." >> hello and welcome to newsday on the bbc. am in singapore. >> and i am in london the headlines this hour, 6000 and counting, the exodus from syria continues. if former officer in colonel gaddafi's army talks exclusively to the bbc. >> the wait continues for thousands of passengers whose flights have been cancelled due to an act -- a volcanic ash cloud. $4.3 billion to vaccinate the world's poorest children from bill gates. >> in recent years, there has been some concern about the rise of extremist islam here. >> it is 9:00 a.m. in singapore. the >> it is 2:00 a.m. in london. we are broadcasting in america and around the world. the exodus from syria continues. almost 6000 people have crossed into the -- into turkey. the area has been recaptured by the military following a revolt a week ago there. >> syrian troops entering the town of jisr al-shughour. these pictures were filmed by the bbc arabic service, which was taken into the town by the syrian army. the government said this is a mass grave of some of the 120 security perso

broadcasting on pbs and around the world, this is "newsday." syria's president has addressed his nation and offered to him pitch in dialogue on the country's future. but his message only spark further demonstrations. he accused saboteurs of masterminding the protest and urged the thousands of syrians who have fled the country to return. and international journalists -- international journalists have been banned from serious -- from syria. audienceent assad's chanted they would sacrifice their blood for him. his family's role is being challenged like never before. protesters are calling for reform and blame him for the violence in syria. he has a different view. >> we should bring to account the saboteurs who are terrorizing people and destroying property. how can you do politically with those who keep on killing people? >> he said 64,000 people are on the authorities wanted list. 1/3 have been arrested. he promised reforms. the audience applauded. the protesters took to the streets. in several cities, including the capital. if president assad h

this is "newsday". hello and welcome. america's top military officer has admitted that president obama's decision to accelerate the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan is riskier than he originally wanted. first 30,000 troops are to be brought home by september next year. afghan president hamid karzai welcomed the move but the taliban said -- dismissed it as symbolic and vowed to continue fighting. our course on the reports. >> the president said the tide of war is turning and he has -- is hardly posing as a victor. these men and women spearheaded his search and he was almost hesitant telling them of the decision unpopular with their generals. >> we have turned a corner where we can begin to bring back some of our troops. we're not doing it precipitously. we're going to do it in a steady way to make sure that the gains that all of you helped to bring about are going to be sustained. >> the white house says the remaining troops can start coming home at a steady pace, it ending their combat role in 2014. many in the penta

." >> hello and welcome to "newsday." london.abita sharma in libya rejects the international arrest warrants issued for colonel gaddafi and his son. syrian rebels condemn the violence used by the government. >> wen tells of the united kingdom, do not point fingers over human rights records. >> broadcasting to tears on pbs and america and around the world, this is "newsday." colonel gaddafi's regime has rejected the warrant issued by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity. they described the move as cover for nato's bombing campaign, but the presiding judge in the hague said that the warrants were necessary because she said there were reasonable grounds to believe gaddafi and his son were responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians. the icc's decision was greeted by celebrations in the port city of madrasa. the rebels accused nato of reacting too slowly. >> this was his very first day on the front lines. already the 19 year old is wheeled into surgery. a rocket has torn into his leg, get a

thank you for joining us and welcome to "newsday." use a oceans are in a worse state than expected. -- tyyou say oceans are in a worse state than previously expected. >> we met with a panel of experts in oxford a couple of months ago. we looked across a broad range of different areas of marine science. and what we discovered is that changes were happening much more rapidly than we expected. so this is in relation to climate change effects. these are occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in past history. at least that we can tell from the record of the past. >> sorry to interrupt you. under the report is detail. i want to pick up on a couple of points. the accelerated changes you highlight include the melting of degree land and ice sheets. what are they contributing factors to the accelerating changes ? >> ocean warming is one of the obvious factors leading to accelerating a melting of the arctic and sea ice and also rising temperatures associated with climate change. rising much more than the global average at the polls. that is w

this is newsday. the u.n. accused sudan government of carrying out a bombing campaign near the north-south border. tens of thousands have fled their homes and urged the government to let them in to help victims of the fighting. the south is due to become independent next month. >> homeless and helpless, these are some of the tens of thousands people displaced by the latest fighting in sudan. they have taken shelter outside the local united nations headquarters. the u.n. is handing out food and other supplies. workers say they are being denied access to the areas of heaviest fighting. >> we know about 60,000 people who have had to flee as well as knowing that there must be tens of thousands who have fled into the mountains as well as on the roads to the north. >> people have been on the move in this disputed border area for month. the fighting has grown ever since the south voted for independence from the north in january. and all of this less than a month before south sudan finally becomes a new nation. the le

you are watching "newsday," on the bbc. as part of our power of agencies and, we talked to the leader of the taiwan opposition about talks with china. >> people across four continents will enjoy a total lunar eclipse. the british bank whose collapse marked the start of the credit crisis more than three years ago is to be private eyes. the chancellor was like to find a buyer before the end of the year. >> nationalize northern rock. they put a for sale sign up. they hope to raise about 1 billion pounds. this is not a great deal for taxpayers. >> i can announce tonight that on behalf of you, the british taxpayer, i have decided to put northern rock up for sale. images of the lines outside of northern iraq branches or a symbol of all that went wrong. -- northern rock branches are a symbol of all that went wrong. >> they would like the chancellor to impose taxes on financial trading which they see as a casino. the chancellor has a different answer. for the huge banks like will bank of scotland, hsbc, they would like a bear inves

you're watching "newsday". still to come on the program. we will be live in jakarta for the latest in our season. can indonesia survive as a mo dern muslim democracy? >> hundreds of migrants found crammed inside a lorry in southern mexico. the that islam president is recovering in cuba following surgery to remove an absence from his pelvis. he did not give a date for his return but said he was managing government affairs. his diagnosis during a visit wind -- constitute undergo an operation. >> when he has been seen in public recently, he has shown signs of poor health. surgery on a knee injury kept him sidelined for some weeks. now he has undergone an emergency operation in cuba for something more serious. an abscess on his pelvis. amid speculation that his condition is worse than the government has revealed, he called state television from havana to quash the rumors. >> i am in full control of my faculties. believe me, if i was feeling at all like i had diminished faculties, i would be the first person to take a decision. this is absolutel

this is "newsday". the exodus from syria continues. 6000 people are crossing into turkey. refugees say the syrian military is arresting hundreds of people in a sweep of villages, captured by the military following a revolt. >> syrian troops entering the

this is "newsday". afghan officials say the militants who launched a sustained attack on the internet and tote -- intercontinental hotel, been killed. 10 afghan civilians died during the assault. the five hour gunfight ended after nato helicopters killed insurgents who had taken up positions on the roof of the hotel. this began when three suicide attackers decimated their -- detonated their explosions. >> it was a deadly late-night attack. a group of suicide bombers and several gunmen made their way past checkpoints into the intercontinental. one of the most heavily protected hotels in kabul. for hours, the scene was one of confusion. the guests hiding in their rooms while sporadic gunfire could be heard inside the hotel. the afghan police engage the attackers including a number on the roof of the building. the nato helicopter stepped in firing on the gunman on the hotel's roof to bring the siege to an abrupt end. >> was clear is the security forces were doing a fantastic job of clearing the hotel. toni

. >> you are watching "newsday," on the bbc live from singapore and london. we had a report from the chinese megacity that is getting bigger every day. >> mashel meets mandela, the first lady pays a visit to the former president of south africa. a british teenager is suspected of involvement in a computer hacking group has been arrested after a coordinated investigation by scotland yard and the fbi. detectives will question the 19- year-old about security breaches against the cia and the u.s. senate. >> and repeated attack over the internet. intelligence agencies bombarded with messages in an attempt to stop them functioning. now the police believe they have caught it possible ringleader. late last night, they rated it this property and arrested a 19- year-old man. it was an intelligence led operation following a tax on businesses and intelligence agencies. they seized a significant amount of material. the man has been named as ryan clearly. the cia is just one of the number of realizations coming under cyber attacks from the internet. the crimes unit say the

you're watching newsday on the bbc, live from singapore and london. still to come -- the name of the east. formountry's clamoring to a new middle lines. >> much under-used a red carpet has been rolled out in puerto rico as barack obama became the first u.s. president to visit the territory in 50 years. while residents listened to him caylee m.i.a. it is the key hispanic vote in the united states -- listen to him keenly, it is the key hispanic vote in the and it states that he is after . >> he had pledged to return to pr as a sitting president. u.s. presidents don't come here very often appeared >> the residents of the island can determine their own future. and when the people of puerto rico make a clear decision, my administration will stand by you. >> that endorsement was music to the years of the porter ricans who sometimes feel ignored by washington. >> everybody listens. it has been a long time since we had a president that comes to puerto rico. >> the eyes of the world are on us right now. >> but beyond the excitement, the historic visit, many ar

. >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. >> more than 30,000 u.s.roops will leave afghanistan by the end of next year. president obama sets out his plans for its withdrawal. >> future challenges remain. this is the beginning, not the end of our effort to wind down this war. >> he admits he has his back to the wall, but will never give up the fight after 19 civilians are killed in nato bombing raids. >> two months in detention, he has been released by authorities. >> it is 9:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> and it is 2:00 a.m. here in london. >> hello and welcome. president obama has announced the withdrawal of 10,000 u.s. troops from afghanistan this year and another 23,000 by september 2012. mr. obama -- mr. obama's announcement outlined the exit of the forces he sent. the reductions are larger and faster than military commanders have advised. while president obama said u.s. forces were fulfilling their goals in the afghanistan, it led to this announcement today. >> we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this yea

. >>> this is "newsday." >> america's top military officer has said the u.s. will hunt down the new leader of al qaeda, zawahiri. >> a series of faces growing international demands to stop the killings. -- syria faces growing international demands to stop the killings. >>> michael hurley is a former cia officer who served in afghanistan just after the september 11 attacks and was a senior member of the 9/11 commission. he told me about zawahiri and what kind of threat he poses to security. >> he was the no. 2 next to osama bin laden. he has been committed two violent extremism since he was a young boy, dedicated to this, is a dangerous man. nevertheless, he is inheriting an al qaeda that is very fragmented and is much weaker and diminished from what was before. the decision making is decentralized. they did not grouped together very much, so these are part of the pressures the u.s. and its allies are trying to put on al qaeda to make it difficult for them to operate, and that may be an indication of it. i agree with admiral mullen that he is a high priority ta

. >> you are watching "newsday." still to come, breaking into a fortress europe. we track afghan migrants desperate for a better life. >> up for auction. the gun used by america's famous gangster, al capone. bids are expected to top $100,000. first, the internet radio service pandora has made its debut on the new york stock exchange. the company priced shares at $16, putting its value at more than $2.50 billion. not bad for a company that has yet to make a profit. from new york, this report. >> rachel cooper is the classic pandora media user. she listens to her personalized music playlist on her desktop computer in her office in downtown manhattan. >> i love that it is a community of artists. it is like this digital ebay i do not have to think about. >> in this music store, fans are shopping for things they have not heard before but will probably like. pandora media has managed to tap into that phenomenon on the internet. more than 90 million people use the service, but the business model of offering free music streams with limited ads comes at a cost. pandora pay