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>> and now "bbc world news." >> welcome to "news the" on the bbc. >> the headlines this hour. -- welcome to "newsday" on the bbc. >> the u.s. soldiers suspected of killing civilians in afghanistan is to be charged with 17 counts of murder. president nicolas sarkozy called for national unity as the to lose a siege comes to an end. come t-- tolouse siege comes to an end. >> the coroner's report says that whitney houston died of accidental drowning.

>> several thousand people have taken part in a rally in the american state of florida to demanded the arrest of a crime watch volunteer who shot a teenager dead. the chief of police to temporarily step down and it's the anger over the handling of the case. people would not be pacified by the police chief's temporary resignation. >> it is clear of the -- it is clear that the parents are looking for the arrest of mr. zimmerman. it might have just momentarily calmed the waters. they think that they have been treated unfairly with mr.

zimmerman remaining free and not under arrest. >> what should be done? this is all about george zimmerman not being charged and the question of the stand your ground law. explain to people who got on at -- who do not understand. >> the law really is part of a larger law called the council law which allows people to defend themselves with weapons inside of their home. the stand your ground lot is in addition that says that you can use lethal force outside of your home, you don't have to be retreating, you can be pursuing someone that you feel was a threat to yourself in terms of a deadly threat. it is interesting because the drafters of the law contend that what mr. zimmerman may apparently have done is outside of the guidelines of this law.

they think that he is subject to prosecution. it does complicate things. maybe one of the reasons why the local police in stanford, florida did not arrest him immediately. they have confessed that they have pretty much dropped the ball here. things are heating up and there are a number of investigations moving forward. >> a civil rights leader speaking to me from earlier. we talk to our correspondent who was at the rally. what was the mood like? >> i would say that it was sad, inspirational, and hopeful. >> how many people -- we heard there was tens of thousands of people. how many people do you think that there was? >> i would say definitely tens of thousands.

we cannot see the end of it. >> how what do you think the situation is being dealt with? do you think that bill lee temporarily stepping down will appease protesters? >> absolutely not, this is the beginning. people will continue to organize and continue to fight back and demand justice. >> what do you hope will happen next? what are you hoping for ? >> i hope that this will come. i think that if they appeal this law, i think that they are going to learn from this. i hope it will be more conscious of a lot of the racism that continues.

>> are there any parallels with what happens 20 years ago. >> i think that there are parallels that people are upset. i think where it is different is that people are organizing and they are doing so in a peaceful way to demand justice. >> ok, thank you very much for your interest. >> the government has demanded that the soldier that was accused of killing afghan civilians goes on trial there. >> a u.s. official has confirmed that the staff sergeant will be charged with 17 counts of

murder and six counts of attempted murder and assault. so, these are the charges against the staff sergeant which have come after his arrest which happened shortly after those killings in southern afghanistan a couple of weeks ago. he has been held in military custody since then, first of all transferred to kuwait and now being held at a high security prison at fort leavenworth. tonight, he has been charged with 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. >> the french president has appealed for national unity following the ending of the siege in toulouse. he said that french muslims had nothing to do with the mad motivation and should not be stigmatized.

>> the final hours of the most dramatic siege that had lasted over 30 hours. it was thought that mohammed merah had taken his life but as police moved in, there came the most intense gunfire which signaled a fluorosis -- a ferocious gunfight. this was a 23-year-old criminal with a string of convictions. a french citizen trained in afghanistan who claimed that he had orders from al qaeda. he negotiated with police but late last night, he told them that it was against his conscience to surrender and all to medications stop. there were attempts to break his resolve. -- he told them it was against his conscience to surrender and all communications stopped. the decision was taken to send in the commandos. they entered through the fr

ont candidate went through the apartment until they reached the balcony. suddenly, he appeared. armed with a colt 45 handgun and opening fire. two policemen were injured. he advanced from the bathroom and jump from one of these ground floor windows wearing a bulletproof vest. outside was a marked man who shot him dead. he had finished it exactly as he wanted, in a ferocious battle with police and with a gun in his hand. in three separate and brutal attacks, he had killed seven people. three soldiers from a parachute regiment and on monday, three children and a rabbi at the jewish school. the police said that he confessed but his only regret was not killing more. he had filled his attacks, reveling in the gruesome and appalling way he executed each

victim. he told us he had been radicalized in prison, and he began reading the koran. he did not show any signs of fundamentalism. he had traveled to afghanistan alone and later a immersed himself in extremist web sites. he burgle houses to raise enough money to get an extraordinary arsenal of weapons. today, nicolas sarkozy told the nation that an inquiry is under way to find his accomplices and every person who goes on websites which glorify terrorism he said will be punished by law. for a president facing a battle for reelection, this is a successful conclusion. throughout the week, he has been center stage in this process overseen the biggest manhunt that france has ever known. questions have been asked by his own foreign minister tell how

did the domestic intelligence agencies lose track of such a violent criminal who had traveled to afghanistan and was already on their radar as a dangerous fundamentalist. >> there is growing international anchor over -- anger over events in mali. >> the troops have overthrown the government. the u.n. security council has added its voice to calls for a return to constitutional rule. landlocked mali is considered a relatively peaceful country. >> this is the group of soldiers who say that they have entered --e rule of the president's ended the rule of the president.

they appeared on television to announce the end of what they call an incompetent regime. >> in the name of the armed forces, in all of its parts, they have decided to assume their responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent and discredited regime. >> this is the dramatic culmination of a chaotic 24 hour battle. this started when angry soldiers took to the streets and began exchanging fire with forces guarding the presidential palace. >> we heard gunfire and people started to run. all of this was going on and we had no idea what was happening. >> the president has fled the presidential palace.

there is the spread of support for al qaeda and a flood of weapons traffic from libya. for weeks, the army has appealed to the government for better weapons to fight the rebels who they claim have been bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fought at gaddafi's side last year but returned to mali. this is the reason that the soldiers have given. the president, seen here attending an african union summit had agreed to step down. the borders have been close, the soldiers say they have arrested several ministers and top military officers. a curfew has been declared and for the people of mali, the

question is to is in charge. the soldiers will say that they will have a new democratically- elected government. they have not said when or how. >> a group of electors largely loyal to beijing will pick the man who will run hong kong. this is the most exciting political race hong kong has ever had. accusations of infidelity, corruption, and an illegal basement a pleasure palace and the mudslinging continues to rage on all sides. the surprising scandals are only fooling demands for -- are only fueling demands for greater democracy. >> they are asking for democracy. demonstrations large and small are commonplace these days.

the city is gearing up for a major election, one marked by scandal and decided by a small group of voters the desire for universal suffrage is strong. these people are preparing to do what many people are not free to do. they are deciding in a mock election which of these men can run their city. this is far better than having an election committee of just 1200 members voting. >> they are given the right to choose the executive but the decision that they will make cannot defend all hong kong people. that is why this is very unfair. >> the citywide -- was orchestrated by a hong kong resident.

he has not been as politically motivated in years. >> the people are more insisted on a voice in their opinion. >> the people of hong kong have completely -- a carefully choreographed election. this has been the most lively race the city has ever seen. this has forced some of the candidates into rather uncomfortable positions. >> in a live debate, the front runner apologize for his personal failings.

the election has ignited the demand from the right. so, they plan to hold beijing accountable. >> still to come, putting style into sport. they unveiled their alleged ticket with a little help from stella mccartney. ed kit with aleg little help from stella mccartney. the labor leader has described a recent move as outrageous and he accused the chancellor of targeting pensioners. the institute for fiscal studies announces a relatively modest tax increase.

five metropolitan police have visibly been injured, four of them seriously after being attacked by a pit bull. this is "newsday" on the bbc. >> our headlines this hour. a mass protest has taken place in florida over the shooting of an on non black teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer. un the shooting of an o

armed teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer. vietnam has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of 21 vietnamese fishermen taken by chinese forces in the disputed area of the south china sea. they were detained early this month when fishing. they were dealt with according to law against illegal fishing in chinese waters. we know this is not the first diplomatic route between china and vietnam. >> we have seen many diplomatic disputes between the two countries over these disputed at -- these disputed islands. china has claimed sovereignty over them. that is something that is disputed and that is why it is a

fisherman that were in that area. they claimed that china had violated the sovereignty after the chinese company opened up a bid to begin a process of oil exploration. >> critics say that this is just the latest episode of the time it exerting its territory influence. >> they have control these islands for almost 40 years. they claim sovereignty. what we have seen in the south china sea is a whole host of disputes of violence across the south china sea as well as greece. china can test a lot of these islands with a number of countries in the region. why does this matter? this is home to some of the busiest shipping lanes and is

believed to control some of these. as you pointed out, china, certain countries around the world point out that china is becoming more assertive in its claims. china wants to resolve these disputes through bilateral talks one on one with each other but they would like to see a multilateral approach to this and that is a stance backed by the u.s.. >> alright, we will leave it there in beijing. teams searching the wreck of the coast the consortia have found five more bodies and it is reported that they were discovered to reach -- they were discovered two and a half months after the cruise ship sank off of the italian coast. two other people are unaccounted for.

the was a good council has demanded that troops be withdrawn from syrian cities. these are the latest pictures that have not been verified and they reportedly show explosions and gunfire in the area of homs, hama, idlib. >> whitney houston's death was caused to the accidental drowning. >> the finding is that she died as a result of drowning. those may well contributed to their death. say it is not actually possible that she had a heart attack on the day that she died, she may well have done and that would

have participated in the drowning. it was accidental and the ultimate cause of death, the reason she stopped breathing was that she drowned. >> other substances were found in her system? >> yes, a number of medications were found in her system. they were also found in the room, the paraphernalia that goes with those medications. not found in significant quantities. there has been some speculation that drugs may have played the role in her death. that seems to have been discounted to a large extent. the full report has not been released yet and we're likely to get that in the next few days or weeks. it would be a very detailed report including the various drugs including cocaine. >> this is a very tragic ending to an incredibly glittering

career. her family has released a short statement and saying that they are saddened by the results of these tests but it does bring them some closure after her death. >> the official kit of the british olympic team has been unveiled in london. they are mainly blue with touches of red, white, horizontal lines. >> it was more london fashion week than london olympics. great britain's new kit was unveiled today under the watchful eye of its famous

designer, stella mccartney. even for mccartney, it was a big challenge. come up with a kit for 46 different athletes. after the show, she told me wanted -- why she wanted to put a label on it. >> i think that you can really feel it, living in the city. i was born here and bred here and i work here every day. you can really feel it in the streets and in the city itself. >> not everyone was excited about her take on the flag. with different shades of blue replacing red. so, was she trying to make a fashion statement? >> when you look at it, you'll read it as the flag. the fact that you knew it as the flag is very recognizable. i recognized all of it from parts of great britain. there was a lot of red but i

used it in a different way. >> most athletes don't it the chance to play with this kind of limits and glamour. the concern is that they will jeopardize their chances delivering gold. >> as an athlete, when it comes to competition, you need to be at this level. >> with the game's getting closer, the launch shows the height and expectation is growing for britain. come july, most people will worry more about what they're winning and less about what they're wearing. >> you have been watching " newsday" on the bbc. >> much more on our website. a big protest has been

taking place in florida. >> 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.