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"bbc world news americ." >> hello and welcome. quex the headlines this hour. an alarming upsurge of violence groups syria. we report from the heart of the uprising. >> what do you hear? bullets. >> the first u.s. president to back same-sex marriage. his stance polarizes america. >> allegations of police brutality after malaysia's everesbiggest ever rally. going under the hammer in new york. >> it is 2:00 a.m. in london. broadcasting to viewers on pbs america and around the world, this is "newsday".

hello and welcome. the u.n. observers were supposed to bring peace to syria but they come under attack themselves. a bomb exploded near their convoy. the attack underscores the weakness of kofi annan's peace plan. we gained access inside syria and filed this report. >> they called the homs the capital of the revolution. much of it is a bridge will ghost town. the syrian government rarely gives the media permission to enter here. we're traveling with a small team of unarmed u.n. monitors trying to maintain a fragile cease-fire. tough job. there is no truce. only a defective division of a destroyed city. notice how slowly we're moving

through this neighborhood. the syrian police and military have left us. the un -- left us to you and monitors. in an area controlled by the opposition. not a single person is on the streets. the area completely destroyed. the first people to welcome us our fighters from the free syrian army. not afraid to show their faces or their guns. there are defiant. >> they call me a terrorist and said i was dead but hearing him. they did not deny they're still fighting but insist they did not started. he was a football star turned revolutionary singer. a message for kofi and on. >-- annan.

the message is not working. tanks are on the street. >> he sang to thousands of peaceful protesters and now he sings as a lament for the rs.ty back to the other side. the governor insists homs is not decided. you say some people are afraid of the army, he says. i tell you many more people want the army to protect them. then it was time to meet the monitors. they say the plan will work, it will take time. by night, and by day.

they hear something different. just when you think you have seen it all, nothing prepares you for baba amir. it is hard to see how anyone lived through this assault on a strong assistant -- resistance. many did not and many more fled. a few families have returned. this one says they're relieved to be home. we are grateful to the syrian army who are protecting us, the head of this family says. as we approach, the women and children -- have the children come inside. you cannot blame them for being fearful. >> hospitality terms here as this woman greets me. i asked her son if he still plays with his friends.

they're all dead. his father and brothers have been taken away. his mother welcomes me into her home but not the camera. what can i do but wait for news, she says. i cry every night and day. i have no man to protect me. no one to tell me. -- help me. soldiers interrupt as uninvited. they say they're worried about my security. as i am ushered out, i am more about her. homs is to be such a vibrant city. did not take long to wipe out. the world has promised to help but it will take much more than a handful of monitors to bring it back. >> president obama has ended months of hedging on the issue of gay marriage by saying he thinks same-sex couples should

be allowed to wed. he has become the first sitting u.s. president to back gay marriage. mitt romney who is set to challenge him for the white house said he was against the marriage. mr. obama explained his new stance. >> over the course of several years, as i talked to friends and family and neighbors, when i think about members of my own staff who are incredibly committed in monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when i think about those soldiers or airmen or marines, said others who are out there fighting on my behalf, and yet feel constrained, even now that do not ask, did not tell is gone because they're not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point i concluded that for me

personally, it is important for me to go ahead and a firm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> in north carolina where a vote was passed to van same-sex constitutions, an organization dedicated to securing a .hlorites joins me -- >> we certainly would have welcomed it before the vote. but he did come out opposed to the amendment. we were pleased to see that. we were delighted that he has affirmed that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered couples are just as valid.

>> do you think the fight -- the fact he has taken so long to it knowledge this has damaged the cause? >> i do not think that having a sitting u.s. president on your side is ever damaging to the cause. i would have preferred it earlier. i also understand this is a very personal decision. then he has struggled through. we would have welcomed it earlier in the campaign. we were delighted when he announced his opposition to the amendment. we understand that this is not a decision that he took lightly. we're excited that he has come out in support of gay marriage. >> is there a feeling that perhaps his hand was forced by jill biden's announcement in the interview on sunday? >> i do not know if his hand was forced. some may say it was orchestrated. there was a rolling out of different officials in the administration who prepared the

country for the president. i am not privy to the conversations inside the white house. it may have been forced. it may have -- either way i am delighted he has come out. >> the u.s. is incredibly split on this issue. almost half and half. do you think that he is taking an incredible gamble? >> no, i do not think so. when you look at the polls, 50% of the public support gay marriage. even in north carolina where the constitutional amendment was passed, 52% support some kind of legal recognition. they didn't realize that they were banning all kinds. but for the most part, the country and history is heading in the direction of equality and i think he does recognize that. and is out in front as a leader.

>> we have to leave it there. stuart campbell, thank you very much. that crossover to -- let's cross over to supervisor mar:. there is still no government in greece. >> eurozone governments do not have an agreement to give grace 5 billion euros to keep it afloat. the leader of the radical left group who came second in the vote on sunday said he has failed to put together a coalition. the deadlock means another election is likely. none of which is doing much good for market confidence. here is the latest from athens. >> again greece is trying to navigate its way out of the crisis. this nation is left hanging. the majority here voted against the bailout and the austerity that has brought greece to its

knees. can they square the circle and stay in the euro? >> income has dropped so much that after my mortgage i am living on 120 euros a month. i cannot pay all my taxes. i am in a desperate situation. that stay in the euro but let's live with dignity. queif it goes back to that drug drachma, we will be destroyed. >> his leftist coalition wants to read back the loan agreement with brussels. party callede a recipe for destruction. his party is seen as the architect of austerity and he is not likely to secure the numbers

leaded -- needed for securitfora coalition. they're standing firm. which member will blink first? >> the other countries have to respect us. for the euro area as a whole. if this agreement is not respected, it will be very negative for greece. >> the focus of their political crisis could shift here. he will request a national salvation government until fresh elections are caused. a last-ditch attempt to fill the power vacuum. the instability in athens is not bidding spirits.

a lavish ceremony to be followed by a traditional really. a reminder this ancient country's grill legacy to the world that can be easily forgotten amidst the turbulence of the financial crisis. >> a pack of sunflower seeds sold for more than $782,000. they were displayed at the tape modern in london before the exhibition had to be shut down because dust raised concerns for the health of the bidders. an art broker was that the sale. why do you think his work was valued so highly? >> because of his international renown. he is worldwide known.

he is detention or serving detention by the chinese authorities resounds around the world. and everybody in new york, everybody in london, in the art buying world knows about that. this is support for his actions as a chinese dissident. >> the piece sold because hiof s controversial stature or is there demand for chinese country artists in global auctions? >> i would say it is to do with his stature in the international community. this larger version was shown in the tate modern in london. he is the son of a prominent intellectual. he was freed by his social media

networking. the subject of this work, " sunflower seeds" is so significant. it is a combination of these factors that with all our sales, the artist is the dominant factor in price. later in the auction, [unintelligible] a warhol sold for $35 million. these prices are to do with the stature of the artists. >> we will have to leave it there. ray waterhouse joining us from new york. you're watching the bbc. after the deaths of hundreds of dolphins and pelicans, the federal government tries to reassure the country.

que>> let's take a look at the headlines around the world this morning. havee's election problems produced some striking images. the leader met his opposite number in a failed bid to form a coalition. german ministers talking about a greek euro exit. the bundesbank will listen its monetary stance to ease the crisis in southern europe, but that crisis shows no sign of abating in spain. the moscow times says a cloud has been cast over the russian aviation industry with a loss of

its so-called superjet and 50 passengers over indonesia. deepwater domestica drilling rig began drilling. >> this is "newsday". >> the headlines this hour. roadside bomb has exploded near a convoy of u.n. ceasefire monitors in syria. >> barack obama has become the first u.s. president to back same-sex marriage. opposition will -- leaders in malaysia have criticized violence that broke out during a huge protest. there were pressing for electoral reform. speculation is growing that the government is about to call for general elections. here is our correspondent. >> each of the last 10 days, he

has been writing down testimony. scores of people have come forward to speak to him to said they were beaten by police. >> they punched me and proceeded to set up on me and keep me. >> there is little agreement as to what exactly happened at the demonstration on april 28. as the rally came to a close, protestors raged a barricade and tear gas and water cannons were fired. footage posted online showed police attacking demonstrators and demonstrators turning over police car. so what was the that brought over 100,000 people on to the normally calm streets of malaysia's capital? an organization jointly run by a

lawyer and poet who believe the electoral system is run to the court. >> what we stand for is for free and fair elections. we're civil society movement. our aim is to ensure that there is a level playing field. certainly in the next general elections and eventually, we want the total reform of the electoral system. >> the turnout has led to government claims it is simply a front for the opposition parties. in particular, the eternal the eternally= -- ambitions amwar ibrahim. >> the fraud is massive. >> the prime minister senior

meeting -- seen here meeting david cameron has promised an investigation. his officials say changes have been made to the voting system. >> i believe this is a strategy by the opposition to question electoral system as a political tactic to say if they lose the next general election it was not because of popularity because it was the electoral system. >> they say they're not planning any more demonstrations but if a general election is called here for june, the opposition parties may have little choice but to try and compete in that process their regard as being fundamentally flawed. >> the government in peru has said that it is safe to eat fish from the ocean despite the deaths of hundreds of pelicans

in recent months. since february, 5000 pelican carcasses and 900 dolphins have been cleared from the northern beaches and the capital itself. >> four months [unintelligible] dead dolphins started appearing in the north of the country in february. while the experts tried to understand what caused the death of these mammals, thousands of pelicans were found as far south as limit. the authorities issued a health warning and recommended residents not to swim in the ocean. fish sales went down and the government was pressured to issue a statement there was no reason to panic. an official said eating fish and seafood was safe and people could go to the beach. he blamed the death on starvation which is said to be

triggered by warm ocean currents that increased the temperature of the sea. >> this situation has generated an alteration in the natural distribution of fish. they have moved to deepwater is or further south. this is what has led to a decrease in the pelicans main food source. >> as for the dolphins, a conservation group believes the mammals were killed by acoustic shockwaves that were used by a u.s.-based oil company to find new deposits under the peruvian seabed. dolphins and whales are sensitive to sound. such waves have been suspected of causing stranding in other parts of the world. the peruvian government dismissed the oil exploration as a likely cause and urge the public to avoid speculation until the results of lab tests are known in the coming days.

heard froml ohas survivors of a massacre. he admits killing 77 people in the island shooting and bombing in oslo. he revolutionized hairdressing in the 19160's. >> he loved to say that women came in with their hair teased and shellacked and it would make a noise. he came up with the famous five point hairstyle. he always wanted to be an architect. his mother decided at age 14 he would be a hairdresser. a west end shop.

he said his shirt and pants must be pressed in his maiand his nae clean. he would listen to lawrence olivier. he spoke the king's english as we have seen in later years. >> you had your hair cut by him. what was that like? >> it was a little bear sing. i was so young and i wanted to be trendy. it was not vidal sasson. he said you have to do it my way. i do not know how -- how i got the courage. it looked sensational. i got a lot of attention. he came up with the products for reason. my hair was not wash and wear. it took a lot to make it look

like i did nothing. >> he worked with all the stars. he actually cut the hair in "rosemary's baby." >> it was difficult and trendsetting. he did work on all the major stars and fashion figures at the time. he was known as a great storyteller. he loved to tell the story that they came for him to bleach your hair-- peter o'toole's blond for " lawrence of arabia." >> a quick reminder of the news. a roadside bomb has exploded near convoy of u.n. ceasefire monitors in syria. thank you for 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 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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