that is one of the reasons why the government of liberia has asked to be praised on the agenda of theeace building commission. and that country is one of the si

of expression. this is bbc world news. i'm george alagiah. the headlines -- liberia's former president charles taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison. the judge says he was responsible for some of the worst atrocities in history. julian assange loses his appeal to avoid extradition to sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault. the business news -- aaron is here. the member countries -- getting their marks. >> and report card on all 27 member states of the european union. this is our woodworks. it assesses each one individually on things like employment policies or banks unemployment problems, and looked at budgetary policies or, for example, if a member state is spending too much, structure will reforms, possible growth measures they have in place, and then it issues recommendations. there is one of the problems, they are only recommendations but not really enforced at all. but we do know things like commission is telling italy it has to do more to combat tax evasion, telling the belgians and hasted tell its people to work longer and also telling them to ope

of it. >> liberia's former president gets a 50-year sentence for war crimes described as some of the mosteinous in history. and greenback the bookstore -- bringing back the bookstore, one well-known author is stocking the shelves in hopes of bringing back the written page. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and elsewhere around the world. tonight, fresh evidence of the breach in the u.n. broken cease- fire in syria. 13 bodies, apparently executed, were found in the eastern part of the country. the killings were discovered that even as the u.n. security council held a closed meeting on last week's massacre that left more than 100 dead and sparked widespread condemnation of the assad regime. >> another mass killing. the commander of the u.s. observer team in syria, general mahmoud, said the bodies of the 13 men with hallett -- with hands bound were found shot dead on tuesday. he calls the appalling and inexcusable. it is the second time in less than a week that the u.n. monitors have validated the claims and videos put out by activists. much more rich it was the masters -- the massacr

special court for the case of charles taylor, former prime minister -- president, sorry, of liberia, found guilty only last month of war crimes in relation to the civil war in sierra leone. this is the moment of which he will learn what his sentence is to be. prosecution calling for 80 years in prison, says no right to the death penalty, 80 years is the highest possible sentence. as the judge is prepared to deliberate, i'm joined now by mark doyle, international development correspondent. mark, obviously much ground background with sierra leone in particular and charles taylor's crimes. i suppose you'll be interested to know how close to that figure they get. >> 8 owe years is what the prosecution has asked for, because of the heinous nature of the crimes as they describe them. the prosecution now has court business to do before the judge actually passes the sentence. the defense has said that is disproportionate, they said a 64-year-old man to 80 years in jail means he'll die in jail, in effect a life sentence. interestingly, this court is not imposed to impose the life sentence, it

. >>> the former head of liberia will spend the rest of his life in a jail cell. charles taylor was sentenced to 50 years today. he's the first head of state con inconsistented since world war ii. they si he -- say he was backing rebels. >>> a second earthquake in italy. italy -- rescuers find signs of life. they say she had been buried alive for more than 10 hours. she's now recovering. others are not as fortunate. the death toll now stands at 17. >>> still to come on wjz, take another live outside. your complete forecast just 2 and a half minutes away. first, take a look at today's midday stocks to be followed by last night's mega millions numbers. ,,,,,,,,,, [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all medicare supplement insurance plans, they could save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decis

the former president of liberia was sentenced to 50 years in prison today. and international court says charles taylor was responsible for some of the most heinous crimes in history. the civil war lasted 11 years and claimed more than 50,000 lives. taylor is the first head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since world war ii. >> now to the crisis and syria. they found the bodies of 13 people bound together in eastern syria. it appears the victims were shot execution-style with their hands tied behind their backs. it comes days after the massacre where more than 100 people were killed, many victims were women and children. we ask you on facebook whether you think the united states should get more involved. 20% said yes and the rest said do not intervene. >> president obama is apologizing for a mistake he made while honoring a polish world war ii hero. he referred to a holocaust death camp has polish instead of nazi. >> resistance fighters told them that juice were being murdered on a massive scale. plug will into the warsaw ghetto into a

the former president of liberia will be sentenced next week after being convicted of war crimes in sierra90's. but mr. taylor supplied arms and other help to the rebels in exchange for so-called blood diamonds mined in the country, it is alleged. the bbc's correspondent covered the trial. he's returned to see where the blood diamonds are a thing of the past. >> this is what peace looks like in sierra leone. but the war is long over. this is a controlled explosion at a new industrial-scale diamond mine. since fighting ended a decade ago, the face of sierra leone has transformed. the seeds of a possible economic boom have been planted . the days of so-called blood diamonds, when gemstones fueled rebel war, are firmly in the past. >> this kind of mining couldn't be more different than the type that took place in sierra leone during the blood diamond years. in the past, the diamonds were smuggled, some by liberia, none of the rocks will leave. but digging up precious minerals only creates small pockets. sierra leone is still a very poor country. many people continue to rely on the back-breaki

the lawyer for the former president of liberia says he will appeal against his sentence of 50 years for war crimes. last month, he was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in sierra leone during the civil war between 1991 and 2002. the judge described mr. taylor's crimes among the most heinous in human history. >> when charles taylor arrived in court, he knew there was no precedent in modern times for sentencing a former head of state. if mr. taylor had hoped that might help him, he was wrong. >> charles taylor which is to underscore -- this potrero alloys the distinctions that might otherwise pertain to the liability discussed. >> the judge spoke of a new era of accountability. because george taylor had been a powerful man in west africa, -- because charles taylor had been a powerful man in west africa, he should have shown more responsibility. >> which -- we sentence you to a single term of imprisonment of 50 years. >> the court reminded the world of some of the atrocities committed by the rebels mr. taylor backed in sierra leone. the council -- the hallmark of the rebels was ha

the former president of liberia help plan an attempted takeover by rebels. the widespread atrocities committed at the time included the amputation of innocent civilians limbs, murder and rape. the judges have left no doubt that they think charles taylor knew about these atrocities. >> in relation to an assessment -- in-line >> the prosecution has called for mr. taylor to be given 80 years in jail. the defense says that is excessive. vinyl sentencing will take place in two weeks' time. -- final sentencing will take place in two weeks' time. >> from bosnia to sierra leone, it was a very busy day at the international criminal court. the united nations monitors left a town in northern syria today, a day after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb. amid the continued violence, president bashar al-assad grant is first television interview this year. he told russian television that his government was fighting terrorists. >> slowly, carefully, the u.n. observers astounded by tuesday's attacks -- stranded by tuesday's attacks. their convoy was hit by an explosive de

. >> the former president of liberia, charles taylor, has told an international court that the victim would not testify against him. the claims that witnesses were threatened and bribed to testify for the prosecution. protesters in chile have called for the government to drop taxes. the government insists it will not give in and will raise up to $700 million in revenue. two patients in the united states who are paralyzed are able to control a robotic arm using their thoughts. it allowed them to work unaided. it links a sensor implanted in the brain to a computer that can turn electrical signals and to commence. -- into commands. >> you are watching something remarkable. she is controlling a robotic arm with her thoughts. it is linked to a sensor in her brain. paralyzed from the neck down, this is the first time in nearly 15 years she has served herself a drink. [applause] she cannot talk, but was able to communicate this message -- i could not believe my eyes. i was ecstatic. i had feelings of hope and a great sense of independence. the key to the technology is this tiny sensor. it is

the president of liberia was married to an abusive man. by and large, most of the women, susan rice, the founder of teach for america, she said i could not be doing without this man. cheryl sandburg and talks about that. that is good to hear that men are important. tavis: you have heard this joke a thousand times about how bill clinton went back to iraq and he drives a mustang. he has had a 4 years. they pulled into a gas station and see a guy that bill went to high school. he is old and has lost his hair. his teeth are falling out. bill says to hillary, look what would have happened if you married that i. she said he would have been the president of the united states. >> it is also true in the reverse. it works both ways. tavis: what are you most grateful for with regard to your daughter and this process? >> a number of things. she was impacted by the conversation she had with condoleezza rice, a pass in four languages and cultures. she wants to study linguistics and anthropology. it positions her to be a world leader and changes the way s

. >>> also, the former president of liberia, charles taylor, is being convicted to prison yesterday. he was convicted of aiding rebels in the bloody civil war in a ravaged sierra leone. >>> jurors of the john edwards trial begin day eight of their deliberations. concern is growing that they may be divided on some or all of the charges. the testimony and the documents along with the charges, complex legal issues, create the perfect storm for disagreement. >>> and former rutgers university, dharun ravi will head to jail, after apologizing for his role in his roommate's suicide. in a statement yesterday, he called his actions thoughtless, insensitive, immature and stupid choices. he said he was not motivated by hate or bigotry, when he set up a web cam to capture a gay encounter. ravi has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. >>> and it is time, now, for the rest of the weather from across the nation. we're going to have downpours for the carolinas. rain in the northeast. thunderstorms along the gulf coast. more stormy weather from north texas into oklahoma and kansas. showers from montana

. >> 50 years in jail was the sentence handed down today for the former president of liberia, charles taylor. he was convicted last month on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for fuelling the war in sierra leone. the judge described his crimes as among the most heinous in history. >> in the case of the prosecutor versus charles taylor -- >> when he arrived in court, he knew there was no precedent in modern times for sentencing of former head of state at the international tribunal, but if he had hoped that might help him, he was wrong. >> this the trail out ways of the distinctions that might otherwise pertained to the liability discussed. >> the judge spoke of a new era of accountability, effectively saying that because charles taylor had been a powerful man in west africa, he should have shown more responsibility. to go for the foregoing reasons, at the chamber unanimously sentence you to a single term of imprisonment of 50 years. >> the court reminded the world of some of the atrocities submitted -- atrocities committed by the rebels that he had supported. the hall

the former president of liberia health plan an attempted takeover -- helped plan an attempted takeover by rebels. it included the amputation of innocent civilians' limbs, murder, and rape. the judges have left no doubt that they think charles taylor knew about these atrocities. in their judgment, he aided and abetted the rebels. prosecution has called for mr. taylor to be given 80 years in jail. the defense says that is excessive and disproportionate. final sentencing will take place in two weeks' time. >> a busy day in the hague and an important day for international justice. united nations monitors were evacuated from a town in northern syria today, a day after their convoy was hit by roadside bombs. amidst the continued violence, syria's president, bashar al- assad, granted his first interview this year, telling russian television that his government was fighting terrorists, not pro-democracy activists. we have this report. >> slowly, carefully, the u.n. observers stranded by the attack pull out of the town. two of their vehicles were damaged when their convoy was hit by an ied. ima

a united nations war crimes court has jailed charles taylor, the former president of liberia. >> he has been given 50 years for helping rebels from neighboring sierra leone commit a gruesome list of active during an 11-year civil war that ended in 2002. >> it was considered one of the most brutal conflicts in post- world war ii history. the presiding judge says the world is entering an era of accountability. >> charles taylor remained in passive as the sentence was announced. the presiding judge said he saw no attenuating circumstances, and taylor showed no signs of remorse. taylor was found guilty last month of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and constricting child soldiers. the judge said taylor's crimes were of the utmost gravity in their scale and brutality. >> witness tf1 064 was forced to carry a bag containing human heads. on the way, the rebels ordered her to laugh as she carried the bags and dripping with blood. she testified that when they arrived, the bag was empty, and she saw the heads of her children. >> prosecutors had sought a

people's aspirations to live in integrity and decency. 12 days ago, charles taylor, former president of liberia was found by our special tribunal. today i say no leader anywhere, any time should imagine that he or she enjoys impunity for crimes of atrocity. [ applause ] those responsible for such acts in syria or elsewhere must be held accountable by the international community. ladies and gentlemen, i began this remarks with a call for global collective leadership that puts people first. we need to create a more human world, a world of real solutions for ordinary people, a world of greater justice with more robust and proactive protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms with greater security and equity for all. as i see it, justice and dignity are not projections. they're not mere aspirations. they are rights of people. they are the responsibilities of governments to deliver. none of these ideals are alien to anyone here this evening. they are core american values. they are core transatlantic values. increasingly, widely shared around the world. our challenge is to continue to spread

of hope. they thought they could overcome even without their arms or legs. in liberia, there has been a small mix of remarkable progress with continued fragility and similar interplay of peacekeeping and peace building. the country has restructured the army and police with the help of united nations mission in liberia, the u.n. peacekeeping operation. when the -- when i visited library and 2008, i saw the initial collaboration between the united nations and the economic commission of west african states, the ever been union, and others including the united states. the mission in liberia has been able to reduce the size of troops from 15,000 to less than 10,000 soldiers. some of the conditions that led to 14 years of civil war still exists. the factions in society could be exploited again to more violence. that is one the reasons why the government of liberia has asked to be placed on the agenda of the east building commission. that country is one of the six countries on the peace building commission agenda. the peace building fund is helping to finance the construction

the country has restructured the army and police with the help of the united nations and liberia the u.n. peacekeeping operations in 2008i saw the initial collaboration between the united patients and this is the economic condition of the african states of the african union and others including the united states. the mission in liberia has been able to reduce the size from some 15,000 to less than now 10,000 soldiers. but some of the conditions that led to 14 years of civil war still exist and the factors in society could be exploited again to violence. that is one of the reasons why the government of liberia has asked to be placed on the agenda of the peacebuilding commission in that country is one of the six countries on peace building commission agenda. the peace building fund is helping to finance the construction of regional justice so that these vital institutions can serve all the countries. the fund was establishing the commission finding practical ways to solve the reserve, the land that disputes the country. we hope these initiatives can serve as a symbol to restore the coun

garnett actually after the war becomes one of our first ambassadors to liberia and dies over there. but that was his life-long mission. so garnett was an ally of menard's throughout the 1860s during the civil war. another event happens in 1863, and that's the british government arrives and enters into this negotiation with the u.s. government to establish belize as a future colonization site. right here i have a picture, this actually came from belize itself. founded in the belize national archives a couple of weeks ago. this is a copy of the agreement signed between abraham lincoln and the manager of the british honduras company that was to administer this agreement. this is signed on june 13th, 1863, at the white house. menard is aware of this agreement through mitchell, who was the other negotiator and the other signatory on behalf of the u.s. government. this is given to a man by the name of john hodge and his partner william wemyss anderson, who are both in the employ of the british honduras company based out of belize. anderson is important because he has a long-standing role i

his dallas says taylor, who was president of liberia, was wronged by corruption. s appealing his conviction and will receive credit for time already served since march of 2006. denise? >> taylor's conviction last month was the first war crimes conviction of a former head of state by an international court, since the neuremberg trials after world war ii. >>> wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to face charges of rain and assault in sweden. but assange's lawyers say the fight is not over. >> reporter: wikileaks founder, julian assange, was not in court, when the supreme court ruled against him. >> the request for the extradition has been lawfully made. and his appeal, against extradition, is accordingly dismissed. >> reporter: the panel of judges said assange will be sent to sweden to face sex crime allegations. assange sent a tweet to his online followers saying, we got the news not hoped for. he's accused of sexually assaulting two female wikileaks volunteers on a trip to sweden in 2010. the defense had argued their arrest warrant for assanch was inv

. >>> the former president of liberia charles taylor was sentenced the 50 years in prison today. judge in the case says taylor is guilty of aiding, abetting and planning some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history. taylor helped rebels murder and mutilate thousands during their country's civil war. the sentence was handed down in an international criminal court near the hague. >>> britain's supreme court has given the go ahead for wikileaks founder julian assange to be extradited to sweeten. he should be -- sweden. he should be sent to sweden to face sex crimes allegations. he was not in court when the ruling came down. >> the request for mr. assange's extradition has been lawfully made and his appeal against extradition is accordingly dismissed. >> now julian assange did send a tweet to his online followers saying -- his lawyers immediately appealed. assange is accused of sexually assaulting two fall wikileaks -- female wikileaks volunteers in 2010 on a trip to sweden. he claims the allegations are political payback for his leaking thousands of document -

activities. >> gbowee says that when it comes to improving the condition of women in africa, the work has just begun. >> in liberia, in other parts of africa teenage pregnancy is a serious issue. the rate at which we are going we won't see the next generation of young women leaders celebrating international women's day in 20 years if we don't address the reproductive health. >> the three are among only 15 women who have been awarded the honor in the prize's 110 history. many believe this year's decision was a signal from the nobel committee about the growing importance of the global fight for women's rights. >> before i was a local girl, now i am a global girl. i can't say i will speak about reproductive rights and issues in liberia only. i have to connect it to other parts of the world becomes i have become a daughter of the world and an advocate of women of the world. >> gbowee's advice to future women's rights and peace advocates is to improve their homes and communities first. >> it is easier to turn a blind eye to the domestic violence in your community and to purge your conscience. to say i am putting money

some of us were on a trip to liberia for our colleague who is newly deceased, but this was several years ago. he was being honored. there were a barrel -- building a library in his name at the african methodist episcopal church in monroevia, liberia. it was boiling hot. there must have been 18 or 20 speakers. everybody that got up named every speaker before him and everyone else in the room. one of the people got up there and said, to all of the

. >>> justice a landmark sentence for convicted war criminal and former president of liberia, charles taylor. he's been sentenced to 50 years in prison by a special international court. he's convicted of supporting rebels in sierra leon who slaughtered thousands of people during the country's 11-year civil war. taylor armed rebels in exchange for so-called blood diamonds. >>> mitt romney unofficialing clinching the rop nomination for president. he won last night's texas primary putting him over the number of 1,144 delegates. >>> beryl is once again a tropical storm, forecast to head up the coast of north and south carolina today. the storm has already dumped up to a foot of rain, packing winds of 35 miles per hour and could lead to dangerous rip currents and rough surf. >>> chinese human rights activist chen guangcheng says his country fails to enforce its own laws and insists its abusive treatment of dissidents threatens its stability. he writes "after the local police discovered my escape a furious pack of thugs, not one in uniform, bearing no search or arrest warrants and refusing

. >>> the former president of the liberia has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for crimes againstrles taylor is the first head of state convicted by international court since world war ii. the decision expected to set a precedent for other on courts. charged with aiding rebels that left 50,000 dead in sierra leen. >>> britain supreme court says assange should be sent to sweden to face sex-charge cases. his attorneys have two weeks to argue to reopen the appeal. the attorney says that the judge's ruling is based on a point never argued during a would-day hearing back in february. the court says that it will reopen this case if, in fact, it has to. assange will right now stay in the uk. >>> death toll in northern italy stands at 17 from the earthquake. rescue crews pulled the body of a worker from a collapsed factory overnight. officials say no one else is listed as missing from tuesday's magnitude 5.8 quake near bologna. >>> the "today" show coming up next. matt lauer shows us this morning's top stories. >> good morning. coming up on wednesday, mitt romney clinch it is gop presiden

i have done a lot of work in e hraoli lie -- liberia, and i get better coverage there than in washington, d.c. other kinds of technologies have catapulted some countries into the modern world. in liberia, there are hardly land lines, but everybody has a cell phone. china is investing all over the world, especially africa. we have seen dramatically increased funding in health and education, especially in hiv and malaria. it has led to some very important health out comes. there are new challenges, of course. there is growing population and growing migration, and big concerns about resource use, and of course climate change is very important and a new consideration to us now. so in terms of what we have learned, what are the lessens we have learned over the years? i think first and foremost in likely success and predicting out comes in foreign assistance, the most important is leaders of the countries of where we were. are they committed to their own future and development. i want to say something about the paris declaration of 2005. this is a big international group of nations that met to

- [applause] >> no amount of wars can crush people's aspirations. 12 days ago, former president of liberiaby our special tribunal. today, i say no leader anywhere, anytime should imagine that he or she enjoys impunity of crimes of atrocity. [applause] >> those responsible for such acts in syria, or elsewhere, must be held accountable by the international community. ladies and gentlemen, i begin these remarks with a collective leadership that puts people first. we need to create a more -- a world of real solution, a world of greater justice, with a more robust and proactive protection of human rights, and fundamental freedoms with a greater security and equity for all. as i see it, justice are not abstractions. they are not mere aspirations. they are rights of people. they are the responsibilities of governments to deliver. none of these ideas are alien to any, anyone here this evening. they are core american values. they are core of transatlantic values. increasingly, widely shared around the world. our challenge is to continue to spread these principles all around the world, and this univ

some of us were on a trip to liberia for our colleague who is newly deceased, but this was several years. he was being honored. there were a barrel -- building a library in his name at the african methodist episcopal church in monroevia, liberia. it was boiling hot. there must have been 18 or 20 speakers. everybody that got up named every speaker before him and everyone else in the room. one of the people got up there and said, to all of the distinguished people who are here today, on their granted. everybody cheered because that meant he was not going to mention all the names. but i am is a wonder that so many of the official family of san francisco are here. i am delighted to see my sister in a friendship and my sister in congress is here with us today. thank you, anna. as she knows, and one of the things we were able to accomplish, what ever you name, without the work of our colleagues from the bay area, from california, on these issues. jim hormel and leroy king or cochairs come along with madeleine. john was the chairman. we all took orders from john. i am so glad that so many of ou

of military or peace keeping operations to fail peace building on the way. our peace keeping missions are often important. only peace builders as we saw in sierra leone, still, we see in liberia and hope to see in south of sudan. where our peace keeping mission probably has the most ambitious peace building mandate ever. second, peace building is a task before many actors. government, civil society, opinionists, communities, a long-term u.n. development presence all have a role to play. this is also reflected in the diverse membership of the peace building commission. our challenge is to align them behind a coherent strategy. third, measure ownership and leadership crucial. peace building success stories such as -- have been associated with strong national leadership and genuine social engagement. at times however, limited local capacity is -- so is the tendency of some to support projects that might satisfy -- but that do not reflect local priorities. there are some countries who earmark their support to their own domestic interests, which will not be helpful in establishing stability that when you support this peace building commission, you should not have that kind of a lo

of the atlantic. the dow industrials lost more than 160 points. online, we have a look at the unprecedented conviction and punishment for liberia's former head of statelains. kwame? >> holman: margaret warner explores what charles taylor's 50-year sentence may or may no mean for africa. that's on our world page. judy and political editor christina bellantoni look at mitt romney's new ipad app. that's on this weeks political checklist on our homepage. and as part of our continuing climate change series, hari sreenivasan asks an expert about erosion along the gulf coast. find that on our science page. all that and more is on our web site: newshour.pbs.org. jeff? >> brown: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on thursday, we'll look at a new book about the country's most exclusive club, with just five members, all former presidents of the united states. i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by th