02/08/2011 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, David Eades.

Washington's political stalemate is broken. The eyes are 74 and the

knees are 76. After backing from the House of Representatives, now

the Senate approves a last-minute bill to rescue America's finances.

This is however just the first step. This compromise requires that both

parties work together on a larger plan to cut the deficit, which is

important for the long term health of our economy.

Hundreds flee from the Syrian government assault in the city of

Hama. The head of the United Nations says President Assad has

"lost all sense of humanity". A new take on plastic surgery as a

British man walks from hospital The United States Senate has voted

in favour of a last-minute bill that raises the limit on national

borrowing, averting a possible debt default. On Monday, the measure was

passed by the House of Representatives after a hard-fought

compromise that split both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Officials say a default would have severely damaged the global economy.

From Washington, Steve Kingstone reports.

It has been a ferocious fight. Nerves frayed, reputation scored on

both sides. Finally, it is over. The agreement was sealed by a boat

in the Senate. Who got the better deal? Listen to the difference

between gleeful Republicans and wrote reluctant democrat. This is a

welcome change in behaviour and I gladly supported. Make no mistake,

this is a change in behaviour from spend, spend, spend to cut, cut,

cut. Almost everything else about this deal stinks and it stinks to

high heaven. It has come to this because America is deep in the red.

For every dollar that the Government spends, 40 is borrowed

money. Congress it's a seal on its spending of 14.3 trillion dollars.

This deal raises it by 2.4 trillion in return for spending cuts of at

least 2.1 trillion dollars. The White House admits that at times

this debate has resembled a circus. They know that the American public

are deeply unimpressed with the politicians. The question is, what

does it mean for the President's re-election prospects next year.

good news for the President is that he has got out of this particular

crisis before the debt ceiling happened. The bad news is that he

was completely outplayed by the Republicans, but not get anything

that he wanted. He has spent two months spending that -- signalling

that he does not have his hands around the political mass. That is

not good news with an election coming in 18 months. Markets

initially welcomed the deal. But they remain deep concerns about the

US economy. Threat of a default has damaged brand America. It was

damaged by the spectacle that they had seen in Washington of a

significant number of elected officials of this country

threatening default. It damaged the confidence. Amid all the bitterness,

Washington has produced one heart- warming sight. Congresswoman

Gabriel go-for-it return to cast a vote seven months after being shot

in head by a gunman. The moment of unity will quickly pass. --

Gabrielle Gifford. Now that the compromise deal has

been reached between the Democrats and Republicans, President Obama

will sign the bill into law at any moment. This is what he had to say

a short time ago. We have seen that Washington has the ability to focus

when there is a timer ticking down and a looming disaster. It should

not take the risk of default, the risk of economic catastrophe, to

get Faulks in this town to work together and do their jobs. Because

there is already a quite crisis going on in the light of a lot of

families and a lot of communities. While much of the attention has

focussed on who won the political battle, questions remain over what

the economic impact will be. The political agreement has removed

the immediate risk of the United States defaulting on its debts by

allowing it to borrow more money to pay its bills. But will the default

issue rear it's head again in the future? The political stalemate has

unsettled financial markets and endangered Washington's coveted

triple-A credit status. The Fitch Credit Agency today said it was not

going to cut that rating but, if any of the other agencies do, it

could make it harder for the US to borrow money on international

markets. And the cuts the deal put in place over the next 10 years has

ignited a debate in the US over whether it will affect growth in

the economy. Joining me now from New York is

economics expert and author Daniel Altman, from the Stern School of

Business at New York University. And with me in the studio is David

Buik, a financial analyst with BGC Partners. Daniel, is this a

sensible package? I did not think so. It was not necessary to do this

out. The Republicans drew a line in the sand which was not necessary.

There was no reason to go around making these cuts. It is more

important to secure the long-term security of this country by

balancing the budget further into the future, making him -- tax

increases as well as spending cuts. It feels about, nonetheless, as if

President Obama is the loser. think he probably had a better

endgame if he waited to see what would happen in Congress and step

in at the last minute to use his congressional authority to pay the

nation's debt. That would make him look more decisive. What he has

done is help Congress share some of the credit for this, when in actual

fact the deserve the blame. Some cuts there. Are the enough?

respect Daniel it enormously as an economist. -- I respect Daniel as

an economist. President Obama or inherited a shocker from President

Bush. I defy anybody to say that anybody else could have done Abed a

good job with it. There comes a time when the kissing has to stop.

I thought that the political posturing and the brinkmanship on

both parties was a disgrace. Regardless of who what -- who let

what to whom, let us look at the economics. 2.4 trillion dollars of

public spending cuts. That is showing willing. I would like to

have seen much more of a long-term plan. There is an election next

year, but not withstanding that, you have the duty of care, and I

thought at all that they had done was paper -- call that the dead was

paper over the cracks. You and I know what that that is not going to

work. Papering over the cracks need a much longer term deal. Absolutely.

I agree that the situation into there is no date was shocking. If

anything, the credit rating should have gone down then because there

but absolute credit worthiness not relative credit worthiness. We need

a long-term planning, not just in her taxes are but also an hour

spending. We need to invest more in infrastructure, scientific research,

education, the things that at -- actually enhance there economic

potential. A lot of Americans are feeding cuts. -- afraid of cuts.

What is the deal for everybody outside America? The fact remains

that the whole tax system and the Interstate system in the United

States is ridiculous. All American money goes abroad. They have 9.2%

unemployment in the United States. They have to attract that money

back from overseas, where it is earning lots of profits for various

people. It is not going back into the economy. Unemployment will

never stop. I want to see some kind of tax to encourage, together with

slightly higher interest rates, that over a period of time.

increases are verbal Tom from a Republican point of view. There are

two sides to it. We're losing the economic mobility, the ability of

people to move from lower socio- economic classes to higher ones. On

the second point, I would say that we need to be careful. Foreigners

have been happy to lend this country money enlargement at low

interest rates, even through this crisis. We did not have to draw

this line in the sand now. Thank you for joining us. Very quickly,

her much do you think has to be done by the Government now it to

get some sense that we're seeing that it come down. Now that the

political posturing is finished, it is very important that President

Obama grabs back the initiative, because he has lost it. The hat to

produce a plan that is feasible and plausible going forward. It has to

have some serious cuts in public expenditure as well as increasing

the debt ceiling. That has to be done in conjunction.

The crackdown in Syria goes on. In the central city of Hama, one of

the symbolic homes of the anti- regime protests, the tanks which

have killed up to 140 people in the past two days remain in place as

the residents flee. It has become a familiar pattern in a country where

demonstrations have so often been crushed by military action. The

United Nations Secretary General, Ban-ki Moon, said President Assad

had "lost all sense of humanity". Our world affairs correspondent,

Mike Wooldridge, reports. Amateur video said to show the

scene today. Serbian forces are attempting to tighten the noose in

and around this city with a tradition of defiance. -- Syrian.

Reports today speak of tanks and troops advancing further and taking

up new positions. A resident told the BBC that the a authorities were

trying to stop people attending prayers. The army are trying to

scare the people from going out. They do not want us going to the

mosques. The will shoot at anything that is moving around. Protesters

say that they are not ardent. But the state television version of

events purports to show armed men taking part. It is becoming

increasingly apparent that this has been one of the most violent

periods since the uprising started in March. Condemning what he called

the unacceptable repression of anti-government protests, the

Italian government today recalled its ambassador. The European Union

has now extended sanctions to Syria's Defence Minister and other

security officials. Broader international action has so far

been much more elusive. In the UN Security Council, Britain, France,

Germany and Portugal are pushing to revive a resolution condemning the

crackdown. Yesterday, Russia asked Saudi it to stop using force. China

has in the past made it clear that it would block a legally binding

resolution. It is more likely that the resolution -- that they will

agree on a statement. I feel it is a battle for the regime's survival.

They are fighting for their political survival in this country.

The government is only too well aware that Ramadan it provides act

at -- inability -- an opportunity for people to gather. Well, in

response Italy today withdrew its Ambassador to Damascus, citing the

'horrible repression of the civilian population'. Joining me

now from Rome is spokesperson for the Italian Foreign Ministry,

Maurizio Massari. What effect is the removal of your ambassador

going to have? It was meant to be a strong political gesture from the

Italian government as a response to the repression of the so billion --

civilian population in Syria. We hope other states will all suit.

The message seems to be that they are not particularly interested in

doing that. That is true, but we'll see in the next few days. At the

same time, we do hope that the political pressure, particularly

from the UN Security Council, will increase, as we stress that this is

not only an Italian, European or Western issue. It is an issue that

is of concern to everybody. problem with the UN, when you refer

to the UN and you're hopes that the pressure will increase from them,

it looks pretty toothless. The discussion at the moment is about

whether you'll end up with a resolution or a statement. It is

not cutting a lot of mustard, is For this is an incremental process,

we have seen in the last few days the position of Russia shifting, in

the sense of being much more open, calling for an end to the civilian

repression. Turkey is also -- turkey also spoke out about it. So

it is a consensus building, a diplomatic activity which is not

necessarily incremental. Do you think the Russians them are pivotal

now, towards getting something that might actually have diplomatic

cloud? We do believe that Russia is a crucial player, and the boys of

Russia would certainly be heard by other countries in the Security

Council. So we think that Russia plays a very important role. As I

said, it is an incremental process. We have not given up hope, and we

will continue to strive to make sure that the international

community bogy of a strong and firm response to this horrible massacre

against civilians. In other news, the Israeli

government says it will postpone a planned increase in fuel prices as

part of an effort to tackle the biggest popular protest in decades.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to

protest against the soaring price of fuel, housing and basic services.

Benjamin Netanyahu has set up a taskforce to live into their

demands, but has warned against what he calls quick-fix solutions.

Police in Norway have admitted being in possession of a recording

between Anders Behring Breivik and officers during the massacre on

July 22nd. According to local police, he called to tell them that

his mission was accomplished. The chief prosecutor declined to

comment on the content of the call. A man who threw a plate of shaving

foam at Rupert Murdoch during recent parliamentary hearings on

phone hacking has been sentenced to six weeks in jail. Jonathan May-

Bowles pleaded guilty to assault. He is a 26-year-old comedian also

known by the stage name Jonnie Marbles.

Barclays Bank has announced plans to cut at least another 1,400 jobs

by the end of the year, bringing the total to 3,000. The bank's

half-year profits have fallen by one-third. It is blaming part of

the drop on having to set aside funds to compensate people who were

sold payment protection insurance falsely.

The United Nations is warning that more than 500,000 people are now at

risk of starvation across East Africa, with more than 12 million

in need of urgent help. Famine has been declared in parts of Somalia,

there are fears it will spread unless there is a huge increase in

aid. Andrew Harding reports from Mogadishu.

Visiting Mogadishu? It is best to be prepared. We are heading into a

city that has forgotten the meaning of safety. Near the front lines, we

find the famine's latest fugitives, tens of thousands have come here

seeking food and hoping for security. They are in bad shape.

The familiar images as shocking as ever. Twins here, both fighting for

life. Their mothers have fled from terror Tory controlled by the

Islamist group Al-Shabab. -- terror Tory. The militants killed my son.

They tied him up, then shot him, because he was carrying a bag of

food aid and they said it came from the in Fidel's. The world is

getting more supplies into Mogadishu now, soup kitchens in

every district. But it is not here that Somalia's famine has been

defeated. This is an almost impossibly difficult, dangerous

place for foreigners to operate. You can see how much security we

need just to move around the centre of the city. And the real battle

now is to find a way to move across to the nearby front lines and get

the age to where it is needed the most. Here is one way. UN Food

blocked by Al-Shabab is handed over to trust of local charities that do

have access to the out Somalia. Everybody knows that we can get

food to anywhere in the country. this could be the solution? This

could be the solution to end the famine, in a way. One of them.

needs are certainly over whelming here. But the politics are messy.

Somalia is not an easy place to help.

The former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due to go on trial in

Cairo on Wednesday, five months after he was ousted from power. He

will be tried alongside his sons, his former interior minister and

other officials accused of corruption, and ordering the

killing of protesters. There are still doubts over whether he will

actually appear in court. He used to dominate Egypt. But now,

Hosni Mubarak's face inspires the demonstrators, who keep coming back

to Tahrir Square. Night after night, they have demanded the former

President should be brought to justice for the deaths of

protesters who battled to overthrow his regime earlier this year. In a

tented city, they maintained a vigil for weeks. Mothers whose sons

were shot. TRANSLATION: I need revenge, she told me. I want

justice for my tum -- son, from Hosni Mubarak and everyone

responsible. But many of the shootings happened that night. The

gunmen were hidden in the shadows. The firing was almost certainly

coming from government agents, but no one knows precisely who. So will

the prosecution be able to cope responsibility on Hosni Mubarak?

Apparently, he claims he did not know what was going on. He

certainly is not used to having to answer for his actions. You could

not dream of ever seeing him so held responsible for corruption, or

for any of the abuse its that he personally oversaw and enabled.

Egyptians have already seen the fall of Interior Minister. The

crowds gave him a hostile reception when he appeared in court in Cairo

last week. Will Leitch at's military rulers really subject

their former leader to this sort of ideal -- ordeal? Will be he plead

ill health? Many people are stacked -- sceptical. He was an army

officer, he was the air force commander. And there is a sort of

mentality in the army, in the commanders, that they should not be

humiliated. On Monday afternoon, the army and police moved in again

to clear protesters from Tahrir Square. They must know that the

demonstrators will almost certainly be back in large numbers if Hosni

Mubarak fails to appear in court tomorrow. So the police and the

army are back here in force. Egypt is still very tense and very

divided. How this trial is handled could be very important as to

whether there will be future conflict ahead.

In a major medical breakthrough, a 40-year-old father who was

critically ill has become the first person to leave hospital with a

plastic heart. Matthew Green has been given an artificial implants

to keep him alive as he waits for a suitable donor. The operation was

carried out at Papworth Hospital. David Shukman reports. Meet the

first man in Britain walking with a plastic heart. Matthew Green, with

his wife and some, and a bag that has become a new and essential

member of the family. The device that is keeping Matthew alive. Tell

me a little bit about how it is extraordinary device will change

your life. It will revolutionise my life. Before, I could not walk

anywhere, I could hardly climb the stairs. I went out for a pub lunch

over the weekend, and that is the alarm, it just shows that you

pressure is a bit high. This is the kind of plastic heart, with four

valves and two pumping chambers, fitted inside Matthew's chest. The

blood flows through these dudes under his skin, and I've just below

the ribcage. Normally, this would have to be driven by a huge bomb in

hospital. What is new is that Matthew has been given one of these,

a portable pump. It is not light, seven kilos, but it does mean he

can get out and about. This animation shows a plastic heart

beating in slow motion, doing the job of a real one. But it is not

meant to be permanent. The surgeon who fitted a hard at Papworth

Hospital says the aim is to buy time for Matthew while he waits for

a human heart to be transplanted. The longest a patient has received

and been supported by one of these machines is three years. So it does

provide medium to long-term support. And this is very important, because

it buys us more time. To find a suitable heart. The latest figures

show that 132 people in Britain are hoping for a heart transplant. But

on average, they wait six months, and while they do, 15 % of them

died. So the option of fitting an artificial heart may be critical.

But there are risks. They are almost certainly safer than a hard

they are replacing, but they have problems. There are risks of blood

clots and infection. But we know how to reduce those risks.

Matthew Green and his family, the little bag carrying his new heart

offers a new lease of life. His big hope is to go for a bike ride.

A reminder of our top story: The US Senate has voted in favour of a

last minute bill that raises the limit on national borrowing, and

averts a possible debt default. The vote came hours before a deadline

to reach agreement. Officials say a default would have severely damaged

the global economy. That is all from the programme, Next, the

from the programme, Next, the Tomorrow is the last very warm and

humid day before big changes arrive in our weather, from Thursday

onwards. But if you are a fan of the warmth, and if you can put up

with the humidity, it is a day to take advantage of it. Although this

weather front will deliver some showers in the afternoon, it is the

developing system by to the West that will turn things wetter on

Thursday and cooler from Friday. In Wednesday, showers to will develop

across the Midlands, some will be heavy and thundery but they are hit

and miss. Outside of these, there will be sunny spells and it will

feel warm and humid. Perhaps even 30 degrees in the South East.

Further west, it is brighter for the time, although in the Far West,

Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, cloud will increase through the afternoon. And

rain will move in, the first signs are that Atlantic weather system I

showed you a minute to go. Elsewhere, a brighter day. 20

degrees in Belfast, though cloud will increase from the West later

in the day. And a different day to come across Scotland, drier and

brighter, 22 degrees Celsius in Glasgow. In the evening, the