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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome. the headlines this hour. a car bomb at a top kabul hotel. violence on the streets of athens. protestors fight another round of austerity cuts as parliament prepares to vote. >> a new boss for the imf. another european but for the first time, a woman. it is 11 a.m. in singapore. >> it is 4:00 a.m. in london. this is "newsday".

afghan officials say the militants who launched a sustained attack on the internet and tote -- intercontinental hotel, been killed. 10 afghan civilians died during the assault. the five hour gunfight ended after nato helicopters killed insurgents who had taken up positions on the roof of the hotel. this began when three suicide attackers decimated their -- detonated their explosions. >> it was a deadly late-night attack. a group of suicide bombers and several gunmen made their way past checkpoints into the intercontinental. one of the most heavily protected hotels in kabul. for hours, the scene was one of confusion. the guests hiding in their rooms

while sporadic gunfire could be heard inside the hotel. the afghan police engage the attackers including a number on the roof of the building. the nato helicopter stepped in firing on the gunman on the hotel's roof to bring the siege to an abrupt end. >> was clear is the security forces were doing a fantastic job of clearing the hotel. tonight, helicopters are aiding them in those operations. >> the intercontinental lies to the west of kabul. guests and employees emerged, shaken up but happy to be alive. >> i do not think we know quite what happened. >> it was huge blast. some fiber six huge blasts. there was [unintelligible]

>> the taliban said it carried out the attack which came at a meeting -- as a meeting of governors to is being held. the u.s. state department was quick to condemn the attack. this coordinated assault on the key international target now raises serious questions about the handover of control from nato to the country's security forces just hours before a conference on the issue was due to begin. >> police in athens used tear gas in clashes over anger at the country's austerity plan. the clashes began at the start of a two day general strike on the eve of a vote whether to approve the new measures. if they reject them, the u.s. and imf will withhold its loan greece couldnd

run out of money in weeks. >> late into the evening, there were clashes between police and protesters outside parliament. all part of a day of protests against the austerity package which greek m.p.'s will vote on tomorrow. earlier the protests had turned violent. for hours, there were running battles in the square outside parliament. communications trucks were attacked and set on fire. all attention, bitterness, and frustration of recent days, it was almost inevitable there would be an outbreak of violence. the police fired hundreds of volleys of stunnestun grenades o clear the air. inside there is real anxiety about the extent of these protests. away from the center of athens, most parts of the greek economy were brought to a halt by a 2 day general strike.

earlier in the day there had been protest marches. the government insists that austerity measures are needed to qualify for a further emergency loan from the eu and imf. without them, greece is heading for bankruptcy. >> it does not -- they are lying. everybody knows that. >> time and again i heard ordinary bricks telling me that they were not to blame for the debt crisis. >> the imf -- they are trying to make us pay a debt we did not create. >> the greeks face years of budget cuts. 150,000 public sector jobs are planned to go. there will be a range of new tax increases including some on the lowest paid. over and above these savings, 44

billion pounds of state assets like ports and airports will have to be privatized. in the debate in parliament, the opposition made it clear they do not accept the government's argument on austerity. i also fought, said the leader of the opposition, so i could send the message that the policy the government has followed until now was wrong and it has surpassed the limits. that the greek people can handle. government supporters were defiant in the face of the protests. >> i believe that today's protests make it stronger for us to see and understand the responsibility of our boat. >> late tonight, thousands of ordinary bricks are on the street. defying all the pleadings from the you and the imf but there is no alternative. no plan b to austerity. >> the imf has appointed a

new head, christine lagarde. >> the first woman to be chosen for the top job and she will be succeeding dominique strauss- kahn who had to resign in the face of sex charges. top on her list is the crisis in the eurozone. >> we had jobs and lock in finance. christine is used to breaking glass ceilings. now she shudders another. the coming -- becoming the first female managing director of the international monetary fund. >> when i had the meeting at the imf it was a group of 24 administrators, not a single woman. when i found myself interviewed by these 24 men for three hours i thought it is good things change. everybody brings their own perspective. i am keen to do that. >> remain competitor was the mexican central bank governor.

even he thought she was unstoppable. admitting during the race that it was like starting a soccer game with a five-nil score. >> it is difficult to break that tradition. europe thinks that it needs, it requires to have that in the institution. >> with the eurozone in crisis, europe has never relied more on the imf. the continent will be relieved to have one of its own in the top job. while that may be a selling point for some, others perceive it as a weakness. >> i will have much more empathy in one sense for the european position and there is a danger could be seen as favoritism. rather than technically minded decisions and that will not serve. neither the europeans or the imf will [unintelligible] in the long run. >> domenik stress can quit the

post to fight sexual assault charges in -- dominique strauss- kahn quit the post to fight sexual assault charges in new york. this is one victory they may come to regret. >> as the eurozone worries about its debt burden, brazil was enjoying an economic boom. the only problem may be the country enjoys too much prosperity. the government is enforcing more than $30 billion of cuts to growth. our economics editor traveled there to see for herself. >> the economy is running hot and cold. brazil is one of the places it is hot. it grew by 7.5% last year when the recovery in europe and america barely got off the ground. we are hitching a free ride up the coast to see how the richest man in the country plans to exploit brazil's biggest advantage in today's world trade

i. unlike many european countries, brazil is better off. this new superpool will be the biggest in the americas. this runs 3 kilometers out. what is done you'll get container ships docking here and there will be another port further out able to take the biggest tanker in the world. the clue to the name. the bulk of the business in this place for the foreseeable future will be sending raw materials to china. his father made his name selling rum materials to japan when it was taking off. the son wants to do the same for china. >> the rich resources, in brazil we have a lot of them. the chinese are mining 4% iron ore in the ground. we mine 40%.

>> as usual when it comes to china, the traffic is not all one way. far from it. the growth of the last 10 years has created a new consumer. they're not spending money on brazilian goods. last year alone, imports from china went up by 60%. most of what you see here is made in china. so were 80% of the customs in the rio carnival. this may be a bit too much of it. in some rio's shantytowns, prices have tripled. lending has taken off even with mortgage rates at and i watering 25%. >> they're making their own dream come true. having your own house. they have stopped paying rent. they really do not think much of the high interest they pay.

what they think is they're making their dream come true. >> like many emerging markets, the economy is a bit too hot while places like britain and the u.s. are too cold. the world would be better off if we could all be smart in between. no prizes for guessing who was having the most fun. >> you're watching bbc. wildfires come within meters of the nuclear facility at los alamos. >> we meet one of the 1 million in the nation to remain employed as domestic workers in saudi arabia. parts of africa are suffering the worst drought in 60 years and the un says the crisis has affected more than 10 million people. in somalia, the double hardship has resulted in an unprecedented number of refugees fleeing to kenya to stay in the world's

largest refugee camp. >> they are arriving here exhausted, hungry, and often in need of medical help. save the children says 1300 people are turning up every day from somalia. more than half of them children. some are walking for up to one month to reach the camp with almost no positions. for years, people have been coming here to escape the war in somalia. right now, a severe drought is also hitting hard. wells have dried up in somalia, forcing people to flee. >> we're seeing children as young as three or four tracking through deserts' under the searing sun to arrive here just to escape the drought and the soaring food prices that have put millions at risk throughout east africa parian >> although made up of three settlements, this is also referred to as the

largest refugee camp in the world. the organization is struggling to cope with the sharp rise in the number of arrivals. it's as because of the conditions in somalia and the arduous journey, refugees are arriving in urgent need of medical care. plans to build a new refugee camp in the area have stalled. the kenyan government is worried about security near the border. the war in somalia shows no sign of ending and the drought is expected to continue for several months. conditions in this already overcrowded refugee camp are likely to get even worse. >> this is "newsday". >> one of the top hotels in kabul has come under sustained

attack. >> with austerity measures due to be voted on, there have been more riots on the streets of athens. fire in the u.s. state of new mexico near a huge government laboratory in los olmos. the facility has been forced to close in more than 12,000 residents evacuated. the sites contains the weapon arsenal. the air is being monitored for radiation. for more, we're joined by the head of communications at the los alamos national laboratory. she joins us from santa fe in mexico. thanks for joining us. how close is the fire getting to the laboratory? >> at the present time, our sensibilities -- our facilities

are safe and note fires are burning on laboratory property. there are fires that the property boundary. we have very large property with 36 or miles and there are no facilities near that area but it is at our boundary and it is half a mile from town in terms of the nearest residential area. >> there are concerns that have been raised over thousands of drums containing radioactive material. is there a danger of nuclear material being exposed if the fire spreads further? >> let me say we are a national and global security laboratory. we perform such work as nuclear test treaty verification and provide safeguards for nuclear processing. we're also called out to handle nuclear material if it is found anywhere in a port or anywhere else. we know how to handle hazardous and radioactive material in a way that protects the public.

we do have drums on site that carry some of that waste. it is part of an environmental cleanup project we have that goes back to the cold war. those drums are staged in this area and are then shipped to a holding facility at what is called the waste isolation pilot plant. there are many precautions to insure that fire will not reach those areas and if on the off chance that fire does reach those areas, the containers are designed to withstand fire. we feel very comfortable. >> apart from the safety measures, what other backups can be implemented going forward? >> there was a fire 11 years ago at the lab and structures were damaged. residential homes were lost and a number of precautions have been taken since that time. $20 million worth of operations,

clearing of ground and ground fuel. new fire trucks, heavy equipment and interagency fire center. there is a lot of things that have happened to mitigate any fire risk and those have helped us during this fire. >> we will have to leave it there. head of communications at the los alamos national laboratory in new mexico, thank you that update. >in libya, rebels said they have captured a major cash of weapons in an underground bunker. rockets, machine guns, and other conditions were found following an airstrike. the facility is 40 miles from tripoli. the seizure is same -- seen as a major boost to the rebels. >> we arrived after rebel fight to clear the arms dump of any

guards still loyal to colonel gaddafi. not before rebel sympathizers had begun collecting their prize. the opposition fighters in this part of libya are mainly ethnic berbers. after many years of depressed by colonel gaddafi's arab nationalist policies, they want their share of the krepol action. the pushed forward but not without difficulty. when we joined them at their front line on the way to tripoli, a burned out car was being salvaged. they need the spare parts. colonel gaddafi's forces are resisting strongly. we escaped without problems. there have been many casualties on the rebel side. this man was shot in the rest with a large caliber bullet. it was touch and go whether he

would keep the use of his hand. the rebels tell us that nato bombed the arms depot a few days ago. and the completed - complete obliteration of this bunker is evidence enough. the rebels have always insisted their the ones that are disadvantaged because they have small arms while colonel gaddafi has the long-range artillery. the capture of this arms and ammunition dump may change all that. the next time the rebels go to their front line, fresh arms and ammunition are likely to go with them. mark doyle, bbc news, western libya. >> officials in kabul said they have issued an arrest warrant for the governor of the central bank. he faces questioning over massive fraud at the privately owned bank. he resigned on monday saying he had been thwarted in his attempts to investigate the embezzlement of half a billion

dollars which is blamed on officials and relatives of president karzai. a friend of the artist said ai wei wei had received a letter giving him three days to reply to the demand. he has been banned from speaking publicly since this release last week. you have some news about domestic staff are working in saudi arabia. >> officials have been meeting to discuss the status of indonesian domestic workers employed in the arab country. talks followed the execution of a maid who was convicted of killing her employer. the case has shocked indonesian's with many believing their own government for not protecting the rights of workers over seas.

>> prayers for the passing of a loved one. it is impossible to imagine what the family is going through. they are still in shock. news of their mothers be having has left them devastated. her story has made headlines in indonesia and her daughter is at the center of a media storm. she insists her mother suffered abuse at the hands of her saudi employers. >> i do not believe my mother concernekilled someone without reason. my mother was a good person. maybe she confessed because she was pressured. no one was defending her. >> there are more than 1 million women employed as domestic workers. before they go abroad, the girls get taught basic arabic. cooking, cleaning, and how to

operate simple household machines like vacuum cleaners. it is a rigorous schedule. they can earn twice as much overseas than they do a home. most of the women here have little or no education. the source of jobs are there to get to freedom, a way to feed their family at home in the village. it is -- a string of recent tragedies facing women who work overseas has raised concerns about how well protected they are when they go abroad to work. this is not the first time a migrant worker has suffered. indonesian's when the government for failing to look out for their rights. officials say they are trying to find a solution. >> in the future we're not going to place our workers. when they live in people's homes, they are isolated and labor laws cannot be applied. we want our workers to live outside the house. they will be monitored with

regular inspections. that way there will be no more abuse cases. >> those promises do not mean much to the people who depend on the income migrant workers make. in the village, life has improved thanks to the money overseas workers send back home. it is the same in villages across the country and that is a long way to lifting millions out of poverty. indonesia make -- must make sure that the risk of going abroad to work as a reward. >> the efforts to contact the for a formal statement were unsuccessful. president bashir has arrived in china for today visit. -- a two day visit. his visit comes after the international criminal court

issued an arrest warrant accusing him of war crimes during the conflict in darfur. new pictures and video footage of hugo chavez has been shown on cuban television. they show an apparently well mr. chavis speaking with fidel castro. the venezuelan president has kept a low profile since he had an emergency operation during a trip to cuba at the beginning of june. there is a debate on whether he should delegate executive powers to his vice president. >> you have been watching "newsday" from the bbc. >> the reminder of the main news again. all the insurgents who launched a sustained attack on a top hotel in kabul have been killed. 10 civilians were killed during the assault. thank you for watching.

>> makes sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its

global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> garrison keillor: martín espada was born in brooklyn, new york. he moved to massachusetts; worked as a tenement lawyer in boston, teaches at the university of massachusetts, amherst-- creative writing, latino poetry, and the work of pablo neruda. he's published 16 books, and his collection of poems, the republic of poetry, was a finalist for the pulitzer prize. >> at 16, i worked after high school hours at a printing plant that manufactured legal pads-- yellow paper stacked seven feet high and leaning as i slipped cardboard between the pages, then brushed red glue up and

down the stack. no gloves-- fingertips required for the perfection of paper, smoothing the exact rectangle. sluggish by 9:00 p.m., the hands would slide along suddenly sharp paper, and gather slits thinner than the crevices of the skin; hidden. then the glue would sting, hands oozing till both palms burned at the punch clock. ten years later, in law school, i knew that every legal pad was glued with the sting of hidden cuts; that every open law book was a pair of hands upturned and burning. ( applause )