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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> nine months after the violent that shook bahrain -- fresh clashes as the kingdome with for the verdict of an independent commission. will it be able to heal a polarized society? welcome to gmt. i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. also in the program -- staying where they are. protesters in egypt refused to budge despite the promise of the concessions from the ruling military council. all for one and one for all. the european commission unveils its latest proposal on how to

solve the debt crisis. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 3:00 in the capital of bahrain, an independent commission is due to release its report into the suppression of anti-government protests earlier this year. the commissioners are expected to deliver a verdict that would be highly critical of the government. much will depend on how the team reacts. he presides over a polarized kingdome. rupert is in manama. >> in the poor neighborhoods of bahrain, they are not waiting for today's human rights record. instead, they show how they feel about bahrain's king by walking on pictures of his face. the anger is not confined to the young men. they are protesting at the killing of this 15-year-old

shia boy by police last friday. to them, he is the latest martyr in the battle for equality in this sunni-run country. as they reached the edge of the village, the inevitable confrontation with police against. for the young men, this has now become a routine. >> the young men have tried to get out of these shia neighborhoods. now the police are firing tear gas into the shia neighborhoods. here come more. choking and spitting, there is burning, the mass surges through the back alleys. the elders here told us it is up to the king to stop this. >> he is the king. do something and finished the

problem. >> of the deep bitterness towards the teen stems from the violent crashing of pro- democracy protests in february and march. more than 40 people were killed. thousands were arrested. hundreds claim to have later been tortured. the government now admits it went too far. >> we are in a very polarized society. in order to move forward, we need to find out the truth. road map to bridge the divide between the communities in the country. >> today's human rights record could open the road to reconciliation. if it does not, it will almost certainly be more violence and more deaths here. bbc news in bahrain. >> i am joined in the studio by the bahraini minister.

all the a advanced notice seems to be that it will be a critical report. what are you expecting? >> is an important day for the future of bahrain. since the independent commission was established, even if the report criticizes the government or any institution in the government. we are committed to reform. we know we need to change. we know we need to the reform. we have done our own assessments and realize there are things to praise as well as things to deplore. we will continue our path of reform. the value and the principle of greater transparency. >> maybe we can get on to the question of reform in a minute. you talked about reform.

as rupert pointed out, somebody was killed last friday. it does not sound like in the administration or a government that's interested in changing its ways. >> i think we need to wait for the report to be delivered by the institution. >> in terms of facts, there's no doubt somebody died last friday in a protest. >> yes, but we do not know exactly what happened there. we need to wait. we all except that mistakes were made by all sides. as i said, we know that we need to change. bahrain needs to change to move this country forward. we have already started reform. changes are under way. we are working with our allies, with international organizations, to make changes and make recommendations. >> what about the point he made at the end of his report that this report actually provides an

opportunity -- if the king gets it wrong, it could lead to more violence on the streets. >> of course. you want the truth, you want to move forward, and we will accept the report. we will implement recommendations. we will put our energy -- winning efforts. we need everybody to join. we need to move this country forward. for the good of bahrain. >> the recommendations say people need to be brought to justice, if they are found to be guilty, if they should be jailed, that will happen? >> it seems that there are a number of people who have not carried out responsibility -- action will be taking it respective of seniority. people may lose their jobs. >> is that the same as being

taken to court? >> it depends. i do not have the details. >> moving on, what kind of opportunities might this report from the independent commission provide? >> i think the government has taken so many positive steps. we should not -- we hope they will take these positive steps rather than criticizing the government for positive steps, to join the country and move forward. unfortunately, the events divided the country. we have social division in the country that was not there before. we hope it is an opportunity to move the country forward, to align people again. >> do you accept that the social division also includes the fact that you have this sunni elite, as some have called it,

presiding over a largely shia majority. >> this is a good misconception of bahrain. there are no figures. >> you don't think there's a shia majority? >> we do not know. we never count. >> everyone else thinks there is. >> nobody has supported it with the reports or facts. bahrain consist of two major sections, sunni and shia. we start talking about sunni, shia, hindu, christian, jewish -- this was never the case in bahrain. we are all bahrainis. we have to walk together to build a better bahrain, a better future for our people, to em power our people. >> thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> now to some of the other

stories making headlines around the world. the president of yemen is said to be ready to sign a bill to relinquish power to his deputy. it will come after months of violent protests in yemen. mr. saleh has been in power for more than 30 years. he previously backed out of signing the deal three times. two leaders in khmer rouge in trial for genocide -- said the prosecution case relied on accounts from newspapers. the former foreign minister said he received a royal pardon, social not be on trial. researchers are warning that taking slightly too much day after day could lead to a fatal overdose. specialist in scotland say they've seen more than 150 cases

of what they called staggered overdoses at one of the city's hospitals. contact has finally been made with the russians troubled mars commission. it picked up a signal from the probe. it is now working with russian engineers to see how better to maintain communications with the craft. >> while bahrain wait for the report we were just talking about, the united nations human rights chief once in independent look at the killing of protesters in egypt. clashes erupted again on wednesday despite an offer from the military for a pastofaster transition. >> the clashes are focused on tahrir square again. again, the ambulance sirens never seem to stop. that's causing growing

concern about what kinds of tear gas is being used. just to the right of me, leading to the interior ministry, the headquarters of the police -- there were clashes yesterday. there have been battles already. beneath me, every day, they treat hundreds of people who are overcome by the tear gas and the rubber bullets. usually at this time of day, there are thousands in the square. the crowd gets larger and larger as the day goes on. what does not change is the main chant in the square, "leave, leave." they make it clear. it's the used for mubarak earlier in the year. it was announced last night that the egyptian military has no intention of holding onto power. in the square, people are not convinced.

outside the square, many egyptians are now starting to say the military is making an effort. they have promised the elections will take place next week. let's move on. it is also dividing the political parties. the muslim brotherhood, expected to do best in the elections, once the protest to go ahead. some of the other parties, described as liberals and not so sure.ey're it is political, constitutional, as well as security. there's no real resolution in sight. the protests are going to continue. >> lyce doucet in tahrir square. why this pilot should have thought better when it comes to putting up a christmas tree. >> nasa has unveiled the latest mission to search for signs of life on mars. billed as the closest you can get to putting a geologist on the surface of the red planet,

it's the most ambitious project for the agency since the end of the apollo era. >> for centuries, people have wondered about life on mars. nasa is now washing its largest, most expensive mars mission ever. it is nicknamed curiosity. it has cost over $2 billion to design and build. it's as big as a car and double the size of its predecessors but it will be embarking on one of nasa's most complex missions. it will deploy a parachute to slow it down. then it will hover just above the surface before slowly lowering the rover. before it lands, wheels will be deployed. that will allow it to cover large distance. it will spend two years on mars. it is armed with drills and lasers and a range of scientific instruments to analyze rocks and soil on mars.

scientists are hoping this mission will tell them whether mars has or ever has had what it takes to nurture some form of life. >> there will be a challenge in recognizing it, even if it is as life as we know ashere. then there's the question, what if it is not like life on earth? that will also be a challenge. >> just getting to mars is a difficult journey and there have been many failures. russia's latest mars probe remains stuck in orbit around earth after its failed launch two weeks ago. if all goes well, the rover will reach mars next august and hopefully will reveal the secrets that lie beneath the surface of the red planet. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am george alagiah. the headlines --

an official report due out shortly into the protests in bahrain is expected to be highly critical of the government. the united nations human rights chief wants an independent probe into the killing of protesters across egypt as clashes between police and demonstrators continue. time now for the business news. aaron is here. the last few months have been dominated by how the eurozone gets out of this. now, the stability bond. >> it used to be called the euro bonds. i think that's off the table. its three branding. instability bonds. we know that the european union's executive commission are very strong behind these euro bonds. they see them as the best option to get out of the financial crisis. taking a step back, it's

important to realize -- we talked about spain, italy, and greece going to the money markets to borrow money. that's what we callm bonds. the interest rates that investors have been forcing these countries to pay have been going through the roof. the whole idea of a stability bond, george, is to get rid of all the separate national bonds and put them all under one umbrella, the euro bonds, which means all 17 members of the eurozone would be responsible. >> one for all, all 41. >> germany has very low interest rates. germany would be the backstop. germany is adamant pit is so against these euro eu [inaudible] -- germany is adamant. it is against these euro bonds. they say, let alone the

introduction, you may see a lessening of -- >> with that, if germany is not for this, this thing is not going to fly. >> it is not going to fly as it stands now. what germany wants to see and the only reason germany would accept a euro bond is if these countries, the members of the eurozone, basically give up sovereign control of their finances. they let a central group in brussels collect the taxes from greece, control the budget in spain, italy, greece, and things like that. it is a tough task indeed. with europe, this is not good news to the gloomy news from europe. figures showed the region could be headed back into recession. it's called the purchasing managers' index. it's a key barometer watched very closely by europe's central

bank. manufacturing output at the lowest level since june of 2009 in the region's largest economy, germany. factory activity contracted for a second month in a row in november. she explained why it germany seems to be doing a little better than most. >> for germany and france, the picture is slightly different. in germany, we've seen a rebound in the services sector. the services sector and germany is expanding. we have to keep in mind that the services sector is more domestically oriented. the manufacturing sector is more export oriented. germany does not feel as much of the euro as other countries. exports in the manufacturing sector seem to be hit. >> some other business news making headlines. coble mining -- global mining stocks have been hit hard. this has been passed by

austria's lower house of parliament. the levees still needs the rubber stamp of the senate, but it is set to become law next year and could raise $11 billion for the government. >> this is an unprecedented tax for an unprecedented mining boom. around 30 companies will have to pay the tax. those whose profits exceed $70 million per year. for some of the bigger companies, that will not be a hard threshold to pass. bhp made more than $20 billion last year and profits. the labor government argued that it had to be shared by all australians. it bought an 18-month battle against political and mining opposition's. the lower house passed it by just two votes. the money raised about $20 billion by 2015 will go to help small businesses increase pensions for workers, and pay for infrastructure projects around australia. >> we are having our super profitable miners pay more tax

in order to cut company taxes and provide benefits to small businesses to share opportunity around the country as we grow our national savings and give australians better income. this is about sharing the benefits of the boom in the interest of working australians. >> the company said it would put investment in the industry under threat. that's expected to be about $400 billion, which the company says could be diverted to south africa or south america. with the chinese demand for australian iron ore alone, said to be 437 million tons this year, the government says the warnings are unfounded. the bill passed through the senate, where it is expected to become law early in the new year. that will mean from july of next year, there will be a mining tax. in. one more global attack of -- one more global effect of the rise of china.

>> the u.s. central bank has been given -- has been giving six big banks a health check amid growing fears that problems in europe could spread across the atlantic. the new stress tests would look at the impact of a major shock, like the default of a major country on bank of america, goldman sachs, j.p. morgan chase, as well as wells fargo. the result will be published next year. we will be watching for those closely. not a pretty picture on the markets. this is what asia did overnight. some pretty heavy falls. also, none. manufacturing numbers were worse than expected. it really is a global picture. all eyes are on this meeting taking place right now in brussels, where they are calling to talk about some reforms.

>> more on that i am sure. thank you. very. thank you. it's looking increasingly like seif al-islam colonel gaddagadde tried. in tripoli, discussing how the case can be coordinated. he has been speaking about the process to our correspondent. >> the libyan authorities informed me they want to do the case. they have to accept that. it is still in process. >> are the capable of doing that in a trial that will meet international standards? >> [inaudible]

they have -- a general investigation. the rules say they should do it. >> what do you mean? >> it means they're not doing proceedings to shield [inaudible] >> human-rights organizations wanted him in trial in the hague. they say that is the only way can get a fair trial. what do you think of that? >> [inaudible] >> caroline talking to the chief prosecutor. italian court has ruled that

george clooney and the real madrid footballer can be called as witnesses in the trial of silvio berlusconi. now, as lucky escapes go, this must rank pretty high. a helicopter pilot in new zealand has walked away with only minor injuries after his rollerblades were caught in cables and the craft came crashing to the ground. >> as far as lucky escapes go, it does not get much luckier than this. this helicopter was helping to install a christmas display, hovering just above the ground, with its blades got caught in cables and the whole thing smashed into the ground below. >> there was an enormous pop.

>> it was a mess. i turned around and saw it drop. it was only halfway down. the security got straight to it. >> perhaps the most amazing aspect of this story is the fact that the pilot walked away without seriousg without. doing fine. is he will be here to enjoy christmas. it could have been so very different. >> a reminder of our top story on gmt. bahrain awaits the publication of a report into the violence suppression of pro-democracy protests that began in february. the report by an independent commission is expected to be highly critical of the government, which has already admitted that troops used excessive force putting down the protesters. stay with "bbc world news." there is plenty more >> 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.

>> union bank has put its global strength to work for a wide range of financial companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.