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." >> the chinese dissident who took refuge in the u.s. embassy leaves beijing and demand an apology. bertrand timing. comesuangcheng's decision just as hillary clinton arrives

for high-level talks. was there a deal? hello and welcome to gmt. i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. also in the program -- barack obama says [speaking foreign language] it is nearly job done in afghanistan. >> we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. >> odds are -- the taliban strikes the capital again. nine dead in cairo after people protested against the ruling military council. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 7:00 and the meaning in beijing, where the chinese activist, chen

guangcheng, has left the u.s. embassy where he has been taking refuge. his presence was at the center of a diplomatic row between the u.s. and china. his departure coincides with hillary clinton's arrival in the country for prearrange talks. was it coincidence, or was there a deal? china has demanded an apology. it appears chen will be able to stay in the country. >> chen guangcheng has spent the last six days inside the american embassy in beijing. he was escorted out of the compound today by american diplomats and taken to the hospital, where security was tight. china's foreign ministry has complained that the blade activists had been originally been taken to the u.s. embassy through abnormal means. is this is interference in china's domestic affairs.

china wants an apology. >> the incident, being discussed in a high-profile way no, it will force the two sides to confront human rights issues in china and how to resolve the cases of chen guangcheng. >> the latest news of chen guangcheng came as the american secretary of state, hillary clinton, arrived in beijing for two days of talks due to take place on thursday and friday. chen guangcheng's wife has gone to the beijing hospital where he is undergoing a check-up. she has confirmed he is well. u.s. officials say he will be moved to a safe place and that he plans to stay in china. how he is treated will be closely monitored. >> for more, just head to our web site and there you'll find all the background and analysis, including a profile of chen whogcheng, the activists w

exposed the harsher side of china's family planning. just go to bbc.com/news. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world. president obama has pledged to finish the job and end the war in afghanistan, addressing the public from a military base in afghanistan. speaking one year after osama death -- mark mardell reports. >> he touched down in afghanistan in the middle of the night, on the anniversary of the killing of bin laden. the president said he wanted to spend the day with troops who were in harm's way. >> one year ago, we were able to finally bring osama bin laden to justice.

that could have only happened because each and every one of you, in your own way, were doing your jobs. >> he also signed a new strategic agreement with afghanistan, which has been a grueling 19 months in the making. it marks the end of america's longest war and there's also a promise the u.s. will not leave the country in a lurch. there will be money and training. it was 4:00 in afghanistan, but prime time in america. the war would be brought to an end. a new chapter would begin to request my fellow americans, we travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. in the pre-dawn darkness of afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. the iraq war is over. the number of our troops in

harm's way has been cut in half. more will soon be coming home. >> president obama has been criticized for making political capital after the killing of bin laden. the hard decision, his personal call, suggesting mitt romney might not have done the same. >> i think it was very disappointing for the president to try to make this a political item by suggesting that i would not have ordered such a raid. course i would have. >> the president turned his speech to the home front. this visit, important as it is, is a blacbackdrop, before president obama officially launches his campaign tuesday as commander in chief. mark mardell, "bbc world news." >> at least seven people were killed in the suicide attack in

the capital. at least two suicide bombers targeted a guesthouse popular with foreigners in the eastern part of the country. the taliban later claimed responsibility for the attacks. attackers armed with clubs, stones, and bombs have killed at least nine people demonstrating outside the egyptian ministry of defence. more than 100 were injured. the demonstrators were camped outside to protest the exclusion of a candidate from the forthcoming elections. joining me from cairo is our correspondent, jon leyne. any idea who was behind this attack? it sounded like a mob. >> unidentified thugs is the best we can save. it may be valid that some local people were also angry about the presence of the demonstrators. at the very least, it seems to

be some sort of government employees. that is a common tactic of there's that has been used many times. >> i gather most of those who were protesting were supporters of would-be islamist candidates for the election. does this bode rather ill for the election itself? >> is certainly not great. the hard-liner, let's been disqualified -- two of the other candidates have suspended. i do not think this is an immediate threat to the election. the parliamentary elections went ahead with even greater violence and clashes. clearly, there are a lot of people unhappy in egypt.

people are uneasy about the role of the military, and will the old regime reinforce itself for the presidential election? this is a very tense situation. >> jon, thank you very much. french president sarkozy will go head-to-head with hollande this evening in a one-off television debate that could prove a critical moment in the campaign for the presidency. the president is expected to throw everything into the two and half hour burble debate. mr. hollande insisted only on a single live debate. he is not known for his tv performances. rupert murdoch has it back and criticism and a group of british mp's. u.k. committee concluded that he had shown a willful blindness to what was going on at news corp.

mr. murdoch admitted mistakes had been made in an e-mail to staff, but said the company is working hard to put things right and would emerge better and stronger from the phone hacking scandal. conrad black will be allowed to live in canada after he is released from prison in the u.s., even though he gave up his canadian citizenship 11 years ago. his imminent return to canada has led to criticism that he is receiving special treatment from the government. he was convicted in 2007 on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice. a verdict is expected shortly in the in quest of the death of british mi6 intelligence officer whose body was found in a sports bag in his flat. the coroner said he would not consider the verdict of unlawful killing of gareth williams. instead, he is expected to give

a negative verdict summarizing the circumstances of his death. >> gareth williams, described as a prodigy who had made a valuable contribution to british intelligence, but found dead in a locked bag. central questions -- how and why did he die? his body was found in the bathroom of the flat. it was in the fetal position with no sign of a struggle. a set of keys were underneath him inside the bag. the back was locked shut on the outside. two experts tried to block the back from inside -- to lock the bag from the inside. neither succeeded. the case has brought a spotlight on the role of mi6. gareth williams was unhappy and

have requested a transfer. he was last seen on this cctv footage out shopping in 2010. despite failing to turn up for meetings at work, he was not reported missing until this call one week later. >> one of our members of staff is missing. >> mi6 says it is profoundly sorry for the week-long delay in reporting gareth williams as missing for work. by the time police came to gareth williams' flat, it meant he had been dead for over a week, meaning his body had been badly decomposed, making it difficult to be certain of the cause of death. >> only a few tiny traces of anyone else's dna were found a lawyer for the family says those

who specialize in the dark art of secret services had been involved or had subsequently been involved. there were questions on whether mi6 had passed all relevant material to the police. could the clues lie in gareth williams' private life? his visit a few bondage websites in which people were tied up. why he lived in this house -- his landlady had found him tied to his bed. he told her he just wanted to see if he could get free. for gareth williams' family, the inquest means hearing much difficult information. for all the mystery, for all the conspiracies, this story is one of a talented young man who met a tragic death. >> still to come on gmt -- a

happy ending for a penguin stolen from an australian zoo. hunters have been protesting in the danish capital of copenhagen over a decision by a major department store to stop selling products. they are afraid the ban will be copied by other stores and will endanger their livelihood. from copenhagen, this report. >> outside the upscale the parma's store -department store. they came to protest against the decision to ban the sale of all seal products. fears that other businesses will follow suit. shops around the world are under pressure from animal

campaigners. them -- theytting freelan were exempted from the ban, because the method of killing is rifles, which is thought to be more humane. >> it is going to affect us. a different culture. a difference sustainable way of living. >> the ban was ordered by the british parent company. say it has directors been rejected by consumers because of adverse publicity. >> there simply has not been any demand for it. it is not on purpose -- >> these greenlanders are

utterly dependent on the seal trade. bbc news, copenhagen. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am george alagiah. the headlines -- the blind chinese rights activist, chen guangcheng, has been given medical care and reunited with his family. president obama has broadcast to the american people from afghanistan, telling them the goal of defeating al-qaeda is within reach. time now for the business news and aaron heslehurst is here. talk eurozone unemployment figures. they are out today and they reveal quite a contrast. >> another horrible set of numbers.

what we heard today, george, for the month of march -- the 17 members of a single currency region had a combined unemployment rate of 10.9%. that is a big number. that is the first time we've seen such a horrible number in 15 years. i put some numbers together for you. nearly 17.5 million people in the month of march were looking for work within the region. what is astonishing about these numbers is the very clear no.- south divide. spain tops the list at 21.4%. breeze comes second. greece is living off the belt out funds. if you go to the north, austria, the lowest in the region, 4% to germany, five plan six%. i've already been told today that these jobless numbers will certainly push the debate about getting rid of just austerity- only policies. there are other measures that

they need to include. have a listen to this. >> we might see some kind of an effort to cut the punishing interest rates, which some of these other european countries solving very bad employment figures. of course, it is all based on the willingness of the countries in the north to allow these things to happen. most recently, in holland, people are getting slightly resentful of those measures. these are very turbulent in difficult times for europe. >> there's a big debate. you need to that growth. one way to the growth is for banks to start lending. eu finance ministers have been talking about the banks. >> two big questions facing them today. how much is enough and who should decide. those are the questions that the 27 finance ministers from the whole of the european union are trying to thrash out.

they are trying to decide on how much money these 8300 european banks should set aside for a rainy day basically. they are trying to avert another lehman brothers-stle collapse. it will force european members to raise hundreds of billions of additional money. how do they get that? they can sell shares. they can reduce the dividends they pay shareholders. they could stop the big bonus payout. here is the real problem. if the rules are too strict, it's inevitable that banks will restrict lending. that's how they can hang onto extra money. restricting lending does not help an economy at all. the rules are too soft, it will put the banks in a financial situation. at the moment, the proposal on the table is a reserve of 7%. the question is, is 7% to ndoab?

>> it has to be. the banks need it reduced. it will probably need to be complemented by public money. it is certainly possible to do the 7%. if it goes higher than 7%, some countries may face a financing need. >> we already know that there are member states opposing this. the u.k. and sweden want tough rules, but they want them to be flexible. they want to be able to decide when to implement them. big problems. if this is a high reserve ratio, you think, where are they going to get the money? who is white to help the spanish banks? that is another question. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> french president sarkozy will

go head-to-head with his rival, hollande, tonight. what are both candidates offering voters in terms of welfare? >> there are a key indicators to the way people feel about the society they live in. one is the way they vote. another less known is the price of gold. it may surprise you to know that people come into this shop in paris to swap their hard earned currency for gold coins. right now, one of these gold napoleon's would cost you $290 and rising. >> the man in the street thinks that the politicians do not have any solutions. of course, the man in the street becomes anxious. >> the increasing trade in goal ld reflects the anxiety about

french dead. they have offered what they can offer to fix it. what is needed is cuts and a new social model. >> are people really to accept what it really means? the answer is no. people can say, [inaudible] that is a pure posturing. >> in 2010, when the government move to increase the age of retirement, the process almost brought the country to a standstill. the government faced down the results, but retreated from other reforms they proposed. how does france compare? it devotes more of its gdp to public spending than any other country in europe. it spends far more on health care than the u.k. the hourly cost of labor is now well above that of britain.

in polls, the french public put national debt in their top three concerns. president sarkozy and hollande have both pledged to balance the budget by 2013 through a combination of tax increases and reform. in this election, 30% of the french people voted for the far right or far left. they do not like these -- it has not brought them more employment or a better way of life. what they voted for was protectionism. they voted for the france of old. it is hard finding savings when social reform brings talk of revolution. in this debate, it has been largely avoided. there is no escaping the cold reality of debt. change will come, no matter who is president. bbc news, paris. >> take a look at the profiles

of the candidates and the latest polls on our web site really will bring you full results of the election here on "bbc world news." on sunday, a special live coverage from paris. 17:30 gmt. when the penguin was stolen from a marine park in australia, sti. he had been hounded by a dog and chased by a shark. two men have pleaded guilty to snatching it in a drunken p rank last month. >> early morning, a group of friends with a hangover way to find a penguin. >> a penguin taken one night last night after they slipped past security in brisbane.

the men later panicked and dropped it in a canal. now two of those involved -- believed to be from south wales -- have been fined about 600 pounds for stealing him. speaking at the time, one of the men said they meant no harm. >> we are sorry. and the time lost searching for dirk. >> the theme park was relieved to get it back in one piece. >> this is a captive-born animal. it has never experienced things like boats or wide open spaces. >> is now fine, none the worse of being the victim of a bird- brained prank. >> all is well that ends well. a reminder of our top story on

gmt -- chen guangcheng has left the u.s. embassy in beijing one week after seeking shelter, following his escape from house arrest. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says he left the embassy on his own accord. after speaking with chen guangcheng, she said the choices reflect american values. mrs. clinton is in beijing for high-level strategic talks. that's it for this edition of gmt. stay with us. there is plenty more to come. >> 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 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.

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