:00:10. > :00:13.This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas. The global
:00:13. > :00:18.economy has entered a dangerous new phase - the International Monetary
:00:18. > :00:21.Fund raises the alarm over weak growth in the US and Europe. The
:00:21. > :00:25.fund calls for strong leadership to reduce the risk of economies
:00:25. > :00:29.falling back into recession. A former Afghan President is killed
:00:29. > :00:33.in a bomb attack at his Kabul home - officials say he was meeting with
:00:33. > :00:36.the Taliban at the time. As the Palestinian leader presses
:00:36. > :00:46.ahead with a bid for UN membership, Israel's Prime Minister says he's
:00:46. > :00:50.
:00:50. > :01:00.Going into battle with song. The women whose voices consoled the
:01:00. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:15.troops on the frontline of the Boat can. One of the most
:01:15. > :01:20.influential global institutions, the International Monetary Fund is
:01:20. > :01:24.predicting two more years of sluggish economic culture in much
:01:24. > :01:28.of the Western world. The top economists singled out the euro-
:01:28. > :01:32.zone as a major source of worry, saying that Europe needs to get its
:01:32. > :01:37.act together and deal with the crisis or risk going back into
:01:37. > :01:42.recession. We had this report from Washington.
:01:42. > :01:46.The global economy is in trouble, that is the stark warning from the
:01:46. > :01:53.International Monetary Fund. global economy has entered a
:01:53. > :01:59.dangerous new phase. The recovery has weakened considerably. Down
:01:59. > :02:05.sideways have increased sharply. Strong policies are needed, both to
:02:05. > :02:08.improve the outlook and to reduce the risks. What are the findings of
:02:08. > :02:14.the IMF's report on the global economy? The United States is
:02:14. > :02:19.expected to grow just 1.5 % this year. The euro-zone will expand 1.6
:02:19. > :02:25.%, and emerging economies like China are still seen robust
:02:25. > :02:29.economic activity. If we don't act, that burden will ultimately fall on
:02:29. > :02:33.our children's shoulders. If we don't act, but growing debt will
:02:33. > :02:37.crowd out everything else. Grappling with America's debt
:02:37. > :02:43.worries, Barack Obama revealed his plan for bringing down the deficit
:02:43. > :02:48.this week. The IMF warns that too much austerity to sue and could
:02:48. > :02:54.threaten recovery. A fiscal consolidation cannot be too fast.
:02:54. > :02:58.It would kill growth. It cannot be too slow. It would kill credibility.
:02:58. > :03:04.The speed must vary across countries, and the key continues to
:03:04. > :03:07.be credible, medium-term consolidation. Worries that Greece
:03:07. > :03:12.may default on its debt and destabilise the region led to a
:03:12. > :03:16.gloomier forecast for Europe, a point underlined by the credit
:03:16. > :03:20.rating downgrade for it to leave. As gloomy as the report from the
:03:20. > :03:28.IMF sounds, it makes the point that policy makers have it in their
:03:28. > :03:33.power to avoid the worst they take the right steps.
:03:33. > :03:38.The wake-up call from the IMF comes on the day about Italy's or
:03:38. > :03:43.creditworthiness downgraded by the Standards Agency. Silvio Berlusconi
:03:43. > :03:47.dismissed the move has influenced by media stories rather than
:03:47. > :03:52.economic reality and said that the main economic growth was because of
:03:52. > :03:57.the governing coalition not dealing decisively with the country's
:03:57. > :04:02.economic problems. David Lane, it to the Finance Correspondent for
:04:02. > :04:06.the Economist magazine is with me now. -- The et Finance
:04:06. > :04:13.Correspondent. Why does it any matter so much the two the rest of
:04:13. > :04:17.us? The Italians are a major European economy, and it is the
:04:17. > :04:21.third largest public sector debt in the world. It is pretty enormous.
:04:21. > :04:27.What happens to the Italians matters to all others. That dwarfs
:04:27. > :04:30.problems with Greece and when you look at the Italians, what they are
:04:30. > :04:35.saying today as they do not have confidence in the Prime Minister,
:04:35. > :04:39.Silvio Berlusconi. Over the summer, Silvio Berlusconi and his
:04:39. > :04:45.government were behind the curve of. They reacted slowly and
:04:45. > :04:49.insufficiently to the needs of dealing with public sector debt.
:04:49. > :04:53.The Government lacks credibility. You could also say because of
:04:53. > :05:00.Silvio Berlusconi being embroiled in sexual scandals and on trial for
:05:00. > :05:07.judicial corruption, and a man who after all, was overheard saying
:05:07. > :05:10.about he is a part-time Prime Minister, at a time when there is a
:05:10. > :05:14.global financial economic crisis. He says that the attacks are
:05:14. > :05:20.political as not economic saying that we have got it all as a
:05:20. > :05:25.prospective. Far from it. The Italians are modest, their growth
:05:25. > :05:29.is modest, in the last decade, so the Berlusconi has been in office
:05:29. > :05:35.for eight-and-a-half years, the growth is less than 0.2 %. This
:05:35. > :05:41.year, if all goes well, it will probably be around 0.7 %, which is
:05:41. > :05:44.very weak growth. Is the advice is to cut more austerity, because that
:05:44. > :05:49.is the problem with countries struggling at the moment, if you
:05:49. > :05:54.cut, you reduce prospects further. This is the major problem
:05:54. > :06:01.everywhere. One of the things about the Italians, with its huge debt
:06:01. > :06:10.and the concerns on the deficit, spreads of Italian government bombs
:06:10. > :06:15.against the German government bonds have widened. -- government bonds.
:06:15. > :06:21.A member of government said that if Silvio Berlusconi was to go, the
:06:21. > :06:25.spreads would shorten by about 1%. David Lane, thank you for talking
:06:25. > :06:30.to us about the Italians and their prospects, had we can go to
:06:30. > :06:34.Washington now, and our economics editor, to broaden the picture.
:06:34. > :06:38.Let's look at the World economic Outlook published by the IMF, very
:06:38. > :06:44.gloomy reading, at the same time that they are saying confidence is
:06:44. > :06:49.key? Yes, that is the difficult balancing act that policy makers
:06:50. > :06:54.and the IMF are having to strike. People spoke a few years ago about
:06:54. > :06:57.why did nobody see the financial crisis coming? The IMF doesn't want
:06:57. > :07:01.to be caught out again, they are raising the alarm about the state
:07:02. > :07:07.of the global recovery and saying that policy makers need to act now
:07:07. > :07:14.to avoid what they would call at downsize scenario and possibly not
:07:14. > :07:18.just a period of slow, long slow growth, and issues in the US and
:07:18. > :07:23.Europe. People need to avoid what you might call catastrophic
:07:23. > :07:28.outcomes, but it is interesting to note that even the forecast they
:07:28. > :07:33.have, when everything goes right, it is pretty bleak, compared to
:07:33. > :07:39.past recoveries. Almost no country will grow, none of the advanced
:07:39. > :07:44.major economies will grow by more than 2%, this year or next year.
:07:44. > :07:54.After such a deep recession, that are deeply Prosser, and that seems
:07:54. > :07:56.
:07:56. > :08:02.to be their rosy scenario, ate everything goes well. -- that is a
:08:02. > :08:05.deeply bad prospect. They would like to think they have a crisp
:08:05. > :08:09.answer on not just throwing up their hands and what they say is,
:08:09. > :08:18.they do not want policy makers to say this is too difficult. They say
:08:18. > :08:22.clearly, there are countries that have problems, although it is
:08:22. > :08:26.regrettable, they have to go ahead with cutting the deficit, but that
:08:26. > :08:30.makes it more important for countries like Germany and possibly
:08:30. > :08:34.some others that have room to go bit more slowly with the death as
:08:35. > :08:38.it cuts, to do that, and maybe have some stimulus to their economy. The
:08:38. > :08:43.trick that they suggest, which is in line with what Barack Obama has
:08:43. > :08:47.been suggesting in the United States is to propose long-term
:08:47. > :08:52.reforms to entitlement programmes, pension programmes, benefit
:08:52. > :08:55.programmes, but keep rising year after year. If you cut those, he
:08:55. > :08:59.was saving money into the future and if you say you will do that, if
:08:59. > :09:04.you put on to the books into law, reforms to those kinds of things,
:09:04. > :09:08.then you buy some room to spend money on the economy, and that is
:09:08. > :09:12.what they want the United States to do. They think some countries in
:09:12. > :09:16.Europe can do that, but not countries like Italy. The bottom
:09:16. > :09:22.line seems to be if countries do not take these actions and get
:09:22. > :09:27.calibration is right, there is a fear of a lost decade ahead? --
:09:27. > :09:31.calibration Crewe right. The more you talk about the lost decade, the
:09:31. > :09:36.big risk is people get so depressed about the future, businesses and
:09:36. > :09:42.consumers are already feel pretty low about the Rev slowdown recovery,
:09:42. > :09:48.if they slash spending, because of a dismal future, that will bring on
:09:48. > :09:51.the big risks that the IMF hopes to avoid. Thank you.
:09:51. > :09:56.A former President of Afghanistan, President Burhanuddin Rabbani, has
:09:56. > :10:01.been killed in a suicide attack on his home in Kabul. He was head of
:10:01. > :10:05.the country's High Peace Council, a body trying to negotiate a
:10:05. > :10:10.political end to the conflict in Afghanistan. Officials said that at
:10:10. > :10:15.the time he does meeting members of the Taliban in his residence to us
:10:15. > :10:18.to the US embassy. -- close to the US embassy.
:10:18. > :10:23.President Burhanuddin Rabbani was an Islamic scholar that went on to
:10:23. > :10:27.become a leading figure in the resistance to the Soviet invasion
:10:27. > :10:32.of Afghanistan, and Bennett's President. His home, where he was
:10:32. > :10:38.killed in today's bomb attack, was in the main to put back its own in
:10:38. > :10:43.Kabul close to the US embassy. -- the main diplomatic zone. Roads
:10:43. > :10:47.were blocked off by the police. He was meeting two members of the
:10:47. > :10:53.Taliban at the time, and one of them had explosives concealed in
:10:53. > :10:57.his turban. He was President from 1992 until 1996 when he was forced
:10:57. > :11:03.to leave Kabul because of the Taliban takeover. In recent years
:11:03. > :11:09.since the fall of the Taliban, he continued as head of his party
:11:09. > :11:12.seeking a broad-based government. But President Karzai had passed him
:11:12. > :11:17.with the heading be High Peace Council, having negotiations with
:11:17. > :11:22.the Taliban. When the council was established, President Karzai said
:11:22. > :11:26.it was the greatest hope for the Afghan people and wanted to bring
:11:26. > :11:30.peace to Afghanistan, but the efforts to bring the Taliban into
:11:30. > :11:37.negotiations have been fought with difficulty. Shortly after the news
:11:37. > :11:42.of his killing, President Karzai met President Obama in New York.
:11:42. > :11:48.is tragic and we want to extend our heartfelt condolences to you, his
:11:48. > :11:54.family and the people of Afghanistan. Mr President, we both
:11:54. > :11:58.believe that we will not be deterred from creating a path were
:11:58. > :12:03.by a Afghanistan can live in freedom, safety, security and
:12:03. > :12:11.prosperity. I do not think we can fill his pace easily. He was one of
:12:11. > :12:17.the few people in Afghanistan with the distinction that we cannot
:12:18. > :12:22.easily find in society. It is a terrible loss. As you rightly said,
:12:22. > :12:27.this will not deter us from continuing on the part that we have
:12:27. > :12:30.and we are determined to succeed. And the fact that President
:12:30. > :12:35.Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed here in one of the most security the old
:12:35. > :12:40.parts of the ball, it underlines the vulnerability of the capital.
:12:40. > :12:44.Just days after the Taliban took over high-rise building overlooking
:12:44. > :12:51.the US embassy and other prominent buildings, and held out for 20
:12:51. > :12:55.hours. Let's look at our correspondent
:12:55. > :12:59.outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. -- let's
:12:59. > :13:03.speak to our correspondent. This comes just after Barack Obama spoke
:13:03. > :13:11.about reducing America's death, bringing back money and troops from
:13:11. > :13:15.Afghanistan, so how can they help Afghanistan at this point? That was
:13:15. > :13:19.supposed to be very much the focus of the meeting with the President
:13:19. > :13:24.Karzai, and I am sure they discuss the plan to hand over security to
:13:24. > :13:30.the security forces in Afghanistan and remove troops by 2014, or at
:13:30. > :13:32.least, most of them by 2014. You saw in his reaction to the
:13:32. > :13:37.assassination of President Burhanuddin Rabbani that they would
:13:37. > :13:41.not move from the plan and that they would continue with the chorus,
:13:41. > :13:47.but it is a blow to the political part of it, the political strategy,
:13:47. > :13:52.to draw up a Taliban in through this Peace Council. He Benfell,
:13:52. > :13:59.NATO and the United States say that violence is decreasing, be seen to
:13:59. > :14:04.be attacking at 12. -- even though. BBC reporters say that there is a
:14:04. > :14:10.war in Kabul and the Taliban are winning out. If we look at to Libya,
:14:10. > :14:20.we heard from the United States and other countries about more aid and
:14:20. > :14:26.
:14:26. > :14:34.recognition for Libya. Yes, this is a week for Libya, really, it's
:14:34. > :14:36.success in the NTC, and leaders speaking about the NTC, and the NTC
:14:36. > :14:41.addressing the General Assembly, they have a new flag that has been
:14:41. > :14:48.put up, and although the conflict is not over in Libya, the emphasis
:14:48. > :14:51.at the United Nations is about post conflict, calling this success,
:14:51. > :14:55.highlighting and planning for the next stage, and in all of the
:14:55. > :15:01.speeches, that is what we saw. I spoke to one ambassador he said, I
:15:01. > :15:06.think they all wrote the same speed. Thank you for keeping us up-to-date.
:15:07. > :15:11.In Libya, dozens of families are fleeing Colonel Gaddafi's home town
:15:11. > :15:21.as fighters loyal to the country's interim council prepared to launch
:15:21. > :15:23.
:15:23. > :15:31.a fresh assaults to finally They are well drilled for civilians
:15:31. > :15:40.and certainly have the firepower. Their shells are bombarding the
:15:40. > :15:45.desert Gate's of Sir, striking the pro-Gadaffi positions -- searched.
:15:45. > :15:51.Up at the front lines, they have taken control of another village on
:15:51. > :16:01.the long, hard fought road. We pushed ahead to the edge of the
:16:01. > :16:02.
:16:02. > :16:06.We have gone along this road a bit further and the National
:16:06. > :16:09.Transitional Council forces here have been fighting just over this
:16:09. > :16:13.hill and a few minutes ago, a couple of rockets came in so
:16:13. > :16:23.everyone is very nervous. There is obviously a strong defence coming
:16:23. > :16:29.back from the pro-Gadaffi lines forced. Every time they capture --
:16:29. > :16:33.every town they capture needs meetings with the elders. Big
:16:33. > :16:38.expectations after four decades under dictatorship. This was their
:16:38. > :16:43.New Town being built by Gaddafi before the resolution. They have
:16:43. > :16:49.made a switch of loyalty. Many people like Abdullah came here to
:16:49. > :16:56.flee the fighting. Who are due support, the new people or Gaddafi?
:16:56. > :17:06.Everybody. But something was not quite right. She used the old
:17:06. > :17:06.
:17:06. > :17:11.salute. Gaddafi, no. They were probably saying rebels, no, just a
:17:11. > :17:18.day earlier. We met another Abdullah who explained the reality
:17:18. > :17:25.and his fears in a new era. time is really related to Gaddafi.
:17:25. > :17:34.I cannot deny that. Is this why you get good houses? You can say that,
:17:34. > :17:41.yes. I need those people to forget everything and forgive us. Every
:17:41. > :17:50.day brings progress, but beyond the war, reconciliation will be key. If
:17:50. > :17:56.revenge fills the vacuum, the new freedom may be short lived.
:17:56. > :17:59.Now, look at some of the day's other news. Witnesses in the Yemeni
:17:59. > :18:02.capital Sanaa say the city is now calmer following three days of
:18:02. > :18:04.clashes between supporters and opponents of President Saleh. There
:18:04. > :18:08.are reports that a cease-fire was negotiated by Yemen's vice-
:18:08. > :18:14.president and Western ambassadors. Earlier, at least ten people were
:18:14. > :18:17.killed during violence near the city's so called "Change Square".
:18:17. > :18:20.As many as 60 people have been killed since Sunday.
:18:20. > :18:24.Prosecutors in Turkey say an explosion that rocked the capital
:18:24. > :18:27.Ankara today was a terrorist attack. Three people were killed and at
:18:27. > :18:31.least 35 injured when a car bomb went off near a school in the
:18:31. > :18:33.centre of the city. The explosion set a number of cars on fire and
:18:33. > :18:36.damaged nearby buildings. The European Court of Human Rights
:18:36. > :18:40.has ruled that the Russian government violated the rights of
:18:40. > :18:45.the former oil giant, Yukos, when the company was liquidated in 2006.
:18:45. > :18:48.Former Yukos managers are seeking $98 billion in compensation. The
:18:48. > :18:51.judges said Russia violated property laws but cleared the
:18:51. > :18:53.government of deliberately putting the firm out of business.
:18:53. > :18:55.Japan's defence ministry has ordered an immediate investigation
:18:55. > :18:58.into cyber-security after the country's biggest arms-maker
:18:58. > :19:01.confirmed it's been targeted by hackers. Mitsubishi Heavy
:19:01. > :19:06.Industries says at least eight separate viruses have been found in
:19:06. > :19:16.its computer systems since the cyber-attack last month. It denies
:19:16. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:23.any sensitive information has leaked.
:19:23. > :19:29.It was a Cold War conflict that lasted two decades. The Vietnam war
:19:29. > :19:33.left millions dead and ultimately ended in failure for the American
:19:33. > :19:37.forces who tried to crush the Communists. But what about the
:19:37. > :19:45.ordinary people caught up in the war? Batters the focus of Drought
:19:45. > :19:50.and Rain, a dance study about the women who sang.
:19:50. > :19:57.An unforgiving War - 20 years of brutal and bloody onslaught. These
:19:57. > :20:01.are the men who risked their lives in the fight against communism. And
:20:01. > :20:10.these are the women on the other side, whose stories were buried in
:20:11. > :20:17.the chaos of conflict. The women who sang to consult their War ended
:20:17. > :20:23.-- bear wounded fighters, bringing comfort with their voices. In this
:20:23. > :20:30.work, the subject is about the memory after War. People told may
:20:30. > :20:34.that the nature of human being is like this. We leave and we destroy
:20:34. > :20:40.and we fight and they say that is the nature of human being which I
:20:40. > :20:45.really do not believe. But these performers are not professional
:20:45. > :20:54.dancers. They are the women themselves, from tiny villages in
:20:54. > :20:58.the north, farming communities, steeped in the tradition of song.
:20:58. > :21:04.TRANSLATION: We were very happy and eager to support the soldiers,
:21:04. > :21:12.without any doubt and no regret. We were young then. We cared about
:21:12. > :21:17.their soldiers. We had a lot of feeling for them. It is hard to
:21:17. > :21:22.describe this as dance in the traditional sense. There is a great
:21:22. > :21:28.economy of movement. But with every flick of the hand, every sweep of
:21:28. > :21:34.the arm, is a great emotional intensity. Against the noise of War,
:21:34. > :21:39.this stillness, this quietness, is very powerful. The enduring anguish
:21:39. > :21:47.for these women who witnessed the horrors of the conflict first hand,
:21:47. > :21:51.is plain to see. But so is the sense of duty. TRANSLATION: At our
:21:51. > :21:57.people paid with tears, sweat and even blood so that we can have the
:21:57. > :22:03.life that we lead today. I think of them with profound gratitude.
:22:03. > :22:09.it was all over, when Saigon fell in 1975, it is said that almost
:22:09. > :22:13.every family in Vietnam had someone to mourn. That was nearly four
:22:13. > :22:21.decades ago but for these women, the horrors of that war will never
:22:21. > :22:25.be forgotten. Chinese officials say 57 people
:22:25. > :22:30.have died, more than one million have been evacuated from their
:22:30. > :22:38.homes after torrential rain swept three provinces in the interior of
:22:39. > :22:46.the country. A week of unusually heavy downpours
:22:46. > :22:50.is wreaking havoc across central China. One in 12 million -- more
:22:50. > :22:55.than 12 million people have been affected by the latest round of
:22:55. > :23:03.torrential downpour. Flooding is believed to be the worst since
:23:03. > :23:08.records began in 1847. In all, dozens of people across three
:23:08. > :23:18.provinces have died. Many others have gone missing. One of the most
:23:18. > :23:20.
:23:20. > :23:30.severely affected areas is a district of sick one province. It
:23:30. > :23:33.
:23:33. > :23:38.endured 100 people. China is used to handling disasters on this scale.
:23:39. > :23:45.China's weather Bureau is expecting even more rain fall in the coming
:23:45. > :23:50.days. Asocial scourge more commonly
:23:50. > :23:54.associated with Britain has hit France, binge drinking. Authorities
:23:54. > :24:00.are particularly concerned about the under 25 year-olds who they say
:24:00. > :24:06.are drinking to get drunk. A combination of lax parenting,
:24:06. > :24:13.under-age parties and cheap booze is being banned. In Lille, the sale
:24:13. > :24:18.of alcohol in shops has been banned after 10 o'clock in the evening.
:24:18. > :24:24.The genteel cafe culture which has long defined the French way of life.
:24:24. > :24:28.Yet, this more convivial drinking atmosphere that has dominated the
:24:28. > :24:36.squares of French towns and cities has been rejected and replaced by
:24:36. > :24:40.this: The barman might hold his liquor but the evidence suggests
:24:40. > :24:46.more and more French young people love to get drunk.
:24:46. > :24:50.It leads to violence, vandalism and increasingly, the kind of lewd
:24:50. > :24:56.behaviour more commonly associated with a British town centre. The
:24:56. > :25:00.French call it binge drinking. It is a British term for a growing
:25:01. > :25:05.French problem. Previous generations here would drink to
:25:05. > :25:09.socialise. The new younger generation drinks to excess. I have
:25:09. > :25:13.already received a number of letters. The deputy mayor says
:25:13. > :25:19.already they have pulled drunk people from the Rhone river, they
:25:19. > :25:24.have had people who have drunk themselves into a coma and no end
:25:24. > :25:32.off complaints from local residents. Compare the situation from today
:25:32. > :25:37.and 1990. There is now twice more vehicle accidents, violence and
:25:37. > :25:40.health problems associated with alcohol. They discovered the worst
:25:40. > :25:44.behaviour comes from those who buy their alcohol at late-night
:25:44. > :25:50.convenience stores so they have banned the shops from selling wine,
:25:50. > :25:57.beer and spirits after 10 o'clock. TRANSLATION: How are we supposed to
:25:57. > :26:01.pay the bills? Look at how much alcohol I have sitting here on the
:26:01. > :26:07.shelves. The council makes no apologies and they have given the
:26:07. > :26:12.police every power they need to reinforce the ban. But, if binge
:26:12. > :26:17.drinking is one of the more obnoxious imports from Britain, it
:26:17. > :26:21.appears it is here to stay. Across Leon, there is no shortage of cheap
:26:21. > :26:25.spirits and beer and it will require more than a ban on the sale
:26:25. > :26:29.of over-the-counter alcohol to keep late-night drinkers on the straight
:26:29. > :26:35.and narrow. That is all from the programme.
:26:35. > :26:45.Next, the weather. From me, Philippa Thomas and the rest of the
:26:45. > :27:04.
:27:04. > :27:08.Hello. We have had a mixed bag of weather across the UK today. Rain,
:27:08. > :27:12.showers and also some sunshine. Tomorrow, there will be some
:27:12. > :27:15.sunshine but watch out for the chance of some blustery showers,
:27:15. > :27:22.particularly in the north. It is all because of this weather system
:27:22. > :27:28.pushing its way from the West tonight. It will be their first
:27:28. > :27:37.thing in the south-east. After it clears the through, things should
:27:37. > :27:41.brighten up nicely. It will be a fine day for much of the Midlands
:27:41. > :27:46.and central southern England, dry, bright start and eventually for the
:27:46. > :27:50.South East of England, the last of the rain will clear through. For
:27:50. > :28:00.the south-west of England we start off on a dry bright note. Across
:28:00. > :28:01.
:28:01. > :28:07.Wales, a fine morning across the afternoon. Across Northern Ireland,
:28:07. > :28:11.a cloudy, wet and windy start, then that clears in the afternoon which
:28:11. > :28:17.is dominated by showers. Further blustery showers pushing through