:00:12. > :00:15.The global economy battling on all fronts. Stocks hit a one-year low.
:00:15. > :00:20.America's Fed paints a gloomy picture. And the eurozone is in
:00:20. > :00:24.crisis. Red alert. Markets plunge in Asia
:00:24. > :00:30.and Europe, as the world economy faces several threats.
:00:30. > :00:40.Greece, the central threat to the eurozone. A wave of strikes, as the
:00:40. > :00:48.
:00:48. > :00:52.government pushes even tougher Welcome to GMT. I'm George Alagiah.
:00:52. > :00:56.Also in the programme: Pope Benedict begins his first official
:00:56. > :01:00.visit to Germany. But not everyone in his home country is glad to see
:01:00. > :01:04.him. And, saving the most endangered
:01:04. > :01:07.species of sharks, one bowl at a time. A new campaign gets underway
:01:07. > :01:14.in China to persuade restaurants to drop one of the more exotic
:01:14. > :01:24.delicacies on their menus. We are doing our best to get our message
:01:24. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:32.It's 2.30pm in the afternoon in Athens. It's early morning in New
:01:32. > :01:35.York. It's lunchtime here in London, where the market turmoil is plain
:01:35. > :01:40.for anyone to see. A few minutes ago, the London exchange was down
:01:41. > :01:45.more than 4%. That followed a sea of red in Asia. In fact, global
:01:45. > :01:49.stocks have hit a one-year low. The reasons? Take your pick: a gloomy
:01:49. > :01:53.forecast from the US Fed. A slowdown in Chinese manufacturing.
:01:53. > :01:56.And, of course, the eurozone crisis. The Greek government has approved
:01:56. > :02:06.another raft of austerity measures, but faces a wave of protests from
:02:06. > :02:09.
:02:09. > :02:12.the unions. Our correspondent Mark Lowen is in Athens.
:02:12. > :02:17.Hello from the Greek capital where demonstrations and strikes have
:02:17. > :02:22.returned. Later it will be the turn of teachers and university staff
:02:22. > :02:26.who will gather in front of the iconic Greek Parliament, protesting
:02:26. > :02:31.at the austerity programme being pushed through by the Government. A
:02:31. > :02:37.new wave of social unrest has hit the country and Athens has been
:02:37. > :02:47.brought to raise standstill. After a summer lull, the strikes
:02:47. > :02:47.
:02:47. > :02:50.are back. Asos, trained empty. No sign of the attack sees. A 24 hour
:02:50. > :02:59.strike is under way in protest at the growing wave of austerity
:02:59. > :03:04.measures. The station's silent. A mixed reaction. TRANSLATION: We are
:03:04. > :03:07.trying to solve the problems of several generations. They are
:03:07. > :03:14.painful but there is nothing we can do and we will have to face it, we
:03:14. > :03:21.will have to deal with it. TRANSLATION: The best thing would
:03:21. > :03:26.be for these people who govern us today, to leave. A new round of
:03:26. > :03:30.austerity measures was announced on Wednesday. 30,000 public sector
:03:30. > :03:37.workers are to be placed on partial pay, given notice by the end of the
:03:37. > :03:41.air. Pensions will be cut by 20%. The threshold on income tax will be
:03:41. > :03:48.lowered and the controversial new property tax will continue for
:03:48. > :03:52.three more years. This is to meet the terms of the next bail out
:03:52. > :03:57.instalment. Without that, the country could declare bankruptcy by
:03:57. > :04:03.next month. The news dominated the headlines, one newspaper calling it
:04:03. > :04:08.an attack without mercy. The European Union and IMF will send
:04:08. > :04:14.officials back to Athens next week to assess progress. And decide on
:04:14. > :04:23.the next tranche of bail out. Even if that is released, many fear an
:04:23. > :04:27.inevitable default. And that would bring more crisis to the eurozone.
:04:27. > :04:30.The government is facing an increasingly difficult challenge,
:04:30. > :04:36.trying to show international creditors it is sticking to these
:04:36. > :04:41.austerity measures to meet its fiscal targets, but trying to calm
:04:41. > :04:46.the growing wave of social unrest. People feel the austerity measures
:04:46. > :04:51.are driving up unemployment and exacerbating the economic crisis.
:04:51. > :04:57.Many feel Greece is paying an increasingly large price for
:04:57. > :05:02.keeping the eurozone together. Greece is seeing a wave of protest.
:05:02. > :05:09.When does that wave of protest become what people might call a
:05:09. > :05:13.political threat? Until now, of the government has
:05:13. > :05:17.sounded a defiant note, saying Greece will push on with its
:05:17. > :05:24.austerity measures. The government is determined to see off these
:05:24. > :05:30.protests. More strikes have been called for October. We will have to
:05:30. > :05:36.see whether the protests grow to an extent the Government is threatened.
:05:36. > :05:41.In Greek politics, the government is facing opposition which says it
:05:41. > :05:45.wants to renegotiate the terms, it does not feel happy with the
:05:45. > :05:51.programmes being introduced. The government is facing a tax on all
:05:51. > :05:55.sides but it says they have the support of the European Commission,
:05:55. > :06:02.European Central Bank and IMF which was to see the country meeting its
:06:02. > :06:05.fiscal targets and the terms needed for the bail-out.
:06:05. > :06:12.Let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines
:06:12. > :06:17.around the world today. Pope Benedict XVI has returned to
:06:17. > :06:22.his homeland for his first official visit to Germany. He was welcomed
:06:22. > :06:29.by Angela Merkel at Berlin airport. In one hour he will address the
:06:29. > :06:39.German Parliament. 100 MPs has said he will boycott -- they will
:06:39. > :06:40.
:06:40. > :06:44.boycott his speech. Our correspondent is in Berlin. These
:06:44. > :06:49.protests that the MPs have been talking about, it is that reflected
:06:49. > :06:54.in the population? Will they be protests outside? I think there
:06:54. > :06:58.will be some protests outside. You must remember there will be a big
:06:58. > :07:05.mass in the biggest football stadium in Berlin of where 80,000
:07:05. > :07:09.seats have been taken. Later in the week, the Pontiff goes to the
:07:09. > :07:14.Catholic heartland of Germany in the south west. I have no doubt
:07:14. > :07:19.hundreds of thousands of people will come out to greet him. Having
:07:19. > :07:24.said all that, this is a very different visit from the first one
:07:24. > :07:28.he did just after he became Pope, when he was greeted back as a
:07:28. > :07:34.national hero almost, a man who had done very well in his job as it
:07:34. > :07:39.were, being welcomed back by a united nation. Now you get all
:07:39. > :07:44.kinds of division, the child abuse scandal, people within the Church
:07:44. > :07:50.saying there is a big shortage of priests, and policy needs to be
:07:50. > :07:54.changed. Difficulties within the Church. The man who met him,
:07:54. > :08:00.President Wulff, is a divorced Catholic, remarried, and he cannot
:08:00. > :08:05.take part in some Catholic ceremonies. It is not the easy
:08:05. > :08:10.visit that it would have been five years ago. Do you think he is
:08:10. > :08:17.likely to address any of those issues you have listed? I do not
:08:17. > :08:21.think he will come out for and say policies will change. But the
:08:21. > :08:28.critics within the church I have been talking to, they say they are
:08:28. > :08:32.listening to his tone, they are listening to signs that he welcomes
:08:32. > :08:38.dialogue. And they say in the first speech he made at the presidential
:08:38. > :08:44.palace, where he used that word, freedom, frequently, they see that
:08:44. > :08:53.as hopeful. They regard an attitude that tolerates some dissent within
:08:53. > :09:03.the Church as being hopeful for them. But, they also say, he is a
:09:03. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:13.conservative, in his eighties, they did not expect a transformation.
:09:13. > :09:22.
:09:22. > :09:26.All they want is a little bit of tolerance, and a sign of listening.
:09:26. > :09:29.Two French Muslim women have become the first to be convicted of
:09:29. > :09:33.covering their faces with veils in public, in defiance of a new law.
:09:33. > :09:37.Hind Ahmas and Najate Nait Ali were each ordered to pay a fine.
:09:37. > :09:40.A man convicted of killing an off- duty policeman in 1989 has been
:09:40. > :09:43.executed in the American state of Georgia, despite concerns the case
:09:43. > :09:48.against him was not conclusively proved. Troy Davis was put to death,
:09:48. > :09:51.after a four-hour delay while his final appeal was being considered.
:09:51. > :09:54.Officials in Pakistan say more than eight million people are now
:09:54. > :09:57.affected by monsoon flooding in the southern province of Sindh. The
:09:57. > :10:00.United Nations World Food Programme estimates that three million are
:10:00. > :10:03.critically short of food and aid organisations are struggling to
:10:03. > :10:06.reach those stranded on high ground. And there are fears that large
:10:06. > :10:16.areas of stagnant water will help spread disease.
:10:16. > :10:24.Still to come on GMT: A group of South African designers seek to be
:10:24. > :10:31.discovered, with collections on the First though, let's get all the
:10:31. > :10:36.business news. What is going on, in these markets?
:10:36. > :10:44.Let me get some of the figures on the screen.
:10:44. > :10:54.The FTSE index is down 5%. At the beginning of the programme, it was
:10:54. > :11:02.I don't seem to be able to get the markets on the screen. These are
:11:02. > :11:09.down to levels which they haven't been down to for many months.
:11:09. > :11:13.Any reasons? We are getting a pretty bad storm.
:11:13. > :11:21.We had the IMF worries, they were saying the problems we were getting
:11:21. > :11:27.in terms of the financial stability of the eurozone in particular,
:11:27. > :11:35.recapitalisation of banks, the use of economic growth. Worries from a
:11:35. > :11:38.Federal Reserve in the US. A number of very bad surveys. One analyst
:11:38. > :11:44.summed up some of the worries people have.
:11:44. > :11:49.We have a lot of negativity now which has managed to hit Business
:11:49. > :11:54.Investment for some time. Not just a European a story, but a US growth
:11:54. > :12:00.story. And the ongoing European debt crisis which is not resolving
:12:00. > :12:05.itself. Now, contagion is spreading to larger economies like Spain and
:12:05. > :12:11.Italy. Was contagion does spread it is difficult to see how the
:12:11. > :12:21.European Union can deal with such large economies. We have the market
:12:21. > :12:24.
:12:25. > :12:29.figures again. The FTSE 100 index has been worse.
:12:29. > :12:36.Today we had more figures about Italian growth, the government
:12:36. > :12:39.saying growth will be even slower. Still just positive.
:12:39. > :12:46.Given all of that come up are the market's going to fall further?
:12:46. > :12:50.told earlier to a portfolio manager and this is what he said.
:12:50. > :12:54.European shares have come back a long way. We have to remember a lot
:12:54. > :13:01.of European companies have significant sales outside the
:13:01. > :13:06.eurozone. Not just into the Far East but in Scandinavia, a UK,
:13:06. > :13:10.North America. A lot is discounted in current share prices. The
:13:10. > :13:14.problem is the banking sector is in meltdown. Until that issue is
:13:14. > :13:24.resolved, it is hard to see investors getting the confidence to
:13:24. > :13:24.
:13:24. > :13:34.buy equities. Stay with us, much more on these
:13:34. > :13:40.
:13:40. > :13:44.This is GMT. Our main story. There is gridlock in Greece as a
:13:44. > :13:52.transport strike bikes and into financial fears as stock market
:13:52. > :13:55.plunge around the world. Palestinian officials have brushed
:13:55. > :13:58.aside a promised US veto and pressure to abandon their bid for
:13:58. > :14:01.UN membership, saying they were determined to take their case to
:14:02. > :14:04.the Security Council. There was no progress after a meeting between
:14:04. > :14:11.President Obama and the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday
:14:11. > :14:14.night, so the Palestinian bid will be formally presented on Friday.
:14:14. > :14:17.The Israeli president Shimon Peres has been involved in the peace
:14:17. > :14:19.process since its inception. He explained to our Middle East
:14:19. > :14:29.correspondent Rupert Wingfield- Hayes why Israel is opposing the
:14:29. > :14:34.Palestinian bid for UN membership. How should we negotiate with the
:14:34. > :14:40.Palestinians or through the international talents -- channels?
:14:40. > :14:44.The problem is the United Nations cannot answer the full questions,
:14:44. > :14:49.how to provide independence to the Palestinians? How to provide
:14:49. > :14:54.security to Israel. If there is no security there is no independence.
:14:54. > :14:57.There is no independence without security again. Since the United
:14:57. > :15:02.Nations cannot deal with the security issues, it is an empty
:15:02. > :15:12.declaration. A waste of effort. I am not speaking against the
:15:12. > :15:22.Palestinians. Peace is possible. The best way is through talks. Even
:15:22. > :15:22.
:15:22. > :15:28.though there are difficulties in Lots of diplomacy going on in New
:15:28. > :15:32.York. Our correspondent has been watching it off. Mahmoud Abbas and
:15:32. > :15:42.President Obama, very entrenched positions, we know that. What on
:15:42. > :15:48.
:15:48. > :15:54.earth is there for them to talk about? If there was any doubt left
:15:54. > :16:00.that the United States would indeed veto the plan the Palestinians are
:16:00. > :16:05.putting forward for membership if it comes to a vote at the Security
:16:05. > :16:09.Council. Overall administration officials are being slightly tight
:16:09. > :16:13.lipped about what other compromises or options they are looking at for
:16:13. > :16:16.the long term. It is becoming increasingly clear that the
:16:16. > :16:20.Palestinians are going to go forward with their plan to give
:16:20. > :16:25.that letter to the secretary general of the United Nations on
:16:25. > :16:29.Friday, requesting full membership for their stake. The United States
:16:29. > :16:36.is trying to sea with its allies in Europe whether there is a way of
:16:36. > :16:39.looking beyond that day. The French foreign minister has said once the
:16:39. > :16:43.Palestinians give in their letter, it could take weeks until this
:16:43. > :16:48.comes to a boat and that gives everybody time to develop a
:16:48. > :16:53.strategy to try to avoid showdown. But that strategy is not very clear
:16:53. > :16:59.at the moment. There are calls in China for people to stop eating
:16:59. > :17:04.sharks fin soup. As wages have risen, so has the demand for the
:17:04. > :17:08.delicacy, but now the Chinese superstar basketball player Yao
:17:08. > :17:12.Ming has lent his name to a campaign to persuade people to
:17:12. > :17:18.abstain. Some viewers might find some of the pictures in this report
:17:18. > :17:22.rather distressing. It is legal, but harvesting a
:17:22. > :17:28.sharp's Finn is a gruesome business. This display aims to bring home
:17:28. > :17:33.that point. The Finns are sliced off at sea, dried and sold to
:17:33. > :17:38.Chinese restaurants to make soup. Myth has it that the things grow
:17:38. > :17:42.back, but in reality the sharks simply bleed to death. This exhibit
:17:42. > :17:48.is to show the connection between the bowl of soup that lands on your
:17:48. > :17:53.table to the origin of the soup, which is these really beautiful,
:17:53. > :17:58.majestic animals which are fast in decline. I was moved by that
:17:58. > :18:03.picture, says this woman. Humans are the cruellest animals. A sharks
:18:03. > :18:08.fin is tasteless and has no special, nutritional value. But its high
:18:08. > :18:13.cost means it has become a status symbol in China. People come to
:18:13. > :18:19.restaurants like this one behind me to buy shark's suit to show off
:18:19. > :18:26.their wealth. This is another restaurant, but it has decided to
:18:26. > :18:30.stop selling the delicacy, which can cause more than $100 a bowl.
:18:30. > :18:35.China's increasingly wealthy consumers are pushing some species
:18:35. > :18:41.towards extension. Tens of millions are killed each year. This company
:18:41. > :18:46.wants to take a stand. TRANSLATION: Most of the people agree with what
:18:47. > :18:53.we have done. We have not lost many customers since we decided to stop
:18:53. > :18:58.selling shark's fin soup. But most shark's fines still end up in China.
:18:58. > :19:08.That is where the country's famous sportsman, Yao Ming, has lent his
:19:08. > :19:10.
:19:10. > :19:15.name to a new campaign. His message is simple. We can now speak to our
:19:15. > :19:19.BBC colleague and Chinese cuisine at writer, Fuchsia Dunlop. I
:19:19. > :19:24.suppose the problem would days is that in China we are talking not
:19:24. > :19:32.just about people's tastebuds, but people's yearning to show their
:19:32. > :19:37.status. Yes, shark's Finn is a curious delicacy. It has no
:19:37. > :19:41.inherent taste, but it is a prize for its supposed tonic properties
:19:41. > :19:45.and its wonderful mouth feel, an intriguing sulkiness in the mouth.
:19:45. > :19:50.But because it is the kind of delicacy that used to grace the
:19:50. > :19:54.tables of emperors. Ordering a sharp's Fen is a way of honouring a
:19:55. > :19:59.guest or buttering up an influential official. It raises the
:19:59. > :20:02.status of the fees, like cracking open a bottle of champagne. What do
:20:02. > :20:06.you think the chances are of Richard Branson and the basketball
:20:06. > :20:11.player of influencing people? the moment it does not look very
:20:11. > :20:18.good because there is not much social stigma attached to eating
:20:18. > :20:22.shark's Fen. In fact, the contrary. People will boast about serving
:20:22. > :20:27.delicacies and endangered species that should be protected. On the
:20:27. > :20:34.other hand, sophisticated consumers are getting concerned about eating
:20:34. > :20:37.green food products, products are free of pollution a. As people
:20:37. > :20:42.become more aware of environmental issues and more concerned with
:20:42. > :20:49.these kind of thing is, eating shark's event will become less
:20:49. > :20:54.acceptable. Do you think this particular campaign, which is about
:20:54. > :20:58.shark's fin soup, do you think there is a spill over into tigers?
:20:58. > :21:04.That is another animal that is in danger in China. Could it become
:21:04. > :21:09.part of a wider campaign? Burka Singh on shark's Fein is an
:21:09. > :21:14.important example of a delicacy that is driving various species to
:21:14. > :21:19.extinction, but it is the tip of the iceberg. China is the world's
:21:19. > :21:23.greatest market for endangered species in general. It is important
:21:23. > :21:28.they have brought on board such an important Chinese celebrity, so it
:21:28. > :21:33.looks like not as an international campaign targeting China, but
:21:33. > :21:37.something coming from China itself. It bait and stigmatised shark's Fen,
:21:37. > :21:42.perhaps people will become more aware of the issues of eating
:21:42. > :21:46.endangered species in general. you are a fashion follower, you
:21:46. > :21:51.won't know that London Fashion Week has just come to an end. For
:21:51. > :21:55.everyone who took part now it is the time to take stock and count
:21:55. > :22:00.contacts and contracts. Shows like the one in London are opportunities
:22:00. > :22:04.for young designers to get their work noticed. Among those looking
:22:04. > :22:10.for their big break was a group of South African designers and one of
:22:10. > :22:17.them is here in the studio. Heni Este-Hijzen runs a fashion label
:22:17. > :22:20.Heni. We are also joined by Theo Ombalala, creative director of the
:22:20. > :22:25.Ubuntu International Project initiative to grow talent from
:22:25. > :22:30.emerging markets. Thank you both for being with us. Is there such a
:22:30. > :22:35.thing? We hear about South Africa being the rainbow nation and you
:22:35. > :22:41.are the perfect example of it, so can we talk about South African
:22:41. > :22:46.fashion? Surely there are different fashions? The biggest thing coming
:22:47. > :22:51.to London for me was in fact that. There is no essential things such
:22:51. > :22:53.as South African fashion. We are all different cultures,
:22:54. > :23:00.inspirations and points of view. The biggest thing is the merger of
:23:00. > :23:04.all those aspects. That is what creates the aesthetic of South
:23:04. > :23:10.African fashion. What is your organisation trying to do with
:23:10. > :23:16.fashion? You are very involved in promoting it? It is an initiative
:23:16. > :23:20.that seeks to, it you like, identified a first and foremost Pan
:23:20. > :23:30.South African aesthetic that has cultural reference, that is
:23:30. > :23:32.
:23:32. > :23:39.intelligent, that fuses things like rural craft with contemporary sort
:23:39. > :23:45.of aesthetic. Are we going to see a bit of material from Durban and
:23:45. > :23:49.mixed in with what Afrikaners where? That is quite a good idea.
:23:50. > :23:55.That is what we are talking about. It is taking those wonderful,
:23:55. > :23:58.different aspects and it is up to the designer in terms of
:23:58. > :24:08.interpretation and what they want to do with it. We have got so many
:24:08. > :24:10.
:24:10. > :24:17.things to pull form -- from. Ubuntu, you're organisation, is an ancient
:24:17. > :24:21.concept. I cannot be human and less I recognise their humanity in you.
:24:21. > :24:25.One of the things that struck me when I lived in South Africa was
:24:25. > :24:29.the way in which South African politicians, especially the men,
:24:29. > :24:34.had to borrow from West Africa when they turn up in Parliament because
:24:34. > :24:40.there was not a South African traditional costume. Where did it
:24:40. > :24:45.go? The important thing about the Ubuntu philosophy is I am what I am
:24:45. > :24:52.because of who we all are. In terms of the aesthetic and the creative
:24:52. > :24:57.process, if we start with the Allied, who am I? What do I
:24:57. > :25:03.represent especially in modern Africa? Race, colour, creed is all
:25:03. > :25:09.changing now. We have Africans who are white, Indian, Chinese, who
:25:09. > :25:14.have as much right as the indigenous people of Africa. The
:25:14. > :25:21.whole sort of community in Africa is changing. We have I am who I am.
:25:21. > :25:29.They also have who we all are. How do we fit in as individuals into
:25:29. > :25:34.that collective context? That was amazing. But, in the end, as I said
:25:34. > :25:41.earlier, you have got to sell some clothes. That is what you are. That
:25:41. > :25:45.is the bottom line. You are a tailor. How did it go? Interesting
:25:45. > :25:51.question. That is the bottom line. I think it is a bit too early to
:25:51. > :25:55.say that it went. That sounds like it did not go well at all. No, it
:25:55. > :25:59.went really well. We are talking about publicity and what everyone
:25:59. > :26:03.is saying and after that it translates into sales. It has been
:26:03. > :26:13.very positive. I am hopefully going to be counting the money pretty
:26:13. > :26:16.
:26:16. > :26:21.soon. Nelson Mandela established a new way that people did not have to
:26:21. > :26:25.wear a new tie and a suit. You need someone else to take up the cause.
:26:25. > :26:30.The fashion market at the moment is saturated. We want these designers
:26:30. > :26:33.to become international brands, but if you do not already have a
:26:33. > :26:38.signature in terms of your own label from an individual point of
:26:38. > :26:44.view, you cannot penetrate that saturated market. We first of all
:26:44. > :26:50.have to work on the signature. What does it mean? How does it represent