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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. i am in singapore. i am in london. president obama has warned that a failure to deal with the u.s. debt crisis could cause damage. >> it is a dangerous game that we have never played before and we cannot of -- cannot afford to play it now, not when so many of the jobs are at stake. >> united in their grief, thousands take part in processions across norway to remember the victims of friday's gun and bomb attacks. the u.n. calls for massive action in the horn of africa as the somali ministers warned millions could starve to death.

it is a 11:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> it is 4:00 a.m. here in singapore, broadcasting to viewers on pbs and around the world. this is "newsday." president barack obama has warned the republican party that they were playing a dangerous game in the country's approach to resolving its debt crisis. in a live broadcast to the nation, he said the failure to solve the problem with tax increases would damage the economy. he also accused many of his republican opponents of refusing to compromise and allow for a temporary revising of official limits on arwin. >> despite our disagreements, republican leaders and i have found common ground before. and i believe that enough members of both parties will

ultimately lead us put party politics aside and help us make progress. i realize that a lot of the new members of congress and i do not see eye to eye on many issues, but we were each elected by some of the same americans for some of the same reasons. yes, many want government to start living within its means, and many are fed up with a system that seems stacked against middle class americans in favor of the wealthiest few. but you know what people are fed up with most of all tax they are fed up -- most of all? they are fed up that the town of compromise has become the worst of all. >> the president has often said we need a balanced approach, which in washington means we spend more and you pay more. if you run a small business, i know those tax increases will destroy jobs. the president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs.

as the father of two daughters and i know these programs will not be there for them and their kids unless significant action is taken now. and the sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago and he wants a blank check today. this is just not going to happen. there is no stalemate here in congress. the house voted to pass a bill with bipartisan support. and this week we're going to pass another bill, one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the u.s. senate. obviously, i expect that bill can and will pass the senate, and be sent to the president with -- for a signature. and if the president signs it, this atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. the debt will be raised. the spending will be cut by more than $1 trillion, and the committee will begin the hard, but necessary work of dealing

with the tough challenges our nation faces. >> we are joined by the co- director of economic and policy research in washington. he told me the debt and deficit is slipping fast. >> there is so much about this it is hard to know where to start from an economic point of view. the first, john vader is talking about a crisis, -- john boehner is talking about a crisis, a crisis that has completely been manufactured. they have raised the debt ceiling dozens of times. they are just trying to get something that they cannot win at the ballot box. they own the house, but not the senate for the president and they do not have any backing to cut programs like medicare and social security. it is a form of extortion. unfortunately, the president game -- gave in to it way too much and started to -- it is

like, somebody kidnaps your kid and you say, i want to pay the ransom, but i will give you more than that if you will give up something as well. that is kind of what he did, he opened up this whole debate of -- you know, he can see it in his speech tonight. the growing debt will cause serious damage to the economy. the economy is a problem of demand. there is not enough spending out there. >> senior vice president and seek -- and chief economist of the council said they are watching this very closely. >> markets have been very steady. the 10-year treasurys are staying about 3%. i think the markets are expecting that there will be some type of agreement on or about august 2. i think they will be

increasingly nervous if after august 2 they do not see congress and the administration working together to slow the growth of spending. we largely have a spending problem, not a deficiency of tax revenue. they need to understand that there will be a path forward and we will not end up like portugal corp. -- or greece or spain in terms of a huge debt relative to gdp. >> how are other countries reacting to the president's speech? >> the asian market reacted quickly to the comments by president obama. we are seeing some cautious gains here in asia. the nikkei being pressured by the fact that the yen actually strengthened against the dollar to a four-month high. stocks dipped in late trading on monday. many investors are looking for

so-called safe haven assets, such as gold, which hit another record high. the dollar continued to weaken and sink to a record low. it is likely to stay under pressure as long as talks remain. tony morris is the head of interest rates. he gets of the bbc market reaction to the american debt situation. >> if it does come, a compromise is not going to provide the medium term strategy to favor a downgrade, but a compromise will avoid much more distressing defaults. the main channel appears to be coming through a weaker u.s. dollar. this severe intervention on the yen is holding. only a slight drift on stock markets. and actually, quite a new ticket response from the u.s. bond market at this stage.

what we need to find out is what this compromise looks like and how long is going to take. >> toni morrison there with market reaction. in other news, hundreds of thousands of norwegians have taken to the streets in a show of national unity after the weekend's massacre. behind closed doors, anders breivik admitted to carrying out the attack, but pleaded not guilty to murder. he claims to have had links to two other underground cells. norway's mass killings headed to court. anders breivik, wearing a dark red top, sat next to police officers. outside the courthouse, crowds had gathered. fiercely opposed to him using his court appearance as a platform for his views, as he

himself wanted. >> do not give him attention. the doors will be closed. this will not be an open hearing. this is what he wants, and i do not see why we should let him have his way. >> breivik had asked police if he could wear a black uniform to court, but they said no. lines formed to go inside the courtroom, but the police opposed an open hearing, fearful he would use it to send signals to others. and the judge agreed it should be a closed session. in court, he was told he would be held in solitary confinement for four weeks, no visitors, no letters, no newspapers, and his next court appearance would be in eight weeks' time. later, the judge related what the -- what breivik said to the court. he said his attack was to send a strong signal to the people. also, he said he wanted to save western europe from a muslim takeover, and he wanted to

prevent future recruitment to the labor party, which he said had betrayed the country. this is what his lawyer told me. >> how was your client in court today? >> calm. >> as he was driven away from the court, breivik led the police on a new line of investigation. he claimed to belong to an organization with two more active cells, but provided no more details. but police said they cannot rule out others being involved. it has emerged -- emerged that his name was in the intelligence services files. >> he was not named as a right- wing extremist, but after what has happened we have looked into our archives where we have an enormous amount of information and we found his name once. >> they have records of him buying chemicals in poland, but they had not followed the information up. close to the time of the court

appearance, norway held a moment's silence. across the country, people stood quietly. out on the lake, they are still searching for the missing, although they have revised down the number of killed to 76. in the chaos, some of the bodies were counted twice. the faces of the missing are still peering out from norway's papers. people on the street today talk of innocence lost, of a shadow falling across the country. >> people are in deep grief. they are still shocked. but we also see a norway that is very unified together. >> tonight, rescue workers walked through the capital. people lined the streets. and even as oslo remembered these days of tragedy, the

police said that the man who has admitted the killings was reported to be affected by events, clinging to his distorted belief that he needed to shake up his country. >> you are watching "newsday" on the bbc life in london. the u.n. calls for massive action before it is too late for thousands of somalis. >> and no help on the horizon for the rickshaw puller. hundreds of gay couples have wedd in new york after it became the sixth most populous state in the u.s. to make same-sex weddings legal. laura trevelyan reports. >> last-minute catches on the big day. for hundreds of same-sex couples queuing up in the

sweltering manhattan he, this was a moment to treasure. with the celebration comes spending. it has been estimated that same- sex weddings will boost the york's economy by half -- by $300 million in the next three years. the handful of states that have legalized same-sex marriage, new york has -- is the one that will draw in the crowds. it is a destination in its own right. mark has his cupcake at the ready. his customers in this predominantly gay area of manhattan are now planning their wet beans. >> roughly 50% of our business is wedding cakes. we are anticipating probably a 30% leap in revenue from a wedding cakes alone. >> same-sex weddings will generate cash for your, but for the couples who just got married here, financial equality is some way off. the federal government does not

recognize these weddings. >> if one of us should pass away before the other, when it eventually happens, one cannot get the others social security. and with regard to finances and taxes and so on, we are not treated the same as a heterosexual couple. >> whatever the picture at the national level, new york is welcoming same-sex couples with open arms. and after years of waiting, newlyweds are ready to throw the ultimate party. laura trevelyan, bbc news, new york. >> this is open but newsday on the bbc. >> president obama has made a televised address to the american people about the country's debt crisis. he warned that unless a solution is found, it will cause incalculable damage.

thousands of people have taken part in torch lit procession across norway to remember victims of friday's gun and bomb attacks, as norwegian police investigate the possibility that anders breivik was not acting alone. >> the head of the united nations food program has called for massive and urgent action in the horn of africa. he told an emergency conference in rome $1.6 billion in aid was needed. our africa correspondent reports. >> clouds over somalia, but no rain. we are heading close to the famine zone. gunmen on the ground, but these men work for somalia's

government, backed by the west. they control a small pocket of territory here. it has become an best of families desperate for food and safety. -- a nest of families desperate for food and safety. makeshift shelters, then at the latest arrivals. this family got here a few hours ago, escaping from a town controlled by the is live -- islamist militant group out about. they are exhausted, but count themselves lucky. -- the islamist militant group al-shabab. they are exhausted, but cal themselves lucky. >> a al-shabab are keeping the aid workers from reaching our area. that is why we had to flee. if we had stayed democrat we would die. -- if we had stayed, we would die. >> how long will that feed your

family? >> she says, 10 days. it is progress, but patchy. the battle now is to stop more people fleeing their homes by getting aid directly into the heart of somalia's famine zone. it is not impossible, but because of the house should have, it is slow, complicated, and -- because of al-shabab, is slow, complicated and very dangerous. the refugee camps are overloaded and western aid officials are exploring every option. >> the al-shabab areas have been known as a no go zones. it is not true. >> i am confident that as long as we rely on experience organizations and where the

chiefs are helping their communities, we can help many people inside somalia. >> so, a race has begun to reach those unable to escape the famine. and time is on no one's side. >> palestinians have said they will proceed with their plan to be recognized as a member state of the un in september. they have the support of the arab states, but face opposition from america and israel, and increasing concerns from the european nations. it is the backdrop of a regular debate in the middle east today. >> here in the security council there is a debate every month on the middle east, which is focused on the arab-israeli conflict. the hot topic now is the palestinian decision to apply

for u.n. membership as a member state. they said they had to do this because the american peace process has failed. they believe that if they get membership it will strengthen their case politically, but it is very controversy all because israel and the u.s. are very strongly opposed. they say the palestinians should simply come back to the peace talks and if they take this move, it will take -- make resuming talks much more difficult. americans are almost certain to use their position in the security council to veto any membership for the palestinians. if you to call 193 members of the u.n., you would probably get a majority, but the crucial position is that of the europeans. they are not unified, but some of them including france and britain, do have sympathy for the palestinian position. however, they do not want an american veto. they are afraid it could become violent in the occupied territories and that could, perhaps, get entangled in the

protest of the wider arab world. that has not happened yet. so far, the air of spring has been very focused on internal issues. -- the era of the spring has been very focused on internal issues. america's standing in the region could take a hard hit, and the western states, too. the europeans are looking for a compromise, trying to convince the destiny is to drop their bid for membership, but to give them enough to get back to the peace process. whether or not they succeed, there is a sense that the arab- israeli conflict is becoming a major issue at the u.n. again and it will dominate in the coming months. >> britain has joined france in suggesting colonel gadhafi could remain in libya so long as he steps down from power. the british foreign secretary has been holding talks with his french counterpart. he said it was up to the libya

-- libyan people to decide if he goes into exile. the maid who accuse the former head of the imf has spoken out for the first time. de calo has said she has never wavered in her story. the pope has taken back his ambassador to ireland over the prime minister's criticism of the church for concealing the sexual abuse of children as recently as 2009. he accused the church of putting its reputation had a child rape victims. more than 1000 people have been arrested in mexico during a two- day operation targeting trafficking and sexual exploitation. they discovered 20 young women in juarez, the country's most

violent city. there is concern about the growing number of women who have recently disappeared in the area. the parents of any winehouse have told friends they are devastated by her death as they thanked mourners outside her house. a funeral will be held later today. now to keeping children in school. >> that is right as you can imagine, getting an education in bangladesh is not easy, especially for children in rural areas. there would have to walk an hour to get to the nearest school, crossing many rivers on the way. as a result, many crossed out. they're raising money to open more schools. it has been so successful, they

are asking the government for more to keep it going. >> bright and attentive, these children are eager to learn. they consider themselves lucky. there was no school at all in this remote village until three years ago. that is when a group of villagers, many -- mainly shopowners and villagers decided to open schools on their own. they offer school up to the age of 12. the shopowners worked long, grueling hours and pay them less than $2 a day. >> [unintelligible] the primary school is about 4 kilometers away. because of this -- because the schools are closer, they have many that are starting to go to

school and the crime rate has gone down in the area. >> i would end up doing housework or plantation work like many other children now have a better chance of completing my studies. >> for the last three years, the school has been running for -- with little government help, day-by-day attracting more students, not only from this village but also in neighboring areas. as it grows in size, many wonder how jobholders can continue to fund the school. >> now the numbers are increasing. we need to include more teachers. we need to buy more shares and books and other things. -- more chairs and books and other things. >> officials admit the situation is unique. they are already in talks about giving funding to the school. it is also being seen as a model for other villages across the country.

>> you have been watching newsday from the bbc. >> a reminder of our main news again this hour, president obama, and one of his republican opponent, john vader, have made live broadcast to the american people -- a john boehner, have made live broadcast to the american people. president obama appeals for a deal before the deadline runs out in a week's time. the united states would not be able to pay its debts. president obama accused many of his republican opponents of refusing the necessary tax increases. a few minutes later, mr. boehner, the speaker of the house, accused the president of wanting a blank check to impose new taxes. thanks for watching.

see you soon. >> makes sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> 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? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.