09/03/2012 BBC World News

The Greek Finance Minister says the deal with his creditors exceeds all

expectations, and gives Greece the historic second chance it needs.

Italian politicians call the British decision to launch a rescue

operation in Nigeria, in which two hostages were killed, inexplicable.

And costing the Earth, why the cost of security at the Olympics will be

far above the initial estimate. Welcome to BBC World News. Also, a

year after the earthquake in the tsunami -- and the tsunami in Japan,

we visit a symbol of hope in one of the worst-hit towns.

And a chance discovery at Britain's National Archive. What makes this

Welcome to the programme. Yesterday, the question was will they, won't

they? Now we know they will. The Greek government has announced that

a big majority of its private creditors have signed up to join a

multi- billion euro bond swap. In other words, they are going to swap

debt. It will see more than 100 billion euros of Greek debt being

written off. However, the creditors will have to take a big hit, losing

more than 70% of their investment. Within the last hour, the Greek

Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, has told the parliament

in Athens that the participation of Greece's private sector creditors

has exceeded all expectations and historical precedent. He said the

agreement to date had to happen. -- today. TRANSLATION: We can't

have an investment friendly country, growth protection and job creation

without a banking mechanism that supports investment. All these

things should happen for us to have total success on private sector

involvement. We should all agree that this is the only route to put

the country back on its feet, and to give a second historic and much-

needed chance. Our Europe correspondent is following this

from Brussels for us. He says while there is recognition this was the

best deal on the table, it is symbolically a big day. If you

think how long we have been following the drama of this

eurozone crisis, this is the first time that a hole big chunk of debt,

100 billion euros, is being written off. It is going to disappear. That

is a first. What is happening is the biggest single sovereign debt

restructuring, most people would call it a double, in modern history.

What people wanted to avoid was a disorderly default, Greece then we

simply can't pay, and the sense of It should mean that Euro ministers

will hold a telephone conference call and they will say that it is

in place, so the second bit can go ahead. The cynics all the sceptics

will say that all this is doing is buying a bit more time -- six, all

This doesn't solve the underlying problems? Absolutely not. All of

the experts that I have been speaking to, who had the

expectation that this was going to happen... It doesn't mend Greece's

fundamental problems. In the 4th quarter of last year the Greek

economy fell 7.5%. When we talk about economies in a recession, we

talk about 0.3%. 7.5% contraction in the Greek economy. Five years of

recession for Greece. The argument about all these austerity cuts, it

just continues to put Greece behind the eight-ball. There is no growth

strategy, they have to grow at their way out of this. But how do

you do that when you continue making huge cuts in pensions and

public spending and scenarios like that? Does it call into question

how the bond markets do what they do? Because those guys are in the

bond markets to make money. If the bond markets have to take such a

big hair cut, it is a cliche now, why buy debt? That is a question

that has been circulating in the financial sector's of the world.

These bondholders, they are insured against the Greek government not

paying that dead. But a lot of them are being strong-armed in having to

write off 72% of that debt. But some are saying, if that is not a

default, what is a default? If it is officially a default, it would

trigger insurance payouts and many creditors would prefer to get the

insurance payout. You are following the Chinese economy for us as well.

Absolutely. Some good news for Chinese shoppers. Price rises have

slowed sharply. Inflation fell to 3.2% in February. Down from 4.5% in

January. It is the lowest rate for nearly two ears. But signs of a

slowdown at China's factories. -- It is the slowest rate of growth

since 2009. Chinese people are still slop -- shopping, although

The only thing we can add to that on the inflation front is that

perhaps it gives Beijing some manoeuvrability to try to stimulate

growth. Growth is a concern in China, given that the International

Monetary Fund last month predicted China's economy could fall by as

much as 4%, off the back of the America's jobs market is slowly

healing. On average, American companies have added 200,000

workers to pay roles in recent months. February is expected to

show more payroll growth. The official figures hide millions of

workers no longer counted as unemployed, and even more who are

working fewer hours than they want. Which colour suits me best? The

question for baby Charlie, as he Baby they were inspired by Ted's

military service. The business has taken off. We have been expanding

wonderfully. A lot of the national chains are biting. As a result, we

need more help with the sales, so we are bringing on a series of

sales reps, to represent us at the mum and pop boutiques. Small

businesses created half of all jobs in America. According to one survey.

Put together, these thousands of small companies across America are

always what has pulled the US out of past economic slums. It looks

like the US employment picture is steadily improving. But whilst they

had Lions look good, dig deeper and there are millions of Americans out

of work -- whilst the headlines no good. They are no longer officially

counted as unemployed. Many perk -- workers remain angry with the job

situation. We need to bring money into education, we need to build

the middle class, we need to help companies build up jobs and create

jobs. But a recruitment experts says there has been a huge change

in the labour market. It is certainly better than it was, but

there is still very much of a two- tier labour market. There are those

who have skills and are in education, and those who do not.

Those who do not are being left behind. That is the strange

Disconnect currently in America. The jobs market is improving, yet

millions of Americans remain shut Let's take a quick look at the

markets. The highest close on the Nikkei in seven months. The yen

eased against the dollar and the euro, and that helps the bottom

line. Certainly for the exporters. Qantas has fallen by around 2.5%

today. The talks with Malaysia Airlines about setting up an Asian

subsidiary seem to be off the cards for now. Europe started higher but

a bit of a mixed picture. Perhaps the rejoicing over the bond deal

with Greece has come and gone, and focus turns to the others. Those

legacy carriers like Qantas, they are doing this all the time.

Talking, making new airlines. are focusing on Asia. The Middle

East and Asia are the big growth regions, a lot of the airlines want

to get in there and they usually piggyback off one of the carriers

already situated there. Talk to you later, thank you.

Inexplicable behaviour is how the Italian Prime Minister described

the failed attempt to rescue a British journalist and his

colleague being held in Nigeria. David Cameron only told the Italian

government in a phone call after the event.

The family of British engineer Chris McManus said they knew he was

in an extremely dangerous situation, and that everything that could be

done was being done. Chris, seen on the left in this video made by his

captors, was taken hostage with his Italian colleague, Franco

Lamolinara, in May. They were killed during an operation lasting

several hours, at this house in northern Nigeria. The bullet holes

in the wall show the intensity of the battle. David Cameron said

British special forces had to go in, because the hostages' lives were in

imminent danger. We are still awaiting confirmation of the

details, but the early indications are clear, that both men were

murdered by their captors, before they could be rescued. The death of

the Italian hostage has raised the question, why wasn't his government

informed until the operation was under way? It was a very difficult

situation. It might have been the best decision, but it is still to

be explained why Italian authorities have not been informed,

although they are quite present on the territory of Nigeria. I can

understand the concerns and frustrations of Italian politicians,

but they have to recognise that these are very fast-moving,

delicate operations. It is not always possible to keep politicians

briefed in advance of what goes on. I am not convinced that having

briefed them in advance would have enhance the safety of the Italian

hostage in any event. It is not entirely clear who kill the

hostages. One Nigerian officials said they died in crossfire, and

that will be a matter for urgent debriefing of the security teams

Still to come, one year on from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we

visit the town where they are still Oxfam is warning of a humanitarian

catastrophe in the region of Sahel in West Africa. The aid agency says

the danger of drought is put in more than 1 million children at

risk, and it has launched a global appeal.

Evidence of the drought is stark here in Chad. Little for these

cattle to graze on, when the grass should be any higher at this time.

-- knee high. And the last TARDIS, only a memory for these women,

digging in and hills. Adjitti Mahamat uses any grain she can

receive -- the last harvest. If she did not do this, she said the

children would go to sleep without eating. She said that this year,

the millet harvest was bad. Oxfam says that across the Chad and five

other countries, malnutrition rates are hovering between 10 and 15%,

and in some areas, it is beyond the emergency threshold. Over 1 million

children altogether are at risk of severe acute malnutrition. The

grain harvest is down by 1.4 million tonnes for the six Sahelian

countries, while food prices are 25-50% up on average, and could

rise even higher. A special unit in a Niger, for children who are

severely malnourished and have medical complications. Oxfam argues

that the world waited too long to respond to the emergency in East

Africa last year, and the same cannot be allowed to happen now, in

the Sahel. Meanwhile, fierce fighting is taking place in

northern Mali, and these are among the more than 100,000 people forced

to flee their homes, only adding to the other challenges facing aid

workers. Building earth banks to retain any rain that falls, the

cash they learnt helping them by foot, if it is available. -- the

cash they earn. Oxfam says a far bigger aid effort is needed across

this region, if a potential catastrophe is to be avoided.

In China, the government has vowed it will stick to the path of

socialism, saying Western capitalist systems are not viable.

China's top legislator, Wu Bangguo, defended the authoritarian system

of the ruling Communist Party at a speech to the National Congress.

You can click on the icon, or drop This is BBC World news. The top

stories: The Greek finance minister says the deal with creditors has

exceeded expectations and given Greece the second chance it needs.

Italian politicians call the British decision to launch a rescue

operation in Nigeria in which two hostages were killed, inexplicable.

We will stay with that, our security correspondent says things

moved too fast to inform the Italian Government.

The thing you get from this is things move too fast. The

intelligence of were the men were came in and the fear was they would

be moved or killed. The decision was taken in the early hours of

yesterday morning the operation should go ahead before the window

of opportunity closed. The Italians were told after it had begun. You

can see from the Italian point of view, it was one of their nationals,

and they've feel they should have been asked before the decision was

taken. In terms of the operation, the timeline, we are getting a

clearer picture? Intelligence came in locating the men. The fear was

they would be moved or killed. The decision was made to go in. British

special forces were the first to go in with the Nigerians behind them.

There was a gun battle with one of the hostage takers. By the time

they got past him and took the hostages, they were already dead.

It was almost certain at the hands of their captors, but it was unsure.

As far as the authorities were concerned, they were getting

twitchy because the kidnappers had been sending out mixed signals

about their demands? We don't know what the demands work. None of the

videos have been made public. How much of it was Ransom and wanting

money for this splinter group, and how it was a political aim of where

they wanted to make a statement and perhaps kill these people. There

was, it is believed a credible threat to life. It wasn't purely

financial kidnapping for ransom. But there was a lot of worry about

the fate of these men, and tragically the operation to rescue

them did go wrong. In Spain, unions have called a

general strike for the end of the month, March 29th, after failing to

compromise with the Government on labour reforms. A correspondent

joins us live from Madrid. How many people could be affected by this?

This law is hugely controversial. It is the Government's main piece

of legislation to tackle unemployment. It stands at one in

four of those trying to find a job. And in the under 25 age category,

it rises to nearly one in two. This law is so controversial because it

will reduce the severance payments people will be paid when they are

laid off. In some cases those payments will go down by a third.

When businesses are losing money the severances payments would drop

by nearly half. Well they go after the minimum wage in Spain, to try

to lower it and put people on to short-term contracts. It is another

controversial part of this law. The idea people can put people on a

year at trial, essentially. And that the end of the year they won't

be entitled to the severance payment people would be entitled to

otherwise. One of the provisions in the law will reduce the time

companies will be able to put people on short-term contracts. One

of the problems in Spain is the number of people on temporary

contracts. There will be tax breaks for people and companies hiring

people under 30. Because youth unemployment is a problem in Spain.

And one poll in a Spanish newspaper has suggested 67% of people in

Spain would support the general strike. It will be interesting to

see how much support this measure gets. How much trouble is the

Government in over this? Unemployment is seen as the biggest

problem economy has in Spain. The Spanish economy is expected to

retract 1.5%, the latest estimate from the Bank of Spain.

Unemployment is seen as a problem because you have less people

earning money, less people spending money and creating growth in the

economy. And less income tax going back to the Government, so the

Government's revenue is dropping. One of the things in this crisis is

the huge debt it has, because it needs to convince Brussels its debt

is coming under control. So far it is struggling to do that. Japan is

preparing to mark the first anniversary of the devastating

earthquake and Tsunami. It was one year ago this Sunday that a huge

quake struck off the coast of Japan. Nearly 16,000 people were killed in

the tsunami which wiped out entire communities and a year on thousands

are still missing. This was one of the worst hit towns following the

disaster - the BBC's Roland Buerk has been to see the recovery

efforts. This is the new wall built to

replace the one that was smashed. Behind it, a pine forest stood here,

but it was not down. The tsunami was so big it went over those

buildings and left a wasteland as far as the eye can see. What have

they been doing over the last year? They have been clearing up,

gathering the debris, the remains of the town into huge piles. Wood,

concrete and matter. The police are still searching this coast a year

on. Perhaps the sea will give up some of the more than 3,000 people

who are still missing? Their families would welcome the chance

to hold a few rules. No one stood, along this section of the coast, a

sole survivor, this street. They're calling this the miracle pint. It

is the most famous street in Japan, a symbol of hope for the people

here there will be a recovery. There's a warning today that the

London Olympics may end up costing 20% more than planned. It comes

from an influential committee of British parliamentarians who

scrutinise public spending. A new report from the Public Accounts

Committee said it was staggering that initial estimates about

security costs were so wrong. Of Sports Editor reports that the cost

has nearly doubled. They are particular in a way how

they managed to get the number wrong. It doubled the amount of

their new security guards needed for the Games. The report also

includes alarming figures that perhaps the true cost could be

nearer �11 billion to the taxpayer wants all Olympic related costs are

taken into account. The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee,

Margaret Hodge, has been speaking about her concerns over the Olympic

budget. We have real concerns about the running of the Games. We have

concerns about the way in which the security budget has spiralled out

of control. We have concerns the opening ceremony has doubled in

cost at a very late stage. We have concerns that things like sorting

out the transport infrastructure, what the stations and Underground

stations are going to be like, has been left to a very late stage. And

we have concerns about what will happen to the legacy. I had just

done an interview with the sport and Olympics minister, and he

rejects a lot of the weight the PAC has added up its numbers,

particularly on the 11 billion. He insists it is �9.3 billion. But he

gets back to what is the Olympic costing? The �9.3 billion was the

infrastructure associated with building the venues. But other pots

of money had been needed. For example, as Margaret Hodge pointed

out, on the opening ceremonies and security. It is hard for the public

to work out what is cost and what isn't. As Margaret Hodge said,

there needs to be an audit to find out what the true cost has been.

The earliest ever film adaptation of a Dickens novel has been

discovered in the archives of the British Film Institute. The 60-

second short features a character from Bleak House, but no one knew

it existed because it had been mislabelled. This lady is

responsible for more than 20,000 silent films in the archive. But

this provoked her interest. On the tape it said "man meets a rugged

borzoi". When they set it running, they discovered rather more

Dickensian. A night watchman walks along the gates of the cemetery.

The starving child, staggers in. This wasn't just any starving child.

It is a film of a Dickens character, it is called the Death of poor Joe.

It is somewhere before March, 1901. You have been able to do some

detective work, even were it was the old? Absolutely. We know the

film-maker was George Albert Smith, one of the film pioneers. His wife

plays the character of duo or stock -- duo. They it is, one minute

Dickens. Not quite an evening's entertainment but in 1901, six

years after the birth of film, this was a tiny ring a pick up of the

British film industry. Ashik Ali pioneering epic.

People taking a stroll along appear in Yorkshire had been met by an

Olympic themed scarf. Nobody knows who needed it which shows a lot of

When athletes taking part. A lot of activities, skiing, lying down flat,