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>> welcome. >> one year after osama bin laden pop to death, president obama makes a surprise trip to afghanistan. he arrived unannounced after dark, signed a deal cementing u.s.-afghan relations for a decade. >> the number of troops in harm's way have been cut in half, and more will soon be coming home. we have a clear path to fill our mission in afghanistan while delivering justice to al qaeda. >> british lawmakers to accuse rupert murdoch of willful blindness over phone hacking. a diplomatic crisis threatens to derail a high-level talks between china and the u.s.. it is 9:00 in singapore. >> it is 2:00 in london.

>> president obama has marked the anniversary of the shooting death of osama bin laden by making a surprise visit to afghanistan. he signed an agreement about the role of the u.s. after nato and its combat operations in 2014. within the past couple of hours, he delivered a presidential address from the u.s. air base. he announced the 23,000 more u.s. troops would leave this summer as the u.s. wound down its combat role. >> i will not keep americans in harm's way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security. we must finish the job was started in afghanistan and end

this war responsibly. my fellow americans, we have traveled through more than a decade under the cloud of war. we can see the light of the new day on the horizon. the iraq war is over. the number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half. more will soon be coming home. we have a clear path to fulfil our mission in afghanistan while delivering justice to al qaeda. this feature is only within reach because of our men and women in uniform. time and again, they have answered the call to serve in dangerous places. in an age where so many institutions have come up short, these americans stood tall. the mets their responsibilities o one another and to the flouag they serve under.

i told them that i could not be prouder. in their faces, you see what is best in ourselves and our country. our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, and civilians in afghanistan have done their duty. now we must summon that same sense of common purpose. we must give our veterans and military families the support they deserve and the opportunities they have earned. we must redouble our efforts to build a nation worthy of their sacrifice. >> the timing of the president's address is crucial. >> it was the best photo op for the commander in chief. it was a spectacular total opportunity. the obama administration has been very eager to point out this is a very important speech. he announced the tide has

turned. it is time to end the war responsibly. americans do not like this war. there has been a lot of pressure to end the war. it was a chance for president obama to say, we are ending it, but this is why we are staying. national security is at stake and we are not abandoning afghanistan completely. >> joining us now from washington is a former senior afghan diplomats and founder of the think tank afghanistan policy council. thank you for joining us. do you think president obama announcement is a carefully staged exit? >> i think this is a very important point. the signature of the strategic agreement is really the issue. mr. obama, it is important for

him to go there to make that happen. last time, there was no meeting between president karzei and president obama. however, there is a concern. although the strategic agreement is important because of the deadlines that were set by nato and the american troops to withdraw after 2014, which many thought the deadline, including myself, may be an artificial deadline. it makes the taliban be in an attitude of wait and see. nato has -- after 2014, there will be a whole different game. it was critically important to have the strategic agreement in place, which was the missing part of that. what i am afraid of, much of that, including the agreement, it is really following a political strategy, which is important for president obama to be reelected.

rather than pursuing the more important strategies in order to win the war in afghanistan. >> do you think this announcement has been driven more by a desire to be reelected? than by doing what is right? >> it is understandable. president obama wants to be reelected so that he can pursue the strategy that he started in afghanistan. sending additional troops and committing to afghanistan because the war has been under resurfaced during the past seven to eight years. it is only his effort that made it a more important effort. at this point in time, both the strategic agreement, the lack of progress in the past couple of years is a demonstration that things are not going to wait it should be in order to win the

efforts in afghanistan. in fact, after 2014, when nato troops will withdraw, it is going to be all on the shoulders of the afghan security forces, which are not ready. they will not be ready. the nature of the crisis and the thread is such that it's it's a regional threat. otherwise, the taliban are housed in pakistan. >> thank you very much for joining us. rupert murdoch is not fit to run an international company. that was the scathing report from a group of british lawmakers today. the committee found that mr. murdoch's company misled parliament about the scale of phone hacking. news corp. shot back at the statement, calling some of the language unjustified and highly partisan. our business editor of reports. >> rupert murdoch seen as the

world's most powerful media mogul. today, declared not a fit person to run an international business. he and his colleagues turned a blind eye for years to a phone hacking by journalists at the news of the world. >> everybody in the world knows who is responsible. will part murdoch. more than any individual alive, he is to blame. morally, the deeds are his. he pay the piper. >> the committee was arguably even more damning about his colleagues. the former editor, the legal affairs manager, and his right- hand man. all accused of misleading impi'' by telling them packing was limited to the work of a single

reporter. the whole house of commons may find them guilty of contempt. they have all rejected the damage verdict. it was a disclosure last year that the news of the world had the phone of a murdered teenager that turned it into a story of national importance. the roster of prominent people this privacy has been invaded by phone hacking has ground and ground. >> we used to not ever criticized murdoch or the press. to see this purports, it comes as a bit of -- to see this brutal reports, it comes as bit of a shock. rupert murdoch has a lot of questions to answer. he has a lot to answer for. i think he is being held to account. >> will be the impact of the

verdict that rupert murdoch is not fit in to run a major international company? i have just heard the members say they voted against that the verdict. in the suggestion that this is a political adjustment -- political judgment, that could undermine the course. >> it was the line in the middle of the report that says mr. rupert murdoch is not a fit person to run an international company. >> it will be seen as a partisan report and we lost a great deal of its credibility. >> news corp. sees the verdict has done -- as unjustified and highly partisan. in an e-mail to staff, he said, i recognize it is difficult to

read many of the report's findings. but we have done the most vocal parts, which is to take an honest look at our past mistakes. the big and expensive question is whether these mistakes will make it more likely that the media regulator will ruled that bskyb is unfit to hold a broadcasting licence. the news of the world scandal still making news, still shaking the sprawling media empire of james and rupert murdoch. the u.s. secretary of state is beginning a high-stakes visit to beijing. >> she will find a diplomatic storm raging at the center of which is a blind dissident. chen guangcheng managed to escape house arrest last week

and is reported to be under american protection. can they keep the issue off the table? >> surrounded by chinese security, the u.s. embassy in beijing now the center of the crisis. this man, the blind lawyer chen guangcheng, is believed to be sheltering with american diplomats. after is escape from seven years of captivity. he issued a direct challenge to china's leaders to punish those responsible for illegally detaining and beating him. it is a major embarrassment for them. his wife and daughter are still being held, intimidated for years by thugs hired by local communist party chiefs.

when we tried to reach his wife and daughter i minded, we were blocked at the entrance to the village. there are real concerns his family is facing reprisal. >> a lawyer told does he has feared for the life of chin's nephew. shortly after this interview, the lawyer was pressured by police to stop representing the family. as he left the area, we were also followed by this silver car. senior u.s. diplomats have been arriving in beijing intense negotiations are under way. >> even president obama has been evasive. >> i am aware of the press reports on the situation in china. i am not going to make a statement on the issue. >> these talks could be derailed

if this crisis is not resolved. that may not be simple. just after his escape, he met another human rights activist and says he does not want to leave china. in recent years, chen guangcheng had already become a symbol of human rights abuses. to force him into exile may be the best solution for china's leaders. this could become a drawn-out crisis if he does not want to go. >> still to come on the program, burma's some -- symbol of hope. suu kyi prepares to take place in parliament. >> a quick look at what is making the front pages around the world. from hong kong to new york, the finding by a group of british mps that rupert murdoch is not a

fit person to run international company does dominate most of the world's front pages. the financial times features president obama's speech to americans during his surprise visit to afghanistan. just days away from the french presidential election, nicolas sarkozy's mayday rally speech. in the land of the world's tallest building, 500 skyscrapers across the united arab emirates do not meet fire safety standards. >> president obama has made a

surprise trip to afghanistan signing a deal to cement u.s.- afghan relations for a decade. >> british lawmakers have accused rupert murdoch of willful blindness over phone hacking, branding him unfit to run a major global company. the burmese opposition leader is taking her seat in parliament on wednesday, just over a month after her party won a sweeping victory. her debut comes after a recent flurry of diplomatic activity as the outside world seeks to support the reforms introduced by the new civilian-led government. are southeast asia correspondent since this report from the burmese capital. >> suu kyi, the little later

than 8 -- than anticipated. parliament has already been in session for over a week. her party objected to the wording of the parliamentary oath of office. suu kyi saying that they feel for the greater good, they should overcome the hurdles. in the interest of the voters who elected them to office. there were many within her party you felt that it was too soon for them to rejoin mainstream politics. the reform process was still too young, too fragile, but suu kyi said she trusted the president and the thousands of people who turned out to support her on the campaign trail. it seemed to vindicate her decision. there is huge symbolism in what is happening today.

taking a seat in parliament along side the military, who kept her incarcerated for so long. it has -- this is simply the beginning. she must now work to bring about the changes and reforms that she wants, to bring true democracy to burma. now to theturn rupert murdoch's story that is dominating headlines. the ruling that dubbed him unfit to run an international company. an associate professor joins me now the sky. can i ask you what you make of the ruling of the judgment? >> i think it is not surprising, to be honest. given the previous inquiries into the phone hacking.

the extent of what was going on. it does not surprise me at all that tom watson put that into the report. >> the empire of news corp's stretches into the u.s., but largely into the australian market as well. what implications will have? >> it is going to be some time before it works its way to the system here. there was an inquiry as to be -- very similar to be -- it was very quickly dealt with. that inquiry did not make any major findings. the implication is that if the empire is weekend globally by this, it could scare off investors in australia.

it will add to be damaging of the murdoch family reputation. >> you are not too surprised, that the language has taken a few journalists and media commentators by surprise. do you think murdoch will be upset by what he has been described as? >> he does not like to be attacked in this way. i think he is proud of his 60 years. it will be very damaging for him. he has been under a lot of pressure. he certainly has handled himself well. he seemed to be in much better shape. it must be taking his toll. how can he deal with any other sections of business?

>> associate professor in melbourne, thank you. >> three men will appear in court in sydney on wednesday on charges of trespass, stealing, and unlawfully keeping a protected animal. the men are accused of stealing aping glenn -- a penguin. video footage of penguin in the apartment was posted online. it was reunited with his girlfriend. our correspondent has been following this story. he joins me now from sydney. what are we expecting from this court appearance? >> in the last few minutes, all three men have been fined $1,000. having got a criminal record, and it is a technicality going on in the magistrate court.

they have been dealt with. they have been sent on their way. this is a couple of weeks after this notorious incident. they admitted producing and after. the three of them into the sea world park, it is all on phone footage they released onto facebook. you can sit in stripping down to their underwear and jumping into a pool with the dolphins. needless to say, alcohol was involved. later, they had footage of themselves in their apartment. they city woke up with a hangover only to find the penguin in their apartment. apparently, after that, they panicked. they took the pain went to a canal, where it was later found by a couple.

the united with his girlfriend, in fact. -- reunited with his girlfriend, in fact. the three men went to court, admitted their guilt. they were fined $1,000 each. the end of this prank has now taken place on the men are sufficiently contract. >> is a very amusing story, duncan. the community at large or very much involved in trying to locate the pink when. >> this has never happened before. they had to review security after work. they're still not quite sure how the men got in. but he was part of their breeding program. they put out alerts, they told police, they went on television.

it was only the fortitude of a passing couple that was able to resolve this. enguin, ande pain found this was an alert. they alerted the authorities. this canal laid out into the open sea, where there are sharks. potentially, he was in danger. as it turned out, he was not. the park said he was disheveled and upset. he soon settle down once he was taken back to the park. the men were very quick to say sorry. they said they were drunk. they did not mean any harm to anybody. today, they have been dealt with by the magistrates.

>> certainly, a happy ending. thank you very much. let's bring you some spectacular pictures of a tornado. these pictures shot in southern france in the last few days show a twister tearing through the region at speeds of up to 180 kilometers an hour. only minor damage was reported in the city. trees were uprooted and cars were moved out of place. by the tornadoes are very rare in france. -- a violent tornadoes are very rare in france. >> president obama is making a surprise visit to afghanistan on the first anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. he signed a 10-year strategic partnership agreement with the afghan leader.

>> 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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