:00:07. > :00:13.The Greek Prime Minister sees political support bleed away. He's
:00:13. > :00:17.in the middle of an emergency Cabinet meeting. Last week, a
:00:17. > :00:27.Europe double act thought they'd saved the day. Now, it's no longer
:00:27. > :00:33.
:00:33. > :00:43.Greece but the eurozone they Welcome to GMT. I'm George Alagiah.
:00:43. > :00:47.Also in the programme: from the 20th richest to the most
:00:48. > :00:51.unfortunate, Bill Gates makes the case for development funding.
:00:51. > :00:54.The case that's lifted the lid on corruption in top level cricket.
:00:54. > :01:02.Three Pakistani cricketers and an agent jailed in London for their
:01:02. > :01:05.It's midday here in London. 8pm in Hong Kong. 1pm in the southern
:01:05. > :01:10.French resort of Cannes, where the G20 summit has been all but
:01:10. > :01:14.eclipsed by events elsewhere. Notably, the Greek capital, Athens.
:01:14. > :01:20.The Greek Cabinet has been in emergency session. Prime Minister
:01:20. > :01:24.George Papandreou is watching his political support ebb away. He was
:01:24. > :01:27.due to meet the Greek President after the session. The uncertainty
:01:28. > :01:31.in Athens spells danger for the eurozone as a whole. So, the G20
:01:31. > :01:36.summit that was supposed to show a united front in the face of a
:01:36. > :01:40.global financial crisis, finds itself in fire fighting mode. And
:01:40. > :01:46.it's not at all clear that they are succeeding. We'll be hearing from
:01:46. > :01:56.Cannes in a few moments. First, joining me from Athens is
:01:56. > :01:56.
:01:56. > :02:00.Nicolas Sarkozy arriving at the summit in Cannes, appearing to bear
:02:00. > :02:04.the weight of the crisis hanging over the global gathering with
:02:04. > :02:13.relative ease. Eventually, his expression giving away the scale of
:02:13. > :02:18.the task ahead of him and fellow leaders. Behind the welcome, the
:02:18. > :02:28.leader of the world's biggest economy, recognition of hopes of
:02:28. > :02:29.
:02:29. > :02:33.rescuing global recovery. The most important aspect of our
:02:33. > :02:37.task over the next two days is to resolve the financial crisis here
:02:37. > :02:46.in Europe. Nicolas Sarkozy has shown extraordinary leadership on
:02:47. > :02:51.this issue. I agree with him that the EU has made some important
:02:52. > :02:57.steps towards a comprehensive solution, and that would not have
:02:57. > :03:02.happened without his leadership. But here at the G20 we will have to
:03:02. > :03:08.flesh out more details about how the plan will be fully and
:03:08. > :03:15.decisively implemented. A wish to pay tribute to the United States
:03:15. > :03:22.for understanding about all the issues will be discussing, in
:03:22. > :03:27.particular, the issue of the Greek crisis, the difficulty the euro is
:03:27. > :03:33.facing, the need to be hand in glove with the United States.
:03:33. > :03:38.the deepening Greek drama, now a new twist from the Greek Finance
:03:38. > :03:48.Minister. The country's position within the euro area, he said,
:03:48. > :03:51.
:03:51. > :03:54.In Greece, much exasperation over the way the crisis is unfolding
:03:54. > :04:00.since the Prime Minister made his shock announcement he would hold a
:04:00. > :04:04.referendum on the Greek bail out deal. This is a disaster for our
:04:04. > :04:13.country, this man says, all of Europe has the euro, why should we
:04:13. > :04:18.go back to the drachma? Euro? We have become accustomed to it, says
:04:18. > :04:24.this man. What is this? In the latest and most critical
:04:24. > :04:27.development, the expectation in Athens is George Papandreou will go
:04:27. > :04:33.to the President imminently saying he is standing down and asking that
:04:33. > :04:43.a coalition deformed. The question then is how the deepening drama in
:04:43. > :04:44.
:04:44. > :04:47.Athens will influence events in the eurozone and in Cannes.
:04:47. > :04:53.George Papandreou has been discussing his options with some of
:04:53. > :05:00.his colleagues in Cabinet, many of whom do not support the referendum
:05:00. > :05:09.plans. Our correspondent says George Papandreou is expected to
:05:09. > :05:15.meet the President in the next half hour. Sources inside the Cabinet
:05:15. > :05:18.are suggesting George Papandreou oak well offered to resign and form
:05:18. > :05:25.a coalition government, a new government of national unity, and
:05:25. > :05:29.he will propose Lucas Papdemos would head that coalition. Lucas
:05:29. > :05:34.Papdemos is a former governor of the National Bank of Greece, deputy
:05:34. > :05:37.at the European Central Bank. The aim would be foray coalition
:05:37. > :05:42.government to vote through the bail out deal agreed in Brussels last
:05:42. > :05:46.week, and then call early elections. Greece has been thrown into an
:05:46. > :05:55.intense period of political instability to add to its financial
:05:55. > :06:04.predicament. Tanya Beckett is at the summit in
:06:04. > :06:11.Cannes. In many ways, Nicolas Sarkozy might as well tear up
:06:11. > :06:16.whatever agenda he has and start again. It is really about Greece.
:06:16. > :06:21.Yes, it is, very difficult to put an agenda together or adjust an
:06:21. > :06:25.agenda went for events are moving so fast. I guess that he would be
:06:25. > :06:31.very happy now to see that there might be a little bit more
:06:31. > :06:35.uncertainty -- certainty, because if a national unity government
:06:35. > :06:39.would stick to the bear that which has been put on the table, at least
:06:39. > :06:46.that would suggest there is some prospect of a bit more certainty in
:06:46. > :06:54.the markets and that would stop contagion spreading through the
:06:54. > :07:00.resign -- the eurozone. Let us make no mistake, we can talk about this
:07:00. > :07:07.being to do with the eurozone, but the Chinese other, America, they
:07:07. > :07:13.all have a stake in making sure that this crisis does not spread?
:07:13. > :07:16.Yes, they do. In the case of China, its exports a great deal to the
:07:16. > :07:21.eurozone and would not want to see a loss of economic power in the
:07:21. > :07:26.eurozone because that would affect China's economic growth. By the
:07:26. > :07:31.same token, they are very unwilling to invest in solving this crisis,
:07:31. > :07:36.put money on the table, when they really do not know what It is a are
:07:36. > :07:43.investing in. The point at which we were discussing the possibility of
:07:43. > :07:50.Greece leaving the eurozone, we are not talking about 50 sent but a
:07:50. > :07:56.100% right down of Greek debt. Greek coffers would not extend to
:07:56. > :08:06.covering foreign exchange risk, with a jack man depreciating. You
:08:06. > :08:13.
:08:13. > :08:21.can assume -- with the drachma. Fresh elections could occur in
:08:21. > :08:30.Greece within weeks. Let us go back to Athens now where
:08:30. > :08:33.we are joint by the Greek joint President of the British Hellenic
:08:33. > :08:41.Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for being with us. Events are changing
:08:41. > :08:46.so rapidly. Can I ask you to say what your reaction is to this
:08:46. > :08:50.latest news, it looks as if George Papandreou is about to go to the
:08:50. > :08:55.present and say he will step down, and is calling for a coalition
:08:55. > :09:01.government? I can describe my feelings in three words. Relief.
:09:01. > :09:08.Vigilance. Hope. Relief, because this bamboozling chapter is over.
:09:08. > :09:14.Vigilance because it is a time to make it work. And hope because this
:09:14. > :09:19.magnificent country with human wealth can really make up to its
:09:19. > :09:26.obligations with the EU in the eurozone but with its citizens and
:09:26. > :09:33.further generations to come as well. Relief. Why do you think a
:09:33. > :09:39.coalition government is going to be so much better for Greece, and the
:09:39. > :09:42.eurozone as a whole. The whole of the eurozone is watching this.
:09:42. > :09:47.referred to the prime ministers expected resignation. Or at least
:09:47. > :09:54.the withdrawal of support from his own parliamentary team. This relief
:09:54. > :09:58.is explained by the fact in the past two years, Greece has been
:09:58. > :10:03.under a very heavy austerity plan which has increased massively the
:10:03. > :10:05.brain drain from the country, it has increased unemployment, and
:10:05. > :10:12.given no hope for the future because of the breakdown of the
:10:12. > :10:18.backbone of the Greek economy. For small-to-medium enterprises. Lack
:10:18. > :10:22.of liquidity. It has brought the economy to a dead end. Vigilance
:10:22. > :10:27.has to do with the kind of government of national unity which
:10:27. > :10:31.will be formed. If we just have a coalition of already existing
:10:32. > :10:37.parties, each of which will try to promote its own party purposes,
:10:37. > :10:47.then I am sure it will be back to the same point we were yesterday
:10:47. > :10:49.
:10:49. > :10:55.sooner than later. Whatever happens in Greece over the
:10:55. > :11:00.next couple of days, next couple of hours, will send shock waves around
:11:00. > :11:04.the world, starting with the eurozone. Leaders are at pains to
:11:04. > :11:13.stress they are making every effort to contain the danger of contagion
:11:13. > :11:23.from Greece. But, markets remain nervous. Joining us from
:11:23. > :11:29.Westminster is a Nobel winning economist. If getting reaction to
:11:29. > :11:33.this latest news, what you think of this latest idea of what we might
:11:33. > :11:36.be seeing in Greece, it might happen today, a coalition
:11:36. > :11:41.government rather than the government we have got now?
:11:41. > :11:46.I think it will be a very good development actually, because party
:11:47. > :11:49.politics have started interfering with the programme of reform,
:11:49. > :11:58.whether there should be implementation of this programme or
:11:58. > :12:03.not. I think, the current Prime Minister George Papandreou managed
:12:03. > :12:07.to get a very good deal for Greece at the Brussels meeting last week.
:12:07. > :12:12.And I am sure he will want to implement it. The reason he called
:12:12. > :12:17.the referendum is because he realised he was not going to get
:12:17. > :12:24.the political support in Parliament to pass it. So if he had a popular
:12:24. > :12:29.what -- popular vote in his favour he had -- he could have gone to his
:12:29. > :12:35.party. But that has backfired on him. The only way to get the reform
:12:35. > :12:41.programme accelerated his to have a government free of party politics.
:12:41. > :12:46.If you talk about this reform programme, the austerity package.
:12:46. > :12:51.The fact of the matter is that, in order to have it implemented, you
:12:51. > :12:56.do need public support, and isn't that what George Papandreou was
:12:56. > :13:03.trying to get? It is what he was trying to get and what he Apache
:13:03. > :13:07.has failed to get. The opposition of course should have given him
:13:07. > :13:15.support on the free-market reforms that he was trying to put into
:13:15. > :13:22.practice, trade unions objected. There was opposition all round. A
:13:22. > :13:27.government of national unity, a coalition government, especially
:13:27. > :13:35.under the person Lucas Papdemos, mentioned, very well respected
:13:35. > :13:42.economist, I know him very well, I think he can do a very good job.
:13:42. > :13:48.And especially what we need is for everyone to realise that, although
:13:48. > :13:54.austerity is not a good thing to take on, it is not good to be part
:13:54. > :14:03.of a reduction of living steerage - - standards, it needs to be done.
:14:03. > :14:06.Just before this crisis, Greece was living beyond its means.
:14:06. > :14:12.For the events in Greece are talking many other issues as we
:14:12. > :14:18.have been hearing. One particular group is trying to raise awareness
:14:18. > :14:21.to a side effect of the austerity drive. Oxfam says rich nations are
:14:21. > :14:26.cutting the amount of aid they are prepared to give to the developing
:14:26. > :14:29.world. Bill Gates is also at the summit to deliver a report on
:14:29. > :14:34.development financing. When I caught up with him yesterday in
:14:34. > :14:44.London, he told me he favoured a financial transaction tax to boost
:14:44. > :14:48.It's clearly a political question, and when we talk about the
:14:48. > :14:53.financial transaction tax, there's many flavours of this. What I was
:14:53. > :14:57.looking at is, are there ways for countries that are falling a bit
:14:57. > :15:02.short of their aid commitments - are there ways that they could
:15:02. > :15:05.raise money to get to those commitment levels? You know, my
:15:05. > :15:11.expertise has been being able to say if you do apply it to
:15:11. > :15:14.development aid, it's going to be a fantastic effect.
:15:14. > :15:17.Joining me now from Cannes is British actor Bill Nighy. He's at
:15:17. > :15:24.the G20 summit as an ambassador for Oxfam.
:15:24. > :15:30.Thank you for being with us on GMT. You've got the support of people...
:15:30. > :15:34.My pleasure. - like Bill Gates for more funding for developing
:15:34. > :15:39.countries, but the truth of the matter is all your voices are going
:15:39. > :15:43.to get drowned out, are they not, by this crisis in the eurozone?
:15:43. > :15:48.hope you're not correct. The system has broken down. The system needs
:15:48. > :15:52.fixing, and the Robin Hood tax could play a very important and
:15:52. > :15:57.healthy part of a new system. As you say, this is a very popular tax,
:15:57. > :16:00.and resistance to it is becoming more and more difficult, and it is
:16:00. > :16:06.supported not only by figures like the Archbishop after, the Pope,
:16:06. > :16:10.Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, a thousand economists worldwide, a
:16:10. > :16:16.thousand Parliamentarian, but also billions of people, as reflected in
:16:16. > :16:22.the protests worldwide now. I find it very moving that these protests
:16:22. > :16:27.are so dignified, restrained and so powerful. I think in all my time
:16:27. > :16:32.being involved with Oxfam and an ambassador for the Robin Hood tax
:16:32. > :16:35.this moment is most crucial and when I feel most bullish. I think
:16:35. > :16:43.resistance is now more difficult because it has been condemned by
:16:43. > :16:47.the IMF and EC. There have been feasible studies. It has been
:16:47. > :16:50.declared eminently desirable by some major figures. We'll leave it
:16:50. > :16:53.there. Thank you very much. Still to come on GMT: Three
:16:53. > :16:56.Pakistani cricketers are given jail terms for deliberately bowling no-
:16:56. > :17:04.balls in a betting scam. The judge says they have let down supporters
:17:05. > :17:10.of the game. First let's get all the business
:17:10. > :17:13.news. Susana is here. What have you got? We're really looking at all of
:17:13. > :17:17.this volatility in the bond markets because of this cloud over the
:17:17. > :17:21.whole euro project with fears the Greek Government might collapse.
:17:21. > :17:26.It's really spooking traders, and investors have pushed up the cost
:17:26. > :17:32.of Government debt, so for example, Italian debt - currently, the ten-
:17:32. > :17:42.year bond is - the yield is currently 6.4%, and usually 6% is
:17:42. > :17:43.
:17:43. > :17:46.considered very high, and one City believed it's politicians'
:17:46. > :17:51.indecision. All the talk we have seen in Cannes is politicians'
:17:51. > :17:54.indecision that's really led to this crisis. We have already seen
:17:54. > :17:59.contagion spread. That's why Italian bond yields are trading
:17:59. > :18:06.where they were. What we should have seen is 12-18 months ago,
:18:06. > :18:09.place a strong firewall around Greece than throw more money at the
:18:09. > :18:14.problem, but the lack of decision- making around Greece and the lack
:18:14. > :18:24.of commitment to just throw a load of money at the country to solve
:18:24. > :18:26.
:18:26. > :18:29.the problem. Really it does seem contagion is spreading. German and
:18:29. > :18:32.French borrowing costs has widened to a record - another sign of
:18:32. > :18:35.concern in the financial markets. Spain held a bond auction this
:18:35. > :18:36.morning. It raised $6.2 billion, but had to pay much higher interest
:18:36. > :18:39.rates. We tend to, quite often anyway,
:18:39. > :18:43.look at this kind of thing in a political way. Of course, there's
:18:43. > :18:47.business - they're watching this as much. What's the reaction there?
:18:47. > :18:51.Interestingly, we have had some numbers out from Adidas, the major
:18:51. > :18:56.sports bran, and they've actually had an extremely good year. They've
:18:56. > :19:02.come out to say that they're expecting that its sales forecast
:19:02. > :19:05.for this year will rise. Sales will be up 12% for 2011. I asked the
:19:05. > :19:09.Chief Executive Herman Hainer if the euro debt cries was having an
:19:09. > :19:13.impact on his business. I mean, there is quite a lot of uncertainty
:19:13. > :19:17.out in the markets, which definitely will not help the
:19:17. > :19:20.financial market or even the economical market if it continues
:19:21. > :19:25.because consumers will get nervous, and the consumer confidence will go
:19:25. > :19:29.down, so I definitely hope that within the summit in Cannes, the
:19:29. > :19:34.politicians will find the solution to that. Even so, Herman Hainer had
:19:34. > :19:38.told me he still believes that 2012 is going to be an extremely good
:19:38. > :19:42.year for them. They have just expanded into outdoor equipment by
:19:42. > :19:45.taking over the US firm Five Ten. So that's a new area for them, but
:19:45. > :19:49.also they're looking at the 2012 Olympics. They think that's going
:19:49. > :19:54.to be really good for them, but we don't know, of course, where the
:19:54. > :19:58.bond markets will be by then. Thank you.
:19:58. > :20:05.We want to hear what you think, so do get in touch with us at GMT. The
:20:05. > :20:08.best way to do that is to go to our website - bbc.co.uk/gmt. You can
:20:08. > :20:11.watch highlights from the programme and look back at some of our recent
:20:11. > :20:17.interviews. This is GMT from BBC World News.
:20:17. > :20:19.I'm George Alagiah. The headlines: Greece's Prime Minister George
:20:19. > :20:27.Papandreou will visit the country's President shortly and offer to
:20:27. > :20:33.stand down to allow a new coalition government to take power.
:20:33. > :20:36.And there is more pressure on Greece at the G20 summit in Cannes.
:20:36. > :20:42.World leaders say the country must decide whether it wants to be in,
:20:42. > :20:47.or out, of the euro. Three top Pakistani cricketers have
:20:47. > :20:50.been jailed today for their role in a betting scam. A court in London
:20:50. > :20:56.sentenced the former captain of Pakistan's cricket team, Salman
:20:57. > :20:59.Butt, to 30 months in prison. Two of his former teammates have also
:20:59. > :21:03.been jailed, while their agent received the longest prison term.
:21:03. > :21:11.With me is the cricket writer and broadcaster Mihir Bose. Thank you
:21:11. > :21:15.for being with us. You know, this was once hailed as the gentleman's
:21:15. > :21:22.game. It's lifted the lid on all of that this is hardly that anymore.
:21:22. > :21:28.Cricket is a very moral game. To get a decision like LBW, you have
:21:28. > :21:33.to appeal to somebody else. In football, you can appeal as much as
:21:33. > :21:38.you like, the referee won't give it. The players don't appeal for a
:21:38. > :21:42.decision that is not out. Here we have a case of cheating. What is
:21:42. > :21:47.fascinating is these people have cheated - faceless cheating.
:21:47. > :21:52.Normally, the victim of cheating comes forward and says he has been
:21:52. > :21:56.robbed of eggs. But these are illegal bookmakers in the Middle
:21:56. > :21:59.East and the Indian subcontinent - we don't know where they are - and
:21:59. > :22:02.what the judicial authorities in this country have shown is, they
:22:02. > :22:05.have said the fact you have cheated in the game of cricket is
:22:05. > :22:08.interesting. The judge said they have cheated the game of cricket.
:22:08. > :22:12.In fact, they have cheated the concept of the integrity of sport.
:22:12. > :22:15.Without that, there is no sport. Isn't there a sense, though, this
:22:15. > :22:19.court case - actually, what it says is that the sport itself should
:22:19. > :22:23.have been doing more. It shouldn't wait for a London court to start
:22:23. > :22:28.sentencing people. After all, there has been an anti-corruption drive
:22:28. > :22:32.for, what, ten years? Ten years. I covered the story when it broke -
:22:32. > :22:37.the South African captain and the authorities there just had a
:22:37. > :22:41.judicial hearing. You're right it shows the limitation of sport. They
:22:41. > :22:43.don't have an Army and borders, but they manage everything. They don't
:22:44. > :22:46.need Government help. What this demonstrates is they cannot police
:22:47. > :22:50.their own. If you look at what happened, these are Pakistani
:22:50. > :22:53.cricketers playing away from home. Their board should have been proper
:22:53. > :22:56.regulations to make sure the middle man, the agent, who got the highest
:22:56. > :23:02.sentence, was not in touch with them to entrap them in whatever way
:23:02. > :23:06.- lure them. We had lots of evidence about, yet they didn't do
:23:06. > :23:11.that. The cricket authorities didn't discover it. It's our breed,
:23:11. > :23:15.the journalists, much maligned, that did a sting operation. This
:23:15. > :23:19.affects the subcontinent. Is it bigger than that or is it still
:23:20. > :23:25.really... I am told it's very widespread. I am told because
:23:25. > :23:32.cricket is breaking into 20 overs games it allows a lot of discreet
:23:32. > :23:37.moments. Six balls have to be bowled, so there aresies discreet
:23:37. > :23:41.moments that you can bet a no ball or a wide. Also, on TV millions are
:23:41. > :23:46.watching, and these glam gamblers are all there, these middlemen
:23:46. > :23:51.doing it are all there. It provides a lot of opportunity for people who
:23:51. > :24:00.think they can get away with it. Thank you very much.
:24:00. > :24:02.Let's look at the other stories making headlines.
:24:02. > :24:05.The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has
:24:05. > :24:08.told the UN that mercenaries may be trying to help Saif Gaddafi flee
:24:08. > :24:11.from Libya. Luis Moreno Ocampo called upon all states to disrupt
:24:11. > :24:16.any plans of escape by Colonel Gaddafi's second son who has been
:24:16. > :24:20.indicted for crimes against humanity by the ICC.
:24:20. > :24:23.Russia says it will try to bring home arms dealer Viktor Bout, who
:24:23. > :24:25.was found guilty in New York of agreeing to sell arms to people he
:24:25. > :24:28.thought were Colombian militants intent on attacking American
:24:28. > :24:34.soldiers. Bout was captured in Thailand in 2008 following a sting
:24:34. > :24:37.operation organised by US agents. A former Soviet military officer,
:24:37. > :24:39.Bout was dubbed the "Merchant of Death" for his arms smuggling
:24:39. > :24:42.activities. Officials in Afghanistan say two
:24:42. > :24:46.security guards died and at least four others were injured during a
:24:46. > :24:49.militant attack in the west of the country. The assault began with a
:24:49. > :24:52.suicide bombing at the entrance to a compound used by a private
:24:52. > :25:01.security firm in the city of Herat. The security firm provides
:25:01. > :25:05.logistical support to the international troops based nearby.
:25:05. > :25:10.The pilot who was forced to make an emergency landing after his landing
:25:10. > :25:15.gear failed has been talking about his experience for the first time.
:25:15. > :25:18.The Boeing 767 was en route from the US to Poland with 230
:25:18. > :25:24.passengers and crew onboard when the incident happened.
:25:24. > :25:29.It came in on its belly and skidded along the runway at Warsaw Airport
:25:29. > :25:34.with smoke sand flames licking the wings of the aircraft. The Boeing
:25:34. > :25:38.767 had circled Warsaw Airport for an hour to burn fuel before it
:25:38. > :25:42.landed. As soon as it came to a halt, the evacuation doors were
:25:42. > :25:45.opened and passengers spilled out on to the Tarmac. They'd been
:25:45. > :25:50.warned before the emergency landing that they'd have to get off as
:25:50. > :25:57.quick as possible. The pilot said he was thankful they'd all arrived
:25:57. > :26:01.savely. I felt a huge relief when the head
:26:01. > :26:06.flight attendant told me a minute and a half after we'd landed that
:26:06. > :26:10.the plane was empty. Emergency crews continued to doubt
:26:10. > :26:14.the plane with water long after it had landed to make sure there were
:26:14. > :26:21.no embers left. No-one was injured in the incident, but the captain
:26:21. > :26:26.isn't taking any credit for that. He says he was just doing his job.
:26:26. > :26:29.TRANSLATION: It's too much to say I'm a national hero. I'm absolutely
:26:29. > :26:33.sure that any of our pilots could have landed the plane and the
:26:33. > :26:37.result would have been the same, because we train for situations
:26:37. > :26:41.like this on simulators. The plane was checked before it left the US,
:26:41. > :26:45.and no faults were found, but the authorities say a thorough