>> 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 use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> walked into a "news the" on the bbc -- o "newsday" on the bbc. >> the polls opened sharply in iran's elections but will they reveal a divided nation? >> we will have a special report. a blast from the past, find out how this legendary crooner will be flying the flag of britain. >> broadcasting to our viewers

on pbs and around the world, this is "newsday." they have held out for four weeks but now syrian opposition forces are withdrawing from the besieged city of homs. there is growing concern about civilians who are still trapped there. on friday, the international red cross hopes that they will be allowed in. our middle east editor has the latest. >> the advance of syrian armor means the fall of an important symbol of resistance. it does not mean the end of the rebellion which has increasing support from abroad. with civilians pulling out buckets to catch a snow, there is no running water, the most

immediate concern is to deal with the humanitarian crisis. >> the members of the security council call upon the syrian authorities to allow the immediate, full, unimpeded access humanitarian personnel to all areas in need of assistance in accordance with international law and guiding principles of him and is sharing assistance. >> in homs, the rebels contract -- controlled a swath of territory. president assad has a genuine support and a victory to claim. things could be worse for him. he has diplomatic cover from the russians. while they are supporting him, he can close his ears to the growing international anger about what is going on in syria.

syrian state television reported the regime's version. >> syrian television recorded this use devastation caused by the armed terrorist groups who commit crimes against civilians there. >> the fighting continues in other parts of the country. assessing the growing conflict will be hot enough for britain as its diplomats have been pulled out for what london says our security reasons. what is clear is that the violence to be getting worse. >> the french government is saying two journalists to were trapped inside of homs are now safely out of syria. one of them was wounded last week. french officials say that she and a photographer were brought across the border and are now in lebanon. the iranians will be going to the polls vary sharply but the

voting for the seats had before the parliament. this is expected be split between the president and supporters of the supreme leader. not everyone appears came to mark their ballot paper. >> with the first time since 2009, iran goes to vote. the opposition reformers are boycotting the polls. they said that it was impossible for this election to be fair. >> i have decided not to participate. i have no interest taking part in these elections. this time, i have no interest in participating in elections. >> this election is a straight fight between rivals within the ruling conservative movement's. supporters of the supreme

leader ayatollah khamenei are against those that support mahmoud ahmadinejad. here is the subject that most worries many voters, over the last year, the price of day today goods has gone up. the economy is in trouble. >> the economic situation has become a large part of people saving lives. i don't feel that the elections will be as sensational as the previous rounds. >> this is a national responsibility. considering the increasing prices, sanctions, yes, our vote is very important and vital. >> this is why the rest of the world is paying attention, iran's nuclear program worries western governments but no one expects a change of policy

following the selection. the ayatollah will still have the final word. >> over to you now. you have a story from china. >> that's right. three months ago, a little village in southern china made a big statement when is staged an extraordinary revolt. communist party officials fled after thousands of protesters took to the streets and clashed with riot police. they accuse the chinese officials of unfairly selling their land to developers. >> the rhythms of daily life have returned to wukan. the men bring in the morning catch. locals haggle over the price. three months ago, wukan was in

open revolt. villagers were furious after a government land grab. instead of cracking down, the authorities made concessions. that includes holding fresh elections to replace local officials who villagers say sold them out. these are the very people who ran at the revolt against local authority. they are no longer protesting, instead they are campaigning to become local officials. among those standing is this man who was detained during the demonstrations. he believes politics is the best way to proceed. we need a democratic system that ensures that the officials work on behalf of the village, he says. but faith in the authorities is fragile here.

died inan's father police custody. she said that the land dispute has yet to be resolved. >> we are prepared to protest again on the streets to get our land back. we cannot let our efforts go to waste. the land must be returned. >> rapid development is the main source of unrest in china's countryside. the way wukan fought back has impressed other farmers. others say that they were confiscated to sell to developers. >> the people of wukan are very courageous. they want to control their own fate. because of them, we're becoming brave ourselves. >> farmers are more determined to fight for their rights but

in the struggle for chinese land, it is clear how much the authorities are willing to concede. >> just a few days after her resounding victory in her party leadership ballot, the australian prime minister has reshuffled the cabinet. kevin rudd failed in his bid to regain control. tell me about his replacement. >> his replacement is it a former premier of east wales. he will do a good job. he has the ability to create conversations with a wide range of stakeholders. some very good leadership skills and he will build the relationships that the labor

party needs now to continue and to possibly win the next election in 2013. he has the ability to draw together a number of competing positions and probably in meliorate some of the problems that the labor party has had in the past in communicating with the electorate, which is its biggest problem. there has been a missing two -- there has been a miscommunication with a large number of constituents. >> if he is a guy buys a figure, not everyone wanted him for the job. >> -- if he is a divisive figure, not everyone wanted him. >> that is correct. his focus on the u.s. is very strong.

he is a close friend of henry kissinger and he has a number of friends in the senate. this move is a very american move, if you like, in terms of ritual. this is unprecedented in australia that someone from outside of the party would come into such a senior position. this also reflects the need of the prime minister to stamped herself on the party and the leadership position. she had a resounding win last week. she has had to overcome a lot of the problems that the party makes for itself. and >> as you say, the government seems to have a problem with miscommunication, do you think that this will boost the chances next year?

>> there is a chance that it will tend to of the real problem is that she is not a great communicator. -- there is a chance that it will. oushe is not a great communicator. the electorate is shifting its allegiance from the labor party and moving towards the alternative which are the greens. it will take for a long time to create a stronger leadership base. australian politics is enormously masculine in its nature. the language is about as well. she has had a lot of difficulty. there is a lot of talk about whether the opposition and others are playing the sexes cards and gender cards but she

has fallen into the trap of attempting to engage with the masculinity of the political culture. if she moves away from that and takes her own position, she will do very well. >> i will have to leave it there. thank you for your insight. you are watching "newsday." a murder of a teenage boy cast new light on the ritual of witchcraft. ♪ ♪ >> eurovision is about to get the hump. can engelbert humperdinck rescue the u.k.'s reputation? "the times" has an exclusive interview with russia's prime minister vladimir putin in which

she says that moscow has no special relationship with syria and that the killings must not. there is a detail of violence in homs and the elections in iran. the financial times shows an animated discussion between the greek in german finance ministers after eurozone members delayed the approval of more than half of the $140 billion bailout package. "the times" shows us the singer engelbert humperdinck who is a surprise choice to represent the u.k. at the euro vision song contest. >> this is "newsday" on the bbc. >> these are the headlines.

syrian opposition forces say that they are withdrawing from the besieged a district in homs. >> iranians will shortly go to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. in britain, two people had been found guilty of murdering a teenage boy they have accused of witchcraft. eric bikubi and magalie bamu are accused of the murder. the boy died with 130 separate injuries. that story of the murder of kristy bamu has thrown the spotlight on the beliefs about witchcraft. we heard the story of four siblings. >> sunday in the democratic republic of congo.

this church is known for its exorcisms of disease and evil spirits. in the case of this child, there was no suggestion of ill treatment but there is growing concern that some cases, belief in witchcraft is leading to abuse. we travel to a village just outside of king charles set to meet patrick. he is training to be a mechanic. died, his mother took him in along with his brothers and two sisters. it was not long before she turned on the children accusing them of witchcraft. fo>> my grandmother told the entire neighborhood that we were witches and that we have killed our mother. once we were in the church and she put my little brother's hands in boiling water. if the people from the neighborhood had not stopped

her, he would have died. >> you were not allowed to make friends. she first us to work to earn our living. whenever we brought food home, she cooked it and stop us from eating it. the children who were accused of witchcraft were abused in the house right behind me for several months. this has been converted into a health center but the neighbors to that except the situation. we talked to the neighbors who said that they had to chase this family way to stop the abuse. the neighbors said that one girl was in such a bad state that they had to take it to the hospital to keep alive. her brother and sister are now in the care of the parish priests. the authorities are trying to step in to enforce child protection laws. >> they are stopping it both on

the government side, the organization, and even the church. people, they really believe in witchcraft, that is what they don't like. this is like killing someone because they are a witch. >> in this case, the village stepped in but dealing in sorcery is widespread and children are getting accused of witchcraft every day. >> there is agreement between the u.s. and north korea but this is taking place over the rear create -- over the chinese repatriation of over 13 north koreans. there have been protests at the

u.n. and even the south korean president has spoken out. we look at what issues are likely to be addressed at the talks. >> on the six party talks, the way towards those talks has been opened by this agreement between north korea and the u.s. both china and south korea say they would like to get back to the six party talks but they disagree on what is needed. south korea needs more guarantees then china does of north korea's sincerity. i imagine this may be an opportunity for south korea to ask china to keep that process on track. china is north korea's main ally. on the issue of the protest, china and south korea are even further airport -- further apart. people have been escaping to china and tie now sees them as economic migrants. that is likely to be the more

thorny issue. >> the european leaders have met in brussels to discuss how to bring economic growth and jobs to the region. unemployment in the eurozone will rise to a record. almost 70 million people are out of work and there are enormous differences between individual countries. the argentine president says she would like to negotiate a deal with britain to allow direct flights between argentina and the falkland islands. in the state of the nation address, she demanded that they sovereignty of the falklands recognize. you have news that may surprise many but has lots of other music fans quite excited. >> the eurovision song contest

will be held in a couple of months and british music fans will be paying their hopes on a man that was born before all of them. engelbert humperdinck will be representing the u.k. >> his first hit was in 1967 and engelbert humperdinck is still recording and touring and flying the flag for britain. he has been singing for decades. he is collaborating with some of the biggest producers. details of his song have not been released. he says his trademark image were copied by elvis. his stage name comes from a german composer.

>> azerbaijani, the winner of eurovision 2011 >> the u.k. has performed poorly in recent years. we will see if engelbert humperdinck is the man to release us from our run of bad luck. >> we have a commentator who has worked on a commentator -- as a commentator for the eurovision for decades. >> engelbert humperdinck is a musical legend. he has sold 150 million records worldwide. he was selling records when some of the people in pop when not in twinkles in the eyes of their grandparents. it is a massive surprise and it

has taken fans completely unexpectedly. >> what do you think about the music we have been playing for you. isn't that kind of loss vegas lounge music -- las vegas lounge music? >> he does not like that label. he has put a lot of rubber on the road. you can expect a balance. there is no question the bbc is in a contest with 40 other countries. half of them are an economic meltdown.

this is the best story to hit the airwaves on "bbc world news" says the world cup. -- since the world cup. >> when he agreed to take this, would he have known the u.k.'s recent record? >> britain is known around the world for many good things and some bad. among the good things are a sense of humor and great music. when it comes to eurovision, we have a habit of losing both. we send rubbish and we lose our fabulous smile about ourselves. engelbert humperdinck is taking a risk that he has broad shoulders. this is a man who knows how to sing.

by the time you have seen some skimpy scandinavian age to 12 cindi, you are looking forward to something different. -- age 12 singing, you were looking forward to something different. they have cheeky opposition from ireland. this is like a plot of a bizarre novel and it is one that i want to read. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> engelbert humperdinck there, ending this edition of "news day."

>> 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 use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global

network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.