:00:02. > :00:09.welcome to. Europe's central bank is ready to spend billions to help
:00:09. > :00:13.drive down borrowing costs for struggling nations.
:00:13. > :00:23.A leading publication in china says the financial problems in the US
:00:23. > :00:27.
:00:27. > :00:31.and Europe are a showcase of their There have been sharp losses for
:00:31. > :00:34.Asia's main stock markets. Investors are getting their first
:00:34. > :00:39.chance to react to the news that the credit worthiness of the US has
:00:39. > :00:43.been cut by the ratings agency, Standard and Poor's. There have
:00:43. > :00:46.also been important developments in Europe's debt crisis over the
:00:46. > :00:51.weekend. The European Central Bank says it is ready to start
:00:51. > :00:54.intervening in the financial markets again.
:00:54. > :00:59.Also, finance chiefs from the G7 group of nations pledged to do
:00:59. > :01:09.whatever is needed to steady the markets. We get more on the Asian
:01:09. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :01:23.Let's talk about the markets in Asia. The Hang Seng index is down
:01:23. > :01:32.significantly. Why is that? Is it because of the US credit
:01:32. > :01:37.downgrading or is it because of the eurozone turmoil? It is basically
:01:37. > :01:41.birds -- both. Investors in Asia are worried e worried ll have a
:01:41. > :01:46.significant impact on the state of the global economy. On one hand,
:01:46. > :01:52.the fee is that the US economy will slow further and enter a double dip
:01:52. > :01:58.recession. Growth prospects are to remain sluggish over the next 2.5
:01:58. > :02:03.years. This would hurt the region. It relies Undy US to buy billions
:02:03. > :02:08.of dollars of exports every month. One expert I spoke to has said it
:02:08. > :02:13.is still a fact that Asia is very dependent on demand from the US and
:02:13. > :02:18.Europe. A slowdown there will see a slump in consumer demand and it
:02:18. > :02:23.takes away a big support pillar for Asia's economic growth. Economists
:02:23. > :02:27.say that despite the risks, Asia's growth outlook was better than the
:02:27. > :02:37.US and Europe. Investors would have to shift their focus back on to the
:02:37. > :02:40.regional markets. The slowdown would hurt consumer and business
:02:40. > :02:47.sentiment. That is the weight on the shoulders of Asian markets
:02:48. > :02:50.today. We have had comments from China, indicating that they are not
:02:50. > :03:00.happy about the way Western governments are coping with the
:03:00. > :03:04.crisis. What exactly was said? is a big issue. Europe is now the
:03:04. > :03:10.mainland's number one trading partner. The Chinese have become
:03:10. > :03:13.dependent on you by importing technology infrastructure to
:03:13. > :03:17.maintain its breakneck development. It is also a large trading partner
:03:17. > :03:23.with the US. What happens in the US and Europe will have an adverse
:03:23. > :03:27.effect on the Chinese economy. The comments say that they want to make
:03:27. > :03:31.a point. The troubles facing the US and beat the European Union are
:03:31. > :03:36.grown out of political dysfunctions of the Western democracies. For
:03:36. > :03:43.China, this is a challenge. It suggests that the US and European
:03:43. > :03:52.assets are not as safe as they were. The government needs to explain to
:03:52. > :03:55.its people about it. On to some other news. The European
:03:55. > :04:01.Central Bank will flex its muscles in an effort to hold the attack on
:04:01. > :04:04.European debt. On Sunday, it said it would make major purchases of
:04:04. > :04:07.eurozone government bonds. It is hoped that he will help drive down
:04:07. > :04:10.the borrowing costs for countries like Italy an Spain. Both countries
:04:10. > :04:16.are facing dangerously high interest rates. Will that be
:04:16. > :04:19.enough? We were here for the next boat shortly, but first the debt
:04:19. > :04:24.crisis is having serious implication for Europe's banking
:04:24. > :04:27.industry. In southern Europe, banks are struggling to raise finance.
:04:27. > :04:32.Some think the loss of confidence in the baking industry could cause
:04:32. > :04:36.a repeat of the 2007 financial crisis.
:04:36. > :04:39.It is four years ago this week that panic first hit the markets as
:04:39. > :04:44.banks across the world realised that many of the instruments they
:04:44. > :04:50.held wobble Office. A credit crunch followed and in 2008, women
:04:50. > :04:56.brothers as one of several large beggars to collapse. This was
:04:56. > :05:01.followed by the biggest recession in 70 years. This is why talk about
:05:01. > :05:07.banks being unable to raise finance causes so much worry. If banks
:05:07. > :05:13.cannot borrow money, they cannot lend money. That is a dinner last -
:05:13. > :05:17.- disaster for economic growth. Some have warned that banks in
:05:17. > :05:20.Italy and Spain are vulnerable. There is likely to be a drag on
:05:20. > :05:24.their lending and economies. Overall, it is argued that a risk
:05:24. > :05:28.of another credit crunch in southern Europe is growing. Others
:05:28. > :05:38.believe the funding problems could easily spread elsewhere throughout
:05:38. > :05:38.
:05:38. > :05:42.Europe. You'll see banks are less willing to lend to each other. You
:05:42. > :05:50.see the punning at the heart of the system dry out. It has not happened
:05:50. > :05:57.yet, but it could be a risk. To try and avoid such an out, the ECB is
:05:57. > :06:07.extending its program of borrowing government bonds. Solving the
:06:07. > :06:11.sovereign debt crisis remains the key priority.
:06:11. > :06:15.We have had this comment from the ECB that it is ready to start
:06:15. > :06:21.purchasing Italian and Spanish bonds. That is what everybody is
:06:21. > :06:24.reading into it. Is this going to be enough? On Thursday, they said
:06:24. > :06:30.the data by Irish and Portuguese bonds and that the market into a
:06:30. > :06:34.frenzy. The do not know what they're going to do. They had not
:06:34. > :06:41.told us what they will buy and how much. We are reading a lot into
:06:41. > :06:44.this at the Merchant -- moment. The implications are that if they do by
:06:44. > :06:48.the dead, you see a fall on the interest rates on those debt
:06:48. > :06:55.securities over the next two or three weeks. Will there be enough?
:06:55. > :07:00.When he said that, I year thinking that the bond markets were likely
:07:00. > :07:06.to see more action. We have heard from Angela Mark Goult and Nicholas
:07:06. > :07:09.Varcoe as the saying that there is a need for countries to sign that
:07:09. > :07:15.off in the parliament spice of them off. Did the bond markets were to
:07:15. > :07:21.see that fund extended? There will be a pressure on that fund to be
:07:21. > :07:24.extended. That is not the key issue here. What these key figures are
:07:24. > :07:30.trying to achieve is some kind of price facility within the sovereign
:07:30. > :07:34.bond market. The key issue is not the price of the dead, but the
:07:34. > :07:39.quantity of the dead. the dead. in the case of the Greek situation, it
:07:39. > :07:49.started with pressures on yields, but it ended with pressure on Greek
:07:49. > :07:50.
:07:50. > :07:59.debt. The market is pushing the ECB the Portuguese, Irish, Italian and
:07:59. > :08:03.Spanish debts. Let's gs. Let's g go to the American markets. What do
:08:03. > :08:09.you think about the strategy by the US government to try to discredit
:08:09. > :08:13.Standard and Poor's? It is always easy to shoot the messenger. That
:08:13. > :08:18.is what is happening here. All they did, was to do what everybody else
:08:18. > :08:23.had been thinking. What is also important about their statement was
:08:23. > :08:27.the emphasis they put on the political process in their
:08:27. > :08:37.judgement and not just the debt dynamics. What do you think is the
:08:37. > :08:38.
:08:38. > :08:42.way forward for the US? I think we will not see very much. One of the
:08:43. > :08:47.objectives of the debt ceiling was to defer the question until after
:08:47. > :08:51.the presidential elections. What Standard and Poor's did over the
:08:51. > :08:57.weekend was insurer that the objective has failed. We are going
:08:57. > :09:02.to have two pine -- president of candidates under intense scrutiny.
:09:02. > :09:12.The debt crisis is a fast-moving story. If you want to keep up, go
:09:12. > :09:17.
:09:17. > :09:22.That's all the business news For Today. No, there is more coming
:09:22. > :09:25.through. The US Treasury Secretary has confirmed that he will remain
:09:25. > :09:30.in his post. There was speculation that he was planning to leave after
:09:30. > :09:40.the conclusion of negotiations over the debt ceiling. That does round a
:09:40. > :09:52.
:09:52. > :09:57.More news from the UK now. Deaths from farms and other agricultural
:09:57. > :10:02.businesses have risen it over the past two years. In the past, power
:10:02. > :10:08.tools and tractors, even farm animals have been stolen.
:10:08. > :10:14.This family has farmed in the cosmos for 60 years. Before, we
:10:14. > :10:20.have to be the Keehan. He has had two tractors stolen. Only recently,
:10:20. > :10:24.this immobiliser stop to this vehicle from being stolen as well.
:10:24. > :10:29.Most of detractors have a generic K that fits all of them. This is
:10:29. > :10:39.where his tractors were stolen from. �70,000 worth. Is this the you have
:10:39. > :10:43.to worry about? Yes. It is constant. The latest figures show 17% rise in
:10:43. > :10:51.Baroque Rome over the last two years. In 2010, it cost UK
:10:51. > :10:54.agriculture nearly �50 million. figures were a big shock. The major
:10:54. > :11:00.impact is tractors that are being stolen and in -- exported across
:11:00. > :11:06.the globe. There is also a big rise in might stop theft. Life is harder
:11:06. > :11:09.for a criminal here in an urban error -- career. There are people
:11:09. > :11:14.around NAD CCTV is. In the countryside, it is harder to keep
:11:14. > :11:18.track of what they are doing. areas that we cover are so much
:11:18. > :11:22.greater. Response time is longer because of the fact that it is
:11:22. > :11:25.further away. The important part is that we work with the community to
:11:26. > :11:28.make sure we are using the resources effectively. Future
:11:28. > :11:38.budget cuts mean those resources will have to be stretched even
:11:38. > :11:54.
:11:54. > :12:01.Here are the latest headlines: Stock markets across Asia have
:12:01. > :12:06.fallen because of nervousness about government debt.
:12:06. > :12:14.It is clear that they will buy Italian bonds and Spanish bonds if
:12:14. > :12:19.needed. Actively implement is the phrase they used for bond buying.
:12:19. > :12:26.The markets will take that as them buying the bonds if they have to to
:12:26. > :12:29.reassure the markets. There had been for that looting and
:12:29. > :12:33.vandalism across parts of London for the second successive night.
:12:33. > :12:36.Police blamed it on copycat criminal activity. The violence
:12:36. > :12:41.original started after a peaceful protest over over a fatal shooting
:12:41. > :12:45.by a man by police. Saudi Arabia's King says the
:12:45. > :12:50.violence by these -- searing government is unacceptable. In what
:12:50. > :12:54.appears to be a co-ordinated move, the Arab government has released
:12:54. > :12:59.its first statement over the actions. Turkey's Prime Minister
:12:59. > :13:03.says his country is running out of patience with Damascus.
:13:03. > :13:13.The typhoon in China has been downgraded to a tropical storm. It
:13:13. > :13:21.
:13:21. > :13:25.is expected to make landfall within Time for our newspaper review now.