>> 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 petwork to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> now, bmp bc world news. >> tornados and high winds hit the southern united states, causing several deaths and widespread damage. >> the u.n. secretary general accuses crimes against the populations of arms. >> syrian forces have committed widespread systematic and caused human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity. >> welcome to bbc news. coming up a little later, the russian strongman rallies supporters as he anticipates a return to the presidency.

>> welcome once again. we're going to start in the united states because more than 70 tornadoes have hit the mid south of the country. several people are reported killed so far. the states of tennessee and kentucky also indiana, they've all been battered by powerful storms which have ripped apart homes and damaged schools. >> in indiana, they know the meaning of the word destruction all too well. ripped apart like match stick buildings, the houses in clark county have been reduced to rubble. one whole town was said to have completely gone. this is one of the tornados that caused the damage. filmed by a man in his car, you can just make out the swirls and the hammer of hail on his wind screen. >> i was heading home from work and i was just driving home to

take shelter because we had advanced notice of the severe weather coming in. i was about 2 miles away from the tornado which during in my photos and video it is over the henryville-marysville area that was devastated. >> tornados usually happen when a front of cool dry air is met by warmer more moist air that creates the perfect conditions for twisters. parts of georgia, alabama, ohio, kentucky, as well as tennessee and indiana have been hit. in tennessee, blaine surveyed the damage to his home. he said the storm struck fast and with little warning. in athens, alabama, there's disbelief and more broken homes. >> i heard it when i started hailing, i sat up in bed about the time i sat up just it sounded like a big explosion. and i jumped up and ran out the

front door in the pouring rain, turned around and my house is totalled. >> many places in the mid united states can still remember the last time this happened. barely a year since some states suffered the worst twisters for 30 years. >> oh, my god. >> powerful and unforgive, huge black torrents like this one chewed up houses and spat out debris. more than 360 people were killed by tornadoes in alabama and mississippi last april. but twisters season is here again. they have plone apart communities as fast as the people can draw breath. >> let's for a moment concentrate on indiana. what happened to one when one

tornado struck. >> i was driving on highway 65 just past louisville. i could see the storms around. he was watching the weather to tell me how to go and how to miss the worst of it. so he had me pull off to the side for a few minutes underneath an overpass then he had me keep going because ahead of me was a tornado. but right behind me there was some more bad weather. so i was kind of stuck in the middle so he was having me continue on. and i ended up being just a few minutes south of where the worst hit in henryville, indiana. and to kind of see in a distance, i didn't see the actual tornado but saw the cell sweeping across the interstate and ended up getting some hail on me as well and then driving through the area where the tornado hit was, the damage was unbelievable. truly surreal.

>> how long have you been indoors? are you in your basement where you're supposed to be? >> i'm not in my basement. thankfully where i am, the most severe weather is not a threat. i'm at my sister's house in indiana. i live in nashville so i was driving up from nashville, tennessee north up to here when i ended up passing that weather. >> what are the local tmb v stations saying about the devastation, about the number of dead, about people injured? not only in indiana. do you know any news from kentucky, for example? >> i don't know any news yet. they keep having more and more numbers. i know just in henryville that the death toll was at least six when i last heard and i hope it is not more. but i know that it continues to climb. so the devastation -- homes were decimated. i could see when i past where the worst of it was, which was

just a few minutes ahead of me, cars were thrown across the road. street signs were down, homes were decimated. the metal in the grounds, the roads -- completely ripped out of the ground. some were in cars. cars looked mute lated almost. semi-trucks were overturned. and i just -- i know that i had heard that much of that city was flattened by that unbelievable tornado. >> and do you know if any other warnings about more severe weather to come? >> i know towards east of us that storm cell is moving but right where we are i think the worst has past, thankfully. and now everybody's kind of faced with cleaning up that rubble that is littered everywhere down there. >> in indiana where a number of

people have died. the exact fig rurs are still coming in but we do have a local cornor in louisville, in the state of kentucky who said four people have died in the south of that state because of the violent storms. the association press says that brings kentucky's total of dead to at least nine. so clearly very, very severe weather for some people. reports from new orleans says the oil company bp has reached agreement with the group suing it for the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. no details have been released yet but a trial due to begin on monday has been postponed for a second time the deepwater horizon rig exploded nearly two years ago. more than 200 million gallons of oil from an undersea well owned by bp gushed out into the waters. four weeks after the assault on the syrian city of homs began,

the u.n. general described it as atrocious, accused the government of attacking its own people. the comments come off a red cross convoy was denied admitance. >> an ant regime protest. it was attacked. when the panic subsided activists claim there were 12 killed, some of them blown to pieces. the seige of the city is over but the fight for the future of syria goes on. syrian state television showed the city. the u.n. said it had unconfirmed reports of summary execution as red cross convoy is refused access. >> it is unacceptable that the

people have not received any assistance or humanitarian aid or help in weeks now. the situation was difficult, it was very serious, and it's even worse now. >> the president can still shelter behind russian diplomatic cover but he had an uncomfortable nudge when the russian president refused to say whether mr. asad will remain in power. human rights watch has released satellite analysis of the shelling. the red dots show 640 destroyed or damaged buildings. the yellow ones mark at least 950 craters on roads and fields. this was taken on the 25th of february. the shelling didn't stop for another five days. among the dead was the sunday times reporter marie colvin. her body and the french photograph have now been handed over to the red cross in

damascus. >> the sunday times photograph who was wounded in the same attack is now back in london. the fighting has left syria's western critics with a big challenge. they want regime change but unlike in libya they aren't prepared to go to war to make it happen. >> we will make sure as we did in serbia that there is a day of reckoning for those who are responsible. so i have a clear message for those in authority in syria. make a choice. turn your back on this criminal regime or face justice for the blood that is on your hands. >> at the u.n. in new york, the syrian ambassador said his government was being slandered on no evidence other than opposition rumors. the international criticism is not going away. protesters in syria want weanses for the free army, gulf countries as well as western ones might prefer not to listen

they've condemned the regime's action bus they don't want to fuel a full-on civil war either. >> we've got a first-hand account of a brief stay from the wounded british photograph who was smuggled out of the city this week. he has told the news night program that civilians were living there in appaul conditions. we'll hear from him later in this program. the leading religious authority in afghanistan have demanded that people who burn copies of the koran should be publicly tried and published. more than 30 have died since the details last week. president obama and senior nato commanders have apologized for the incident. >> iranians have voted for the first time since the disputed presidential elections of 2009. the opposition green movement which was the focus of a government crack youb back then has boycotted this

parliamentary vote seen as a test of strength between the supreme leader and the president. john simpson reports. >> the key to this election was always going to be the turnout. the government was desperate that it should seem high. with the reformists and the opposition green movement boycotting the polls it was a battle between the top if i can yurs in government. in this context at least, ahmadinejad is slightly more moderate, a little less confrontational to the west, than the man whose power he unsuccessfully challenged a year ago. this man, iran's religious leader atolea chairwoman ni, hi-seeming turnout would strengthen him, not president ahmadinejad. >> elections have always been

important to our country, he says. and the more enthusiastically people participate, the better for our country. >> at the london studios of the bbc persian service televised to iran, i watched their election program going out live. audience figures for the service have doubled in three years to at least 6 million and probably more. this was their election phone-in program with callingers ringing in from inside iran itself. >> many people were annoyed that a former president, reformer, had voted after saying he wouldn't. meantime the authorities in iran itself were trying to jam the program electronically. what's at stake politically in this election though? a biographer, ahmadinejad, working for the bbc explained. >> the choice for the people

today are between hard liners and even more hard liners if you'd like. if you had the more hard liners coming in, probably more hard line iran will emerge. >> the opposition is just watching this election from the sidelines. only three years ago it looked for a moment as though a new revolution was under way in iran but it was brutely repressed. this young woman just one of dozens murdered. president ahmadinejad, the man accused of stealing that election, was the loser today. but the winner are are more extreme still. the religious leadership. >> still ahead, the russian strong man putin rallies his supporters as he anticipates a return to the presidency.

time for a quick look at some of the newspaper stories making headlines around the world. the picture of french journalist injured covering the uprising in syria giving her account of how she survived. the financial times focuses on the situation in europe, the region's leaders say the euro zone is finally emerging from its two years debt crisis. president obama is again stressed that tehran cannot develop a nuclear bomb telling the iranians he is not bluffing. here in the u.k. says the government is considering a controversial plan to privatize the police. companies could take responsibly for patrolling neighborhoods and detaining suspect. and the daley mail has bad news, claims that they're good night to range interest rates

despite the base rate remaining at half of 1%. >> this is bbc news, these are the headlines. five american states have been hit by tornados. several people have died. the united nation's secretary general has accused the seer yab government of commiting crimes against the country's civilian population. we'll stay with syria because almost two weeks ago the british photograph was working with the sunday times reporter when she was killed along side the french journalist. several others were wounded and now he is back in the london hospital. told about the moment he was rescued. >> there was a lull in the shelling. we piled in -- it was the free syrian army. it was a last ditch because they had wounded of their own

to get out. they knew we were in a bad shape and it was a last ditch attempt. it was a proper american helicopter at the embassy type of we've got one shot of this so they threw us into vehicles, drove across the city. there was a lot of sniping, shells going off and got us to the escape place half of us got out and then the government attacked and shot a lot of people on the escape route including the spanish journalist. he was shot but not fatally but a lot of people lost their lives. they just started piling bodies in. i can only say that the people who have got us out, every person in there is a hero but these people especially put their lives on the line and i can only say the biggest thanks to the syrian people.

>> and just about yourself, have you got all the bits of slap nl out of your body? >> they're not going to chase them. they'll reckon they'll pop out on their own one day and i'll be able to get a pair of tweezers. i don't know how they come out. >> you've got a souvenir. >> this is my present from the russians, this one. and really, the syrians have the unfortunate situation where they happen to be under seige during putin's election campaign and now that just got back, he's going to do all he can to help the poor people of the city. >> finally you must think a lot about marie. >> yeah. i mean, extremely close friends . journalists. we worked -- unsurpassed. i don't know anyone who had the ten acety, the bravery all in

one package. she would not let go. and this is why i've really got to tell, she was the best of the best. and i worked all last year in libya with her. we worked in iraq ten years ago together. and the world, we've all lost a good friend and one of the best has been taken from us. and i salute her and i will go back and get her when the time is right, bring her home. >> paul conroy speaking. two men have been found guilty of stealing from a mall asian student who had been hurt during the summer riots. the man were caught on camera. tootage of the robbery was posted on the internet and became one of the defiping images of the rise last august. our correspondent was in court. >> cameras recorded thousands of disturbing scenes last summer of mobs on the loose,

looters trashing shops and stealing. but this footage was among the most shocking. it shows many than, a student from malaysia, sitting on the ground disoriented and bleeding. he has just been punched so hard that his jaw has been broken in two places. as he tries to recover from the assault, a man helps him to his feet. looks like an act of kindness, a good samaritan helping an innocent victim. baw few seconds later both he and a second man set about robbing him, stealing a sony play station and a handful of games. >> it's coming from his back. >> the two men seen on that video have today been convicted. the prosecution said what they did was despibtable. >> he's injured, on the floor, defenseless. they've appeared to hep him up but then they rob from him. it's the lowest of the low.

>> he had only been in the u.k. for a few weeks when he got caught up in the worst disorder in year. he spoke of his ordeal just a day after undergoing surgery for his jaw. >> i felt sorry. among them were children. >> he was attacked here to see a friend who lived nowhere bi. she said she is was scared about the rioting in the area and he was on his way to comfort her. today his father said that ash raf now has a phobia about crowds. the family are pleased at today's verdict. >> i'm very satisfied with how the government has handled this case. i hope they'll look after people's safety. >> the cal usness captured on film provoked widespread outrage and they are told they

can expect lengthy jail terms. >> the venezuelan president is recovering after having surgery in cuba. he is being treated for cancer in the pictures shown meeting the former cuban president castro earlier in a telephone call to venezuelan television mr. chaves said he was recovering well and had been put on a special diet. >> the russian prime minister putin is almost certain to win sunday's president e f(leckses. returning to a job four years away he stepped down. >> vladmir putin comfortly striving to victory at the only election rally of his campaign in control of the voting system and most of the media, he is

certainly that he will be president again. he blamed the recent mass protests on america and the west declaring we will never allow anyone to interfere in our internal affairs. more often isolated in his security bubble, his response to the huge demonstrations has been to merely tweak russia's deeply flawed democratsy. >> we are facing a gam between the level of development of society that wants more same political life and letch of development of political. >> putin has created a system that he@÷ calls a managed democratsy and it is managed by him. we joined him times during campaign but rarely saw him meeting ordinary voters. in the entire process he took no part in political debate and gave no interviews to russian media. his image is that of a strong

man who brought stability after 12 years in power his key selling points is more of the same. and the way from moscow that message sells well. 200 miles northwest is not rich but after the chaos of the post soviet 90's, things now feel more secure. >> it's out here in small town russia that putin gets his greatest support. it's not that people are out of touch. they know about the big protests in moscow, but their choice is to stick with what they know. >> but even here the support is qualified. we found tanya waiting for a bus she said she would vote for putin but this should be the last time. >> we can let him do another term but no more than that. 12 years will be too long. >> in moscow protests have continued through the campaign

and will start again on monday straight after the election. one emerging new leader, opt stickically told me putin will be gone within 18 months. he took power illegally and what we need to do now is return this power to the people. >> a new internet video shows a computer-generated putin in the dark in truth he's heading for the kremlin again. >> you're watching bmp bc news just before we take a leave, more than 70 tornadoes have struck the south of the united states. the mid south to be exact. the worst affected state appears to be indiana where so far the figures say ten people have died and nine people according to the associated press have died in kentucky.

>> make sense of sprags news at bbc.com/news. funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stow, 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?