>> 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. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions in capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. ha can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> welcome to "newsday" on the bbc. i'm in singapore. >> i'm in london. the headlines this hour. the captain of the costa concordia is accused of abandoning his post, his passengers on the stricken cruise liner are still being rescued. >> are you refusing to get onboard the ship, captain? tell me why you are not getting on sfwoord >> i am not going because there is the other lifeboat that is stopped. >> get onboard, that is an order. >> five more bodies have been found inside the ship, taking the number of deaths to 11. >> fears of more bloodshed in syria, as the arab league mission drops to a close. quitting yahoo!. the internet giant co-founder resigns after 70 years. it is 10:00 in the morning here in singapore.

>> it's 2:00 in the morning here in london, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. welcome to "newsday." >> some audio recordings have been released in italy, which suggests that the captain of the costa concordia refused to return to the cruise ship while people were still being rescued. but he denies any wrong doing. another five bodies have been discovered in the wreck. our correspondent matthew price reports. >> in the darkness, scared and disoriented, they moved in the hundreds. down the side of the ship. each one dwarfed by the costa concordia as it lay. past the ship's hull, where the

water flooded in. this astonishing conversation took place between the captain and a port official. >> and here is the captain, francesco schettino, the focus of police inquiries. man handled from court today, he's now under house arrest.

many here believe it was his actions alone that caused this disaster. his lawyer. >> the captain defended his role on the direction of the ship after the collision, which in the captain's opinion, saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. >> they blew small holes in the side of the vessel to try to get better access. one priority, secure the ship's fuel supply. inside the ship, divers have to struggle through the debris, through the tables and chairs, all that remains of this supposed trip of a lifetime. from above, it looked peaceful today. but inside, in the darkness, bodies still float along flooded corridors. they've covered five more bodies inside the ship, four men and a woman, and although the rescuers here say they hope to find

survivors, that is now looking increasingly unlikely. more than 20 people are still believed to be missing. among them, jerry and barbara high, a retired couple, parents of four from minnesota. and 5-year-old diana. her father, who failed to make it to shore, had taken her on the cruise as a special treat. rescue teams returned this evening. no sign of survivors. another anxious, sleepless night for the families of the missing. matthew price, "bbc news." >> a short time ago, matthew gave us the latest on the salvage operation. >> rescue officials have told us this evening that they have almost inspected all of the ship that remains above the water line. there's still an awful lot that they haven't managed to inspect below the water line. i spoke today to specialist cavers, divers experienced with

potholing and the like who have been brought in. and they have been talking about the difficult and dangerous conditions they're working in, going down very narrow corridors in almost total darkness, feeling their way past the objects floating in the water. so i think that search will take an awfully long time to complete. but i think the main message coming out of here this evening is that the hope of finding any more survivors is fading very quickly indeed. the salvage teams are expecting to start their work tomorrow. i spoke to the representative from the company that is dealing with the fuel problem, trying to siphon that off the ship. the good news from here is that he doesn't think there's any danger of the fuel leaking into the water. and then there is this complex question of how on earth you begin to think about moving the ship. >> matthew price reporting there. in other news, arab league monitors in syria have spent their last day conducting investigation into alleged abuses before writing up their report. the bbc's tim shule traveled with the arab league team who

were mobbed by protesters, desperate to show the world what they believe is glaring proof of the violence unleashed by the assad government. >> reporters racing off for a last-spot inspection. one of the arab monitoring teams checking syria's compliance with the deal to end the violence here. today, opposition stronghold ringed by soldiers. they're barely out of their cars before being accosted by a grieving mother. >> in the name of god, let me kiss your hand. my son has been arrested. my other son. >> the observed presence in syria hasn't achieved much. more than 400 people have been killed in the uprising since the mission started.

it's the only course these people have action to. down this street, they say government snipers have been firing on protesters. soldiers are positioned on a rooftop even today. the monitors, supposed to be neutral, have become the heroes of this crowd. everyone wants to believe they can help. but they won't say whether they will or not. >> we're not allowed to speak to the media. i can't give you my impressions. >> he do everything for libya. he do everything for egypt. and now for yemen. but syria, no. no. why? >> this is a tiny bubble of free speech that's been created, everyone afraid of what will happen. even the monitoring themselves are warning people that they'll have to disperse pretty fast.

>> the monitoring have gone, he says. now they'll kill us. at the end of the street, soldiers wait. they've got a different story to tell the monitors about the protest we've just seen. >> these holes that we have seen in shutters, in walls, these are holes from bullets and government snipers. >> the government never shot anyone in the street. it was armed gangs that did it. the to protect the citizens. >> then the monitors were gone and so were the protesters. tension returned to the streets. what's certain is that for now, the people are again alone against the power of their state. >> tim shule reporting from inside syria. now over to you with the latest on the e.u. taking legal action against hungary. what more can you tell us?

>> well, it's all about the government's constitutional changes, and the e.u. claims the reforms threatened the norms of democracy and hundred gary has been given -- hundred gary has been given a month. david reports now from stratsburg. >> the spotlight was on the european commissions announcement that it was starting action against hungary over its controversial new constitution. >> the decisions we have taken today are a reflection of our determination to make sure that the law are fully respected. >> so what exactly is the commission objecting to? it's concerned that the

hungarian government can wield undue influence over the central bank. and it fears for the independence of the country's judiciary. because hundreds of judges could be forced to retire, leaving the way clear for government appointees, and there are also concerns that a new data protection authority wouldn't be independent, but subject to government control. >> when i got the first draft of this law, i have written a letter to hungary really warning against putting in danger the independence of the judiciary. unfortunately, the warnings were not listened to. >> big protests broke out on streets of the hungarian capital budapest after the constitution came into force at the beginning of this month. now the government could be fined or prosecuted at the european court of justice, but it seems willing to compromise before it comes to that.

>> when you have any kind of assumption or you come to a point where it turns out that the legal issue is not in line with the european law, then of course, it should be amended. >> and yet the commission had to play tough to get the hungarians to back down. the fact is, hungary can't afford to lose e.u. support because it desperately needs a loan to help repay debt. but questions remain about whether the concessions will be enough. the hungarian prime minister is now preparing to address the european parliament. last time he came here, he got a mauling over the constitution. and even if he's now willing to compromise, it may not be enough to appease left of center groups. >> in other news, at least 51 people have been killed in interethnic clashes in south

sudan. members of the tribe attack rivals on monday night. it follows an attack on nearly two weeks ago. a state of emergency has been declared in the area. five foreign tourists have been killed by armed rebels in ethiopia. it happened near the border. there are unconfirmed reports that two members of the group were seriously wounded, and another survived unharmed. the lawyer defending mubarak says his client is a victim of malicious talk. he is accused of order the killing of unarmed protesters during last year's uprising. mr. mubarak was wheeled into court on a stretcher. japan has been conducting so called stress tests to gauge its nuclear plant's resilience to natural disasters. confidence in the country's nuclear industry was shattered when an earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at a fukushima

nuclear facility last march. but today, it's expected that a panel of experts will approve results from these steps. arnie joins me now. thank you so much for joining us. only five of 54 commercial reactors are currently operational. what do you think will these stress tests reveal? >> well, they're hardly a test. when you drive a car into a wall and see if the occupants survived that, or a submarine, when you dive deeper than it's designed, that's a test. but this was an analytical exercise. these plan plants are too big to be simulated as if there were an earthquake, so they went over the calculations to see if they could withstand an earthquake. i suspect the calculations will show that they could. but reality at fukushima shows us that they couldn't.

>> so if these results will only show calculations, are you saying that the stress tests are not sufficient to confirm that these reactors are now 100% safe to be operational? >> we have a term in engineering that stands for garbage in, garbage in good assumptions, you're not going to get out good answers. there's an e-mail from the n.r.c. that just came out today. that says i don't believe any of us would have postulated the size and destructive forces of the hydrogen explosion. and that's the problem. it's what you can imagine versus what mother nature can imagine are in general two different things. >> so what then should japanese nuclear safety experts and the government implement at this

point to make these stress tests viable and confirm that these nuclear facilities which are not operational at this point are indeed safe for the public? >> of the 54, 10 are severely damaged and likely never to start up again. the six at fukushima and the other four, all those are never going to come back. is you're down to about 40 plants of which five are still running. i suggest that they reduce the power so there's a little more margin, and over time, begin to phase the plants out. >> arnie gunderson, a nuclear expert, joining us via skype from vermont. thank you so much for joining us. you're watching "newsday" on the bbc. live from singapore and london. still to come on the program, the blackout that is going to

leave millions of fact seekers in the dark. >> my only fault is i don't realize how great i really am. >> and still the greatest, muhammud ali celebrates his 70th birthday. air bus delivered a record number of planes last year, the ninth year in a row it has beaten boeing. but while they may be doing well, many of their customers are struggling, as jeremy howell reports. >> airlines across the world may be facing higher fuel prices, higher taxes and lower profits. but for the first time in the space of a year, air bus and boeing together delivered more than a thousand aircraft, and they've had net orders of 2,300 planes. air bus has announced it's taking on 4,000 new staff this year to bring down the backlog of orders. it's now run out. >> if we reach 600, we are still well above production. so that is not a catastrophe.

it is just that 2011 was a very extraordinary year. and we cannot grow and grow and grow our backlog if we cannot reach the production numbers that we have to. >> air bus' 823 and boeing's 737, both short haul planes fitted with more fuel efficient engines, still in development. airlines are buying them despite forecasts of falling profits. >> if they don't replace the capital assets with fuel that is something like $100 a barrel, they won't continue operating the way they are. they've got to get the economic advantage that the new aircraft bring in terms of fuel burn, maintenance costs, and general operating economics and performance for passengers. >> air bus had net orders for over 1,400 planes in 2011 compared to just 800 for boeing, giving it 64% share of the global market by volume.

but boeing is likely to draw level again in 2012. air bus chinese newcomers are likely to be serious competitors in the future. jeremy howell, "bbc news." >> this is "newsday" on the bbc. i'm rico in singapore. >> i'm in london. good to have you with us. the headlines in this hour. the captain of the costa concordia has been accused of abandoning his post. his passengers on a stricken cruise liner are still being rescued. >> there are growing fears of more bloodshed in syria as arab league mission to monitor the uprising draws to a close. >> the co-founder of the yahoo! internet company has resigned from the board of directors. joey yang started the firm in 1995. his decision to step down comes a fortnight after the appointment of a new chief

executive. our correspondent in los angeles gave us more details on this. >> it was a very polite and effective resignation letter that pointed out that jerry yang decided to move on to other things, and wishing the new chief executive all the best. but the fact that he came in just two weeks ago suggests that there is obviously changes afoot within yahoo!. and for the co-founder to leave the board after 17 years, came as something as a surprise. and he's not been terribly popular with the shareholders since 2008 when he was chief executive and he rejected a bid, $47 billion bid from microsoft, to buy yahoo! in its entirety. and the company has been struggling really to break in and get through to the very lucrative social networking sites that are currently dominated by facebook, something that google has struggled with

until recently, to really make an impact on. so really, it's a matter of what the place of yahoo! is going to be in the future. this is a hugely influential company, a huge company in the u.s., a big name worldwide online. but very much a site which has struggled to make this move and to have a vision. i think that's what the shareholders are hoping for. that's what the new cheer executive has been brought in to do. and the suggestions for the analysts that we've been speaking to are that the share price is likely to go up with news of jerry yang's departure, that this was perhaps seen as a person on the board who was resisting some of the change that the company is hoping to bring forward in order to compete with those big companies once again. >> wikipedia is planning to shut down the english language version of its website for 24 hours. it's part of a protest against proposed anti-piracy laws in the u.s. the foundation, which runs the

online encyclopedia said it would merely create new tools for online censorship. >> imagine a world without wikipedia. it's one of most popular sites on the internet with more than 25 million visitors every day. but on wednesday, it will black out its english language website for 4 hours, leaving many users in the dark. >> you're trying to do your research paper, when you're just trying to find some factual information, and a lot of people rely on wikipedia, it won't be there. it will basically come to a message that says they've gone dark in protest. it's only for the english language version. >> wikipedia and its founder jimmy wales are teaming up with other websites taking part in the blackout. they're protesting against proposed new u.s. laws aimed at combating online piracy of films, music, and other content. critics claim the new legislation is too tough and could force some websites to shut down. but supporters of the new laws,

including many hollywood studios and media moguls like rupert murdoch say they're crucial to stopping online piracy. and some of the biggest names online aren't taking part in the blackout, including twitter and google. the new laws are being debated in congress, but the final decision may rest with president obama. he's got the power to veto the legislation. and so far, his administration opposed it, arguing it could undermine free speech. >> let's bring you some news that's coming to us -- it's not good news. the latest report from the world bank saying that debt problems in the euro zone weakening growth in developing countries will have a huge effect on global economic growth in the next couple of years. the bank has slashed more than 1% of its original growth forecast of 3.6% for this year, and for 2013. there's warning that the economic crisis isn't over yet. so not good news on that latest

report coming to us from the world bank. some good news. a remarkable day. the birthday celebration for a special man. >> absolutely. one of the greatest boxers of all time. former heavyweight boxing champion muhammud ali turning 70. despite his ailing health, he remains one of sports' most enduring heroes. fellow boxers and a former u.s. president mark his birthday by paying tribute to his many achievements, as tim franks reports. >> ♪ happy birthday to you >> his talent shone at the age of 19, winning gold at the 1960 olympics. difficult to recall now, but for years, ali's quick feet and loose lips made him hated by most of the boxing world. >> i can back up anywhere and i'll whoop any man in the world and i want anybody out there on

tv to know it. i am the greatest. >> but just as ali was reaching his peak, he was banned from his sport for 3 1/2 years. >> he maintains that his religion won't allow him to duel people of his own color in vietnam. >> reason, his refusal to be drafted to the war in vietnam. in the early 1970's, he came back to boxing slower, but if anything, braver. there were giants to overcome, men like foreman and frazier. soon after his retirement after decades of pounding, ali was diagnosed with parkinson's disease. his degeneration was painful and public. >> what he did outside of the ring, you are the greatest. >> "i am the king of the world," ali announced at 22. now at 70, we know he was right. tim franks, "bbc news."

>> authorities have taken health and safety measures to a whole new level to stop commuters illegally riding on the roof of trains. dozens of people are killed or injured by rail surfing every year. to stop persistent roof riders, concrete balls have been suspended over the trains as they pull out of stations. the first rows were installed at a station in jakarta. the chains were too short. officials said adjustments would be made. you've been watching "newsday" on the bbc. >> a reminder of the main news this hour. audio recordings have been released in italy which suggests that the captain of the costa concordia refused to return to the cruise ship while people were still being rescued after it capsized on friday. francesco schettino, who's being investigated for manslaughter, denies any wrong doing. five more bodies have been recovered onboard the liner. stay with us. you've been watching "newsday."

headlines on the way next. >> 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. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions in capital to help your meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations.

what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.