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>> syria's violence escalates. more than 50 people have been killed in the latest fighting. the violence spilled across the border into lebanon, prompting fears of a descent into civil war. in the market for 19 billion euros. bankia securities bailout in spanish history. welcome to the bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers on pbs and america and viewers around the globe. coming up later, after the leak of confidential documents from the vatican, police arrest the man who was pope -- the pope's butler. the private mission that marks the start of a new space race.

hello again for it opposition activists in syria say more than 50 people have been killed and more than 100 people wounded in what they described as a massacre carried out by the government. videos show many children among the dead after shelling in the town of who lay. -- of houla. >> and verify that video posted by activists showed the bodies of many mangled children huddled in the dark with the commentator shouting that there were too many to count. more kept arriving. whole families died in heavy shelling, while some were executed. if the death counts are anywhere near accurate, this would be one of the bloodiest days since the

ceasefire. the truce is a little more than a fiction despite the presence of 260 united nations observers, whose deployment has lessened the violence in some areas. >> reporting from beirut. we will stay in syria. the town of trust them -- of rastan has come under fire from tanks. you may saw -- you may find some of the images disturbing. >> rastan has been fought over many times and it bears the scars. the town is now defiantly in rebel hands. they are bracing themselves for the next assault. this is the daily routine. [gunfire]

just around the corner, a family. the father is too afraid of breast to shave his face as he tells us about living on the front line with his children. >> what is the affect on them -- the effect on them? >> it is very difficult. they are shelling day and night. we have nowhere else to go. so we submit ourselves to god. >> the free syrian army took the last government post just over one week ago, killing dozens of soldiers. they had to fight for every inch of ground. all of this is happening during a un-sponsored trips. the government says army attacks never stopped and the rebels say they are under constant pressure from the regime. in rastan, they are surrounded.

we are in the middle of what is supposed to be a cease-fire. they have been skirmishing with the tanks the whole morning. they had a big battle, lasting two or three days, this week. they have pushed back the government forces about 100 meters. the rebels insist they back the un peace plan. he tells me the soldiers still serving in the syrian army are our brothers, our sons, our relatives. we hope the un plan succeeds because then the regime will fall. in rastan, you are always waiting for the next shell.

this is the press center. they call every few minutes. and they are getting closer. the rebels cannot match the army's heavy weapons. hands like this are hanging on in the face of massively superior firepower. so that the blood continues to flow and most victims are civilians. the un is sending cease-fire monitors to syria. but it does not so much have to monitor a truce as create one. the view from here -- the odds of that are not good. >> the violence in syria has

spilled over the border into neighboring lebanon on. clashes between backers of president assad and supporters of the syrian opposition has -- have resulted in the death of two people in battles on the streets of beirut. >> the root sparkles on an early summer evening. billions have been spent reconstructing the city since the civil war ended 20 years ago. a small, violent incident this eek, 11 on's -- lebanon's fragile political base has once again been shaken. the power in lebanon on is split on evenly between religious sects and some are reaching for their guns again because of the shock waves coming from syria's descent into sectarian civil war across the border it -- across the border. the gunfire on the street.

when the smoke cleared, up one fashion -- one faction was for the assad regime in syria and the other supported the rebels. the anti-assad group one. bridget won. -- won. she fears stronger countries might want to use them to fight proxy wars again. >> a lot of things we did not get a lesson from, the civil war. >> that is why lebanese leaders are working hard. from the big screen, the country's most powerful man, leader of the hezbollah

movement, went out of his way to praise the leader of the sunni movement. the kidnap of lebanese by rebels in syria. they ceer their shia leaders. the other half sides with the syrian wireless -- with the syrian rebels. it does not end here. struggle in syria was always going to mean trouble and lebanon sooner or later because the countries are so close. nasty surprises coming out of syria at the moment. at the moment, lebanon is for agile and cannot take too many more of them. >> in the united states, a man has been charged with second- degree murder in the killing of a boy who went missing more than

30 years ago. pedro hernandez choked etan patz to death and dumped him in an alley. he disappeared on his way to school in 1979. his body has never been found. a reporter with the new york daily news explained that pedro hernandez appeared before a court by video link from hospital. >> he was arraigned today from his hospital bed as he was taken to the hospital earlier for medication for a pre-existing physical ailment. at that point, however, he started making statements about wanting to kill himself. he has been placed under a psychiatric suicide watch. he was arraigned from his bedside and charged with second- degree murder. >> his lawyer said he suffers from hallucinations, that he is not mentally stable. is that correct? would he have to have at --

would he have to have had a psychiatric evaluation for him to say that or can the lawyers say is anyway? >> there was some speculation before today that that was the case. his family has said he is bipolar. today, in court, the lawyer said he was bipolar, schizophrenic, and also suffers from hallucinations. no documentation has yet been provided. given what we heard yesterday from family members, i think it is clear he has had mental health issues in the past. as a result of that, there are questions being raised about the validity of his confession. to play devil's advocate, the mentally ill sometimes do commit serious crimes because they are mentally ill. there are a lot of questions being raised about the case so far. he was charged almost exclusively based on his confession. there is nobody, no physical evidence. there is nothing so far other

than his word to police and he had previously told some family members as well as his spiritual adviser. >> the country's fourth biggest bank in spain says it needs 19 billion euros from the country's government just to stay afloat. bankia suffered big losses because of spain's proxy slump. one of the country's richest regions also asked for financial assistance. our chief economics correspondent reports. >> the writing has been on the wall for some weeks at bankia, formed from the merger of troubled regional savings banks. it was supposed to mark a new beginning for spain's troubled financial sector. earlier this month, the government had to bail it out and for assad station is about to push through. -- and full of rationalization is about to push through. >> is strong and it has a future. it can always count on the

support of the spanish government. >> customers are having to make their own judgments on how safe the money is. >> i have a bank account. i try to keep just the money i need to pay the rent there. >> with the region of catalonia sang it was troubling to pay interest rates demanded by loners, more questions are being asked about the health of spain's finances. how will this affect the uk? it will hit the city of london and british banks could get caught up in the fallout if the crisis gets worse. what is british banking exposure to public and private debt in those countries? in greece, it is around 2.5 billion pounds after the recent writedowns. in portugal, just under 13.5 billion.

italian loans totaled 38.5 billion. in spain, nearly 60 billion pounds. >> spain has been a mature economy in the eurozone so it attracted a lot of investment from all around the world, including the uk. that is the broad exposure but there is direct exposure because some u.k. firms owned banks in spain. >> loners will watch anxiously to see how they will solve the problem. >> this is bbc news. still ahead, catching a dragon by the tail. free enterprise makes its debut. -- its space debut. the uk prime minister says he does not regret giving jeremy hunt responsibility for the news corp. taking full control of

bskyb. adam smith said it was mr. hunt who suggested he should resign. he and tony blair are due to appear at the inquiry next week. and the campaign for scott wren to leave the united kingdom. the campaign is called yes, independence. a millionaire's daughter sentenced to two years in prison for her role in last summer's riots. she was found guilty of burglary and handling stolen goods during the disturbances in london last august. courts heard she had driven looters to shops during the worst of the trouble. hello. you are watching bbc news. these are the headlines. six weeks after the start of serious cease-fire, the latest fighting has left more than 50

dead. bankia has asked spain's government for 19 billion euros in what would be the biggest bailout in the country's history. more on the violence in syria. the president of the american- syria public affairs committee and he has been speaking to people inside syria. >> i spoke to them today multiple times. there is an ongoing massacre across the nation. every town in syria that has revolted has been met by force. this brutal regime has managed to use its naval force, air force, artillery to kill syrians from children to women to elderly. a family of six wars -- was executed. execution-style for -- execution-style.

massacres are happening under the watchful eyes of the united nations observers. the question is whether or not we can verify it or not. i do not think we need to verify any more. there were 50,000 people in hamas in 1982 and they have continued to kill people in the last month. hundreds of thousands imprisoned. he switches from a military operation to a security operation off and on. what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the brutality of this regime. >> vatican police have arrested a man reported to be pope benedict's butler. he snatched confidential documents from the pope's study. a man was caught in possession what -- with secret documents but his identity has not been confirmed. >> for six years, the bottler

has been at the pope's side. he was reported to be so close that he might as well the family. according to italian media, he sits in the vatican jail, accused of stealing documents from the pope's private office. just one month ago, the pope ordered three senior cardinals to investigate who at the apostolic palace was leaking highly embarrassing secret papers. in january, a letter written by the former deputy governor of vatican city was leaked. in it, he alleged corruption in the awarding of church contracts. a number of them ended up in this book about the pope. >> there have been leaks by some small cogs in the vatican machine who decided to make public important events. it is unprecedented and i do not remember anyone ever being arrested in the vatican. >> the leaks have revealed

allegations of internal power struggles at the vatican bank. a scene of further injury on friday when tedeschi was forced out. >> the votes have been counted after the first round of the presidential election in egypt. the muslim brotherhood says its candidate, mursi is in the lead. the official results are expected early next week per it -- next week. >> gathered in millions to shape their country's future for the first time ever. this is a scenario many egyptians have dreaded, a runoff between mubarak's last prime minister and mursi. for a country unified in joint

when mubarak was ousted, they are divided. >> only mursi was supported by the muslim brotherhood. unlike fotoh. >> he is backed by the freedom and justice party, the muslim brotherhood's political arm. apart from the massive following, some voters argue that egypt needs a strong party. if he wins, it means the muslim brotherhood will have control over parliament, the presidency, and the government. a scenario egypt's liberal and secular activists say will change the identity of the country for it -- the identity of the country. >> we do not want to return to the time of the old regime, to the time of rule by the state security forces. there will be no protests from now on. instead, many things that go against the will of the people. we want something new.

we want a new country. we do not want the old regime. >> he represents everything that have been fighting against. he is a former fighter pilot, like mr. firth mubarak. he served as the commander of the egyptian air force. those credentials have gained him the trust of many voters, who say this is exactly what egypt needs. >> honestly, i did not want mursi to win in the first round. i wanted it to be shafiq so the power is spread out and the total authority will not be with one party. the brotherhood are not good. i voted for them in the parliamentary elections, but their knees to the variety and that fifth shafiq is good. >> whoever the president will be, he will have a long list of demands. high on that list are security and the economy. as the constitution have not yet been -- has not yet been written, he needs to know what powers he will be able to

exercise in egypt. >> the brazilian president passed a controversial bill that regulates how much of their land farmers have to preserve as forests. the farmers' lobby said an easing of restrictions would promote sustainable food production. they asked the president to veto the entire bill. nearly one-third of the olympic games tickets that became public to the british citizens are unsold heriot there is a concern since the first time they went on sale last year of the game's not being sold out. they expected all 928,000 tickets to be snapped up quickly. the olympic torch relay ended its second week. the flame is making its way around the uk. the convoy left england and has entered whales for the first time. it will finish here in friday evening -- on friday evening.

thousands gathered for a concert as the torch arrive. it will after more than 80 towns and villages in wells over the next few days. -- in wales over the next few days. for the first time, a privately operated craft has connected to the u.s. space station. it was built and operated by an american firm. our science editor explains this opens up a new space frontier for commercial companies. >> this is mission control to houston. >> high in orbit, the dragon. the first of a new generation of spacecraft, approaching the international space station at the bottom of the screen. six astronauts on board were waiting anxiously. >> dragon continues to inch closer towards the international space station. you can see the 58-foot long arm there. >> for the first time, a privately owned craft was prepared to dock, some things --

something only governments have managed until now. >> we are managing the capture of the dragon. standing by. >> looks like we got us a dragon by the tail. >> mission accomplished. [applause] [cheering] >> the factory that made the spacecraft in california. commercial space flight is a young industry. the average age is 30. their boss, a billionaire, was delighted. >> this will be recognized as a significantly historical step forward in space travel. hopefully, the first of many to come. i think this is a fantastic thing. there will be even better things in the future. >> the docking, achieved in space today, really matters because it is a key step to proving that private companies can operate in a serious way up in space.

they pave the way for ferrying astronauts up to for orbit, providing a taxi service at a lower price. a concept for hotels in space starts to look more feasible. and the plan announced last month for asteroids to be mined for precious-metals no longer seems quite so outlandish. today will go down as a milestone in space travel. >> this was a small step towards a broader idea of private- sector operating in space, just like airlines or hotels or motels on the moon or in orbit. this is an important for step. >> last year, i met the man behind today's achievement. his real ambition is to go to mars. the docking today is a start. a new space race with companies, not governments, is now under way. >> good job. thanks a lot.

>> we could all be as strong and attractive as this at the age of 75. this, you may recognize it. the famous golden gate bridge. it reaches that milestone this weekend. the citizens of san francisco will be out in force on sunday to celebrate the landmarks birthday. there will be special fireworks. when it was built, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. it cost $35 million and it is still going strong. it took four years to complete. you are watching bbc news. a reminder of our main news. in syria, government forces have killed more than 50 people, many of them children, in the province of homs. they accused the army of carrying out a massacre in the town of houla. this is bbc news.

>> 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 presented by kcet los angeles.