11/08/2011 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today. The fightback begins. The recent

violence on England's Street will not be tolerated. That is the

message from the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. We will

track you down, we will find you, we will charge you. You will pay

for what you have done. We are sticking to our guns. It is still

plan away. The Chancellor warns that the recovery will be harder

and longer than expected. I am live in Naples, on the day that the

Italian Finance Minister promised tough financial measures to bring

down Italy's debt. The truth may be out there if you have the time and

money to look. The defence ministry Criminality, pure and simple. That

is how David Cameron has been describing the riots and looting

across England in the last week. Speaking at an emergency recall of

violence, he said -- recall of Parliament, he said the violence

would not be tolerated. He also A smash and grab raid in south

London. Today, it was the police doing it, with the cameras invited

along to witness a suspect being hauled in. They and their political

masters want the message to go alt that the streets of Britain are

back under control. To the Lord -- the law abiding people, we will

protect you. If you have had your livelihood damaged, we will

compensate you. We are on your side. To the lawless minority, I say this.

We will track down, we would find you, we will charge you, we will

punish you. You will pay for what you have done. A packed house spoke

as one during this emergency session. Almost as is the country

was at war. Whatever we agree on, week by week, month by month, today

as a house, we stand together against the violence that we have

seen. They can be no excuses and no justification. This behaviour has

disgusted us all. It cannot be allowed to stand and we will not

allow it to stand. The bravery of the individual police officers

caught up in the raids was praised. But there was a widespread

criticism for the bosses tactics. The what became increasingly clear

earlier this week was that they were far too few police employed on

our streets, and the tactics they were using were not working. Police

chiefs have been frank with me about the pride this happened.

Initially, they treated this as a public order issue rather than a

crime. In the future, combating gangs would be a national priority.

Powers to reveal that -- to remove pace -- face marks would be used.

Today, the MP for Tottenham spoke out about the anger of his

constituents. 45 people have lost their homes in Tottenham. They were

carrying their children in their arms. Their cry is "where was the

police?". Thousands of police would be kept on the streets. One by one,

officers are identifying those who should be brought to bear stairs.

Politicians united to condemn the violence, but they were divided on

the future of the police. With me in the studio is Phil Jones, a

writer and youth worker, and Brian Paddick, a police commissioner

turned politician. It was interesting, not a great deal of

discussion in the Commons today about the causes of this, but they

were saying the looting was about theft, not politics. The you agree

with that? I think what happened was that potential looters saw that

in Tottenham, people were able to go into stores, still things, in

front of the bullet -- police, and the police were not doing anything

about it. They thought if they could organise themselves in

sufficient numbers, they could do the same things and get away with

it. It was criminality? It wasn't part as -- part of a wider malaise

in society, and they were making a point? If that was the case, why

have we not seen looting up until now? The answer is, people wanted

to get stuck for free, and they thought they could get away with it.

Do you agree with that? Yes. I would like to make a couple of

points. What we are looking at is the end product. That is the right

and the breaking in that in those - - breaking in windows. I would like

to make a point about the pack mentality. We saw it in the 1970s

with football hooliganism. The police came down much harder in

those days. Maybe it is a question that Prime could answer. Many

people said that they went along with other people. I am the same as

the next person. I saw the pictures and thought it was terrible. But I

must come back to a point about the causes of this. I have been working

for 15 years with these people in schools and so forth. Do we want to

look at the course of why this happened or not? We can just look

at the end product. I can give you some reasons. What are the causes

behind this? When you ask me what I am a role model for, I look at the

top down for a change. Let's look at the messages we just sent out. I

am looking at the will of the Conservative MP who put a note into

-- a house for his ducks. That came from taxpayers' expenses. What

started -- startled me is that he said he was none of our business.

The young people you spoke to, what was their reaction? Can I be frank

with you? They said on a gangster's? They do not get sent to

prison. David Cameron made clear that they have been failures in the

police. Do you think if this had been addressed in a robust way, the

copycat rioting would have not happened? I don't think so. They

saw people getting away with it. We have had this before. When police

had shot someone, it deteriorates into a riot. They must have known

it was a likely outcome. They should have had police there in

numbers. If they had done that, I do not think we would have seen the

copycat riots. The water cannons used in Northern Ireland could be

used here. But the powers outlined today. Is that enough? Turning of

social networks if there is a threat? There is a balance here

between civil liberties... A lot of the people cleaning up have used

the same social networks. A thin toast -- turn of social networks is

a bad thing. The police are not using their powers responsibly.

Just a final thing for you both. In terms of parental responsibility, a

breakdown in family, how much is that relevant as well? David

Cameron talked about the broken society, a sick society. How much

does that playing it? A very interesting comment but David

Cameron made about the sick society. When I work with the young people,

should I condemn the the single parent who does her level best day

in day out to keep these people under -- keep these people out of

trouble? Or should I can Ben -- condemned the parents? They need

support. The support is being taken away. Just a final point on that

one. A point on social housing. already have things like acceptable

behaviour contracts, where people signed to say that the children

will obey the law, and if not, their tenancy will be in jeopardy.

I don't think we should do it after event -- after the event, but if we

make it clear that good behaviour is a condition of it, then that is

good. Thank you very much for talking to us. Plan A is the only

plan for the UK. That was the message from George Osborne today,

Op one admitted and that Britain's economic recovery would be harder

and take longer than before. Yesterday, the Bank of England cut

its growth forecast from 1.8 % to 1.5 %. The main risks to the UK

economy came from abroad, including the euro-zone. Recoveries from this

kind of debt driven balanced Street during the recession would always

be difficult, but the whole world now realises that the huge overhang

of debt means that the economy -- the recovery will take longer and

be harder than anticipated. It is a dangerous time for the economy. We

should be realistic about that, and we should set our expectations

accordingly. George Osborne also highlighted the confidence -- the

lack of confidence in eurozone countries to pay off their debts

has spread. Today, the Italian finance minister called for tough

austerity measures over the next two years to balance Italy's budget

by 2013. Gavin Hewitt is in Naples. All day, Italians have been

scanning the papers and the wires trying to find out what they will

be experiencing in the future in terms of austerity measures. One

idea is to raise the retirement age for women. The big question

hovering over Italy is this. From in order for Italy to tackle its

gigantic debt. The market is the financial corruption that Italians

fear. On the streets of Naples, everything is marked down. The

problem could -- the problem for the government is that the debt has

reached 1.8 trillion Euros. Silvio Berlusconi is having to examine a

range of austerity cuts. Take this resort just outside Naples. For

many, the time spent scanning the financial pages. The manager sums

up his frustration. Whatever they decide to do, they will never be

fired. They can steal, they can go on sick leave for as long as they

want, and it is very difficult to fire them. For 10 years, Italy's

growth has been anaemic, but the debt in comparison to Germany has

sharply increased. This ship -- this shipyard has gone are idle.

The work has gone to Croatia. TRANSLATION: I feel humiliated. I

am losing the will to live. This woman understands only too well the

lack of growth. She is part of the 60 % of young people without work.

TRANSLATION: I live with my mother, and she is helping me. But it is

difficult because I and 25. I want to have a family, but I cannot,

because I don't have a job. southern England -- in southern

Italy, many of relied on the black economy. As regards future growth,

it is unlikely to get above 1%. So, the big fear remains that Italy

will not grow fast enough to bring down its debt. The markets fear

that as well. The European Central Bank is intervening, helping to

drive down Italy's borrowing costs. But that can only be a short-term

measure. It is a holiday time, and the Neapolitans are at the beach.

But a cultural revolution is threatened. Even if that is done,

with all the likely social tension, it is still difficult to see this

There is a lot of grim economic news here but it is not the whole

story. I am joined by President of the high-tech district here in

Naples. Tell me what you are experiencing here in terms of what

Italian companies are up to at the moment. The hi-tech is certainly

one of the biggest areas through the Italian economy, also the local

economy. Five years ago I was there in the east of Naples, now 65

industries are connecting them, working with big projects in the

space sector. Invest that 45 million euros. I used seemed grows

amongst these high-tech companies? Is this something, if you like, the

green shoots in Italy? Sure. Sincerely, the high-tech is the

first step to the attack and to create a big world to the crisis.

But it is important that the industries, the company's,

interconnect with each other and work with big projects, and in this

context, the support of the institution is very important. The

municipality, the province, the Union of enterprises. I was going

to ask, what do you see as the key in order for Italy to grow again,

bring down its debt? The key is the system, the networking, the

corporation. To do big projects together. And to have new ideas. To

believe in these big projects. And now there are 65 industries that

are connecting with each other in the aerospace sector, and they have

projects. In the past, Italy has had some world-beating companies.

You have fantastic designers in the country. What is the mood in the

business sector with all this focus upon Italy's debt? The new idea.

And also the skills. The two strength are the excellent

technology and the skills. In our high-tech world, there are 4,000

work units, 18% degree. Thank you. Whilst all this focus has been here

on Italy, there is another country which is hugely important to the

eurozone crisis, and that is France. But shares, particularly in French

banks, were down today. And there are lots of stories about what may

be happening to French growth. I am joined by our Paris correspondent.

What are we likely to here about what is happening to French

economic growth? We have figures for the second quarter coming out

tomorrow, which I think we'll make pessimistic reading. We no growth

is slowing and this might compound the product -- problems we have

seen in the markets in the last two days. The French banks have

suffered. There has been lots of short selling and rumours flying

around the markets about the bank's' ability to meet financial

concerns. Exposure to countries like Italy and Greece. One of the

fundamental problems, apart from the fact that the markets do not

believe that governments are getting to grips with the sovereign

debt crisis, he is that there is just not a lot of trust about. Some

traders today are saying they feel it is like the run-up to the layman

crisis, banks not trusting each other and not lending to each other.

Some Asian banks today cutting lines of credit to French banks, or

at least considering it. Things are problematic for the French market.

Whereas the beggars in the past was on countries like Italy, suddenly

it has returned to France. -- whereas the focus in the past.

these bad rumours or is there substance behind them, that France

may itself be in trouble in this debt crisis? Banks like BNP Paribas

or have huge exposure to the sovereign debt crisis in Italy.

They are the third biggest bank there. It is true they will be war

-- watching the cause of the Government very closely. But also

there'll wild rumours flying around as well and then maybe some

speculation -- speculators that are benefiting from that. They have

called for an inquiry by the regulator and dismissed as rubbish

concerns that one bank, for example, may need a Government bail-out. But

it shows it is just in the market. Thank you. -- it shows the distrust.

It underlines how this eurozone crisis is spreading from the

peripheral countries to the main countries in the eurozone.

Some other news. Reports from Syrian opposition groups such as

Government forces are back in the city of Hama just a day after towns

were seen leaving their. Tanks and troop carriers were seen at Carrog

-- at Saraqeeb and further south at Laksir.

The gunman who entered the Estonian Ministry of Defence and took

hostages has died. There are conflicting reports about whether

he committed suicide or was killed by security forces. It is not known

what his motives were. The people he were holding our up unharmed.

China has ordered a temporary halt to the start of new high-speed rail

projects following a fatal crash several weeks ago. Bullet trains

will travel at reduced speeds well checks are carried out.

The drugs company Pfizer has begun making payments to families in

Northern Nigeria whose children died or were left disabled by

medical trials 15 years ago. The first families have now received

$175,000 each from a $35 million compensation fund. Let's speak to

our Nigerian correspondent. Explain the background to this case. This

all dates back to a meningitis outbreak in the northern part of

Nigeria in 1996. An horrific outbreak, 12,000 people died.

During that outbreak, Pfizer, the pharmaceuticals giant, had sent a

team into the city of Kano with the aim of carrying out a trial of a

new medicine they were testing called drove round. Those tests

took place in a hospital, involving 200 children. -- a drug called

Trovan. The children were given the established medicine and driven. In

the months that followed, it emerged 11 children had died and

many more had been disabled or disfigured. It is not men and

bitches contested as to whether it was directly as a result of those

trials but what we saw was a protracted legal process which then

took place with the family's in the trials sieving of Fraser both in

Nigeria and in the United States. In -- several years ago there was

an out-of-court settlement involving Pfizer and the

governments. No liability was accepted on the part of Pfizer but

they agreed to pay $30 million to establish a hospital in Kano state

and to establish this fund of $35 million which would act as

compensation for those people who had been effective in the trials.

That is what we have seen today take place in Kano. The first

groups are being paid at $175,000 each. They are the first four of

what could be up to 200 people being compensated.

The latest batch of UFO files released by the National Archives

in Britain contain sightings of mysterious lights over the

Glastonbury rock festival, a flying saucer over a town hall and

evidence from an RAF fighter controller. The Government files

detail how much the authorities did or did not deal with the reports.

Very few of the reports were investigated because civil servants

decided it would be a waste of time and money. Let's speak to the man

who used to run the British Government's UFO programme. What a

title, UEFA programme and the Ministry of Defence! Is it all

Chinese lanterns and trick photography? A lot of it was and

that is why in 2009 the MoD axed the UFO projects because it was

difficult to justify spending public money on it. How much money

was being spent? Very little because most of the things you need

to investigate properly, like checking radar tapes, getting the

photos and videos analysed, you already have that capability.

officially, the MoD always pooh- poohed UFO reports. Was that

reflecting what was going on inside your department audit some people

think there might be something in it? Interestingly, while the policy

with the media and the public was to downplay this issue and say it

is of no defence significance, these documents show that certainly

when we had more interesting sightings, reports from pilots,

military personnel, we did investigate, but Joe Public and the

Chinese lanterns, probably not. you believe in UFOs? I think there

is life out there. Or whether it is visiting, I do not know. I would

like to think so. What were the most credible reports you saw?

had a case from 1980 when something actually landed in a forest. The

defence intelligence staff found radiation levels significantly

higher than the background readings at this landing site, so something

happened. So what was the plausible reason given? There is no

explanation. We simply said this was one of the 5% of cases that we

could not explain, and rather like an unsolved crime, until and unless

some new information came in, it just sits on the file unexplained.

So officially, briefly, there is life out there? Probably! Thank you.

A quick reminder of our main news. The British Prime Minister at David

Cameron has told parliament that riots and looting of the kind that

spread across England in the past week will not be tolerated. He said

there is no excuse for what he called opportunist thugs. He blamed

a culture in which children were not draw right from wrong, rather

than poverty. The Italian finance minister has

told parliament that Government costs will be cut, state companies