29/03/2012 BBC World News

Spain on strike. Union anger at labour laws the Government says are

essential to boost the economy. An historic Baghdad summit of the Arab

League with the violence in Syria at the top of their agenda. Japan

carries out its first executions for more than a year and a half.

Welcome to BBC World News. Also in this programme: Rivalling the World

Bank. The plan being considered by the world's top five emerging

economies. And on the run. How one elephant really did try to say

The General Strike in Spain has got a grip of the country. It is in

protest of Labour's reforms. By this time tomorrow, we should have

a good idea of the fact so and figures which the Government is

building its framework for austerity kerbs around. Rail and

air transport is all due to be affected. Our correspondent is in

Madrid. I asked him about the timing of the strike. Coming a day

before the Budget, the government will announce the new Budget

tomorrow. It is a lot about the labour reform to try to cut the

huge unemployment that exists in Spain. It is also about the

austerity measures we are due to expect from the Government. They

are under pressure to cut the budget deficit target. The new

government came in in December and said the public finances are worse

than we were led to believe by the previous government. Brussels said

the target is not good enough. There has been a lot of pressure to

cut even further. Do expect to get any surprises were refined will

have more -- how the finances stack up? The Government has said, at

this strike call made no difference to what we plan to do. -- this

strike will make. One economist said, either there is going to be a

big surprise in the Budget or it will not be -- incredible. Spain

has a raft of problems. Of course it is trying to get its debt in

order so it can keep borrowing at sensible rates on the international

markets. I went to Jerez, in Andalucia, in the south of Spain.

There has a big problem. Most mornings they meet to make noises...

Of an to mind their bosses -- and remind their bosses at the Town

Hall that they have not been paid for five months. Antonia Dominguez

of marches in the morning and in the afternoon he works. He still

drives his bus, despite the fact he has not been paid.

TRANSLATION: It is affecting life at home. I cannot even afford my

children's books for schools. problem that exists here is

mirrored to a lesser and greater extent in villages and cities and

towns across Spain. The administration here has long been

voted out of power. Many of the new administration's might have to be

bailed out by the central government. Bills have been

quantified at about 50 billion euros. That is about 5%. Unpaid

bills mean small and middle-sized firms who supply it municipalities

and regional government are having some money. Some of them are going

bankrupt. This is what Jerez, the City, is really famous for. Jerez,

the wind, which English speakers called Sherry. The Golden Whip --

liquid from members when the city was not in the red. Now they wade

outside the camp -- the town hall, waiting to be paid. Rich in

tradition, the dire public finances are making people incredibly poor.

On the streets of Madrid there is less traffic come up more rubbish,

more police. The propaganda war has already begun. The Government says

it is business as usual. The unions will say that lots of people are

staying away. We will see hundreds of thousands on the streets as

demonstration build throughout the day. Now for the latest world

business news. We are talking about a new organisation been set up in

opposition to the World Bank. talking about a summit which is

taking place in Brazil. Let's not kid ourselves, they are a group of

fast growing economies. They represent 45% of the world's

population and a quarter of the global economy. We have been

talking about this for some time. They are fed up with the global

political and financial institutions - that is the IMF and

the World Bank - that those institutions have not kept pace

with the changing world. Emerging countries wanted to see a change.

The leadership of the World Bank is being tussled for unlikely it would

be an American. It is very interesting. Jim O'Neill, who

coined the phrase of the organisation, said these economies

would find it hard to gain Corran - - common ground. The wealth among

these five different economies is very different. It might be

difficult to find common ground. I put that to an expert back -- at an

economic think-tank. There are lots of differences. It is about working

on the convergence is. There are many of them. You said that Brazil

and Russia are exporters of raw materials in China and India are

consumers. These five countries have registered tremendous growth

in the last decade. There are a lot of things. In this process we have

new challenges and new problems. We can learn from each other. After

the global crisis of 2008, it has become evident that global

financial institutions need financial reforms. The five

countries feel that they can contribute positively in this

direction. If they can pull airy sources and co-ordinate their age

strategies, some are suggesting this kind of bank would be a lot

more powerful than the likes of the World Bank and the Asian

Development Bank, do you agree? do not know have to put it. The

whole idea is not to supplant the existing institutions. It will

supplement the Royal -- the World Bank and regional development banks.

H&M has seen strong sales of budget clothing despite the economic gloom

in Europe. Profits were up 5% in the three months to February. The

rise was less than expected. H&M has been having to discount heavily

and it has been hit by rising costs of things like fuel and cotton.

Given they are selling an awful lot of fashion despite the economic

worries, I asked Robert Clark what the secret was. You have to see it

in the global context and the long term. I think what they do in

particular is that they think globally and act locally. You do

have to do that. A lot of other retailers over time have not done

that. They're in a very good segment of the marketplace. There

in a fast Fashanu airier. They have this fashion element they are a

younger element in the market place. They keep these brands moving on.

Because they are in the fast fashion element and it is

relatively expensive, you can -- inexpensive, you can buy the

clothes and it does not break the bank. If you look at the likes of

Gap, which used to be the largest fashion retailer in the world, it

was basically overtaken by fast fashion. They had a format and a

group it around the world. They did not evolve with it. It stayed the

same and it was rather grey - literally. Consumers moved on. You

have to keep evolving. They simply did not move on. They did not seize

these other guys coming. Absolutely! One thing with all

these retailers, they cannot escape. We have had rising prices of cotton

for some time. Fuel prices are heading up through the roof. The

rising wages in Asia for H&M. they have done, which has affected

gross margins and profitability, it is they have kept prices down.

Probably in the long term that will serve them well. You have to take

these things into account. It affects everyone. They are

outperforming their competitors. Research In Motion, at the

manufacture of the BlackBerry, is likely to announce more weak

results. It is the first set of earnings for the chief executive,

who has the task of turning the business around. A quick flash of

the markets in Asia. Another day in the doldrums. A lot of concerns

about China and its economy. Last week manufacturing numbers

suggested that China and the Chinese economy is cooling. The

European markets, they are not clicking the European markets. I am

trying! There they are. They are also following the Asian markets.

That is it. You are watching BBC World news. Coming up: New evidence

of a British honeymoon or's alleged involvement in the murder of his

wife. Prosecutors in Chile say they will prosecute people accused of

killing a young gay man. He was brutally beaten and had swastikas

carved into his body. The case has prompted a national debate in Chile

about hate crime. Daniel sold clothes for a living the dream of

studying theatre. The attack on him lasted an hour. He was beaten,

burned with cigarettes and Nazi symbols were carved into his body.

Outside the hospital, and just kept vigil as he laid in a coma.

According to prosecutors, it was a homophobic attack. There was anger.

The crowd shouted, mergers, when a member of the Government visited

the hospital. The President has promised he will not rest until an

anti-discrimination law is passed. TRANSLATION: We will construct a

better protected society with more love when no one is discriminated

against for any reason because all Chileans have the same rights.

Tuesday, the tape of Daniel's death, his mother thanked people for their

support. I want to say we appreciate the support and all the

beautiful things you have given us. From a Bow people have been jailed

on attempted murder charges. -- four people. A large buyer has

ripped through a plastics factory in Santiago. Nearby residents were

evacuated. The city's mayor says the chemical content of the burning

plastic was not known. The societies said the wind was

carrying the smoke away from populated areas. It in Ankara that

they are protesting against a government reform bill. They used

tear-gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters. It pave

the way for students to attend Islamic schools. One person has

been killed and 17 wounded in clashes between riot police and

This is BBC World News. With this is me, Peter Dobby with the top

stories. Labour reforms to reduce the Budget

deficit. An historic bag dad summit of the Arab League is taking place

with the violence at in Syria at the top of the agenda. The Arab

League are holding that summit in Iraq for the first time since the

fall of Saddam Hussein. We are showing you live pictures coming to

us there. The new security is very tight. The authorities are not

telling journalists where the meeting is taking place, as there

has been a series of militant bombings in the last week or so

that threatened to derail the summit.

The Arab League is expected to focus on Syria. We have been

talking with our correspondent who has been following the story for us

out of bank bag dad. There are varying interpret igss of

how important the -- interpretations of how important

the high-level attendance is. The security situation in bag dad

is still not entirely stable, but in any case if they were all here

it is not clear what they can achieve on issues that are tabled

for discussion -- Baghdad. The Arab League has a history of issuing

statements without having real impact on the ground. That is with

regards to the Israel/Arab conflict and other issues around the world.

So the level of attendance is significant, but it does not

necessarily mean that it is going to go this way or that in terms of

real impact on the ground. Do we know what they want to do

about Syria? Has the Arab League, in effect, I guess, given up on

Syria? Well, different countries want to do different things on

Syria. We know that Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been pushing for more

pressure on the Syrian regime. The Saudis have spoken of the need to

arm the Syrian opposition or the Free Syrian Army and they have

spoken about the possibility of sending troops to Syria. That is

their opinion. The Iraqis are soldly against any kind of foreign

intervention or arming of the opposition in Syria, saying that

they would not allow Iran to arm anybody else through Iraq. Opposed

to arming the Syrian oppositions. So there is a clear difference

between the two positions. It seems as if what we have heard so far if

the final statement is correct, and this is only from Iraqi sources

that it appears that Iraq is taking a leading role in drafgt the final

statement. Now, turning our attention to Japan. Japan has

carried out the first executions for more than a year-and-a-half now.

Three prisoners have been hanged. Japan has more than 100 inmates on

death roll, including Shoko Asahara. He was the ring leader of the 1995

sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. Our correspondent is Roland

Buerk, I asked him if we knew the identities of the eex cuted inmates.

-- executed inmates. -- one is a man who killed five

people. Another is a prisoner who has been executed, he was the man

who killed the parents of his estranged wife and step son. This

is the first time that Japan has carried out the death penalty in 20

months. The anti death penalty campaigners have been saying that

perhaps the office in government was reconsidering the situation on

this, so they are disappointed and have been protesting about the

hangings today. These were convicted murderers, but

death row in Japan is especially harsh? It is, according to Amnesty

International yrl. -- Amnesty International international.

Prisoners spend most of the day sitting down in the cells, there is

little exercise. They are not told about the date of their execution

in advance. They spend much of the day fearing that it could be their

last. Amnesty International international says that sends most

prisoners into madness, but 60% of the people here support the death

penalty. Despite the last Justice Minister trying to prompt a public

debate on the death penalty. She was a firm opponent of the death

penalty. She went to witness the executions to try to prompt a

public debate, but even so, the majority of the Japanese support

the death penalty. Roland Buerk there talking to us.

Breaking news coming from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. We understand

that there has been an explosion, close to where the Arab League

meeting is taking place at the secure location. That is according

to the Reuters News Agency. Eight out of 22 Member States of the Arab

League are represented there. The security has been incredibly tight

because of a series of bomb-blasts over the last week. There has been

one explosion heard in the Iraqi capital in the past few minutes or

More top stories: An American airline pilot whose plane had to

make an emergency landing on Tuesday, after suffering a mental

break down has been charged with interfering with the flight crew.

He was yell about a bomb and urging people to pray.

And 70 people have been killed in several days of tribal fighting in

southern Libya. A spokesperson said that 150 people had been wuended

and 1,500 government troops had been sent to the region.

The founder of Amazon, says that an underwater expedition he financed

has found the engines that launched the Apollo moon expedition in 1999.

The engines were nearly 4,000 metres down in the Atlantic Ocean.

The BBC has obtained new evidence that suggests that the British

honeymooner's, Shrien Dewani, alleged involvement in his wife may

not be as clear cut as has been portrayed. The High Court is to

rule tomorrow on whether Mr Dune dune, sectioned under the Mental

Health Act, and denies the allegations should be extradited,

but as Panorama reports, CCTV footage, raises new questions about

the prosecution case. A just-married couple start a new

day of their South Africa honeymoon, but the end of it, the bride will

be dead, executed, it is alleged, on the orders of her husband.

Shrien Dewani denies involvement in the killing of his 28-year-old wife.

CCTV never before shown of the couple in their Cape Town hotel,

capture the moment that Shrien Dewani is alleged to have

commissioned the murder. Anni Dewani checks in along, Shrien

Dewani speaks to the taxi driver, Zola Tongo.

This is where it was said he commissioned Anni Dewani's murder.

After meeting Zola Tongo. Is he simply hiring the taxi driver as a

honeymoon tour guide, or has he just commissioned his wife's

murder? The following days, hours before the taxi was hi-jacked, the

CCTV shows the couple kissing and posing for photographs. Zola Tongo

was late to collect them. His lawyer says that the Shrien Dewani

became agitated about the delay. Shrien Dewani insisted that the act

be perpetrated that very day. The CC tment V tell as different

story, Shrien Dewani can be seen calling Zola Tongo at 7 .4 5. He

shows no sign of agitation. -- CCTV. On the way back from

dinner, the taxi that they were travelling in was hi-jacked. Zola

Tongo and Shrien Dewani were ejected from the taxi, Anni

Dewani's body was found the next morning, killed by a single gunshot.

Shrien Dewani is sectioned in the UK, under the Mental Health Act. He

is fighting a British court ruling to extradite him to South Africa.

His family have told the BBC that Shrien Dewani does intend to return

to South Africa, to answer the police questions just as soon as he

is well enough. Now to a story coming to us from

the Irish Republic. An elephant in need of refreshment escaped from a

circus in Ireland it went on a hunt for, apparently a cup of coffee.

Baby shocked passers by, when she appeared outside a shopping centre.

What to do with an escaped elephant, wandering outside of a coffee shop

in a city centre. A little gentle persuasion was tried that did not

work, there was only one option left, run. The two-and-a-half tonne

elephant was not called knellie, but she had left the circus.

Eyewitnesses say she ran away at bathtime.

They were being washed. One fella did not want to be washed. He got

upset, broke the barrier and ran out into the main road. Split

seconds. It took longer to convince her to

return to the circus, but she did. Panic over. Her keeper insisted

that there had been no real danger to the Irish public.

You cannot say danger. We know he does not hit people.

Alright? You must understand that. She is now up to her old tricks

again. Very old tricks. She is 40 years of age. They say that

elephants never forget, whatever the truth of that, the people of

Cork will long remember the day that the circus came to town.

OK, wrapping up the half hour of BBC World News with the live

pictures coming to us from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The Arab

League there holding a special summit.

An all-day curfew is in place for the summit in Baghdad. The back

story to this is that in the past 20 minutes we have had reports of

three lotions -- explosions close to the summit venue. Less than half