>> this is "bbc world news america." >> 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 work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news america." >> hello and welcome. i'm in singapore. >> i am in london. pope benedict celebrates mass with tens of thousands of catholics in cuba, but how well will his message that communism has failed to be received? three soldiers, including two britons -- british are killed by robed members of the afghan forces. >> president obama tells world leaders that the security of the world depends on actions taken at the nuclear summitt. >> there are still too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials. and these dangerous materials are still vulnerable in too many places. >> the former head of the international monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn, has

been charged with connections to an allegedly vicereine. -- to an alleged vice ring. >> welcome to bbc news, broadcast on pbs in america and elsewhere around the world. pope benedict has arrived in cuba at the start of a three-day visit. he has been attending a huge open-air mass in revolution square in the city of santiago. it was attended by raul castro, who also welcomed him at the airport. the pope said he would come in peace, liberty, and reconciliation. president castro said socialist cuba allowed full freedom of religion. the relationship between the catholic church and the cuban

state has improved in recent years, but the pope has been critical of the regime, saying its marxist ideology is outdated. and absolutely packed revolution square greeting the pope. >> yes, tens of thousands who came to take part in the mass and hear what the pope had to say. there was a crowd lining the road from the airport into the city of havana after the pope touchdown. he was met by the president, raul castro, and military band at the airport. there were huge crowds waving balloons and singing and dancing, lots of them wearing t- shirts with an image of the pope on it. a very celebratory mood. president raul castro and senior members of the communist party, a symbol of a better

relationship between the communist cuban state and the roman catholic church. >> it has gotten better, hasn't it, given the fact that it is no longer the same state. >> that is right, in 1992, then president fidel castro changed the constitution and made it possible for them to worship. they had previously been x and atheistic state. -- had been an atheistic state. that was a key moment, i think. marking a real sea change in the relationship. the catholic church has gone from strength to strength. it is still in a difficult position here. it is not allowed to open religious schools, which would compete with the communist mission to provide free education for everyone.

they are not allowed to build new churches either. but there is a seminary, for example. things are changing slowly. the church hopes to change things further, both in terms of its own freedom to operate here in cuba, but also in the burning in -- and also in bringing people back to the church after years of atheism. >> he has previously used the church to mediate on political issues, has a decastro? >> that is right. it was a cardinal of cuba who intervened when there were issues of political prisoners and it became very difficult for the government. there were massive demonstrations between 2003-10. the cardinal stepped in and he intervened and eventually negotiated the release of 75 political prisoners here. it was a key moment, i think my

in terms of showing how the church has began to use its influence. but it is certainly behind the scenes and there are those who are asking the church to do more. >> thanks very much. that was sarah speaking to us on the line from havana. a warm welcome for the pope's three-day visit. in other news, british -- two british soldiers have been shot dead in afghanistan by a man wearing an afghan uniform. the men's families have been informed. another member of the nato led forces in the east of the country was shot dead by a man dressed in afghan police uniform. there are a growing number of incidents in which afghan troops have turned their guns on nato

personnel. >> this is a tough conflict at the best of times, but to international troops, the risk of being shot by the very men they are training and is fighting alongside is the hardest when they face. these two deaths bring to 15 the number of british troops who have died this way. the news was announced in the commons. >> details of the incident are still emerging, but it appears a member of the nafta and -- of the afghan national army opened fire, killing the two bridge personnel. the assailant was killed by return fire. -- the two british personnel. the assailant was killed by return fire. >> after stories of u.s. soldiers urinating on any corpses, burning crops the -- copies of -- on enemy corpses, burning copies of the koran, retaliation has come through afghan soldiers.

news of another attack today brings to 14 the number webb died this year and a deck hands of afghan forces. the two british this morning, and six americans died, including two inside the in ministry of interior in kabul. four french troops were killed by an afghan soldier in february. >> we are taking a lot of measures to ensure that these incidents are kept to a minimum. i do not predict this will result in a shift of policy. >> it is a terrible space of a tax, though, isn't it? >> it is terrible. they are relatively small number, but the effect they have is severe. >> the aim is that afghan forces will be able to take on the fight against the taliban by themselves by 2014. >> the international resolve is to stick to the plan, keyed to the timetable for withdrawal by the end of 2014.

but however strong that may be, it is hard to see how that can be addressed on the ground between the soldiers of such different -- there can be trust on the ground between the soldiers of such different nations. the flag will be at half mast again tonight at the base, as they so often have before. >> day two of the nuclear summit in south korea is getting under way. who is there? >> it is being attended by a u.s. -- by u.s. president barack obama. he has been urging his chinese counterpart, hu jintao, to do more with north korea and its nuclear programs. more than 50 nations are attending. it is trying to find ways that they can protect nuclear materials and facilities against terrorist groups. what can we expect from day two

of the meetings? >> the summit today at the conference center has kicked off with a plenary session of all of the individual countries taking part. they can flesh out their individual commitment to reducing and protecting the nuclear stockpile under their charge. and the u.s. president, barack obama, has already spoken this morning, listing what his country has already done to protect nuclear security. >> we are improving security at our nuclear facilities. we are forging new partnerships and removing nuclear materials. and in some cases, getting rid of these materials entirely. as a result, more of the world's nuclear materials will never fall into hands of terrorists, who would gladly use them against us. of course, was also more reliable is that the threat remains. there are still too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials.

these dangerous materials are still vulnerable in too many places. >> the other thing the summit is trying to do to protect itself against that threat is to flesh out some international standards for protecting the material. at the moment, the standards are fairly haphazard, with each country voluntarily -- volunteering its own standard. they're seeking ratification to an amendment to to one of the existing conventions that has been on the books, but not formally ratified. that is what is going on today. >> how is this plan for a long range lorocket launched by north korea affecting the mood of this nuclear summit? >> it definitely affected things up until this morning. when barack obama went --

arrived, he went straight to the demilitarized zone. he began a series of bilateral meetings, of which north korea and its planned rocket launched were some of the core subjects he was talking about. now that he is here at the summit, the focus is expected to shift a little more to those security regulations, the commitment by individual countries to protect its missile material. there is a feeling that north korea will start to a little less large in the talks today. >> thank you for that report. there been serious clashes between armed forces from savannah and -- between armed forces from sudan and south sudan. it is believed to be the worst violence since the south gained independence last year. it has promised to the sudanese

president to suspend a visit to south sen. he was supposed to travel to the capital to try to resolve ongoing tensions. james has been following developments from the sudanese capital of khartoum. he said while some things are clearly happening, both sides appear to be confused on precisely what is going on. >> not worried about clashes, that comes from the military general in the south. he said his forces were attacked from the air in two places monday morning. and then in the afternoon by ground troops from the sudanese armed forces. it seems from a south sudanese perspective that they beat back this attack and pursued it almost to the oilfields just over the border. the sudanese perspective is different, saying they did not

start the fighting, but there were clashes along the border. sudan's military spokesman told me that the clashes near the -- or near the oilfields, but not inside, and actually were the work of a sudanese rebel group that was taking advantage of the confusion. it is confusing, but clearly, major clashes along the border between sudan and south sudan. >> you are watching newsday on the bbc live from singapore and london. still to come, 60 million people are in danger -- 16 million people are in danger. it will report from niger, which is now at risk of famine. >> and new charges -- after the charges against dominique strauss-kahn were dropped in new york, now he is under investigation in his own country. we will have the latest. >in the south china morning

post, headlining president obama and president hu jintao's discussion on nuclear discusses. it said there are concerns about north korea pose depending rocket launch. pending rockets launched. a halt to a greek tanker that was transporting iranian oil because of sanctions aimed at stopping iran's crude exports. it looks that the investigation into the weapons supply channel from muhammed merah who was shot dead by police after admitting to shooting seven people dead in toulouse, france. and making the front page of frankfurter of the minor.

>> this is newsday on the bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. pope benedict is celebrating mass with tens of thousands of catholics in cuba at the start of the first papal visit to the island in 14 years. >> 3 natarus 0 jurisch, two britons and an american, have been killed by members -- three nato soldiers, two britons and an american, have been killed by a member of the afghan national forces. >> the president obama health care reform is hanging in the balance. demonstrators rallied outside the supreme court has nine judges considered arguments on whether the bill is constitutional. it makes health insurance compulsory, which critics say

constitutes a tax. joining me from washington is our correspondent, adam brooks. give us the background as to how this has managed to potentially rich the u.s. supreme court. >> think back to the first year after barack obama came into the -- into office. a huge political fight over president obama's big plan to change the way americans get health care. it was a knockdown fight and last a long time. in the event of a slightly down -- watered-down version -- in the end, a slightly watered-down version got past. but those who oppose it are looking to tear this legislation down for the last couple of years. they have managed to find grounds on which they believe they can challenge it legally. the case is, as you say, now before the supreme court.

>> it is political dynamite, and in no action year. i know there are references to it every caucus or primary. the republican candidates wish to repeal obamacare. this is a very contentious issue, isn't it? >> it is really important on two levels. firstly, americans' lives will be changed a lot by this legislation. and if the republicans managed to get a ruling against it come out if they manage to get it repealed or knocked down by the courts, americans' lives will be changed by that as well. it is an important bit of the american society fabric. but as you say, is really important politically. we are in an election year. it is perhaps the most important thing the president obama has done on domestic policy. if that gets knocked down and destroyed in the middle of an elecampane, it will be very damaging for his reelection -- in the middle of an election

campaign, it will be very damaging for his reelection prospects. >> thank you. at the u.n. and arab league peace envoy, kofi annan, as saying the crisis in syria cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely. he said there is no sense in making their mindless the key players are involved. -- in making deadlines unless the key players are involved. the bbc's roger did -- the bbc is restricted from reporting inside syria. our correspondent is in lebanon. >> still being battered by shells and rockets. and virtually every day, more people are killed here than anywhere else in syria. inevitably, many of the victims are civilians. this is the kind of thing that kofi annan wants to stop

immediately, the use of heavy weapons in population centers. he sees no sign that the regime is ready to call off its use of force where for id and counts -- encounters resistance. it insists that the rebels must throw down their arms first. the russians and chinese generally support kofi annan's efforts, but he needs their help to persuade persuadeassad -- president assad that changes are needed immediately. >> they cannot resist the transformational winds that are blowing. they have to accept that change has to come. that is the only way to deal with this situation. >> kofi annan has his work cut out on both sides of the equation the opposition has been meeting in istanbul, trying to

unify their ranks. mr. un-and -- mr. kofi annan's problem is trying to get a unified voice of them. >> mr. alassane has to step down and -- >> each day at the dozens more to the grim death toll of the victims. 8000 so far, and that is the lowest estimate. it is clear that bringing peace is not going to happen quickly. >> the threat of famine is something that south africa's vast hill region struggles to cope with. it puts more than 16 million

people in seven countries in danger of chronic food shortages. niger is particularly at risk, with a warning that the crisis could soon turn into a famine. here is this report. >> we need an armed escort to venture into the bering fringes of the sarah. islam is militants are a growing threat here in niger. so is the number. -- hunger. this 15-year-old powell grain. in recent years, she has lost her husband and six children to disease and poverty. now the rains have failed and they have enough food for a week. of course, we go hungry, she says. the rain did not come. in has been getting worse for

years. >> there are almost no men left in the village now. all have gone abroad in search of work. there is a food crisis pretty much every year in this village. 2012 will be particularly tough. prices are shooting up and there is growing insecurity across the region. the familiar warning signs, 10 severely malnourished children arrive this week in the clinic. the united nations fears 400,000 children could be in this condition in niger in months. almost one in 10 is likely to die. it is much worse already this year, says this nurse. we are seeing more children arrive in a state of complete exhaustion. and yet, niger is not without hope. in this village, a scheme to try

and rainwater. niger finally has a democratic government that is a acknowledging this crisis and cooperating with the outside world, a key to avoiding famine. my now gets a small wage from the united nations. because of this work we can feed our families, she says. and maybe in the future, these fields will recover. but that does not change the fact that the village well is drying up. she need a longer road each year. as a child, she remembers life was wonderful here. not anymore. >> the former head of the international monetary fund damany xtra scott has been placed under formal investigation in france -- dominique strauss-kahn has been placed under formal investigation in france after charges were filed against him

when he was questioned by magistrates in the city of lille. >> after several hours of questioning, he was placed under investigation. this does not mean he has been charged. rather, authorities have been given more time to carry out an investigation because they believe a crime has been committed. he was allegedly involved in procuring prostitutes and they allege he was part of an organized gang. he has admitted going to parties in which the tories say prostitutes attended, but he denies knowing -- in which the authorities say prostitute attended, but he denies knowing that they were prostitutes. last year he was -- he resigned as the head of the imf after he was accused of attempted rape.

he was later released when the maid's testimony was found unreliable. but the maid is now bringing a civil case. other allegations have come to light since then. a journalist and writer in france brought a case of sexual assault by mr. strauss-kahn during an interview she conducted, but that case was dropped when prosecutors said it was too late to pursue it. she has published a book about her allegations. mr. strauss con's standing has been greatly affected. he was attacked by protesters after he had been invited to speak at a university. he was expected to run as the socialist candidates for the french presidency, taking on nicolas sarkozy. but he is out of the race. his political career, at least with the french socialist, is in tatters. the >> you are watching newsday.

stay with us. >> 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 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.