>> 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. shell. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength 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." >> the syrian government

rallies crowds out in force, but it's under intense pressure from abroad. with reports of fresh attacks at home. president karzai says he won't on gree to a agreement. the soyuz successfully docks with the international space station. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- obama, gillard, and the elephant in the room, as china lurks behind the warm words of cooperation. also, it's been a tight squeeze at times, but finally britain's longest underground network of caves is linked up.

>> hello. it's being reported in syria that defectors from the country's armed forces have now attacked the headquarters of an air force intelligence base near the capital, damascus. the syrian national council says the free syrian army carried out the attack on the base with rocket-propelled grenades. arab league foreign ministers are gathering shortly, and they're expected to confirm syria's suspension over the crackdown on protesters. large crowds have turned out in various cities to oppose the arab league's decision. we can go over to the bbc's jonathan head, who joins us live from istanbul. jonathan, you have some perspective on the free syrian army and the latest moves within the country. >> we've been speaking to the syrian national council here, and the council doesn't formally connect itself to the free syrian army, but they're

all working for the same thing. they're saying this attack that's just been reported was carried out by the free syrian army, and it seems to have been quite an ambitious attack on an air force intelligence compound. the air force intelligence branch of the syrian security forces has been very involved in the crackdown on the opposition, and it's deeply feared it's one of the worst places you can go, according to figures, if you get detained. so it will be a natural target. it seems, from what local residents are saying, there was very fierce fighting, the sounds of explosion and gunfire. we believe this compound was attacked by defecting soldiers with the free syrian army using heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. we don't have any more details on that, but it's certainly ambitious. the compound is just outside damascus. damascus has been more or less spared the opposition moves against president assad and been much quieter than other parts of syria. the council is telling us that

the commander of the free syrian army has been in turkey for the last few months, left turkey two days ago, and is now leading operations inside syria. that suggests that the recent report we've had of increased clashes between defectors and government troops may be connected with a determined assault on the government by the free syrian army. >> given the increase in military hardware being used as well, what sort of language are they using, the national council, jonathan? do they talk of civil war yet? >> no, they don't. they've always been quite careful to say that they want their movement, which remains essentially a peaceful movement. but, you know, at the same time, they say people will be forced to take up arms, given the enormous military weight that's been thrown against them by this government. it's a delicate balance for them. there are groups inside syria who are more inclined to

compromise with the government and are fiercely against foreign intervention. the syrian national council wants its movement for known as peaceful. most of what's going on is still demonstrations by unarmed protesters. so they don't associate themselves directly, but at the same time, they don't rule out the inevitability that army defectors will try to defend civilians and will use their arms to do that. >> thanks very much indeed for that. so much turmoil in and around syria at the moment. of course, we'll keep across the arab league meeting through the course of the day how long will american troops stay in afghanistan? indeed, souch scope will they have to act as long as they do stay? these are the central issues facing the jirga, the traditional gathering of leaders from across the country which has just opened in kabul. president hamid karzai told delegates that afghans wanted their relationship with the u.s. to be one between two

independent countries. assembly takes place amid extraordinarily high security. the taliban has threatened to target anyone attending. i spoke to the bbc's orla guerin in kabul earlier, and she said president karzai has called for peace and partnership at the opening of the talks. >> it was opened by the president, and he used his speech to outline some of his conditions for this contentious strategic partnership agreement with the united states, which is under discussion. he emphasized that america would not be able to do things like carry out night raids, which are extremely unpopular here. he also said that relations between the two countries has to take place as between two independent nations and that there had to be respect for afghan sovereignty. but he also stressed that a future security pact between the two countries was in the agreement of both nations. he said that if america met afghanistan's conditions, then it would be allowed to continue to have military bases here. he said that this would bring money to afghanistan and it would benefit the country

because its forces would be trained by u.s. traps. but the agreement itself has been under discussion and, in fact, being argued about for more than nine months still. it's still not concluded, and hence, there's no draft for delegates at this assembly to even study. >> right. we've got all this talk about peace and partnership. indeed, a readiness perhaps even to discuss with insurgents how to move ahead, and yet, hanging over the whole loyal jirga, another taliban threat to attack. >> yes, that's right. the jirga is taking place under very tight security and under threat of taliban attack. the taliban say they believe everybody to be a target in the jirga. they have a document which lay claim to the official plans at this gathering. that was denied by various security agencies and by police. but there is no doubt that security is at the highest possible level.

long-time residents here in kabul are saying they've almost never seen anything like this. there are new road blocks all around the city. there are an additional 150 mobile police check points. police at the gate into the city for the past 72 hours have been denying access to anybody who didn't have a national identity card. earlier in the week, the insurgents managed to get a team of three close to the venue where the jirga is being held. one bomber was killed trying to gain access. the fear is that there will be other attackers already in position trying to disrupt this jirga, which the taliban have vowed to do. >> 17 preschoolchildren have been killed in a head-on collision between a mini bus and a truck in western china. two adults also killed in this crash. 45 people injured as well. might wonder how, given the pictures. this is just a nine-seater mini bus, but it was reported to be

carrying 64 people. a church in new york has rejected an attempt by anti-wall street demonstrators to restart their protest camp in a park in the financial district following their eviction on tuesday. lawyers for the protesters have said the authorities should have obtained a court order before evicting them. at least 15 people have been killed by missiles fired from an unmanned american aircraft, or drone. the attack took place in a village in south waziristan close to the afghan border. pakistani officials say those killed were militants. >> aaron here with a look at the business news, the unemployment news. we're focusing on britain, but obviously a big european issue at the moment. >> i think it's important to preface that unemployment is a lagging indicator, so many expecting these numbers just to worsen. but here in the u.k., we're looking at the highest unemployment rate in 15 years, around 8.3%. but the big focus, and certainly what we're going to be focusing on in the world business report, is youth

unemployment, a real major problem. milestone is not the right word here, but it's hit a level in the u.k. of 16 to 24 unemployed hitting the one million mark, and that is a rather devastating number. and it represents about -- youth unemployment in the u.k. represents about 21%. that's the rate. but look, you just got to look at other parts of the eurozone. in spain, it's up over 40% of the rate. real problem for confidence and a real problem going forward to get these young people into jobs that they've got skills for. >> yeah, it's a pretty miserable picture. you've got results from dell. sounds like pretty good profits, not all swimmingly. >> no, absolutely not. dell, third largest p.c. maker in the world, made a profit of just under $900 million, but they got -- and they continue to be hammered by the floods in thai land because it's a

predominant force in the world when it comes to hard drives. going forward, dell says they may have to focus more on corporate clients and more key clients and prices are likely to rise. but look, i'll have more on the "world business report" in 20 minutes. >> aaron, thanks a lot. italy's new government is due to be announced any time now. we're going to take to you the presidential palace in rome, because that is where mario monti, the new prime minister, has been meeting with the president. he's expected to announce his list of cabinet ministers. it's been two days of intense haggling. it will be a cabinet so unlike the one that went before, because essentially it appears mr. monti has pulled together the sort of people he believes have the expertise to pull italy out of the mire. alan johnston is our correspondent in rome. alan, it's technocrats and more technocrats, is it? >> that's right, david. we're watching the reshaping here of italian politics, and

it's happening pretty quickly. hardly a moment's been wasted since prime minister silvio berlusconi stepped down dramatically on saturday night. intense negotiations across the political spectrum, and now i had a moment ago that mr. monti left the hotel and he's on his way there to the presidential palace, where he'll set out this cabinet lineup, and there will be a huge amount of interest in who actually made the team. there are not many secrets in italian politics, most things get leaked and spread across the media, but this lineup has stayed pretty tightly locked away in mr. monti's head. >> and it's not been easy, has it? one might have thought that with the passing of berlusconi and the arrival of the new man, he'd be given carte blanche to get on with it, but it hasn't been that straightforward, has it? >> well, there's been a lot of talking. a few days ago, it looked as if really quite significant numbers of mr. berlusconi's supporters were going to oppose

the monti plan. but over the last couple of days, another really crucial meeting late yesterday, it seemed that mr. berlusconi's party, for now at least, has fallen in behind the idea of a monti technocrat interim administration, but everybody knows that mr. berlusconi quoted in his brother's newspaper that if he doesn't like what mr. monti down further down the track, he has the capacity to pull the plug on the interim government. remember that mr. berlusconi will hugely influence the largest number of supporters in parliament and any one individual he has, at the same time, a huge media interest as well. >> thanks very much. we wait await the announcement of the full monti cabinet. the european championships, but those right on the brink were

either -- it's either despair or joy this morning. >> italy lost against uruguay in a friendly yesterday, but they were very, very good in qualifying. those who didn't quite make it, who finished second in their groups, have had to go through the playoff system. we now know the 16 finalists. they will include portugal, 0-0 against bosnia from the first leg. what a great start here in lisbon. cristiano ronaldo scoring a fantastic free kick, but we decided earlier that this wonderful strike trumped him, as portugal won 6-2. a couple of goals for ronaldo, two also from postega. it's a terrific turnaround. when bento was coach, he was very impolite to drug test, and he lost his job. they were in trouble, but they went through a fantastic run. in the end, they're qualified for the finals. >> give us a snap shot of germany, because they looked really fantastic. this was a friendly? >> this was only a friendly match, but germany won it, first goal going in.

they beat the world cup finalists, the netherlands, by three goals to nil in hamburg. it's just so instinctive, so fast-paced, one-touch football. germany has beaten the netherlands 3-0, and we now know the seedings. it's possible in one group in poland and ukraine next year, we could have spain, germany, portugal, and france. >> let's hope that group -- >> if you're a neutral, it's absolutely ideal. >> russell, thanks very much indeed for that. i just want to take to you our coverage of the floods in thailand. they have been extraordinary. a third of the country swamped. it's not just the human cost, because there have been other victims as well who have needed rescuing. we've got some pictures of a rescue operation mounted for these poor scraps. hundreds of stranded dogs trapped to a bridge. this was about 50 kilometers

west of bangkok. floodwaters gradually getting higher and higher there. they were all effectively cut off. they were trapped there. they were rescued. look at the state of them, very sad. some of them may also have distemper. so it may not yet be a terribly happy ending for those poor animals. you're watching "bbc world news." i'm david eades. plenty more still to come. sri lanka is still struggling it put decades of civil war behind it. the final stages of that war in 2009 were of particular concern to human rights groups with reports suggesting thousands of civilians have been killed. the sri lankan government rejected calls for an independent international inquiry. it did appoint its own commission, and that panel is due to submit its report in just a few days. will it move the reconciliation process forward? our sri lanka correspondent has this report.

>> how do you reach reconciliation after a traditional war? can truth and accountability be delivered? if its five months of hearings centered on this house, sri lanka's war commission heard all manner of testimony. church men spoke of human rights abuses. a former tamil tiger leader spoke of the militant atrocities. but at the hearings in the north that people clamored to testify. usually it was about their children or spouses. often they'd have been con scripted by the tamil tigers, later seen in army custody, now vanished. >> police consider all the petitions we give. we hope you dry the tears of these mothers. we're becoming ill thinking about our lost ones. >> at other sessions, people directly accuse the navy of shelling civilians as they fled the war zone and the tigers of shooting them. western nations like the united

states say they hope the war commission will meet international standards in looking at such cases. the commission's chairman has told the bbc that it might indeed recommend prosecutions for rights violations, but some are skeptical. international human rights groups refuse to come to sri lanka and testify to the commission. critics like them say its mandate isn't tough enough, but not fully independent of the government, although witnesses in the north, some of whom made allegations against the military, aren't properly protected. many civil society campaigners believe that whatever the panel recommends, the government won't hold anyone accountability. >> impunity has been a major issue in sri lanka, not just during the last war, but going back 30 years. they do not use the legal system to prosecute people, to hold people accountability for their human rights violations. >> but the government says the outside pressure for accountability on rights violations is largely misconstrued, that punishment

is not the priority for victims. >> that is not their concern. they want to move forward. they want to know where their loved ones were. but they want closure. they want to move on with their lives in the north and to become full participants, active participants in sri lanka. >> the government has told the world wait for this commission's report before you pass judgment on us. but if the report is mainly about the causes of conflict and less about its human cost, the critics may not be satisfied. >> our watching "bbc world news." i'm david eades. these are the headlines -- the violence goes on in syria as the arab league meets to discuss stepping up the pressure on the syrian government. president karzai has outlined to a gathering of afghan elders and leaders his conditions for allowing american military bases to remain in the long term. president barack obama has

begun his first official visit to australia. in a joint news conference with the australian prime minister, julia gillard, the president announced an expansion of the u.s. military presence in australia. a force of marines will be based there. >> we are two pacific nations, and with my visit to the region, i am making it clear that the united states is stepping up its commitment to the entire asia pacific. in this work, we're deeply grateful for our alliance with australia and the leadership role that it plays. as it has been for six decades, our alliance is going to be indispensible to our shared future. it's a security we need and the prosperity that we seek, not only in this region, but around the world. >> more significantly, a chinese foreign minister spokesman immediately then questioned whether the move was in keeping with peace and development. our correspondent in sydney, duncan kennedy, told us the

growing influence of china really was the main subject on the two leaders' minds. >> it never gets mentioned, although one or two reporters tried to throw questions at the president, why are we putting troops here? it's not about china. i thought president obama slightly ducked the question, but it is about china. it's also about america's al lyles in the region, saying to china, look, we all want you to rise. we want you to come to preeminence with great economic power, but you must do it responsibly. it sends a message to the allies of the united states, the likes of vietnam, indonesia, australia itself, but we're here to stay. there might be another great, big superpower emerging in the world, but we're not going anywhere. you can rely on us. >> it's interesting, isn't it? australia seems to become more and more significant. i know in the runup to this meeting, one american official was describing relations with down under as close to perfect. >> yes, at all levels, at the political level and at the personal level. julia gillard, the prime

minister, gets on very well with barack obama. they're the same age by about two months. yes, i think australia is quite flattered to be playing this role almost as powerbroker between china and the united states. in a sense, it's a victim of, but also a beneficiary of its geographic location, right here in the heart of the asia pacific region, an old ally of america, and now a thriving country doing great business with china. so, -- >> well, that's duncan kennedy there. let's move on now. a russian rocket carrying three astronauts has docked at the international space station. got the moment when the hatches were opened between the crew on the space station and those on the rocket. for the crew on the space station, they've been there for months. it should be said they're very pleased. the previous mission was with an -- was an unmanned cargo,

and that was in august. bbc's daniel sandford has more. >> the three-man crew in a tiny capsule blasting off on top of an enormous rocket and slowly making your way through orbit through this tiny little hatch that's going to be your route into the place you're going to live the next few months. but to sit on a rocket that's only a couple of months earlier, very, very similar design, had essentially crashed. the third rocket didn't fire, and the thing just fell down to earth. that must have been a nervous thing to do. however, brave you are, as an astronaut or cosmonaut. >> how long will the crew be up there for and when do the other lot come down? >> this newly arrived crew is going to be there until march. the people they just joined will be out there very quickly, in about six days' time, because they really overstayed their time and space. three more men will come up in december to bring the crew back up to six. but the people on earth there,

i was talking to them, not just people in mission control here on the outskirts of moscow, but also their families, very touching conversations between wives and husbands. of course, it was incredibly public, broadcast around the world as daughters and wives talked to their fathers and husbands, saying good luck, enjoy the trip, i'm glad you made it safely. >> and so are we. after decades of digging through english counties have been linked by a vast network of underground tunnels. cavers have just dug away at the natural passageways and connected up nearly 100 kilometers of cabins. >> is it solid? >> yeah. >> it's the breakthrough they've spent decades working for, and just look at the conditions. the moment these three were finally joined together underground. >> about half an hour ago we saw the light and now opened up

a whole -- we should be able to get through in about half an hour. y turned the camera now on to the dig, and you can see what's happening at the other end. >> congratulations. >> now, i went down the caving supersystem last year, and even though i'm obviously very brave, i tell you, it's an intimidating place to crawl around. >> can't quite believe i'm doing this. it's a tight space. >> it's dug out. >> it's not just the narrowness of the gap. to think all of this was under water once, so cave divers have explored places like this under water. can you imagine? >> back then, they only had 20 meters to dig through, but with crowbars, hammers, and bare

hands, it still took them more than a year. it's all down to a passion for exploration. how would you fancy squeezing into gaps like these for a hobby? this team of amateurs has unveiled the longest cave system in britain. one of the longest in the world. >> if you like that sort of thing, great fun, i'm sure. let me remind you, if you go to the website, bbc.com/news, you can get more on all our stories, but in particular, have a look at the coverage that we're offering now from syria. we've got reports of defectors from the country's armed forces attacking the headquarters of an air force intelligence base near damascus, and reports that the leader of this so-called free syrian army has now gone from turkey into syria. it's all on the website. >> funding was made possible by

the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, were developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources. lets use energy more efficiently. lets go.

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