:00:12. > :00:18.Syrian forces continued to pound the rebel stronghold of Homs, for a
:00:18. > :00:21.4th straight day. A resident tells us the world must act. In Damascus
:00:21. > :00:25.thousands of Assad supporters line the streets to welcome a rare
:00:25. > :00:28.foreign ally, in the form of the Russian foreign minister Sergei
:00:28. > :00:33.Lavrov. The first democratically-elected
:00:33. > :00:38.President of the Maldives resigns after weeks of public protest.
:00:38. > :00:42.Welcome to BBC World News. I am Geeta Guru-Murphy. Also in the
:00:42. > :00:47.programme: Another shut down in Greece. Unions strike over
:00:47. > :00:51.austerity measures while ministers hold talks.
:00:52. > :01:01.The ultimate fall guy. The skydiver planning to plunge 36 kilometres
:01:02. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:17.Welcome. Russia's foreign minister has arrived in Damascus for talks
:01:17. > :01:21.with Syria's President, even as the Syrian army continued to bombard
:01:21. > :01:24.the city of Homs for a 4th straight day. These are the pictures that
:01:24. > :01:28.are being streamed across the internet from Homs in the last few
:01:28. > :01:33.hours. You can hear the shelling and the mortar attacks, the sound
:01:33. > :01:37.of gunfire. Activists say the regime is also using tanks and
:01:38. > :01:41.machine guns in a push to try and recover rebel-held districts. The
:01:41. > :01:44.Syrian Government has been issuing defiant statements, saying the
:01:44. > :01:50.attacks will continue until the armed opposition has been finished
:01:50. > :01:54.off. These pictures are being shown on Syrian state television. They
:01:54. > :01:59.say these are crowds waiting to greet the arrival of the Russian
:01:59. > :02:04.delegation. In fact the delegation has already passed through Damascus.
:02:04. > :02:14.Serco Lavrov is reported to have started talks with the Syrian
:02:14. > :02:17.President, Bashar al-Assad. -- Sergei Lavrov. They say that he is
:02:17. > :02:22.aware of his responsibility as President. There is no clarity on
:02:22. > :02:32.what the message from Moscow might be out. The violence has continued
:02:32. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:43.over the last few days. Paul Wood is in Homs with his camera man, has
:02:43. > :02:47.-- and just to warn you, this report has distressing images.
:02:47. > :02:52.Daybreak. The attack is just beginning. Dazed, this man is
:02:52. > :02:59.steered to safety. In this part of the city, it is the worst they have
:02:59. > :03:04.endured. God is great, he shouts, in defiance. The shelling is
:03:04. > :03:08.constant now. We are hearing an impact every few seconds. In reply
:03:08. > :03:15.you can also hear a little bit of Kalashnikov fire. It is a pretty
:03:15. > :03:25.futile gesture. Eyewitnesses say that a field clinic was it. They
:03:25. > :03:32.
:03:32. > :03:38.Over several days of this, most of the casualties have been civilians.
:03:38. > :03:45.The houses do not have basements. There is nowhere to hide. Whereas
:03:45. > :03:51.the Arab League, she shouts. -- where is the Arab League? This
:03:51. > :03:57.woman's son is badly injured. Give us guns, she screams. We cannot
:03:57. > :04:04.defend ourselves. Even in the middle of all this, most hide their
:04:04. > :04:09.faces. They say there is no telling what the regime will do. The only
:04:09. > :04:14.thing that we hoped for was the UN. We wanted the Arab League to give
:04:14. > :04:24.our situation to the UN to help us but they abandoned us. Who is going
:04:24. > :04:26.
:04:26. > :04:36.Some of the dead were armed. This man died attacking the Government
:04:36. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:42.sniper position yesterday. The regime says the violence has been
:04:42. > :04:47.caused by the fighters of the Free Syrian Army. The rebel commander
:04:47. > :04:54.says no. Everything we do is to defend our people. The regime
:04:54. > :04:58.cannot get to us, so would retaliate against civilians instead.
:04:58. > :05:08.They are certainly paying the price. This shroud is for a seven year-old
:05:08. > :05:13.
:05:13. > :05:23.Like all the dead here, she must be buried in darkness. Daytime is too
:05:23. > :05:24.
:05:24. > :05:30.dangerous. There is no family, no prayers, and little dignity. They
:05:30. > :05:38.have to hurry, even now they are attacked. There will be many more
:05:38. > :05:43.such desperate and lonely burials. Paul Wood, BBC News, Homs.
:05:43. > :05:47.The shelling has continued in Homs today and I have spoken to one of
:05:47. > :05:50.the residents of the city, Abu Abdou. He told me what has been
:05:50. > :06:00.happening in the last few hours. have been under fire for several
:06:00. > :06:06.days. There are shortages of food and essentials like bread. We are
:06:07. > :06:14.being bombed violently by Government forces. Tanks, heavy
:06:14. > :06:24.weapons, mortars, explosives. Explosions can be heard all around
:06:24. > :06:30.
:06:30. > :06:38.Homs. The rocket shelling has stopped about half an hour ago.
:06:38. > :06:48.There is now an attack on the Baba Amr district. They using tanks and
:06:48. > :06:53.
:06:53. > :07:03.machine guns for the attack. We have so many people injured. There
:07:03. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:12.are so many mortars. We do not no accurate -- have accurate figures.
:07:12. > :07:19.Can I ask you what you yourself have seen? Have you seen people
:07:19. > :07:24.being injured? This morning there was a bomb. We tried to get outside.
:07:24. > :07:30.There were injured people on the street. We managed to help just one
:07:30. > :07:37.person but the others we could not. They started shooting at us. Most
:07:37. > :07:46.of the buildings are shaking from the rocket bombing. We don't know
:07:46. > :07:52.what to do. We don't know why the world is silent. What do you want
:07:52. > :07:58.the world to do now? It is the obligation of every single human on
:07:58. > :08:06.this earth and every single Government. Homs is being destroyed
:08:06. > :08:11.completely. What are they waiting for? Abu Abdou, one of the Homs
:08:11. > :08:15.residents, speaking to me earlier. The Russians and the Chinese have
:08:15. > :08:19.been criticised for blocking the UN Security Council resolution. Sergei
:08:19. > :08:24.Lavrov is now in Damascus. Steve Rosenberg told me what the purpose
:08:24. > :08:27.of the mission is supposed to be. would say that expectations are
:08:28. > :08:33.being kept pretty low. There are very few details about what will be
:08:33. > :08:36.discussed. Moscow has said that it wants to secure some kind of rapid
:08:36. > :08:43.stabilisation of the situation in Syria. It is not clear how it is
:08:43. > :08:47.going to do that. We know that Sergei Lavrov is carrying with him
:08:47. > :08:54.a letter from the Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, which will be
:08:54. > :08:58.passed on to the Syrian leader later. We don't know what the
:08:58. > :09:04.contents of the letter of. We will have a better idea later on about
:09:04. > :09:08.what was discussed in Damascus today. Thank you.
:09:08. > :09:15.In the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed has resigned. He confirmed
:09:15. > :09:19.he was standing down after police joined protests against in that
:09:19. > :09:23.have raged for three weeks. They have been violent clashes between
:09:23. > :09:30.police and the military. A spokesman for the armed forces said
:09:30. > :09:38.that the events do not represent a coup. The pro test in paradise that
:09:38. > :09:43.proved too much for the President. This archipelago is no more as an
:09:43. > :09:46.idyllic holiday destination. The Government arrested a senior judge
:09:46. > :09:49.which they accused of political bias, and this turned into a power
:09:49. > :09:54.struggle with the opposition. It came to a head when police and
:09:54. > :09:58.troops clashed when the police mounted their own demonstration. On
:09:58. > :10:01.national television, Mohamed Nasheed bowed to the pressure,
:10:02. > :10:06.saying that staying in power would hit the citizens of the country and
:10:06. > :10:11.he should therefore step down. With that he made his public exit. It is
:10:11. > :10:14.all a far cry from 2008 when the former human rights campaign ended
:10:14. > :10:18.three decades of rule by his political rival in the country's
:10:18. > :10:24.first multi-party election. He had also worked hard to highlight the
:10:24. > :10:32.threat to the low-lying Maldives of climate change and rising sea
:10:32. > :10:42.levels. With more crowds gathering, there seemed to be no end in sight
:10:42. > :10:42.
:10:42. > :10:45.to the unrest. For now the Vice President is expected to take over.
:10:45. > :10:48.Greece's political leaders are holding what the finance ministers
:10:48. > :10:52.have described as highly pressurised talks to try to reach
:10:52. > :10:56.agreement on the conditions of the latest international bail-out.
:10:56. > :11:00.Yesterday the Government confirmed that it is going to cut 15,000
:11:00. > :11:03.public sector jobs. There is plenty of opposition to the measures.
:11:04. > :11:08.Greece's main trade unions are holding a general strike today in
:11:08. > :11:12.protest. These are live pictures coming in from Athens, from the
:11:12. > :11:17.main square. Our correspondent told me that these latest demonstrations
:11:17. > :11:21.are sending a clear message to the Greek Government. Very much a sign
:11:21. > :11:27.of the continued opposition to the austerity measures here, the cuts,
:11:27. > :11:29.that Greece is under pressure to pursue in order to receive its 130
:11:29. > :11:35.billion of euros bail-out money, which are desperately needs by the
:11:35. > :11:39.middle of March. That is when it has to pay out its bond redemption,
:11:39. > :11:43.which it cannot afford. If they do not receive the money, they will
:11:43. > :11:48.default on their debt and that could send the economy into a
:11:48. > :11:52.tailspin. The Government is under pressure to make big cuts and
:11:52. > :11:56.reforms in the public sector. We think they have agreed to cut
:11:56. > :12:02.15,000 public sector workers this year. And to reduce the minimum
:12:02. > :12:11.wage by 20%. Whether that will satisfy the IMF to release those
:12:11. > :12:13.fans is not clear. -- those funds. On Syria, we are just hearing that
:12:13. > :12:18.France have recalled their ambassadors from Syria for
:12:18. > :12:25.consultations. Italy has done the same. There is a co-ordinated move
:12:25. > :12:30.to put diplomatic pressure on Syria in the wake of that violence this
:12:30. > :12:34.weekend. Now the business news. There is a
:12:34. > :12:38.big mining deal. Why does it matter? It is a big deal because if
:12:38. > :12:42.you think around the world to have a shrinking commodities market and
:12:42. > :12:51.a company Grayrigg in its market, in the sense of its size and
:12:51. > :12:57.control over the global commodity business. -- a company growing.
:12:57. > :13:02.Glencore and Xstrata, a merger of the two, $90 billion. Xstrata digs
:13:02. > :13:06.things out of the ground. They have vast reserves of copper and coal in
:13:06. > :13:11.Africa, South America and Asia. Glencore does not dig things out of
:13:11. > :13:16.the ground. It rates everything, from battles to minerals. They are
:13:16. > :13:25.coming together. -- they trade everything from metals to minerals.
:13:25. > :13:28.It is good news for shareholders and the company's executives. Not
:13:28. > :13:33.very good for buyers of raw materials because prices could go
:13:33. > :13:41.up and China is concerned about that. A raw-material costs will be
:13:41. > :13:45.passed on to the end user, the consumer. I asked why this deal was
:13:45. > :13:51.so important. It is important for everybody because it concentrates
:13:51. > :13:55.control of the World Resources in an ever smaller group of people.
:13:55. > :13:59.This organisation will have a huge number of mines and will be
:13:59. > :14:02.responsible for trading them. China has a big appetite for commodities
:14:02. > :14:07.and they were worried that it will be more expensive to buy key
:14:07. > :14:11.resources now. It is a big deal in terms of the way that people can
:14:12. > :14:18.seem key resources. Talking of the deal itself, good news for
:14:18. > :14:23.shareholders, I am reading and for the executives of the company. But
:14:23. > :14:28.there could be concerned in China. Can you explain it? Why would
:14:28. > :14:31.prices go up off the back of this deal? Simply because the
:14:31. > :14:35.organisation would have more pricing power because it would be
:14:35. > :14:39.larger. It would consume a large volume of the world's resources and
:14:40. > :14:43.key commodities. It seems that the management of this combined group
:14:44. > :14:48.will be setting out on a plan for world domination. They will want to
:14:48. > :14:52.buy up lots of mines, including another one called Anglo American.
:14:52. > :14:56.There will simply be less competition in the market. And as
:14:56. > :15:03.consumers, that will be problematic for us. If raw-material go higher,
:15:03. > :15:07.that get passed on to consumers. And also there could be competition
:15:07. > :15:12.grounds here. This is not done and dusted. Xstrata shareholders still
:15:12. > :15:16.have to vote on it. It is not done and dusted. There's not much room
:15:16. > :15:19.for manoeuvre. European Union already view this group as
:15:19. > :15:23.operating as one because of the cross holdings that they have
:15:23. > :15:29.always had. They do not have much leeway. Crucially because of
:15:29. > :15:32.shareholders in Xstrata knowing that the company is keen to put the
:15:32. > :15:36.deal through, they may push on price. Standard Life Investments,
:15:36. > :15:40.one of the biggest stock market investors in Great Britain, they
:15:40. > :15:44.have said they will vote against the deal. They think they can get a
:15:44. > :15:54.bit more for the Xstrata shareholders. That is because of
:15:54. > :15:55.
:15:55. > :15:58.the expectation of the growth of BP has raised its dividend to
:15:58. > :16:06.shareholders by 14%, the first increase since the 2010 Gulf of
:16:06. > :16:09.Mexico spill, following sharply higher profits. It reported net
:16:09. > :16:19.profits for �23.9 billion dollars for 2011 compared to a loss the
:16:19. > :16:19.
:16:19. > :16:29.previous year because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Profits were
:16:29. > :16:31.
:16:31. > :16:37.boosted through the three months of Their revenues have fallen back
:16:37. > :16:47.because of their production. However, they have had to realise a
:16:47. > :16:51.
:16:51. > :16:54.lot of money to put money aside for The company say they hope to
:16:55. > :16:58.complete payment into that fund by this year, but there is also talk
:16:58. > :17:04.of people saying they would not be surprised to see a financial
:17:04. > :17:11.settlement between the BP and the US government this year? -- between
:17:11. > :17:16.BP. You have the US, BP, Halliburton and Transocean. BP have
:17:16. > :17:21.said we would be happy to make a settlement if we consider it to be
:17:21. > :17:26.fair. But if we do not, we will fight it in the courts. A US
:17:26. > :17:31.Commission has already said the blame should be split between you
:17:31. > :17:41.all. Good profits, not remarkable but they are not out of the woods
:17:41. > :17:45.
:17:45. > :17:55.Still to come... The skydiver planning to plunge 36 kilometres
:17:55. > :17:56.
:17:56. > :17:59.With growing pressure on Seoul to reduce imports of Iranian oil,
:17:59. > :18:03.South Korea's but didn't is embarking on a tour which will go
:18:03. > :18:10.through a series of Gulf oil supplies. The trip includes stops
:18:10. > :18:18.in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Veron this. -- United
:18:18. > :18:22.Arab Emirates. Because Washington and Seoul are close allies, South
:18:22. > :18:29.Korea feels obliged to act. But Iran provides about 10% of South
:18:29. > :18:34.Korea's oil so Lee Myung-Bak is coming here looking for assurances
:18:34. > :18:37.if he decides to trim imports from Iran. But Iran has been clear, it
:18:37. > :18:42.does not want its Gulf neighbours simply rolling over and fulfilling
:18:42. > :18:47.gaps in the market created by countries that no longer will by
:18:47. > :18:50.Iranian oil. But Saudi Arabia has hinted it will do just that.
:18:50. > :18:54.Remember when Libya had its civil war it was Saudi Arabia which
:18:54. > :19:01.wrapped up production to meet the gap in the world needs. There was a
:19:01. > :19:05.different situation. Lee Myung-Bak is not the first leader to come
:19:05. > :19:09.here, Wen Jiabao was here and that visit was about China shoring up
:19:09. > :19:12.oil supplies. But there are plenty of people here who will tell you
:19:12. > :19:17.China will not cut its imports from around for no other reason than the
:19:17. > :19:21.economy has grown so fast it cannot afford to take the risk. South
:19:21. > :19:29.Korea might feel it is in a similar boat but for then it is not perhaps
:19:29. > :19:34.so simple. Iran's parliament says it is ready to stop exports of oil
:19:35. > :19:38.to some EU countries. Members of Iran's parliament said they would
:19:38. > :19:43.speed up the passage of the Bill which would end export of oil to
:19:43. > :19:46.some EU nations well before the embargo kicks in in July. As cold
:19:46. > :19:49.weather continues at least eight people have died after heavy rain
:19:49. > :19:55.and melting snow caused flooding in southern Bulgaria. The government
:19:55. > :19:58.has declared a state of emergency and to massive floods are surging
:19:58. > :20:01.towards Turkey and Greece. There have been blizzards across Italy
:20:01. > :20:06.and the government there has taken emergency measures to try to
:20:06. > :20:09.conserve gas supplies as consumption reaches record highs.
:20:09. > :20:14.Floodwaters are continuing to rise in parts of eastern Australia.
:20:14. > :20:19.Thousands of people had been evacuated from their homes in
:20:19. > :20:29.Queensland. In St George the water levels are expected to peak at at
:20:29. > :20:37.
:20:37. > :20:41.The headlines... Thousands of assets are boarders have lined the
:20:41. > :20:46.streets of Damascus to meet Russian's foreign minister who is
:20:46. > :20:51.holding talks with the President. The army bombardment has now
:20:51. > :21:01.entered its 4th day. Mohamed Nasheed has designed follow weeks
:21:01. > :21:05.of protest after he ordered the arrest of the country's top judge.
:21:05. > :21:09.Warned Syria now and the decision by Russia and China to veto a
:21:09. > :21:13.decision on China has led to strain between Moscow and the West. Russia
:21:13. > :21:19.is Syria's most prominent ally and there are close economic ties
:21:19. > :21:21.between the two countries. Russia's investments in Syria and
:21:21. > :21:26.infrastructure are thought to be worth at least 20 billion US
:21:26. > :21:31.dollars. Russia is expanding its use of a naval base and has
:21:31. > :21:38.provided arms to Damascus throughout this crisis. Russia is
:21:38. > :21:48.anxious not to have any foreign intervention in the region. I now
:21:48. > :21:53.
:21:53. > :21:59.What do you think is the purpose of today's mission in at Damascus?
:21:59. > :22:04.think he will try to talk Mr Al- Asad into some sort of negotiation
:22:04. > :22:12.with their position because Russia also wants a settlement for this
:22:12. > :22:19.crisis. Any victory for any of the sides means more unrest and
:22:19. > :22:28.suffering for the country. Russia feeling humiliated, or angry
:22:28. > :22:34.about the Western response to its veto? I think Russia does not think
:22:34. > :22:38.it is an important issue for the country but we are remember that 20
:22:38. > :22:43.years ago when the Soviet bloc was collapsing are Western partners
:22:43. > :22:49.said it was all for Russia's good. So now when we hear from our
:22:49. > :22:53.Western partners that Brasher's influence in the Arab world would
:22:53. > :23:00.diminish, we all feel maybe we are on the right track, maybe our
:23:00. > :23:04.influence will grow and we will see it on the streets of Damascus.
:23:04. > :23:09.there seems coming from Homs must ultimately put pressure on the
:23:09. > :23:15.Russian authorities. Do you think they will now try to manage some
:23:15. > :23:18.sort of political transition that still favours Moscow? I do not
:23:18. > :23:22.think Russia is in a position to manage any transition in Syria.
:23:22. > :23:27.Only the Syrians themselves can agree for any sort of transition
:23:27. > :23:34.but I would remind you that in Homs everything started when the
:23:34. > :23:38.insurgents kidnapped 13 government soldiers. Just five years ago, five
:23:38. > :23:41.Israeli soldiers were kidnapped in northern Israel, and Israel
:23:41. > :23:47.destroyed half of Lebanon because of that. A You are surely not
:23:47. > :23:53.denying that innocent people are being killed and injured by
:23:53. > :23:57.government troops? I do not deny it. Nobody in Russia denies it. But we
:23:57. > :24:02.would also like to stress that some innocent people are also killed by
:24:02. > :24:12.the insurgents. The Islamist government in Syria would not find
:24:12. > :24:24.
:24:24. > :24:30.it in the Western interest. We have This man will fall further than
:24:30. > :24:35.anyone has fallen before. Later this year Felix Baumgartner will
:24:35. > :24:42.jump 23 miles, he will fought so fast he may even break the sound
:24:43. > :24:47.barrier. -- fought so fast. He will be taken at the edge of space by
:24:47. > :24:51.balloon inside the capsule. When he jumps, all that will protect him as
:24:51. > :24:56.a pressurised suit. This pressure chamber shows just what happens at
:24:56. > :25:00.high altitude. Eric spans. That is why your ears can feel pain for
:25:01. > :25:10.when you take off and land in an airplane. RAF fighter pilots have
:25:11. > :25:13.
:25:13. > :25:16.to go much higher and are trained You need to be breathing out at the
:25:16. > :25:22.point of compression. Felix will start his space died at higher
:25:22. > :25:26.altitudes than any pilot would go. Four times higher where the risks
:25:26. > :25:36.are much greater. Let's just see what happens at these extremely
:25:36. > :25:39.
:25:39. > :25:43.At these height water turns to the paper so Felix's -- so if Felix's
:25:43. > :25:47.pressure suit failed, his blood would literally begins to boil. So
:25:47. > :25:51.the seat and capsule need to be checked and checked again.
:25:51. > :25:57.Engineers have carried out their final tests and say they are now
:25:57. > :26:01.ready for the jump. A passenger plane with technical problems has
:26:01. > :26:05.made an emergency landing at Belfast airport in Northern Ireland.
:26:05. > :26:12.The plane had taken off from the same airport this morning bound for
:26:12. > :26:15.Tenerife but it developed problems shortly afterwards and had been
:26:15. > :26:19.circling to try to loose fuel. Rescuers and Pakistan have pulled a
:26:19. > :26:21.65 year old woman alive from the rubble of a factory 31 hours after
:26:21. > :26:25.the building collapsed. Rescue workers have struggled to reach
:26:25. > :26:28.dozens of people trapped in the rubble. Around 30 people are
:26:28. > :26:33.thought to be under the debris still. The rescue brings the number