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 know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> a leading chinese dissident escapes from house arrest and becomes the chinese government's most wanted man.

blind lawyer chen guangcheng issues video demand and authorities try to hunt him down. welcome to "g.m.t.." also in the program is the netherlands' reputation for cannabis tourism about to go up in smoker. and dumped on the streets targeted by gangs, we look at life for pakistan's street children. it's midday here in london, early afternoon and 7:00 p.m. in beijing where the chinese government is urgently looking for one of the country's best known dissident. the blind lawyer and human rights campaignist chen guangcheng. mr. chen has spent the last 18 months under house arrest but

last sunday, he escaped and he released a video from a secret location demanding an investigation into his treatment and end to the persecution of his family and corruption. our correspondent told us more about the video footage. >> that online video posted by chen guangcheng has been released in which he says he confirms the fabblet that he escaped from that house arrest that he was under about eight hours here from beijing and he's made an appeal in that video to china's premier wen jiabao with the three demands. the first one that he was saying that the violence he said that had been inflicted on him and his family by which there have been many report, beatings and the likes and that should be investigated and he named local officials who he said did that and he calls china's premier to

do that. and he calls for the safety of his family. that's his daughter and his wife who have been be under house arrest with him. his daughter was prevented from going to school by local authorities by one point. and he also calls for the government to tackle corruption and abuses of power. so direct appeals, but what we've heard then from activist who is say they were involved in helping him to escape is that he is in what they say is 100% safe location in beijing. they won't specify where that is. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. the west african group of nations has agreed to send troops to oversee the return to civilian rule after recent military cues and both ivy coasts. they have been given 72 hours to

comply with the decision or face diplomatic and economic sanctions. there are long queues at spain's job stands as spain's unemployment record has hate record high. nearly a quarter of the workforce is jobless. the highest level in 18 years. more than 5.5 million people are looking for work making spain's unemployment rate the highest of all country inside the eurozone. the czech government faces voter confidence about protests of austerity measures. the prime minister's is the latest to struggling to stay in office. he called for vote of confidence to test whether he can get these measures through. south korea has banned under 18's from attending a concert by lady gaga. the media rating board saying

the security is unsuitable for children. children groups held regular protests against the event over the past few weeks. now, we have had reports in the last hour or so of a number of explosions in crue ukraine. the blasts happen in the city there. and these are the latest pictures we have received. we hope we can show them to you now. we have some still images. government fish says the first explosion came near a central tram stop in the city and then half an hour later, a second blast happened near a local cinema. one or two more blasts happened reported in the city. i'm joined with the very latest from the ukrainian capital kiev by our correspondent david stern. first question is just to bring us up to date on what is the latest you're hearing about what has happened in the eastern city.

>> well, the ukrainian emergency ministry said there were four blasts, all within a few minutes of each other. the first one took place around noon local time and the second one took place about half an hour later near the cinema. the figure at the moment is that 25 people were injured and that this number seems to be constantly rising amount short while ago, they were reported around 12 people. first blast injured around 18 and the second one 11, including nine children. the president has already issued a statement. he says that this is yet another challenge to the country and that they -- that the government is thinking about how to respond accordingly. >> from what you say, it's clear that the government appears these are man made explosions, but given the recent politics of ukraine, is there any idea who might be behind what appear to be bomb attacks?

>> no. there's no indication yes. nobody has claimed credit for them and they haven't assigned a motive. it should be said that these look like these were bomb attacks. agencies are reporting that the explosions were from devices in rubbish bins. so it could be anybody's guess why this took place and details of course is still coming out. >> all right. david in ukraine, thanks very much for bringing us the latest there. the united states says it has lost patience with the cease-fire in syria and it's warning it will take action if the situation does not improve. violence has surged in recent days. on wednesday, a huge explosion was reported in hannah with scores of civilians said to be killed. the u.n. secretary general says he is gravely alarmed with the continued killing in syria, urging the regime to withdraw heavy whens from populated areas.

>> more government shellings in the damascus suburb of douma. under the plan, heavy weapons should have been put away weeks ago. of ask the tanks should also gone back to barracks. activists says the regime has killed more than 460 people since the observers arriving. in hama, a protest has gunfire rings out. the regime is a contravention. the americans are up egg the rhetoric. the united states' patience is exhausted and we are going to be watching very carefully to determine if this observer mission is having the impact that we all hope it would even if our expectations were low. >> but there is another fight to the story. the regime accuses what it calls armed terrorists groups of

carrying out a string of assassinations and other attacks. it's documented more than 1,300 violations. rebel fighters are still activ on the ground like here over in the east. the annan plan calls for them to stand down too. up and in the north, the rebels reached syrian army for a new unit. that is also in contravention of the annan plan. crucially, russia is backing the regime and blaming the rebels for provoking the violence. that makes action by the security security council at this stage out of the question. where do we go from here? >> yesterday, two senior u.s. officials told a congressional hearing that the u.s. felt the annan peace plan was failing and they said they were considering contingencies. that seems to to me to indicate that washington is moving towards the stance which is favored by the thank you, and

iran countries that if the cease-fire falls apart, you may have some part of humanitarian zone in the northwest country. >> for the moment, kofi annan's plan is the only in town. getting observers in is painfully slow and events on the ground is threatening to run out of hand. >> the netherlands is internationally famous for its cannabis cafes, but it seems tourists may soon be barred at the door. a dutch judge has upheld the law banning non-dutch residents to enter the cafe. there is growing concern in the country that tourists are visiting just for the drugs. the ban is due to start in three province next month and go nationwide by the end of the year. >> easygoing is most people's idea of the dutch's attitude of

the soft drugs. not streetly legal but tolerated at least in this most liberal of societies. but now that seems to be changing, at least when it comes to visitors. the authorities want the cannabis cafes to carry out i.d. checks and ban non-residents. it's an effort to deter tourist just visiting for the drugs and to cut cross-border crimes. and now, further disappointment for the group of cafe owners who try to block it in court saying it's discriminatory. the judge hearing their objections has upheld the government's plan for what called a weed pass on the force the ban. but the cafe owners have said they'll appeal. in amsterdam, the authorities are against the ban and have been seeking a compromise. it's estimated up to a third of all visitors here come for the cafes and because they're allowed to smoke cannabis. but the city has many other attractions and many residents are uncomfortable that soft

drugs are no longer an acceptable way to attract hard currency. and for now, the government's plan is to impose the ban in three southern provinces from the beginning of may and across the country by next year. >> joining me from the hague is the bbc's anna hol began. -- holigan. does it have support of the dutch people, do you think? >> well, right now, i'm surrounded by the cannabis cafes . they estimated over -- coming here for the cannabis cafe, that's why they're worried. people are saying this is rolling back our traditionally liberal society. what's going on? so i think most people don't think that they are in favor of this but the government will reduce the criminality

associated with cannabis. >> yeah, we can't quite make out from where you are whether yours is a plain cafe or a cannabis cafe. but if it is a cannabis cafe, when you look around, do you see any sign of tourists right now >> this is not a cannabis cafe. this is a normal cafe. most cannabis cafes around this area actually have a wi-fi connection which is why i'm here. when you go into your average say cannabis cafe in amsterdam, the majority of people are tourists. most dutch people think it is not a novelty here. because it's normal. it's part of life. it's being tolerated here since 1976. it really is a tourist atranswhich is why people are so concerned on the impact of what this could have on the tourist industry. >> thank you, anna. enjoy your cappuccino. thanks for joining us on "g.m.t.." still to come on the program, searching for the secrets of the

sun. europe agrees on a solar satellite. 18 years ago today, the first re-elections were held in south africa. after the dismantling of the apartheid regime. the bbc's milton encozy sends us this assessment of how the country has changed. >> welcome to south africa. the new south africa. we are in the heart of south africa's largest blacktownship. so where to is an apart tied -- atart hide sandreags that's why the people here became the nucleus against the white minority rule. we've come here to see whether the lives of the people have improved in the west since the

end of apartheid. south africans throughout the country would tell you that lives have changed dramatically here. they scored paved roads. they have got clean water, electric tim. there are a lot more new houses. and hospitals and schools. but while all of that has been achieved since 1994, there is still a huge crime problem. and we are beginning to see that cancer of corruption looming in this country. a lot of has been achieved, yes, it's true, south africa has for example hosted successfully the 2010 fifa world cup. south africa has had democratically elected presidents, changing governments, the first with nelson mandela. and now, jacob zuma is coming to the end of his first term but

will there's are huge problems of poverty skin equality. so 18 years since the end of apartheid, south africa has achieved a lot especially with -- >> this is "g.m.t." from "bbc world news." the headlines -- a prominent dissident lawyer in china escapes from house arrest and posts an online video demanding justice. and four explosions in a central ukrainian city injured at least 25 people. all four devices were placed in rubbish bins. time for the business news and ben has joined me. >> we're looking at this backlash against top payer and particularly, barclays is back in the spotlight. this meeting in london today. investors could vote against the

company's executive pay plan. susannah is in central london. just talk us through what they're object to here. >> what they're really objecting to, the pay and bonuses package for ---in-particular, the chief executive with 2011. he was paid 3.63 million pounds in total. and that's between pay, bonuses and longer term payments. they say many shareholders who are against the package saying it's a reward for failure saws they've seen the return on their investment go down. it could have to be said that barclays has gone up in recent months but even though -- they say there's not at true reward for them and it pales into comparison to what the chief

executive bob diamond is receiving. >> now also there is a lot of anger there around the wider issue of executive pay. we've heard from the chairman today. he's been drying to defuse some of that want what's he actually been saying? >> his agents have said today in the meeting it is really -- he has apologized, saying there's been bad communication about the renumeration policy at the bank and he has promised investors higher dividends in the future. how that will go down we'll just have to see. the shareholders will be voting on the new rates. later, expecting a result in a few hours. but from the anger that they expressed outside, it's still likely there will be a significant result. >> more from you later. thank you, susannah. we'll keep an eye on all of that and see how the votes are

counted more. >> thank you very much, ben. pakistan has one of the largest populations of street children in the entire world. around 1.5 million young people there have been abandoned or forced to leave home. over a third of them are in karachi where they are targeted by gangs and charities to aid the problem is getting worse. the bbc has this report. >> this boy is a scavenger. he's been sifting through rubbish all day and shows us bits of his pickings. what do you have here? >> i collect bottles and other things i consider to be reseeked. it -- recycled. it irns him around $1 a day. >> it's hard work but i get money at the end of the day.

i don't think -- i just like eating biscuits. i would like to play crickets with the other children but people say we are dirty. they take us away. it makes me feel bad. >> he's only been on the streets a few weeks. he says he ran away from home after being repeatedly beaten by his father. >> children end up in places where they can get free food while living to the pavements outside. >> help is out there, but it's limitted to a few like this one. conducted by a local charity, it teaches girls basic skills. many are trying to escape from a life of prostitution.

man runs a center for children. >> this is protection for children. we give financial benefit to children activities and they're getting help from criminal gangs. >> the police deny these allegations. they admit they don't have enough resources to provide adequate protection for the children. as the day ends, he returns to the man who say that they take care of him. his future look grim. he could end up like these boys, getting high by sniffing glue. their young lives twisted by abuse and neglect. most will die before their 18th birthday.

>> europe's space agency agrees they will send a spacecraft closer to the sun than ever before. it could lift off before the end of the decade and it aims to give scientists remarkable new insights into how the star works. most spacecraft that have studied the sun and the craft have done so in the orbit above the earth. 149 million kilometers away but the solar orbiter is going to maneuver itself inside the venus to a point of 42 million kilometers away. no spacecraft has been this sun -- closer to this sun before. they will wear heat shields. let's speak to the professor of physics and first question has to be why do we -- what do we hope to learn by getting closer

to the sun? >> this is the first time we'll actually be able to get in closer to the sun and see where color wind comes from and this is a wind that -- the earth itself sits within it and it impacts all of the systems, and why we possibly don't know because we're all relying on spacecrafts these days during communications even using our credit cards, things like that to understanding how the sun creates this energy and transports it through the solar system is very important to us. >> all right. now i just referred to the heat protective shields, but how on earth are the scientists going to make sure that this vehicle does not burn up as it gets closer to the sun? >> this has been a very interesting problem to deal with and when we realize that, we have to get in that close.

we have to understand what we need to protect the instruments because they're highly sensitive with electronics that kind of electronics of the day, for example, you wouldn't want to stick in the oven and we would expect these electronics applies going to that orbit. so essentially, it has these lighters and gaps in between and those gaps will eject the heat. >> this has never done before. how do we know it's going to work? >> it's been tested thoroughly and all the testing have gone well and it looks like it will work. but of course you have to try things and it looks very positive. >> all right. >> so it's definitely good. >> we hope so. without wishing to be too depressing, i have read several studies in the past which have speculated on how long the sun will last. and of course when the sun is no more, we can be sure that planet

earth would be no more. is this zpud all of the science that goes with this analysis go to tell us more about how long the sun may last? >> well, we know the since halfway through life. it starts halfway through. so we do know that. so the purpose of this mission is not to understand the age of the sun, but to understand the activity in the sun, how it changes, how weather is created and how that impacts the earth and the other planets. that's it main purpose. >> might we learn something about the planetary warming effect on earth as a result of this? >> certainly. understanding how the sun works, its magnetic field and how things change during the cycle is an important input to understanding the warmings of any planet. so it is useful. yeah, for sure. >> all right. thank you very much for joining us on "g.m.t.." >> thank you.

>> and staying with space, a capsule, with two rugses and american on board has successfully undocked the crew said farewell to the three astronauts left behind before entering the cramped capsule. on starting their return to earth. the men have been on board the space station for 163 days. now, a reminder of our top story on "g.m.t.." human rights campaigners say one of china's best known activists chen guangcheng has escaped from house arrest. the video posted on the internet show the blind activists making a series of demand to premier wen jiabao. he said local officials should be prosecuted on violent attacks from himself and his family. that's it from "g.m.t." thanks for watching. >> 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 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? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los presented by kcet los angeles.