>> 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. shell. and union bank. >> union bank has put its 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." >> hello and welcome. i am in shape -- singapore. >> i am in london. amanda knox and raffaele sollecito have their convictions overturned in an italian court. >> in the name of the italian people, amanda knox and raffaele sollecito are now being freed. >> on mandela is expected to fly out of the country in the next -- amanda is expected to fly out of the country in the next 24 hours. >> eurozone finance ministers and delaying a decision on further aid to greece.

10 years after the invasion of afghanistan, we get a view from the world's most populous muslim nation. >> this is a "newsday." welcome to bbc news. amanda knox and her former boyfriend raffaele sollecito have been cleared on appeal of murdering the students meredith kercher. the pair have been in jail for four years. they both made emotional appeals to jurors. in the four years since the murder, the case has played out in court and in the media.

>> after spending most of the day in prison, she came back to the court for a night time verdict. amanda knox knew this was a moment that could change her life. then came the decision she had been dreaming up for almost four years. >> both of the defendants are acquitted because they have not committed the crime. amanda knox and raffaele sollecito have been freed. >> sobbing, amanda knox left the court. >> thanks to the court to have the courage to look for the truth and overturn this conviction. >> this morning, amanda knox had

been given a last opportunity to sway the court's decision. >> i have not done what they suggested i did. i did not kill, i did not steal. i was not there. at this crime.t >> alongside the legal action, her relatives mounted a big pr campaign to free her. >> what everyone needs to remember is the brutality of what actually happened that night. everything that mair death must have felt that night. everything that she went through. the fear and the terror and not

knowing why. >> amanda knox's family want to get her back to america as soon as possible and hope to rebuild her life. >> and italian lawmaker who has spearheaded amanda knox's case said that she and her family would leave on board a commercial flight from rome. witnesses reported seeing amanda knox in one of those cars. this is how peirce sister reacted to the verdict. >> we are thankful that amanda's nightmare is over. she suffered four years for a crime that she did not commit. we are thankful for our lawyers. and their assistance.

not only did they defend her brilliantly, but they loved her. we are thankful for the support we have received from all over the world. people who took the time to research the case and could see that they were innocent. we are thankful to the court for having the courage to look for the truth and overturn this conviction. we respectfully ask that you give amanda and the rest of our family are privacy test because we need to recover from this ordeal. >> meredith kercher was murdered in november, 2007 -- 2007. since then, the case has attracted huge media attention from around the world. >> a picture was painted of amanda knox of having the pace of an angel but the personality

of a she devil. she was young and naive and misconstrued. her much photographed face, the british student meredith kercher, who was 21 when she came there in 2007. meredith once appeared in this pop video had only been there for two months when she was sexually assaulted and stabbed in her own bedroom. they came up with the theory that they forced her into a sex game along with a third man whose dna was all over the scene and has been convicted. >> none of amanda's dna was

found in meredith's bedroom. they dismissed many of the original findings because of contamination and bad practice in how the evidence was collected. >> they went into the house not looking for evidence, but evidence that tied them specifically. anything they found that showed that she was not involved, they twisted to show that she was involved. >> there were seen kissing within hours of seeing -- meredith's body being found. they were the focus of attention. they were arrested four days after the murder. over a year after they were first imprisoned, they said that they had never been there the night of the murder. they were at his place watching a video and smoking marijuana.

prosecutors claimed that something had meredith's dna on it. routine analysis said that it had not been done until 46 days after the murder and had been contaminated. they said that there was too little dna on the knife to be able to attribute it to meredith kercher. >> meredith kercher was killed by one man. he was a known burglar. she surprised him in the house. he took her life and sexually assaulting her. >> finally exonerated, amanda knox will be able to return to normality. after the ordeal over the last four years, it will be a different sort of normal. >> she has the latest from outside the courtroom.

>> 19 minutes after returning from jail, amanda knox left the prison that has been her home for nearly four years. in her heartfelt appeal, she said that she wanted to go home, back to her life. that is exactly what she is able to do following her acquittal. also acquitted her co-defendants raffaele sollecito. i spoke to his father last week. he said that if he were acquitted, he would want to simply go home to the south of italy. there were angry scenes outside of the court where a hostile crowd had gathered shouting shame and murderers. they supported the original

convictions. >> amanda knox was freed after spending nearly four years in jail. she had been supported by friends and campaigners. i asked him how he felt after the verdict was announced. >> this has spent a long, terrible ordeal for everyone involved. especially for the three families. i am hopeful that at long last the healing can begin. >> it is difficult for the healing to begin given the fact that there are questions looming over this case. you have done your own research independently into the situation. do you believe we will ever understand what happened on that night when meredith kercher was

murdered? >> i think we understand very well what happened. it was a solo perpetrator of the crime itself. he broke in. he had been breaking into one place after another. he had a confrontation with mayor debts which became violent and he murdered her. there are very few questions about that. the real question is why the investigations took such a terrible wrong turn and wound up savaging the lives of amanda and raffaele sollecito. >> still to come on the program, 10 years after the invasion of afghanistan, we talk to indonesia's's foreign minister. what does the most populous muslim nation think about this war? >> they delivered the -- delayed

the decision about further aid to greece. a libyan convicted by a scottish court said that his role in the attack was exaggerated. speaking from his deathbed, he said that the truth about what really happened would emerge soon. he was released from prison two years ago when doctors said that he was suffering from cancer and had very little time to live. emily reports. >> panam flight 103 bombed from -- on its flight to new york. he was eventually released on compassionate grounds from a scottish jail two years ago,

suffering from cancer. there really is widely criticized, especially in the u.s. many doubted if he was the real bomber. today, he looks very different. a sick and frail man. he spoke from his home in tripoli. >> the truth will become clear one day. in a few months from now, it will be announced. >> libya's new government has promised to seek out new suspects. he feels he has earned the right to die in peace. >> i am a simple person, more simple than you could imagine. please leave me alone. i only have a few more days, months left. i want to die in my house with my family. >> his hope that libya would

become a united country with no more fighting. >> i am in singapore. >> the headlines this hour. amanda knox and her former boyfriend raffaele sollecito have been cleared on murdering the british student meredith kercher. >> both of them have now been released from prison. she is expected to leave the country in the next 24 hours. the afghan president karzai said that he is no longer prepared to hold direct talks with the taliban aimed at ending the conflict there. the taliban and those sympathetic to them continue to mount attacks and have been

gaining ground. the world's most populous country indonesia said that they weren't prepared to support a peacekeeping operation in afghanistan. indonesia does not have any troops in the country. i am joined by the indonesian foreign minister. thank you for joining us. why has indonesian not sent troops to afghanistan after all of these years? what is the government's view of the war 10 years on? >> we are only willing to send troops under the capacity of the united nations peacekeeping operation. in other words, it is only under the united nations mandate that we would contemplate having our people on the ground. the key thing is about waging

peace. there have been all kinds of efforts being expended to try to bring peace to the region. we are seeing a cycle of violence and more conflict among civilians. we need to wage peace in a more aggressive way. more development. these issues have been somewhat sidelined in recent years. we are using hard power when we need to use development and governments and overall development efforts. >> waging peace is a tall order given that this war has been going on for the past 10 years. indonesia is currently the head of a group of countries.

how does the country see its role in helping the situation in afghanistan? helping this peace situation and finding ways to resolve the issue? >> there has to be a sense of national ownership in the final effort. the issue in a afghanistan can only be solved by the afghan people. the governments can compare notes. we can support them in their national efforts. we must not suffocate their own national efforts lf afghanistan determine their needs and support them in accordance with their needs. there has not been any lack of international attention on afghanistan in recent years. we are where we are. we believe we have to be a bit

more calibrated, encouraging it afghanistan to pursue its national priorities. >> briefly, what is the sentiment among the huge muslim population on this growing afghan war? >> it is a situation where we need to be better than what we actually are at the moment. indonesia is a strong supporter of afghanistan. we wish the country well. we will be with them waging peace in a more comprehensive way. development and capacity building. >> the indonesian foreign minister, thank you so much for joining us. the minister joins us from our studios. forces loyal to the french

transitional government in libya have begun their final assault on a city. a battle resumes after a two-day cease-fire that has been slowed by gaddafi loyalists. >> a two-day cease-fire has ended. is this the final push? government fighters congregated along the front lines, of preparing for something. they are wary of the well armed opposition that they face. our biggest problem is the snipers. that is what this commander told me. >> this is one of several frontlines. these fighters want to push on towards the town center. they are being held back by gunfire. they are setting off rockets in

the hopes they can push the pro- gaddafi forces back. >> they have an enormous arsenal of weapons inherited from colonel gaddafi, now used against his own troops. the launch pad is a homemade contraptions. it is a big hit or miss. no one was too sure what targets they struck. the last of the civilians lined up for food rations. they left everything that they could behind them. they say that there are still thousands more trapped in the town. unable to move forward, the fighters brought in two tanks, which blasted away in the general direction. there was incoming fire, too.

four were injured, one of them critically. this conflict has already cost thousands of lives. the full-scale assault on the city will cost many more combatants and civilians. >> share prices across europe have fallen again after markets reacted badly to news that greece would not meet its deficit reduction targets. finance ministers have delayed a further decision on aid to greece. a decision has not been made at if bay would leave the euro or default on their debt. >> in greece is due to miss its targets and spook the markets. the- to get -- debt to gdp

ratio is expected to reach a staggering 172%. they hope that somehow the leaders are playing the time in hopes that it will strengthen the banks. the overwhelming feeling here at the moment is that the leaders are not in control and they do not have a plan. it is the best to give greece more loan guarantees or is it best to have greece have a disorderly default. >> you also have wall street's fall overnight. hurting asian stock markets today. japan is lower by more than 2%. it is easing by about 1%. investors are closely watching. finance made -- ministers are

meeting in luxembourg. the kiwi dollar and the australian dollar are diving. those are the markets at this hour. as the eurozone minister is looking at greece, the billionaire speculator george soros has expressed sympathy with american protesters that are aiming their anger at wall street. >> in the shadow of wall street, another day begins. protesters that say finance iss' greednance h ruining stuff. >> we are part of the group that is getting the short end of the stick while they are getting

more and more money. we need to be equal. >> the message drew the crowds to a march on saturday. police arrested 700 people on the brooklyn bridge, saying that they were not allowed on the road. a freelance photographer was one of those arrested. he said that the police instructions were not clear. >> eventually, they just disappeared. they reappeared. >> the police deny that. their tactics for policing this protest are under scrutiny. a high-ranking officer used pepper spray on one of the protesters. as they continue their anti capitalist vigil, they will look at them on sunday. >> the question is whether these

protests will lead to a new political movement in america. a left-wing tea party if you like. a former marine turned housing officer who has dropped everything to work on communications is clear about what he hopes to achieve. >> i want to end the federal reserve. i want to completely remove it. i want to get all of the corrupt politicians out of their office. i want to stop corporate influence on government campaigns. >> the protesters are not unified in their demands or their motivation. they are tapping into discontent in a country where unemployment is high. >> you are watching "newsday."

>> thanks for watching. do not go anywhere. we will be right back. >> 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. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we're developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy

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