:00:12. > :00:16.A video is posted on the internet which shows Syrian rebel fighters
:00:16. > :00:21.summarily executing a group of what appears to be Government soldiers.
:00:21. > :00:23.Reports that dozens of young men have been shot by the military in
:00:23. > :00:28.north-eastern Nigeria. The battle for the White House
:00:28. > :00:33.moves to a Ohio and Wisconsin with four days of campaigning before
:00:33. > :00:36.Tuesday's vote. Welcome to BBC World News.
:00:37. > :00:42.Also in this programme: In business, it's the last major economic report
:00:42. > :00:47.before the US election and it's on the big issue - jobs. And the
:00:47. > :00:57.smooth running German economy is spluttering. The latest report
:00:57. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:07.shows another slowdown in factory activity.
:01:07. > :01:11.Human rights groups have condemned a video posted on the internet
:01:11. > :01:14.which appears to show Syrian rebels executing captured Government
:01:14. > :01:18.soldiers. Amnesty International and the United Nations say that if the
:01:18. > :01:21.killings are confirmed they constitute a war crime. The BBC's
:01:21. > :01:26.Jim Muir reports from Lebanon. He told me that even though the
:01:26. > :01:29.contents of the video have not been verified it's likely to be genuine.
:01:29. > :01:34.It's clearly not the kind of video that you could fake. You would have
:01:34. > :01:40.to be very good actors to play those parts. Basically, it shows,
:01:40. > :01:43.as you say, a group, a large group of gunmen, obviously in a state of
:01:43. > :01:48.some excitement, herding and pushing something like a dozen,
:01:48. > :01:51.perhaps ten army soldiers who have been captured in this unfinished
:01:51. > :01:54.building which was presumably acting as a reserve for a
:01:54. > :01:58.checkpoint there, pushing and shoving and kicking them, forcing
:01:58. > :02:03.them to the ground and eventually opening fire. You can see the
:02:03. > :02:07.building there, it's kind of an unfinished building, the kind of
:02:07. > :02:12.troops manning a checkpoint would be resting and sleeping. The
:02:12. > :02:16.prisoners are herded and pushed and kicked and shouted at. Then the
:02:16. > :02:20.fighters open fire. You can see, I don't know how much you are going
:02:20. > :02:24.to show of it, but you can see the bodies twitching as bullets are
:02:24. > :02:28.pumped into them, ugly scenes indeed. The kind of thing that has
:02:28. > :02:33.already drawn condemnation from international and local human
:02:33. > :02:42.rights groups. Reminiscent rather of video that appeared a few months
:02:42. > :02:49.ago from Aleppo where a group of rebel fighters summarily executed
:02:49. > :02:52.some pro-Government militia who they had captured and that
:02:52. > :02:56.similarly drew condemnation and action from the rebels themselves,
:02:56. > :03:01.most signed up to a pact of honour or agreed principles which would
:03:01. > :03:03.ban this kind of behaviour. Now the group that's being blamed or
:03:03. > :03:11.certainly alleged that it is responsible for the killings that
:03:11. > :03:15.you are seeing there, is a group, an extremist Islamist group that's
:03:15. > :03:20.joined in on the ground alongside the other uprising groups. It is
:03:20. > :03:24.being blamed for this particular set of killings. Hillary Clinton,
:03:24. > :03:27.the US Secretary of State, has warned these radical types of
:03:28. > :03:32.fighters are are trying to hijack what's going on in Syria, what
:03:32. > :03:37.response has that drawn? Well, it's not gone down well by the
:03:37. > :03:41.opposition as a whole. Even the head of the Syrian National Council,
:03:41. > :03:48.the main umbrella group basically said that it's very unfair for the
:03:48. > :03:50.Americans and others to criticise the opposition for allowing
:03:50. > :03:56.Islamist extremist fighters to join in the fray. They're saying these
:03:56. > :04:00.people have given us nothing, the outside world, they're desperate to
:04:00. > :04:03.have anti-aircraft weapons which -- with which they could defend
:04:03. > :04:06.themselves against the regime's air power but they've not been
:04:06. > :04:10.receiving arms or support, practical support, from the west in
:04:10. > :04:14.that way. Jim Muir reporting.
:04:14. > :04:24.The BBC has heard allegations of dozens of young men being shot by
:04:24. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:26.the military in north-east Nigeria. The killings reportedly happened on
:04:26. > :04:30.Thursday in an area called Maiduguri. An iman there told the
:04:30. > :04:33.BBC that he had seen the bodies of almost 50 young men with gunshot
:04:33. > :04:35.wounds. However, the military said it was not aware of the deaths. Our
:04:35. > :04:40.East Africa correspondent is following the story and told me
:04:40. > :04:44.more. We have heard from an imam who has given a vivid account of
:04:44. > :04:48.what happened, he says on Thursday, after prayers. He says he was
:04:48. > :04:52.basically arrested by soldiers along with his children and forced
:04:52. > :04:56.to go to an open field. He says many people were gathered there. He
:04:56. > :05:00.then says a kind of screening process went on, people's photos
:05:00. > :05:06.were taken and they were checked against a database and then the
:05:06. > :05:10.group was separated and a number of young men were put to one side. He
:05:10. > :05:16.says he was then told to look away. He heard gun shots and four of his
:05:16. > :05:21.own children were shot right there. He says he then went to the the
:05:22. > :05:31.morgue and saw 48 bodies of young men who he says had been shot by
:05:32. > :05:39.
:05:39. > :05:43.the military. I have also been speaking to somebody in Maiduguri
:05:43. > :05:47.who saw dead bodies. Amnesty International was releasing a
:05:47. > :05:57.report saying the Army and other arms of the security forces were
:05:57. > :06:00.
:06:01. > :06:08.responsible for gross human rights violations.
:06:08. > :06:18.The. The US jobs figures released shortly will be crucial to the
:06:18. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:26.campaign. The aftermath of Storm Today the final broad snapshot
:06:26. > :06:29.before polling day of the state of the American economy. The October
:06:29. > :06:34.jobs figures will feed into an election in which economic recovery
:06:34. > :06:38.has been a key, if not the key issue. In September the
:06:38. > :06:42.unemployment rate fell below 8% for the first time since Barack Obama
:06:42. > :06:47.took office but despite that the presidential race remained too
:06:47. > :06:51.close to call. Will any benefit for Mr Obama for that trend last?
:06:51. > :06:54.Today's figures were predicted to show a slight rise again in
:06:54. > :06:59.joblessness. This against the background of
:06:59. > :07:04.estimates by some economists that the clearing up and recovery after
:07:04. > :07:07.superstorm Sandy could cost up to $50 billion. People on the East
:07:07. > :07:11.Coast are still struggling to adjust and in parts of New York
:07:11. > :07:16.frustration is growing. We are going to die, we are going to
:07:16. > :07:20.freeze. We have 90-year-old people. The pace of recovery clearly
:07:21. > :07:27.quicker in some places than others. Millions still without power and
:07:27. > :07:31.motorists queuing for hours to fill up. The endorsement of Barack Obama
:07:31. > :07:34.in the race by New York's politically independent mayor
:07:34. > :07:37.Michael Bloomberg, a potentially significant moment. He says the
:07:37. > :07:41.storm and climate change have made the stakes in the election even
:07:41. > :07:46.clearer. The campaigning now back in full swing, with those most
:07:46. > :07:53.affected by the candidates sparring over America's economic performance,
:07:53. > :07:56.now watching the new joblessness figures as they weigh their votes.
:07:56. > :08:06.Let's get more on our top story, the alleged execution of a group of
:08:06. > :08:07.
:08:07. > :08:15.Syrian Government troops by rebels. Joining me now from Beirut. What's
:08:15. > :08:20.your response to this video? Well, the video, the footage shows rebel
:08:20. > :08:24.fighters rounding up and summarily executing more than 20 Syrian
:08:24. > :08:29.soldiers. The rebels abused the victims physically and verbly
:08:29. > :08:37.before the massacre, kicking them repeatedly. This comes after rebel
:08:37. > :08:44.fighters take over a checkpoint west of the town. This act is
:08:44. > :08:54.condemned by all international laws and by the main principles of the
:08:54. > :08:57.Syrian people. This will not pave way for Democratisation in Syria
:08:57. > :09:02.and will obstruct the process. groups like yours which are opposed
:09:02. > :09:06.to the current regime, doesn't this make opposition to the Government
:09:06. > :09:11.very, very difficult because it shows the rebels are acting in a
:09:11. > :09:17.way the UN is saying is going to be seen as a war crime? Of course it's
:09:17. > :09:22.a war crime and this is very dangerous for the country, the
:09:22. > :09:25.opposition are using the same methods that the regime is using,
:09:26. > :09:30.then we will - we are not fighting the methods, we are only fighting
:09:30. > :09:34.the people, which means that the places will change and names will
:09:34. > :09:39.change but the methods of torture and killing and detaining will
:09:39. > :09:43.still be the same. Who do you blame for the fact that this sort of
:09:43. > :09:46.violence now has spread to the rebel groups? Do you believe it's
:09:46. > :09:49.Syrians who are responsible for this or outside groups who are
:09:49. > :09:58.responsible? What about those countries who are funding the
:09:58. > :10:01.rebels? I think hold responsibility of where we have reached today,
:10:01. > :10:06.because Syrians have been witnessing a lot of killing which
:10:06. > :10:12.makes them - which makes sort of reaction towards the violence
:10:12. > :10:18.inflicted on them by the regime. But a foreign country is also hold
:10:18. > :10:26.responsibility because they are the ones who are supporting these
:10:26. > :10:32.groups financially and as well as the Syrian national council who was
:10:32. > :10:40.the first to support the rebel groups and army or militaryising
:10:40. > :10:43.the revolution. We are out of time, thank you very much for joining us.
:10:43. > :10:47.Now all the business news. We have been talking about jobs, we are
:10:47. > :10:53.going to get numbers from the US. Politically hugely watched. Yes, it
:10:53. > :10:57.is. I think it's watched particularly because at the moment
:10:57. > :11:07.the figures could have a bearing because the election race is so
:11:07. > :11:08.
:11:08. > :11:11.close. It will happen in under an hour's time. The US Labour
:11:11. > :11:14.Department will release its monthly update on the jobs market. It's the
:11:14. > :11:16.last report before next week's election, so it will be under
:11:16. > :11:19.particular scrutiny. Both President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney
:11:19. > :11:21.will be hoping the numbers favour their analysis of the economy
:11:21. > :11:24.recovery. Meanwhile, economists forecast that the economy created
:11:24. > :11:29.around 125,000 jobs last month. That's the figures expected. James
:11:29. > :11:33.Shugg is the senior economist at Westpac Institutional Bank. Right
:11:33. > :11:40.at the bottom of the market, we are looking for about a 30,000 increase
:11:40. > :11:44.in pay roll employment and% un-- 8% unemployment. The reason being
:11:44. > :11:49.every survey, every regional sur sraeuf we have seen -- survey we
:11:49. > :11:54.have seen for October, and the recent trend in employment has been
:11:54. > :11:59.looking too strong given the pace of growth of the economy. This time
:11:59. > :12:03.last year we occasionally got a few weak outcomes to offset that sort
:12:03. > :12:08.of overly strong jobs number that we have seen in other months and we
:12:08. > :12:11.are going to see a repeat this year. 30,000. We saw strong figures
:12:11. > :12:15.yesterday on the consumer confidence and we have also had
:12:15. > :12:19.better figures coming out of China from Asia. Surely the global
:12:19. > :12:21.economy - with the exception of Europe, of course, the global
:12:21. > :12:25.economy is beginning to roll forwards a little bit more
:12:25. > :12:29.strongly? It is but American businessmen are hugely worried
:12:29. > :12:35.about the fiscal cliff and Congress and what they're going to do about
:12:35. > :12:38.that. The automatic changes to the tax laws that come in early part of
:12:38. > :12:46.next year could push the economy back into recession, if nothing's
:12:46. > :12:50.done about it. Why would you be hiring people in that environment?
:12:50. > :12:53.They gave outlook guidance that implied they were less inclined to
:12:53. > :13:03.hire staff and worried about the outlook. American businessmen
:13:03. > :13:05.
:13:05. > :13:08.heading to the end of 2012 are not really that inclined to hire people.
:13:08. > :13:10.Europe's biggest economy is under stress. A report out this morning
:13:10. > :13:13.showed that activity at Germany's factories shrank for the eighth
:13:13. > :13:16.month in a row. The purchasing managers index from Markit also
:13:16. > :13:19.showed that new orders fell for the 16th consecutive month. The big
:13:19. > :13:21.problem for Germany is that many of its trading partners are in
:13:21. > :13:25.recession. Steve Evans is our Berlin correspondent. He explained
:13:25. > :13:29.what economists are saying about the Germany economy. There is a
:13:29. > :13:32.feeling that a recession is possible, but not likely, but
:13:32. > :13:37.certainly that the economy's slowing down. Those figures you
:13:37. > :13:41.mentioned indicate manufacturing in some difficulty and getting worse.
:13:41. > :13:47.Big fall in orders, for example, for machinery from German factories
:13:47. > :13:52.from abroad and that's the slowdown in Asia, in particular. Every time
:13:52. > :13:57.the authorities look at growth they downgrade the figure. They were
:13:57. > :14:02.expecting 1.6% growth next year. Now it's 1%. So all the figures go
:14:02. > :14:06.in the wrong direction. Unemployment this week up by more
:14:06. > :14:11.than expected. Again in the wrong direction. So the whole atmosphere
:14:11. > :14:18.is gloomy and if you look at the papers. The papers are full of
:14:18. > :14:22.economic gloom. Most expensive heating costs this winter ever,
:14:22. > :14:26.says the big tabloid. That's the sentiment, the sense of gloom
:14:26. > :14:33.pervading the whole economy and that feeds back on itself and
:14:33. > :14:36.spending then falls. Japan Airlines, the once-bankrupt
:14:36. > :14:41.flag carrier that re-listed on Tokyo's Stock Market this year, has
:14:41. > :14:44.boosted its full-year profit forecast to $1.74 billion. But JAL
:14:44. > :14:47.and rival All Nippon Airways have both said that the simmering trade
:14:47. > :14:53.spat between Tokyo and Beijing has forced them to cancel thousands of
:14:53. > :14:56.flights between the two countries. Underlying profits at Royal Bank of
:14:56. > :15:01.Scotland rose to $1.7 billion in the third quarter. The bank is
:15:01. > :15:04.undergoing a massive reorganisation following a state bailout in 2008.
:15:04. > :15:12.During the 3rd quarter it sold a third of its Direct Line insurance
:15:12. > :15:22.business and is trying to sell more than 300 branches. That's the
:15:22. > :15:26.
:15:26. > :15:31.Still to come: When I went into that Spain it was very violent, it
:15:31. > :15:36.was weigh more violent than we anticipated. We chat with Felix
:15:36. > :15:41.Baumgartner, the man who leapt from the edge of space.
:15:41. > :15:46.China is set to promote two rising stars and possible future national
:15:46. > :15:50.leaders at the Communist party congress next week. It is held only
:15:50. > :15:54.once a decade and is traditionally where the next generation of
:15:54. > :16:00.leaders are unveiled. Our correspondents have been looking at
:16:00. > :16:03.the challenges China faces over the next 10 years. Martin Patience has
:16:03. > :16:10.travelled to Hubei province to see how the Three Gorges Dam has
:16:10. > :16:15.affected people in the area. It is one of the biggest dance ever built.
:16:15. > :16:24.It stretches for over two along with tears and cost over $40
:16:24. > :16:29.billion. It was designed to tame the mighty river. With a project on
:16:29. > :16:34.this scale nobody was allowed to get in the way. When the dam was
:16:34. > :16:38.completed, these fishermen were told to leave. But they say it is
:16:38. > :16:43.the only job they know. TRANSLATION: We cannot make a
:16:43. > :16:49.living if we cannot face. We have appealed to the Government, but no-
:16:49. > :16:53.one is listening. This damn stands as a symbol of China's development.
:16:53. > :16:57.Over the last decade the scale and pace of change has been
:16:57. > :17:03.unprecedented. But the weight millions of people have been pushed
:17:03. > :17:07.aside by the Communist Party has generated enormous resentment. This
:17:07. > :17:13.man was one of the 1 million people forced to relocate because of the
:17:13. > :17:17.dam. He never received the compensation he was due. When he
:17:17. > :17:26.complained to local officials he says he was beaten, leaving him
:17:26. > :17:32.paralysed. TRANSLATION: If ordinary people cannot defend their own
:17:32. > :17:37.rights, but if Government officials follow the law, this country were
:17:37. > :17:43.changed by the better. The march of China's wealth is now flowing down
:17:43. > :17:48.the river. These people are becoming used to being better off
:17:48. > :17:54.in the cities. Many are no longer prepared to be pushed around like
:17:54. > :18:03.in the past. For the new leaders that means ruling a population less
:18:03. > :18:09.likely to follow the party line. There is full coverage of events
:18:09. > :18:16.coming up next week at the BBC News website and more coverage on the
:18:16. > :18:21.news all week. This is BBC World News, the
:18:21. > :18:25.headlines: A video posted on the Internet appears to show Syrian
:18:25. > :18:29.rebels executing a dozen captured Government soldiers.
:18:29. > :18:35.Jobs figures are out in the US very soon as the election campaigns
:18:35. > :18:40.continued. Today they move on to a higher and Wisconsin.
:18:40. > :18:44.Good news for Burma. The World Bank has approved a development grant of
:18:44. > :18:50.$80 million, the first such assistance in 25 years. The bank
:18:50. > :18:56.said it would provide a further $165 million of credit once Burma
:18:56. > :19:01.had cleared its debts. The Asian Development Bank and the IMF are
:19:01. > :19:06.also re-establishing co-operation with Berne after a year of
:19:06. > :19:13.political reform. Tin Htar Swe from the BBC's Burmese Service, tells us
:19:13. > :19:19.what the money will be used for. will be used primarily to provide
:19:19. > :19:23.financial governance to the Government and also to create
:19:23. > :19:29.conditions for growth and jobs. That is where the money is going to
:19:29. > :19:39.be spent. This is a tremendous boost to the Burmese Government
:19:39. > :19:39.
:19:39. > :19:43.because in the last 20 decades Burma has not received any
:19:43. > :19:50.assistance from financial institutions such as the World Bank
:19:50. > :19:55.and the Asian Development Bank. The military Government has always been
:19:55. > :20:00.saying Western sanctions have prevented them from getting this
:20:00. > :20:05.financial aid and it is because of that that the development programme
:20:05. > :20:09.has been postponed, or is not taking place. This is a tremendous
:20:09. > :20:15.boost to the Burmese Government and is a recognition of their reform
:20:15. > :20:20.process. China has been its main ally. In the region are other
:20:20. > :20:27.countries concerned about the growing influence of China? Or it
:20:27. > :20:31.does everybody want to invest in the country? The current Burmese
:20:31. > :20:37.Government has been very honest in a sense that they have been going
:20:37. > :20:41.around the world saying, we need foreign investment, we do not have
:20:41. > :20:48.capacity or a human resources. A lot of people are now rushing to
:20:48. > :20:54.Burma to invest. But going back to the World Bank loan, there is a
:20:54. > :20:59.clause to provide growth and conditions for jobs and they are
:20:59. > :21:03.going to provide technical assistance. This is where the
:21:03. > :21:10.Burmese Government needs to watch. It means consultancy in main areas
:21:10. > :21:17.like finance, public finance management, and these are where the
:21:17. > :21:22.consultants are required and by taking technical assistance, a
:21:22. > :21:28.hefty sum of money goes back to the donor countries. This is where the
:21:28. > :21:36.Government needs to watch and make sure the money the World Bank is
:21:36. > :21:39.giving is benefiting the public in general. Japanese officials have
:21:39. > :21:44.lodged a formal complaint with the American ambassador to Tokyo after
:21:44. > :21:49.an alleged assault on a teenager by a US soldier. He is reported to
:21:49. > :21:53.have entered a private apartments in a canal art where he hits a 13
:21:53. > :21:58.year-old boy. He then fell from a window and was taken to have
:21:58. > :22:01.hospital. This is an incident that was
:22:01. > :22:08.supposed to have happened on the early hours of Friday morning in
:22:08. > :22:16.Okinawa, and Ireland about 1000 kilometres south of Tokyo weather
:22:16. > :22:21.are several very large US military bases. In fact it is the biggest US
:22:21. > :22:26.military base in the Pacific region. A young airman left a bar inside a
:22:26. > :22:32.building, climbed up to an apartment on the third floor, broke
:22:32. > :22:37.in, assaulted a 13 year-old boy, broke a television, jumped out of
:22:37. > :22:42.the window and broke some burns as he did so and was taken back to the
:22:42. > :22:48.US-based where he is being treated. This in itself is a fairly small
:22:48. > :22:53.incident, but it comes after two weeks ago two airmen on Okinawa
:22:53. > :22:58.wire were arrested and accused of raping a young Japanese woman. They
:22:58. > :23:01.are still in police custody. Relations between the US military
:23:01. > :23:06.and the local population are extremely tense and have been for
:23:06. > :23:12.many years. This adds another incident on top of what is already
:23:12. > :23:16.a very bad situation. Three weeks ago the Austrian
:23:16. > :23:21.skydiver Felix Baumgartner leapt from a balloon at the edge of space.
:23:21. > :23:30.It broke a number of records and he became the first human being to
:23:30. > :23:35.break the speed of sound unaided. It is nearly three weeks since your
:23:35. > :23:41.historic triumph. How has your life changed since then? It has changed
:23:41. > :23:46.a lot. We did something that mattered to the whole world. I have
:23:46. > :23:51.been getting so many e-mails, pictures, drawings, from so many
:23:51. > :23:58.kids. A lot of young people say we are so thankful that you did this
:23:58. > :24:04.because we missed the moon landing back in 1969. When we did this it
:24:04. > :24:10.was their moon landing. When it comes to the preparation, were you
:24:10. > :24:14.always confidence this would actually work? There are not a lot
:24:14. > :24:20.of people who have been doing skydiving in pressure suits. It is
:24:20. > :24:27.so hard because you have a lack of mobility. I was very confident
:24:27. > :24:31.because we were preparing for almost five years. Was it a
:24:31. > :24:37.spiritual moment when you looked down on earth? Did you think about
:24:37. > :24:43.mortality? Did you think about the chances of surviving? I would not
:24:43. > :24:47.say spiritual, but I would say very humble. Because when you are on the
:24:47. > :24:57.top of the world and you stand there, you realise it is a quiet
:24:57. > :24:59.
:24:59. > :25:04.moment and you I the only person at that point. You go into that Spain.
:25:04. > :25:10.-- spin. That could have killed you, did you think you would die at that
:25:10. > :25:20.moment? When I did that, it was a lot more violent than we
:25:20. > :25:21.
:25:21. > :25:25.anticipated. I thought, I was slowing down so much, and I thought
:25:25. > :25:31.I could not break the speed of sound. Even at that moment you
:25:31. > :25:41.biggest concern was the record, more than survive in. Yes, because
:25:41. > :25:47.this is my job. NT is down! Then finally you land and everything is
:25:47. > :25:52.over. I did not know if I broke the speed of sound. There is no sign
:25:52. > :25:58.for it, it is hard to tell. But people on the ground told me they
:25:58. > :26:04.heard the supersonic boom. Did you plan to lie down like that and
:26:04. > :26:08.kneel down with your arm in the air? No, it was spontaneous.
:26:08. > :26:14.Victory appear so many years of preparation. When I was a little
:26:14. > :26:17.kid I got a client with the three astronauts on it. When I was five I
:26:17. > :26:22.always had it in my hands and I looked up to the men and I thought,
:26:22. > :26:27.how did they do it? It was very inspiring for me and maybe it is
:26:27. > :26:32.the reason why I did this. children who are five will be
:26:33. > :26:38.watching you jump and will be inspired as well. Yes, and that is
:26:38. > :26:46.a great honour. He is safely back on earth, as is this, the Space