08/08/2011 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today. Riots and the aftermath. More

confrontation and looting, as London's troubles spread. We left

the flat as the rioters were coming up the road and the buildings were

on fire. We didn't see one policeman. And the fire engines

couldn't be there because the police weren't there to protect

them. There was nobody there to protect us. Fears persist of

America and Europe are failing to manage their economic woes. The

torture camps near Zimbabwe's diamond fields, the BBC speaks to

former prisoners. And we look at the life of the fearless spy, Nancy

Wake, who became a hero of the David Gill of hopers getting under

way in north London about now. -- a Rich Hall of hope. Aimed at

restoring a sense of calm and proportion after two nights of

violence, and yet already this evening trouble has surfaced in

another northern borough just to the east in Hackney. Right police

confront of local youths this afternoon as they threw missiles

and attacked shops, buses and other vehicles. This was the London

borough of Hackney this evening. Youths clashing with the police,

attacking squad cars and shop fronts. This is the third night of

such scenes in the capital. In Tottenham, a flash point on

Saturday night, they have barely recovered. This building housed 26

families until rioters set fire to a carpet store beneath it in the

early hours of Sunday morning. was just to get away from the

burning building. Rosie lived there. Now homeless with nothing but her

handbag and a few clothes, she today described the moment the

residents fled for their lives. There was another neighbour trying

to get out of the building. She was in such a panic. Then we got

outside and I saw the building, there were flames going up the

building. It was just black smoke coming billowing down from the

corner of the high road. Two minutes longer in that building and

we would have been dead. Today the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg,

was in Tottenham to hear first hand from residents and shopkeepers.

They were angry. They told him they'd felt abandoned on Saturday

night. Can I ask you, is this what is going to happen in England now

because of cuts could? People's buildings burned and people made

homeless? I don't think so. weren't we protected? The left the

flat as the rioters were coming up the road and the buildings were on

fire. We didn't see one police person. A on the fire engines went

there because the police went there to protect them. On Sunday, even as

the residents of Tottenham were counting the costs of the previous

night's rioting, the violence had spread to Enfield, four miles away.

This time the police were decisive. The violence did not escalate.

Other parts of London were affected, too. In Brixton, shops were broken

into. Police arrested more than 100 people across the capital. The Home

Secretary, Theresa May, cut short her holiday to return to the UK.

Let's be absolutely clear that there is no excuse for violence, no

excuse for looting, there is no excuse for thuggery. The police

will deal with any emerging situations as they consider best

appropriate for those situations. But I am absolutely clear there was

no excuse for looters or thuggery or violence on the streets. It was

a peaceful protest at the police shooting of a local man, Mark

Duggan, which preceded the violence in Tottenham. Police admitted

relations with Mr Duggan's family could have been better handled in

the aftermath of his death. I've spoken to community representatives.

We've had meetings at a London level and a local level. We should

have helped the IPCC come closer to the family more quickly.

tonight, amid fresh outbreaks of trouble, it seems that violence has

developed a life of its own. Far removed from the original cause of

the disturbance on Saturday. Those pictures are from Hackney, some

trouble spreading further afield. I want to take you over to south-east

London. This is the scene in Lewisham, where another vehicle has

been set alight. The police have strung themselves right across the

main road there to try to bring a sense of order to the area. There

is the vehicle. That is the effect of what is happening in Lewisham.

We've also had reports that a bit further down the road in Peckham a

bus has been set alight. You can see down the road, these pictures

from earlier in the evening. It gives you a sense of the problems

there. It is not just about Tottenham, it is not just about

Hackney. There are also several other sporadic events in and around

various parts of London. To discuss all of this and more I am joined by

the associate professor of education at the University of

London. And also by David Atkins Tanya, who is a journalist and a

writer on black issues. I know that you were in the area during the

course of the Troubles over the weekend. For you, what is the cause

of this? I think what happened on Saturday night was definitely

caused by the fact that there was a peaceful demonstration, they had

asked for answers from the local police. They haven't come out and

spoken to them, and then a young woman was apparently pushed by one

of the special policemen that were there. That is how that flared up.

So that was an issue of perhaps the way police handled that issue. We

then had a variety of incidents, some bigger, some smaller, what

would you put that down to? starting to hear from a lot of

people that these are disaffected young people and they are angry

about social issues. Unfortunately, what it looks like to me on the

television is a group of young people who have been going around

polluting. I'm not sure about what the motivation is in Hackney and

Pekan at the moment. I've just come from Tottenham and it's really

difficult to get out there at the moment. There are social issues and

we have lost educational maintenance allowance, which was

helping young people to stay in Col will stop we have had the youth

offending service cut in our area and the staff at the Citizens

Advice Bureau. So cats are affecting people. We do need to

look at how they are affecting young people in the community. But

we cannot excuse the looting. We cannot pretend that is anything

other than people going to get stuff that they want to steal.

Theresa May also said there is no excuse for looting. A clear

suggestion coming from there that a lot of this is just pure

opportunism. It might be but one of the things that I find fascinating

is that people are talking about, Bryan Abbott for example, about

young people doing these things in broad daylight. -- Diane Abbott. I

have been very perturbed over the last number of months about young

people killing one another in broad daylight. Attacks at bus-stops, a

group of 12 attacking a boy in the middle of Victoria station at 5pm.

What we basically have here is a group of young people who have no

fear or. There are no boundaries, they are not deterred by anything.

They would simply go about to destroy. They are not just

destroying others, they are being self destructive. There is an

opportunity, something sparks of an opportunity for trouble. We've seen

it over the last few days. Underlying that, what is the root

cause? The question is - why is it that some of our young people would

indulge in that kind of behaviour while others would run 100 miles

from it? We need to find out why it is that there are so many of our

young people, generation after generation, being totally

marginalised by this society within the society, and feeling that they

have no stake in the future. So you don't necessarily see this as a

current economic situation? Absolutely not. That's an

interesting perspective. I don't know if you share it. One thing we

have seen is a sort of street wisdom among these young people in

terms of the speed and ability to organise themselves. It's

outflanking the police. Yes, and the communications. In my area,

young people do use their mobile phones to assault people and get

people in lowly positions. That is technology. But I want people to

remember and understand why the Mods and rockers went to Southend

on Bank Holiday. Why football fans to meet by phone boxes in my day,

but now they've got technology to press a button and 500 people get a

message to say, go to Anfield tonight at 4pm. That was happening

yesterday afternoon at 1pm. It's a very powerful tool, isn't it? You

are asking questions, what is it that is making young people the way

they are? What do you think could be done to turn that round? I think

the sadness is that young people are using that berry effect of mass

communication tool for the stock of reasons. Just imagine if they were

all politically literate and they were using the social networking to

organise themselves, so that as a body of people who are generally

rendered a voiceless within a society, they could give themselves

a boys and be much more politically active within the Democratic sphere

than they are. Just imagine what that would be like. I'm sorry to

interrupt but we are going to have to stop there. Thank you for

joining us. I do want to get back to the live pictures we have it for

you. This is Lewisham in south east London. We've seen the pictures in

Hackney, but this is the situation live now. A large police presence.

We may see a string of police across the roadway, trying to keep

some semblance of order bear. It also seen earlier, some pictures

which I think we can bring you as well. This is the scale of the

trouble that was brought into Lewisham Borough. That is one

vehicle on fire. You see that trail of fire running down the street.

Just an impression there. I'm not saying it runs all the way to

Peckham, but we have also heard of trouble in Peckham, a bus being set

alight there. This is the scene like this evening. Another nerve-

shredding day on the stock markets worldwide today. Europe's Exchange

has suffered without exception. London's FTSE 100 closed down more

than 3%. Madrid and Milan, they were down more than 2%. And that

despite the European Central Bank's belated decision to buy Spanish and

Italian bonds, a move which did ease the pressure on those

economies as they saw their borrowing rates fall. Ringing the

bell for more investor misery. Shares on Wall Street today opened

2% lower and then fell, hard on the heels of a sharp stock price drops

in Asia and Europe. But the declines on stock markets are the

symptom and not the cause. This is where the Royal Bank of Scotland

traits not shares but debt. And it's on trading floors like this

one that this great drama is being played out, because the financial

crisis is all about the growing doubts over whether the

government's of giant economies like Italy, Spain and even the US,

can repay all their debts. What you can see here, the rising cost of

borrowing for the Spanish and Italian governments, is investors

saying they are increasingly worried about lending to those

countries. Today, there's been a sharp fall in the interest rate

paid by those governments. Because this body, the European Central

Bank, has taken the historic decision to buy Italian and Spanish

bonds, which is an indirect way of lending to those countries. This is

what markets were looking for, this kind of short-term relief that

someone would stabilise the bond deals offered Spain and Italy.

These countries are too big to bail-out. The European central bank

is owned by the passengers on the tram outside its office and the

other taxpayers of the eurozone. So how much financial risk of the

German and French population taking? It's about 2.5 billion

euros per day. It will potentially added to a big number, around 800

billion euros of sovereign debt from Spain and Italy. American

investors have been blue, too. Since the ratings agency Standard

and Poor's took what many saw as a shocking decision to strip the US

government of the top triple A rating for what it borrows. It has

shown really terrible judgment. They've handled themselves very

poorly and shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal

budget Mathew. They do exactly the wrong conclusion. The big story for

many is that governments, households, banks and businesses of

the developed Western economies, including the UK's, have borrowed

far more than is prudent, and in pain down the debt there is less

spending and investment so economic growth slows to a trickle. The

realisation that economic recovery may be stalling is the new lead

weight on share prices. Commodities such as oil have been falling, too.

So here is a silver lining if you are a driver. The price of petrol

and perhaps other essentials is coming down. That whole issue of

the triple A rating that the US was deprived of by Standard and Poor's,

it's very much in the mind of President Obama. He came out to

speak at the White House a few moments ago. The rating agency to

tell us that the gridlock in Washington over the last several

months has not been constructive, to say the least. We knew from the

outset that a prolonged debate over the debt ceiling, a debate where

the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip, could do enormous

damage to our economy and the world. That threat, coming after a string

of economic disruptions in Europe, Japan and the Middle East, as now

rolled the markets and dampened consumer confidence and slowed the

Joining me his or specialist from the consulting firm it Eurasia.

Let's remember how much the Chinese have as well, I'll be near the

cliff edge. How much does China have to lose in the situation in

the US? China is very Bunnell ball. They have a reserve of the free 0.2

trillion dollars -- 3.2 trillion dollars. Ultimately I do not think

they are too concerned. There is no question mind it -- no question in

Beijing that that money will be repaid. There are long-term issues,

they at an end least solvable, what is it that Beijing will want Obama

to do to make amends? What is it they will not want to see him to?

They would not want to see him default obviously. There are not

too many demands that China can make. That is the big structural

story. China is stuck with their holdings, it is the only market

that is capable of whole -- absorbing the investments that

China it generates. I do not think their capacity for making demands

on Washington is very strong. the inclination is heading back

towards further quantitative the easing, will they once that? It is

a structural driver, China for the past a two years, baby back

currency to appreciate. I think that'll be a long-standing problem.

Thank you very much. I want to get back to the main

story of the evening. Let us return to Hackney. Our reporter is there

for us. What is the situation? can see her lines of riot police.

What they are trying to do this section off parts of Hackney where

there has already been trouble. They have been fires a satellite,

bricks and bottles are thrown at the right police. They are trying

to calm the situation, and section it off. It is not clear how many

protesters are out on the streets. What I can tell you that this

situation, you can see the police, they have ambulances lined up. I

have been behind these lines, there is a road where a car has been set

of plier -- set on fire, there are some men with Hank achieve --

hanged achieves over their faces. They have been testing the lines.

So far, they are minor skirmishes. What the police is trying to do is

come out in such numbers that they can quash the situation. It is very

difficult for them to do anything other than container. -- than are

contained. If you think about their tactics, they want to control lead,

they want to be in control, they do not want to be seen to be provoking

the situation. They are saying that these disturbances are

opportunistic. There has been a lot of smashing windows, they do not

want to give people an excuse to ratchet this up. They want to keep

things calm, or at least as calm as possible. It is a stand-off, we do

not know what it will be like when it gets dark. Thank you very much.

This is a rooftop in Lewisham. You can see smoke because one house is

a blaze. If we pullback back picture, we can get a sense of what

has been happening. It is not just vehicles, it is a building on fire.

We have seen people coming out on the attic. They are going across at

the roof to safety. It is an extremely dangerous situation when

this sort of thing happens. Those buildings are so close together.

That is the situation from Lewisham. We have seen Hackney, we have heard

of trouble in Peckham as well. A BBC investigation has shown that

torture camps are being operated in Zimbabwe near the Marange diamond

fields. They had said that prisoners are subjected to rape and

beatings, some have been a mauled by dogs. The names of people in

this report had been changed to protect their identities.

Zimbabwe's Marange Diamond Fields. They are shrouded by allegations of

killings and abuse. We went into the mountains of Mozambique to meet

my witnesses -- to me to witnesses. They would tie you to a tree and

are sold too severely. That went on for a long time, people died as a

result of the injuries. Soldiers would throw the bodies away.

deployed our undercover camera team to the location the witnesses

describe. They found this camp, active and guarded. They could not

stay very long. Witnesses said it people are held in a razor wire

enclosures, mauled by dogs, raped and beaten. They are held against

their wills. Zimbabwe's government has not responded to our findings.

Down the road is this mine, Mbada, President Mugabe, his friend runs

that mind. They want to lift the international sales ban so that

mine could export its findings. Some of these diamonds are already

hitting the raw markets. We met the Kimberley Process, the world's

policemen on diamonds. We went to Hatton Garden, for a premier retail

street to find out if we could buy any. I am going to go into this

shop or -- this shop, they have been selling diamonds since 1975.

I'm going to ask them whether they know whether these diamonds come

from? There are regulations that mean they have to know where the

diamond comes from. I have no idea where that Diamond has come from.

He even the supplier would not know where it has come from. We have had

1000 customers coming through, not one person has asked whether the

diamond -- where the diamond comes from. They do not care, they want a

big rock on their finger. If East - - if this EU deal goes through,

many Marange diamonds could did end up on the streets. The average

person would not know what they are buying.

To be number one on the wanted list for the Gestapo is some feat. Even

more so if you were a woman. That was the case for Nancy Wake, she

has died in London at the age of 98. She was a leading figure in the

French Resistance Movement. We look back at a remarkable life.

Feisty and fearless, she was a glamourous fighter with the French

Resistance. She was christened at the White Mouse by the Nazis

because every time they thought they had cornered her she escaped.

Nancy Wake was born in New Zealand, she came to Europe to be a

journalist. What she found in the 1930s set her life on a different

path. In 1933 Q c but anger at the violence committed by the Nazis.

The Jews were tied to a while, they whipped them. I stood there and I

thought that is dreadful, I could not believe it. By the end of the

decade she had married a French businessmen, for six months later

Germany invaded and her life to a dramatic turn. She began working

for the French Resistance, smuggling messages back and forth,

as well as people back to safety. Hundreds of allied personnel are

lie because of her efforts. Because of the work she did in occupied

France. She was trained in Britain as a spy by the Specials -- the

Special Operations Executive. She was rain in hand-to-hand combat.

She was dropped back in France and Leader of raids on the Gestapo

headquarters, becoming their most wanted. She relished the war years,

outspoken. In my opinion the only good German is a dead one, the more

dead be better! I rejoiced in the fact that I killed so many of them.

I'm sorry I could not cut -- kill so many more. In 1944 as the allied

forces fought their way through France, she learnt that the Gestapo

had tortured her husband to death in 1943. He refused to disclose her

whereabouts. Her story would eventually inspire the book and

film Charlotte Gray. She was decorated by France, you Britain

and America. She died in London on Sunday, she requested that her

ashes were scattered in central France.

I want to take you back to some disturbing pictures from south

London. This is the scene in Peckham. Police are pushing some

locals down this road. There is a burning edifice. There are some

shops, and a whole flighted apartments are in fire. Another

very disturbing sight. We have seen vehicles on fire. There is a bus in

Peckham which is also one buyer. This is coming -- this is coming up

the pictures in Hackney as well. We have some respite from the rain.

have some respite from the rain. It is not going to feel any warmer.

High pressure is moving in. This is the weather on Tuesday. Cloud is

building. Most of the weather will be dry. 17 degrees in a Hull. Not

quite as brisk as it is today. The vast majority temperatures will be

in the upper teens. Some breaks in the cloud in Wales. It is not going

to be wall-to-wall cloud. Along coastal areas we will see the best

available sunshine. Northern Ireland will see a lot of cloud. It