:00:05. > :00:15.regime in Syria. It is time now for the World
:00:15. > :00:17.
:00:18. > :00:21.Business Report. The headlines: Protests on the
:00:21. > :00:29.streets of Athens as Parliament agrees to back the painful
:00:29. > :00:34.austerity measures. Growth in Japan shrinks more than
:00:34. > :00:43.expected, the strong yen and floods in Thailand have her at its
:00:43. > :00:47.manufacturing chains. -- damaged.
:00:47. > :00:53.Greek politicians have pushed through the much-hated, painful
:00:53. > :00:59.austerity measures which are demanded in return for a loan to
:00:59. > :01:06.save them from default. Tens of thousands protested against the
:01:06. > :01:09.cuts, they were mostly peaceful during the day, later, police fired
:01:09. > :01:19.tear-gas as protesters threw stones and petrol-bombs. Some buildings
:01:19. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:24.were set on fire. We are joined from Athens. Tell me
:01:24. > :01:30.something about the atmosphere there. We saw the pictures of the
:01:30. > :01:36.violence, brought about in the parliament? There are tensions in
:01:36. > :01:40.Parliament as well. This was a very important vote. There was a big
:01:40. > :01:49.debate about whether this should be the way forward for Greece.
:01:49. > :01:56.Obviously, some parties on the left were opposed, but all in all I
:01:56. > :02:00.think it went smoothly. It passed with a comfortable majority. What
:02:00. > :02:07.about out in the wider population? We see people throwing stones, but
:02:07. > :02:12.beyond that is their support in the country for what is being done in
:02:12. > :02:22.Parliament? Obviously, nobody likes this. You have to bear in mind we
:02:22. > :02:30.have been through this programme for almost two years. There is more
:02:30. > :02:38.to come. Obviously, people are not fond of that. At the same time, 70%
:02:38. > :02:43.of the Greek population wants to stay in the eurozone. The current
:02:43. > :02:48.prime minister, Mr Papademos, has made quite clear that this is a way
:02:48. > :02:57.for Greece to stay in the eurozone. In that respect, I believe that
:02:57. > :03:01.these measures are not something that make any Greek people happy,
:03:01. > :03:06.but at the same time, Greeks hope that through these measures we can
:03:06. > :03:10.stay in the eurozone and become more competitive. I think that most
:03:10. > :03:15.of the population still believes this is the way to go, even though
:03:15. > :03:25.it hurts a lot. Thank you very much.
:03:25. > :03:31.
:03:31. > :03:40.Let's go to Brussels. A popular think tank that advises governments,
:03:40. > :03:46.Redefine, is speaking with us now. These measures will work. I think
:03:46. > :03:50.that the answer is, almost across the board, in the face of the
:03:51. > :03:58.social fabric of Greece being almost torn apart, the fact that
:03:58. > :04:01.the economy is still in freefall... It seems highly unlikely, or
:04:01. > :04:06.whether the parliament has voted on some measures or not, that the
:04:06. > :04:10.government will be able to implement these in the face of the
:04:10. > :04:16.economic and social position within the country. Therefore, the natural
:04:16. > :04:21.progression of things would be a default and then leaving the
:04:21. > :04:27.eurozone? I am not sure. That is not a particularly satisfactory
:04:27. > :04:37.answer. One thing is clear - we need a change of course, both from
:04:37. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:48.the perspective that the European Union and the IMF is asking Greece
:04:48. > :04:53.
:04:53. > :05:01.to follow... I think there is a strong need four-course corrections
:05:01. > :05:06.where it leaders need to make changes and demonstrate their
:05:06. > :05:14.efforts and demonstrate good faith in order to avoid an even worse
:05:14. > :05:24.outcome, which would be a eurozone exit. What would this direction be?
:05:24. > :05:30.What kind of changes? What else is there they can do? The reforms have
:05:30. > :05:33.not been enacted. In terms of austerity, slowing down the pace of
:05:33. > :05:38.austerity, getting the European Investment Bank to put money into
:05:38. > :05:42.Greece to stimulate growth, to change the mood in Greece so that
:05:42. > :05:45.people and businesses, very importantly, expect that tomorrow
:05:45. > :05:50.or the day after tomorrow, will be better than today. Right now there
:05:50. > :05:58.is no light at the end of the tunnel in Greece. The people
:05:58. > :06:05.realise this. They realise the fundamental problems.
:06:05. > :06:13.Some weaker than expected growth from Japan - the economy shrank 2.3
:06:13. > :06:18.% on an annualised basis. The Cabinet Office remained upbeat.
:06:18. > :06:23.Let's go to Tokyo. Take us through - it seems they have been hit by a
:06:23. > :06:30.storm of bad news. Can you explain what the things are that have
:06:30. > :06:34.affected this outcome? What we are seeing here it is external factors
:06:34. > :06:44.battling against internal factors. The reconstruction after the
:06:44. > :06:52.earthquake and March tsunami should mean that Japan's economy is doing
:06:52. > :06:55.well. The crisis in Europe is hurting Japan, the yen is strong,
:06:55. > :06:58.undermining the competitiveness of Japanese companies because of the
:06:58. > :07:08.prices in Europe. Last year, the floods in Thailand, lots of
:07:08. > :07:15.Japanese companies have factories there, they were hit. On a quarter
:07:15. > :07:19.by quarter basis, Japan's economy shrank by 0.6%. On an annualised
:07:20. > :07:25.basis, if it continues on that projection, it will be a decline of
:07:25. > :07:29.2.3%. Bad news for Japan's economy. Obviously the Thailand factor will
:07:29. > :07:33.work its way out of the figures. The other two things - is there
:07:33. > :07:39.anything that the government or the Bank of Japan can do to put things
:07:39. > :07:49.right was met the Bank of Japan is beginning a two game monetary
:07:49. > :08:06.
:08:06. > :08:16.policy meeting today. It is possible thessible theect -- two
:08:16. > :08:25.
:08:25. > :08:34.day.... Tete que will file its quarterly earnings tomorrow.
:08:34. > :08:41.In the United Kingdom, modest growth should start later this year.
:08:41. > :08:45.Growth of 0.9% in 2012 was achieved and 2% next year is forecast...
:08:45. > :08:54.There should be new equipment and new markets found.
:08:54. > :08:59.President Barack Obama is expected to announce short-term measures to
:08:59. > :09:03.speed up the nation's economic recovery. That comes together with
:09:03. > :09:09.taxes on corporations and the rich. The new budget has to be agreed
:09:09. > :09:17.between the White House and Congress, which means months of
:09:17. > :09:24.political wrangling. Let's look at a -- let's look at