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news." the chinese communist party congress has ended. after days of closed door deals, the ruling elite gives messages on its new leadership. expected to be formally named as china's new leader for the next 24 hours. we speak exclusively to a dissident artist in china, who warns of a bleak future unless the government allows for fair trials and freedom of expression. >> this net -- if they do not allow that to happen, this nation is at a dead end. >> here in london, these of the headlines.

a day of mass crop -- protests across europe, demonstrators say that enough is enough. a long, dark shadow across northern australia. a solar eclipse, witnessed by tens of thousands of people. >> it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 8:00 in the evening in beijing, where the communist party has almost completed the process of handing power over to the next generation of leaders. 2000 party delegates have been meeting for the last week, most of the time behind closed doors. the party congress has now concluded in the coming out of their new leadership lineup. >> as they stepped aside today,

the outgoing chinese communist leaders congratulated themselves. under their watch, china has risen so fast that this century is often called china's century. an authoritarian model of the future. many in china, however, were not so confident. the new leadership, rubber stamp, will be unveiled to the world tomorrow with a question, can it continue to keep china's 1.3 billion people excluded from power? there is no sign that the party is willing to engage with those who want real change, like the nobel peace prize winner from china. he remains in this jail for calling for reform. >> people want more reform. people want democracy and freedom. for example, in the constitution

it says that people have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of publication, freedom of a lot of things. and yet it is hard. >> calling for more freedom, the people have expelled corrupt communist officials. the revolt caught the imagination of many. i and the end, the communist party conceded, giving the villagers a rare vote to choose new officials. now, the party is considering reform, looking beyond china singapore has become wealthy by keeping a system where one party dominates. >> the danger over the next five years is that the chinese communist party will lose its credibility as a ruling party. the party would collapse in five

years to 10 years. >> but doing something they also be risky. chinese communists have learned from the downfall of the soviet union that small reforms can trigger the collapse of a system. but doing nothing can be dangerous as well. >> if they do not make a change, the nation will be in a much more unstable condition. if china all is not stable, the whole world will suffer. >> while the communist party is choosing its leaders in secret in there, out here in the middle of beijing, in power the party looks increasingly out of touch, something the next leaders will have to change. >> well, damon has been speaking about the dissident, ay

we we, speaking to him about whether china will have to adapt because it is changing so rapidly. >> in many ways the country, the economics, the whole condition, the kind of dragged the whole party to make a change. it has come to a moment where they have to make a change. if they do not make the change, they will have more citizens for whom it will not be good news. >> what sort of change do you think that china needs? >> what is necessary is clear, independent judiciary. no one believes the current system. which is a tragedy for a party

that has been building for six years and they cannot established very essential trust. another, freedom of expression. which coaches the foundation for a civil society. if this does not happen, the nation will be at a dead end. >> you think that china is a far richer place today? does that not matter more to people? >> i do not think that those material, unless they help people to become, to make them trust this society any better, a lot of them are not going to last. they are all quite aware about that. that is the crisis.

>> at this point, are you optimistic or pessimistic about china? >> i am still optimistic about the future of china. i think that in any case, china will have a change and put an end to this kind of history. on the basis of the inevitable. so, i am very happy about it. >> now, one thing that strikes you here in beijing is the amount of wealth on display. everything from luxury cars on the road to the latest designers, but most of these are foreign brands. the government wants chinese brands to compete. i have been speaking to the editor of "vogue china." the longest -- they launched

their chinese edition seven years ago. >> things like the swinging '60s look, we need to interpret that for the audience. >> i was given a tour by its editor. she is amazed at how quickly china has taken to high fashion. >> in the space of 10 or 15 years, china has capture the transition. the change has surprised myself, to be honest. even today, within the exhibition, the fashion that we showcased in the magazine, people really get it. >> i am close to a chinese -- how close are we to a chinese

fashion brand? >> like everything in china, and i've been pleasantly surprised again. i would say a few years, but it could be a shorter time. quite a few chinese designers are showing regularly in london and paris. i am very happy to see that they are having this enthusiasm and interest in modernizing business, modernize and design. >> the lifestyle you are promoting is only available to a small group of very rich people. does that concern you? >> i am always ask, what do you think about promoting luxury in this expensive lifestyle? i always say that you can be stylish without buying expensive things. style is an identity on how you see yourself.

in china, the model is very different. young girls today will probably be totally transformed in a month, because it is a sharply changing society. from my perspective, i do not give up on anyone. >> unusually for a publishing venture, they made a profit in the first year. there is no question that there is an appetite for the lifestyle it promotes. the challenge now is to nurture the creative talent within the country to satisfy that demand. >> that is it from beijing for now. i will be back at the same time tomorrow. of course, there is plenty of analysis on line about the once in a generation handover of power year. just go to our website to take a look at the challenges to the new team. and now, back to you in london.

>> good to see you, george. thank you very much. let's take a look at the other stories making headlines around the world today. pakistan, officials have agreed to free several jailed taliban members. afghan sources have told the bbc that the former taliban justice minister is amongst the group to be freed. one official described the move as a positive gesture towards peace. the investigations are under way after a woman who was 17 weeks pregnant died after being refused a termination. she was suffering from severe back pain when she made several requests for an abrupt -- for an abortion. medical staff said that she could not have it because ireland was a catholic country. the human rights group in russia has raised concerns about changes to the country's laws. vladimir putin has signed off

amendments that would widen the sentences for high treason and espionage. campaigners say that it will be used to crack down on government critics. europe, now, where millions of people are joining in protest against austerity measures. protests are taking place in spain, greece, portugal, and italy. more action is planned in some of the eastern european union states. in madrid, hundreds of flights have been canceled, doesn't have been arrested after scuffles with police early this morning. our correspondents are following these. good to see you all. let's start with you, chris, in lisbon. what is happening there? >> the streets are fairly quiet, partly because most public transport has been shut down.

a lot of the flights here have been cancelled as well. most schools are closed and so are a lot of public offices. we have not seen many demonstrations so far, although we spoke to some union members who had been picketing from the early morning hours this morning. they feel that the mood is beginning to change. for a long time there had been this acceptance that austerity was necessary and that changes had to come, but now the feeling that it has gone too far and is being done too fast, that not many people can take the source of austerity much longer. a lot of people are still going to work today, especially in the private sector. many because they cannot afford to take a day of work and lose that money. there is concern about how much longer this is going to go on and whether or not austerity will really produce the results

that the government and european union promised it will. >> of course, the european union trade federation has issued a statement saying that austerity is a complete dead end and must be abandoned. how are the people of france reacting? >> you are absolutely right. he was elected on an anti- austerity drive. he has really been a big supporter in the first six months, so i think that the demonstrations, we are expecting a big one on the left bank. it will mean more than it does in terms of a confrontation with the government. you will see unemployment figures that are staggering across europe today. the case is similar here in paris. of course, this does concern

people. but he is facing a dilemma. he asked to honor his commitment to europe and the markets. why does that matter? today they have announced that because they have record low interest rates on 10-year bonds, compare well to those in germany, they say only 2 billion of the money going to reducing the debt, if they started to waver on the reforms they had been promising, those levels would start to rise, and if that happened it would be europe's problem, as well as france's problem. >> there is still talk of an exit. >> i think more people are more concerned with here today, they are concerned with expressing their anger over what is going on. gathering in front of the parliament building. just over here, protesting against what the greek government has decided, which is

to basically stack thousands upon thousands of public sector workers because of these public- sector bailouts worth billions of euros. this is already affecting this week within the next five b -- five days about 2.5000 redundancy notices are going out. -- 2005 hundred redundancy notices going out. the people here say that it is clear that they have to get on the streets, otherwise everything will be destroyed. the greek economy certainly looks to be in a terrible state. year on year they are showing a contraction of more than several states. >> question frazier, paris, thank you very much for the view across europe. plenty to come, including a

total eclipse of the sun. how thousands reveled in a rare celestial tree. prosecutors in the united states have called for a death penalty for a long shot -- court martial in a case of a soldier killing 16 afghan villagers earlier this year, after going on a rampage. he is facing 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. >> it was a shocking incident, the death of 16 afghans, slaughtered before dawn in march. among the victims were nine children. the suspect, staff sergeant robert bayless, who had been previously injured while serving in iraq, he had been reluctant to go to afghanistan.

it is alleged that he returned to his base after the first attack, heading out to the second village after finally returning, covered in blood. outrage strained relations between the afghan and u.s. authorities. prosecutors at the preliminary hearing say that the sergeant should face the death penalty if he is found guilty. his attorney argues that there is insufficient evidence to hold a court martial and his family says that there are still questions that need answering. >> we are grieving deeply for the afghani families who lost their loved ones. but we must not rush to judgment. in america, due process means that innocence is presumed unless and until the trial proves otherwise. there has been no trial yet and our family member is considered to be innocent by lot, and by us. >> questions like whether or not a second gunman was involved and

whether the sergeant is suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. a general is expected to make a decision by next week. >> you are watching "bbc world news." here are the headlines. china has begun the process of handing over to a new generation of leaders the close of the communist party congress in beijing. millions of people are joining in protests across europe, budget cuts are aimed at reducing government debt. let's pick up on what is going on in europe. all over, the message is the same. people have had enough, you want to go out on strike. >> there are nerves among some

investors in the markets, hundreds of thousands across europe and they are very worried. highlights, focusing on austerity, so say the protesters. austerity measures to not work. this is what europe is doing as we speak. low volumes being traded, because of all the uncertainty, there is a certain validity in saying that these numbers do not work, but if you look at the lack of economic growth, today we learned the third quarter in the greek economy shrank by 7.2% this year and the economy is expected to shrink next year. the sixth year in a row where we are seeing the greek economy going in reverse.

all of this bailout money just does not work. >> do you know what else is not working? some cars. >> if you are a toyota executive today, you will be suffering from another big headache. today they recall nearly 3 million vehicles. the problem with these ones is the water pump or steering problem. half of the cars are on the road in japan, most are on the road in -- the rest are on the road in europe and the united states. all of this is a problem for toyota. last month, 7 million recalls over the faulty electrical window bond -- button. 12 million vehicles were recalled over a sticking accelerator. the problem? in the early 2000's, a toyota was focused on becoming the world's biggest car maker.

it was all about building. at that time, the experts tell us where toyota dropped the ball. >> you could certainly say that this is a historic problem. the company has done a lot to address it. one of the things they have done, from the scandal two years ago, they have devolve a lot of the managerial responsibilities, allowing people to take into account what is going on in those markets, with more local executives -- european in europe, america andn in america, and so on. they have attempted to make these cars moore's 40, but it takes a long time for all of these improvements, and in the meantime you will have the problems that were created years ago. >> for problems still coming

through. >> the son and the water. >> some people also miss the sun. tens of thousands of people gathered on the beaches of northern queensland for the region's first full solar eclipses in 1300 years. >> people usually travel to the coast to see the sun, but this time they came to watch it obscured. some of them brought their glasses. others went for industrial strength protection. some did not quite get the whole projection through a card thing. staying awake meant mobile coffee machines. you might call a carbucks. all of this astronomy has been good for the economy. 50,000 tourists converging for an event that last no more than 180 seconds. >> i should have a good spot

here. this is a once in a lifetime thing. i'm having a good look at it. >> at 6:38 a.m. local time, the total eclipsed of the sun began its short, mesmerizing cycle. it was the cue for temperatures to plunge, dogs to start barking, and the cheers to began. only the white glow of the corona was visible. all of this possible because although the sun is bigger than the moon, the moon is 400 times closer. >> it is just absolutely awesome. a fantastic display. >> this is the first one i have seen. it is just amazing. >> absolutely amazing. brilliant. >> australian television brought in their own crops to help any other confused viewers. >> the moon is passing in front

of the sun. it will continue to pass here and in two hours it will be gone. >> it was the real thing that held everyone spellbound for two short minutes. want to see the next total eclipsed? head to the north atlantic in 2015. duncan kennedy, bbc news, sydney. >> let's remind you of our top story at this hour. china is just 24 hours a way of -- from officially naming their new leader. he will take up the reins of power with a new generation of leaders who have just concluded the 18th meeting of the communist party in beijing. i will see you very soon.

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