>> 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. >> the rise and fall in china of an anti-corruption campaigner, sacked ads communist party boss. four days after the massacre of 16 afghan civilians, the american soldier accuse of the killings is flown out of the country to kuwait. investigators are trying to work out what caused the coach to crash in switzerland, killing 28 people. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- 8,000 dead and only the prospect of more to come. it's a year to the day since syria's uprising began. and in business, the united states and south korea open a new era of closer trade ties.

>> hello. chinese state media have announced the major sacking within the ranks of the ruling communist party. it says the party boss in the southwestern city of chingqing has been dismissed in a scandal. bo xilai has been tipped to replace later in the year on china's most powerful body, the standing pode, as martin patience reports. >> he's one of china's most high-profile politicians. bo xilai is comfortable in the limelight and had been tipped for a top position during this year's leadership change. he had a campaign against organized crime, when he was party chief. but since last month, there has been intense speculation over his future. his police chief, shown here on the right, apparently tried to defect at a u.s. consulate.

bo xilai's close associate under -- is not under investigation. it was this extraordinary scandal which now appears to have claimed bo xilai. on wednesday, premier wen took the highly unusual step of criticizing his colleague in public. >> the municipal party committee and the municipal government must reflect seriously of the one incident. >> bo xilai may have seen this coming. later this year, a new generation of leaders will start assuming power in china. bo xilai was expected to be among them. but with his career now over, he's become a casualty in a struggle at the very top of chinese politics. martin patience, bbc news, beijing. >> let's go over to beijing now.

the bbc's michael bristow is there, the beginning of a right royal fight to get the places on the top table. >> indeed, it does look like that. with chinese politics, it's often very difficult to tell what's going on, because most of what happens happens behind closed doors. chinese politicians don't come out and give press conferences and tell us exactly what they said in private meetings and tell us exactly how they're going to be sized, who the next leaders of the chinese communist party will be. that's supposed to be decided at the end of this year when the communist party holds a congress to decide on this reshuffling of top leaders. but it certainly looks as though the demotion or the replacing of bo xilai from chongqing, that a senior contender in this race to get to the high table of chinese politics has lost his battle essentially. so that's what it looks like from these latest developments.

>> was it fair to say he was a bit too close to the sun, a profile too good? >> after that went disastrously wrong, they changed, and they decided they liked people who were a little more anonymous, colorless, you might say. but bo xilai was far from that. he was perhaps china's most flamboyant politician. he liked the limelight. he gave interviews. china's parliament usually used to like the press. not so this year. he kept quite a low-profile at this parliamentary session, which is just closed. and perhaps it was such a flamboyant man that made many enemies and used the ince of one legion, mentioned in the report by martin patience, as an excuse to get rid of him. >> michael bristow, thanks very

much. military officials in pakistan say a swiss couple held hostage for eight months by the pakistani taliban have been released. the couple was abducted at gun point as they traveled through the province in southwestern pakistan. they're reported to have handed over to authorities in waziristan. the afghan man whose stolen vehicle burst into flames in helmand province has died from his burns. a u.s. military spokesman says there was no indication the man knew that the u.s. defense secretary, leon panetta, was arriving at the base. the afghan worked as a translator. he had attempted to ram the vehicle into a group of u.s. marines. the american soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians earlier this week has been flown out of afghanistan. he's been flown to kuwait. u.s. officials say legal proceedings against him will now go ahead outside

afghanistan. the victims, nine of them children, were shot in their homes in the early hours of sunday. i'm joined from our studio in kabul by a former member of afghanistan's parliament and now a political active -- activist. thank you very much for joining us. i just wonder what your reaction is to news that the soldier is now out of the country. >> well, i think it would be very helpful to address the public perception in this country and take the soldier to the crime scene or in the area the crime was perpetrated and hold the war crimes tribunal right there. this will go a long way in quelling a nation's frustration and narrow the gap that is widening every day between the afghan people, their government, and the coalition. >> you don't think that doing that might fan further the flames of antagonism and upset

a frustration. the response has been extraordinary, hasn't it? >> i think we have to remember one thing, that the people of this country think that if the u.s. and the allies came to afghanistan to protect their national interests and state of guard their civilians -- and safeguard their civilians, they also would like to see that justice is for all human beings, the same. lives of afghans with worth the same as the life of americans and brits and italians and germans and french. so, therefore, it would go a long way in removing that perception of conspiracies that exist in the east and the islamic world that lives are worth differently in the east and in the west, and this trial would have helped that, i'm sure. >> i think the message is fairly clear from the u.s. military. he's been taken out of afghanistan. he won't be going back there for trial. what sort of response is that going to evoke, do you think?

>> i think the afghan people are very resilient. they're very patient. and this will not leave a good taste in the mouth of the people who have been -- who haven't been seeing justice for a long time, for decades and decades, and injustices have been perpetrated by their own government and by the others who have come and gone from here. so this was also -- this will also be another straw on the back of the camel that they're walking with, and i think, in the long run, it will not be helpful. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us here on "bbc world news." well, president obama and the british prime minister, david cameron, have said that the international mission in the country, afghanistan, is making real progress. mr. cameron was in washington with the biggest state dinner there since president obama came to office. steve kingston sends this report from washington.

>> the eager hosts and their special dinner guests, the trappings of a white house bank question are reserved for a select few, and despite the formalities, david and samantha cameron seem increase going at ease in the company of the obamas. >> mr. george clooney. >> the guest list offered star power from both sides of the atlantic, actors, sporting heroes, entrepreneurs. all here to celebrate what the two governments are calling a partnership of the heart. >> in good times and in bad, he's just the kind of partner that you want at your side. i trust him. he says what he does, and he does what he says. i've seen his character. >> i'm proud of our social relationship and of britain's strong national bond with the united states of america. i've seen it in my bones.

there are three bones about barack that really stand out for me -- strength, moral authority, and wisdom. >> at the business end of the trip, they talked iran, syria, and afghanistan, but there's now broad agreement that afghan forces should take the lead combat role during next year ahead of a nato pullout by the end of 2014. the prime minister also raised the issue of extradition. he'd like to look again at how a much-criticized treaty with america is implemented so more cases can be heard in britain. but it's for images more than issues that this trip may be remembered. here, the camerons are at a center for children with special needs, three years after the death of their own severely disabled son. their strength as parents was praised by the president on a night his administration likens to a family gathering. it ended with toasts and tunes.

the white house echoing to british folk rock. the lavish policy of the last couple of days will have dispeled any doubts on the british side at to just how seriously their hopes take the transatlantic partnership from. here, david cameron is traveling on to new york, where later today he's expected to visit ground zero. steve kingston, bbc news, at the white house. >> ok, sally is here with another american link at least. the americans and the south koreans, they have -- well, we've gone from washington to washington agreeing with south korea on this free trade agreement. the flags are waving are great enthusiasm in south korea. >> well, there's mixed reaction to this news. i mean, this trade agreement has been a long time coming. it was first nailed down back in 2007 when both countries signed it. it was renegotiated three years later. today it actually takes effect. and what does it mean?

it means that 80% of goods traded between america and south korea, tariffs will be immediately lifted. so, for those trying to buy american goods in south korea today, they'll possibly find that they are a lot cheaper than they were, say, last week or prior to that. but those who are not happy about this at all are the farmers and small businesses, because they argue that although the big electronics makers, the big carmakers in south korea who export a lot to america, yes, they're going to win a lot. but the losers are agriculture and business, because they will get completely stamped out by american goods flooding their market. so, the competition will become a lot tougher to many in south korea. they argue, therefore, it's not such a great idea. but it's all happening now, so there's no holding back. >> sally, thank you very much indeed. thanks for watching "bbc world news." i'm david eades. still to come -- these 11 ,000-year-old skulls found, are they evidence of a new species?

george clooney has warned u.s. lawmakers of a humanitarian crisis in the volatile border area between sudan and south sudan. before he gave evidence, the u.s. senate foreign relations committee was shown a film which documented the actor's recent trip to south sudan. he secretly traveled across the border to the mountains in sudan, where his group apparently witnessed a rocket attack. >> people every single day of their lives have to deal with fear, not just of the future in terms of starving to death, but actually actively being killed. and that is -- that was what -- the majority of what we're here to do. i'm here to talk about the dangers of these people particularly, and the specifics are that the exact same people who did this in door fewer are the people that are doing this again. >> that's george clooney. much more on that story if you go to the website, including in-depth reports on the situation as it is at the

moment in sudan, bbc.com/news. now, the american tv network, hbo, has cancelled its lavish horseracing drama, "luck," after a third animal was injured and put down during production. the series, which stars dustin hoffman and nick nolte, looks at the seedy side of life in the u.s. horseracing industry, and it made its debut on american tv in january. the producers said that they had maintained the highest safety standards, but the animal rights group peta says that they were clearly inadequate. and the chairman of the english premier league, sir david richard, has apologized for using fifa and uefa of stealing the game from his country and deriding their qatari hosts on restrictions on selling alcohol. he then fell into a pool. he hurt his leg in the fall and says his comments were intended to be light-hearted. the premier league has

denounced his remarks. >> you're watching "bbc world news" with me, david eades. the headlines this hour -- one of china's best-known politicians, bo xilai, has been sacked as communist party boss in the city of chongqing. four days after the massacre of 16 afghan civilians, the american soldiers accused of those killings has been flown out of the country to could you kuwait. investigations are continuing in switzerland into the cause of the fatal bus crash on tuesday night, which left 28 people dead. we'll remind you, 22 of them were children. the victims were on their way back to two schools in belgium after their skiing holiday. we can get some more now from sierr nay switzerland, about 20 kilometers from the crash site itself. that's where many of the dead and injured were taken after the crash. our correspondent, imogen foulkes is there.

any latest detail you can give us about the investigation into how this all happened? >> well, we heard late yesterday from the swiss police that they have ruled out speeding as a factor, and they say the bus creant breaking the speed limit. they say the drivers were rested, so they are looking at three options. one would be sudden illness perhaps on the part of the driver, a heart attack or something like that. we know both drivers died. there's an autopsy being performed on the body of the driver who was at the wheel. the other two options, sudden driver error or something wrong with the vehicle. now, the bus has been taken away to a police hangar not far from here, and police investigators, crash investigators are looking at it very carefully. there's also apparently some cctv footage, so all of this will be looked at, but i think we're not going to get a firm answer about what actually --

why this actually happened today. we know what happened, the bus veered into an emergency lane and then crashed head on at high speed into the concrete tunnel wall at the end of that emergency lane. but what led to that catastrophic event a few moments beforehand, that is the matter -- that is subject to investigation, and i think we will wait some time for the results. >> right. imogen, in the more immediate situation, we've heard these dreadful stories, the families of those children who were on the bus still don't know in some cases whether or not their children are dead, or indeed, whether some of these bodies can be identified. what's the situation now? >> well, all 24 survivors, the injured children, have now been identified. the last two were late last night. these were two who were very badly injured, we assume not

conscious. don't forget, all the teachers on that bus died, so the process of identification has been very difficult. all 24 survivors have now been identified, and their parents informed. with the dead children, the process of identification is still going on. again, that might take a certain amount of time. this is a very, very bad crash, as i'm sure you know. these were 11 and 12-year-old children. they don't always carry identification papers on them, so, again, that's going to take some time. >> imogen, thanks very much indeed, with the latest from sierre. it's a full year since an uprising began in syria against president assad n. that time, 8,000 people have been killed, more than 200,000 have been forced to flee their homes. despite wide spread condemnation around the globe, the government there has continued its crackdown on dissent and shows little sign

of relenting. italy and saudi arabia have become the latest countries to withdraw their diplomats from damascus. we get this report from beirut. >> spring 2011, and the first mass demonstrations of the syrian uprising. a southern town is where it began. the target of people's anger, president assad, whose family has ruled this police state for more than 40 years. mass protest quickly spread and was met with force. this is the town of hama. the syrian leadership says it's facing a terrorist insurgency. the government blamed al qaeda for a number of bomb attacks in the capital. the opposition accused the authorities of staging the blast. arab league observers were sent

in to try and stop the violence. they couldn't. in the new year, government forces stepped up assaults against a free syria army. in the central city of homs, scene of some of the worst violence, rebel fighters, heavily outgunned, face weeks of bombardment. the government has been accused of carrying out massacres. the systematic killing and torture of men, women and children. again, the authorities have blamed terrorist gangs. syria is divided, but so is the international community. two attempts at a u.n. security council resolution to pressure the syrian leadership have failed because of russian and chinese objections. unlike in libya, there is little appetite for military intervention. kofi annan, the new international envoy to syria, visited damascus this week to

push forward a peace plan. some see him as a last chance to avoid an all-out civil war. jon donneson, bbc news, beirut. >> here in britain, and all around the world, papers have been published what's believed to be genuine emails believed to be sent by president assad and his wife in february. a short while ago, i asked jon about their significance. >> yeah, these are thousands of emails that the guardian newspaper in britain has got hold of from opposition groups who apparently hacked into the personal accounts. president, his wife, and some of his close circle. the guardian says it can't verify they're all true, but it seems to think at least some of them are. and politically, no great revelations about syrian strategy, and syria is taking advice from iran. that's no great surprise. but some pretty quirky stuff. you know, you've got the

president's wife ordering a fon did you e set from amazon, doing a lot of shopping in paris online, buying thousands of dollars worth of candlesticks, chandeliers, tables that she sort of thing. and then, president assad himself apparently sending around kind of jokey youtube videos depicting the situation in homs in a kind of cartoon-like way with toy cars and biscuits to depict the siege there. so, certainly the sort of stuff that a lot of syrians are going to find pretty upsetting. >> jon donnison there. right, we're going to get some sport now. andrew lindsey joins me on the morning after the night before, andrew, the european champions league. chelsea seemed to have found a bit of form again. >> they certainly did. not that many people gave them too much of a hope after losing the first leg of the european champions league 3-1. last night they were coached by a different man. the players seemed different

men. it is fair to point out it was a different stadium, chelsea being the home site. this was a night on which the old guard not only stood firm, but grabbed some glory. didier set the tone for that, his goal gave them some hope. another veteran, john terry, the captain, he gave a stirring speech ahead of the game, and 98 mental he lasted last night. that's three weeks after a serious knee injury. and napoli got one back after a lovely volley. but chelsea did not crumble. frank leveled it, and that meant extra time. the defender won the tie. these are the same players who are blamed by some for getting the last manager sacked this month after only eight months in charge. well, they came good, very temporary replacement. >> i think i support this to win the game as well, and, you know, we just tried to go back to basics, tried to be solid, not concede goals, and we

always complement that with the quality we have in the team. we think we can score, and every win will increase the confidence of the team. >> well, it's the big boys who really are moving into the final stages now. real madrid there? >> yeah, real madrid through as well. that's expected after their away goal at moscow, a 5-2 aggregate win for them. they are now second favorites, old nemesis and reigning european kings, barcelona, fancied strongly by munich, chelsea, milan, marseilles, and the outsiders make up the quarterfinal draw. we await that draw, which is friday, with great interest. >> andrew, thanks very much indeed. researchers have discovered human skulls and bones from southern china dating back more than 11,000 years, and it's a people that look rather different to us. >> he lived more than 11,000

years ago, and some scientists think that his kind might be a completely new species of human that evolved in asia. their skulls and other bones were found in the caves of southern china. they should look like modern human skulls, but they don't. >> this skull is 100,000 years ago old. you can see it's got primitive features, like this high brow ridge. this one from china is just 30,000 years old, and you can see it looks more modern. the new discoveries from china date from just 11,000 years ago, so you'd expect them to look even more modern, but instead, they look more primitive. they look more like this than this. >> this is a skull from -- >> the researcher who the discovery say this is a new species, but scientists at the natural history museum in london believe they have too many features that are similar to ours to be considered a

separate species. >> intriguing stuff. bbc.com/news for more. >> 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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