>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this 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 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?

>> and now bbc world news. >> don't get carried away. the burmese opposition leader aung san suu kyi warns the world against complacency on the country's reform process. her first international engagement in more than 20 years, if she takes to the stage to remind the world of the many problems still to come. >> these days i'm coming across a lot of reckless optimism. it will not help us or you. >> welcome to gmt. i am david eades. also coming up, syrian opposition activists accused pro-government militias of massacring 13 factory workers. pakistani issues a flood warning, admitting to the bbc is

powerless to prevent a repeat of last year's devastation. it's remarkable that over eight months since it was flooded, some areas are still under water. >> at buckingham palace, britain is gearing up for days of festivities off the queen's diamond jubilee, six decades on the throne. >> midday in london, 2:00 p.m. in damascus, 6:00 in the evening in thailand's capital bangkok, where aung san suu kyi is reemerging on the international stage. the pro-democracy opposition leader from burma has embarked on a tour of countries, along afraid that she might never be allowed back into burma. that is, it's things have changed for her and her supporters. as her freedom grows, she is still prepared to put a brake on some of the enthusiasm being expressed about democratic change in burma. she is in bangkok where she cautioned against reckless

optimism, preferring what she calls healthy skepticism. >> after 24 years in burma, this was a first appearance on global stage four aung san suu kyi. there will soon be many more. it was our chance to remind the world that it is still early days in burma's reform process. >> these days i am coming across a lot of what i would call reckless optimism. that is not going to help you. it's not going to help us. so we need a balanced approach. a little bit of help the skepticism is in order. >> she told the world economic forum that she was still not convinced the burmese army supports the changes and said the goals of full democracy were still distant. for those in the audience considering investing in burma, she said that their money was badly needed but had this morning. >> we have tried to eradicate corruption and inequality as we proceeded towards greater

investment. we do not want more investment to mean more possibilities for corruption. we do not want investment to mean greater inequality. we do not want corruption to mean greater privileges for the already privileged. we want investment to mean quite simply jobs. >> earlier in the trip, aung san suu kyi met with some of the several million burmese migrants who live in thailand. if they are to go back, the burmese sluggish economy has a lot of catching up to do. song zootique is due to return home on sunday, but now she is a woman in demand. this munsey will go to europe, to london, geneva, and to norway, where she will pick up the nobel peace prize that was awarded to her in 1991 when she was under house arrest. -- aung san suu kyi will go to

europe. what i am joined by her biographer. she has clearly won over the burmese pro-democracy people. >> she has seen the labor minister in bangkok and so forth and has raised matters of the migrant workers' human rights, which have been abused. sometimes they have pretty tough employers. also, saying that there should be proper documentation in each case. she has done more in today's than anyone else has done in 50 years. >> when she talks about reckless optimism, is that a message being sent out to the likes of the international community or perhaps the audience that was in front of her, the migrant workers who see this messiah figure coming to improve their lot? >> i think what she's doing in that speech is giving a reality

check. i think that is not black and white. what's important about reform is not just that they're on the books but there is real substance to them and they are put into action. we all know that the people's republic of china has the most liberal constitution in the world, yet it does not translate into practice. i think she is aware that. if she is genuinely worried about a militant cool or something like that, she would not be leaving burma now. so that's reading between the lines. >> a sense of confidence. there's also a sense that perhaps she is making a remark on stepping back from going with the flow, as she has done for some time. there are those who feel she has gone too far too soon. >> as soon as she steps out into

the political arena, there is adulation and she is very aware that she does not get carried away by that, almost anyone else. >> justin, thank you very much. we will have a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. a french journalist has returned home to paris after being freed by colombian rebels. the 25-year-old arrived with a letter from his captors to the french president. journalists had been filming a counter-drug operation in april with the colombian army when they were attacked by the revolutionary armed forces. early indications suggest irish voters have approved the euro zone fiscal treaty in the referendum. the treaty is designed to introduce greater financial discipline among countries using the euro and to prevent the currency collapsing.

ireland is the only european union member to put the issue directly to its voters. scientists in switzerland say they have been able to restore all toto rats paralyzed by spinal cord injuries -- restore all movement to rats. the scientists hope to develop similar techniques to treat paralyzed human beings. activists in serious say there's been another mass killing, this time of 13 factory workers reportedly ordered off a bus and then shot dead. in geneva, european diplomats are pressing the u.n. top human rights body to propose a war crimes probe into the civilian killings in syria and. now john muir has this report from neighboring beirut. it's gruesome images too disturbing for us to show of another mass killing. activists said that the wounded bodies of 13 factory workers

were discovered after they had been taken off a bus and shot dead by the regime alicia. they said it happened in the west of the country where fighting had been going on. we cannot independently confirmed claims. twice in recent days, including the massacre in the town of houla last friday, u.n. observers on the ground have essentially validated similar reports and videos from activists. the repercussions of that continue to export around the world. -- to echo around the world. in geneva they are discussing the massacre. there's a widespread sense of outrage and that there's so lite that can be done to stop the carnage. this amounts to crimes against humanity and other international crimes and may be indicative of a pattern of widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations that have

been perpetrated with impunity. >> the continuing bloodshed is dominating russian president putin's talks with angela merkel in berlin and president francois hollande in paris. they will be trying to persuade him to put more pressure on damascus. no sign of russian support so far. that leaves the increasingly forlorn peace mission of kofi annan. after talks in syria produced no breakthrough as the bloody stalemate continues. but there has been one important sign of change. sunni merchants have closed up shop in protest of the massacre, in damascus. reinforces tried to make them reopen, by breaking locks. -- reinforcers tried to make

them reopen, by breaking the locks. it is a devastating civil war. >> now to pakistan, where the disaster management chief has admitted to the bbc that floods are likely again in just a matter of weeks because of a lack of proper preventive measures. hundreds were killed, millions affected by last year's rainfall, prompting a huge international aid efforts. these pictures just show some of that level of devastation. now a report from a province in southern pakistan, one of the worst affected areas. >> pakistan's still bears the scars of last year's floods. vast areas of the audible crops were destroyed. tens of thousands of lives -- livestock drowned. over 8 million people were affected.

in this town, people are trying to move on, but the horrors of what happened last year are hard to forget. the place was inundated with several leaders of floodwater after the heaviest rains ever recorded here. then on the rescue mission with the army, we found this family stranded. they had lost their home, their farm animals, andve a couple ch. we managed to trace them again now to find out how they have recovered. but the news was bad. since we last saw them, the mother of the family had died. >> we stayed in a camp three months and eight stale bread they gave us and she got weak and ill. when the closed the camp, we

came back here, but she was getting worse and she died. >> remarkably, more than nine months after they were first floated, some areas are still under water. we soon found out why. this is opposed to being a drainage channel four feet deep. it is completely blocked. it's because of that, the people around here say in a few weeks' time for the monsoon, this entire area will be submerged again. one government official admitted to us not enough has been done to stop flooding again this year. >> it takes a lot of engineering, redesigning, but it takes too much money and time and it cannot be done in the year. >> so you are saying that flooding is inevitable in that area because the drainage cannot be cleared out.

those still having to live in tents thanks to last year's flooding will have to brace themselves, because the next disaster looks guaranteed. bbc news, pakistan. >> moving to afghanistan for a moment, there's been a big explosion at a nato military base in the east of the country. the taliban says suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a checkpoint. a local official was quoted as saying at least seven afghans were killed in that blast. no word of any nato casualties. still to come, much more on a weekend celebration in britain. >> join me live at an ancient race course, world famous course, as the olympic torch relay comes to liverpool. >> the former u.s. presidential candidate john edwards has been

found not guilty of illegally using campaign money to hide details about his pregnant mistress. the judge in north carolina declared a mistrial when the jury cannot reach a verdict on five other alleged offenses. jonathan blake has this from washington. prexy was the all-american family man. his charisma, looks, and southern charm made him the democrats' choice for vice president in 2004 and a candidate for the presidency himself four years later. but behind a picture perfect image, john edwards was hiding edwards was-- an affair with a member of his campaign staff at a time when his wife was suffering from cancer. as his trial ended inconclusively, he admitted he could no longer shy away from the truth that he denied for so long. >> while i don't believe i did anything illegal or ever thought i was doing anything illegal, i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong.

and there is no one else responsible for my sins. >> the case hinged on whether the money edwards used to hide his affair was given as a political donation or as a personal gift. on all but one of the six charges, the jury could not agree, leaving edwards to claim a victory of sorts and acknowledged the told the trial it's taken on his family. >> kate has been here almost every single day. she has been here no matter what, no matter how awful and painful a lot of the evidence was for her. >> it is not likely the department of justice will pursue a retrial, bringing his public ordeal to an end for now, but the political career of this once a rising star has long been over. abc news, washington. -- bb news.

>-- bbc news. >> the burmese opposition leader warns against complacency over the country's reform process. the syrian opposition leaders said 13 factory workers have been massacred in the west of the country. business news with aaron. we are focusing on china again. it is the big hope to get us through this global difficulty and it is slightly fading. >> it is. we're talking about the world's most factories, biggest exporters, world's second- largest economy. chinese factories are slumping. that's a big problem for the rest of the world. official numbers out of beijing, purchasing managers index, because these are forward-looking numbers, the managers sit at the top of the

supply chain, they looked at backlog orders and new orders and the order the raw materials that need to be fed through the pipeline. if it does not look good for that picture, if it gets fed all the way through the pipeline. there's no doubt the slowdown is off the backs of what's happening in the euro zone but also people generally are around the world are spending less. if we look at asia, clear evidence factories are slowing all over the region from taiwan to south korea to australia. for the chinese numbers, the experts tell us they are so bad, it's very likely it will push policy makers in beijing to implement some sort of major economic stimulus. >> last year the government was grappling with inflation, so it rains in bank lending, it prevented people buying too many houses, to prevent inflation up too high.ttoo hig

the premier indicated perhaps this ought to be a new focus of the chinese government and those comments were repeated today by a senior official. growth will be a target over the coming months. to the biggest economy. " the u.s. is not growing as fast as we expected. that's why the jobs numbers today are very important. the u.s. economy has lost some 8 million jobs since the financial crisis. this is an economy that needs to create 100,000 jobs every month just to stand still. very tough times for the young u.s. graduates. experts tell us the problem for the young over the last couple years could stay with them for years. >> when you enter the labor market at a lower wage, it is difficult to ever catch up over

at least the next decade or so, because your labor market history follows you around. unless you change jobs and get a huge promotion, you are not necessarily going to catch up with people that started at a higher level. >> 150,000 jobs is what we are expected to be created for the month of may. >> thifinal preparations being t in place for the diamond jubilee celebrations which mark queen elizabeth's 60 years on the british throne. my colleague is at buckingham palace for the final rehearsal, i guess. >> yes, david. hello from buckingham palace. they are still setting up the stage for the concert which will be one of the events planned for the next couple days. some of the last minute preparations for the procession happen in the middle of the night. that's the only time that you can get the space for the

rehearsals to take place. people taking part in the procession were out in the middle of the night. that was for the rehearsals to take place. this is really quite a remarkable moment, a remarkable milestone for britain and not just for the queen. it is 115 years since britain had a diamond jubilee. in 1897 it was the time of queen victoria. this time it is her great great granddaughter queen elizabeth who is marking six decades on the throne. you can just imagine the changes that she has seen take place in those 60 years. >> absolutely. 60 years perhaps gives an indication as to the type of person she is and how she can maintain through thick and thin. we have had intriguing insights into the queen and the way those who have got to know her perceive her. >> yes, and this is a woman who

has spent her entire life in the public eye. it's not often we get a glimpse of the private queen. but the pictures that have been released in the last day have come as part of a documentary that prince charles of wales has taken part in. we see him in the picture is looking back at the royal family home video, pictures they have since 1857. you see the queen and the duke of edinburgh and their two eldest children, having a beach holiday in eastern england. you can pretty much imagine any family having such a holiday. it's a carefree looked at their family life. if you see them rolling around on the sand dunes and jumping oof and being -- jumping off and being buried in the sand. there's the queen surrounded by her favorite breed of dog as

well. we get a sense of her as a private person as well as a professional person who has spent 60 years doing the same job and has no prospect of retirement in sight. >> not the average 2.4 children. nonetheless, give us a flavor of what is going to be clearly a weekend to remember. >> yes, lots of festivities planned. i've been told that the queen has taken a keen interest in what is coming up. she wanted to know the running order of the concert that will take place on her doorstep at buckingham palace. the most ambitious event will take place on the river thames on sunday afternoon. you will be able to see that live around the world on the bbc. about 1000 boats taking part in a flotilla along the river. the queen has been to see one of those boats for ourselves -- gloriana. it is one of the boats that will

lead the procession. the idea is boats of all kinds are here on the river to take part. so you have oarsman in rowing boats, you have pleasure boats, you have steamboats, working tugboats that have come from all different parts of the u.k. to playable in what will been a waterborne. tribute to the waterborne -- a waterborne tribute to the queen. i will be on a working tugboat on that day on the thames river. >> thanks very much. counts no easy way to down the days to the london olympics. another big event in london. following the olympic torch. it is on wrote to the capital. up to date 14. just another 56 to go. the torch is arriving in one

of the most sports oriented cities in the country, in liverpool, in northwest england. this is a place which stands out in the cultural life of britain as well. we have been getting a guided tour. we have been on the streets to meet some of the most famous residents of the city. >> you cannot come to a liverpool without the mentioned of these fab four. ? what have ? -- what have we got? sarah, laura, marie, alex. thanks for being with us. quite hard to maneuver these puppets? >> it can be, but you get. used get at >> are you looking for to the olympic torch relay? >> it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of something like that. >> peter is the man behind these

fantastic creations. well done. >> thank you. welcome to liverpool. >> what is the thinking? >> no better way to welcome people to liverpool than the fab four. and we welcome the torch. >> how important is this? >> it's very important. we do a lot of outdoor events in liverpool. this is really important. it's bringing people into the streets. it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. the olympic torch in the communities, in the city center, everywhere, it's fantastic. >> thanks for joining us. best of luck. " it goes really well. looking great. >> thank you. >> they're up for a party in liverpool as the torch heads there. that's all for the moment. stay with us on bbc world news. 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 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?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.