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>> and now, "bbc world news." and >> an exclusive reveals more syrian soldiers are defecting to the opposition. thousands continue protesting and tahrir square calling on the military rulers to go. shopping turns nasty in the u.s. as millions look for bargains. welcome to "bbc news" broadcasting to our viewers on pbs and america and around the globe. the search for life on the red planet, nasa launches its most ambitious mission to mars. teams do battle for a place at the world cup.

we have firsthand evidence that the struggle for democracy in syria is becoming an armed insurgency against the forces of president assad. among them are their former colleagues which have defected to the free syrian army. we went to spend time with the free syrian army in and around homs. >> syria's border with lebanon. we are traveling with men taking in guns to a growing insurgency. they enter syria. the area is heavily mined and full of army patrols. a man was captured here just hours earlier. into homs, the syrian army is

all around. they will probably shoot if they spot us. the people are hemmed in by the security forces. the fear is suffocating. the fire power is no longer all on one side. these are the men of the free syrian army. they don't exactly hold this area, they just hope to slow the security forces. almost from the beginning, it was syrian government propaganda that armed groups and gangs were supporting the opposition.

now, after months of protesters being shot down in the streets, that myth has become reality. [shots] more joining every day. a gun battle signals another defection. soldiers are running, fired on by their former comrades. phyfe made it out, a sixth did not. -- five made it out. the soldiers explain that they fled after being ordered to shoot unarmed protesters. we are all one people, one blood. we cannot just kill them, he said. the night the demonstration. they are calling for a no-fly

zone. with international protection, they say, millions would take to the streets to sweep away the regime. help is not on the way. the conflict is escalating. the free syria army is starting to go in the offensive. a sniper prepares to fire on a soldier guarding an army post. he is aiming to wound, not kill, he says. the rebels still hope that most of the army is prepared to change sides. this woman lost her son, grandson, and brother and law, all shot dead. they had to demonstrate, she said. we had 40 years of injustice while they live in luxury.

so much bitterness is being stored up against the ruling minority. a 6-year-old boy died as we left, shot by a sniper, they said. the longer this goes on, the more chance that the struggle for democracy in the syria will and in sectarian bloodletting. >> the man chosen by the ruling military council to be the new prime minister of egypt, kamal ganzouri, has addressed the nation. he spoke to the huge crowds in tahrir square who continue to call for an end to military rule. >> the wire is to help the troops to hold. this has been sealed off by the army. outside of the square, soldiers kept their distance. inside, it was a day for candy,

not clashes. this is not a place for every egyptian. the muslim brotherhood say that they support the people in tahrir square. many believe that the brotherhood and the general are conspiring over an election. >> the leaders are not here. >> they are with the army. >> yes, the army. even if they say they are not. >> it was the biggest turnout in tahrir square history. the message that the army should give up politics was a powerful one. it was not among the chance across cairo at the historic mosque. this was the alternate to protest supported by the muslim brotherhood.

hear, a chance to talk about israel, palestine, and jerusalem. the muslim brotherhood had nothing to say about tahrir square. that is because the brotherhood would prefer the protesters to go home. they don't want anything to disrupt the progress towards elections on monday which is expected to be their victory. some brotherhood supporters went on from the mosque and too tahrir square. the leaders calculate that they are far enough to play it safe. >> elections would have probably taken the decision to go to tahrir square. obviously, we are willing to sacrifice some of our support to make sure the forces, this is the most important thing we are having.

>> a third rally was going on in cairo in support of the armed forces and against the tahrir square protests. >> elections, he says, not tahrir. >> we support the army and police. >> if democracy emerges, it will be tested by the legacy of the dictatorship over mighty generals, intolerance, and bitter division. >> violence has marked the start of the american holiday shopping season. on black friday, retailers cut their price to get customers to go to their shops. in one instance, a man has been left in a critical but stable condition. he was shot for refusing to give up his sale items outside of a wal-mart store.

>> yes, this is black friday and it has gotten a name for a number of bad incidents in recent years simply because the amount of people who are going out to the shops trying to buy themselves a bargain. this has been described as an ordure it of consumers and. -- an orgy of consumers them. this case, this year is like other years. this has been with pistols on black friday. in one case, a woman pepper sprayed about 20 others who received treatment because she wants to get at some electronic deals. another man was shot. lots of people competing with

each other just to simply do this, a lot of money changing hands. there has been a number of issues like this across the country. you have to remember how many millions of people are at these shops over the weekend. it is believed it will be up to 150 million americans, about half of the population. >> doctors treating george michael and austria say he is responding well to treatment. he was admitted to the hospital suffering with severe pneumonia. his illness has forced him to cancel the remaining dates of his store including all of his british concerts'. >> so far, it had been a very successful tour for george michael. he had been performing since august with large symphony orchestras.

now, it has to be cut short. he was a committed to the hospital earlier this week and is being treated for what his doctors say is severe pneumonia. it -- he was admitted to the hospital earlier. there are discussions under way about rescheduling. this is news that would worry his legions of fans. his publicist has said, george michael is receiving excellent medical care and is responding to treatment and slowly improving. they're looking to crush any rumors about his condition adding that he is ill with pneumonia and any other speculation regarding his illness is unfounded and untrue. no doubt, the fans who had tickets for the upcoming dates will be bitterly disappointed. the tour marks a new performance for george michael and it has been well received by fans and critics.

>> there was an idea to go to various places around the world and play with those symphony orchestras. >> still, the disappointment at the concert to side, george michael's fans will be wishing him a speedy and full recovery. to achieve that, his doctors have ordered a complete rest and peace and quiet. >> this is "bbc news," still to ones-- heathrow's airport that there could be delays due to a strike. -- warns there could be delays due to a strike. there have been clashes in chile between the police and indigenous groups who are trying to stop the construction of an airport. this is the latest in a series of confrontation over the territory that the natives believe have been stolen from them.

>> tear-gas and water cannons, the police response after shots were fired at officers by demonstrators. the action began with burning barricades set up across a major highway. protesters targeting police cars. >> obviously, these can get out of hand and affect people who have nothing to do with this issue. >> the protesters are looking to halt plans on an airport that they consider territory in their homeland. this is 100 kilometers south of santiago. they claim they were never consulted over the proposal. this is the latest flashpoint in a series of clashes involving the indigenous people who number

more than a million across chile but say that they face racial discrimination. one man was sentenced to prison for killing a 24-year-old indigenous person. in their own widely spoken language, their name means "people of the land." the clashes could escalate. >> this is "bbc news." syria has defied an arab league deadline to admit observers. thousands have continued to demand an end to military rule

in egypt. supporters of the military have taken to the streets in cairo. we will stay with the continuing unrest in egypt. on the line is an activist and blogger in cairo. i understand that you have been in an apartment overlooking tahrir square, what do you see is the main difference between these demonstrations over the past week or so compared to what happened in february and the people are protesting against hosting mubarak? -- against those knee mubarak -- >> we are ruled by a new president called the supreme and counsel for the armed forces. elections will be in a couple of days. this is still happening under

the emergency status. >> you say that the transition has been a failure, since 1953, you know this, the army has had every president in egypt. it takes a long time for a transition. the army, by refusing to shoot at the protesters out to remove host the mubarak --hosni mu barak. >> the army is saying that they have saved the revolution. it seems very clear, nine months later that the military has decided to sacrifice one face of it, the ruling party, the

businessmen to save the other half. every win since february was one in the streets or in the court. >> thank-you very much. in morocco, the moderate islamist justice and development party say that they won the paul mellon three elections. -- they won the parliamentary elections. the results are expected to be released on monday. this is the first elections since king mohammed gave more power to the parliament and the countries by minister. one of the world's busiest airports is one of gridlock on wednesday. that is when immigration forces will be walking out on strike.

passengers can expect extremely long delays. there will be a drastic reduction of passengers on the plains. >> more international passengers fly into heathrow than anywhere else but to the airport is warning that next wednesday they might face gridlock. and-track actions cause problems here before these for grounded during a dispute in march last year. heathrow is asking airlines to fly their planes in half full. without further action, a riveting passages could face delays of up to 12 hours so long as they could not be safely accommodated. this woman is flying to colorado on wednesday. british airways have warned her that she might face delays and have offered to change your flight. >> very angry. we have worked hard all year to

pay for the holiday and to go and enjoy it our snowboarding trip and to spend 12 hours in heathrow is not the way we plan on starting it. >> here is what she is up against, striking unions represent more than 1800 border patrols. they say not a single member will turn up for on wednesday. other civil servants are being brought in. by 9:00 a.m. on wednesday, almost 100 long-haul flights and 22,000 passengers have already landed. the problem is that it operates at 98% capacity which gives it almost no room for maneuvering. even a moderate disruption can quickly turn into something worse. the border agency had said that there was robust contingency plans to replace striking officers. they suggested that those plans were still a work in progress and that does

british business. >> if you have people bank up for 12 hours in planes, people coming here to do business, you will turn britain into a laughingstock. >> other airports are not expected to be as badly hit but heathrow is desperate to avoid the gridlock caused by last year's snow. they say only the airlines and the government can keep people moving. >> now to a different flight, this is called the most ambitious mission to mars. the american space agency, nasa, is going to launch a vehicle on a voyage to the red planet. there will be a search for signs of life and if it is ever possible on mars. we were given special access to the preparations. >> high above earth, this is

what is going to happen tomorrow afternoon. the start of the bold journey to mars. by next august, a strange craft should be descending to the martian surface. a rover called curiosity packed with instruments. nothing this big has ever been sent to another planet. this full-scale but look at shows the size of this mission and the largest machine ever to be sent to the surface of mars and this is a roving laboratory. cameras up top, down below a search for clues about possible life. conditions are extremely hostile on mars but the hope is to gather samples from inside of the soil. the aim is to search for evidence about what might have flourished in the past. each tiny collection of dust will be dropped into a special

container and will then be analyzed inside of the rover. the most detailed investigation into if anything could have lived here. >> we're hoping to see if mars ever was a habitable planet. we will look at the ancient environment on mars. we want to understand whether this offers a chance for life to take hold and develop. >> before that, it must get to mars safely. they are trying out a new way of landing. a rocket powered descent and the rover itself is lowered on a tent. this is highly risky. the man behind britain's failed mission to mars is for it again.

>> i would be nervous. >> a huge gamble. if it works, we might get closer to knowing that we are not alone. >> we go to bangladesh where there has been some fears cricket play over the past few days. they're doing battle for a place at the 2013 women's world cup. this list together countries that are really not known for their cricket. women are having to tackle prejudice and a lack of resources. >> meet the rising stars of the women's cricket team. japan against zimbabwe and a women's world cup qualifying match. the team's performance in this tournament has exceeded expectations. in a nail biting finish, they beat zimbabwe by six runs.

they have done well against a traditional cricket in countries like the west indies and pakistan. the game is catching on among the women in japan. >> it is still a minor sport but many girls are playing cricket at the university level. this is quite popular among girls. hopefully, our success will help to raise the game and our country. >> it is clear that cricket is passing its traditional boundaries and going into areas like japan. the man's critique is not at the highest level. ricketing is not at the highest level. women's cricket is going to the next level.

as the game reaches new frontiers, it also faces new problems. >> in our country, if girls want to play cricket, they face a restriction from the government and society. they think it is a man's game. we need to wear full track suits. the game is gaining more popularity and more are coming to watch the matches. >> for a long time, women's cricket has started to come out of the shadow. the game is looking promising as the global appeal grows. >> just a reminder of our main news. we have uncovered mounting evidence of syrian soldiers defecting to the opposition. the arab league will meet on saturday to consider sanctions against damascus over their

crackdown on anti-government protesters and their failure to allow observers into the country. >> 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.

>> union bank has put its global strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.