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>> welcome to "newsday." >> the occupy movement vows to fight on despite a mass eviction of protesters. mario monti forms a new government encyst -- and insist the country can overcome its financial crisis. >> high-security in the afghan capital ahead of key talks on relations with both insurgents and the u.s. the medical breakthrough that could make liver transplant a thing of the past. >> podcaster -- broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. this is "newsday."

>> a new york court has ruled that a clearance of the occupy wall street camp in manhattan was legal. the protesters remain barred from accepting the tense. police arrested about 200 people in a surprise grade. this is the scene of their lives now. hundreds of protesters have returned to the park. they will not be allowed to pitch tents or used generators and the plaza. there have been many speeches made throughout the night. much to the applause of protesters who have nowhere to go. they have continued to regroup and carry on. let's get more from new york. >> sudden clashes have flared all day. the police now as much an enemy

as the banks. the authorities, it had become unsanitary, a health hazard. >> the woman in front of me had a whole bunch of people behind her and could not back up. police started beating her with a baton. >> across the country in california, police said they to bide -- have evicted occupying at oakland. -- occupy oakland. by daybreak in new york, as police set up barricades, the protesters returned. >> occupy wall street, we shall not be moved. >> who do you protect? who do you serve?

>> we show up putting up a fight. >> a lot of people are asking if the media is noticing all of this, is it really having any impact? the mend and men -- the men and women have watched the protesters for weeks. >> at lunchtime, we only have 35 minutes. we cannot do that because they're stinking up the joint. >> now we can sit in the park and have our lunch. like human beings. >> what do you think about the banks? >> that israel. -- that is real. >> the protesters message does strike a chord in america, a fed

up with their politicians and big business. >> here in london, the protesters camped outside st. paul's cathedral be given 24 hours to leave. the camp will be handed a legal notice. the city of london corp. had offered to give them until the new year. some positive news for the italian prime minister. mario monti will meet the country's president. he says he is convinced the country can overcome the financial crisis. >> day 3 in the corridors of power for mario monti and it seems that he is starting to have some success. the new italian government finally beckoned. >> i will be able to present the conclusions of this work to the

president of the italian republic. clearly, out of respect, i cannot anticipate the contents of it. my absolute serenity and conviction in our country's ability to overcome this difficult phase. >> since he was asked to form a new administration on sunday, mario monti he has much -- has meant tirelessly with business leaders and trade groups. >> we are working for the national interest with a commitment to achieve the construction of new government. in view of the facts, we believe the attempt will be successful. >> we have encouraged them to continue with determination and speed. we did not set any terms for the government in the discussion. >> despite his political agreement, there have already been protest against the new had

been a station. the civil servants fear they will be unfairly hit. the new government will be alert to the fact of the financial markets will want even tougher austerity cuts passed. the benchmark rate for the italian borrowing had gained passed the critical 7% level. later on wednesday, the technocrats mario monti will meet with the president to present his new cabinet. >> an important meeting in afghanistan later. >> that is right. security forces are on high alert in the afghan capital. it is a traditional assembly of

2000 elders and later spread the taliban has threatened to target anyone attending the assembly. it has been called by the afghan president karzei to discuss reconciliation. for more on this, i am joined on the line by the directorate of the afghanistan center for research and policy. what is your view of this assembly? can anything real, added that? >> -- can anything real come out of it? >> it is a conservative -- president karzei can talk to anyone and get their opinion about the partnership. it has no binding authority. these decisions will be up to president karzei to use it or just ignore it. parliament is very of said with this because according to our constitution, the parliament has to make the final decision.

there is division among the afghan parliament. >> we have seen a suicide bomber near the site. the taliban are threatening anyone taking part. why is it going ahead? >> president karzei made this decision a few months ago. in order to have the bigger opinion of the assembly of afghans. security is a real project because we all remember the assassination of a professor of a couple of months ago. we all know that taliban has the capacity to infiltrate the afghan security forces. today, it is a threat --

ambassadors that are also invited to attend. it is a real risk for them. >> thank you for that interview. turkey has stepped up its pressure on syria over the crack down on protests by the government. the prime minister said no regime could survive by killing its opponents. damascus is facing increasing pressure from the arab league. >> running for their lives, under fire in syria, protesters take cover. these unverified pictures show that the violence continues. this month, it may be one of the bloodiest periods of the uprising so far. hundreds of syrians, security forces, and of the visit --

opposition, believed to have been killed. president assad remains defiant. the arab league has already suspended syria. syria says the will not attend the summit. more and more, old friends are slipping away. the prime minister of turkey and king abdullah of jordan both now critics. the arab league and turkey appear to be planning for a transition to a post-assad era. so much depends on what happens inside syria. more funerals, as the violence seems to be growing in intensity. there are signs that syria might be splitting towards civil war. the pressure is on the arab league to find a solution before that happens. >> back over to press. he has some latest pictures of

president obama is the arrival in australia. >> air force one has just touched down. amid tight security. the u.s. president is going straight from the asia-pacific cooperation forum in honolulu. this visit comes as the two countries marked a 60-year security alliance. they are expected to announce plans for expanded military cooperation. we could also see a pledge by president obama to refocus on allies of the asia-pacific region. there is australia's prime minister walking out onto the tarmac to welcome barack obama up.

this visit was twice delayed. it has finally happened and is expected to focus on security ties. joining me now from sydney is our correspondent duncan kennedy. this visit is expected to focus on security ties. there may be other things on president obama's agenda as well. >> very much the emphasis on security. after his meeting in hawaii, the focus will now be on security. he is gone to address the australian parliament on thursday. we know from one of this aid on the flight over on air force one, he has told reporters that the president will be talking about increasing the american military presence in australia.

he would not put any numbers on a time when not talk about setting up a base. -- he would not put any numbers on it and he would not talk about setting up a base. in the words of this age, to give the americans an appropriate military posture in asia-pacific. this person was asked to does that mean to confront china, but the aid would not be drawn out. this is the unspoken agenda. the united states has been pursuing much more robust, much more proactive foreign-policy in the asia-pacific region. that means engaging on all levels, including military. mr. obama will be talking to the vietnamese, the philippines, the thai during his trip. that will be one of the issues that will be raised.

reassuring to the nation that china is not the only superpower. the americans do not want any kind of confrontation. they do wanted to be known that the united states is now fully in beijing with this region it for strategic reasons. -- is now fully engaging with this region for strategic reasons. to engage with trade and greater economic ties as a way of helping viet american economy, out of the difficult period. he will be here for two days. he is the fifth american president to visit australian bert lyndon johnson, george bush, and bill clinton. it is a big deal for australians to have a visit by an american president. it is kind of one of those punching above its weight moments for australia, a country

of only 22 million people. it is third time lucky. president obama had to cancel to earlier visits for pressing domestic needs. he has now arrived. the third time lucky. the prime minister of australia walking out with the governor general to meet the president and first lady of air force one. an important moment. she had a bit of a shaky start in terms of foreign policy, but she seems to have settled down and the role of prime minister. australia sees itself as a power broker between the united states and china. china is australia's number one export markets. but america is it's number one strategic ally. the president is coming to celebrate the anniversary of the

treaty between the united states and australia back in 1951. it is an important moment for australia. every major conflict, australians have fought alongside americans. australia has this other side to it. it is very keen to continue a nurturing relations with china. in some sense, it hopes it can play that power broking role between the two nations should tensions of briefings like the south china sea increase. a big moment for australia. a huge security presence here. they will be followed by the president later. a big security countdown. the place is pretty much been locked down. after that, the president will fly on to the north of australia. he will inspect american troops

and visit one or two other places. he is also been offered some crocodile attack insurance. one country in the northern territory is offering the president and insurance certificates if you were to get bitten by a crocodile, they would pay out $50,000. one of the lighter moments in this important trip. >> you were explaining that australia has long been a close ally of washington. this relationship will intensify and gets closer. what is the reaction to president obama ' in the australian media? how much excitement is there? >> they are very excited to have this trip by president obama. he had to cancel twice and that was something of a

disappointment. president obama is still very much an antidote to president george w. bush. on one occasion, he was booed when he came here. he can expect a very warm reception. this is a big deal for a relatively small populated country. it does not happen every day of the week. they were disappointed when these other trips were postponed. now they get their chance to shine on the world stage. that is what the prime minister wants to do. those seven al been put to one side -- those have now been put to one side.

what's more important role could there be than broker in relationships between the two great superpowers of the world, china and the united states? the two of them have a great personal relationship. they have met on one or two locations in washington. they are separated in age by only two months. both born in 1961. they hold similar views of the world. they share the view of this region being extremely important part a share of the region of the fighting global warming. they have many similarities. we're told they get on very well personally. they immediately struck up a very warm relationship. you can see the pictures. there he is coming out. just watch desperate you will

see how close their relationship is with their body language. -- just watch this. you will see how close their relationship is with their body language. they are known to share a joke and get along personally, which is so important these days. not all leaders get on with each other and that can prove difficult for policy relations and the like. we heard examples about president obama and nicolas sarkozy and benjamin netanyahu of israel. it is a much warmer relationship. they see eye to eye in so many subjects. look at the touching there. that does not happen. it is absolutely natural between

these two. a lot of common ground on policy issues. aided and abetted by a warm personal relationship. the president will head into town from a year. there will be bilateral discussions with the prime minister. he will be talking to the press later on. his full engagement on on thursday. he will address the australian house of parliament. members have been told to behave themselves. one suspects that this time it will be much warmer welcome. his popularity may have dipped at home, but here in australia, he can expect very open and a warm welcome. pretty down to earth. they like this sort of thing. they do feel flattered that an american president should visit a country of 22 million people. there are plenty of other

countries with greater populations that he has not visited. it is a sign of how strong and prolonged the relations between the two nations are. >> it goes back to world war ii. i understand that president obama will be the first u.s. leader to visit darwin. >> that has a lot of symbolic residents. within a couple of months of pearl harbor, it was bombed by the japanese. they lost many dozens of people in those raids. a moment that will live in infamy as franklin roosevelt called that. the australians have their own japanese attack, they're all on pearl harbor moment. more japanese bombs were dropped than there were on pearl harbor.

it was an important moment for australians. a very sensitive moment for the president to go and market that. -- mark it. he has a lot to get through. >> a lot of coverage of that visit here on bbc news. many thanks. let's go back to singapore. >> can the government shake off persistent allegations of war crimes overview -- war crimes?

only an international inquiry can address the allegations. the sri lankan government says the issues will be addressed by a report. will this report satisfy the critics of the government? >> how do you reach reconciliation after a terrible war? can truth and accountability be delivered, too? the bourse commission heard all manner of testimony. -- the commission heard all manner of testimony. it was at the hearings in the far more -- former warsaw and in the north that people clamor to testify. -- war zone in the north that people clamored to testify.

>> please consider all the petitions we give. we hope you will dry the tears of these mothers. >> at the other sessions, people accused the navy of shelling civilians as they fled the war zone. western nations like the united states said they hope the war commission will meet international standards and looking at such cases. the commission's chairman has told the bbc that it might recommend prosecution for violations. some are skeptical. >> international human rights groups refuse to come to testify to the commission. critics like them say m&a is not tough enough -- a mandate is not tough enough. many civil society campaigners believe that whenever the panel recommends, the government will not told anyone accountable.

>> impunity has been a major issue. >> 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 resources. let's use energy more efficiently. let's go.

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