>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. [funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation.] >> this is world news today. china's president abandons the g8 summit to deal with the ethnic crisis at home. the show force, china floods the troubled province with troops as tension remains high. >> hundreds of troops have been marching all morning, a massive display of force. >> human sperm made in a

laboratory, controversy after british scientists claim a world first. g8 peters, can they find the answers to the aftershock of a global crisis? the recession is set to win him a second term. michael jackson's daughter and her moving tribute at his memorial concert. it is 7:00 a.m. in washington, midday in london, seven in the evening in the troubled province in china. abandoning the crucial summit in italy, he is returning home to deal with the crisis. cycles of counter attack and

attack between the muslim minorities and the chinese, threatening to struck -- spiral of a control, beijing is showing a massive amount of force. the authority has imposed a curfew to try to end the deadly clashes. the region's capital is the heart of the trouble. >> hundreds of troops have been marching through the center of the capital, a massive show of force. letting residents know that they are here in the city to protect them, that they are back in control. as you can see, these troops are carrying wooden clubs. not just here on the ground, in the air helicopters have been flying above all morning, patrolling the skies.

let me show you some ordinary people here in urumqi this morning. ordinary chinese citizens were carrying clubs, but now they are not. they say they do not need these weapons because of the show force from the people's armed police and the riot police, arriving in such a large number. around the area there is a greater sense of security, tightened by the fact that the president is cutting short his trip to the g8, adding pressure to the authorities to get the city under their control. >> joining me from our shanghai offices, our correspondent, chris. i suppose that the return says it all, it must be seen as a huge crisis for him to do that.

>> a huge embarrassment for him. he was due to spend thursday sitting around a table with the g8 liters, discussing matters of international importance, instead he is in beijing trying to work out how to deal with this. he has been ordering the local leaders to get this fixed. of course, the bigger problem for him is what happens next. what you see today is a short- term fix, a massive show strength on the int. long term and will be much more difficult. relations between the ethnic groups in china has broken down. >> in the short term, you detect a change in tactics in a way that beijing is dealing with

this? >> certainly. what they are doing here is pushing overwhelming numbers of troops, a paramilitary police onto the street. this is about reassuring to people. they were shocked, people were so concerned they were going out and arming themselves. the president said that ordinary people, office workers caught -- carrying bricks and polls, that it was deeply shocking. they have poured a security apparatus into the city to try to reassure the people that live there. they cannot protect that and many people on the streets all the time, sooner or later those people are going to leave. they need to try to work out how to keep that city relatively calm when the time comes, to

pull that massive security operation. >> thank you very much. it is a medical breakthrough that will have everyone talking. researchers say that they have created human sperm out of ordinary set -- ordinary stem cells. the technique could eventually mean that men are not needed to create children, although scientists say that it could be used to treat infertility. >> scientists believe they have achieved a world first, the creation of human sperm in a laboratory. they were developed from stem cells. they were wrote in a dish after six weeks, at which point -- they were grown up in a dish after six weeks, at which point they were deemed viable. >> they cannot be used to create life, u.k. laws already prohibit their use in treatment. once the technique is shown to

be reliable, it should be permitted to help to overcome male infertility. >> this is very important, this technique. this will enable us to study sperm development in the laboratory. to study the factors that affect infertility, which is a growing problem. providing a technique in five to seven years. >> other experts in the field have cast doubt on the breakthrough, arguing that although early sperm has been produced, they were not fully developed. and others opposed to the research say that it is unethical. >> the problem is that human sperm has been created from a

healthy viable human embryo, trading one life for potentially creating another, which is totally unethical. >> newcastle scientists say that for the moment their main aim is to draft understanding, and why some genetic diseases can be passed from one generation to the next. >> we will be talking to the lead scientist on this research in a few minutes. let's get a roundup of some other stories, a second missile strike in as many days has killed at least seven suspected militants in pakistan. the attack, believed to have been carried out by drones, taking place in the southern regions of afghanistan. a known stronghold. kim jong il has made a rare public appearance for the 15th anniversary of his father's

death. he looked gaunt and limped slightly while entering the auditorium where the ceremony was held. it is the second ceremony has attended since august. google, set to take on microsoft at its own game, developing their own operating system. chrome os is said to be fast and light weight. microsoft early provides the run-in platforms for 90% of the world's computers. a small town in italy, rebuilding after a devastating earthquake. meeting there, leaders of the world. aftershocks on both fronts, there are questions about the italian president's leadership. duncan? >> welcome. we are discussing everything at

this three day summit, aid to africa and the global economic downturn. it is an extremely unusual setting, inside of a police barracks brought here to this active earthquake zone, an act of solidarity to the people that lost their homes and lives back in april. the italian foreign ministry is with us. are we safe here? >> absolutely. you can be certain that everything will be right. >> all of those world leaders are starting to arrive as we speak. will the main message bead do not be complacent? >> the first message will be a

message of trust. the g8 the convey a message of trust in the recovery and expectations. there are important principles, such as the regulation of financial market. >> reducing carbon emissions, will this be anything other than the talking point? >> i do not think that this will be a talking shop at all. it will be an effective message conveyed, a message of commitment on the measures being taken to reduce emissions and

achieve a goal of global warming increasing by no more than 2%. great measures will be coming from this g8 chamber. >> aid to africa comes into play, talking about some really big numbers. are we going to see that? >> yes, we will see the launch of the global securities, where member states commit themselves to help the african states. it is not only about money. it is about the political message of inclusion of african countries in the system of global tolerance.

this has been the most conclusive g8 summit since the beginning in the 1970's. >> thank you so much. as you hear, just 2.5 days, they think that they and you -- they think that they can achieve a lot in that time. >> our economics editor is here to try to get through some of this. so, global economy is the first challenge? >> interesting, because you would have expected at a time like this that that would be the central focus, that that is where you would see the most action. but a lot of the steps being unveiled by those leaders in april are still being undertaken. there is no notion that we will be getting new proposals on the global economy. where a lot of the action is going to be at the summit is, as we heard, on issues like climate

change, aid to the poorest countries. there is concern for food security, which the prime minister has put a lot of focus on. i think that that is what you are going to see. not an area where there is a particularly good record. i guess that there will be some skepticism about those promises that we might get on friday. >> you mentioned the g20 meetings, that is rather the challenge, is it not? it requires a much more global response? the financial crisis and such? >> some of the g8's thunder has been stolen by the g20. over the years they have been inviting some of the bigger more

developing countries, like india and china. they would rather like all of the important decisions to be made at the g20. although the italian president has been trying to have meetings on the sidelines with all the countries responsible for carbon emissions, many of them are not in the g8 and one action to happen elsewhere. -- and want action to help and elsewhere -- to happen elsewhere. >> thank you. coming up, scientists create sperm, others are not convinced. that -- millions tune in to watch the stars that of michael jackson's memorial. after a week of grandstanding and confrontation, the two sides of the political confrontation in honduras have agreed to

speak. the talks will be hosted by a nobel prize winner. our correspondent has the report. >> the honduran political system, central america thought they had behind the era of coup. now they are trying to find a way out of this crisis. sunday, a dramatic attempt was made by the ousted leader to fly back into the country. two people were killed in riots. there will be no more than any more. hillary clinton made it clear that it is time for negotiation. >> i believe that it is a better route for him to follow at this time been to attempt to return in the face of the implacable opposition, the de facto regime. instead of a confrontation that might result in a loss of life,

let's try a dialogue process. >> they hope that this will put an end to the violence. in the meantime, washington will have to continue to walk a diplomatic tightrope. >> the uncomfortable position of standing for democracy, bringing back into the country a leader that is openly and manifestly anti-american. >> it has been a difficult time for the organization of american states. >> of course, there are no guarantees. this is the result of much natural diplomacy, and it signals a new dynamic in the relations between the united states and its southern neighbors. >> this is world news today from [laughter] -- from "bbc world news."

headlines, martial law in western china after days of ethnic clashes. life in a laboratory? british scientists said they have created sperm from stem cells. now, he has helped spare his country from the economic downturn and focused on helping the poor. the president of indonesia looks set to reap the rewards. exit polls say that he is on course for a clear victory in the country's elections, although the official results from the world's largest moslem democracy are not expected until the 25th of july. let's just go through, first, what a huge logistical feat this is, bringing this thing to a conclusion peacefully and without too many complaints. >> you are absolutely right. indonesia is a nation of 17

thousand islands, 450,000 stations spread out across the country, 176 million people eligible to vote. voter turnout is slow and steady. it seems that the entire process was handled quite well. >> i was just saying in my introduction there, if the president looks set to win. what is his secret. >> he has managed to convince the people that he is the man with the vision to bring indonesia into the future. he has been in power, and since then they have enjoyed enviable economic growth. he has clamped down on corruption, one of his key issues. people here really bought into that. it was only 11 years ago, remember, that this country went

through a huge time of chaos. the transition from being run by a dictator into a democracy was a very painful one. indonesia is now beginning to enjoy stability. they do not want to let that go way so easy. >> thank you very much. now, professor curry, who led the team, joins me from our new castle studio. we are of course talking about those laboratory sperm. thank you for joining us. there are people who say that you have over-claim that you have not done anything of the sort, -- over claimed th theory that you have not done anything of the sort. >> -- over claimed. that you have not done anything of the sort. >> we have the morphology of the

sperm. it is not like normal sperm cells, but they have a head and a tail. they have the markers, proteins, and jeans specifically for sperm cells. >> let's leave aside the skepticism and assume you are right. that you have created this sperm. the big question, why on earth does the world meme -- need artificially created sperm? owhat is wrong with the way things are? >> if we want to treat a disease, we need to understand sperm on the micro level. we need a system to this -- to study how i sperm is produced from stem cells.

we can see the effect of the environment on sperm production. this where we can offer proper vote -- proper action for infertility. >> i think that you talk most sensibly about treating disease. there is this other thing that people are worried about, that actually you are tampering with nature and you could create a situation where men are not needed. what do you say to that? >> that is not true, we will need y chromosome for the sperm in vitro. therefore, we need man. this is only a technique for better understanding of male infertility. >> briefly, how will you control

things? how will you be sure that this summit is used for what you want? >> our role is to provide assistance. our role is a system. to be used in future in the wrong way, that is not in our hands. >> thank you for being with us. billions of people around the world watched live television coverage from los angeles, a tribute to michael jackson. the ceremony began with the arrival of the music greats celebrating his legacy. but the most poignant moment was an unscheduled tribute from his 11-year-old daughter, paris. >> michael jackson's brother is accompanied him to the stage one last time. -- brothers accompanied him to

the stage one last time. this was a public memorial for a global superstar. it was also a heartbreaking farewell to the little girl's father. >> ever since i was born, daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. [crying] i just want to say that i love him so much. >> i love you and i miss you. ♪ >> amongst his friends on stage, stevie wonder. despite the glamour and the stars, the service was simple, and at times moving. " shields spoke of his favorite

-- brooke shields spoke of his favorite song, smile, by charlie chaplin. >> there is a line in the song, smile although your heart is aching. today, we need to look up where he is undoubtedly perched in a crescent moon. and we need to smile. ♪ >> the next generation performed. a 12-year-old, finalist from "britain has talent," seven years older the michael jackson when he got started. >> i want to thank him for blessing us with his amazing

music. i love michael jackson. >> they ended with the charity song that michael jackson co- wrote. ♪ then, michael jackson's coffin was taken from the arena. the memorial over, the interest in his life and death may never die. bbc news, los angeles. >> plenty of more details on our web site, bbc.com/news. >> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. [funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation.]