. that might jar when some people. >> negotiating with al qaeda would have caused a lot of problems. but negotiating with the taliban, in these kinds of wars that we have seen in latin america and other places, unless you plan to kill all of the taliban or put them all in prison and so on, which is not -- which is very difficult to do, you basically have to talk and negotiate with them. maybe a small proportion of the taliban want to engage in negotiations. but as far as a comprehensive strategy relying on the continued use of allied and

military force filling up the afghan government wasn't -- with strong security forces and developing the economy, part of the effort will be in trying to get some of the taliban leadership to come back into the local fold, more broadly -- reading some of the fighters that joined the taliban not -- more broadly, rhee integrating some of the fighters that joined the taliban not out of ideology, but other issues. >> as part of this larger package, looking outside of the afghanistan to months al qaeda leaders in pakistan will be targeted. >> yes. it has become apparent that, even though the president and the administration are correct that there are not trans nationalist terrorist acted in afghanistan, al qaeda has now

spread to parts of yemen, pakistan, elsewhere. even if the administration succeeds in stabilizing the situation in afghanistan, putting in a government that can maintain order, all laws, people in europe, the united states, and asia will have to deal with the terrorist problem. solving it in afghanistan alone will not solve it. the comprehensive effort, dealing with afghanistan, pakistan command of the countries where there is a problem that could lead to trans-nationalist terrorist strikes. >> thank you. >> you are watching news day on bbc live from singapore and london. a report from thailand for the culture ministry has some words about tattoos. and getting ready for one final lift off of the u.s. space

program as it comes to an end. rediscover what is inside the shuttle. british fashion designer has said that his truck and alcohol addictions were to blame for his alleged anti-semitic outburst. he was fined by dior over the allegations and said he had no recollection of them. christian frazier's report shows flash photography. >> today, the usually flamboyant and john galliano snuck into court through a side entrance. this grainy amateur footage was the main exhibit in court. there is a drug looking mr. galliano abusing people while glorifying the holocaust. >> no fair.

people like you would be dead today. >> the bears are told the packed court room that -- the barrister told the packed courtroom that he developed an addiction to sleeping pills. >> they only understand the hallucinations they are experiencing. >> mr. galliano was at the pinnacle of world fashion. but behind his ball eccentricity is a man struggling with the pressure of his work. the french fashion house dior sacked him in the midst of paris fashion week site 8 a zero tolerance policy for antisemitism. they recognize this alarming pattern of behavior. they have been worried about it for some time. >> mr. galliano says he did not recognize or remember the abuse that was filled. he has apologized unreservedly

and told the court that he is now in rehab for an addiction that has ruined his career. >> you are watching news day on the bbc. >> president obama has just announced that more than 30,000 u.s. troops will be pulled out of afghanistan by september 2012. >> and the chinese artist, a vocal critic of the communist party, has been released on bail after 10 weeks in detention. >> the culture ministry in thailand recently courted controversy when it suggested that foreign tourists should resist the temptation to decorate their body with buddhist tattoos. then the ministry went further asking all tattoo artists to ensure that they are applied above the waist.

the ancient traditions and modern designers can happily coexist. >> temples and graphic demons. testaments to the spiritual and the supernatural. the tattoos are used to channel both. the long confuses the design with special powers. it is concerns that are angela to today as they have always been. the potential gain far out ways the pain. >> the tattoo makes other people feel compassionate and affectionate toward me. i believe the tattoo can help me. some girls who did not like me before start to like me now. >> but there is a price to be paid. the recipients of the sacred

tattoo must strict to restrict -- must stick to a strict moral code. that has been forgotten or ignored. now the body art is adorned as much for fashion as for faith. it is not just at tattoos that are in tune with magical power. amulets, object karry for love or protection, have mystical qualities, too. >> many of these are fairly and expensive. but some could sell as much as $30,000 each. it depends on how old they are, who made them, and what particular power they are supposed to possess. an awful lot of people in thailand by then and believe in them from all walks of life. the latest edition of thailand's oldest and most popular and millet magazine ruled off the presses. this twice-weekly glossy sells thousands of copies to

collectors and dealers abroad. the analyst businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. but how does this believe in all things magical square with thailand's image as a modern nation state? there is no contradiction, he tells me. in fact, the magazine has gone high tech to tap into the growing market, launching its own ipad app. >> collecting analysts is not just a hobby, but an investment. now they can see it straight away on the ipad. >> the pressure and demands of modern life applies to ancient traditions. will that help keep faith alive or kill the mystique that lies behind it? >> the final countdown for the shuttle fleet.

>> in just over two weeks, atlantis is set to blast off one last time. after three decades, the shuttle program is coming to a close and the workhorses of the dark sky are in the process of being decommissioned. >> atlantis, the last shuttle, soon to embark on its last ever mission. and now here come the astronauts. there is only one question on everyone's minds. how do you actually feel about being on the last ever launched? happy? sad? a little bit of both? >> happy, sad, a little bit of both. >> that is a very good dancer. >> but when they return from their mission, atlantis will be stripped from its equipment. that is what they're doing to the shuttle discovery. >> turnaround. >> it allows journalists on board for the first time.

this is discovery's flight deck. over there is where the commander would sit. next to him, the pilot. and here are the instruments. if you take a look behind to the windows, this is the cargo bay. one of the engineers shows me the tasks below. it is where the crew eat, sleep, and work. they use velcro to attach equipment that would fly away in the zero gravity of space. >> that is hydrated with hot water or cold water appeared >> there is a tunnel that astronauts call through to get to the cargo bay.

>> 0 m liftoff. >> the shuttles are being retired because they're too old, too expensive, and too dangerous to fly. it leaves america relied on the russians to get its astronauts into space. as the crew prepares for one last mission, it is unclear when, if all, the next generation of american astronauts will be able to follow in their footsteps. >> you have been watching newsday from the bbc. >> a reminder of our main news now. president obama has announced plans for faster withdrawal of american troops from afghanistan. speaking from the fuentez, mr. obama said the first 10,000 personnel -- from the white house, mr. obama said the first 10,000 personnel will be home by the end of this year. much more on our website. you can follow was on twitter.

> make sense of international news @ bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vt., and honolulu. andan's own foundation union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its global

financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles. by kcet los angeles.