>> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand your business. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." but welcome to newsday. >> the headlines this hour. >> international pressure on syria and to deliver aid to those under siege. >> we have been brought to this building by the syrian army.

we are told syrian positions are just a few hundred meters out in that direction. >> the international conference in london tries to map out the future for the troubled african states. >> a woman's baby taken by a dean go 30 years ago. a court in australia -- taken by a dingo 30 years ago. a court in australia may finally decide the answer, and the london olympics. >> this is newsday. hello again. the bloodshed in syria is showing no signs of ending as the international community prepares to deliver a ceasefire to allow aid into the worst hit

areas in the country. activists say dozens have been killed in the violence. in the past few hours the un has appointed its former secretary general kofi and non as a special envoy to syria. >> under fire, nowhere safe from the shelling, even this mosque. and verify video, but the devastation shares its story, and and a british photographer injured yesterday. today he appealed for help on the internet. >> i was wounded. any assistance we can get. government agencies will be welcome. >> the french journalist was also injured and said her broken

leg and internal bleeding also needed urgent medical attention. elsewhere, some ventured out for our hurried funeral. a death which apparently left these small boys without a father. as international this may mounts, so does the pressure on president assad. a new human rights report blames his troops for gross and systematic violations. tomorrow to déjà host so conference -- tomorrow they host a conference. >> we hope to see new pledges of emergency assistance for syrians and international pressure on damascus to convince it to allow humanitarian aid to those who need it most.

>> syria's main opposition group has called for safe passage, one to bring in aid from jordan, one through lebanon, and a third through turkey into italy. the opposition sees the tunis conference as an important step towards international recognition, but helping those in side of syria is now a bigger priority. >> i would like to see them declare it as a country undergoing crisis. this would force them to act immediately to stop the atrocities committed. >> the problem is no aid could reach it unless president assad agrees to a truce, and there is no sign he will. even the russians have refused to come. there is going to be an impressive array of countries to show widespread support to

syrian opposition and announced a crackdown, -- announced a crackdown, but when it comes to immediate humanitarian aid, that is going to be difficult. >> let's go live to washington, because there is a former high commissioner from pakistan to london and a senior fellow at the brookings of food to sinn -- who brookings institution. thank you for your time. before we talk about diplomatic efforts taking place, i would like your analysis about why you think there has been no international action over syria when the international community was so prepared to take action against libya. >> we are seeing syria as the fourth and fifth in a series of revolts last year, so we have had egypt and libya, yemen, and

now syria. it is the exhaustion. we are half pulling out of iraq and pakistan, and the last thing in needs in a presidential year is to get involved in syria, particularly with the kind of crisis going on in iran, and you have a very clear, unequivocal support of syria by russia. russia is a major player in the region and does not want to lose its foothold with china and iran, and all this complicates the pressures being put on us because we are seeing the portrayal on our television screens. we are seeing every kind of moral outrage, yet nothing seems to move us because he is very strong in the fact that he has support and internally he has the support of his minority group. >> what difference is it going to make if he is sitting

opposite kofi anon? >> i think that moves the pressure one not. we saw the arab delegation moved in. the killing continued under their noses. nnan is a different category. we find it difficult to ignore him. at the same time, he has increased the pressure and move it higher and higher, because that is perhaps the only pressure that will matter. it is symbolic that it matters because this is the collective will of the planet. >> the friends of syria, over 70 nations are going to meet in tunis, and they are going to demand a cease-fire. they say if they do not get their demands met there will be unspecified punishments imposed

on syria. what could this possibly be that will make a difference? >> there will be various economic pressure, various diplomatic pressure, but ultimately, he said, how many divisions does he have? ultimately, it will be this kind of confrontation against assad's armies, because the killing is one-sided, and in the case of libya it tilted the war in favor of the rebels. otherwise gaddafi would have still been in power in libya, and that is exactly what we need. this man has crossed all red lines, and the world seems to be watching. in syria people are saying, why is the world so indifferent to our suffering. kofi annan's presence would say

the world has not forgotten. they will be coming, and there will be change, not perhaps tomorrow but the next day. >> thank you for your time. in london, david cameron has hailed an international conference of somalia as a turning point to its prosperity. >> people are getting killed. praxair recruitment video posted on the internet by al-shabaab new -- >> to recruit and video posted on the internet by al- shabaab. a compelling reason for britain to sort out its issues now. david cameron called this conference, and it has been well attended. his message? somalia is becoming a global problem. its people deserve proper governance. >> in a country where there is

so little hope, chaos and violence and terrorism, terrorists are disrupting vital trade routes and kidnapping tourists. young minds are being who kidnapped by return to radicalism. >> al-shabaab makes no secret about what it would like to do with the western-backed government in mogadishu. it has been joined by 204 insiders, and britain makes up the largest contingent. this man is accused of possessing explosives for al- shabaab. his lawyer says a confession was beaten out of him. back in britain, mi's is headquartered here along with a home office and secret intelligence service. they have been briefing the prime minister, but sooner or later they think some of those

who have headed out to fight against al-shabaab -- to fight for al-shabaab will use their skills on the streets of britain. region --llor's chandlers were held for ransom. captured crews are being tortured. the solution needs to be on land. >> some millions -- somalis are sick and tired. we have had enough. >> somalia to a day is at a crossroads -- today is at a crossroads. they are desperate for peace. >> an apology from one president to another over the burning of the koran.

>> president obama has offered written apology to the afghan president after three days of violent protests sparked by the burning of copies of the koran at a u.s. base. nato said it was done inadvertently, but the taliban has urged afghans to targets westerners in retaliation. on thursday to u.s. soldiers were shot dead by a man in an afghan uniform. >> on the streets, people have turned against america, but it was afghan police on the front line, firing live rounds as they battled protesters. it has become a nationwide backlash, but even small u.s. bases are becoming under attack. this has claimed the lives of thousands of afghans so far, and two american troops were shot denvead.

afghan workers found u.s. troops burning the koran in a waste incinerator. they rescued several copies from the fire. but i threw myself into the flames and from chapters of the koran on fire. they were american sex magazines in there, too. right at the airbase, president obama in the past visit, but even he is involved. in a letter to the afghan leader, he expressed deep regret .ommot apologies are not enough, says this man. they should be put on trial. it may be a mistake, but few

afghans can understand how the americans can do something as inflammatory as burn the koran. it is the equivalent of a surrender. they have handed the enemy of a huge propaganda victory. >> live from singapore and london. still to come, more on the situation in syria as our correspondent trouble with opposition forces inside the country. >> radio free columbia. an american broadcast hoping to raise awareness for the hostages being held by guerrillas. time now for a brief look at the stories which are making headlines around the world. we began with the story on how the united nations is accusing the syrian regime of crimes against humanity, including the

use of snipers against small children. presidency dominates "the times. it talks about the justin videos to encourage young voters to back putin, claiming the first time is only for luck. after greece agreed to what the paper called the biggest sovereign restructuring in history, and backup says the financial times. stephen hester says unless political intervention stopped they could end up like the failed british car maker. >> these are the headlines.

growing international pressure on syria to call a cease-fire to allow aid to reach people trapped by fighting. but the british prime minister has closed a major conference saying that agreements had been reached on major issues. story,eturn to our top the fighting in syria is also taking place in the north. we went to the towns to see what life is life for members of the opposition forces. >> it is an anthem for a revolution the world cannot ignore any longer. hubbell in a safe house, lightly armed rebel fighters sing of freedom and defiance. they are led by a military defector.

many of them are ordinarily salters -- soldiers, fed a diet of rebellion and hot sweet tea. >> i will protect my people and my children, to make life better for each other and for our family. >> what is it you want? >> freedom. political freedom, social freedom, freedom in all its concept. all freedom. >> for the last few days we have gone from town to village. he calls this three syria, but the area is highly dangerous. >> 24 hours a day you feel the danger of this regime. its is deadly. president assad is supposed to help us, but he does protect himself. >> we race to another town and

an opposition rally. we avoided unwanted attention. their rebellion is almost one- year-old here. the chant for the downfall of bashar al-assad, but not everyone is against the president. some are afraid of what the people want, but what they are watching is the start of a takeover. there is a clear risk that this could become divisions that still be on cirio's borders. there are many front lines, and we were taken towards one of them. thousands have died.

government troops moved into this area where homes have been shelled and civilians killed. >> we have been brought here by the syrian army. we are told the syrian opposition is just a few hundred meters in that direction. we are also told the are using snipers and operating interests location, so we are having to keep low. >> we make out a tape, a reminder of the government's -- a tank, a reminder of the government, and this is what they have, a few old rifles. at sundown we move to one last town. it may seem a world away from home, but we are just beyond the fringes where a conflict is increasingly like civil war raging, and so far, the world has been powerless to help.

>> a court in australia is hearing about and role of a dingo and the disappearance of a baby girl. linda was convicted in the murder of her daughter in 1982 after the baby vanished. she has always maintained a dingo took her child, and it was later overturned. what can we expect to hear in this court hearing? >> what linda and her former husband are doing is presenting new evidence, new evidence that they shays' those that -- that shows dingos are capable of taking children. all of this has been about when the's field, michael's killed or innocence. what they want to do is get

dingos blame for the death of their child. they are going to show evidence that they attack around the country, sometimes fatally common and they want the coroner to address in the death certificate to say that it was killed by a dingo. her parents want that to be added to the death certificate to bring this case to an end. >> we know the actress meryl streep was nominated for an oscar. will the story finally be put to rest? >> that famous film starring meryl streep helped to fuel the problems when the face, but a lot of people never believed her. they always believe she killed her daughter and it was not possible for a dingo to do that.

they are hoping to put those rumors to rest once and for all. previously, the forensic evidence has been discredited. they found the baby is, proving that a dingo took it, but we have never had a formal blaming of a dingo. if they prove that, all of those rumors will go to rest, and they can return to their lives as innocent people for all to see. >> we will leave it there. thank you. >> now to latin america, because residents of hostages have taken part in a marathon radio program said linked up with 2000 radio stations across the world. this is the part of columbia a

few get to see. is a hidden war where the army tries to take on illusive rebels hiding in the mountains. columbia's largest group of left-wing guerrillas, who have been fighting the government for decades, took another area. they have been using the stereo for drug trafficking. the military wants to stop them, but they are not the only ones. -- they have been using the area for drug trafficking. this girl's father was kidnapped in 1989. this video is the only proof he is alive. to raise awareness, his daughter has just walked 65 kilometers. goo>> i am fighting for the frem of all people kidnapped. i want this tortured touraine -- tortured to end. >> other whose families and friends have been captured show

of solidarity. some broadcast their message of hope. >> we have linked up different radio stations in the world to raise awareness. we also want them to tell us the whereabouts of the missing people. >> it remains a powerful force in large areas of the rural colombia thanks in part to money they make from the cocaine trade, but they seek to end their trade with the government until more hostages are released. >> the 17-year-old may be the poster boy for the london olympics, but another is only seven. >> tom daly competing for the first time in a venue where his be realizedeams will or broken this summer. no shortage of support from one of the poster boys of the

british team. the man was staying focused, although he had already given an interesting insight with the music he had been listening to. if tom daly is a man under pressure as the olympics approach, it is not showing yet. this is what he persuaded his teammates into joining him in recording in australia. he has been accused of donating too much time to the media and not enough to his sport, so tonight was his chance to make a point. it is going pretty well after the six dives. the mom was happy. her son was in fourth place, but then it went wrong. a dive that ended their medal hopes. >> it was not a great competition, but it was a big

improvement on this morning, and it was one dive we missed. that cost as a medal, but that was the thing. >> as a general rule, the larger the splash, the lower the score. >> that is it, but she is back in a few minutes with asia business report. you are watching bbc news. thanks so much for your company. >> 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 expertise to work for a wide >> we work hard to nurture new ventures and develop key strategies. we offer tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.



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