>> 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 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? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> welcome to "newsday."

i am kasia madera. the headlines this hour. does al qaeda have a hole in syria? we have a special report from inside the country. police in new york arrest a man over the disappoint -- disappearance of this maor more than three decades ago. >> his brother said he has escaped his closely guarded village. >> politicians in the ukraine take matters into their own hands after an argument over the new russian language. >> broadcasting to viewers on pbs and all over the world. this is "newsday."

hello and welcome. a rebel group in syria have told the bbc that al qaeda is active inside the country. opposition forces have been offered money, weapons, and other support from the islamic militants but have turned it down. syria restricts access by journalists. we have been back inside the country to trying to assess their and florence. -- influence. >> syrian rebels in the town. it looks like a bloody fight just to survive. the ultimate goal is to overthrow president assaad. the americans support that. such as al qaeda. there on the same site in syria. western governments worry if

they intervene in this, the wrong people will benefit. the front emerged with an internet video earlier this year. they say they are jihadi is back from other wars to fight in syria. we do not know if this video is genuine. some believe this is the future in syria. >> the numbers were quite small at the beginning. but they have grown in this time. the hard element of the opposition, the armed, the combat experience. people will come from libya or iraq. they are pushing out all other forms of opposition. the regime says this is the result. they blame bombs on the islamists. they come back with al qaeda's

ideology. he fought in iraq and says he was defending his tribe which is found in both countries. he does not like al qaeda. he fears them and he says he does not believe there behind the recent bombings. >> this line has been used over and over by the regime, he said. i wish it would come up with something new. the regime lies all the time. they lie about the weather. many fighters are deeply pious. there is a tradition here at odds with al qaeda's harsh ideology. the daily suicide attacks and the headings have not yet come to syria.

sometimes there is an offer of help from al qaeda. we have learned of a direct approach from an emissary of al qaeda. a muslim cleric from this part of the country. money, weapons, and other support put on the table people here turn them away. more than a year into the revolution, people are getting desperate. they warn if the west fails to come to their aid, al qaeda will step in. and at a free army command post, they say they are fighting for democracy, not sharia law. this officer has this morning. -- warning. >> i tell the un, syrian people cannot take it anymore, he says. our children killed, our man raped, our houses destroyed. if no one helps us, we will turn to the devil himself.

if al qaeda is here, the numbers are small. we did not see their influence in many months of traveling. that could change the longer this goes on. dave jihadists -- the jihadists thrive on chaos. >> police in new york have arrested a man in connection with the case of a 6-year-old schoolboy who disappeared 33 years ago. etan patz disappeared while walking to a bus stop. the the suspect, pedro hernandez, has confessed to the crime. >> he described to detectives how he lured etan from the bus stop. with the promise of a soda. he then led him into the

basement of the bodega, choked him there, and disposed of the body by putting it into a plastic bag and placing it in the trash. >> a reporter has more on the suspect. >> the have suspect -- she has confessed. h-- he has confessed. he was working in a bodega near where the boy was seen 33 years ago. it happened recently, a month ago. there was police and the fbi dug up a basement near where etan patz lived. a relative of the person now charged, pedro hernandez called police and told police it is that person's belief that pedro

hernandez was the killer. he confessed to family members in the past about hurting the child in new york but without ever naming that child. police went and picked him up at a house in new jersey yesterday. he came willingly back to newark and confessed. he said he lowered the boy into the boat again -- bodega with the promise of a soda and choked him in the basement and dumped in the trash a block and a half away. >> did he give our reason why? >> he has not revealed that. police commissioner kelly says he has not explained. they do not seem to have a motive. we have learned a dependent of that when asked, he is responding to something of the effect he does not know. he has no idea. right now there is no clue. he does not have -- there was no evidence the boy was sexually abused. the suspect has no other arrest

record. the commissioner described it as a crime of opportunity. not much more than that. that is the big mystery now, why. >> this had a huge impact on new yorkers and the united states because it changed the way people began thinking about their parenting, how they look after their children. >> after he disappeared, missing children's pictures were put on milk cartons. he was one of the first to go on the milk carton. parents in cities not just in new york but elsewhere thought differently about how they would raise their children. no longer allowing them to walk to the bus stop as he was doing for the first time that day. no longer allowing them to walk to a friend's house. being escorted either by parents or family members. to even go short distances. >> you have more developments on

cheng guangcheng and his family. >> they brother of the chinese plant activist is in the middle of a standoff. chen guangchang has said his relatives could face reprisals. i asked him what efforts were made to help his brother and nephews who are being detained in china. >> we are [unintelligible] the international support and pressing that chinese government's not to take the kind of revenge if cheng guangcheng is freed.

right now, in the next few days, cheng guangcheng will speak up for his brother. the timing -- especially leaders and the commitment and the u.s. administration leaders have reached a deal that allows him to come to the u.s. at the same time to investigate those abusers. now there is the same group of abusers who continued to abuse their power and disregard [unintelligible] this is totally unacceptable.

the international community should rally behind to call for the immediate release of his nephew. praxis there is increasing concern about the damage that greece and other struggling economies is doing to the eurozone. demonstrators were out in force in spain and greece against austerity measures. the head of the vatican bank has been sacked. he was removed by a unanimous vote of no-confidence by the bank directors. the roman catholic church said he was under investigation for alleged money-laundering. voting stations are closed in agent. -- egypt.

the results are expected to be announced by tuesday at the latest. the u.s. senate committee has cut aid to pakistan by $33 million a year. shakil afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason for helping u.s. locate the al qaeda leader. hillary clinton denounced the imprisonment. >> the u.s. does not believe there is any basis for holding dr. shakil afridi. we regret the fact he was convicted and the severity of his sentence. his help, after all, was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers. that was clearly in pakistan's interest as well as ours and the

rest of the world. >> still to come on the program. welcome to kuwait where the number of indians living here has quadrupled in the past decade. let's take a look at the stories making headlines around the world. the international [unintelligible] says britain's recession was than first thought. there's pressure to move from austerity to growth. it is better news to france. have maintained the top rating of aaa. the agency did warn that it could change if the government failed to implement measures to reduce debt. there remains a bleak picture for the rest of the eurozone. some of europe's biggest fund managers will be dumping their european assets because of fears

that grace will exit the euro. -- greece will exit the euro. hamlin was saved by -- from rats in 1284. they have returned. this is "newsday". rebels in syria have said al qaeda is active in their country. they said they have been offered money, weapons, and other support but have turned it down. police in new york arrest a man over the disappearance of this 6-year-old boy more than three decades ago. being manhandled by authorities

as he took part in a protest. the country's most outspoken activist was taken away while demonstrating. he is known as the multimedia myung-bak -- monk and now risking defrocked. do we know what has happened to the multimedia monk? >> he was taken in for an phnom pen.udience in pompa he saidstill a monk and he will carry on his protest. he said he does not accept the idea that people should not be able to protest.

it is not fair when our freedoms are hurt by the government. >> he was supporting a group of women. >> a group of women from the lakeside community. he had been campaigning for years after their land was signed over to a well-connected property developer. they have been engaging in eye- catching protests and painted slogans on their underwear and lifted up their skirts in front of the national assembly building. they have been doing this quite some time very peacefully and all the sudden, they have been arrested charge, and sentenced in the matter of a couple of days. >> this as an increasingly problematic area. a 14-year-old girl was killed during clashes between government forces and protesters. >> there have been some worrying developments in terms of protesting in cambodia this year. protestors have been shot at in

another incident. an activist was shot dead last month. there was a clampdown whether it is local is not clear. >> this all stems from the fact that land titles are complex issue. land ownership was abolished during the years of the khmer rouge. >> it was meant to help a sign land titles. it ended up being cancelled. the world bank has admitted it made serious errors during the project. >> thanks for the latest there. the first hurricane of the 2012 season is heading toward mexico 's pacific coast. it has strengthened into a category 3 storm with winds up to 185 kilometers per hour. it is threatening to bring heavy

rains along the port city of manzanillo. the number of indians has quadrupled to 650,000, making them the largest foreign population. they're seen as blue-collar workers. a new generation are changing the perception of their community by being partners in some of kuwait pose the top firms. -- kuwait's top firms. >> welcome to kuwait city. it was in this neighborhood that 60 years ago, the first wave of immigrants arrived. despite the modern facade, this is one of the oldest indian restaurants in kuwait. it is here where the indian business council campaigns.

-- convenes. what is the secret of the indian business community's success? >> the companies that have a positive attitude toward work. less corruption. >> there is an emphasis on roles here and there is a new generation of entrepreneurs toward changing the way they do business. he is a managing director. started by his father, the department store has grown to a portfolio of enterprises. diversification is the key to cash flow in modern kuwait. >> the world was more simple and lower scale.

you could make it grow as quick as you wanted to. >> from blue collar workers up to partners. indians are playing their part in the country's economy. with ever growing numbers of indians living to kuwait, the bond between the countries is likely to remain strong for the foreseeable future. >> politicians in ukraine are demanding an investigation. members were debating a bill that would get the russian language equal status to ukrainian in some parts of the country. it could hardly come at a worse time. >> parliamentary procedure this certainly is not. it is not clear what, but something appears to happen behind the chairman's seat. it is chaotic.

dozens of grappling with one another. a debate whether or not to give the russian language equal status was going to be divisive and controversial. ever since the breakup of the soviet union, the country has been split between the russians and european orientated west. they appear to be in the thick of things. when needed hospital treatment after being struck over the head. they fear will divide the country. the latest episode will bring yet more bad publicity as it prepares to co-host the prestigious european championships.

>> hundreds of people are expected to march through the streets of hong kong to remember to hanneman square -- tianamen square. let's speak to one of the organizers of the 70 march. what message are you trying to send with this march are organizing this sunday? >> we are calling people to come to the candlelight vigil. we expect there will be 150,000 people like last year. we want to send a message to the chinese government. after 23 years, we have not forgotten what happened. the massacre. we are condemning the chinese government for not addressing at all the area of human rights and democracy. over the last year, a lot of suppression of human rights

defender who come out to defend the right of people against corruption. the chinese -- china is still very corrupted. the -- the use the police to suppress any dissent and people against corruption. we want to say it is about time for change. especially we are expecting a new leadership in china soon. we are demanding that the new leadership address this problem of democracy and human rights. >> you talked of human rights and corruption as well. the case of the dissident cheng guangcheng. how do people feel how chinese authorities have handled that case? >> it is very ironic in the sense that it is the american

government who tried to negotiate the safety and freedom of a chinese citizen. the chinese government is detaining illegally its own citizens and harassing people who tried to visit him and put him under house arrest for more than three years. then when he ran off to the american consulate, the american government tried to ensure his safety. it is ironic. it is the duty to defend their own citizens but they oppress their citizens and illegally detained them. we support his case and demand a full investigation of why he was illegally detained. >> it has been 15 years since hong kong was handed over to china as a special administrative region. -- region. did you ever see the tensions be

resolved? >> i do not think the tensions can be resolved unless the chinese government go on democracy. we do not believe that freedom can be guaranteed. for rule in china. our freedom, our democracy has been eroded and suppressed. i do not think the chinese threat wanted to see a democratic hong kong. our case for democracy has been delayed and delayed. we still have no democracy. >> we have run out of time. thank you for your insights. one of the organizers of sunday's march. >> much more on our website. thank you for watching "newsday" from the bbc.

>> 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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