12/03/2012 BBC World News

The Afghan Parliament calls for the public trial of an American soldier

accused of shooting dead 16 people. Opposition activists in Syria say

women and children have been killed in another gruesome massacre in the

city of Homs. A UN report warns that the world's

water resources are under severe strain.

Welcome to BBC World News. Also in this programme: As eurozone

finance chiefs meet to sign off Greece's second bail out, which

countries now might need help? And, a ray of hope for recovery. A

special brewery in a town devastated by the tsunami in Japan

The Afghan Parliament has called for a US soldier accused of killing

16 civilians to be tried publicly in an Afghan court. The Taliban

have vowed revenge for the deaths whilst President Obama has

described the killings in Kandahar as shocking and tragic. Grief and

anger, that an atrocity committed by an American soldier who was

there to protects them. As after begans covered the bodies of

civilians, in Washington, President Obama sought to calm a volatile

situation. He phoned President Karzai to extend his condolences

for what he called a tragic and shocking incident and backed an

investigation the.gone said was already under way.

This was an individual acting alone, not with authority. We also have

the individual, the suspect, in custody, US custody. He's being

interrogated by Army investigators as we speak.

The suspect has been described as a 38-year-old married man with

children. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan, but he

had previously served three tours in Iraq.

While that will raise questions itself, the more urgent issue is

how to stem public outrage among the Afghan people.

Last month, there were angry and fatal protects after US troops

accidentally burned copies of the Koran. Tensions had subsided. But

these murders threatened to inflame them once again and to derail

progress made in the negotiations on the future of Afghanistan.

Americans too are frustrated. The latest poll suggests that 60%

believe the war has not been worth fighting. This incident is likely

to intensify support for the withdrawal of combat troops as

early as possible. Even before the deadline is set for

2014. A NATO spokesperson promised the

incident will be thoroughly investigated and expressed deep

regret at the news of the civilian deaths. We were shocked and

saddened to hear of the shooting incident yesterday in Kandahar

province. ISAF offers its profound regret and deepest condolences to

the victims and families. We pledge to all the noble people of

Afghanistan our commitment to a rapid and thorough investigation.

Our correspondent in Kabul is Bilal Sarwary. The mood is anger and

sadness. I spoke to tribal elders who've been speaking to President

Karzai. They've asked him for an immediate end to all night surges,

as well as operations, both at the hands of Afghans, as well as NATO

forces. They are now saying that they are hoping for a very

transparent and open trial. One of the tribal elders who lost several

members of his family told me that apologies were not enough, words

were not going to bring back those who'd been killed in his family.

We've also seen, Bilal today, the visit to Afghanistan by the German

leader, Angela Merkel, talking about that deadline for troop

withdrawal potentially not being fixed and yet the weekend events

mean that obviously tensions between coalition troops outside

forces in Afghanistan and the people much more strained?

Well, this incident has made the battle for hearts and minds

extremely difficult. In the district of pung pung, it was NATO

forces that had kicked out the Taliban from this area, at least

from some of the district. The challenge now for NATO would be to

give that sort of assurance to people that it can protect while

the Afghan forces take over which will be a long time -- Panjwayi.

Activists in Syria say there's been another gruesome massacre, the

bodies of women and children have been found in the city of Homs.

Some reports suggest that up to 47 people may have been killed.

The country's state televis's blamed armed terrorist gangs for

the killings -- television. The BBC's correspondent in Damascus

gave me the latest. The opposition groups in Homs and activists are

describing this massacre as an horrific incident against women,

children and adults. They are accusing what they call the

government of conducting this massacre. They said that some

bodies were burnt alive and some others were beaten to death. There

is always more news coming out while the Government is accusing

armed gangs of doing this massacre today.

What is going to be behind this if it is the Government that's

responsible, why are they attacking women and children in this way?

Well, it hasn't been the first time where women and children have been

attacked. More than 300 women have been killed since the uprising and

more than 400 children were also killed. Remember, the first signs

of the uprising was children being arrested and tortured in Deraa, so

it's not the first time where there's been such violations

against women and children. It's not the first time this happened in

Homs. Another massacre took place against a few families. The whole

families were killed according to the opposition, killed by the

Government militias and the Security Forces.

When it looks as though the state forces possibly with moving through

different areas of the country, it's presumably impossible for the

families to flea to a safer area? There are many families who fled

and most of them went to Beirut, to Lebanon sorry and many families,

thousands of them, are also displaced within Syria, some are

here in Damascus. But it's not only Homs where families are fleeing

from, also in Idlib and other areas. Residents have had to be displaced

and moved from their own homes and the they're refugees, whether

inside or outside of Syria. Mull lamb Al Jundi is an activist and

member of the Syrian National Council. He was also in Homs until

last week. He's now in Jeddah -- Mulham Al Jundi. We woke up with

very bad news from Homs. My friend rang me, he's reporting in the area.

He said the regime are inside the area, more than 3,000 families have

left and there are only 500 left. Massacres in three houses. They

burned the bodies, killed the kids, more than 30 kids has been killed

by the Assad regime last night. This situation comes in an area

where the neighbours are together. They are robbing the women. There's

more than 25 women who've got robbed last night and still there

are around 30 missing, nobody knows where the girls are.

Is it at all surprising that this is still going on now, that there's

little that those civilians can do to protect themselves is there?

Actually, most of the families, they left that area and they're

going to another area. But it looks like the same situation not happen

in Baba Amr, the Assad regime are trying to show that they're going

inside. The families are being killed who'll stay inside these

areas. They are not trying to control, they are trying to control

the area in the same way like they did in Baba Amr.

More top stories now: Two Palestinians have been killed and

at least 25 injured in a series of overnight Israeli airstrikes on the

Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad the militant group said the two men who

died had been working for them. An Israeli military spokesman said the

airstrikes targeted a weapons storage facility and four rocket

launches sites in the Gaza Strip. The second site in the south was

also hit. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has threatened to

pull out of Europe's open border zone unless the EU does more to

stop illegal immigration. Speaking at a rally where he was campaigning

for re-election, he warned France could withdraw from the Schengen

agreement within a year. Officials in Turkey say at least 11

constructions workers have been killed in a fire in Istanbul.

A faulty heater was thought to be blamed.

You are watching BBC World News. Still to come f come: Prince Harry

ends his official tour of the Caribbean saying he had no idea his

grandmother's influence was so wide. Among the thousands of athletes

striving for a place at the London Olympics in July is Sadaf Rahimi,

the teenager is hoping to compete. Before the glory, the grind. Over

the past fortnight, 17-year-old Sadaf Rahimi has spent 12 hours

each day pursuing her dream of representing Afghanistan at the

Olympic Games. The fly weight has no opponents she

can fight back home, so she's travelled to Cardiff to gain

valuable skills. TRANSLATION: My class mate who sits

next to me says as a joke that I do not want to sit next to Sadaf, I'm

scared that she might punch me. This is where Sadaf usually trains,

at a stadium once used by the Taliban to carry out public

executions. Afghanistan may have changed since those dark days

though not completely. A man with a long beard came to the Olympics

office and said to the coach, you must not train girls, they even

called my father to threaten him, however my father is happy that I

practise boxing. Today Sadaf can join boxers from around the world

at a training camp at Cardiff university. For one of her coaches,

the progress she's making is remarkable. I love working with

Sadaf, she's a very smart person, making her a smart boxer. I love

her story and I love the things that she brings to the sport as a

boxer. I believe that already people from Afghanistan should be

proud of the achievements that she's made.

This training camp makes it more likely that Sadaf will qualify for

the Olympics, but there are no guarantees. Even if she doesn't

make it, she believes her efforts are proof that women can be the

equal of men in Afghanistan, can dream just as big.

Many Afghan girls are married by the time they reach Sadaf's age,

more concerned with parenthood than punching power. This determined

teenager has other aspirations, not just for herself.

TRANSLATION: I think I must make progress in sports. I will not

marry soon. Afghan girls should tell the people of the world that

we can progress, that women can advance as well.

Sadaf's boxing hero is Mike Tyson. She admired his work rate and

punching power. His ability to reach the top against the odds must

This is BBC World News. The headlines: The Afghan

Parliament calls for an American soldier accused of shooting dead 16

people to be put on public trial. Opposition activists in Syria say

they have evidence of massacres of adults and children in the city of

Homs. Jamie Robertson's got all the

business now. Thank you very much indeed.

Eurozone Finance Ministers are meeting in Brussels today. They are

going to sign off Greece's second 130 billion euro bail out package.

But, they will then be likely to turn their attention to the state

of state finances elsewhere in the eurozone, in particular Spain which

is set to miss its budget cutting targets this year.

They're also likely to discuss boosting the eurozone's crisis

funds from 500 billion euros up to 70 -- 750 billion euros. Forex.com

say many were worried about the size of the bail out fund? It's a

circular effect whereby the IMF won't give any more money.

Equally, Germany won't contribute more and Germany has been the

largest economy in the eurozone so their contribution is the most

important to the eurozone funds if you like on the EFSF bail out fund.

They won't contribute until they see traction on fiscal

consolidation in the eurozone countries. That's what we are

seeing now, we have seen it with Spain too. That will be very

difficult. So either Germany loosens its fiscal grip on the

eurozone or there will be problems because investors will worry the

12 months ago, a huge earthquake and tsunami hit the city of

Kesennuma in Japan's Miyagi prefecture. In the small town of

70,000 people, more than 1,000 were killed and 15,000 homes were

destroyed. So one year on, how are businesses in the area coping?

Mariko Oi went back to find out. 1,000 year-old tradition. The

making of Japanese sake starts at the crack of dawn every day. This

man's family has been in the business in the City for

generations. Their biggest challenge came last year when the

tsunami wiped out half of the city. But the wave stopped just before

reaching his factory as it stands on a hill. So within a month, he

was back to bottoming sake. He named this specially named juice a

word after a ray of hope for recovery. It was sold out

immediately. TRANSLATION: It is not just people in this area, but

people in Tokyo and other big cities that have been supporting us

as well. We are getting a lot more orders. I came here a few months

after the tsunami. Back then, this entire area was still in rubble.

Today there are still many houses which still need to be rebuilt, but

there are businesses like this restaurant which have started to

serve customers. This door survive the tsunami, but this entire ground

floor was covered in water. The owner says he thought of quitting

many times. TRANSLATION: And 69 years old, you see. I thought maybe

I should just retire, but when we reopened the restaurant people were

really happy. That is what makes me happy, too. Her I wasn't sure there

would be any customers because the City feel so empty, but we have

been really busy, especially on Sundays. But with every success

story, there are many more businesses that are still in ruin.

Critics say bureaucracy is slowing the recovery. I think unfortunately

the government speed is too slow to push through the reconstruction and

rehabilitation of the affected areas. Public funds are also slow

to reach and there is a section among the government agencies which

bring it down. 300 miles south, office workers in self the up --

Tokyo are ending their day with a few glasses of sake from the

affected region. This restaurant was built especially to donate all

the profits. It is even called reconstruction support Bach and

serves local dishes from the region. But while there cheer is felt far

in the north, locals say they need In other business news, the former

heads of Iceland's three main banks are to testify today at the trial

of ex-Prime Minister Geir Haarde in Reykjavik. The banks collapsed in

late 2008 after running up huge debts forcing Iceland to seek an

IMF rescue. Mr Haarde is on trial for gross negligence in failing to

prevent the crisis. He's the first world leader to face criminal

charges over the financial crisis. Europe's largest automaker,

Volkswagen, has proved it is more than able to weather the economic

storm circling over Europe. VW reported record profits in 2011 at

$14.8 billion. It's also announced this year's targets will match last

year's record numbers. Mining stocks are down a touch.

Commodity prices down a touch because of worries about what is

going on in China. Fears oversupply in terms of raw-material in China.

Also because of the slowdown in exports from China. That reflects

what is going on elsewhere in the world, but it is not necessarily a

good sign for the mining sector in good sign for the mining sector in

particular. That is all the business news.

Here in Britain, a High Court judge has decided that a man with

"locked-in syndrome" should have his case decided by the court. Tony

Nicklinson wants doctors to be able to end his life without fear of

prosecution. His condition means that he is physically paralysed

from the neck down, although his mind remains fully functional. We

can speak now to Tony Nicklinson's wife Jane from their home in

Wiltshire in the west of England. You are with your husband. Thank

you for joining us. Can I just ask you to explain for us why you have

wanted to fight this case? What is it you are calling for? Tony is so

disabled that he can't do anything for himself. If someone helps him

end his life, they will be charged with murder. He feels his life is

unbearable and he doesn't want to carry on any more. He says he

doesn't want to die tomorrow, but he knows the time will come when he

will have had enough of life. is your husband's reaction to what

has happened in court today? Yes, he is very pleased. He has written

a short statement. I will read it. He says... I'm delighted that the

issues surrounding assisted dying art to be aired in court.

Politicians can hardly complain about the court providing a forum

for debate if the politicians continued to ignore one of the most

important topics facing society today. It is no longer acceptable

for 21st century medicine to be governed by twentieth-century

attitudes to death. Obviously this whole case must be immensely

stressful and difficult for you, but does this have the full support

of all your family? Yes. We have two grown-up daughters, thankfully

they are old enough to understand what is going on. We are all fully

behind him. It is what he wants, it is his life. We knew this would be

what he wanted. It has come as no surprise. What has been the change

in your husband's life from before he had the stroke and now? Before

the stroke, he was a very active man, he was a bit of a daredevil, a

former rugby player. He worked hard, he played hard, he was for life and

soul of the party. We had a really good life living overseas, but now

he is totally dependent on others for absolutely everything. If he

gets a niche, somebody has to scratch it for him. He has to be

fed and wash, absolutely everything has to be done for him. In other

countries, the whole more around this varies. Would you consider

going to another country if you have to or is this something you

want to tackle in Britain? Yes. We have been in touch with Switzerland.

I think it probably would be possible for him to go there, I am

not 100% sure, but he doesn't see why he should have to go abroad to

die. He thinks he should be in his own home with his loved ones around

him. He would be adamant to carry on with this fight. He feels it is

a very important topic, and not just for him, but for other people

in his situation. We wish you the best. Thank you.

It's a "silent revolution" taking place underground. That's the

warning of a United Nations report on water which says demands on the

world's supplies are being so badly strained that a radical rethink is

needed on how to cope. The rise in demand is a result of growing

population numbers and climate change. The report is released on

the eve of the World Water Forum meeting in the French city of

Marseille. But some international aid organisations are challenging

some of the report's findings. Solidarite International is one of

them and is attending the forum in Marseille. Their director of

operations, Frederic Penard, told me earlier the report's findings

are based on the UN's Millennium Development Goals. What they didn't

say is that the figure is based on improved access water. It doesn't

mean this water is safe to drink and that is what we are challenging.

You are saying the water is not safe to drink? We don't know. The

figure doesn't allow us to know. They say improved water access,

that means protected sources of water. This is the figure they have

been using, but we don't know how long this water is going to be

accessible, we don't know if the people have financial access, we

don't know how they store the water, we don't know it if the sanitation

is going well. That means the environment around it is not very

good and doesn't allow for the water to be clean. That is still a

big challenge. Britain's Prince Harry has been

speaking at the end of his first official overseas tour, describing

it as an "emotional trip". The Prince said he'd had no idea of

Queen Elizabeth's influence on the Prince Harry has a passion for polo.

On the field are friendly encounter with an Argentine opponent. No hint

of the divisive issue of the Falklands. The aim of the game, to

raise money for his forget-me-not African charity in memory of his

mother. It didn't all go his way, though. Later the Prince talked

about how he thought the tour had gone. The warmth of reception we

have received from every single country we have been too, including

Brazil, has been utterly amazing. I personally had no idea how much of

an influence the Queen has on these countries, which to me is very

humbling. I was quite choked up at times. You can't sit there with a

stiff upper lip and not get involved. We knew from the start

these countries would be fantastic fun. I have never taken myself too

seriously. I hope everyone back home has seen it as it is. I have

had an amazing time, I have had a gas. It's the first time he has

represented the Queen abroad, but it's been such a success, there's

no doubt there will be more trips to follow.

Much more on all of that on the website. A reminder of the top

story. The Afghan parliament has called

for an American soldier accused of shooting dead 16 people to be put