chief has said that bashar al- assad's reign of terror will come to an end. -- she has said that bashar al- assad's reign of terror will come to an end. making her case there for a resolution condemning syria and calling for a transfer of power. the resolution is being backed by the arab league and calling for a national unity government to be established. russia has already voiced its opposition. that brings today's show to a close. thank you for watching. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range ofwhat can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.

. >> syria's president, bashar al-assad, the man behind the crackdown. >> those who believed in president bashar al-asd lost all their faith when the first bullet was fired at a civilian. >> this is how the assads, both father and son, deal with domestic threats. >> can this regime stop today's revolution? >> there's no question, at this point, that the syrian government thinks it's won. >> these two stories on this special edition of frontine. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. and by reva and david logan. committed to investigative journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation. dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund with a grant from millicent bell and the millicent and euge bel foundation. additional funding for fro

. >> the arab league has urged the plan for bashar al-assad to stand down. rebels who have defected from the syrian army have taken control of a suburb of damascus. our middle east editor reports. >> look at central damascus and you might think this city is calm. but when night falls, heads for the suburbs, only 15 minutes' drive away. easy.g an isn't at the candidate -- at the end is a check point. >> army defectors across the country are fighting bashar al- assad's military. >> locals say they have kept the president's men out for the last two weeks. their weapons cannot stop an assault, but could make it costly for the region's forces to stay too long. the president says there aren't -- they are an armed gang. they say they are protecting the people. >> pass this on to the world, our revolution is peaceful. we do not attack the regime. they attack us. >> we are in control here. syria is ours and we will win. the army and security forces keep trying to get into here, but we defeat them. >> there are power cuts and fuel shortages. the nights are very cold.

and it calls on the syrian president, bashar al-assad, to delegate power to a deputy to oversee the process. we have been here before. last october, russia and china vetoed a resolution condemning bashar al-assad. this time around, russia says it cannot support any call for the syrian president to give up power. western diplomats insist the council could not stay silent as the situation deteriorates. >> i think we are at a critical point where the violence is escalating, and indeed, with each passing day it seems more and more civilians are being killed and more and more people are being killed. and that is a grave concern. >> pressure for international action is indeed mounting on the ground, with a sharp escalation in the conflict. in recent days, the violence and become so bad the arab league says it was forced to suspend its monitoring mission. furthermore, the west and the arabs are bringing in their big guns to weaken russian opposition. the head of the arab league and the prime minister of catarrh will address the council and western foreign ministers will be here to show she poured

president bashar al assad to step aside to. hand over his power to his deputy while a unity transitional government is formed interesting to note the fact that what we've heard mentioned from the prime minister of qatar is something that russia has been advocating for months russia has been calling for i national dialogue for both sides in syria to come together and talk about the conflict but we do know that u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is as united nations as are her british and french counterparts clearly you see a western kind of force opposition force moving forward trying to push for this resolution to be adopted within the security council and russia has said that you will not subscribe to any kind of campaign that organizes governments of other countries here's a little bit about what the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said he's going to do. we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis sentiment we should something different with it it's not a part of russians or a policy

we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crunch is something that we should something different with it's not a part of russia or a policy to ask leaders to. change is not. the decision must be solely syria only series of groups of syrians. to deal the demands for him to. call in the air force. we've seen already on the security council will never approve this. at this point russia has made its position it's clear it is basically saying that it does not subscribe to a campaign of overthrowing governments and sovereign countries but russia does say it is could made it to finding a solution a peaceful solution in syria but it is has to be a solution that includes all the people of syria. yes merino we know this syrian who has been speaking so did he i have to say that. the syrian ambassador to the united nations did have a stern to address the security council and he did say in part that the arab league representatives are neglecting to. talk about. the fact that there are reports also does include that there are armed groups fighting against the syrian governm

what do you think should happen to bashar al-assad? >> he has to be killed. >> he kills everybody. >> he kills our people. he has to be killed. the young men were full of bravado. the older ones talked about the victory, but they were more conscious of the regime's strength. do you want help from abroad? >> a bit of intervention is good. we are going to win, whether there is intervention from the outside or not. >> their enemy, the president, also has strong supporters who will fight for him. four protesters across the country, there is no turning back. >> this is all bad news for president bashar al-assad. this city in the hands of the people and defended by men who have defected from his army. the question is how much firepower the president has it -- has at his disposal and whether he chooses to use it here to regain control of these streets. they said it was getting dangerous and they hustled us out. activists said the security forces were back hours later, arresting more people. >> you have news of political conflict in papua new

first time a foreign reporter has been killed in syria since the uprising began in march this is bashar al assad has spoken to supporters in damascus for the second time in twenty four hours reiterating his dismissal of calls to step down journalist lizzie feelin has the latest now from the syrian capital. some reports the figures that hundreds of thousands of people who attended at least many tens of thousands of people there and of course. addressed the crowd amongst the people there was a huge forward of that was the president in his speech he mentioned that he very much wanted to be amongst the people and there were many young people that there was a large mix of different ethnic religious backgrounds of course. syrian government has been accused by media organizations and others being unfair regime because it is led by. a religious minority inside syria. and today there were many different religious and ethnic groups of people represented including so means kristie is. many different people so that there was really an impressive actually show of unity amongst the syrian people from all diff

we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis is something that we should something different with but it's not a part of russia's foreign policy to ask leaders to regime change is not. the decision must be solely syria only series of groups of syrians must got to discuss using tables and hammer out a deal if the demand is for him to. call in the air force. we've seen it already and the security council will never approve it i guarantee it . as more details become available on this story we will keep our viewers updated. syria's opposition made a chilling pledge to the country's leader they vowed that president bashar al assad and his family would be killed just like libyan leader colonel gadhafi clashes between government forces and rebel fighters a raging in the outskirts of the capital and. in damascus reports the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble libya mom too. you've got a civil conflict on your houses just seeming to ramp up evidence really by the violence has broken out for the past couple of days between the two sides now that's not being hou

we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis something that we should do something different it's not a part of russia's foreign policy to ask the leaders to step down regime change is not. the decision must be solely syrian only syrians groups of syrians must gather at the negotiating table and hammer and to deal with if the demand is for him to go and he doesn't then what's next calling the air force bombing we've seen that already on the security council will never approve this i guarantee it. as more details become available on this story we will keep our viewers updated. well the debate on syria at the u.n. most powerful body is shuttle to start at seven pm g.m.t. and we'll be bringing you the highlights of the meeting live right here on our t.v. series opposition who have made a chilling pledge to the country's leader they have veld president bashar al assad and his family will be killed like libyan leader kohl could deathy saying he's lost the chance of a peaceful next it clashes between government forces and rebel fighters a raging on the outskirts

syria has criticised an arab league call for bashar al assad to give up the presidency ask us criticize the pill as an attack on its national sovereignty was something else a month of its observer mission to the country he said all sides of the syrian conflict must lay down arms or to serve first has more from the syrian capital the arab league could president bashar al assad to step down and to hand power his deputy and they also called for the formation of a national unity government and that would be a really early parliamentary and presidential elections now those calls have no been no.

we got used to that. >> what do you think about bashar al-assad? >> something i cannot tell. do not ask me about the president. did not ask me about him. >> it feels exhausted and despairing. the violence that is part of the uprising, protesters say, is a backlash against some any civilian deaths. -- so many civilian deaths. >> there was a terrible a example of what could go wrong. in lebanon, the country was torn apart by civil war. the big fear is that something like that could happen here. the challenge now? find a way to stop the slide into a future no one wants. >> we are live from singapore and london. still to come, the search continues in the wreckage of the costa concordia. >> let's there be light. and the skies over britain, ever glimpse of one of nature's greatest displays. politicians in the past have been guilty of allowing newspaper owners and editors to have too much influence. we listened to the exchanges. >> he has been chairman of the bbc trust for nearly a year now. back in the 1980's, he was the conservative party chairman. and the 1990's, he was britain's

to safety, the children of syria -- are they being deliberately targeted by the government of bashar al-assad? digging deep in antarctica. a group of scientistsbls g iamin the cold, in hopes of finding new life forms miles beneath the surface. welcome to our viewers around the world. the owners of the luxury cruise liner wrecked off the italian coast now blame their own captain for the disaster. they say he made an unauthorized deviation to the official course that took him to close to shore, with deadly results. a short time ago, the italian coast guard increase the number of people still missing to 29. as we begin, matthew price has the latest. >> today, as the wind whipped the waves, the vast bulk of the costa concordia began to shift in the shallow waters. it's no ship more under the sea. the abandoned -- they abandoned it rescue efforts for a few hours. rescuers were back on board, struck -- striding up the sloping deck, trying to find survivors. it is the divers who have the most dangerous task. the water temperature is not the problem. visibility is. in places inside the ship, it is mi

says 5,000 people have died, mostly protesters, killed by forces loyal to bashar al-assad. for 40 years, the assad family has held syria in an iron grip. assad has kept most foreign journalists out. we applied for visas six months ago, and only today, elizabeth palmer was finally granted official access. she saw only what the government wanted her to see, but there was plenty of violence up close. >> reporter: the group of western journalists were midway through their government-supervised tour of homes when the area came under fire. one french journalist was killed. so were eight syrians, ordinary residents of this middle class neighborhood. just 20 minutes earlier, we'd been on the same street to hear from the people who say the threat of snipers and kidnapping is constant. we weren't allowed out of the sight of our minders but could see from the bus window it is eerily quiet. armed opposition groups opposed to the regime now control whole neighborhoods which are off limits toal government vehicles. our bus driver didn't dare drive across town. he went around it. to the n

. >> this is only the fourth time bashar al-assad has spoken to the people like this since last march. might he showed a hint of compromise? would there be a way forward out of the conflict? he seemed relaxed enough when he came onto the stage, almost like a candidate for election. people are scared that the demonstrations will end in a violent breakup of the country. most of the cities whose names are on the wall behind him have seen demonstrations. but there was to be no compromise. >> our priority now is to regain security which our country has enjoyed for decades. this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron fist. there will be no leniency for those who are using weapons to kill our civilians. >> and yes, the demonstrations continue today, the we have not been able to verify these pictures. according to the opposition, 35 people were killed today alone. arab league observers currently inside syria watched president bashar al-assad's speech as carefully as anyone. he was not complimentary about their mission. quite the arab league is just a reflection of the ara

. ♪ >> syrian president bashar al- assad has planned -- blamed for rent agitators for anti- governmenttest. the country's largest opposition group, the syrian national council, called the speech incitement to violence that could push the country closer to civil war. assad said the unrest would only come to an end when the flow of funds and weapons from abroad stops. >> there was sustained of saw -- applause as bashar al-assad took the stage at the university of the damascus. it was one of his few appearances since the uprising started in march last year. he blamed syria's problems on outside forces. >> this conspiracy of foreign powers is obvious to everyone. everyone of us understand what they planned. it is editorial at the syrian people. the only people who do not know this have their eyes and ears closed. >> assad claimed there were no orders to shoot anti-regime protesters. not true, say dozens of army and secret service deserters that the u.n. says that, on average, 40 people a day are being shot dead by government forces in syria. these images purports to show regime troops with

the arab league called president bashar al assad to step down and to hand power his deputy they also called for the formation of a national unity government and. early parliamentary and presidential elections now those calls have been vehemently rejected by the syrian government here flagrant interference with the internal affairs really the sense here from damascus is that the government here are working on their own reforms they want the arab league mission to focus on their job of course the problem is you've got countries in the arab league like saudi arabia like qatar now seeing the sense that they're reaching democracy to syria when of course they themselves don't have democracy. russia's stance is once again that this should be seeking resolution with our foreign intervention i've actually spoken to the national coordinator council which is the opposition within the country they welcomed the maven again reiterated their felt that as long as there is no move towards foreign military intervention that they are very pleased with the response from the arab league mission because y

when you go to the news interview with him we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis sentiment we said something different but it's not a part of russia's foreign policy to ask leaders to step down regime change is not our job the decision must be solely syrian only syrians all groups of syrians must gather at the negotiating table and hammer out a deal with the girl if the demand is for him to go and he doesn't know what's next we're calling the air force bombing we've seen that already and the security council will never approve this but i guarantee it. hard part certainly this is a kick the can certainly this is a concerning to violence that have been happening as we've seen this this sort of rhetoric coming from the opposition body itself now it's going to be very interesting to see how this develops because watch how the opposition have responded how they feel they have increasing backing from the west as we've said these calls very very aggressive in a very far cry from what was originally the protesters point which is to call for democracy and to cal

roundup of the week's top stories of the arab league calls on syrian president bashar al assad to surrender some of his powers to his vice president and form a national unity government with the opposition. early results show croatia has voted in favor of joining the european union this comes as yet another member of the financially stricken union romania rises up against its government's anti austerity measures. and another stories that shape this week's tension over iran's nuclear program reaches new highs as the new debates an oil embargo when the u.s. stops its military presence in the region. sports news is next with kate. and i welcome to the sports and here's what's coming up. easy does it rough on the dog want your federal coast into the quarter finals of the australian open. while different strokes kim clijsters comes back from the brink while carline he defines a second set fightback to reach the last eight. and showtime east meets west once again in the annual all star extravaganza in front of a sellout arena in the latvian capital of riga. to test a tennis and second seed rough

syria's president bashar al assad's issued an amnesty for crimes committed during the ongoing anti-government uprising in the country including army defectors who turned themselves in before the end of the month independent journalist lizzy feel and told r.t. that assad submitting to foreign pressure despite it being dangerous for the balance in the country. it's being received in a kind of mixed way by the syrian syrian people of course these people they were by no means just peaceful protesters according to the syrian government they were in fact. they were people who had set things on fire destroyed many government buildings and these kinds of things the reaction is very much seen as though the president is being very generous he is releasing more people despite that the situation in some parts of the country is still very extremely tense there are concerns among some sections of the syrian population that amongst the many people who are being released there will be some criminal elements who will slip through the net people understand that the president is under a lot of pressure especial

president bashar al assad and his family will be killed like libyan leader colonel gadhafi saying he's lost the chance for a peaceful exit fierce battles between government forces and rebel fighters are raging on the outskirts of the capital and authorities sara for reports in damascus the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble libya mark two. it got a civil conflict on your houses just seeming to ramp up all the tidal settlements like the ones that have been made by one of the a senior position figures in the syrian national council and not going to help the situation at all he said that the assad and his family would be killed in syria that they would be killed like it does say that they left no room for a peaceful solution now i mean that's going to be huge blow to the opposition remember the opposition in this country recently started this movement calling for a peaceful solution be seen over the ten months the calls for reform change the calls for the president to step down and now it's very common on the streets that many of these protesters to hear the protesters themselves ca

serious president bashar al assad has issued an amnesty for crimes committed during the ongoing and to government uprising in the country according to the official state news agency it will cover a peaceful protesters also those who carried on licensed weapons and army defectors who turned themselves in before the end of the month so meanwhile you want to ban ki moon has demanded that the regime stops the crackdown on protesters with reports suggesting twenty seven were killed on sunday this comes as the ruler of capital has backed military intervention into the country if it's the only option to end the bloodshed and he has become the fast arab leader to open the door such a step and the respect and middle east research at. the university said this exposes the double standards of the strict. this is just really unbelievable to hear this is especially considering that today. mir is actually in sri lanka another country whose government violently oppressed its people and there was no word not a peep from the international media from the international politicians and nor from the securit

the week's top stories in today's headlines the arab league calls on syrian president bashar al assad to surrender some of this powers to his vice president and form a national unity government with the opposition this comes as the league extends its observer mission despite a lack of progress in ending almost a year of violence. early results show pro way she has voted in favor of joining the european union as comes as yet another member of the financially stricken union rumania rises up against its governments and certain measures. and other stories that this week tension over iran's nuclear program reaches new highs as the e.u. debates in the oil embargo and the u.s. ups its military presence in the region. thanks for being with us broadcasting to you live from the heart of moscow seven o'clock here the arab league is demanding a series of reforms in so. to stabilize the country in the wake of almost a year of violent uprising has called it all on president assad to cede some of his powers to the vice president as well as work towards the formation of a national unity government ar

after the president delivered his first public address since june dismissing pressure to resign bashar al assad claims he still has the people support in leading the fight against what he's called foreign funded terrorism assad's promise to crush mercenaries and saboteurs with an iron fist saying they don't represent the syrian people. no orders were ever given to peaceful protesters retore to his commitment to democratic reform he said a referendum on a new constitution will take place by march the president also slammed the arab league which suspended syria's membership in november believes observers are currently overseeing the implementation of a peace plan eleven members of the team received minor injuries in an attack by protesters on monday moscow stresses the league should monitor the activity of all sides in the conflict let's get some reaction now from political analysts. thank you very much indeed for being with us sat has denied there's a crackdown on peaceful protesters so what are we supposed to make of the figures the un's giving more than five thousand civilians killed in the co

but first syria's president bashar al assad has issued an amnesty for crimes committed during the ongoing anti government uprising in the country according to the official state news agency it will pardon peaceful protesters those who carried unlicensed weapons and army defectors who turned themselves in before the end of the month meanwhile pressure on assad has been growing this week the ruler of qatar suggested a military intervention should and the rest in syria been calling for khalifa all to honey has become the first arab leader to openly endorse military action qatar a monarchy itself is an ally of the us and a strong advocate of regime change across the arab region and international affairs consultant told r.t. that arab league countries lecturing syria on democracy are being hypocritical. it is clearly not what you would call a democratic leader but within the hour context he should be not the worst one on the country and what data to me is doing i mean who does the arab league represent bahrain the united arab emirates how do you arabia you. do it there are few do monarchies an

french journalist have reportedly been killed by security forces across syria on wednesday this is bashar al assad has spoken to supporters in damascus for the second time in twenty four hours reiterating his dismissal of calls to step down journalist lucy feel and has the latest from the syrian capital. some reports have put the figures that hundreds of thousands of people who attended at least many tens of thousands of people that course. addressed the crowd amongst the people there was a huge jump forward of the people towards the president in his speech he mentioned that he very much wanted to be amongst the people. and when i was there speaking to people people were very keen to express to me support for the president during this time of crisis and there were many young people that and. also in that case a strong level of support amongst the younger generations who are seen to comprise a lot of the. protesters all the parts of that have been reported by other media and there was a large mix of different ethnic and religious backgrounds of course. syrian government has been accused by media or

security council it calls for syrian president bashar al assad to step aside hand over his powers to his deputy while and national unity government is formed but most importantly it in at the end of this resolution is is a paragraph that says that the security council can decide to review syria's implementation of the resolution within fifteen days and if the event in the event syria has not complied the security council can adopt further measures in consultation with the league of arab states this is according to the draft draft resolution that was published by the guardian but we need to stress that adopt further measures is words that can be interpreted in various different ways and that is something that russia china and other member members of the security council are very much against they don't want to see what happened in libya happen in syria and this is where the sides are not seeing eye to eye odd now as you mentioned there is a major offensive that is taking place the diplomatic offensive at the united nations security council today because u.s. secretary of state hillary

other parts of the country like aleppo also and indeed yesterday after the speech of president bashar al assad at the university here is a must because that was also a number pro-government demonstrations in this city so something so some of the pictures being portrayed in the media as being some part of the muskets being rocked by and the regime protests over the past couple of days the opposition has certainly been the case but when you bring up the issue of anti regime protests the syrian president has vowed to crush what he's calling foreign funded terrorism for the people i think as well as their lobbying themselves with that concept. well yes i mean one of the five things that people seem very keen to express here is that outrage in particular. and. news channels of which is of course funded by compiled like they are they are accused of fabricating. news reports of what is happening inside the country and they also express a lot of anger towards the u.s. president barack obama french president sarkozy who's supporting the stabilization of that country and in contrast they see countries s

president bashar al assad and his family will be killed like libyan leader colonel gadhafi saying he's lost the chance for a peaceful exit fierce battles meantime between government forces and rebel fighters are raging on the outskirts of the capital damascus sarah ferguson in the city standing by for us right now. so hello to you there are fears the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble what happened in libya and with its. uncompromising promise from the opposition it seems to becoming even more closer to reality. yeah i mean certainly you vented a nice face of the conflict here in the country you've got a civil conflict on your hands is just seeming to ramp up all the time i will say little comments like the ones that have been made by one of the senior opposition figures in the syrian national council and not going to help the situation at all he said that the assad with his family would be killed in syria that they would be killed like he does say that they left no room for a peaceful solution now i mean that's going to be a huge blow to the opposition remember the opposition in

syria's opposition has made a chilling pledge to the country's leader they have valid of president bashar al assad and his family will be killed like libyan leader colonel gadhafi saying that he's lost the chance for a peaceful exit fierce battles between government forces and rebel fighters continue to rage on the outskirts of the capital and further reports in damascus the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble libya mark two. is seeing an increasingly civil conflict evidence treaty by the violence has broken out for the past couple of days. that's not being housed by the statement by one of the members of the main opposition body to syrian national council like the head said that aside and his family would be killed like gadhafi now certainly does against a few of the fears of a base so it's really. going to be rich and revenge attacks coming in this teacher and certainly that is a genuine fear amongst the people here you're seeing a very polarized country right now and the dividing lines are really being too and you know here in the night it has really exploded to the fore again and people b

my goodness we never said retaining bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis settlement we said something different we said that the decision must be solely syrian only syrians groups the syrians must gather at the negotiating table and hammer out a deal if the demand is for him to go and he doesn't show them what's next in the air force bombing we've seen that already and this is your the council will never approve it i guarantee it. i mean it's very unfortunate recently that what we seen is that this moderate middle ground as it was as essentially being trampled on you've now got a very very strong side certainly within the country does this sense that right now you're either for or you're against and really you're seeing the country become increasingly polarized as i said very very disappointing that statements like this being made because it's just going to fuel the fed the genuine fear that a lot of people on both sides have about just where this is going to end because this conflict is just getting bloodier and bloody and more and more violent and you know these calls

but just outside the city is where bashar al assad's troops can still strike with deadly force.tivist to take me to where the injured people would get treated by doctors who are risking their lives. when we got to the makeshift hospital, i realized it was a normal flat. with an emergency room and with an intensive care. they had a pharmacy and a laboratory. >> translator: this patient, who was injured by shrapnel all over his body resulting from a nail bomb. he also received a more severe and dangerous injury which broke his skull and caused a hemorrhage. >> reporter: activists told me that anyone who was injured in this neighborhood are not able to go to a public hospital because those hospitals are infiltrated by agents of the regime. and they would get either kidnapped or even killed inside the clinics. >> translator: we keep what can help us to provide aid for those poor, injured people. these are tetanus injections that we use, and these are some of the blood banks that we use for the injured. these are different types we use, in addition to some other drugs that must be ke

, thousands of pro-government backers flooded the streets in a show of support for president, bashar al-assad. democrats in the u.s. senate have blocked a republican effort to bar president obama from raising the nation's debt limit. the vote today was largely along party lines. the national debt currently stands at $15.2 trillion. the increase would raise it by another $1.2 trillion. the house voted against the increase last week. on wall street, stocks fell as lagging home sales undercut an early rally. the dow jones industrial average lost 22 points to close at 12,734. the nasdaq fell 13 points to close at 2,805. the obama administration has released new rules aimed at restoring national forests. agriculture secretary tom