09/10/2012 BBC World News

Into the lion's Den, Angela Merkel touches down in Greece, her first

visit since the start of the eurozone crisis.

Security is tight with protests expected against the leader who

many see as the author of the austerity programme in Greece.

A teenager human-rights activist has been shot and wounded in

Afghanistan. As Uganda marks 50 years of

independence, why is the opposition There was tight security in the

Greek capital for the visit of the German Chancellor, her first trip

to Greece since the crisis started, and demonstrations are expected as

she is seen as the driving force behind the spending cuts which have

caused so much hardship. This is her plane, it does literally just

touched down. I do not think the Chancellor has got off yet, we have

seen the red carpet rolled out, quite a reception committee there

to greet her. This is a big and very symbolic moment for the Greeks,

because as I said, she has not been there since the start of the debt

crisis, and it is seen, you know, as Mrs Mackle offering her support.

The markets will take this as deeply symbolic, won't they?

Absolutely, look, I was just speaking to a journalist in Athens

half an hour ago, and nobody is expecting a Angela Merkel to come

with any new promises, no more bags of money or anything of that nature,

but given that other eurozone members, the likes of Austria,

Holland and Finland, have made rather harsh comments about Greece

and the government in Athens, I mean, this will be seen certainly,

this visit seen as... A gesture of support. Absolutely, the first

visit since the crisis,... There she is, coming down the steps right

now. They will be watching this very closely. The markets are down,

but strictly off the back of the IMF report downgrading global

growth, downgrading growth here in the UK and China, pretty much

everywhere apart from some of the emerging nations. But this is very

important, what we are hearing with the Angela Merkel visit and talking

to, of course, the Greek Prime Minister is possibly a softening

approach from the German side. At least towards a time frame...

Greek Prime Minister is going to say... She is only there for five

hours, but he will be saying, can you give us more time? Will she?

That is what we are hearing. They have been the ones who have been

driving the rather tough austerity measures and the fact that Greece

needs to stick to those austerity measures. If she gives too much, it

is not going to go down well with the German electorate. Absolutely,

but saying that, it is interesting to point out that she may be going

back to Germany with elections not far off, and she might try to see

if she can soften German voters in the sense that they need to kind of

maybe take a step back with Greece. Greece has been asking for eight

two-year extension to get its house in order, and of course Greece is

waiting, the clock is ticking on this next instalment, the bailout

instalment. We know the troika, the international lenders, the ECB, the

IMF and the EU, have been on the ground many times, but just

recently their final touchdown was to compile this report card, too

basically say yea or nay that Athens has been doing the right job.

The tracker themselves, the international lenders, are in a bit

of a deadlock, because they cannot agree on an extra 2.5 billion euros,

where it will come from. There is not to talk about indeed, and only

a five hour visit, but I'm sure it will be very busy. I think you are

going to take as to India now. an important is taking place there,

Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, are with Ben Bernanke of

the Federal Reserve, they are in India, talking to the Indian

government, trying to strengthen the good relations they already

have. Straight over to Delhi to join Sanjoy Majumder, who has been

at the press conference. Before we talk about the press conference, we

know that India and the US have a strong alliance as it is, but this

is an alliance that, given the current global economic picture, is

an alliance that needs to become a lot more important given that both

economies, both countries are dealing with the rising growth of

China. Yes, that is right. These are two countries to know that they

need to work together. India is certainly wary of its big Asian

neighbour, but equally we are fully aware of how the United States

looks at China, and China's increasing power in the global

markets. These are two countries will always wanted to get along and

work quite closely. They have a close political and economic

relationship which has strengthened, but it is not without its problems,

and if you look at the fact that we are very close to a new US election,

you know, there is only so much that a visit like this can achieve.

From the Indian point of view, this is a country that promised a lot,

was not quite able to deliver, it certainly hits some bonds in the

road as far as its economic reforms went, although we did come up with

a huge raft of new announcements just a few weeks ago. So yes, a

troubled relationship, but commitment on both sides for moving

it forward. I mentioned the press conference that you were at, I know

Timothy Geithner had words, but both sides had some rather stark

warnings, if you will, criticism towards Europe and the European

crisis. Yes, and of course that comes on the back of the downgrade

of several European economies, the growth forecast for several

European economies by the IMF. Timothy Geithner said that he was

interested in looking ahead to see what would come out from the

European financial ministers. The Indian finance minister, perhaps a

lot more articulate and forceful, he said that the eurozone crisis

made a huge impact on economies such as India's, hitting exports,

and so it was very important like countries -- that countries like

India for the European Union to get its act together, to figure out a

way to come out of the crisis, as he puts it. He said he did not have

words of advice, he would not give them a warning, but clearly both

ministers believe that until the financial climate in Europe

improves, the short term forecast for both their economies was not

very good. While I have got you, I want to ask you this, because India

was once the emerging markets darling, but of late it has

disappointed investors, its growth is somewhere slowing to a mere

decade low, you have got bureaucracy, Red Save, corruption,

which is holding back the Indian economy. -- red tape. Do think

there will be pressure from the United States on the Indian

government to get these reforms through faster? Well, there has

been pressure all along, and I think the Indians will respond by

saying, well, look, we have done some things right in the past few

weeks. You know, this question was put to -- by my BBC colleague, and

he said, yes, our economy has not grown as fast as we expected, but

nobody else's house, and we are slightly better than the rest. The

fact is that India is also looking at an election, if not a year and a

half away, perhaps even slightly before that, so there is not a

whole lot the Government can do, and I think everyone recognises

that, the market recognised that, so nobody is lining up to put their

money into this market. We know that at least one of the reforms

announced will allow big supermarket chains, we know that

Walmart has already said that they will be here within the next 12-18

months, one company that is looking to come here. Yes, they will be

there with open arms, I am sure. Thank you, Sanjoy Majumder, joining

as live from Delhi. I apologise about the freeze-frame there.

There has been a rather stark warning from the IMF, the

International Monetary Fund, and in its latest assessment of the global

economy it says that unless Europe and the US address their financial

problems, the global economy could go into an even steeper slowdown.

It's as confidence is being damaged, which of course discourages

businesses from investing and it discourages consumers from spending.

As a result, the IMF has lowered its global growth forecast for the

year to 3.3%. Michelle Fleury has been at the IMF meetings in Tokyo,

and she sat down and spoke to Olivier Blanchard, director of

research at the IMF, and he began by telling her his concerns about

Spain's decision not to ask for a bail-out. There is no programme,

that is the decision of Spain. I think at this stage, given the low

interest rates, I understand why Spain is not eager to go into a

programme, but it may be that the low interest rates are based on the

assumption by investors that Spain will go into a programme, so

despite that. In America, a new Congress will have to deal with the

fiscal cliff, can they resolve this issue? What should they do? They

should get together and agree on a plan! And you know, most people

have said that it needs to be a combination of revenue increases

and spending cuts, that you cannot do it just one way or the other, it

has to be a mix. And they will certainly seems lacking if you

listen to the rhetoric at the moment. The problem is that one

group wants to do it one way, another wants to do it another way,

and things have to get worse before they get better. That is why we

cannot be sure that there will be no fiscal cliff. It may take longer

for them to her grave, it may be that the markets have to show signs.

-- for them to agree. You have revised the growth downwards of

emerging countries, but not as much as advanced economies. What can we

expect from there, with particular reference to China? There is a

common factor which applies to the provision of growth in most

emerging countries, and that is that exports are not doing growth,

and the striking thing in the world in which we are is that when

advanced economies do poorly, the effect on trade, the effect on

exports from emerging countries is very, very strong. Michelle Fleury

talking to Olivier Blanchard of the IMF, that is your business, plenty

more through the rest of the day. You're watching BBC World News,

still to come: Will Saif Al-Islam receive a fair trial in Libya? The

International Criminal Court has begun considering his case.

Now, with less than a month to go until the US presidential elections,

the Republican candidate has been outlining his foreign policy. His

critics have considered this a bit of a weak spot, but in a speech at

the Virginia Military Institute he tried to show that it was a

strength. Kim Ghattas reports. It is four weeks until election day,

and Mitt Romney is working to close the gap with Barack Obama. In a

speech mostly focused on the Middle East, the Republican candidate

criticised the President for failing to lead during a time of

upheaval. I know the President hopes for a safer, freer and more

prosperous Middle East allied with us. I share this hope. But hope is

not a strategy. We cannot support our friends and defeat our enemies

in the Middle East when our words are not backed up by deeds. Last

month's attacks against the American consulate in Benghazi was

not a random act, as the administration initially claimed,

Mr Romney said. He said they were likely the work of the same forces

that attacked America on September 11th, 11 years ago. With Iran

closer than ever and to nuclear weapons capability,...

Republican candidate said it was time to change course and that he

would put Iran on notice about its nuclear programme, work more

closely with partners in the Gulf, reaffirmed ties with Israel, but

more conditions on American aid, and help the rebels in Syria obtain

arms. But he gave few details, and some of his proposals are already

policy under the Obama administration. The former Governor

stuck to his written speech. He has stumbled on foreign policy before,

including during a trip to Europe and Israel. The New York Times said

Romney's knee-jerk response... Obama quickly put out an advert

casting doubt on his ability to be Commander-in-Chief. This is how he

handles the world now. Just think what he might do as President.

President Obama and Mr Romney faced off in a debate last week focused

on domestic policy. The Republican candidate was declared the winner

of round one, but the President still has a lead when it comes to

foreign policy. The two men will meet on stage twice more in the

coming two weeks and debate This is BBC World News. The

headlines. In the past 15 minutes, Germany's

Angela Merkel has arrived in Greece on her first visit since the

eurozone debt crisis began. Security is tight in Athens.

Thousands have gathered to protest against the German leader who they

see as the author of the austerity programme.

A bomb blast has hit a security compound in the Syrian capital

Damascus, in the latest attack by rebels against units loyal to

President Bashar al-Assad. The fighting is being closely watched

across the border in Turkey, where, after six days of cross-border

violence, there is rising concern that the Syrian conflict may spread

to other countries in the Middle East. From the Turkey-Syria border,

the BBC's James Reynolds has the latest.

We hadn't had any reports of anything since mid-afternoon

yesterday. 18 hours without any reported incidents. The pattern of

the last few days has been that shells from Syria land in the

afternoon in Turkey. The Turkish military is keeping a close eye on

the border. The last six days, there was continuous six rounds of

Turkish artillery fire in response to Syrian shells. Today, nothing

yet. The Turkish President is extremely worried about the

conflict in Syria, isn't he? He has called on the international

community to do something. Yes, he made those comments yesterday but

it's well worth remembering that he is not the man in charge in Turkey.

The Prime Minister makes the final executive decisions and he has

warned repeatedly that Turkey is ready to defend its territory but,

at the same time, he doesn't want to get sucked into anything which

could become like the war in Afghanistan. Bath are the concerns

about it turning into a regional competition? Well, that would be

obvious in terms of it would suck Turkey's military in, and would

kill Turkish citizens, and that is something any government would be

extremely reluctant to happen. Turkey has been a staging ground

for Syrian opposition rebels for a year or so. This is where they come

to organise and to go into Syria. Turkey wants to try to keep to that

and not have itself as a participant in the fighting, but it

believes it has been forced into responding because of those shells

which have landed over the border. Maybe 100 metres and the

countryside. For Turkey, it says it doesn't matter, it has to defend

itself. James Reynolds there. The Mexican authorities say the

leader of a brutal drug cartel, the Zetas, appears to have been killed

in a gunfight with marines. The navy say there was strong evidence

that Heriberto Lazcano died. But final forensic tests are still to

confirm the news. Earlier, the Mexican Navy arrested a regional

leader of the same drug cartel, Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo.

He's believed to be behind the murder of 72 migrants in the

northern state of Tamaulipas two years ago. We can go now to Inma

Gil from BBC's Mundo service. Let's talk about this leader of the Zetas

who they say is dead. What do we know about him? He started being a

soldier and was actually trained in the USA and then became a member of

the special forces in the Mexican army and it was in 1999 he was

recruited by the very powerful Gulf cartel to be part of an armed

branch which would protect the leadership. He wasn't the only one

it recruited. He belonged to a group of about 40 special forces

members that defeated the army and became involved in drug dealing

business. There was a reward by the USA government of $5 million for

information that would lead to his capture. There was a reward, as

well, in Mexico of $3 million, so he was one of the top drug dealers

in Mexico being looked for. fact he was trained by American

special forces, it made him particularly dangerous, didn't it?

Not just him, but the cartel that the lead. To the cartel of the

Zetas is the cruellest. It is one of the fastest growing cartels in

Mexico. They started out in 1999 belonging to the Gulf cartel but

eventually, in a 2010, they became their own cartel separately. Since

then, they have been one of the dominant groups in drug trafficking

in Mexico and it is the training of their founders in counter-terrorism,

-- masterminded this cartel. There is a new cartel leaders coming up

all the time. The Mexican government, obviously, announced

when one of them is captured. In this particular case, because the

Zetas cartel had an internal division, which has created an

upsurge in violence in the last few months, it is likely to change

slightly, I mean, we don't know what's going to happen, but the

other leader in the cartel is likely to take over now. Thank you

very much. Uganda is marking 50 years of

independence from Britain today, with several African heads of state

joining President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala to celebrate the

anniversary. His supporters say the president, who's been in power

since 1986, has led Uganda to peace and prosperity after years of

abuses and civil war. But critics say he's muzzled the opposition,

which will be boycotting the event. The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga is

in Kampala. She described some of the controversy amid the

celebrations. In the lead-up to the celebrations, the opposition are

protesting, tear-gas was fired, several leaders were arrested as a

result. But, since then, there has been an atmosphere since the big

day. Today, South African heads of state are here to celebrate Uganda.

The President has just raised the flag. This is the same place where

Britain gave independence to Uganda 50 years ago. Do order very

Ugandans feel they have got much to celebrate given that, in those 50

years, they've had the same President for over half that time

and never have had a peaceful handover of power, have they?

in the lead-up do this, I have been speaking to a lot of people and

they say they are proud of their country, proud of who they are, and

it will always celebrate being a Ugandan, however they want to

reflect on the journey the country is taking in the past 50 years.

They do believe more can be done in terms of health, growth, education.

And also there is a big discussion in the country as to when the

President will hand over power but, at the same time, he does have his

supporters, so there are mixed feelings about today in Uganda.

They do have something to celebrate in terms of the economy because its

growing? If you compare it to Europe, its growing at 3% last year

but when you compare it to Kenya and Tanzania, it is lagging behind.

But, Ugandans love a development and with the discovery of oil, the

country will do better. There is something to celebrate but more can

be done. A visit to an aquarium can be a

highly visual experience with marine life of all shapes, colours

and sizes. But for blind or partially sighted visitors, it can

sometimes be hard to fully appreciate. So last night, visually

impaired pupils from a North London school began work to try and

establish the UK's first audio aquarium. Tim Muffett was there.

Mysterious, intriguing. An insight into another world. But if you

can't see marine life, how can you comprehend it? Despite having read

about fish and had lots and lots of very patient people explain things

to me, I think I have quite a tenuous understanding of how big

fish are. The scale of one fish to another. How big is a piranha

compared to a shark, what they look like, and the way they move around?

Coming to an aquarium is a very challenging environment. This

project hopes to change that. A collaboration between the Royal

National Institute of blind people, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

and the London Sea Life aquarium. Every species will have its own

unique traits and characteristics and ways of moving. You can always

imagine a kind of soundtrack to that in your head, so we are

planning to describe these animals and let the children have a really

sensory experience to explore them and how they move and live, and let

them come up with how they think the animals could be described

through music. Over the next few weeks, the children and the

musicians will work together to create an original piece of music.

The idea is to convey through sound, what is, for most, a highly visual

experience. It will be performed here next month. When you think

about fish and sharks and turtles, what images do you have in your

mind? Do for sharks, I would be scared but afterwards I would be

quite calm. Turtles, I would think they were adorable and cute. Do you

think, by music, it will help explain and help people understand

an aquarium? It will show the personality of the fish. For the

tropical animals, high and fast and for the cold water animals, low and

deep. Is it nice to feel them? a turtle is harder. It's really

different. I hope, walking around the aquarium, they would experience

it in a way they never could have experienced it before. The music

created alongside the students will just create something which will be

very special on that one day. can be haunting, captivating and

inspiring. And, together, it's hoped music will enhance marine

life for those unable to see it. I wonder what the fish think of the

music? A high school cheerleader has back-

flicked her way into the Guinness Book of World Records. 16-year-old

Miranda Ferguson from Texas performed 35 consecutive back-

flicks, springing from the 15 yard line to the 15 yard line and