:00:10. > :00:15.The world watches as Greece waivers on a political knife-edge. The
:00:15. > :00:19.Prime Minister is fighting to save his job. With the future of the
:00:19. > :00:27.euro tied to events in Athens, the G20 leaders make an appeal to
:00:27. > :00:30.Greece. National unity is key. It is really
:00:30. > :00:40.needed, a strong commitment of the main forces to solve the current
:00:40. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:51.Welcome. Also in the programme, seven
:00:51. > :00:56.workers are rescued, 50 remain trapped underground after an
:00:56. > :01:02.accident at a coal mine in China. And, the head of a report on
:01:02. > :01:09.Tehran's nuclear activities, we ask is -- is a miniature strike is
:01:09. > :01:13.getting closer. It is 12:30pm in London, and 2:30pm
:01:13. > :01:18.in Athens, where the Greek government is sunk in political
:01:18. > :01:22.chaos. The Prime Minister faces a confidence vote in parliament in a
:01:22. > :01:27.few hours. After an extraordinary series of about turns in the last
:01:27. > :01:32.48 hours, the outcome is impossible to predict. It is clear that his
:01:32. > :01:38.plan for a referendum on the latest bail-out plan seems to be off. Who
:01:38. > :01:41.will run Greece tomorrow? What will they economic strategy be?
:01:41. > :01:46.Continued deep uncertainty in the eurozone and the world economy. We
:01:46. > :01:51.will hear from the summit in France in a moment, but first, the latest
:01:51. > :01:57.from Athens. It reads, game over. After all of
:01:57. > :02:01.the uncertainty, or of the speculation of the last few days,
:02:01. > :02:06.confidence in George Papandreou is plummeting fast. All eyes are now
:02:06. > :02:11.on a confidence vote, to be held in the Greek parliament tonight. It
:02:11. > :02:15.could be tight. For now, he has a majority of two. A handful of his
:02:15. > :02:19.MPs have warned they would vote against him because of his plan to
:02:19. > :02:24.hold a referendum on the latest deal for Greece. That would spell
:02:24. > :02:28.disaster for him. But at least one of those has withdrawn her threat
:02:28. > :02:33.to rebel after the referendum idea appears to have been shelved.
:02:33. > :02:38.Speaking in parliament last night, he called for support and suggested
:02:38. > :02:42.a new national unity government could be formed afterwards.
:02:42. > :02:48.TRANSLATION: The vote of confidence is the guarantee for how we will
:02:48. > :02:52.move forward. We will discuss with the opposition parties and pour the
:02:52. > :02:57.groups as to how we can co-operate if they want to do so. With the
:02:57. > :03:03.opposition calling for him to go, any grand coalition may need a new
:03:03. > :03:09.man at the top. What is most important is to have stability. The
:03:09. > :03:15.same is also applicable for Europe. Right now, the Government is
:03:15. > :03:19.unstable, both within Greece and also for Europe and the eurozone.
:03:19. > :03:24.That is why this political crisis spreads beyond Greece. Instability
:03:24. > :03:28.here means markets elsewhere plummet, and the fear of contagion
:03:28. > :03:34.to do they eurozone countries remains high. Among ordinary Greeks,
:03:34. > :03:40.anger and frustration. I only want elections, says this man. What is
:03:40. > :03:44.going on his psychotic, a disgrace, he has to go. I want a national
:03:44. > :03:48.unity government, she says, a coalition government, with the
:03:48. > :03:53.fewest useless politicians possible. George Papandreou faces another
:03:53. > :03:58.future Test in that building behind me. Will he scraped through all be
:03:58. > :04:01.brought down by his own MPs? Whatever happens tonight, the
:04:01. > :04:06.opposition must will demand his resignation. The pressure on him to
:04:06. > :04:09.stand aside might prove too great. George Papandreou is an
:04:09. > :04:14.unpredictable bad, nobody is sure of what his next move will be. He
:04:14. > :04:24.has played a high-stakes gamble, but his luck may just be running
:04:24. > :04:33.
:04:33. > :04:43.So much uncertainty in Athens, and Let me ask you, do you believe that
:04:43. > :04:48.
:04:48. > :04:55.George Papandreou's days as Prime I do not know. I do not know where
:04:55. > :05:05.we are Donorlink, but what a sure is that all of us are surprised.
:05:05. > :05:06.
:05:06. > :05:11.Everybody wondered why the Prime Minister asked for a referendum.
:05:11. > :05:18.When we already had attention in that the society -- we already had
:05:18. > :05:24.tension. Was this necessary? That is the big question in front of us.
:05:24. > :05:33.After this, everything is open at the moment. We expect that tomorrow
:05:33. > :05:40.morning we will face a new reality. We hope that that will be in the
:05:40. > :05:47.direction to have a movement to a better Europe, to a better society
:05:47. > :05:52.in Europe. We never said that we do not accept... I want to ask you
:05:52. > :05:59.what that really means. When you cut through all of the politics and
:05:59. > :06:04.confusion, what matters is, are ordinary Greeks prepared to bite
:06:04. > :06:08.into the austerity package that is the basis of the bail-out deal? To
:06:08. > :06:18.you think you are prepared to say that you are on side with that
:06:18. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:30.We did not say anything about the deal. The loan package was accepted
:06:30. > :06:30.
:06:30. > :06:36.from all of society. What is not acceptable what these funds but --
:06:36. > :06:45.these unbalanced measures. The government only follow one strong
:06:45. > :06:52.and hard policy, and this policy was to ask for more taxes, to cut
:06:52. > :07:00.our wages and our pensions, just to change the social model that we
:07:00. > :07:06.have worked hard to build. We want to have a common policy, a fair
:07:06. > :07:11.policy, and nothing different. That is what we are fighting for. The
:07:11. > :07:21.package is acceptable, but we need additional roles, who can protect
:07:21. > :07:25.society? In the parter of George Papandreou -- party of George
:07:25. > :07:35.Papandreou, there are so many different voices. Everybody is
:07:35. > :07:42.against this policy. Thank you for joining us. Let's go to France, the
:07:42. > :07:45.sight of the G20 summit. The whole point of this summit was to take
:07:45. > :07:49.measures to reassure the world that the global economy could be put
:07:49. > :07:56.back on track. To what extent do you think they have succeeded,
:07:56. > :08:00.given what they have had to watch unfolding in Athens? They have had
:08:00. > :08:05.to put the agenda of this summit to one side and concentrate on what is
:08:05. > :08:09.happening in Athens. The nude descending on the summit is as grey
:08:09. > :08:16.as the sky behind me, they do not think it has achieved very much,
:08:16. > :08:20.hardly surprising. We have had comments from Angela Merkel, she
:08:20. > :08:25.said that the G20 has failed to agree on the extra resources for
:08:25. > :08:28.the IMF. We knew already they wanted to try to bolster the war
:08:28. > :08:33.chest of the IMF, they have not been able to come up with a figure
:08:33. > :08:40.or get any real commitment from the bigger global economies. She said
:08:40. > :08:46.that hardly any G20 countries have said they will participate in the
:08:46. > :08:50.European bail-out fund. They had planned to expand it under the
:08:50. > :08:55.agreement made last week. It is crucial they get that investment,
:08:55. > :08:59.because they are talking about a one trillion euro to cover the
:08:59. > :09:03.debts of Italy, Greece and Spain, but with no investment from outside,
:09:03. > :09:11.what will the markets make of that? Already, the euro is falling
:09:11. > :09:16.against the dollar, and we have seen the German bond futures rising,
:09:16. > :09:21.at the expense of Italian bond futures. Pessimism on the markets
:09:21. > :09:26.about what has been achieved. tempted to say, so much for the
:09:26. > :09:31.G20! The whole point was for Europe to appeal for help from the newly
:09:31. > :09:38.powerful economies, China, Brazil, and the United States, but far from
:09:38. > :09:43.being unity, it seems there is disunity. I do not think you can
:09:43. > :09:47.underestimate just how frustrated Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy
:09:47. > :09:51.are, not just with George Papandreou but also that Silvio
:09:51. > :09:58.Berlusconi. This is a really difficult relationship. They called
:09:58. > :10:02.him into a Mini summit last night, they invited Barack Obama to
:10:02. > :10:09.eyeball him, to impress on him how serious they take this. They do not
:10:09. > :10:13.feel he is getting to grips with the programme. Apparently, he was
:10:13. > :10:17.offered a 44 billion euro crutch, a credit line to support the Italian
:10:17. > :10:21.economy. He turned it down because he was frightened of the stigma
:10:21. > :10:25.that would be attached to it. He would be seen as a failure at home.
:10:25. > :10:31.He thinks there is already too much interference in Italian budget
:10:31. > :10:37.making. He turned down that credit line, but he has accepted the IMF
:10:37. > :10:40.can oversee the austerity programme they have. We will see what the
:10:40. > :10:45.Italian parliament make of that, but here, they are far from
:10:45. > :10:55.impressed. Fascinating stuff. We will keep you
:10:55. > :10:55.
:10:55. > :11:00.The other stories. Syrian tank fire killed at least
:11:00. > :11:04.two people in the city of Homs early on Friday, according to human
:11:04. > :11:06.rights activists. Violence has continued despite Arab League
:11:06. > :11:11.claims of a civilian government pledged to pull back troops and
:11:11. > :11:14.begin talks with the opposition. The United States has warned a
:11:14. > :11:18.group of pro-Palestinian activists not to try to break the Israeli
:11:18. > :11:23.blockade of Gaza. The activists from the USA and eight other
:11:23. > :11:27.countries to set sail on Wednesday, aboard two yachts, carrying medical
:11:27. > :11:33.supplies. The Israeli military have said it will not allow them to
:11:33. > :11:36.bridge the blockade. Six men who spent time in isolation
:11:36. > :11:42.on a mock mission to Mars have emerged from their cut short in a
:11:42. > :11:46.Moscow where house. For 17 months, their every team mirrored life in a
:11:46. > :11:50.real space ship. The project tested how their minds and bodies would
:11:50. > :11:53.cope on a long-haul flight. Several miners have been pulled out
:11:53. > :11:58.alive after being trapped underground following an accident
:11:58. > :12:04.as a coal mine in China. Rescuers are searching for 50 more who are
:12:04. > :12:10.still missing. Four men have died in the blast. The explosion
:12:10. > :12:15.happened in Simon Shaw, a city of 2 million people in Henan province.
:12:15. > :12:20.-- Sanmenxia are. This was the Mehmet rescuers and families had
:12:20. > :12:24.been waiting for. Miners found alive to, being brought to the
:12:24. > :12:27.surface. There was relieved applause as the men were
:12:27. > :12:32.stretchered out to waiting ambulances, and on to hospital. A
:12:32. > :12:37.couple had only minor injuries, and they managed to walk out into the
:12:37. > :12:42.daylight by themselves. Dozens more are still trapped underground. Work
:12:42. > :12:46.to find them started late last night, and continues. China has a
:12:46. > :12:51.terrible record when it comes to mind safety. Thousands die every
:12:51. > :12:56.year. But this might not be to blame for this particular accident.
:12:56. > :13:00.It is still not clear exactly what happened, but miners appear to have
:13:00. > :13:05.been trapped after a sudden explosion of rock inside the pit.
:13:05. > :13:11.That came just minutes after an earthquake that hit the area where
:13:11. > :13:16.the mine is located. At least one official linked to the events. That
:13:16. > :13:21.is to work out later. For now, those at the surface just one News
:13:21. > :13:25.of the miners' who might still be alive. The authorities say they are
:13:25. > :13:30.doing everything they can to get them out.
:13:30. > :13:35.Still to come, after much media speculation about a possible
:13:35. > :13:43.Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear installations, we will get the view
:13:43. > :13:49.from they had about the stock -- view from Ehud Barak.
:13:49. > :13:56.First, the business news. So much talk still about instability inside
:13:56. > :14:00.the eurozone. A focus on Italy. an interesting twist. On Wednesday
:14:00. > :14:05.evening, the Italian government held another crisis meeting about
:14:05. > :14:08.their structural reforms. The reason they held that was that
:14:08. > :14:13.Silvio Berlusconi could arrive at the G20 put something on paper,
:14:13. > :14:18.something concrete to show the leaders. But nothing came of that
:14:18. > :14:22.crisis meeting, so Silvio Berlusconi arrived empty-handed.
:14:22. > :14:26.The IMF and the European Commission announced today they are going to
:14:26. > :14:32.monitor the Italian box, they will go through them with a fine-tooth
:14:32. > :14:36.comb, in particular, the pension reforms and labour market reforms.
:14:36. > :14:42.The markets are hammering Italy at the moment, the cost of borrowing
:14:42. > :14:47.is up over 6%, unsustainable. This is despite the fact that the ECB
:14:47. > :14:51.has been purchasing Italian bonds. The amount that they have acquired
:14:51. > :14:56.so far is miniscule compared to what they will have to do, despite
:14:56. > :15:02.all of the Commons yesterday, the ECB will end up being the purchaser
:15:02. > :15:05.of the last resort, they will have to go down the quantitative easing
:15:05. > :15:15.croute -- Road, and you will have to find a massive programme to
:15:15. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:23.It is going to need a massive programme, two trillion Euros, that
:15:23. > :15:30.is the debt Italy is sitting on. What about the United States? New
:15:30. > :15:35.jobs just come out? Yes, 80,000 new jobs created, we were expecting
:15:35. > :15:41.100,000. It is keeping up with the population growth but it needed
:15:41. > :15:47.more than 200,000 to keep up with the unemployment rate which is
:15:47. > :15:51.about 9%. Employers are saying we won't continue hiring into we seek
:15:51. > :15:56.steadier consumer demand. Consumers are saying, until we see more jobs
:15:56. > :16:02.and higher wages we won't be reluctant to spend. The big fear
:16:02. > :16:07.for US officials is the length of time workers are out of the job.
:16:07. > :16:11.Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve is worried
:16:11. > :16:15.reciprocal unemployment could become longer lasting. That is when
:16:15. > :16:19.people who have been out of work for more than a year lose skills
:16:19. > :16:24.and find it harder to relocate, putting them in danger of being
:16:24. > :16:27.permanently shut out of the workplace. Even Ben Bernanke saying
:16:27. > :16:30.himself, he does not expect unemployment rates to come down
:16:30. > :16:36.unemployment rates to come down until about a played 5% until the
:16:36. > :16:42.end of last -- next year. A quick look at the markets in Europe.
:16:42. > :16:52.look at the markets in Europe. We want you to get in touch with us.
:16:52. > :17:02.
:17:02. > :17:07.This is GMT from BBC World news. The headlines: Several miners have
:17:07. > :17:12.been pulled out alive after an accident at a coalmine in China.
:17:12. > :17:18.Rescuers are searching for 50 men still trapped underground.
:17:18. > :17:23.Pressure is increasing on Iran as the world's nuclear watchdog, the
:17:23. > :17:31.IAEA prepares to publish a new and critical report on to Iran's
:17:31. > :17:40.nuclear programme. There is speculation it will highlight
:17:40. > :17:49.Iran's weapons. There are reports defence minister, Ehud Barak and
:17:49. > :17:53.the Iranian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad need to talk soon. Iran
:17:54. > :18:01.insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and has warned all nations
:18:01. > :18:05.against "colliding with Iran". Is this the sound of savers being
:18:05. > :18:11.rattled or the prelude to military intervention which could grave
:18:11. > :18:16.global consequences? With me is the Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud
:18:16. > :18:19.Barak. Is this the case you are persuaded Iran's nuclear programme
:18:19. > :18:28.has reached a critical juncture and Israel will have to respond with
:18:28. > :18:32.military action? Listening to your opening remarks,
:18:32. > :18:38.the Israeli press will follow the BBC and see all these economic
:18:38. > :18:43.crisis looming large. It will draw their attention to something more
:18:43. > :18:46.immediate. The Israeli press has been reporting you and your Prime
:18:46. > :18:56.Minister, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been pushing the military
:18:56. > :18:58.
:18:58. > :19:05.establishment to draw up -- Benjamin Netanyahu. I want to see
:19:05. > :19:11.the IAEA report. If they are daring enough to tell what they know about
:19:11. > :19:16.the nuclear intentions of Iran, many in the world will realise Iran
:19:16. > :19:24.is a major challenge for any conceivable world order. It is
:19:24. > :19:28.making its best to be determined to deceive and defy the whole world on
:19:28. > :19:32.its nuclear capability. But the tone of recent statements from the
:19:32. > :19:36.Prime Minister, things that have been written in the Israeli press
:19:36. > :19:40.and taken seriously by the Israeli public suggests something has
:19:40. > :19:47.changed. One of your former political colleagues fears the you
:19:47. > :19:53.are considering what he calls a rash attack? I cannot debate the
:19:53. > :20:00.freedom of the press in Israel. This isn't the press, it is from a
:20:00. > :20:09.politician? To write and quote what ever they want, our position did
:20:09. > :20:16.not change. We think Iran should be prevented from turning nuclear and
:20:16. > :20:21.it is the opinion of basically does all around the world. I think many
:20:21. > :20:25.actions should be taken. The no option should be removed from the
:20:25. > :20:30.table. That his opposition for a long time and I don't think there
:20:30. > :20:36.is anything extremely immediate or urgent about it beyond what I have
:20:37. > :20:40.said. Nothing urgent about it? And yet you have said and so has
:20:40. > :20:45.Benjamin Netanyahu, what you have seen from Iran and the information
:20:45. > :20:53.you have about developments there, if the international community does
:20:53. > :20:59.not act soon there will be a real danger? Surely that is a -- urgent?
:20:59. > :21:03.They are trying to reach some kind of immunity by reaching a high
:21:03. > :21:09.level of redundancy and low level of an ability. They are spreading
:21:09. > :21:15.it over many sites, many places, some of them into the hills to
:21:15. > :21:21.protect it. Leaving aside the timing, do you believe a military
:21:21. > :21:26.strike on Iran could significantly derailed their nuclear programme?
:21:26. > :21:36.think any conceivable approach to delay them make sense and should be
:21:36. > :21:38.
:21:38. > :21:43.considered. I do not think moving the should be discussed in an open
:21:43. > :21:49.manner between us. To get sanctions, requires Israel to have friends on
:21:49. > :21:55.the top table of nations. At the moment you do not have many friends.
:21:55. > :21:59.Talked-about a diplomatic tsunami that would face Israel this year.
:21:59. > :22:06.His role is more isolated than it has ever been before, would you
:22:06. > :22:11.agree? We are not as isolated as some people believe. But we need to
:22:11. > :22:15.take action to avoid, first of all to follow the recommendations of
:22:15. > :22:22.the quartet, and to enter sincerely into new positions with the
:22:22. > :22:27.Palestinians about two states. on a minute, you sat in a cabinet
:22:27. > :22:32.meeting which approved 2000 new housing units on occupied land. How
:22:32. > :22:39.can that be paving the way for serious snigger situations. It is
:22:39. > :22:43.not an issue we put 2000 units within our capital city. Like
:22:44. > :22:50.London in your case, in Jewish neighbourhoods in our capital city.
:22:50. > :22:54.It is a city of three-quarters of a million. It is occupied land, the
:22:54. > :23:00.Palestinians insist until there is a freeze on settlements there can
:23:00. > :23:04.be no return to the Nicosia turntable. Why are you still
:23:04. > :23:09.standing of on settlements? These are the preconditions the world
:23:09. > :23:16.shouldn't accept from the Palestinians. I strongly recommend
:23:16. > :23:26.to however is interested, to focus on bringing both sides home to
:23:26. > :23:27.
:23:27. > :23:31.Nicosia. I was the Prime Minister of Israel 10 years ago. Followed me
:23:31. > :23:40.was a Prime Minister who built twice the pace of present
:23:40. > :23:50.construction. We did not have this issue. We did have active talks
:23:50. > :23:51.
:23:51. > :23:55.with the Palestinians happening. Now for some reason they feel the
:23:55. > :24:01.support from many countries in the world. But the winds are blowing
:24:01. > :24:05.against Israel in the international community. You announced he will
:24:05. > :24:10.stop the taxation funds go to the Palestinian Authority. If you are
:24:10. > :24:14.serious about wanting talks with the Palestinians, why are you
:24:14. > :24:19.putting off their financial supply which means they cannot even pay
:24:19. > :24:23.their own security forces? I hope this issue will be solved. Is it
:24:23. > :24:29.the wrong thing that this is what you Prime Minister, Benjamin
:24:29. > :24:34.Netanyahu has ordered? Running a Government in Israel is extremely
:24:34. > :24:43.delicate. I am asking you a simple question, do you think Benjamin
:24:43. > :24:47.Netanyahu has got this one wrong? do not give any weight to an acting
:24:47. > :24:51.Prime Minister in his role. It is about the future. I believe a way
:24:51. > :25:01.could and probably will be found once the other obstacles are
:25:01. > :25:03.
:25:03. > :25:08.removed to resume the flow of funds into the Palestinian Authority.
:25:08. > :25:17.want to promote them, you keep saying that. If they don't have the
:25:17. > :25:22.money to pay their own police how is that in his role's interest?
:25:22. > :25:26.is not in our interest they will collapse, but you may find many in
:25:26. > :25:31.the Israeli public, including the Government who believe it is good
:25:31. > :25:36.for what ever reasons. I think it is bad for his role and bad for the
:25:36. > :25:41.Palestinians. It could happen? Hypothetically it could, I hope it
:25:41. > :25:48.does not. There are many ups and downs on the road to peace. I
:25:48. > :25:53.believe the issue of funds for the security forces will be solved.
:25:53. > :26:00.Before we finish, I must turn to the Arabs bring. We have reported
:26:00. > :26:04.on new violence in Syria. All- rounder Israel there is uncertainty.
:26:04. > :26:10.Isn't it time for Israel to reach out to the Palestinians and to the
:26:10. > :26:16.world rather than hunkered down in isolation? It is an explicit
:26:16. > :26:21.objective of a Government to resume talks based on no preconditions and
:26:21. > :26:28.two states for two. I believe we can come with ideas about security,
:26:28. > :26:33.borders, refugees, even about Jerusalem and the end of conflict.
:26:33. > :26:37.If there is no way to reach an agreement, we should reassess. But
:26:37. > :26:41.the events of the Arab spring should lead us to accelerate
:26:41. > :26:46.efforts, not just with the Palestinians, but with the