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>> and now, "bbc world news america." >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. >> i am in london. here are the headlines. syria's president denies ordering his troops to kill anti- government protesters. >> under pressure, britain's prime minister fault -- calls for a referendum on europe. vladimir putin is certain he will stand for the presidency. >> this is newsday. ♪

hello, there. we start in syria where president bashar al-assad has insisted he has not ordered the killing of any protesters during his government's brutal crackdown more than 4000 people have lost their lives during a nine-month democracy uprising. in a rare interview, president assad said that any leader who would kill his own people would be crazy. >> the day after day, unarmed syrian protesters come out to use -- to face machine guns, snipers, and armored vehicles. the cost so far is 4000 dead. but in his abc interview, ,assd denies killing his own. >> we do not kill our own. no government in the world kill

its people, unless it is led by a crazy person. for me to my became president because of public support. -- for me, i became president because of public support. >> in the city of homms, rashida catalogs her losses. her son was shot dead at a protest, she explains. then her grandson was killed by a sniper while out getting bread. a few days after speaking with us, she, too, was shot dead in the street. >> they are military forces that belong to the government. i do not own them. i am president. >> but you have to give the order. >> no, no. >> not by your command? >> zeyno. >> the crackdown was without

your princess -- your permission? >> there is a big difference between what is happening with the president and on the street. >> that is just ludicrous. the demonstrators would agree. after 10 months, there is an absolute determination not to give up. one family is in hiding from security forces. this man was held for six weeks. he says he was beaten continually, stripped naked, threatened with castration, doused in boiling water. still he would not confess. the officer said, "this dog is not afraid of dying, so hang him by his hand." they did so for five days.

a u.n. report says torture is common in syria. >> send us the documents. as long as we do not see the document and the evidences, we cannot say, yes, that is normal. who said that the united nations is a credible institution? or if you do not think the united nations is credible? >> no. >> you have an ambassador. >> it is a game we play. >> where is all of this going? some have responded to the government crackdown by taking up arms. the international community is deeply worried. syria is heading into fully fledged civil war. interviewassad's paints a picture that is completely at odds with what is being shown by the demonstrators, being shot in the street every day. at the act -- at the beginning,

their man was simply for reform. now after months of unfilled promises, they of unfilledassad to go. -- they want presidents assad to go. >> a recent upsurge in fighting between those loyal to colonel gaddafi and the rebels has the militias saying they will lay down their arms and return home. >> they turned out to protest against growing lawlessness in a country awash with weapons. three and a half months since march gaddafi was ousted, -- since muammar gaddafi was ousted, they are being told to go home. there is no army yet and no one to keep things the secure. it is militiamen to keep things safe, sometimes by force. >> i thought khaddafi's voicefos

had reentered tripoli to the other night, she said, there was so much gunfire. >> [unintelligible] >> the government says it will integrate 50,000 former rebels into the new security forces and try to provide jobs or for their education for tens of thousands of others. that is the plan, but it will not be easy. >> i, like everyone else, want them to go back home, even the ones from tripoli, the new defense minister told us. but there like children. if you give them a toy and it is hard to take it back from them. >> at this hospital, doctors are now on strike after armed militiamen dragged out its administrator in a dispute over a patient's treatment. and it is not the first time

medics have been threatened here. now the sick and the injured will have to be treated elsewhere. this is the country's main hospital for trauma. the governor -- the workers said they will not go back to work without government protection. they cannot operate " in the current chaos. this is not from those injured in tripoli, but in the violence that has come in its wake. >> all of these cases, that is from gunshot. why are now people like this? we do not need to be like this. >> reining in the government and responsible is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the new libyan government. it is critical they succeed. >> the british prime minister is under pressure over europe.

>> he is, indeed. david cameron is facing one of his toughest test of his leadership as pressure from his own party announced over the eurozone -- amounts over the eurozone. france and germany have agreed to a treaty by march, 2012. a crucial summit takes place on friday. mr. cameron has been urged by his own back benches to suss out what safeguards he will be seeking for britain and share what some call the the bulldogs. as talks begin in brussels. -- the bulldog spirit as talks begin in brussels. >> david cameron is having to deal with pressure of europe. the eu summit will deal with not just their future of europe, but the coalition responsible. cards will the prime minister show some -- >> will the prime

minister show some bulldog spirit in brussels? >> his own party ask him what he would do to fend off what they see as further threat of eu integration. >> this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. will the prime as trustees the moment? >> the prime minister said he will not sign a treaty that does not safeguard london from new bureau rules. >> -- euro roles. >> it is freezing the british economy, just as ed is -- as it is freezing others across the world. >> note carefully what he did not say. he was not listing the specific powers he wanted back from europe. >> what powers will you be arguing to repatriate? >> as i just explained to -- let me explain.

>> baichwal notice that the prime minister had not really answered the question -- they had all notice the prime astraddle not really answer the question. >> you are now just reduced to hand-wringing. >> some say he wants to protect his negotiating hand. >> the more the countries in the eurozone ask for, the more we will ask for in return, but we will judge that on the basis of what matters most to britain. >> adding to the pressure on david cameron are those demanding a referendum in europe -- on europe, including boris johnson. >> it is an eu treaty that creates a fiscal union within the countries of the eurozone. we would have no choice but to veto it, or to put it to a referendum. >> another thinking out loud

about how britain should react is the northern ireland secretary -- secretary, a when patterson. he said that there is a huge pressure for a referendum. i think it will have to be one, yes, he said. david cameron and nick klegg have very different views of europe, but when it comes to referendum or not having won, they speak as one. >> of course there should be a never and durum -- a referendum if there are new powers. but there is no question of that happening because there will be no new powers. we are not a member of the eurozone. the question simply does not arise. >> what has made skeptics' so twitchy is the proposals of merkel and sarkozy. today, there was a proposal that at least those in the eurozone should now agree to a tax on

financial transactions, a common approach to company taxes, and, and employment rolls, too. precisely this sort of agenda load to buy british conservatives. as if the pressure were not enough, david cameron has to put what is agreed at the summit to a common vote. the last summit produced what was the biggest rebellion seen in years. >> nick robinson reporting. we will have more on the eurozone later in the program. vladimir putin has formally applied to stand for president of russia as protests about the parliamentary elections on sunday continue. however, demonstrations have been on a much smaller scale in the past two nights. >> vladimir putin puts pen to paper, making his intentions clear. he wants his old job back and it is official. he will stand in the presidential elections in march. but allegations of corruption during the parliamentary election have brought out and

grumpy -- and grumpyanger among the -- brought out anger among the people. putin says michigan all the parliamentary results because it does not reflect -- says they should annulled the parliamentary results because it does not reflect the will of the people. the opposition has accused the prime minister of vote rigging. >> we are here to protest peacefully, says this man, and we will stay until a decision is taken to recount the vote, because, he says, we do not recognize the authorities or the election results. >> i want these election results canceled, says another protester. there was a great deal of fortification, he claims. i saw it for myself and it was witnessed by my friends, but we could not do anything to stop it happening.

this man railed against the authorities, urging people to stay put, telling them not to be afraid. minutes later, he was carted away by police. the police are out in force in moscow and in st. petersburg. the demonstrations may be smaller than previous night, but it is a long time since russia has seen protests like this. the authorities are taking no chances. but make no mistake, vladimir putin has his supporters, too. they held their own rally in the capital. the prime minister has a reputation for taking a tough stance against those who oppose him. how he deals with these latest protests may well determine his political future. >> you are watching news day on the bbc live. still to come, the former u.s. governor who tried to sell barack obama's senate seat is sentence for corruption.

♪ states remembers the attack on pearl harbor. one of italy's most wanted mafia leaders has been captured after more than 15 years on the run. he was found hiding in a concrete bunker beneath the building in a -- beneath a building in the city of naples. police were able to get to him by cutting off his electricity and air, and then cutting through the thick walls. this does contain a flash photography from the start. >> moments after the arrest cannot police officers -- month after the arrest, police officers are delighted by their success. they just captured the most wanted man in italy.

he was detained after more than 15 years on the run. the security forces have thrown everything into this major operation. dozens of officers poured into the street. they closed in on one particular home. beneath it, they found a deep, heavily reinforced by becher, and their long hunt was over. -- reinforced bunker. and their long hunt was over. he led one of the most feared groups in naples and the surrounding region in the underworld there. drug trafficking, extortion, and the usual criminal activity here. their group had also ventured into politics and areas of the construction industry. he was always ready to do business, but nobody ever doubted his capacity for violence. three years ago, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.

this arrest is being seen as a major success for the italian state in its long battle with this group. >> there is more on his arrest on the bbc website. >> this is newsday on the bbc. i'm in singapore. >> i'm in london. these are the headlines. syria opposes president has said he feels no guilt -- syria's president has said he feels no guilt about the crackdown of security forces. >> and in the libyan capital of tripoli, armed militia forces who helped to oust gaddafi. >> our reporters around the world have been telling us how the debt crisis is affecting their countries.

first, we will hear from the second largest trading partner of europe. the u.s. is number one. no. 2 is china. >> here in china, leaders are concerned about what is happening in europe as the -- as thergest bank world's largest exporter, china has already seen a slowdown. the country's exporters face a severe challenges in the next 12 months. economists have already warned that europe falls into recession once again, that could affect up to 2%, if not more, of china's gdp growth in the next 12 months. >> as an emerging nation, india has relied on the strength and stability of the eurozone for its growth and development. keeping in mind that some of the country's biggest investors have

depended on the business relationships and deals and opportunities that have come from that region. since this crisis has unfolded, many policy makers have suggested that now is not the time to worry. the crisis has not come to a place where india has to be too concerned. however, as time has worn on, major policy makers have shifted their views and said that in a globally not integrated marketplace to my country like india that relies on these relationships certainly does need to watch closely. investors will be watching what happens in the eurozone over the coming days. >> south africa is still the economic powerhouse of the region. here in johannesburg, they are bracing themselves for the worst effects of the eurozone crisis. china has taken over as the major trading partner, but it is mainly commodities its rates.

-- it trades. any fall-off in demand is likely to affect jobs. not bad news in south africa where -- and that is bad news is out of order were the government has made job creation its current policy pledge. it has been buttressed to a certain degree as people have switched to gold. but the longer the trouble exist in europe, the more risk. that could affect the currency here, pushing up inflation be on the current level. -- beyond the current level. >> mexico was watching the crisis closely. most foreign investors come from the european union. spanish taylor's come here to seek out new customers. the market is the main source of

revenue. we have to bear in mind that the u.s. is mexico's biggest commercial partner. the real effect here is the u.s. prices on the the side of the border. mexico has been warned about its dependency on the u.s. economy and has sought our trading partners in europe, but mexico may have to wait longer for those opportunities. >> the governor -- the former governor of illinois, rod blagojevich, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. prosecutors said uconn is used his powers of office from the moment -- said he misused his powers of office from the moment he took office. >> it is an incredible story, and one that sums up just how dirty u.s. policy -- politics can get. there was a sad thing today, and during that time, rod

blagojevich stood up in the courtroom and was very remorseful. he was apologetic for the first time, really, saying that he made terrible mistakes. he said that what he had done at the time he thought was permissible. the judge said he had simply made the wrong choices at that time, and he had not apologize. he was sentenced to 14 years behind bars. he is expected to serve about 12 of those. in the courtroom, his wife habée down in tears and they laughed together with a simple statement, saying they were going on -- his wife broke down in tears and they laughed together with a simple statement, saying they were going home to talk to their daughters. >> he just keeps getting on the wrong side of things. >> it certainly seems to be that way. several governors going back to the 1850's have been involved

in breaking the law. most of them have not been sent to prison. but a tour of four governors have ended up in prison. the predecessor of rod kuehl blagojevich, a republican named george ryan, was convicted of six and a half years, of which he is still serving out, because of soliciting money is and trying to sell government contracts for his own benefit. the charges, which rob blog voinovich was convicted of -- of which rod blagojevich was d, he said, were just to expedite a legal business. >> a suspicious envelope was sent to the chief executive of deutsche bank, joyce of ackerman. -- joseph ackerman. a senior u.s. law enforcement official said the envelope contained explosives and

shrapnel. door to bank is germany's largest bank. -- deutsche bank is germany's largest bank. >> is the anniversary of the attack on the u.s. pacific fleet at pearl harbor. the attack led to the u.s.'s entry into the second world war and changed america forever. here are some of the sights and sounds. ♪ can you se"] ♪

>> uss nevada. uss tennessee. [bell rings] u.s.s. arizona [bell rings -- [bell rings] ♪ ["taps"] ♪ >> you have been watching newsday from the bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. back in a few minutes with the

latest business news. bye bye for now. >> 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 financial companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet los angeles.