>> 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. and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its global 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." >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. the headlines this hour. world leaders gather power to now about a new future for the new libya. colonel gaddafi calls for a guerrilla war in his latest audio message. a u.n. report says an israeli let -- israeli raid on the gaza commandos legal, but coul used excessive force. and why a concert had to be taken off air. >> it is 2:00 a.m. in london, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. this is newsday.

>> world leaders and senior officials of the libyan transitional council have been discussing the future, saying the top priority is providing water, few -- food and supplies. james robbins has this report from paris. >> president sarkozy and david cameron are proud of the risks they took. the two men drove in national support for riviera -- libyas rebels mustapha out jalil, a rebel leader now on the verge of a new government.

he defected to head of the uprising. mr. jalil was in part been tested. can libyas people achieve reconciliation? they believe a new libya can succeed. >> the enormous difficulties lie ahead, of course. but the libyan people are showing the world at their courage and resilience. they're coming together to tackle issues of water shortage and power. officials have been cautioning against disorder and reprisals. >> mr. jalil, as transitional leader, said he was speaking directly to libya's people. >> we also have to make sure we fulfill our side of the deal. we need to make sure that we have stability and security in

the bid -- in libya. tolerance and forgiveness must continue. >> this has been a day of enormous political symbolism, pointed the way for the future. >> to ensure the villa's future, nato -- to ensure libya's future, nato air strikes will continue. there was pressure for a new -- a u.n. mission to help pressure for the state. and there was a request that all libya's assets be unfrozen. libya needs a new start, and millions in libyan bank notes that had been frozen under u.n. sanctions, that was a breakthrough. it should mean that unpaid government salaries will soon have money in their hands again. but today in paris, there are political losers as well as

winners. german chancellor merkel refused to back the rebels early on. it was? s president sarkozy who greeted her -- it was not presidents are cozy who greeted her. -- president of sarkozy who greeted her. tonight in paris, there is a feeling that the war against gaddafi, while not over, is all but one. the challenge now is to be sure that libyans get outside help when they wanted to win the peace. >> colonel gaddafi has made another of your address in hiding. he gave no sign of backing down and urged defiance from his supporters. >> led the bullets speak. let it be a long fight from

place to place, city to city, mountain to mountain so that we can show them they cannot rule the libyan people. they cannot subjugate our tribes. let it be a long fight until victory. >> in the meantime, thousands of inmates were tortured and many killed tripoli's abu salim prison. it was used to detain opponents to the gaddafi's regime. here is this report. >> abu salim jail, the name itself was so frightening that the behan's avoided saying it for what might be happening -- that libyan's avoided saying it, or what might be happening inside its walls.

torture, and sometimes prisoners disappeared. now, you can just walk in. after the guards disappeared, libyan sproat open the cells to let the prisoners out -- a libyans broke open the cells to let the prisoners out. even here, one inmate did not hide his defiance and signed his name above his dreams of freedom. but this ex-prisoner was still scared because he is from a place controlled by the colonel's men. "i felt my last link with life was cut when they took me to abu salim. the guards told me that our existence was nothing. i felt that i could be killed any time. and someone has been trying to destroy evidence of what happened here. the ashes of what was burned in

this room are still hot. these lawyers are removing the rest of the archive's while they still can. they might be produced in court if colonel gaddafi and his associates ever face trial. >> thousands have lost loved ones in this place and many other places. it is important that their families know all the facts about what happened to them. >> 42 years of frightened faces are stored in free boxes. prisoners of some prisoners children, too, -- pictures of some prisoners children, too, taken from their families. lawyers think they have found information about 1200 prisoners who were killed here in 1996. >> it was in 1996. >> and your father knew him? >> yes. >> the fear of being sent to abu

salim was used by the gaddafi racine, to control them. but what happened here at the heart of the security state might turn out to be highly embarrassing for western governments. as part of the extensive security cooperation in the war on terror, they said suspected jihadist to this prison. -- sent suspected jihadists to this prison. >> cooperation with britain and america continued until the uprising started in for a new worry. -- in february. >> there were two movements recently, one was the cooperation in the war on terror and the other was the oil markets. those two issues overrode civil rights concerns.

>> a new libya will not be possible until all secrets are uncovered. >> now let's turn to other news. >> a report says the united nations has concluded that israel's blockade of the gaza strip is legal, but the force used by the commandos in the raid was excessive and unreasonable. nine turks were killed in the raid last year as they tried to break the blockade of the gaza strip. the blockade has been made illegal by -- unnamed illegal by many. -- has been named to illegal by many other countries. >> the content of the reportable almost certain -- certainly satisfy israel, more than turkey. the blockade has been named

legitimate because it is aimed at stopping the flow of weapons to the gaza strip. that is something that the turks had strongly disputed. the panel did say that the israeli commandos used excessive and unreasonable force during the raid. although it also says they had to defend themselves against attack by some of the organizers. it also said the turkish government could have done more to persuade them to avoid a confrontation with the israelis. but more has been made over the issue about whether israel and to agree -- and turkey could mend relations. that was one of the goals of the secretary general and he felt he had some achievement on that. israel, from time to time over the past year, seemed to be veering in the direction of an

apology, but ultimately it refused and said it acted in self-defense. it refused to read material for weakness. -- but refused to admit guilt or weakness. the two had been strategic allies and there are people who feel that the last thing they need right now is to be confronting each other at a time of error of people in the region. both israel and turkey are crucial allies for america. and at this time of uncertainty in the middle east, it does not help their policy in the middle east. in fact, it complicates it to have both countries at odds with each other. >> china was one of the countries represented at the meeting on the future of libya. here are some thoughts on the meaning behind china's attendants.

>> the chinese government has been exercising extreme caution in sending over a delegation to paris. there are two signs. one, china calls its an observer group. it is not an official delegation. second, it is a low ranking foreign minister of china. but it is being seen as embracing the opposition government. at the beginning of the revolution, the chinese government did not support the people of libya. but china had its own investment, about $20 billion in libya, so they do not want to be shut off from the reconstruction process ore from the international community. >> you are watching news day on the bbc. still to come on the program, preparing for the worst. tokyo undertakes one of the biggest earthquake drills ever

seen. and how communist north korea is trying to kickstart a tourist industry. the british government has defended cuts being made to the armed forces on the day it has announced that more than 1400 people would lose their jobs. ministers argued is a way of default -- bouncing a defense budget and -- balancing a defense budget and keeping things going in the long term. >> last night, jets were again in action over libya, targeting a military barracks over tripoli. britain is stretched by wars on two fronts. with british troops still fighting and dying in afghanistan. but the government also has to get a grip on an energy budget that is spiraling out of control, and that means cuts in

the equipment and personnel. the strength of the british armed forces currently stands at nearly 177,000. over the next few years, the three services will lose 17,000 personnel through retirement slowing down recruitment, but also redundancies. by 2015, the total size of the armed forces will have shrunk to 160,000. those currently on front-line operations have been scared, at least this time. but still, the first wave of redundancies had been handed out this morning. hundreds have volunteered, but were forced to go through compulsory redundancies. if you refuse to leave. -- a few refuse to leave. the government insists a smaller, more affordable military will be able to meet

all its commitments. but it is hard to predict what kind of armed forces might be needed to fight the next war. >> this is newsday on the bbc. >> our headlines this hour leaders and senior officials from 60 countries have met the head of libya's transitional council in paris to discuss the future of the country. >> the raid on the flotilla to gaza was legal, but excessive force was used. and tokyo has undertaken more of the biggest earthquake drills ever seen following the tsunami and earthquake seen six months ago. >> the six months ago, japan's

triet -- prime minister was responding to a disaster for real. today, he was setting a scenario for a drill. >> there was a very strong earthquake of magnitude 7.3 with an epicenter located north of tokyo bay. japan posted cabinet side down to plot their response to the fictitious calamity. volunteers were evacuated from tokyo station, protect themselves from imaginary debris. japan rehearses like this every september on the anniversary of a huge earthquake that devastated tokyo in 1923. this year, the police were out blocking traffic at 100 points in the capital, deliberately causing traffic disruptions. across the country hundreds of

thousands of people took part. the police got a chance to rescue -- practice rescue techniques. when the big one hits tokyo, they will be called on to say people trapped in homes. and helicopters were deployed over tokyo bay. >> the reversal may seem excessive, but sitting on multiple fault lines, japan is like no other nation. back in march, many people manage to save themselves in the earthquake and tsunami because they knew what to do. they proved the value of being prepared. >> and north koreans began marketing cruisers to the resort lies -- that lies just north inside the border. operations were suspended three years ago. and now the no. is offering the

world a glimpse inside its prime holiday destination. >> the supporting roles are rusty. the meals are apparently not much to write home about, and you will need to leave your mobile phone behind. but if you want to cruise with a difference, this is for you. destination, north korea. it is described by one visitor this week as a modern-day ghost town. the resort was originally created as a symbol of cooperation. it is still a pretty good barometer of relations. the project was suspended three years ago after a south korean tourist was shot and killed nearby. since then, the idea of cooperation between the two nations has grown as dusty as the hotel. >> the south korean government has unilaterally stopped the tourism business here for three

years without any word of resuming it because of their foul political purposes. >> it used to be named the south korean tourists who came here, lovers, families, even schoolchildren on class trips. now north korea, apparently increasingly desperate for income, is trying to attract people further afield. >> [unintelligible] they will say, oh, sorry, this is secret. if we cannot tell you. >> i got interviewed at the border by the army. >> but across the border with south korea within eyesight of the resort, there is fierce opposition. the government here says they seized assets illegally and will

ask other nations to boycott the trips. >> last week, reported on claims that the u.s. carried out illegal experiments in guatemala in the 1940's. now they believe they involved twice as many people as previously thought. >> it is now being claimed that up to 2500 unsuspecting guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients, and others were deliberately infected with sexually transmitted diseases during penicillin studies. at least 83 of them are believed to have died. here is more from guatemala city. these are medical experiments that happen in the 1940's. remind us what is being alleged. >> it has also been very shocking, hearing about this study by the u.s. government. the context in which german

doctors were being judged for experimenting with malaria on prisoners of war. the americans did similar things in their experiments. i have been speaking to the president of the medical association of guatemala. he is also a member of the national committee. he told me it is a cruel example, how these studies were carried out by the americans. there was one where it was injected into the eyes and genitals of the patients.

[unintelligible] according to the u.s. report released on monday, more than 1300 people were infected without knowing. the number of infected people could be as high as 2500, according to new information. orix -- >> from guatemala city on those allegations of experiments on guatemalans in the 1940's. thanks very much. more than 100 people have died in floods in the southwest of nigeria. the state that has been severely affected, some makeshift structures have been swept away. several thousand people have been displaced in the recent rains. two former kenyan ministers have

appeared before the international criminal court in the hague. the hearings will decide if they should stand trial for crimes against humanity. in all, six defendants will appear over allegations that they incited violence after the 2000 elections. the problems in london have been interrupted. the interruption and at a live radio transmission of the performance by the israel philharmonic orchestra at the albert hall had to be taken off air. >> outside the royal albert hall, pro-palestinian demonstrators waved flags, shouted slogans, and occasionally burst into song. the protesters made it clear before the concert took place that they intended to boycott the israeli musicians inside. security was stepped up at the venue to deal with that, but several protesters did manage to

get inside. ♪ the conductor is known worldwide. he is -- has worked with the best and has been with the israeli philharmonic for the last 50 years. his presence was eagerly awaited. but each time he started to do a piece on saturday night, a small group of protesters tried to stop the music. the demonstrators were eventually removed by security staff. but those who paid to see him and his orchestra were deeply disappointed. >> it is quite upsetting. the israelis had come to play music and they were being targeted in something that they were not involved in atoll. >> the man himself sees his music as a way to bring people

together and his main aim is to find talented musicians, regardless of where they are from. >> we do not take into consideration, except for israel, and the type of taboo at all. i have had even an egyptian composer. there is no taboo about jewish or non-jewish musicians. >> with protest inside and outside the building, bbc radio 3 was forced to take its live coverage off the air for the first time ever. >> you have been watching newsday from the bbc. >> much more, of course, on our website on all of the stories covered.

for now, thanks for watching newsday. ♪ >> makes 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. ♪

>> 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.