21/02/2012 BBC World News

Heavy shelling - said to be the most ferocious yet - in rebel areas

of Homs. Eurozone finance ministers agree a

second bail out package to try to stop Greece going bankrupt.

Angry protests in Afghanistan after Islamic holy books were disposed of

Welcome to BBC World News. Also in this programme:

After months of protests against Saleh's rule, the people of Yemen

go to the polls to elect a new president.

And one year on from the earthquake which devastated New Zealand's

second city, Christchurch, we've a special report on how the clear-up

Parts of the Syrian city of Homs are under heavy bombardment once

again. Syrian forces are reported to have unleashed a heavy artillery

barrage on rebel-held neighbourhoods of the city.

Activists say at least 12 people have been killed, including two

children. The ICRC is trying to arrange access amidst fears of

further fatalities. A little earlier, I spoke to our

correspondent Jim Muir, who's monitoring the situation in Syria

from neighbouring Beirut. In the last couple of hours and the

shelling has been relentless. It started up about 90 minutes ago in

earnest and it has been shells and rockets slamming in at the rate of

quite a few every minute. A relentless bombardment. Activists

say some buildings have been completely flattened by the

intensity of the fire. They say at least 12 people have been killed.

That figure came more than an hour ago and there's been heavy

bombardment since then. It is a little bit quieter since then, but

I will play you some sounds we The intensity of it, every few

seconds and explosion. This is a heavily built up area with a lot of

civilians still left Farepak, although a number of families have

left in recent weeks. In the past two weeks it has been besieged by

government forces and very hard to get in and out. One of my

colleagues in the news room has been looking at some of the footage,

which is too graphic to broadcast, but it shows some dreadful

casualties, including of children and babies. Off that's right. We

are seeing a lot of footage on YouTube and it is up to graphic to

show. There are pictures of a mother grieving over the body of a

very young child still in nappies, probably about six to seven unsold.

The child has been very badly damaged by fragments from a rocket.

Not clear whether it was clinging to life. It appeared to be dead,

but the doctor was trying to resuscitate it. It did seem to be

among the people are believed to have died in this latest

bombardment. The activist says two children are among the 12 they say

have died so far. But that is a very provisional figure given the

intensity of the shelling since that figure came in. I'm sure there

will be more casualties. They are saying more than 100 injured.

you. A little earlier, I spoke with Sami

Ibrahim, who lives in Homs. situation is disastrous. At the

moment of people have been killed. Among them, three women, three

children. That is only in the hospital. There are lot of bodies

in the rubble. We are unable to reach them. Have the security

forces prevent our organisation, the Syrian network of human rights,

from reaching them and they prevent any kind of Kuitunen rights

organisation. -- human rights. We are receiving appeals. Just now we

received a child. His mother has been inside the hospital. The Assad

army is killing the people, killing the population. They decide to lift

this army and although thousands of people left the Army, they

protected to protect -- protect the civilians who and protect houses

from looting. This is the situation. We are not speaking about two de

Gaulle armies, we are speaking about her a regime firing and

shooting at civilians. -- two equal armies.

It's been a long time coming, but a rescue deal HAS been reached to

give Greece another huge financial bail out. The country is to receive

loans of more than 130 billion euros to prevent it from

immediately slipping into bankruptcy and defaulting on its

debt. Eurozone ministers met late into the night - more than 12 hours

- in Brussels to hammer out the details. The Greek Prime Minister

pronounced himself "very happy" with the outcome. Andy Moore has

been following developments. It was a marathon meeting lasting

more than 13 hours, but finally the main players emerged to announce a

deal. It had taken that long, it was that early in the morning. One

of the tired negotiators managed a joke. I have learnt that a marathon

is indeed a Greek word! But the deal they have agreed will mean

serious austerity measures for Greece that will be rigorously

enforced. The target was to reduce group debt by 2020 to 120% of the

the end they got very close to that. We started the day at 2:30pm with

the debt to GDP ratio of nearly 129. We begin the day today at debt to

GDP ratio of 120.5. Significant progress has been made overnight.

As part of the deal, private investors will have to take the so

called for a cut on their loans to Greece. It will be more of a savage

crocked and a trim, they will lose even more than they had previously

thought. Over the weekend, trade unions protested against the

austerity measures in Athens. Now Greece faces many more years of

financial pain, but the bail out means it will now be able to pay

its scheduled decks next month. The possibility of a disorderly default

and even an exit from the eurozone has gone away for now.

A few minutes ago, the EU Commission president, Jose Manuel

Barroso, spoke at a news conference. He said that the bail out is an

essential step forward for Greece and the euro. As recognised by the

Greek authorities themselves, not only government, but also

parliament, the measures being taken are essential and in many

cases long overdue. There's no alternative. Fiscal consolidation

than structural reform in Greece. If Greece wants to remain -- retain

competitiveness so it can generate growth and jobs. This message has

to be clear. The best way of showing our solidarity to Greece is

to speak for truth. Juliette Foster joins me now with

the business. More than 20 countries have joined

forces to try to pressurise the European Union into abandoning its

carbon tax on airlines. The alliance, led by the United States

and China, is meeting in Moscow today to discuss ways to retaliate

against the tax. But the EU says it's not budging - it aims to

charge airlines for all the carbon they emit on flights in European

airspace later this year. Jeremy At the start of this year, the

European Union began to charge the world's airlines for the carbon

emitted on all flights using the US base. It is estimated this will

cost airlines $300 million this year, with none the EU airlines

being charged $75 million. Countries like the US and China

argue Europe has no right to tax other countries carriers. Delegates

from 26 non EU countries, calling themselves the coalition of the

unwilling, are meeting to discuss ways of trying to get the EU to

back down on its new aviation tax. Options include suspending the free

trade deals with Europe, imposing extra charges on European airlines,

or banning their own airlines from participating in the EU scheme.

Airlines have until spring next year to pay all of their carbon

taxes. Observers fear if they boycott it, the dispute could

escalate. If you see broad scale non-compliance amongst foreign

airlines, the EU would be required to do something. That something

could be impounding airlines. That could lead to tit-for-tat, which

would be very damaging for the airlines as well as for the

industry as a whole. The European Union has said repeatedly it will

not abandon the carbon tax, but at the same time, it faces clashing

with powerful opponents of the scheme like the US and China.

Months of delicate diplomacy lie ahead. It will be difficult to

extract payment from non-EU airlines if they are really

determined not to stump up the cash. The trick will be to allow that to

happen whilst engaging in serious negotiations with the protesting

countries so that it doesn't seem that those countries are simply

cocking a snook at the Edu legislation. Governments seem set

on a collision course. Airlines fear they will pay the cost.

Possibly with planes impounded and flight ban. The industry will be

pressing governments to find a peace formula before things go too

far. There's more trouble ahead for

Kingfisher Airlines. The carrier founded by Indian tycoon Vijay

Mallya has cancelled dozens of flights from Mumbai and Delhi in

recent days. That's caused chaos for hundreds of passengers. Now

India's aviation watchdog has demanded the airline's boss explain

himself at a meeting on Tuesday. Kingfisher has struggled to pay

airport fees in recent months due to its large debts.

The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan has been following the story in Mumbai.

What is the latest? It has been an interesting few days for Kingfisher

Airlines. In the last couple of days alone, more than 100 flights

have been cancelled. At the weekend we had a statement from the air

like we said the reason was due to unforeseen circumstances. The

airline put it down to bird strikes as one of the reasons. On Monday

evening they issued another statement in which they said the

reason for these many cancellations was because the company's bank

account had been frozen and the company was working with the Indian

tax authorities to establish a payment plan say it could pay staff

who have not been paid for some time and also recover grounded

aircraft. It has been an interesting couple of days and as

you say, officials and executives from Kingfisher Airlines met with

Indian aviation officials today and they have been ordered to come up

with a revised schedule of which flights will and will not be

operating by tomorrow. Given the personality in the rather -- and

the colourful history of the founder of this company, how much

of an embarrassment is this to him personally? It is a huge blow. If

you look at the earnings for Kingfisher for the last quarter,

they reported losses of $90 million from October to December of last

year. That is a 75% drop on the previous year. If you work that out,

that is the company losing a million dollars a day. Vijay Mallya

is a big personality and a well- known businessman here. He is also

the man behind Kingfisher beer. He has been tweeting today, saying the

media has been since then shook -- sensationalising some of the

reports about his company. It's no secret the company is in dire

straits at the moment. China's largest e-commerce company

posted its first drop in quarterly net profit in nine quarters due to

economic uncertainty around the world. Alibaba.com links Chinese

businesses to overseas buyers. October-December net profit fell to

$61 million. The firm is looking to buy back its stake it sold to Yahoo

in 2005. Juliana Liu reports from Alibaba was the small start-up

founded by former tour guide and English teacher Jack Mann. It

eventually grew into the Alibaba group. This website helps link up

tens of millions of small businesses around the world and is

the only listed part of the overall company. That is why investors took

notice it when its shares were halted in Hong Kong in early

February. Four days, they waited for confirmation that the Alibaba

group had been successful in negotiating a contract, tax free

deal to buy back its shares from only Yahoo. Those talks are

believed to have failed. The shares are fully -- are suspended. On

Tuesday company executives will have to address investors. The

founder will not be taking questions directly, but the feeling

is he is definitely the man making the larger decisions. Investors are

digesting the nearest the rumours that Alibaba .com may be delisted

entirely as part of another deal still being negotiated. The details

have yet to emerge, but it's clear that the owner intends to retake

control over the company he started And that's all the business news

for the moment. You are watching BBC World News. Sorry, there you

are! It took 160 years to build Christ Church's city centre, and

just a few minutes to destroy it. Remembering New Zealand's

earthquake, one year on. The words Mogadishu and peace don't often go

hand in hand, but some say life is slowly getting back to normal in

the hand. Six months ago, Al-Shabab militants were pushed out. Now,

president and senior figures from over 40 countries are converging on

London to address Somalia's future. I am in the ruined centre of

Mogadishu. A few months ago, there was no way we could have been here,

but the situation has changed dramatically in many ways. Joining

us is the deputy mayor of the city. It has changed, hasn't it?

Definitely, and am happy to see walking without bullet proof vests.

This is the reality on the ground. People are feeling secure. The

unfortunate thing is that the children are not going to school.

Only three of them raised their hand when I asked them if they were

going to school. Your government faces many challenges here. What

have you managed to achieve in Mogadishu now that it is free of

Al-Shabab? The relative peace. People getting back into their

lives. Small businesses starting. If you look at the market in front

of us, it is overcrowded. Somali people are entrepreneurs. Their

lives are starting again. You just have to look at the ruins around us

to realise how much time and money it is going to take to rebuild

Somalia and Mogadishu. What are you expecting? From the London

conference I'm hoping that all parties are there, people from all

parts of Somalia. What I hope from there his first for a united

Somalia, which will bring us to democracy, good governance. That is

what we are hoping for on the political side. There is relative

security now, and we expect that that will expand. The other thing

will be the reconstruction of this city. You are talking billions of

dollars. Yes, we want billions that will be visible, and that the

people of Mogadishu will witness. Iman Icar, deputy mayor of

Mogadishu, thank you very much. That is all we have time for from

This is BBC World News. The headlines: Syrian forces have

reportedly unleashed what has been called a ferocious artillery

barrage, the worst yet, on rebel- held neighbourhoods of Homs. And

after all-night talks, eurozone of finance ministers finally agreed a

massive second bail-out package for Greece.

At least six people are reported to have been killed at two polling

stations in Yemen where elections are being held for a new president

to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh. The people were killed after fighting

between gunmen and security forces broke out in the south of the

country where the separatists have called for a boycott of the poll.

There is only one candidate on the ballot, the vice-president, Abed

Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Last month, President Saleh was granted

immunity from prosecution. He the American commander in

Afghanistan, General John Allen, has apologised for an incident

which he says copies of the Muslim holy book the Koran were disposed

of improperly. Thousands of people protested outside the Bagram air

base, and there were reports of a petrol bomb being thrown. We are

thoroughly investigating the incident, and we are taking steps

to ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you, I promise you

this was not intentional in any way. And I offer my in sincere apologies

-- I offer you my sincere apologies for any offence this may have

caused to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most important, my

apologies to the noble people of Afghanistan. General John Allen. I

spoke to Andrew North in Kabul. You heard the American commander in

Afghanistan in effect confessing that something had happened, that

this wasn't entirely an allegation. What we are hearing is that this

was in relation to prisoners religious materials, in other words

books and other things that possibly may have included the

Koran. Americans are saying they were used by prisoners in American

detention. And after the word of this got out, but possibly these

books and others had been mistreated in some way, that

prompted a large demonstration outside the air base this morning.

A BBC reporter at the scene said he saw people throwing stones and

firebombs, quite angry scenes. But we understand that now the crowd

had dispersed, and Afghan security officials there are saying that

things are under control. We are told that the Koran is never

to be disposed of. Any news on how this happened, and what will be the

consequences? Clearly there is concern about the

possibility of further violence. When an American pastor said via --

set fire to the Koran, there were riots and some people were killed.

There have been instances in the past when the Taliban and other

groups have been accused of spreading such rumours. But a lot

of sensitivity about it right now. Dozens of people stormed the Prison

in Honduras where a fire killed hundreds of people. They broke into

a refrigerated container and opened body-bags, looking for the bodies

of their loved ones, before being driven out by police using tear gas.

It is a measure of the distress still engulfing those families.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund,

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been questioned by Finnish police today

about an alleged prostitution ring. He has been accused of having sex

with prostitutes organised by the rain in Paris and in Washington. Mr

Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the IMF in May last year after he

was accused of sexually assaulting and made at a hotel in New York. He

denied the accusation, and the charge was later dropped. Our

correspondent Christiane Fraser is in Paris and gave us the background.

It is known as the Carlton affair, named after a hotel in Lille where

sex parties were organised to which Mr Strauss-Kahn was invited. There

are another -- and number of prostitutes to have come forward

and said they had slept with him, a fact he is not disputing, but he

does dispute that he knew they were prostitutes. He said on a chat show

in France, I challenge you to tell the difference between one woman

with her clothes off and a prostitute with her and for us off.

It is not illegal to sleeper the prostitute in France, just to

supply one, known as pimping. It is alleged that Mr Strauss-Kahn

brought his own prostitutes to these parties. He finds himself yet

again in the midst of a rather sleazy investigation. He has asked

it to be interviewed after an number of headlines have been held

about him. One year ago, an earthquake

devastated New Zealand second People will be marking the

anniversary of the earthquake in Christchurch with a silence.

One year on from the devastating day, the centre of Christchurch is

completely off limits. For the Dean of the city, this is as close as

they can get to the iconic Cathedral. They call it the new

normal that we live in for the time being, so be it. Most of us are

getting on with our lives, and we live with this reality that we

could have a more quakes. We can see our city growing around us

again. So in the midst of it there is hope. This is the sight of the

Canterbury television building. 150 people died here, including almost

70 foreign students. The building was one of the first to be cleared.

Tributes from around the world to remain.

It took 160 years to build Christchurch, and only 24 seconds

to rip apart the centre of it. 50,000 people came to work every

day. Now it is home to a few demolition workers. But crucially

also do construction workers. A2 billion dollars plan is in the

pipeline to rebuild this part of Christchurch, but some people are

concerned it could take decades. In the nearby port of Lyttelton,

the closest suburb to the epicentre, the moments after the disaster were

captured on mobile phone. It shows the full force of the 6.2 magnitude

quake. Alex and Chris Herbert showed us the damage to their home

a year ago. There has had to be pulled down. The aftershocks kept

coming, and they make your heart jump. But we do tend to get used to

them a little bit. The fear farce is more financial and social than

anything else at this stage. We lost a lot of friends that have

left town, lost a lot of businesses that we used to come to, bars and

things. This whole event if anything has strengthened my

resolve to be in this town, because it turns out the things we love

about it goes so much deeper than the buildings. It is the people,

the geography, and it is a rare thing these days, which is a

community that cares about each You can feel the remarkable sense

of community here. On a golden evening in Lyttelton, this mini-

festival is a moment to celebrate that closeness. The stitching

circle started selling Hearts after the quake as a symbol of hope, and

is a way of coming together. All of the time, people are walking past,

and we had the opportunity to walk up to these people and give them a

hard, and they ended up all over the world. It was a chance to say

thank you to those people. attitude in Christchurch is one of

stoicism and resilience. With years of rebuilding and uncertainty ahead,

people here have little choice. More on all of our stories on the