>> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news america." >> welcome to newsday. >> these are the headlines. international pressure grows on syria to allow aid to reach civilians under siege. we report from inside the country. >> we are being brought into the building by members of the army. the syrian government's position

is just a few hundred meters in that direction. >> kevin rudd will take on to lead dillard to be the australian prime minister. >> was a baby taken by a gang go 30 years ago? a court may finally decide -- by a dingo 30 years ago? a court may finally decide. it is 12:00 here in singapore. >> it is four o'clock here in london. welcome to viewers around the world. this is newsday. hello, welcome once again. the bloodshed in syria is showing no signs of ending even as the international community is preparing cease-fires to allow aid into the area. dozens of people have been

killed in the latest violence. in the past few hours, the united nations has appointed its former secretary general as a special envoy to syria. >> under fire. nowhere is safe from the shelling, even this mosque. unverified video, but the devastation tells its own story. sharing the nightmare, the british photographer injured yesterday. today, he appealed to the outside world for help. >> i was wounded yesterday. any assistance that can be given by government agencies would be welcome. >> the french journalist who was also injured said her broken leg and internal bleeding also needed an urgent medical

attention. elsewhere, some ventured out for a hurried funeral. a death which left these two small boys without a father. as international dismay amounts, so does the pressure on president assad. a new report blames his troops for gross and systematic violations. tomorrow, a major conference on syria. its central focus is how to help trapped civilians. >> we hope to see new pledges of emergency assistance for syrians caught in assad's strand old and pressure on damascus to convince it to allow humanitarian aid to those who need it most. >> already, syria's main opposition group has called for three safe passages, one to

bring in aid from jordan, one from lebanon, and the third from turkey. the opposition sees the conference as an important step towards international recognition. helping those seeds inside syria it is not a bigger priority. >> you would like to see this conference declaring syria as a country inn and humanitarian crisis. this would cause us to act and act immediately to stop the atrocities committed. >> the problem is, no aid can reach the city unless president assad agrees to a truce. 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 support for the syrian opposition and denounce president assad's crack down.

when it comes to aid for the people inside, that is going to be difficult. >> that is the diplomacy. and unless there is the former high commissioner from pakistan to london. he is also a a fellow at the brookings institution. here is his analysis of why there is no international action. >> there is an exhaustion with the international community. you think of syria as the fourth or fifth in these revolts we have been saying. we had egypt and libya and yemen, and now syria. it is the exhaustion. the american army is overstretched. they are pulling out of iraq. the last thing they need is to get involved in civic, particularly with a crisis

berlin on the horizon with iran. -- a crisis brewing on the horizon with iran. russia is a major player in the region. they are not going to lose their foothold in syria. all of this complicates the pressures that of being put on assad. we are seeing foreign journalists being killed, every moral up rich. nothing seems to move us. he is very strong in the fact that he has support. internally, he has the support of his minority ethnic group. >> he is that strong. what difference is it going to make if he is sitting opposite kofi annan? >> i think it moves it one notch. we saudi arab delegation coming in. -- we saw a fee arab delegation coming in.

kofi annan is a different category. he is bringing world opinion into damascus itself. others find it difficult to ignore him. kofi annan will keep the pressure increased, moving it higher and higher. that is the only pressure that will matter, it is symbolic, but it matters because this is the united nations. >> after days of squabbling, they may continue, kevin rudd, he has made his position clear. >> that is right. the foreign former minister has announced he will challenge the prime minister for the leadership of the ruling party. the former leader who was ousted in 2010 resigned from his position as foreign minister well in washington. he said julia gillard had lost

the trust of the australian people. >> i believe that to do the best for australia, things have to change. it is no secret that our government has a lot of work to do. if it is going to regain the confidence of the australian people. she has lost the trust of the australian people. starting on monday, i want to start restoring that trust. that is why i have decided to contest the leadership of the australian labor party. i want to finish the job the australian people elected me to do, and i was elected by them to become prime minister. >> president obama has offered a written apology to the afghan president after three days of violent protests sparked by burning of copies of the koran.

the taliban has urged afghans to target foreign military bases in retaliation. two u.s. soldiers were shot by a man in an afghan army uniform. >> on the streets, the people have turned against america. it was police on the front line firing live runs. -- rounds. it has become a nationwide backlash with even small u.s. bases coming under attack. the clashes have claimed the lives of a dozen afghans. two american troops were shot dead by an afghan soldier. it all began at the main air base. afghan workers found u.s. troops burning korans. they rescued several copies. >> i do myself into the flames.

i found chapters of the koran on fire. there were american sex magazines in there too. >> how is it going? >> even he is involved in frantic damage limitation. in a letter, he expresses his deep regret. few things are as sensitive as their religion. jews have burnt our holy koran, says this man. apologies are not enough. they have to be put on trial. few afghans can understand how americans could have done something as immoral as burning the to run. as one official told me, it is the equivalent of a surrender. they have handed their enemy is

a huge propaganda victory. >> you are watching newsday live from singapore and london. more on the situation in syria. of course bonded travels inside the country. >> what do oscar winners each? we will find out what makes the meals for hollywood kings and queens. here in the u.k., the labor mp has been charged with three counts of assault. he was arrested at the house of commons. he was released on bail. he is 51 and was elected 12 years ago. he has been suspended by the parliamentary labor party. the health secretary says his department is urgently pursuing allegations that some abortion clinics have agreed to terminate

pregnancies on the grounds of the sex of the child. the police are also being consulted. emanating a pregnancy on the basis of gender was morally wrong. the number of people coming to live in the u.k., minus the number leaving, remains at record levels. the migration was to under 50,000. it is 15,000 up on the same period the previous year. >> this is newsday. >> these are the headlines. there is growing pressure on syria to call a cease-fire to allow aid to reach people. >> australia's former foreign minister, kevin rudd, has confirmed he will stand against gillard to become the prime

minister. let's return to syria. we have been to towns around a city to find out what life is like for members of the opposition forces. >> it is an anthem for a revolution. huddled in a safe house in northern syria, lightly armed fighters sing for freedom. they of a lead by a military defector. many of the men who come to pay their respects our ordinary citizen-soldiers, labor is, farmers, even a graduate in english literature. >> i will protect my people, my children, to make our lives better for our children. >> what is it that you want? >> what i want? i want freedom.

political freedom. social freedom. freedom in all its concepts. all freedom. >> for the last few days we sped from town to village. he calls this pre-syria. the area is highly dangerous. >> 24 hours a day you feel the danger from this regime. it is deadly. it kills people. president assad is supposed to protect us. he just protect himself. >> we race to another town and an opposition rally. it has been arranged to avoid unwanted attention. the rebellion is almost one year old and a gathering pace. a chance for the downfall of assad. not everyone is against the

president. some are afraid of what these people want. we are watching the start of a takeover. there is a clear risk that ethnic and religious differences could become divisions and spill beyond the borders. there are many front lines in this battle. we were taken towards one of them. dozens have died here -- thousands have died here. like other places, government troops have moved into this area, where homes have been shelled and civilians killed. >> we have just been brought into this building. we are told the syrian government positions are just a few hundred meters in that direction. we are also told they have snipers and tanks. they have been operating in this

facility. we have to keep a low and be careful. you can make out a tank, a reminder of the force that the government's disposal. this is what the locals have to defend against it, a road block and a few old rifles. at sundown, we moved again. one last town in the throes of its own revolution. it may seem a world away, but we are just beyond the fringes of europe. so far, the world has been powerless to help. bbc news in northern syria. >> a new enqvist has begun to determine whether a baby killed was taken by a wild dog. the baby's mother was jailed for murder two years later. she always insisted a dingo had been responsible.

our correspondent has more on what to expect. -- expect. >> what they are doing is presenting new evidence for the fourth inquest into this case, new evidence that shows that dingos are capable of killing children. all the way through, the hearings, the appeals, the inquests have been about their guilt or innocence. what they want to do is get dingos blamed. they are going to present evidence showing that dingos attack people around the country. they want to adjust the death certificate to record the fact that she was killed by a dingo. up until now, there has been no cause of death. it must be added to bring this

case to an end. >> we know meryl streep was nominated for an oscar. the story has divided us trillions over the last 30 years. will it finally -- divided us trillions over the last 30 years. will it finally be put to rest? >> the film helped to fuel the problems. a lot of people never believed there. they believed she killed her daughter, that it was not possible for a dingo to do that. they are hoping to but those rumors to rest once and for all. previously, all of the forensic evidence has been discredited. they found the baby's coat by a dingo's lair. what we never had was a formal blaming of dingos for the baby. all those rumors will be put to

rest and the father and mother can carry on with their lives. seafood haven't had an under the spotlight. -- have been under the spotlight. over-fishing has wiped out the supply of wild fish in many parts in asia. it has had many repercussions. i am joined in the studio by the c o of conservation international. thank you for joining us. we know it is a dire situation with a depleted marine stock. the ocean provides 15% of the world protein. they provide millions of jobs. what they doing to address the issue? >> the first thing is this is a global challenge. every ocean on earth is being over-fished. 85% of the fish stocks are kept out or on the edge of being

tapped out. 90% of fish are greatly reduced. we have some big challenges. our work has been to engage the government and businesses to find solutions to this. i can say that, we are finding a very receptive audience. i will work in the philippines and in indonesia, the eastern side of indonesia, the coral triangle nations, even in the southern pacific oceans, the small island states, we are seeing a political will with an understanding that protecting fisheries and oceans is in the self-interest of people. you protect your food. >> is a political will, we have not seen much of this translate to legislative changes. what are you doing and others to

try to change this? >> we are seeing some significant shifts. there is an increase in marine protected areas. we are seeing new areas that are set aside so the fish population can recover. we are seeing an impact of that. as the populations recover, more fish are caught by fishermen outside of this area. the livelihood increases. the big challenge is enforcement. hud the immobilize coast guard, navy, have the -- how do you mobilize coast guards, navy? we have seen tremendous improvement in that. there is a lot of good news. it does not mean there is a severe problem. the severity is really a result of a lot of people who are hungry. we need to find a good solution.

>> we know that shark fin is very popular here. we have seen a lot of major hotel chains say they aren't taking it off the menu. it has become emblematic -- de are taking it off the many. it has become emblematic. >> businesses are the economic engine of the world. if you do not work with businesses, if they do not see why it is in their interest, conservation cannot work. we have always included business. it is important for business. if the business does something that is not right -- in the age of social networking, they hear about it the next day. a business that does the wrong thing is branded as a social pettit their -- social predator. we seek collaboration from many businesses, realizing it is in

their interest to manage resources and a smarter way. that is important. >> thank you for your insight. from seafood to other delicacies, you have details of a many fit for the stars. >> that is right. films nominated for the oscars, -- in the run up to the ceremony on sunday night, chefs have been preparing everything from lobsters to risotto, food that deserves the red carpet treatment. >> the sideshow is more than a side selah. there are more than 50 dishes to choose from. here is the hat asia whose job it is to prepare them all. >> -- here is the happy chef whose job it is to prepare them all. >> when people are going to come

out of the theater, they are really hungry. we have many burgers, we have smoked salmon. >> if you do not win an oscar, perhaps a short bets that to it will fit the bill. -- shortbread statue will fit the bill. how far it does it go to hit the appetite? >> you are on a diet two weeks before the academy awards. once the ceremony is over, everyone is hungry. it is a lot of fun to see these people really eat. >> the food you see here is just a preview. wolfgang has his work cut out for him. even if you do not win anything, you will not have to go home hungry.

bbc news. >> very appetizing, indeed. have a look at these pictures. they are from brazil. they are trying to find out why this helicopter disintegrates after it lands. this footage was taken by the fire department. the copter is shaking of vigorously. officials believe, there is an official term for this, it is brown resonance. it is when the road aaa -- ground resonance. it is when the blade continues and causes unbalancing. >> you have been watching newsday. >> i am in london. a reminder of our main news. kofi annan has been appointed as a special envoy to syria.

he will represent the un and the arab league. an organization says his mission comes at a critical time for the people of syria and bringing an end to all violence. there were many more deaths as the syrian army continued its onslaught against the opposition strongholds. there will be a meeting in tunisia. they will call for an immediate cease-fire. thank you for watching. >> make sense of international news. 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 understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.

>> agatha christie is the world's most successful crime writer.