20/02/2012 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Tim Willcox. Getting ready to

burn the midnight oil in Brussels. EU finance ministers wrestle with

bail out number two for Greece, but how much more pain can - or will -

Greeks take? More clashes between protestors and

police in Senegal, as demonstrators vent their anger at President Wade

going for a third term in office. What a difference a year makes. On

the anniversary of Misrata's rise against the Gaddafi regime in Libya,

people go to the polls in local elections.

Also coming up in the programme: One step closer to ridding the

world of polio. A special report on the immunisation programme that's

helped India become polio-free in the last year.

India used to have more polio cases than anywhere else, but political

will, resources and dedication have finally wiped it out. And meat, but

not as we know it. Test tube burgers could soon be on the menu.

How appetising a solution could it be to feeding the world's growing

Hello and welcome. It looks like it's going to be another long night

in Brussels. EU finance ministers focus once again on Greece's second

massive bail out. After weeks of increasingly fraught negotiations

it does now look as if the deal might go ahead. The stakes couldn't

be higher and among the big questions preoccupying finance

ministers tonight, will political leaders in Athens stick to their

promises and will it be enough to stave off default later in the

year? Here's Matthew Price in Brussels. The mood has changed in

Brussels, as thaeriefd Europe's finance ministers all made it clear

that they expect this deal to go through. The chairman of the

meeting saying it has to be concluded now. Greece saying

they've done enough. The EU's chief economics official indicated he did

expect the deal to go through. But that wouldn't be the end of the

eurozone's problems. I trust tonight we can then turn the page,

turn the corner and move from stabilisation to what's boosting

sustainable growth and job creation. Because that's what is really

needed in Europe now. The package, without which Athens will go

bankrupt in mid-March, is centred on a �110 billion bail out fund.

Much of it will go towards financing a deal that will see �83

billion of Greek debt written off. Private lenders will see a

reduction of 70% in the money that they've invested in Greece. In

Brussels there is a sense that this deal will finally go through. The

French Finance Minister has said if it doesn't, there is a risk of a

systemic crisis across the eurozone. So here, they will say that they

have rescued Greece, once again. Yet, at what cost to the people of

Greece? In Athens overnight, there was more violence, more protests

against what Greece is being asked to do. And on the streets this

morning, a sense that the public sector job cuts... Minimum wage,

simply won't work. TRANSLATION: No matter how many

loans we receive, if we don't start producing something to be able to

stand on our own two feet, we will never have recovery in Greece.

TRANSLATION: Even if they cut all pension, all benefits from the

unemployed, from disabled people etc, the problem will not be solved.

It's a dead end. Some believe this deal saves Greece, others fear the

cuts are so deep that its people will bear the cost for a generation.

Penny Marinou set up her own business after working at the Greek

Economics Ministry for many years and joins us now from Athens. And

Wolfram Schrettl, a Professor of Economics at the Free University of

Berlin, is also with us. In whose best interests, do you think, is

this second bail out package, the Greeks or Germany and the eurozone?

In neither's interest I would say. So what it does, it buys again time.

It avoids disorderly default. What it does not get for both Greece and

the rest of the eurozone massive growth in Greece that. Cannot be

achieved by this austerity programme. So Greece is entering

its fifth year of recession. Is the Greek economy still going to

contract further despite this bail out, this won't kickstart any

growth, is it? Certainly not. What it may do is stop the decline. That

is not enough for what we need right now. The only medication that

would really achieve the goal is that Greece steps outside the

eurozone for a transer to period, recovers quickly, following

devaluation and then re-enters. Just like Estonia entered

undramatically, Greece should exit. You know the Greek people extremely

well, how much more can they take of these austerity measures?

Describe what's happening to ordinary, middle-class Greeks and

the pain they're going through. Well, for middle-class and lower

income Greeks it's really very difficult. They've come to the

point where their income is just about enough to cover living costs.

Of course, I suppose that these austerity measures were necessary,

but they haven't been accompanied by some development measures.

That's the problem. Because even if the government tries to get income

from taxation, there's no income left to tax. So we're going round

in a vicious circle I would say. was covering the confidence vote

last year, and all the demonstrations and the mass public

General Strikes, then a lot of people said they wanted to stay in

the euro. Has that changed? I don't think so. I really believe that the

majority of Greeks want to stay in the eurozone. And in Europe.

Professor, does that surprise you, because from what you're saying it

looks as if default is inevitable at some stage. No, it doesn't

surprise me at all. I mean, in all countries, where there was a

devaluation of the currency, the avoidance of the devaluation was

made a matter of national pride and dignity. This was so in the Asian

crisis. It was so in the Russia crisis. Then President Yeltsin said

there wouldn't be devaluation. But this is a mistaken understanding of

dignity and pride. It harms the country, though. We have the

private write down for private investors as well. How much of a

schism is there between Angela Merkel and her Finance Minister

about the best way forward, because there's a row at the moment about

the ECB not wanting to write down its Greek holdings at 70%, which

all the others are having to do. don't want to comment on the schism

between Chancellor Merkel and the Finance Minister, but they both...

Why not? Just let me complete that. They were united in the original

sin of saying under no circumstances will Greece exit the

eurozone. That was the original mistake and we're suffering from

the consequences of this. Whether or not they are now divided is

unknown to me. I see. Thank you. Just a final thought, what do you

think the ultimate long-term impact of this is going to be? Do you

think there will be a change, perhaps, in Greek public opinion

and they'll say yes, we will take these cuts, take this austerity,

rather like the Irish have done, but they don't have the same

export-led economy like the Irish, or do you think there will be mass

demonstrations and none of this will ever get through? I think

there will be mass demonstrations but things are getting through at a

slow pace, I would say. And many Greeks believe that the only way to

change things in this country, where there are so many things

wrong so to apply a really strict programme and change the way the

Government functions. You can't imagine what problems we have in

this country. Everything is wrong. All the public services don't work

properly. Nothing works properly. It's you know, a mess. OK. Well,

thank you both very much. Let's look at the day's other news:

Experts in the UN atomic energy agency are visiting Iran to find

out more about the country's nuclear programme. Their arrival

coincided with an announcement from Tehran. Its military has launched a

four-day exercise to test the defences of its nuclear sites.

Security forces in Nigeria say they have killed eight militants in the

north-east. They say they were part of an Islamist sect. Explosions

were heard coming from a market in the centre of the city. Three

government soliers were injured in the shootout.

Reports from Syria suggest government troops are preparing for

another assault on Homs. There already been rocket attacks. China

has warned that any Western support for the opposition could lead to

Civil War. Senegal's President, Abdoulaye Wade,

has accused opposition parties of planning violence to disrupt next

Sunday's presidential election. Opposition candidates called for

further protests against the President's decision to run for a

third term. He says he wants to finish what he kaulds hills grand

projects. At least six people have been killed since demonstrations

began late last month. Mike Wooldridge reports. Religion

entering into the volatile situation in Senegal. People

gathered at this mosque in the capital Dakar, angry that during a

demonstration on Friday, the security forces had fired a tear

gas grenade into the building. A new confrontation develops. The

original incident has drawn in members of Senegal's largest Sufi

brotherhood. "We're very upset because the police desecrated the

mosque. This act is hurting us a lot. It's a spiritual place. Even

our colonisers have never dared resort to such profannity", this

man says. As rocks were hurled and tear gas fired once more, for the

fifth consecutive day, the government sought to limit the

damagelet the interior minister offered sincere apologies for a

tear gas canister going off inside the mosque and urged politicians

not to hold protests in the vicinity of mosques. Feelings are

running high. "We speak in the name of religion, not only in the name

of Muslims or the brotherhood. We live together perfectly with

Christians. Once you start attacking the church and now it's

the turn of our brotherhood, what's it going to be tomorrow?"

The clashes on the streets of Dakar and other towns began last month.

After 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade won the backing of

Senegal's top legal body for his intention of seeking a third term

in the presidential election which takes place next Sunday. There's a

two-term limit for leaders, but Mr Wade argued that his first term

doesn't count. In a country with a reputation for stability and for

pioneering democracy, Mr Wade's spokesman accused an opposition

candidate of recruiting a militia to provoke chaos and make Senegal

ungovernable. Today France, the former colonial power expressed

deep concern over the rising tensions. It was exactly one year

ago today that the Libyan city of Misrata rose up against Colonel

Gaddafi, coinciding with that anniversary, it's been voting to

elect a local council, the first major city in Libya to hold

democratic poll since the fall of Colonel Gaddafi. He banned

elections as an invention of the West. A new 28 member council will

help rebuild the city. Dr Fawaz Gerges joins us live now. These are

local elections, aren't they, but maybe a dress rehearsal for the

ones in the summer, what does it say about the unity of the country

do you think? Not much, Tim. It's too early yet. It's an important

milestone on the road to establish a legitimate government, legitimate

institutions. This is the first free poll in more than 30 years.

There's a great deal of excitement. It's a rehearsal, a trial, before

national elections take place later this year. But the turnout hasn't

been as great as many people had hoped. Between 30 and 40 or 50%.

There's not much excite as -- excitement as there was in Tunisia

and even Egypt. In this sense, it's the first step. As you also

suggested Misrata was one of the cities that was besieged by

Gaddafi's forces for several months. Heavy fighting left deep scars in

Misrata, so in this sense, the elections to choose 28 members,

local council members, is a very important event. But there are many

challenges. Among those the path to democracies. The challenges

surround the NTC itself. I wonder what your thoughts are about the

process they are making. They are now talking about having their own

party and seem to be doing things by decree rather than overt

democratic process. You're absolutely correct. You put your

finger really on some severe challenges facing Libya. First of

all, there's a great deal of tensions and cleevages. Not much

has taken place in the sense of building a centralised government.

Local militias, ironically, Misrata militias are some of the most

notorious in the country. They have refused to leave Tripoli. Several

of the Misrata militias. Human rights organisations, American and

Western organisations have accused the militias in particular, Misrata,

of torturing hundreds if not thousands of the former regime

suspects. Some of the suspects also have been killed. But the biggest

question, the biggest challenge facing Libya is to basically

establish a unified government, to create unity out of the multiple

local identities. You have Misrata, Ben gauze yay, Tripoli, this is --

Benghazi, Tripoli, this is, they have a long way to go. Will that

happen? It will take a long time. This is the first step in a one-

A sudden thaw has sent blocks of ice down the Danube river,

destroying boats and floating restaurants in Belgrade. Debris was

scattered through the ice for more than a mile. Many boats were sunk

while others were left stranded on the river bank. At least 20 people

have died in Serbia during the recent cold snap.

Movement on the Danube at last. After over a week off a big freeze

on much of the river, a rise in temperatures over the weekend has

caused at the thaw. But it was so sudden that it brought large chunks

of ice, some of them 30 centimetres thick, crashing into hundreds of

boats. Temperatures in Serbia rose from minus 20 Celsius last week to

10 degrees on Sunday. TRANSLATION: Nobody expected that

this could happen. It started suddenly and this is it.

We had not seen weather like this in a long time. People were relaxed.

The boats stayed there. The icebreakers did not remove the ice

on time. The floating ice also snapped and

broke her ankle lines. Several restaurants and bodes settled on

the riverbanks. There was concern that the melting

snow and ice could overflow. But the river's water levels are lower

than normal because of a drought last year. This has made flooding

unlikely. Polio is one of the world's oldest

and most crippling diseases. Scientists now think they could be

close to eradicating it. The virus, causing paralysis, affects mainly

children under five. India has been free of polio for over a year

thanks to a programme. A correspondent has been in Delhi.

Just two drops his all it takes to prevent polio. Now imagine

repeating that 170 million tines, tracking down every young child

across India. Then you begin to get an idea of what it has taken to get

rid of polio here. The mark on the finger shows they have received the

vaccine. What has been achieved is

remarkable. In the used to have more polio cases than anywhere else.

But political will, resources and dedication have finally wiped it

out. The volunteers here are from

Britain, members of Rotary, a network of professionals. Rotary

has been at the forefront of the fight against polio for a

generation. They have raised money and awareness.

My dream is to have a polio free world. We have done it with

smallpox. We are very close now. We are on the last days, I hope.

nurse and I bet to make babies daily. Coming here and doing this

is just an extension of that. I love people and I want to seek help

the children. This hospital still has a backlog

of patients paralysed by the virus. He will have four operations...

This by caught polio as a baby. He will need many surgeries before he

can walk. It is painful to see the suffering.

It is painful to see everybody so far around it. If the world can be

rid of polio, it will be the greatest thing I can dream up for

stud polio used to spread pm through raw sewage and water, but

the virus has disappeared because enough people are protected.

India has shown eradication is possible. But the war is not won

yet. India's polio Free staters is under

threat. Pakistan and Afghanistan and Nigeria all saw an increase in

cases last year. This virus respects no borders. That is why it

is vital that massive immunisation campaigns like this continue until

every child in every country is protected.

Poorly run immunisation programmes and families who refuse the vaccine

are what is preventing those countries from matching India's

success. It will take unswerving commitment of the sort seen here if

this disabling disease is to be consigned to history.

Now, we usually think of burgers as a cheap, fast food - but what is

the environmental cost? One Dutch scientist has spent thousands of

Euros on creating a burger in a test-tube, created entirely from

artificial meat grown from stem cells. Are signs correspondent has

more on this Petri dish of the day. This is a strip of muscle grown

from a stem cell taken from a cow. In a few months, it will be part of

the world's burst synthetic hamburger. The strip is one of

thousands grown in a laboratory in the Netherlands. Researchers plan

to make these strips with layers of fat to produce the most expensive

and high tech fast-food meal in the history of the world. For now,

though, the scientist behind the project will have to make do with

today's fast food. He is in Vancouver at a scientific meeting

to sell his vision of the future. My dream is to produce meat that

tastes and looks exactly like this. You will not be able to distinguish

it from the livestock meet. But you know now that it is produced in a

very animal friendly and whizz off friendly way.

Stem cells can be taken from -- and resource friendly wave.

Stem cells can be taken from the real thing.

So what do they think of the plan at this store in Vancouver? I don't

think it is a good idea. Why is that? It just does not make sense

to me. There's nothing better than natural meat. That is what we have

been raised on our whole lives. We know where the farming comes from,

who is processing it for us. But in the future, that natural

meat could become too expensive. Buying meat in supermarkets is

something that we take for granted nowadays. But not for much longer,

according to some economists. They believe that because of rising

demand from India and China, meat prices are set to soar. Most of us

will not be able to afford it. We have about 1 billion people who

are undernourished on the planet. As we push it towards 9 billion

people by 2050, we will need to produce more food. Right now, there

are a number of countries that are developing, and as their economic

situation improves, they demand for meat improves.

This professor hopes the technology will one day help to feed an ever

growing and increasingly hungry world.

Let's talk to Tim Lang, the best of Food Policy at City University in

London. -- Professor of Food Policy. Is the solution to the growing

world appellation here? I noticed that the doctor called it

his dream. You could call it a dream for some and a nightmare for

others. We need to undertake this. It is clearly very amazing

technology, but let's not get too excited. This is a mystery funder.

We don't know who it is who has put up a course of a million Euros, a

large amount of money. -- a quarter of a million Euros. It is going to

take months to turn this into something resembling a hamburger.

The doctor was saying that this is about feeding the population of the

future. Actually the problem in the world of food is about a quarter of

humanity over eating, not under eating. There's aim -- a mild

distribution of food. That is the question. But this raises questions

about ethics, environmental footprints and so on. The

fundamental issue is this this switch of power. This is a switch

away from nature and growing as that clip said. It is about cows

and animal growing in nature, fed by farmers being replaced by

factories. Aren't you painting a romantic

picture of modern farming and processed meat? This may sound an

appetising but much of factory farming is unappetising as well.

That is the point I'm making. This is a twist in the tale of Western

food. To sell it as the moral case for feeding the world is frankly

nonsense. I'm sorry, but current methods are

unsustainable, are they not? Current methods of meet growing,

yes. But it depends on how we do it. It is possible to have sustainable

use of land and animals. It is equally possible to have

unsustainable use of them. The key issue is a sustainable food system

requires a lower footprint. That means consumers eating different.

In this sense, this is a technical fix and a sideshow. But it raises

lots of interesting questions. Is it important? Not really.