>> 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 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." >> hello and welcome to " newsday" on the bbc. >> our headlines this hour.

the former liberian president, charles taylor, was found guilty of war crimes. the u.n. chief says that syria is not complying with the peace plan. >> the u.s. agreed to scale down its huge military presence in japan. osama bin laden's wives and children are on their way to saudi arabia, deported by pakistan. >> we are broadcasting to our viewers on pbs in america and of the round of world. -- and around the world. this is "newsday." hello and welcome. after a trial lasting almost five years, the former president of liberia, charles taylor, has

been convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity. he was sitting at the court in the hague. they found that taylor armed and supported rebel fighters as they slaughtered thousands of people in the civil war in neighboring sierra leone. >> the special court is sitting in an open session in the case against charles taylor. >> it has been a landmark day in international justice. charles taylor came to court knowing that he could well go to prison for the rest of his life. he was president of liberia. prosecutors have charged him with waging war in sierra leone. no one disputes the rebel forces committed terrible atrocities. the charges included murder, rape, abduction, the recruitment of child soldiers.

many were terrorized. many had their limbs chopped off by machete or ax. did charles taylor order those crimes? >> there is insufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt -- >> he was cleared of directly ordering the atrocities but if the he is still accused of aiding and abetting the crimes listed. >> you are found guilty for the 80 and abetting. >> the judge said that he sold the diamonds from the mines, in return he gave weapons and the full knowledge it would be used for crimes against civilians. he is the sitting head of state when he was indicted. the defense argued that he should be immune. the prosecutors rejected that.

>> it is a very important case for the people of sierra leone and so that they can have some measure of justice. it is an important day for the victims to have some justice for their suffering. >> one of those victims was in court. rebels chopped his arm off with an ax. he said the judgment will deter future atrocities and help to secure a lasting peace. >> this shall never happen again in sierra leone. >> britain has been intimately involved. british troops intervened in may, 2000, and helped to end the war. last liberal government agreed that should stay there be convicted, britain would take him into a british jail and foot the bill for the imprisonment. the sentence will be passed next

month. he might appeal. he has nothing much to lose. otherwise, a journey from the presidential palace to a british prison cell is nearly over. >> the west african group has agreed to send troops to oversee the role after military coups. two countries have been given 72 hours to comply with the decision or face economic sanctions. >> the heads of state in the government decided to take all of the necessary measures in order to assist molly in the reestablishment of its unity and of its territorial integrity. -- to assist mali in its reestablishment of its unity. they will begin the deployment of the standby forces to the

mandate. >> the u.s. and japan have come to an agreement about removing u.s. marines from okinawa. >> the u.s. government has announced 9000 marines are to be removed on the basis of the japanese island. -- remove from the bases on the japanese island. there has been no announcement windy redeployment will begin. what prompted the decision to shift these 9000 marines out of japan? >> i think it had to do with the fact that the prime minister was going to be at the white house next week. the democratic party talked to the prime minister to do so. they have been in power for about three years. 9000 u.s. marines will be moved away from okinawa to other locations in the pacific.

the reason why they're doing that is because the people of okinawa, some of them have long resented the fact that they have been hosting half of the american force in japan, which is a legacy of the second world war. the focus of the locals and in okinawa and the issues are the military base and moving it to the city center on the new location on the island coast. they would like to see it move out of japan altogether. of the two sides, the u.s. and japan, they could not see any other viable alternatives sticking with that plan. >> moving these thousands of troops will be a cost. how much would it be? >> it will be a big cost. the estimate is $8.6 billion.

japan is going to pay about 1/3 of that cost. the price in this deal could potentially be another sticking point. congress is going to have to agree. they might be concerned about that. the u.s. says that this should not only remove the strain on this security alliance but having them dispersed could be better for security. >> what about these three locations. how will this affect the u.s. military strategy in the region? >> this is critical for security in the region. critical, say the two countries, for the balance of power in asia, particularly given the rise on china. of course, japan does rely on the u.s. providing a protection.

the u.s. has the defensive posture in the pacific. this would be adversely affected. if it actually improves. >> pakistan has supported the family of osama bin laden. this is almost a year after the death of the al qaeda leader. his three lives have been given a custodial terms. >> for the family, nearly a year and pakistani cassidy. a sudden flurry of secured activity and the arrival of the minibus to take them to the airport. nothing has been seen of them publicly and even now, they boarded behind the cover of a sheet. then, the moment they would have

been waiting for. >> the final journey out of pakistan for the bin laden family. the three wives and 11 children, they take with them the secrets of a life on the run. the secrets some of which may never come to life. >> of the passbook photos of his and his wife in her early 30's. it is threw her interrogations' that they got the most inside. he was in pakistan four years before ending up in the garrison town. he was killed in operation by u.s. navy seals. since that raid, the family has been held. the pakistani authorities will be glad to see the back of the bin ladens and to close a chapter on what was an extremely

embarrassing episode. they will have some anxiety. what could be said by the family about the time in this country. >> the u.n. secretary general has said that he is alarmed at the continued killing in syria. he has purchased the syrian government to withdraw heavy weapons from populated areas. he is speaking after an excursion in hamaa. the government said that the building was used as a bomb- making factory. the assad government has been condemned for keeping troops and heavy weapons and syrian cities. >> they condemn what remains of the government's refusal to abide by its commitments, it's continued intents and use of heavy weaponry. this continues to resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths every day. this is precisely what we have

been concerned about. this is further indication that the government is ready to make commitments and break them just as swiftly. it is certainly casts further doubt where there was already a great deal on the government's readiness to implement the elements of the kofi annan plan. >> for all of its failings, the peace plan is a useful fault line in the situation in syria. >> the plan is there. thus far, the international community is united behind the plan. the arab league has said that they will go back to the u.n. security council and ask for immediate action to protect the civilians. the plan is there and it is operating as a parameter.

the world powers, including the russians, who were saying that most of the violations have come from the opposition side. the violations have been committed by both. the plan is there as a point of reference and now, the international community will have to come up with some action that is not yet decided. >> what kind of action, do you think? we are hearing about the full force of military intervention. is that something that the international community will agree to? >> it is very hard to imagine the security council will be able to unanimously approved the use of force. the voices in the u.s. are calling for american leadership to give the green light to the

turks, to some of the gulf powers, to move a head. this is with the introduction of heavy weapons and possibly to try to build a humanitarian safe zone along the borders. but, just what it will take is still not clear. i see no evidence that washington wants to take any initiative to put troops on the ground. nor, is that being asked by the opposition. >> for as long as assad stays in power, is there any resolution to this? >> i think that the next stage, when it starts, will have to be some sort of negotiations between the regime, possibly with them still in power, and the forces within the regime. there is no evidence of that

surfacing. the talks will have to start and the regime has the advantage in military terms. public opinion seems to be growing negative against the continuation of this particular leadership. >> the former u.s. ambassador to syria. >> you are watching "newsday" on the bbc live from singapore and london. gaga for theot all lady. >> a 10-year-old scavenger. let's take a look at the stories making headlines around the world. the financial times is leading with the conviction of the former liberian president, charles taylor. he was found guilty of aiding

war crimes. rupert murdoch's evidence into the immediate inquiry is making paper. "the guardian" reports on his apology for the phone hacking scandal. there is anger as syria continues to flout the u.n. peace prance there -- the peace plan. "the international herald tribune" says that chrysler has been driving up sales. they took home more in the first quarter of this yend -- the first quarter of this year than in all of 2011. >> this is "newsday" on the bbc.

>> the headlines. the victims of the civil war have welcome to the war crimes conviction of former liberian president, charles taylor. >> hours after dozens died in a huge blast in the syrian city of hamaa, u.n. secretary general says he is alarmed at the ongoing killing. a british businessman was found dead in a hotel in china, he was not working for british intelligence. this is according to the british foreign secretary. he has established ties with the chinese official accused of attacking the phones. >> before his fall. his firing has mired the chinese communist party and scandal.

the facade of unity has been shattered. he was tapping his fellow leaders phone calls, even hu jintao. the alleged murder of neil heywood what triggered his demise. is a suspect in the case. -- has denied he has ever driven a furry. this is proving to be accountable for the communist party. with the death of neil heywood has been a revelation of the growing rift between the poor and the rich in china.

the beijing motor show is all about wealth and ostentation. working with brands like aston martin, this gives access to all this money, that heywood was offering before his death. >> he had the ability to work in relationships. he worked in a way that was immaculate and very professional. he had a very english way of doing things. >> he might have been a spy, as claims have been made, but that was dismissed. the british foreign secretary took the unusual step to say that mr. haywood had never been employed by the british government. that might in some of the speculation about the briton's death at this hotel. there are more claims of corruption, spying coming in

fighting. >> a prominent environmental activists was shot dead in cambodia by military police. they were traveling with journalists. they had been talking to local people to organize protests. the military police ordered them to stop photograph in. it is far from clear what happened. >> there is lots of confusion, the number of conflicting accounts of what will happen. who shot first? how many guns were there at the scene? there were many conflicting accounts. the journalists have a chance to get back and reveal what they know about what happened. there was a great deal of confusion. of course, they had these two people in close proximity.

>> pakistan has one of the largest populations of schoolchildren and the world. around one and a half million young people live and work on the streets. more than 1/3 are in karachi. local charities say that the children are targeted by criminal gangs and forced to become thieves and sex workers. they say the authorities are part of the problem. >> this child is a scavenger. he has been sifting through rubbish all day and shoulders the best of his pickings. what do you have here? >> i collect plastic bottles, he says. and anything i can sell to be recycled. it earned him about a dollar a day. >> i cannot take drugs like the other schoolchildren.

i would like to play football and cricket with the other children. people say that we are dirty. they chase us away. >> he has only been on the streets a few weeks. he ran away from home after being repeatedly beaten by his father. poverty forces kids like this to leave their homes and they end up in places such as this shrine where they can get free food. help is out there. this is a center for street children.

poverty is a major part the problem. >> they are providing protection to the children. we have financial benefits. the criminal gangs are not helping these children. >> the police deny these allegations. they confess that they don't have enough resources to provide adequate protection for the children. as the day ends, this child returns. his future looks grim. he could end up like these boys, getting high by sniffing glue. their young lives twisted by abuse and neglect. most of them will die before their 18th birthday.

>> accused of satanic dance moves, the cult of lady gaga has struck a chord with audiences in south korea. the pop star has had her solo concert re-rated as only suitable for people over 18. the organizers have said that they will strictly imposed the age limit. >> the media regulator you mentioned said that they assessed the concert content and they found that various aspects of it, in their view, unsuitable for children. this includes the costumes, the sexualize performances, and some of the songs themselves. they rerated this for those over 18 only. it will be quite a strict policy. >> any reaction from the lady

gaga fans? >> not that we have seen so far. this will certainly please christian groups. some have been protesting about this. they have said that it is the work of satan. that it will taint the use of south korea if they are given access to it. they're particularly concerned about lady gaga's promotion of homosexuality. this has certainly pleased some of the christian groups here. >> she is actually heading to indonesia in june, the world's biggest muslim nation. i assume that she will have to tone it down? >> indonesia is much more used to dealing with this kind of conflict than south korea. south korea has only had this kind of veto put on once before.

indonesia regularly comes into conflict with this kind of issue. they are more used to dealing with this. this has come as something of a shock for the people. >> before we go, we want to show you some pictures from northern spain. these are airplanes landing or, rather trying to land at the airport. they're having problems because of wind registering over 130 kilometers per hour. they are incredibly high speed wins, this is problematic for the planes to land. they had to be routed to different airports. you have been watching "newsday ." >> 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. hi, i'm kevin o'connor, and welcome back to

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