>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a

wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> france joins president obama in announcing a cut in troops in afghanistan. more than 33,000 nato soldiers are to leave. >> america, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home. >> not guilty, the controversial dutch politician fears voters walk free after being cleared of inciting people. >> welcome to "bbc world news," i'm david eades. also coming up in the program, an icon faces a cash crisis. and more kick boxing than football. america's football tournament ends in chaos.

>> hello. france has followed the american lead in announcing plans for a substantial pullout of its troops in afghanistan over the coming months. president obama said more than 30,000 troops will be withdrawn before next sumer and the french said they will follow a similar path. the taliban in the country described it as purely symbolic and that its own struggle would increase daily until all troops have gone. >> the front line of president obama's troop surge in afghanistan. it's meant more fighting there than at any time citizens war began and the number of american casualties has nearly doubled.

now president obama is saying jock not quite done but almost there. >> as a result, starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this year and we will bring home a total of 30,000 troops by next summer. >> but that's far quicker than his generals want, and -- >> we have enjoyed great success and i might add as -- at great sacrifice. many young americans have already given their lives. i would hate to see us take unnecessary risks by seeing us withdraw too early. >> but a poll shows most americans want their troops home. they are we'rey of a war whose costs keep rising. 11,000 have been wounded. it's now costing america more than $2 billion a week.

this is the memorial to the vietnam war. its painful memories still scar this country. but it's now afghanistan that is now america's longest running conflict. president obama has decided to put the home front first. >> when our union is strong, no hill is too steep, no shores beyond our reach. america, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home. >> but even after president obama's surge is over next year, twice as many u.s. troops will remain. america eswar in afghanistan is still far from over. andrew north, "bbc news," washington. >> let's go live to kabul. a report. you've been out with american and afghan troops working together. are they ready, do you think? the afghan forces, to go it alone to some extent?

>> well, i must admit more afghan officials themselves all areas are fragile, including the building of afghan institutions, the afghan, unlike the americans lack air support. there's no air support for the afghan national army. they don't have big weapons and have high de zergs rate and the high level of infiltration within the afghan security institutions and in particular in fact the afghan national army, that being said the afghan government also fears there's a huge challenge that is the issue of mistrust, corruption and not being trusted as at the local level. >> so when president karzai says this is good news. i welcome this. do you get a sense generally across the country that is a view held by many?

>> certainly not. i was speaking to a governor in the south eastern part of the country on the border where it is said it is very fragile. and the americans paid a great cost in terms of human and treasure to regain and retake a lot of those areas. and any premature withdrawal would mean that all of those gains would be lost. now, i also spoke to local afghans in the north eastern part of the country including the provinces that said americans simply aren't malicious thugs. so any withdrawal means a civil war. a blood bath in that part of the country. so afghans are very concerned. the memories of civil war are still very fresh. obviously this presence is very different than the soviet withdrawal.

but people obviously have a lot of fears. >> that assessment in the latest news. >> the foreign secretaries of india and pakistan are holding talks aimed at repairing nations. the two-day talks in islamabad are likely to focus on the disputed region of kaz mirror and other security corporation matters and an attempt to promote friendly business. >> james, a gangster has been arrested near los angeles after 16 years on the run. he is suspected of 19 murders and is 90 years old now. he was an f.b.i. informant. western governments and activists have give an guarded welcome to the release of the chinese artist after more than two months of detention. and angela merkel said it could

only be a first step and china must explain the full charges against him. the chinese government says he has confessed to tax evasion. >> the dutch far right person has been aquited of inciting hatred against muslims. the verdict was carried live on dutch television. he had described islam as fascist and compared the can you ron to hitler's mind. following the trial for us is our correspondent, and she stayed judge made it clear that his comments were within the bounds of the law. >> well, the judge, i said that one summit his comment and some of the images from his anti-islam movie were what were called crude and shocking were within the bounds of the law. especially in the context of a political debate on

multiculturalism. >> clearly the pictures in the court show as you would expect celebration from his camp. what do you think across the country, is likely to be the response to this? >> well, this has been a highly-watched trial. as you said, his supporters were happy and the complain informants are looking to go to the trial higher. but for him, this will be one more victory in his camp. for him, what the judge said was a vind indication for him. >> now for business. and business is bad. >> when you start hearing we don't have enough money to pay our workers, some say perhaps the writing is on the wall. the survival of this company,

the swedish automobile formerly known as saab. but they don't have enough noun buy components and pay its suppliers. it halted production for about seven weeks for the same problem so for a car company that makes cars, if they are not making cars, they are not making money. but they were with general motors for 10 years and didn't make a profit under that umbrella and $74 million was sfonet buy sob from general motors last year. >> so do you park once and for all? >> well, they are saying at the moment, saab that it's bankruptcy is not an option. one thought is sell the

properties and save money then rent those properties back. this possible investment with two chinese firms that may inject around $200 million into the company. but that's still very sketchy. so we're not sure about that. but we will be following up with talking with car experts coming up. >> hard to think when you look at the numbers that it actually hasn't made a profit. so it's been tough times. >> thank you. >> now colonel gaddafi has accused nato of lying when it states its doing all it can to avoid non-military targets. he made those remarks via military television. many gathered for the services of the victims from the bombing. >> an hour's drive west of tripoli, things came to a halt. nato killed 15 people here

including three children and two women. this man is one of colonel gaddafi's closest advisors, and he owned the house that was destroyed two of his grandchildren and his mother are among the dead. >> nato, you are killing our children. you are hypocrites! you are killers! >> nato pulverized the country estate on monday. it says close monitoring showed it was a command center. the family says it was their home. >> was the decision taken that killing civilians here would save others elsewhere? next comment, mourning a pregnant wife, 3-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. >> the army killed my son and my kids. what you want here? >> the deaths here raised the moral question at the heart of the nato mission in lib jay.

its mandate is to protect civilians, so is it ever justifiable to kill them? >> they say nato's objectives are clear, not protecting innocent but killing civilians and occupying this country. these who -- [inaudible] >> civilian deaths are giving those in the arab league second thoughts on the bombing. >> nato said it saveds thousands of lives and that the gaddafi regime does not. but every time a mission that's supposed to protect civilians kill them, doubts about it will grow. jeremy, "bbc world news". >> moving to syria. government troops backed by tanks have gone into a village close to the turkish border. act visits are telling us

thousands have been crossing that border into turkey. damascus is trying to quell three months of war. you're watching "bbc world news." thanks for being with us. still to come in this bulletin, fashion versus fate. while it's prove an pain for the more inventory i can't believe -- venerable traditions of thy land. >> burma's pro democracy leader has delivered a videotape to appeal for more help from the united states. it was directed towards the congress. >> he was released from house arrest from burma on november 13, 2010 as thousands of her supporters were waiting to greet her. but despite the real

possibility that she could be detained at any time again, she is determined to keep up the fight. a videotape that was recorded was aired in the u.s. congress. in it she appealed to the u.s. to support the fight for democracy no matter how long it takes. some 2,000 political prisoners are behind bars in burma. the u.s. and other countries have slapped tough sanctions on the country in the hopes of achieving their release. but she stays rulers haven't made any real changes. >> if this government is really intent on making good progress towards democracy, if its i senseya in its claims that it wishes to bring democracy to burma, there is no need for any prisoners of conscience to

exist in this country. >> it's not the first time the bureau he's democracy leader has spoken out. earlier the bbc broadcast lectures by the nobel lure yacht legislator yacht and then played them in the u.s. so far the burmese military have been willing to let her have her say, but that may not last for much longer. >> the headlines here on "bbc world news." france says it will join the united states in pulling troops back from afghanistan. the american move is going to see 33,000 soul jerez withdrawn by early of next year. and the dutch politician says his aquital on race hate charges is a victory for

freedom of expression in the netherlands. let's get a look at the headlines in sports. well, fist cuffs or football? >> we're talking about the final which took place on wednesday night. it was between brazil and uruguay. the two-legged finals and the second leg took place in brazil. this is the latest big thing in fwoob. lots of europeans looking at his movements. ended 2-1 on the night. interestingly they have not won the championship since -- they won it back-to-back in 1962-1963. but that's when pele was a player for them. so despite a bit of resurgence in the domestic league. >> don't usually get extra

time, though. >> yes. a bit of a -- i think what happened is that a fan had come down on to the pitch and thought he'd have a go at some of the visiting players and what actually resulted was a bit of a brawl. this happened between the two players. so 10-year-old fans -- i should say 10-year-old players obviously disappointed at their defeat. but it did turn a little bit ugly. i don't think it was very necessary, but in the end it was a famous and important victory. >> an inflamed passion. >> yes. >> what we get from time to time in fob. in football. >> more on our main story, quickly following the lead of the united states, france has announced it will begin a withdrawal of its troops this summer. not all of them straight away. but there are about 4,000 french troops serving right now

in the country. in paris our correspondent has been having a look into the details of the conflict. >> obviously waited until the americans made their announcement yesterday to start withdrawing 33,000 troops as you said the french doesn't have as many as the u.s. joining kabul in the east of the country. but this has been a very deadly year for the french. nine killed in the first six months of 2011. 62 french soldiers in all. i think there will be a lot of soldiers here that will have been quite pleased that they will start this drawdown. we don't know how quickly it will happen. but they will start handing over to their colleagues in 2011. so it will be completed probably by the spring next year, which will be very poohed news for president sarkozy. because of course he's facing a

presidential election. >> clashes between police struentsd in peru, there was a protest against the building of a private university there. >> police face off against student protesters, angry at the university leader they say is corrupt. demonstrators both stoned and pet tral -- petrol bombs. there were injuries on both sides and police are accused of using more than rubber bullets. the clashes had fatal consequences. >> this student says the university dean paid off members of a voting panel but the students and their family also took to the streets to protect money that illegally funded the state university. >> we have made so many scak

sacrifices for our children to study at this university. this is our right this is our university. frustration over an economic boom which has left four peruvians -- poor peruvians behind. >> the incoming head has pledged to put out conflicts like this all over the country but patience is wearing thin, and he will have to act fast. >> now some of the new additions to the center of the mass donian capital and it is 22 meeters tall, a statue of alexander the great. but greece believes this is stealing heritage and starting a row hindering macedonia's bid to become a member of the e.u. >>. a giant monument reflecting the pride of macedonia.

alexander the great, 22 meters high in gleaming bronze. this nation says it is a asserting ownership over its own hero, the ancient macedonia warrior. >> this man says it is great. it is the pride of macedonia, he says. it's our pride. >> but this giant monument goes to the heart of a far bigger row. travel farther into greece and you reach macedonia, this, once the ancient kingdom of macedonia is where alexander the great was born. here he is in the pro vinial capital. greeks revere him as their hero and says he has no link with today's slavic macedoniaens. they have argued over who has the right to use the term macedonia. greece says it is hi len i can

heritage and that the other cannot join the e.u. without -- with the name. >> in nato, they cannot go nowhere. because they should not use our name. >> after the statue was called procktive saying it will have repurr cushions. this is ancient history fueling a modern day conflict and the anger from greece may now reach a 22-meter-high peak. >> now the culture ministry in thailand had controversy after suggesting foreign tourists must resist the temptation to apply buddhist tattoos. >> now where the ancient traditions and modern desires

can coexist. >> ornate temples and graphic scenes. testaments to the spirit actual and the super natural. sacred tattoos are used to channel both. the monk infuses the design with special powers. health or wealth, concerns as relevant today as they've always been. they say the potential gain far outweighs the pain. >> the tattoo makes other people feel passionate and affectionate towards me. some girls who didn't like me before start to like me now. >> but there's a price to be paid. the recipient of the sacred tattoo must stoik a strict moral code tore power of the charm will be lost.

2r5 additionalist say that part has been lamply ignored and the body art is now ads much fashion as fate. it's not just the tattoos that are infused with magical power, objects carried for luck or protection have mystical qualities, too. >> most of these are fairly inexpensive. bureau there are some individual pieces that can sell forasmuch as $30,000. it all descends on how old they are and who made them and what particular power they are supposed to possess. but an awful lot of people in thailand buy them and believe in them from all walks of life. >> the latest edition was thailand's most oldest and popular -- this twice weekly glossy sells thousands to those at home and abroad. the am let's business is worth

hundreds of millions a year. but how does this square with thy land's image as a modern asian state? there's no contra decision diction, the editor tells me, in fact the magazine has gone high-tech launching its own ipad ap. >> collecting am lets is not just a hoppy. its an interest. we have lots of readers but they got the magazine late. now they can see it straight away on the ipad. >> the pressure and demands of modern life applies to ancient tradition. will that help keep faith alive or kill the mystique that lies behind it? rachel, "bbc news," bangkok. >> more on that story and other stories you see on this bull tin, where we can also bring

you the latest from syria where activists say troops with tanks and snipers have entered the border area. more on the website. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los presented by kcet los angeles.