>> 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." >> welcome to "news the" on the bbc. >> the taliban suspends talks with the u.s. as anti-american sentiment harbors in afghanistan after the murder of 15 civilians. the soldier's client is not -- to align the lawyer of -- the lawyer for the soldiers said they did not expect him to be charged for several weeks. >> there is an attack near a base in southern france. >> broadcasting to america on

pbs and around the world, this is "newsday." >> the nato's military mission in afghanistan has suffered two setbacks. the taliban is suspending peace talks with the americans almost before they started. the object to the involvement of hamid karzai's government. hamid karzai has called on nato forces to end patrols in villages after the killing of 15 civilians by an american soldier last weekend. apparently there will be no change in strategy. >> it all began here, almost 7,000 miles from afghanistan. a place where once a twin towers stood. now, a memorial to the 2983 who died on a single day.

david and some at the camera and remember 9/11. she was in new york, he was in london. samantha and cement cameron remember 9/11. >> so much has been sacrificed apparently for so little. >> of course we made big sacrifices. we lost 400 of our soldiers. it is worth remembering why we are there and this is the right place to remember it. nearly 3000 people died right here on 9/11. that terrorism was coming straight out of afghanistan and pakistan, that area of the world. we had to make sure that afghanistan was no longer a haven for terror and afghanistan. >> another setback for hopes of

a political solution. the taliban announced that they were no longer willing to talk with at the united states. the reason was not the burning of the koran or the slaughter of civilians by an american soldier, but the conditions put down by american negotiators. hamid karzai told the u.s. defense secretary to pull all international troops back to their bases. does it depress the that the talks seem to be at an end as the consequence of what happened last week? >> we have to be clear that we have a plan in afghanistan which is a hand over to a capable army, police, and the government. we will do that without a political setback or with a political settlement. -- we will do that without a political settlement or with a political settlement. >> last night, the obamas hosted

a state dinner. they dined on bison, they drank in praise from one leader to another. >> he is just the kind of person that you want at your side. i trust him. he does what he says and he says what he does. >> there are three things that really stand out for me. strength, moral authority, and wisdom. he has pressed the reset button on the moral authority of the entire world. >> a conservative praising obama's strengths. it was their predecessors that began the war that started here. it is fitting that david cameron and his trip here --

ends his trip here. all that is left of one of the two twin towers. the prime minister and president are struggling to end the war. >> more than a dozen people have died in the syrian uprising during the past year according to the latest estimates from the u.n. it has been 12 months since the protest began in the southern city of deraa. one of the victims was 13. the family said that he was tortured to death. we have spoken to his relatives. this report contains distressing images. >> early march, 2011, and the first large protest against the assad regime.

in deraa, people learned fear. cars of the secret police were chased away later. freedom's ecstasy was short. on the same day, the regime hit back. these sisters witnessed the brutality. >> 1 injured person fell to the ground and he tried to escape by calling his way to safety. they apprehended him and beat him up severely with batons. i was watching all this from my window. >> the girl's father film to the incident. in the weeks that followed, children would be at the forefront of demonstrations. deraa became a symbol of resistance.

a 13-year-old joint a march in the city. -- joined a march. it was attacked. he was wounded and arrested. his uncle was present when his mutilated body was returned. >> this small body was subjected to extreme treatment. i felt pain and aching in every cell. he was subjected to the most horrific torture. they had even cut off his penis. >> the government denies that he was tortured but the child became the icon of the revolution. a year later, he is among hundreds of dead children. many others are in detention or scattered in exile. those fateful days established a pattern that would spread across syria of a people no longer afraid, challenging a government that would resort to

ever more ruthless violence to stay in power. a iran, with news reaching the refugees, -- a year tehran, with news reaching the refugees, of a city lost. -- a year on, with a news reaching the refugees of a city lost. >> what kind of reaction from the news that president karzai would like nato to pull out of afghan villages? >> the taliban suspending peace talks, we heard from the white house spokesperson who said that the it administration remains committed to a political resolution in afghanistan. there is no likely resolution to the conflict in that country without some sort of political settlement. they did not respond directly to what the taliban has said and

the accusations that the u.s. has taken a fickle position. we have also heard some sort of damage limitation in response to what the afghan president said in terms of u.s. troops withdrawing from remote villages and concentrating more on the larger military bases in afghanistan. that might have taken people by surprise but certainly the spin that officials that the pentagon will put on that is that is the aim that the u.s. forces have done to it is just a question of how quickly that can be achieved. -- that is the name that the u.s. forces have, it is just a question of how quickly it can be achieved. lawyer say forhe the soldier? >> we heard from him for the first time. he said that he had spoken on the phone to his client on the

phone from kuwait. he is concerned for his safety and for the safety of his family who have been moved to the military base in washington state. they are living there now. they gave us a few more details about the injuries that the soldier had suffered. he suffered a concuss of brain injury. the lawyer raise concerns about how his client had been treated by the military. he spoke to reporters in seattle earlier on. >> it is a tragedy all the way around, there is no question about that. i think it is of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, a decorated soldier, who was injured in iraq. he was injured in his brain and in his body. i think that is an issue of concern. i think the message for the public in general is that we

need to treat him fairly. >> the reason that the soldier in question has not been named is because there are fears of potential reprisals, possible revenge attacks against him or his family. the department of defense say that the soldiers will be named when charges are brought against him. the lawyer says that he plans to travel to kuwait to meet with his client in the coming days and then he will form part of his legal team along with a military lawyer who is assigned to the soldier if and when a trial begins. >> thank you for that. there has been another gun attack on french soldiers in france. >> that's right. the french defense ministry said that a gunman had shot dead two soldiers and left a third critically injured near a military base near the city of montauban.

this followed the death of another french soldier on sunday. >> this is the spot where it the french paratroopers were shot dead by 8 gunmen -- a gunman. early reports had said that the third was dead. the three were taking cash from a bank machine not far from their base in southwest france when the unknown assailant opened fire in broad daylight. >> i heard a series of shots and then we saw the fire men arrived. >> the gunman reportedly fled the scene at speed. forensic teams are searching for clues as to the attacker is. death is not a motive. they are considering a number of possibilities including that the shooting was the result of a

personal dispute. last sunday, another paratrooper was shot. his attacker was also on a motorbike and wearing a helmet when he opened fire and fled. officials have not yet linked the two shootings. in the south was a the country where both of these attacks happened, are home to all of france's airborne delete units -- elite units. >> there will be legal action taken against all companies exploring for oil near the falkland islands. afghanistan warned that any company provides support and they could face sanctions. the family for the children killed in a bus crash in switzerland have visited the tunnel where the accident happened. 22 children and six adults died when the bus crashed head-on

into the tunnel wall. 19 of the dead have been formally identified. organization that handles most international payments between banks says that they will cut off sanctioned iranian banks this saturday. the move is designed to enforce the sanctions on iran aimed at stopping their nuclear program. on the watching "newsday" bbc, still to come -- how dog lovers in thailand are saving thousands of pets destined for the dinner tables of southeast asia. a review of police pay and conditions in england and wales have recommended far reaching changes including the prospect of officers being dismissed if they fail fitness tests. the new pay structure was needed because the police work has

become more complex and specialized. some say that they are being deliberately targeted. >> we have seen leaked documents in which a senior police officer blamed drunk fans. this was received at the days after the tragedy. the nationalist party has elected a new leader. she describes herself as a welsh socialist, a republican, and a supporter of real independence for wales. >> the headlines this hour, another setback for the nato-led mission in afghanistan as the

taliban withdraws from peace negotiations with the americans. >> the u.n. is sending its staff to join a humanitarian mission led by the syrian government this weekend. latestet more on the developments in afghanistan. joined by political commentator who joins us from our washington studio. let's start with the taliban stopping these peace talks. what do you make of this? >> the taliban have effectively thrown the ball into america's court because they believe that they don't want the inclusion of the afghan government and that the americans have been shifting the goal post. part of that is perhaps a maneuvering tactic for them because they want a more suitable situation for their

negotiations. >> in terms of president karzai asking for western troops to be removed from afghan villages, this all stems from the killing of the 16 civilians. what do you make of this because this is a really complicated situation? >> this definitely complicate the situation is because president karzai has been under immense pressure over the last couple of months because there are repeated incidents involving soldiers, the latest incident. he is under a lot of domestic pressure to actually do something. this is his way of answering to the domestic pressure that he is under. this can be a gesture for him to the taliban because he has been up costing them over the past several years. this coincided with a similar

announcement from the taliban. >> what is the way forward in your opinion? >> i think the way forward is to keep pushing for these because we heard president karzai made similar announcements in the past. he has dumbed down some of his positions. we have seen that the taliban has suspended but not altogether stopped the negotiations. the ball, according to the taliban, is on the american court. >> we have been hearing from the lawyer for the accused soldier. this is a very difficult situation, how should the western forces be dealing with this particularly? >> it is very difficult to say. what they have done in terms of taking the soldier away from afghanistan has crated a very negative reaction from the afghan parliament and public

opinion. the best way to do this is to stop similar incidents and to keep the public aware of the goings on in this trial as it unfolds and to let them know. this is not the ideal situation. they wanted to see him tried in afghanistan. >> thank you very much for your thoughts there. more now on syria. u.n. officials will join a syrian lead to monitoring mission this weekend. by the former u.n. ambassador under bill clinton. what do you make of this mission? the fact that this is a government-led mission makes it rather difficult to get to the .ruth

>> i do. i believe that they have been given a carte blanch to slaughter their people. any information that the u.n. can get is important but this will not solve the underlying problem. this is a diplomatic solution, one that needs to be backed up by force. anything short of that will let the killing continue. >> this is proving to be difficult to get that kind of united nations, what would your advice be to everyone to get them on the table? >> you cannot let russia has a veto when lives are risk like this. you need a coalition of the willing. you need more from the region such as turkey and the neighboring countries, they need to live up to their expectations.

if anyone can pull a rabbit out of this hat, it is kofi annan, who is the most talented diplomat that the world has. at this point, the syrian government is not serious about negotiations. >> what would you advise him to do? this is said to difficult position. what should the next that be? >> he needs to push the regime to end the violence, immediate and tearing access to stop the killing. they're not likely to say yes to him unless the world is willing to stand up to him. this will require the regional governments rising to the occasion. they are the ones that will have to deal with this. they will have to deal with the aftermath of the syrian civil war. as long as they're willing to

stand by and let this happen, it will continue to happen. the u.s. cannot be the port of first call for the use of force. until the policy is married with force, the killing will continue. >> people say that you have to be incredibly cautious because this is such a complicated scenario. in terms of force, what would you suggest? >> i would have a coalition of the willing, the neighboring arab states, together with turkey, to go into syria and create a safe haven so that you can have the killing stop. perhaps in some of the cities, certainly in homs and the other areas of the government attacks. there is always the risk that the syrians are willing to take on the force. it is one thing for the syrians

to fire on unarmed protesters, it is very different if they were confronted by a strong force that is there simply to protect civilians. >> we very much value your input. thank you for speaking with us. >> authorities in thailand say that in the last six months they have rescued 2000 dogs that were destined for the dinner tables of southeast asia. dog meat is a delicacy in parts of vietnam and china and strays and domestic pets are being taken from the streets before being smuggled abroad. >> home at last, the incredible journey has more than a touch of hollywood about it but it just before christmas, a picture on the mobile phone is all he had to remind him of his pet. a fireworks display had scared the dog and he had disappeared. after a week of searching, he had almost given up hope.

>> he is like a member of the family. the first week he went missing, we could not sleep at all. we got up in the middle of the night whenever we heard dogs barking. but it was never him. weeks later, he saw a television report on a successful operation by the police. a truck carrying more than 800 better dogs in cages was stopped as it tried to leave the country. their destination, the dinner plates of vietnam where dog meat is considered a delicacy. the last six months, there has been a sharp rise in the number of dogs stolen. the bruised and in some cases extremely sick animals were brought to this shelter in the countryside. this place has only been open for six months but there are already more than 2000 rescued dogs here. some of them were originally

straight, picked up off the streets. it looking at the condition, it is clear that at least a quarter were stolen domestic pets. in anticipation, this man travel to the shelter? the manager remembers the motion of his visit. he found his dog down there and he came back carrying him in his arms. his wife said, is that him? he could not answer because he was crying so much. it is amazing, he's the only stolen dog that was found by his owner. all is not lost for the stolen dogs rescued. thailand is a buddhist country and many people believe in reincarnation between animals and humans. these dogs will not be put down even if no one comes to claim them. >> you are watching "newsday" on the bbc.

>> from us, for now, thank you very much for watching. >> 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?

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