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wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> here there the headlines p >> america's top military expert gives his assessment on the afghan strategy p >> the president's decisions are more aggressive and incure more risk. more force for more time is the safer course. >> european leaders say they have to press with cuts. >> awarning that japan needs to do more with it nuclear plants in fukushima. >> tension with china in disputed areas in the south china sea. >> it's 11:00 here in

singapore. >> broadcasting to viewers in america and around the world. >> hello, and welcome. america's top military officer has admitted that president obama's decision to accelerate the withdraw of afghanistan is riskier than what he originally wanted. a third of the fourth to be brought home by september of next year. har mid karzai welcomed the move but the taliban vowed to continue fighting. >> the president says the tied of war is turning but he's hardly posing as a victor. these men spearheaded his surge and he was hesitant telling

them of a decision unpopular with their generals. >> we have turned a corner where we can begin to bring back some of our troops. we're not doing it precipitously. we're going to do it in a -- in a steady way to make sure that the gains that all of you helped to bring about are going to be sustained. >> the white house says the remaining troops can start coming home at a steady pace ending their combat role. many in the pentagon say it's too quick and too large. >> the president's decisions are more agressive and incur more risks than i was original prepared to accept. >> the ultimate decision was a more aggressive formulation, if you will in terms of the timeline than what we had recommended. >> the military have waited in

deep in afghanistan. progress has been awkward and they feel they're winning. but the president has been brutal arguing it's all about denying terrorists the base not making afghanistan a perfect place. where he leads, others will follow. >> today european countries fighting outside america have outlined plans leaving afghanistan. >> france will withdraw next month. germany has just 4,500 troops will end too. the foreign secretary who's in the region says there's no decision on how many will go this year. >> we will continue to assess the level of british forces based on the conditions on the ground. but of course, leaving to a point in 2015, by 2015 where we will not have combat troops

fighting in afghanistan. some will not like the idea, the president isn't waiting for conditions to change and he's defying military advice. this is a slightly uncomfortable day for the president. but he's doing what the majority of americans want, ending the war. and with an election around the corner, voters outrank generals. >> european union leads meeting in brussels have told greece there is no plan b when it comes to rescuing the country when it comes to debt crisis. monetarily fund loans can be made before the country can gain. >> this was the summit in which 27 heads of state have finally hoped to draw a line under the greek financial crisis that

threatens the stability of the entire europe currency shared by 17 of their members. but with greece days away from a vote on the latest e.u. austerity package, even paying the latest installments of the exiing bailouts have had to be put on ice. so the main objective seems be putting public pressure on athens to deliver. the e.u. president urged greece not to sherk from its reform program. and there was one surprise, he made it clear that the idea of rolling over some of greece's international loans without incurring a default might still be possible. >> the euro area heads of state and government agree that required additional funding will be financed through both official and private sources. they endorse, the approach decided on the euro on the 20th of june, the private sector

involvement the frm of informal and voluntary roll-overs of existing debt while avoiding a selective default. >> there was also talk of helping greece by releasing more e.u. funds to help it grow and create jobs. the country refused to back the austerity plans. >> we should always be prepared in democracies for the will of our deputies and parliamenttary procedures. there will be a strong commitment from greets at the same -- greece at the same time. >> the final communique has to be agreed upon in the morning. they will act together in the national interest. >> nigel cassidy reporting there from brussels. >> now let's get the very latest from the situation in misrata.

the libya be sieged siege. you have all the details for us. >> yes, there are fresh attacks on the city of misrata, targeting civilians. colonel gaddafi forces are still very much on the offensive in many parts of libya. many of those rockets are aimed at the port in the city which are at the rebels and misrata. >> the daily scramble. a volunteer ambulance crew races through misrata. here's why. more rockets have just hit the city center. the doctor hunts for casualties. a residential home destroyed. but this time no one injured. we'll all civilians here, he says. that is clearly the case. >> you have to go now because

maybe -- maybe right now he will repeat that in the same place. we have to go now. the feature is catching. this man asks us not to film incase it helps colonel gaddafi to aim his missiles better next time and the next time is never far off hand. daily strikes on the city and its lifeline. and look what's inside. tiny fall bering. fresh shrapnel marks carry the home. and shelima now flifrpbls at the sightest soun. her pregnant mother was injured when the rocket hit. gaddafi is killing children, she said and destroying our homes. so many women are being left without husbands. >> from the front lines outside

misrata and into the heart of this be sieged cities, the rockets keep coming slashing into residential neighborhoods like this one and prompting two neighbors why is colonel gaddafi targets civilians and why can't nato stop him? a rare glimpse here of the forces be sieging this city. another explosion and they're on the move. gaddafi forces quick to hide their heavy weapons from nato. the fiercest fighting remains at the front. increasingly the casualties include many nonsoldiers. >> no one is safe. you can get a rocket anywhere. so the civilians are affected, the kids, the women because of this random shooting. >> you feel it's a war crime? >> of course, it's a war crime.

of course, it's a war crime. >> nighttime and while families wonder where it's safe to sleep, the ambulance is on the move again. andrew harding, "bbc" news, misrata. >> oil prices are recovering after falling sharply thursday, that's following the international agency. it's only the third time the i.b.a. has released on the market some of the crude market it keeps in reserve. the extra supplies are needed to plug the gap caused by the destruction of oil supplies from libya. the japanese government says damages caused by the tsunami will cost $209 billion which is lower than previously experted. the figure doesn't include damages by the nuclear disaster that followed. it concludes in vienna today. contingency plan being discussed at the meeting cannot

be prepare for all scenarios. >> obviously, there are lessons to be learned from the crisis. one of the problems, however, that exists in these types of situations where the dynamic nature of the situation requires a ramped up response. it is very difficult to prepare a contingency plan. as a result of that, although there are lessons that can be gained from the mistakes made in fukushima, i also think that it will be increasingly difficult to prepare contingency measures to cover virtually anything that's going to happen in the future with regard to nuclear problems. >> certainly some of the participants at this meeting have approved the idea of conducting stress tests. will these be helpful in averting a crisis like

fukushima? >> well, from an engineering perspective, i think, yes, you know, most engineers would agree it's helpful to have as much information as possible about how reactors will respond in some circumstances. i think we need to keep in mind that one of the reasons for the incident in chernobyl was that the engineers were actually initiating just such tests on those reactors. >> still to come on the program. we take a look at how asia's influence has changed through the centuries. and the many faces of her majesty. we take a look at a new exhibition marking the 16 years of the queen's reign. >> at least 100 people are reported being injured in

violent clashes between police and people in dakar. president wade has abandoned the proposals. >> a city on the edge. he's running battles between riot police and protestors. this was the result. police fired run -- rubber bullets. but the protestors weren't given up. they were angered by reforms. they would guarantee the president victory in next year's election and make sure his son as vice president. >> what's going on here? it's a coo organized by the --

coup organized by the group. >> we don't want our president anymore m and we're ready to die. it's long being seen as west africa's most stable area. but not on thursday. they demanded concessions. the president backed down and withdrew his proposals. but still the violence continues. there's growing anger about the 84-year-old president who's been in power for a decade. they blame him for daily power cuts and the rising cost of living. this is far from over. >> the crew held captive for nearly a year then released by somali pirates have been released home to karachi. the ransom was paid $2 million for their release.

>> our main headlines -- president obama announces he'll withdraw a third of trps from afghanistan. the top military officer said the plan is riskier than he originally wanted. >> a senior japanese nuclear official said the country should prepare for even bigger tsunamis. >> the secretary of state hillary clinton says america is in talks with the philippines. >> we are concerned that recent incidents in the south china sea could undermine peace and stability in the region. we urge all sides to exercise self-restraint and we will continue to consult closely

with all countries involved including our treaty allies, the philippines. >> the philippines is looking to the u.s. for assistance. >> it's undoubtedly a period of huge tension between many different countries involved in this. the philippines are saying they're denying incursions of various sorts, tiny ships in what the philippines consider to be their territory and with vietnam as well. china has said it doesn't want the u.s. to get involved. this is a bye lateral issue. -- bye lateral issue. but they have close ties with america and wants to get america involved in this at least in terms of discussions. they say it's an international issue. and the philippines has repeatedly said, well, we're a small country. we, you no, realistically we will do our best to defend what we think is ours. but you know, we would like

their help. >> the prime minister has given an impassioned defense of political protest last year saying he did everything he could to avoid violence. he made his comments during an election campaign rally stage at a sight once occupied by the redshirts. with ve been looking at the polls the bangkok. >> his opponent, the opposition . the polls are not very reliable. there have been a slew of them in recent weeks. the lead appears to be growing. now the key question may become if they were to win, would they win enough to form a government on their own as a absolutely majority or would they have to go into coalition with smaller parties.

and that is the point at which some people here fear there could be problems. it could be then that the military can intervene in some way. unlikely that it would be a coup. i mean, this is all speculation at this stage. we haven't even had the polling yet. but the sense of the reporting, the sense of what people are saying is that they are predicting an opposition victory. it's just a question of how big. the one person and one party of course would deny that. and he gave an impassioned employee not to vote for the opposition. because a vote for the opposition is for taxing chenua. >> the bbc has been speaking to indian's spokesman and how

they're surpassing the economic power of the west. >> i'm in the dockland area. this was the heart of the britain empire. i come to middle east the indian novelist about his sprawling mid 19 century novel about empire. india, china and the united kingdom. what does he think about the power of asia then and now? >> hi. very nice to see you. >> when you think about what must have been here, what comes to your mind? >> it would have been very noisy, very chaotic, very dirty. and asians really are the motor -- i mean, in terms of the

trade, in terms of generating the trade. >> what's in the back of your mind that you wanted to write a historical novel at the power of asia? >> you know it wasn't in the become of my mind at all. it was an exploration of -- personal opinions. the enden chured workers. but then i realized that you could not separate that from the opium trade because the opium trade was so much in the background of the movement. and now having written so much of it, i realize that china was the motor of the global economy in the 18th and 19 centuries as well. it's just that they weren't getting rich off of it. all the cream was coming here. >> we've been talking about the past and where standing -- actually we look at the future as well. we've got hsbc. >> yeah. yes. yes. and where did that start?

you know? >> is what we're seeing the rise of inyeah and china going to shift once more? >> i don't think so, because you know, even in the 17th and 18th -- 1th and 19th century, you know, in there china was trading an enormous amount -- except as i said all the cream of that trade came here to london. what assisted most of all is the profits of that trade now remain in india and china and that's been the big difference. >> is there a sense though that although people are relishing what's happening in the east, there is a major threat to the heg moany of the west? >> i don't see that people in the west are relish this at all. i sense a lot of resentiment and fear. they feel deeply threatened

because you know the hegemonny is eroding. i think in fact, they would do anything to maintain that hegemonny. why would they start forcing opium in china? it was done in a sort of carefully thought of way sen rnlly to undermine choy knees iness -- chinese institutions. i think they would go to great lengths. >> you've got details now of one of the most tainted couples in the word. can -- in the world. >> it's not william kate. it is queen, queen elizabeth and the duke of edinburgh. they've been the subject of thousands of portraits. it's spanning the sixth decade of the queen's reign and nicholas has been taking a look.

>> her ma jestity was received by the theater manager. >> it's been said that over the nearly 60 years of her reign she's been the most visually depicted person. her image captured in thousands of photographs and in paintings which have caused a stir. >> this one by petro and negony. >> now one of the most memorable images of the queen have been brought together in the scottish museum. >> their second portrait painted in 1969. in complete contrast, the six pistols record cover which caused widespread offense and in more recent development a three die mention nalhol gram from -- dimensional hol gram.

>> i find this is such a tender moment and how incredibly immediate it is in terms of conveying the -- the intensity of her predict y. other memorable images include these from the pop artist andy war hol. and from the 1990's a news photograph of the queen as you were rounded by flowers laid in memory of the late diana princess of wales. the latest photographic portrait of the queen and the duke of edinburgh taken at winsor castle just a few weeks ago. >> it will move from belfast. and next week to the queen's diamond museum. >> we have some breaking news

for you from the reuters news agency. we're being told there has been an earthquake a magnitude 7.3 in the pacific ocean off of the skeanian coast. it's around 172 kilometers alaska in the pacific ocean. concern there because japan recently has a cake with -- a tsunami warning. 7.3 magnitude off the coast of alaska. >> much more on our website, all of our stories including that breaking news. but from us, bye-bye for now.