>> 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. >> activists in syria say there's been another gruesome massacre in the city of homs. villagers in afghanistan demand an explanation as to how an american soldier was able to shoot dead 16 people in their homes. the financial chief meet to sign off on greece's second bailout, the focus shifts to other troubled economies. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. also in this program -- black children in south africa to private schools as the state school system is widely seen as failing. and tiger woods limps out of his latest golf tournament, raising doubts as to whether he'll make the masters. >> activists in syria say there's been another gruesome

massacre. the bodies of women and children have been found in the city of homs. some reports are suggesting that up to 47 people might have been killed. the bbc has received pictures, but they are too distressing to show. the country's state television has blamed armed terrorist gangs for the killings. the bbc's middle east correspondent is on the line now from beirut. john, details still coming in on this. >> destays still coming in, and as ever, difficult to verify, with particular regarding the numbers. some opposition activists saying up to 47 killed, others saying at least 12. i've looked at some of the video footage that's been released, and it makes a pretty grim viewing. in one video, at least 11 bodies i counted laid out on the floor covered in blood, concluding at least four young children. opposition groups are saying that the dead were mostly women and children, some of them are

their throat slit. >> yes, just looking at one statement giving details as to how people had been killed, people might be surprised that this is still going on in homs. >> that's right. of course, homs was the focus of a prolonged bombardment by syrian government forces, fighting opposition fighters from the free syria army for a number of weeks. but in the last few days, fresh reports of fighting there. i should say that the syrian government is acknowledging these killings happened, but they said it was carried out by armed terrorist gangs. it said the videos had been released in an evident to discredit the government. all this comes a day after the international peace envoy, kofi aman, was in damascus meeting president assad to push for an immediate cease-fire. well, that seems to have no

sign of happening anytime soon. >> ok, john, thanks very much indeed. well, let's go live now to -- sorry, we're not going to take that, but we are expecting a statement possibly on syria from one of the foreign ministers. we will get that if we get that. let's go to afghanistan. the taliban has vowed revenge for the deaths of 16 people killed by a rogue u.s. soldier in afghanistan. president obama has described the killings in kandahar as shocking and tragic. he's promising a thorough investigation into what happened. >> grief and anger at an atrocity committed by an american soldier who was there to protect them. as afghans covered the bodies of civilians, in washington, president obama sought to calm a volatile situation. he phoned president karzai to extend his condolences for what he called a tragic and shocking incident and backed an

investigation the pentagon said was already underway. >> this was an individual acting alone, not with authority. we also have the individual, the suspect, in custody, u.s. custody, and he's being interrogated by army investigators as we speak. >> the suspect has been described as a 38-year-old married man with children. this was his first deployment to afghanistan, but he had previously served three tours in iraq. while that will raise questions itself, the more urgent issue is how to stem public outrage among the afghan people. last month, there were angry and fatal protests after u.s. troops accidentally burned copies of the quran. tensions had subsided. but these murders threatened to inflame them once again and to derail progress made in the negotiations on the future of afghanistan. americans, too, are frustrated. the latest polls suggest that

60% believe the war has not been worth fighting. this incident is likely to intensify support for the withdrawal of combat troops as early as possible, even before the deadline set for 2014. jane little, bbc news, washington. >> we're going to go back to our top story now, an event in syria. we're going to speak to an activist and member of the syrian national council. he was in homs until last week, but is now in jetta. he joined us now via skype. have you heard anything about these latest reports of what looked like a terrible killing of a number of people. we're still not clear on the numbers. the government is blaming the opposition. what are your thoughts on hearing another set of very bad news from homs? >> yesterday we woke up in the morning with very bad news from

homs. my friends call me from homs, it's now more than 3,000 family , and massacres and massacres, they burn the bodies. they killed the kids more times . the kids have been killed by a regime last night. this situation in a area -- also, they are robbing the women. there is more than 25 women get robbing last night. >> is it at all surprising that this is still going on now? there's little those civilians can do to protect themselves, is there? >> actually most are in that

area and going to another area, but it's on that area. it looks like the same situation happened in baba amr. they are trying to -- then they go inside and killing the family who will stay inside this area. they want to strike to control -- they are trying to control the area the same like they did. >> ok. thanks very much indeed for jining us there from jetta. more top stories this hour -- officials in turkey say 14 construction workers have been killed in a fire in istanbul. the victims are saying a faulty heater is thought to be to blame. the french president has threatened to pull over the border zone. speaking at a rally where he

was campaigning, he warned france could withdraw from the agreement within a year. demands on the world's water supplies are being so badly strained that a radical rethink is needed on how to cope. growing demand is the demooned of rising population and climate change, according to the report. >> sally is here. greece, the money is almost in the bag. >> yes, almost. today they meet in brussels, eurozone finance ministers. they will rubber stamp that, 130 billion euro bailout that was agreed sometime ago, but they had to wait for the private sector involvement to be properly formalized. that would be those private lenders to greece to take a huge writedown. so they did agree to that on friday. but the question is now, now

that greece is fenced for the time being, what next? what needs to be tackled next? many are looking to spain and portugal as the economies that look like they're in the most need. and then the question is, what is there in terms of prevention, in terms of the bailout funds? there are possible discussions about the size of the bailout fund as well, which is a very controversial issue, because germany has been one of the main elements that said we are not putting more money into the time being. it's quite an interesting situation. >> absolutely. interesting questioning going on later in iceland, if you want that. >> right. >> back in 2008, three of the biggest banks in iceland collapsed in spectacular fashion, causing mayhem. the head of those banks will be questioned today as part of the trial of the former prime minister of iceland. this is all happening in reykjavik today. and basically, he is on trial for his negligence as part of the collapse of the icelandic

economy. he said the whole thing is preposterous and pleading not guilty to charges of gross negligence. the case continues. and we are following that as well. very interesting. >> absolutely. thanks very much indeed. now, in south africa, almost 20 years after the end of apartheid, the state education system is so poor that 5,000 children, most of them black, are switching to private schools each year. the country has seen a huge rise in low-cost independent schools in response to the failing state sector. our south african correspondent reports from the eastern cape. >> a low-cost private school in the eastern cape, this is the new face of education in south africa. most of the children are black and good results and discipline are top priorities. but far from being the country's elite, their families are scraping together the $1,000 a year in fees, let down, they say, by state

schools. meet this 17-year-old and his aunt. his parents dead, she now cares for him. swapping her nice flat for a house in a poor township in order to send him to private school. she's among a growing number of adults worried that strikes and insecurity are undermining state schools. >> the majority of the children , there are others. >> another day, another class. about half a million youngsters now flocking to schools like these, a dramatic response in a country where half of all youngsters leave without a secondary certificate. not all private schools are being established right across south africa. some 5,000 children are making the switch every year, and yet the irony is many of their parents are teachers struggling

state schools. this is the principal of a secondary school, still in the eastern cape, home of some of the best minds in south african history. but despite his best efforts, teachers struggle with appalling conditions at the school. >> this is a typical example of what we have in this school. >> what impact does the poor infrastructure have on the school? >> the poor infrastructure in the school. >> absenteeism and staff shortages are faced by many state schools. the government says 80% of them are failing, its promised changed. nearly two decades after the end of apartheid, corruption and neglect are taking their toll on the country's

classroom, turning the poorest children under an underclass, as more black families opt for private education instead. karen allen, bbc news, eastern cape. >> you're watching "bbc world news." still to come -- she had no on the part of points at home, -- she had no opponents at home, so a young boxer is training for the olympics. the annual celebration of the commonwealth nation gets underway later today. queen elizabeth and other members of the royal family are due to go to a religious service at westminster abbey here in london, along with thousands of schoolchildren to mark the occasion. such is the importance of the commonwealth and its realms to the queen that she and prince phillip visited australia last year in spite of how grueling such a trip can be. for as long as she's been monarch, elizabeth ii has also been the head of the commonwealth. she's been described as the

glue who holds it all together. >> to end my visit here -- >> the queen's annual speech marking commonwealth day is one of only two that she makes without ministerial advice. the other is her christmas day broadcast. >> she is not just our queen, she's the queen of commonwealth. it's important to her, her father very much saw himself as king of empire. she sees herself as the queen of commonwealth, and this is her opportunity to address the whole commonwealth in her diamond jubilee year. >> today she will speak of connecting cultures, how technology has created windows on the world which show that, however outward appearances may be, we share a great deal in common. to support the scene, a special song is being composed, the idea being that it can be played or sung in any number of ways anywhere in the commonwealth. this year's observance at westminster abbey will mark the start of the commonwealth celebration of the queen's

diamond jubilee. but it also comes just a week after jamaica's prime minister, who received prince harry on a jubilee tour, pledged to drop the queen as head of state and make the caribbean island a fully-fledged republic. >> this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. the headlines -- opposition activists in syria say they have evidence of massacres of adults and children in the city of homs. and villagers in afghanistan demand to know how an american soldier was able to shoot dead 16 people in their own homes. now, just more on our news today. we're joined by the british shadow foreign secretary, douglas alexander, who's in studio for us.

i just wanted to tell you something that we're just getting in from kabul, which is the afghan parliament has passed a resolution today in protest of the killings in afghanistan, and the trial of the american soldier concerned in an afghan court. do you think that is something that should now happen? because what has happened is hugely damaging to the western president in afghanistan. >> this was a truly appalling act, and my thoughts are with the loved ones of those who were killed at the weekend. it's important also to recognize that this terrible act happened completely without the american chain chain of command. it was, as we understand it, a lone individual. given that, i think it is correct that the individual seeks justice, whether that be through an american military court or through other systems, i really wouldn't feel able to comment at this stage. but i would understand the

basis on which the afghan parliament expresses its outrage of what was a truly terrible act. >> the fact that this has been allowed to happen, a series of events that are seen as hugely inflammatory, including the burning of the quran, doesn't it give a message that after so many years of presence in afghanistan that there is not enough care for the sensibilities and the people of that country? >> i'm not sure that you can draw that conclusion from what was a senseless act of one individual, appalling of how his actions have turned out to be. i think the broader point is this -- everything points towards the need for a negotiated settlement in afghanistan. the fact is the taliban have no office in qatar. i sincerely hope when the british prime minister sits down with the american president tomorrow, afghanistan will literally be at the top of the agenda. because our own commanders on the ground tell us that they can't kill or capture their way out of an industrial-scale

insurgency. what we need to see is an internal political settlement within afghanistan with the tribes in that settlement, but al qaeda kept out. and secondly, a security apparatus that is doable, so once again in the future, afghanistan doesn't just threaten its own security, but the security of the international community. >> and yet, it was your government that went into afghanistan with the u.s. in the first place. surely this is possibly a turning point now. the afghan people will want all western forces out. >> well, we went in with more than a 40-country coalition. let's remember why. it was because of the terrible atrocity of the twin incident that the international community felt compeled to act. the reason we acted is to prevent afghanistan being the basis for al qaeda launching terrorist acts against the united kingdom, united states, and other western countries. but you're right, after 10 years of struggle and

sacrifice, it is important that we get a solution. it is not in anybody's interest, not in the afghan people's interest or the international community's interest that we see a reversion back to either civil war or to a basis for al qaeda operating in the future. that's why i think in the narrow window between now and the transition of nato forces out of their combat operations by the end of 2014 that there is an unsensing diplomatic effort on the scale of why other major initiatives like we've seen in the past, because we need to draw in the regional partners, countries that we found it difficult to work with in the past, like iran or indeed like pakistan. but they have an interest in a settlement and we also need to see one within the country. that's why i think there needs to be a renewed push, and i hope that is the initiative taken by the president and prime minister tomorrow. >> just ask you about an event

-- we've had, again, very grim news from homs, reports of the killings of women and children with terrible footage coming out of the country. again, do you think that the west is doing enough that the british government is doing enough to try to bring some sort of diplomatic resolution to that? >> well, it's not the british government, it is the russian government who has been supported by the chinese. there is a meeting of the security council today in new york. i very much hope that the russians will reconsider their position. there were some words from the foreign minister over the weekend that gave some faint hope of change. i hope that that turns out to be true when the security council meets today. i hope that in the discussions between kofi annan and the turkish government that are due to take place tomorrow, we see further progress. the level of suffering and slaughter that we're witnessing in syria is appalling. it is for the international community to try and find the consensus that has so far eluded that community. >> douglas alexander, thanks for joining us.

let's catch up now with some of the sport. amelia harris is in our sport center. we're starting with golf, another bad day for tiger woods. >> i know, geta. thanks very much indeed. he had to withdraw from the w.g.c. cadillac championship in miami on the 12th hole. the main concern, of course, is that the first major of the year, the masters, gets underway in less than four weeks' time. woods, a four-time winner at the masters, keen to continue with this fine form that he has been displaying over the last few months. but a good day for justin rose, the first european to win the w.g.c. cadillac championship. he won by a single stroke over the overnight leader, bubba watson. he's risen there in the world to number seven now, which is, of course, boosted his confidence hugely with that

masters in augusta, georgia, just around the corner. so a very content justin rose. for tiger woods, it's going to be an appointment with the physician yotherapist. >> what about the paraolympics? >> a survey being done on behalf of the bbc. 10,000 people across the world showed the pair olympics and olympics stay separate or joined together and integrated as one. now, if we look at some of the results that came in from across the world, chile, france, and spain, certainly very open to this happening. a lot more finally balanced than china and the u.s.a. arguably most successful olympic nations, saying a fairly resounding no to that. now, some olympians and paraolympian that is we spoke to also were saying that, no, the paraolympics should stay as its sben on it, because that's

where their real identity is. certainly some of the swimmers felt it may become a little tiresome for the spectators to watch events that will be so much longer than they'd be sort of ready to sign up for. so, all in all, fairly equally divided across the survey, 47% saying that they should be integrated, 43% against it. back to you. >> amelia, thanks very much. brand-new gleaming sport center there. more on sports before we go, because people tried to get to the london olympics. there's a teenager hoping to compete in the women's boxing tournament representing afghanistan. she's been at a training camp in wales for the last fortnight. michael buchanan went to meet her. >> before the glory, the grind. over the past fortnight, this 17-year-old girl has spent 12 hours each day pursuing her dream of representing afghanistan at the olympic games.

the diminutive fly weight has no opponents she can fight back home, so she's traveled to cardiff to gain valuable skills. >> my classmate faces a joke i do not want to sit next to her, i'm scared that she might punch me. >> this is where she usually trains, at a stadium once used by the taliban to carry out public executions. afghanistan may have changed since those dark days, though not completely. >> a man with a long beard came to the office and said to the coach, you must not train girls , they even called my father to threaten him. however, my father is happy that i practice boxing. >> today she can join boxers from around the world at a training camp in cardiff university. for one of her coaches, the progress she's making is remarkable. >> i love working with her. she's a very smart person, and that makes her a smart boxer. i love her story, and i love

the things that she brings to the sport as a boxer. i believe that already people from afghanistan should be proud of the achievements that she's made. >> this training camp makes it more likely that she will qualify for the olympics, but there are no guarantees. even if she doesn't make it, she believes that her efforts are proven that women can be the equal of men in afghanistan. many afghan girls are married by the time they reach her age, more concerned with parenthood than punching power. but this determined teenager has other aspirations, and not just for herself. >> i think i must make progress in sport, i will not marry soon. afghan girls should show the people of the world that we can progress, that women can advance as well. >> her boxing hero is mike tyson. she admires her punching power,

his ability to reach the top against the odds. >> 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 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?

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