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what can we do for you? and now, "bbc world news." >> the end of 70 years at the top, the u.s. government loses its highest level credit rating. it follows turmoil on the world economic market. this is the worsening economic slowdown. in the u.s., france, and germany, they condemn syria's president. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcasting on pbs in america and also around the globe. coming up later for you. one year from the start of their underground ordeal, chile honors the miners who became national heroes. and hirvings iros -- hiroshima commemorates its disaster amid

worries about nuclear power. hello and welcome. the rating agency standard & poor's has downgraded the united states credit rating from it top aaa value by one level to aa-plus. a u.s. official said the agency's analysis was flawed. the u.s. government has huge debts and the credit agency said that not enough has been done to deal with it. we're joined by our correspondent in washington, marcus george. immense news. what reaction so far from the white house? >> very little reaction so far. at the moment but supposedly, according to many reports, there was a lot of communications between standard & poor's and the obama administration throughout this afternoon when standard & poor's first informed the white house that it was going to downgrade the u.s. credit

rating. u.s. treasure officials, according to some reports, subsequently pored over the figures for a couple of hours before getting back to standard and poors saying there are errors in these figures, you need to think again. it seems that whatever that has resulted in, standard & poor's has gone ahead and downgraded by one notch the u.s. credit rating. >> and what do you think this will actually mean for the united states? >> i think it's very difficult to tell exactly what this is going to mean for the united states. the theory goes that interest payments will immediately go up, directly on federal government borrowing. some analysts saying that that could mean up to about $75 billion extra per year on its loan repayments, and of course, that potentially has a tribble-down effect to u.s. states, local government, businesses, and indeed

individuals across this country. at the moment it's too difficult to say. and i think it's important to say that this is one of the three major credit ratings agencies. there's moody's as well as fitch. once you start having another downgrade in u.s. debt then we should start to see some movement in those interest rates. at the moment it's one out of three so two more to go. >> marcus george and washington, tau. earlier, global markets were sent tumbling again amid growing concerns about the weak economic recovery in u.s. and europe. u.s. shares recovered to close slightly higher. >> 24 hours of turmoil on markets. share prices plunged yesterday in germany and the rest of europe, infecting the americas, including brazil and the u.s. overnight the con tangen spread

to asia then back to europe and the u.k. today with almost three trillion pounds wiped off shares worldwide. the crisis was triggered by growing fears that italy and spain would be unable to pay back their huge debts. europe's own government said they'd agreed to a new support package but italy and spain's borrowing costs continued their rise to dangerously high levels. >> i would, in fact, encourage now everybody to stay calm and breathe deeply and see that the economy's recovery is going on. it's important that we protect it from the turbulence and the work is going on day and night. >> it may be tempting to see falls in share prices as having little relevance for us but they disketly affect the value of our pensions and say a good

deal about the confidence of companies to invest and create jobs. and it may say something about the banks' ability to borrow and then they find it hard to lend and then the economy weakens. this afternoon, there was a brief recovery in share prices after u.s. unemployment figures turned out to be marginally better than feared. but the respite was short lived. >> what i want the american people and our partners around the world no -- to snow this -- we are going to get through this. and we're going to get there together. >> the excessive indebtedness of a number of rich western countries, is there a painless solution? >> no, i'm afraid not. people will have to accept that governments will be smaller and will spend less so there'll be less public sector employment, fewer jobs in the public sector and less expenditure on things

like health care and pensions and education. >> today, royal scotland announced it was back in the red for the first six months of the year in, part because of losses on its loans to greece. how bad can it get? >> it would be stupid not to be cautious and alert to the significant risks out there that can turn bad but i think the probabilities are that the world doesn't return overnight from a place that is slowly recovering to a place that's a disaster area. >> commodities market false in the prices of copper, lead, zinc, and tin are saying that the global economic recovery is threatenened and that we all risk being burned in the market. >> to other news. leaders of the united states, france, and germany have con determined the syrian's government's use of violence against protesters, demanding president al-assad's recognize -- resignation.

the latest violence came as government forces increased their grip on the city of hama. john simpson is in lebanon, where he's been speaking to syrian refugees and those who still support the president. >> the view across the valley in the direction of syria, now a closed country. across the border, some of the worst fighting has been going on in the city of hama. syrian television, government controlled, showed these pictures of the city today, claiming that things were now quiet there. commenry -- commentary tells the viewers that the demonstrators are armed and violence. the syrian government's line is that they're basically terrorists. tonight, an opposition supporter in hama denied that. >> there are no armed people in am hama.

>> tens of thousands of people were demonstrating across syria today, including in duma, a city just a few miles from damascus. the bbc has verified these pictures. from lebanon i got through to the satellite phone of the man in duma who filmed them. what's going to happen in the long run? do you really think that the government of president assad is going to be overthrown by the demonstrators? >> there will be more clashes and violence. and there might be a [inaudible] >> this country, lebanon, knows all about civil war and syria has often been deeply involved. there's a lot of nervousness here about any spillover from the syrian troubles. today in beirut, there was a

small demo by supporters of the assad regime. some lebanese supporters take a strongly pro syrian line, including the former prime minister. it must be difficult and embarrassing for somebody like you to have to defend a government which shoots down its own citizens, isn't it? >> internal forces are work against al-assad and want to bring him down. if syria falls it would be totally fragmented and would destabilize the whole region. >> it's beginning to look as though things over there have gone too far for a compromise solution. the governments can't back down without looking as though they're surrendering completely. if the demenstroitors were going to stop surely they would have stopped already.

people on both sides are starting to warn about the possibility of civil war but no one seems to know how to stop it. >> chile is marking the first anniversary of the mine collapse that trapped 33 men underground for two months. the rescue operation captured the world's attention and the miners became national heroes. acts of remembrance have been organized in the city nearest the san jose mine. the president attended. and we have a reporter with more on the events taking place. >> it's not really been celebrated in the way that was expected and in the way the president and his government would have liked. there have been protests here against his government, which slightly marred the celebration. it started with a mass and a church on the outskirts of the city. the president was there and most of the 33 miners as well. but before that mass was over. shooting protesters first tried

to disrupt it and then environmental activists also tried to disrupt it. they were dragged away by security guards then the celebration moved on to a local museums where the capsule which was used to pull the miners to safety was exhibited. again, there are hundreds of demonstrators there who tried to break through the barricades. the president's population has shattered recently. >> still ahead, we meet some of the thuses of children that are homeless and schoolless after the japanese tsunami. a 17-year-old british tourist killed by a polar bear in the norwegian arctic has been named as horatio chapel from the town of salisbury. four others were injured in the

attack on the camp in northern norway. the injured were flown by air ambulance to a nearby city. >> air lifting the casualties to hospital from the remote archipelago from northern norway. one british 17-year-old dead, four more members of the group injured, two severely. an expedition of british students on an actic camping adventure of a lifetime that turned into a tragedy. it's the chance of seeing a polar bear in their national habitat that's one of the top attractions of trips here. nearly 3,000 bears, it's thought, roaming wild amidst the stunning landscape. blogs posted on the expedition website just a week ago talk of an arctic adventure of sea ice and the polar bears they were dreaming of seeing. >> horatio was a fine young man, hoping to go on to medical

school. >> the british school that organized the trip is based here in central london. the expeditions of their young people for an experience of self-discovery in some of the world's last true buildnesses. holidays to zones where polar bears roam free are dangerous, but as polar bear habitats are petting -- melting, incounters with humans are getting more common. >> if the pack ice has gone away from the land and there's a lot of open water then they have to stay only the land and they get very, very hungry. there's nothing for them to eat. . >> officials are on their way to the location. the circumstances of the tragedy are being investigated. >> you're watching "bbc world news." for the first time ever, one of the international credit rating agencies has downgraded the

united states from the top aaa level. and leaders of the united states, france, and germany have condemned the president of syria, bash aral assad for what they call the indiscriminate violence being used against his people. let's stay with the situation in syria. we're joined by david from the washington institute, the near east policy. what do you make of this condemnation? we've had the u.n. security council condemning the use of violence against surveillance and now we have the -- civilians and now we have the leaders of the u.s., france and germany also condemning it. is president assad going to be con can demming this? >> i'm afraid not. the white house has been condemning bash or for months now. -- bashar for months now.

france has condemned him before. i think the united nations condemnation was weak, calling for all sides to equate the violence with the killers being killed. i don't think bashar is going to listen to anybody. he's holding on to power for life and limb and he knows what will happen if he falls. he'll end up like mubarak and saddam hussein, on trial. >> would being indicted for war crimes be an option? >> it's another lever of pressure but that puts him even more into a corner. i think what you have to do is work on severering his pace ba of support back home through sanctions, energy sanctions, separating the sunni business elite that has been supporting him and telling the christian community, for example, that they will be protected in the fall of the alwhite regime

working on trying to split the military, shoring the military via a policy that is directed to tell them that they would best not kill innocent civilians and they would not be held responsible for war crimes should they not do that and they have a chance and an opportunity to not to. >> the community doesn't have an appetite for military intervention but is that something that may be necessary? >> there is no stomach for military action after libya, after afghanistan, and after iraq. there are 500,000 children saverbing in somalia. you know, this is a situation that, forbetter or for worse, we're not prepared to take military action. and the syrian people, the opposition, they say they don't want u.s. or international military intervention.

they want to do it themselves. and i think we have to help them the best we can to help themselves at this point and really put the screws to bashar al-assad and make everybody say this guy is legitimate and he has to go and it's up to the syrian people but we'll do what we can. >> thanks for your insights. >> thank you. >> more now on the growing financial fears that sent stock markets into turmoil. much of the worries in europe are centered on spain and italy. the italian president said he'd speed up a package of austerity measures but there are concerns that european leaders aren't acting decisively enough. stephanie flanders has this assessment. >> you might wonder why the markets are panicking right now. after all, didn't the week begin with the good news that

america wasn't going to default on its debt? but investors are worried about economic growth as well as debt. >> whether it's in the corporate or the public sector now, everybody is trying to repay debt to atone for the sins to have past. and the consequence are lack of demands and lack of growth. >> in the euro zone, fear of slow growth has fueled tear -- fears. investors worry that if countries like italy and spain can't grow, they won't be able to tie together their growth. the problems of individual countries have turned into a problem for all of yupe. -- europe. so what can world leaders do? they might want to rethink their holiday plans, for a start. the leaders of france, germany, and italy are all away from their desk so cameron went to

his desk today. the central banks may affect. the european central bank is under pressure to support countries by buying more of their debt. if the u.s. recovery stumbles, you may see their central bank pumping more money into the economy. and what can governments in the eurozone do? we could see them offer more budget cuts, and that they happen in italy. but investors want all the countries acting together to creating a bigger bailout fund or maybe even guaranteeing troubled countries' debts. a step that germany refused to take over two weeks look. the italian prime minister said the g-7 leaders would meet and he would try to balance the budget a year early. you might wonder what all this means for us in britain. after all, we didn't sign up for the euro but we are fully

paid-up members of the commitch. >> we in britain are not in the firing line of these problems because of the difficult decisions we've taken over the last year to bring spending under control, bring down borrowing and control debt. britain is able to borrow at lower levels of interest because the markets have confidence in what we're doing. >> it's true but another reason our borrowing costs are low is that investors are worried about growth here as well. our economy depends on the country importing more. >> hiroshima is holding the 66th anniversary of the world's worst bombing attack. it holds a ceremony every year to remember those who lost their lives and to pray for world peace.

we have a report. >> hiroshima, a city obliterated. this, the terrible aftermath of the first use of an atomic bomb on a civilian target in august, 1945. 66 years later and japan is remembering the tens of thousands killed in the bombing. but this year the ceremony had a more contemporary dimension. peace activists are drawing a comparison between the atomic bombing of hiroshima and the explosion of the nuclear plant following the earthquake and tsunami in march. there is a growing sense in japan that nuclear energy is unsafe and that the country should reduce its depends on it. it comes after criticism of the nuclear plant crisis. all eyes are on him.

the government is also announced a series of steps to include nuclear safety, including set up -- setting up a new agency under the environment mini city. already 2/3 of the country's nuclear reactors are offline. by this time next year they all could be. but that would leave a series hole in the country's electricity provision. 80,000 people are still unable to return to their homes near the plant and there is evidence that radiation has been found in the food chain. today, as every year, they remember those who perished in hiroshima on august 6, 1945. but now it is fukushima which is pushing forward the nuclear debate in japan. >> tens of thousands were caught up in the powerful earthquake and massive tsunami in march in japan. many were left without homes

and schools. we returned to see how some of the youngest survivors with are coping. >> life for this little boy has changed so much. he and his family are responsible for distributing food handouts in their shelter. like many others, the family share one of these tents. >> the earthquake just got bigger and bigger. when the tsunami came i was really shocked. it was so dark and black. >> i try not to think about tsunami. i play my tv games to disrupt me. >> this is all that's left of the town. it was built around a busy harbor pull full of homes, businesses and life. this is a common sight in this part of japan. there's nothing left of this house except its foundation and over here a big pile of rubble. more than 70,000 children lost their homes just like this in

this disaster. they also lost their schools. these people are taught in rooms rented from another college. their building was badly damaged by the tsunami. japanese schoolchildren have to collect and serve their own lunch. today we met shoto. >> i lost my tv, games, and my books. many of my toys are gone. >> this is shoto's old school. the tsunami risk is now considered too high to send the children back here. it seems incredible that the clock is still working. you can still see the full force with which the tsunami ripped through the ground floor of this school and just how high the water came. most of the children were here at the time. they and their teachers were trapped upstairs overnight. >> it was smelly and freezing.

we tore down the curtains to cover the children as they slept but we could see a big fire coming towards us and we had to make sure that they didn't see that. >> back at the elementary school, they're practicing their official song. most of these children are lost their homes and their town was destroyed, but here they believe education is the key to recovery and so they keep on singing. jenny hill, "bbc news." >> now let's bring you an update on that breaking news that the ratings agency standard -- standard & poor's has for the first time downgraded the united states credit rating from its top aa rate aaa rating to one level to aa plus. they said the debt reduction

plan recently agreed to by the white house didn't go far enough. >> make 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 edo for you? >> "bbc world news" was