>> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> anti-government protests on the street of syria, but a backlash of security leaves at least 15 dead. congress leaves mixed message over libya but funding continues. heavy cuts, how will greece react over its debt forecast. welcome to "bbc world news america," the actor that played the detective on columbo for 30

years died. and now glitz heading to north america for the first time. >> hello, and welcome, let's start the program with breaking news from libya. where a number of footballers from the libya international team have defected. these three members of the national team and the coach. the team goal keeper has been speaking to the correspondent and he said that he felt that colonel qaddafi has done nothing

to help them, and recap that, 17 football professionals have announced their defection to the bbc to rebel forces and they told this in western libya. we will keep you updated. now tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in syria. as the anti-government protests continue. reports suggest that 15 people were killed in the latest protest calling for the remove of al-assad. our correspondent reports from the syria capital, damascus. >> 100 days of protest and continuing with their course and

no change. despite violence, they are out in big numbers. protesters across the country start from this north and descenters, two cities that face the clashes with security and lost loyaltyists in last days. they are also fed up with syria's uprising. the clashes have killed many south of damascus. security is reported to have fired at professors as they were leave the mosque. the first to be killed today, his mother mourning her loss. but president al-assad's loyalists are out in big numbers, they are calling for change but only the ones that president al-assad would lead.

for those on the ground the change does not include this regime but rather force to overthrow it. >> the u.s. house of representatives have dealt a symbolic blow to president obama's military rejection in libya, this reflects the anger of members of congress of mr. obama's refusal to consult them prior to launching the campaign. >> the u.s. congress, home to many who question the wisdom of intervening in libya. but at the same time they don't want to be seen as unpatriotic, so the discussion on friday. >> if the commander of chief

takes our forces into war, he must take ownership of it. and if strikes in libya are critical, it's his responsibility to explain to the american people and seek authorization from this congress. because the president has failed to do that, because he's failed to fulfill his obligations, we are here today. >> but some democrats accuse the republicans of playing politics. >> the message will go all the world, the message will go to qaddafi. the message will go on our allies. the message will go to every nation in the world that america does not keep faith with its allies. >> neither will affect the conflict in libya. but this is embarrassing to obama, and some members of

congress still angry that he didn't consult them. >> the united nations security council has showed their concern of killing of five people on friday. they showed all sides maximum restraints and to reach peaceful settlements among the uprising. the president is receiving medical treatment in saudi arabia after an attempt on his life. there is no alternative to cutting taxes as it deals with its crisis. the stock message was releaseod friday, but what do the greek people think of it. >> greece's fortress, and one of the country's biggest assets.

to watch forces approach from abroad. today athens finds itself under attack once again, teetering on the edge of financial castrophy and could take the rest of europe with it. here many tourists leave here from the greek islands but this port is up for sale. in one of the biggest and most controversial privatization plans the country has seen. the sell-off and other assets of private companies, with greeks reeling from recession. >> the sense of crisis runs through the whole of greek society. this hotel worker hasn't had a pay raise in three years. he's mortgage free but relys on his wife's income as well. >> life is going more expensive.

it's not (inaudible) but we have to pay more money for taxation and insurance. >> greeks often describe their country as a poor one full of rich people, and paying income tax as a lifestyle choice. >> there is a measure of people paying on how much they earn, the government has to get grips of it, after all we are the home of democracy. >> how did greece end up in this mess? should they have gone into the euro zone. >> greece would have been better off and survive, and exist and the recession and poverty will extend. but the performance will go on.

>> but one prominent greek academic thinks that if its passed the omen will be bad. >> it will make the debt crisis important and the clash between the people on the street and politicians will end up with greece ungovernable. >> none of the options seem palletable for greece or the euro zone, with a looming financial hurricane. >> report from athens. report has legalized gay marriage, becoming by far the largest state to do so. cheers resounded by vote of 33-29 to approve the legislation. this is a major advance in the campaign to allow gay marriage throughout the country.

this is described as historic. in argentina the adopted heirs have given dna samples to show whether they were children of prisoners in the 70's. the children herrera say they want to end this clash of the clarin group. >> the country's rainy season has left 200 people dead and cost billions of dollars. >> in southwest china a dramaticerodramatic rescue. the soldiers helping cross the river. the china rainy season has arrived. potential down pours have hit

the providences. in this village the bridges have washed away or left impassable. >> this has had a big impact on all of us. these bridges are the only way for local people to cross the river. >> the rains have also hit towns and cities across the region. downtown streets turn into rivers often causing gridlock. but not enough to stop people from venturing out. so far this rainy season has left nearly 200 people dead and cost losss into the billions. forecasters say that more rain is on the way, china's month of misery is not over yet. >> you are watching bbc world news still ahead, conrad black is sent back to a prison by u.s.

court. one of the heads of ukraine orange revolution, has gone on trial charged abuse of power while in office. saying that the case is politically motivated. >> she is fighting for her political survival. the former prime minister faces 10 years in jail over a 2009 gas deal in russia. prosecutors say that negotiating the deal she exceeded her duties as the prime minister. but she says that the case against her is an attempt to remove her as a political threat. at the trial she defended her role in the gas deal. >> the gas crisis is over because i managed to negotiate

with prime minister putin, we reached an agreement for ukraines to have a 20% discount on the price. inside the courtroom tempers flared. supporters clashed. outside the mood was no less charged. last year she lost a close presidential election to closure, who was the loser in 2004. western governments are concerned that criminal cases of her and her government are in fact political payback. even if she received a suspended sentence, she will be barred from running in political elections next year.

>> you are watching bbc world news, main headlines, in syria at least 15 people have been killed in the latest mass protest. calling for the remove of president al-assad. and congress has refused military action in libya but voted against military cut of funding in operations there. let's get to syria, and i have been speaking to a member from damascus, that told me about a protest on friday. >> protests have gone out in different areas of damascus, this protest was attacked by army and first attacked by teargas and also some stones. before the live ammunition

firing started. it's estimated 25-23 people were injured. we have confirmed six people who died today. one was shot in the head, which seemed like a sniper shot. the upper part of his head was removed in a very bad way. and this seemed like a sniper shot. and at 10 p.m. last night for the first time the drinking water in the tap was polluted with a red substance, that seemed poisonous. no one drank it but all the tanks are filled with this water. and one hour before the internet was cut off and we believe that a door-to-door terror attempt is on. >> and that was a member from damascus, and we have a mother who told me what happened there on friday.

>> when the numbers start increasing, we are talking about 30,000 people were on the streets. coming from different parts of the city. then this is one when the shooting started. first of all they used teargas bombs, trying to break up the rallies. and putting in the air. but that did not prevent the protesters. and then they start shooting at people when the people increased. you know this is not acceptable. and any part of the world, and it's so hard not to be able to speak out. >> that was judis from the syria city. conrad black has been sent back to jail after charges were upheld.

he was jailed in 2007 but released earlier this year. >> conrad black has lost the latest stage with his contracted battle with the courts. but not without a fight. today he gave a 20-minute address to the judge. and he said, i never asked for mercy, i seek no one sympathy. i do ask for the avoidance of injustice. the judge followed that with a 3-1/2 year sentence, that is likely to be reduced to a little over a year due to time already served in prison. and even that was enough for conrad black's wife who collapsed in court and was attended to by paramedics. the opposition argued that the charges were severe. even though you recall a year

ago conrad black was released from jail due to a change in the law. the supreme court argued that the basis of which he was convicted in 2007 was constitutional vague. and that lead to a successful appeal of two charges against conrad black. but the charge of fraud and obstruction of justice was dismissed and that's why the judge sent him back to prison. his defense team argued he was a exemplary prisoner, but the prosecution argued the severity of the crime and the fact that he showed no remorse so far that he needed to go back to jail.

>> the judge showed it was important to have a strong sentence on someone who steals from the company. this is important for mr. black to return to prison. >> conrad black has come a long way, the courts will decide time where he will go back to jail. but that does indeed seem where he is headed. this would be appear to be the final stage of conrad black's contractu contractual battle with the courts. >> google is facing investigation to find out if the company is abusing their search on the web. and they are looking to see if google stifles internet search

market, they say they will cooperate with the investigation. in mexico they are using tool to discover in a tomb but a archaeologi archaeologies. >> here in this chamber, they saw that the walls of the shrine were coated with red paint and black drawings. and the camera reveal what is appears to be the remains of a maya leader covered with jade and shell.

>> this has not been well investigated as the city was growing and all the structures of the city were modified. so it's difficult to identify the original occupation of the dynasty of the city. the chamber has been untouched for thousands of years, and it's located in the ancient city in southeast mexico. the mayans flourished between the third and 10th century, and this is one of the most important mayan sites. >> the actor who played columbo died at the age of 83. >> you could not have threatened in the first alarm. >> the best homicide cop on the

planet, that's how peter falk described the character that made his name, columbo, first appeared on the small screen in 1971. and was still tracking killers 30 years later. >> isn't it funny how people are different, now me if i found my partner dead, i would never open my letters. >> peter played the slouchy cop that always found one more thing for the murder. the actor who lost an eye as a child was told he couldn't have a hollywood career. he won two oscar nominations. he appeared in many hollywood movies, and one of them "the great race." he was on the red carpet but

always known as columbo. peter falk had been ill for some time with dementia and alzheimer's, and he at the end could not recall the role that made him famous. he died at his home at age 83. >> now the stars are gathered for the key event for the international film awards, taking place in canada. >> from the shores of mumbai to the lakes of toronto,

bollywood's awards and now in north america. >> it's time to be here and we can get to know what bollywood is. >> it means everything for the economy and general public and for those who don't know about bollywood they learn what we have to offer. >> the government has invested 40 million to bring this to toronto. >> all of our hotels are sold out and that translates into millions of dollars of economic impact. >> the size of toronto will be familiar to many bollywood fans because the city is a back drop to many films. >> rob lowe. >> we used to get a lot of

hollywood productions here and i think they are kind of drying up because of the dollar, and no advantages for americans to come here. and canada is looking for more options and that's why bollywood is stepping in. >> bollywood is the return to feel-good film and that speaks to all. >> with an expected global audience of 500 million, global investors hope that they are put on the map. >> now a reminder of our breaking news, that a group of 17 libyan football players, including four members of the

libya national team has announced their deflection to the rebels. among them is the goal kicker and calling on colonel qaddafi to release them. more on our website at bbcnews. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.