next local elections are taking place in parts of northern sri lanka on saturday.n some areas, it will be the sum -- the first such vote in nearly 30 years. although, parliamentary elections were held last year. it will come just two years after the end of the civil war between government forces and the tamil tiger separatists. joining me now from, but it is charles. these are the council elections, but even the president campaigned in one city this week. what is at stake for him? >> that is right. the big jet -- the big government juggernaut, if you like. he is responding to the intense wave of international criticism being directed at the country at the moment. the u.s. congressional committee is voting that aid will be cut off to sri lanka unless they show a move away from wartime atrocities. ofy're putting a lot resources into this. >> two opposition groups have claimed harassment by the ruling party, which it denies. it will these elections be free and fair? >> that is a big question about that political -- about that. proper transport is not been provided to

. >> yes, a ship carrying 87 sri lanka andns was apprehended -- sri lankans was apprehended last weekbut will not allow them passage. >> it has been a long and treacherous journey for these passengers. their boat ran into mechanical trouble when it was intercepted in indonesian waters and brought to shore. these refugees are refusing to get off the ship. they say they want to go to new zealand, where they think they will have a shot at a better life. but new zealand has reportedly said it will not accept them. there are women and children amongst the passengers. one woman is report of the pregnant. the passengers say they have enough supplies to last them a month. this is not the first time that indonesia has had to deal with the challenge of this sort. last year, a group of 200 sri lankan refugees refuse to disembark. they turned the ship into their home. even after all the waiting, they never reached their final destination, australia. the standoff highlights problems in countries where they are trying to deal with problems of asylum seekers. >> indonesians have offered to come aboa

civil war, hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians are returning to their homes in the north of sri lanka. access to the region from outsiders has been heavily protected. the rules have just been relaxed. our correspondent is the first journalist to travel there and meets those trying to rebuild their lives. >> outsiders have come to these northern jungles. war had driven out every person, animal. every building was flattened. now, people are returning and trying to start fresh. this child is helping his parents build a home. they were forced from their village and displaced time and time again before suffering bombardment in the final war zone. they got a small grant when they came out of the refugee camp but they had to pawn their possessions to get by. >> we are glad that we have come from the village but i lost my mother, my brother, and my older sister and brother in the war. >> there is community spirit here. they are lucky to be alive. all of the other men perished. most of the civilians who were confined in government-run camps have returned to the villages like this one. all of t

. -- there are refugees from sri lanka and indonesia. >> they want to go to an entirely different place. they were apprehended by indonesian officials. there are refusing to leave. they say that they fled two years ago after the war and they want to go to new zealand. >> it has been a long and treacherous journey and the passengers have envied. there a vehicle ran into mechanical trouble. these refugees are now refusing to get off of the ship. they say they want to go to new zealand where they think they will have a shot at a better life. new zealand has reportedly said they will not accept them. there are women and children among the 87 asylum seekers, one woman is reportedly pregnant. the passengers say they have enough supplies to last them a month. this is the first time that indonesia has had to deal with this challenge. last year, a group of 200 refugees refused to disembark off of their boat. they turned their shipped but even after that waiting, they never reached their final destination, australia. the stand have highlighted the problems. the government is urging this boatload

. >> i've traveled to places like malawi, indonesia, sri lanka, the tsunami-affected regions, ecuador in south america. and some of the things i saw there i definitely won't forget. they had so little, yet they still had smile on their faces, while here we complain if our coffee is cold. and really that's what counts -- realizing that what we have here. another item to us is the whole world to other people. and i think that that's why it's really important to help out. to be able go out there and make a difference. >> reporter: and that, according to bilaal, is something anyone can make happen, not matter what your age. >> i'm just another kid that's taken action. and action is something that everyone else out there in the world can do. it's the first step, and it's the hardest step, but it's the most important step in making a difference. >> reporter: but his resume is not one of just another kid. he's a motivational speaker, a fund-raiser, a unicef child ambassador, and now a published author. >> i said, well, why not give my message out to other readers, to other people, to other k

people leave home every year looking to a new start because of wars and poverty in afghanistan, sri lanka and other countries. demanding that australia and malaysia act responsibly and prevent the deal from leading to civil rights violations. nhk world. >>> before we wrap up this bulletin, we look at an attempt by singapore to enter the record books. the city state has recently built what it says is the longest table in the world. the fully assembled table, about 160 meters long was put on dism display saturday in the middle of a road. singapore hopes that the guinness world records will endorse the bid. the organizers put on the event as part of the city's food festival managing to sell 550 seats to hungry customers. >> i always wanted to come down here. so it's fantastic. i think they're doing a fun thing. this is nice. >> the organizers planned the table at 120 meters but had to limit it as demand rose. try fitting that table into your dining room. that wraps up our bulletin. >>> now let's look at the market figures. >>> hello, there. welcome to your weather update. we're looking at ch

. >> survivors of the civil war are trying to rebuild their lives in sri lanka. it is 11:00 a.m. in singapore. >> it is for clock in london. viewersoadcasting to around the world. this is "newsday." ♪ >> late night talks between the french president and german chancellor have reportedly resulted in a joint position over new bailouts for greece. an emergency summit of european leaders will begin to discuss the crisis in a few hours. it comes amid warnings that the currency is facing its greatest test to date. >> for the past year or more, whenever european leaders of that, there has been one issue at the top of the agenda again and again. that is trying to fix the euro. the survival of a single currency has been called into question. there are increasingly urgent appears for eurozone leaders to act decisively. >> they have said they will do what it takes to ensure the stability of the currency. now is the time to make good on the promise. >> all eyes are on the biggest countries -- france and germany. how much more will be spent to help solve the sovereign debt crisis? the eurozon

my name is daniel fernandez and i am an anthropologist from sri lanka and unfortunately i haven't gotten the chance to read your book and by so grateful that you have written about these normal people. one of the questions that i have -- i definitely am going to go and buy your book just so that i can read and understand it -- one of the questions that i have is for the afghan people the have gone through so much trouble with the russians being there and all the international stuff that happened and now with the united states being there. so how do ordinary people react to the presence of the united states and what is going on with karzai being against this and so forth? do the understand that we are really there to help them, or is there any kind of hostility about these other things happening? thank you very much, once again, for writing about these ordinary people who are the heroes and heroines of the world. thank you so much again. >> guest: thank you. another excellent question which is why i love c-span. i think that what fascinates me not told and are not in the headlines and are

we have been on sri lanka. we have been in haiti, sudan, lots of places talking to people, which don't necessarily share our views on that. >> woodruff: as you look at these pictures of your home country, what comes to your mind. >> i'm saddened to see the report. you just had here. i live 10 minutes walking distance from the prime minister's office and this is a lively part of oslo and knowing that norway has been attacked by somebody, it's hard to understand, all my friends in norway are still in shock. there will be some hard days to come. and we are not sure how to deal with this at the moment. and there are so many unanswered questions. why did they do this? was he alone. is it part of an international terror organization which the police say is probably not. but how can people go to bed tonight. >> woodruff: well, that's a very good question. how can people go to bed tonight. ahnders tvegard here in washington and from oslo, we want to thank both of you. and our condolences to you and your countrymen. >>

take a look at the elephant orphanage in sri lanka welcoming the newest addition.birth to the catholic earlier nearly 12 elephants have been born there--molly gave birth to the calf. a giant panda recently gave birth to two cubs they're getting really special attention to the mother is focused on the boy cubs because panda's can only raise one baby at a time the panda experts are reaping the girl cubs. researchers say that they will swap them soon said that both of them can get motherly attention. >> live picture from southern california law center was getting ready for the midnight shutdown interstate 405. the shutdown will last at least through the weekend. we will be back. hah hah the front like have to have an impact martlet the home hong disease and >> earnings have been good but remained ben bernanke says things will dip again so that is a promise the things will stay the same. >> let us look at the winners and losers, we start with the losers of dow jones. that is a fox company... >> this is a major story that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. murdoch an

internationalism and i said i've been ambassador before, that was in a nice laid-back country called sri lanka what is the one thing you think i should bear in mind while serving as ambassador having been in academia and this and that, and he said just remember one thing. i said what? he set never answer a question that begins with "if"? [laughter] >> with a group in washington, d.c. i don't have a question to you, have a question through you for which you are hearing from your citizens back in pakistan. we have a presidential election coming up next year, and i can't believe nobody in your country is paying attention at all to it. i'm thinking about the republicans, some of them are saying they are spending way too much on stuff overseas you can take that money and spend it over here to help our country through this recession. i'm curious as to what you are hearing from your country about president obama's performance should he be reluctant -- reelected. are you hearing concerns, what are you hearing about next year's presidential election? >> i'm sure that i am hearing quite a lot, but again

international, and i said i've been ambassador before but that was a very nice lady country called sri lanka. what is the one thing you think i should bear in mind while serving as ambassador, and he said just women one thing. i said what? he said never answer a question that begins with if. [laughter] >> i don't have a question to you. i the question through you. to act as a barometer from what you're hearing from your citizens back in pakistan to quit the presidential election coming up next year, and i can't believe that nobody in your country is paying any attention at all to a. i'm thinking about the republicans, some of them are saying we're spending way too much and stuff overseas. we shouldn't take that money there and spend it here and help this country to this recession. i'm curious as to what you're hearing through your country about president obama's performance, should he be reelected? are you hearing any concerns about republicans? what are you hearing about next year's presidential election? >> i'm sure i'm hearing quite a lot, but again, ambassadors are never supposed to comm

equal to the gdp of sri lanka. >> it's amazing. >> i know. >> other than flights, what can you use thoseel, can you use these? >> sure. i mean, it's essentially a credit card that's giving you travel rewards. so any purchase that you make racking up. >> let's get to the good stuff. hotel credit card is really the trick and the key to getting freeh hotel rooms. >> right. you can get a lot of bang for your buck because if demand drops then airlines are going to cut flights from the schedule but hotels don't have that flexibility. anything we can to incentivize you to stay. they will give you a third flight for free or free upgrade for breakfast, free why why. >> what are good hotel cards? >> hyatt, visa. two free nights across the world, tokyo, paris, and a lot of affordable hotels here in the united states. and it's easy to rack up points with that one. another great one that is flexible is starwood american express because starwood owns sheraton, w, weston, all levels of hotels. when you sign up to get $25,000 points, six nights of category one or two hotels. you can also apply for those

i said, i was an ambassador before in sri lanka. what should i bear in mind while serving as ambassador? he said to remember just one thing. never answer a question that begins with if. [laughter] >> i do not have a question to you, but through you, act as a barometer for what you are hearing from citizens back in pakistan. we have a presidential election coming up next year. i cannot believe nobody in your country is paying any attention -- no attention to that. we have some moneys overseas. people want to bring a tear to help our country through the recession. i am curious as to what -- brain it here to help our country through the recession. i am curious as to what you are hearing about next year's presidential elections. >> i am not sure i am hearing quite a lot. ambassadors are never supposed to comment on the domestic politics of the host country. not all american ambassadors followed that principle in other countries, but all pakistani ambassador to. -- do. let's be realistic. this is not the first time it has happened. i am