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>> one year after osama bin laden's death, president obama makes a surprise trip to afghanistan. he arrived unannounced after dark to sign a deal cementing u.s.-afghan relations for decades. >> the number of board troops in harm's way has been cut in half. we have a clear path to fill our mission in afghanistan while delivering justice to al qaeda. >> on fit to run a major global company, a british lawmakers to accuse rupert murdoch of willful blindness over phone hacking. a diplomatic crisis threatens to derail talks between the u.s. and china. it is 11:00 a.m. and singapore. >> it is 4:00 a.m. in london. broadcasting to viewers on pbs

in america and around the globe. 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. he delivered a presidential address to the american public. he announced that 23,000 more u.s. troops would leave this summer as the u.s. wound down its combat role. our washington correspondent reports. >> air force one touched down in afghanistan in the middle of the night on the anniversary of the killing of bin laden. the president only briefly eliminated by the flash of cameras -- illumniated by the

flash of cameras. >> a year ago, we were able to bring osama bin laden to justice. that could have only happened because each and every one of you, in your own way, were doing your jobs. >> he also signed a new strategic agreement with afghanistan, which has been a grueling 19 months in the making. it marks the end of america's longest war. there is also a promise the u.s. won't leave the country in the lurch. it was 4:00 a.m. in afghanistan, the prime time in america. the president had a message for his countrymen. the goal of destroying al qaeda has been reached and the war would be brought to an end.

>> my fellow americans, we have travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. the iraq war is over. the number of for troops in harm's way has been cut in half. more will soon be coming home. " president obama has been criticized for making political capital after the killing of osama bin laden. suggesting his republican opponent mitt romney might not have done the same. >> i think it was very disappointing for the president to try to make this a political item by suggesting that i would not have ordered such a rate. >> the president and his speech by turning his attention to the home front. he said it was time for america did build its future. this visit is a clearing of the?

before the weekend when president obama officially launches his campaign. >> more details have been coming in of several explosions just hours after president obama left the afghan capital. he was there on a flying visit, but the police chief tells the bbc that suicide bombers carried out an attack in the eastern part of the capital. there are some reports of sporadic gunfire, but no information on casualties. the taliban have claimed responsibility. an afghank to political blogger. he joins us from our washington studio. i know that you have any relatives still in afghanistan. for people on the ground there, what is the local reaction to what president obama announced? >> the locally action for the people on the ground, the

strategic partnership agreement and the fact that it is a one- year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden is not going to change the realities for the people in afghanistan. the unemployment rate, the instability, the threat to their lives and safety, the closure of schools. it will not be remedied by a strategic partnership agreement. >> the sporadic supplies electricity is, where that does exist, utilities are still very much lacking? >> a basic utilities are still very much lacking. schools are being closed down. girls are being beaten and killed. the afghan forces are increasingly taking control of security operations on the ground, but they still need considerable u.s. support. especially air support and logistic support. >> that was very much part of president obama's announcement,

that the support will continue. is your fear that the drawdown of troops is not too fast? >> right. it does not shed very positive light on the readiness of the afghan national police, but also the afghan national army. very few of those battalions are ready to conduct combat operations on their own. it may be a little too fast, and little to stand. the fact that the attrition rate is very high, the morale is very low, and the taliban are very much a strong threats. >> what would you like to see come out of today's announcement? >> an average afghan on the ground would like to see a tangible difference in their lives. my own native province, girls'

schools were closed by the taliban yesterday. those people want their girls to be able to go to school without any fear. 35% unemployed afghans want to have job opportunities. the afghans did graduate from high school and two-thirds of whom are not able to get into universities, want to have educational opportunities. the thousands of afghans who take the smuggling route to get to europe and australia for safety, they want to stay in their houses and to be safe in their prospects for the future. >> the burmese pro-democracy leader suu kyi has arrived at the burmese parliament, where she is expected to take her seat in parliament. just over a month after she and her party enjoyed sweeping success.

for more on this, i am joined via skype. welcome to the show. how big of a milestone is it for the burmese people? >> [no audio] tell us how much of a milestone is it that suu kyi and her fellow national pro-democracy party members will be able to take their seats today in parliament? >> [no audio] i am sorry, we are having some trouble. we will try to return to this story just a little later.

rupert murdoch is not fit to run an international company, that was the scathing report from a group of british lawmakers today. the parliamentary select committee found that mr. murdoch's company misled parliament about the scale of phone hacking at one of his newspapers. the finding was less than unanimous. news corp. has shot back a statement, calling some of the committee's language unjustified and highly partisan. our business editor has more. >> rupert murdoch, until recently, seen as the world's most powerful media mogul. today, he was declared not a fit person to run an international business. he and his colleagues turned a blind guy for years to phone hacking by a journalist at the "news of the world." >> everybody in the world knows who is responsible for the wrongdoing. rupert murdoch. more than any individual life,

he is to blame. morley, the dates are his. he paid the piper -- morally, the deeds are his. >> the former editor, the legal affairs manager for mr. murdoch's british newspaper, and mr. murdoch's right-hand man. all the accused of misleading mps, by telling them that hacking was limited to one reporter. today, in york, where he is still an editor for another organization. they have all rejected the damning verdict. it was the disclosure last year that the news of the world passed the phone of a murdered teenager that turned hacking into a story of national importance.

>> we used to not ever been seen criticized murdoch or the press. to see this bhutto reports, it has come -- to see this brutal report, it has come as a bit of a shop. i think rupert murdoch has a lot of questions to answer. he has a lot to answer for. i think he is being held to account. >> but will be the impact of the verdict that rupert murdoch is not fit to run a major international company? i have just heard four members said they voted against that a verdict. any suggestion that this is a political judgment and not a dispassionate one comment that could undermine the course. >> the issue in which most

conservative members felt they could support the report itself was the line in the middle of the report that said that mr. rupert murdoch was not a fit person to run an international company. it would be correctly seen as a partisan reports and has lost a great deal of its credibility. >> news corp. said the verdict as unjustified and highly partisan. in an e-mail to staff, mr. murdoch said -- i recognize for all of us, it is difficult to read many of the report's findings. but we have done the most difficult part, taking a long hard look at our past mistakes. the expensive question for mr. murdoch is whether these mistakes will make it more likely that the media regulator will rule that bskyb is ugfit 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. >> we're back now to burma, where the opposition leader is said to tickers seat in parliament. she has now arrived there. we can cross to our east asia correspondent. these pictures is the moment ago of this very important time. >> i am just standing at the side of the parliamentary chamber. she has taken up proceed in a row g, seat number 22, she is just sitting there quietly at the moment. she is chatting to people quietly, just getting used to the atmosphere. there was huge excitement.

she now waits for the speakers to come into the formal ceremony. and then they will swear the oath of office, which has held that this parliamentary debut. >> there was a big disagreement about whether this would actually be sworn in by suu kyi. >> that is right. the dispute remains. they object to one word in the wording of that code, which is safeguard the constitution. they will respect the constitution, but it does not want to safeguard a document which is what has changed. looking across the chamber, i can see the army, the air force, navy, taking another 25% the seats in the joint houses of parliament.

if they want the constitution changed, they have backed down and said for the greater good, it she will take the per seat. just looking across, suu kyi is talking to members of the military. maybe that is a sign of good things to come. >> although the pundits and politicians have been saying, we must take it one step at a time, pressure needs to be applied to the military leadership in order for reforms to take place. this is incredibly significant. >> as she was coming in, i managed to get a reasonably close to her. are you excited today? she said, no, not really. she seems to be taking this all in stride. after all, this is a woman who was incarcerated for 15 years by

the military. here she is, taking a seat in parliament alongside many uniforms, along sign men who used to serve and are now a civilian politicians. to work with them where she can for the good of burma. >> what happens next? are we expecting anything more than just a few formal procedures? >> everyone is unclear about that because this session of parliament to be wrapping up. they have extended things to try to get this done. whether there will be any parliamentary business is very much open to question. they have been debating bills here, particularly an investment law. there is a lot of work to be done. whether they will -- nobody quite knows, but the big moment is yet to come. in about 10 minutes, they will

swear to safeguard the constitution, even though they might be doing it with their fingers crossed behind their backs. >> suu kyi takes her seat and of, thank you very much. >> a quick look at what is making front pages around the world. the downing findings by a group of british mps that rupert murdoch is not a fit person to own an international company dominates most of the front pages. the financial times features president barack obama speech to americans during his surprise visit to afghanistan. coming on the first anniversary of the death of a some of the mountain. just days away from the french presidential election, splashes with embattled president nicolas

sarkozy's made a rally speech for him for workers to put down the red flag and serve france. in the land of the world's tallest buildings, 500 skyscraper's across the united arab emirates does not meet fire safety standards. >> you are watching "newsday >' >> president obama has taken a surprise trip to afghanistan. >> the british lawmakers have accused rupert murdoch of willful blindness over phone hacking, branding him unfit to run a major global company. ruperts return to the murdoch's story and the rolling

that dubbed him unfit to run an international company. for more on that, i am joined by a professor at queensland university of technology and joins me now via skype. thank you for joining us. it is an extraordinary language that has come out of this report. how is it going down in australia? >> australia is 9 hours ahead. we heard about this last night. i am sure it will have a big impact here. news corp. started off in australia, news limited is the australian branch of the company. it is a big story. >> what are your personal thoughts about whether he is fit or on fit to run a company? >> it is a judgment call. what does it mean to be fed in this context?

-- fit in this context? my sense is that there has been -- we admit that things went wrong. it was not to -- we were not aware of it. other people were responsible. they are taking executive responsibility, but other people were to blame. what this report is doing is saying, the buck stops with the ceo. he is responsible. if he was not in charge of this company over this newspaper, he was not top of it, given the fact that this has been going on for years and years. it suggests to us that he is not fit to run a major global company. the dereliction of duty that is being questioned here, and rupert murdoch is being held to account. if you are not in charge of the

company, you cannot run the company. >> during the phone hacking scandal, the shares in news corp. took a big dive. are you expecting their to be further issues and company problems? >> the whole story does rumbles on. the inquiry contends there could be ramifications. in australia, there is a lot of concern about the phone hacking scandal. they are going through their own process of investigating the media and introducing new regulations. this has a long way to go. whether or not -- bskyb has to part company with news corp., that remains to be sane. but that is a possibility, too. -- that remains to be seen.

but that is a possibility, too. >> in france, president sarkozy is fighting for his political life in advance of this weekend polls. his chances were -- for reelection or delta a new blow. marine le pen the more than 6 million votes. she has told her voters that she is not a voting for nicolas sarkozy. are europe editor has more from paris. >> the french far right leader marine le pen at the center of attention. and the first round of the elections, over 6 million people voted for her. she promised that on a day, she would visor's supporters how to vote in sunday's decisive round. whether to back president sarkozy or the socialist candidate. present sarkozy will lead many of these -- will need many of

these votes from the far right. in recent days, he has been echoing many things normally associated with these of voters from the far right. despite his frequent attacks on immigration, these voters are on condense. -- not convinced. >> he is having the same attitude that he had five years ago. seeing what a firm marine le pen -- sitting in whatever marine le pen is setting. -- saying. >> in the event, marine le pen refused to endorse either candidate. >> i do not trust either of the candidates. one wants the right to when, the other the left. they have both contributed to

failure over the years. sunday, i will cast a blank vote. >> across the city, a huge crowd turned out for president sarkozy. he turned his fire on the unions and the left, saying they stood in the way of change. >> look at what is going not in countries that do not make the necessary changes. look at what is happening in greece, in spain. nobody wants to see that in its france. >> his opponent, francois hollande, remains ahead in the polls. >> to make the danger of immigration,no. the main issue is unemployment. he has promised to make growth rather than austerity his party. tomorrow night, there will be the only face-to-face television debate between the candidates.

perhaps his last chance to reduce francois hollande's lead. >> back not to the story we have been learning about president obama. the attacks in the east of the city believed to be two or three suicide bombers. we're being told by security officials that to a pyramid, two or three attackers are holdup in a building near the scene of the original attack. those have now been firing from machine guns and firing. police have surrounded the area. reuters is now quoting the police chief. six people have died, five of them civilians. you have been watching "newsday." thank you for joining 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 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

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