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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello, and welcome. >> cutting the u.s. deficit, president obama says the rich must pay their share. international lenders issue an ultimatum to greece. >> palestinians prepare to take their bid for statehood, the united nations, israel calls for direct talks. deadly clashes in yemen's capital, dozens are killed. >> it is 9:00 in singapore. >> it is 2:00 in london. we're broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world.

>> president obama has outlined a plan for cutting america's budget deficit. corporations and the wealthiest citizens must pay higher taxes. he said he would veto any bill that would cut welfare benefits and did not raise taxes for the rich. his republican opponents have described the approach as class warfare. we have the details. >> the gap between america's spending and income will be a staggering $1.30 trillion by the end of this year. amid growing fears about the and sustainability of this budget deficit, president obama et al. lined his vision of curbing it. >> please have a seat. if you are not willing to ask those who have done extraordinarily well to help america close the deficit, the logic, the map says everybody

else has to do a whole lot more. we have to put the entire burden on the middle class and the port. that is unacceptable to me. that is unacceptable to the american people. it will not happen on my watch. >> the president called for $1.50 trillion in the new taxes. including a minimum tax for those earning more than $1 million. believe it or not, real estate banker is one of the group calling themselves patriotic millionairess, who actually want to pay more taxes. >> i have the use of more deductions and credits to the people who have less. i have the use of accountants and more sophisticated techniques. therefore, on average, millionaires pay a lot less taxes. we should be paying their fair share. >> president obama wants to be reelected in just over a year's time. right now, economic growth is weak and unemployment is high.

the president is hoping to reenergize the democrats and appeal to independent voters, too. the democrats hope to rally those voters. the 2012 campaign is well under way. >> class warfare will divide this country and will attack job creators, divide people, and it does not grow the economy. >> republicans say that the american people want spending cut. president obama intensity. he must wait and see if his tax policies are as popular as he thinks they are. >> the financial institution at standard and poor's had downgraded its lee's credit rating. the other major rating companies

give italy a higher rating. italy is the euro zone's third largest economy. the greek government says it upheld substantive talks. the finance minister took part in a two-hour conference call on monday. >> everyone increased knows painful austerity measures are on the way. protests against recent tax rises have already begun. the greek government has been in negotiations with the u.s. officials. many people are already hurting from previous rounds of cuts. the coffins of bike there was a draw for many -->> make sense of international -- the athens

bike fair was a draw. >> we are very careful of what we buy now. we go with the list to the supermarket. it is becoming a shorter and shorter list. >> when school started this often, this family found a shortage of books and a costume. just a week ago, the government announced a property tax. the aim to raise 2 billion euros. it wouldn't flat earners. >> for the scale that the government has given to austerity, it means just about more than 700 euros. >> how do people feel about that? that is quite a lot of money. >> yes, it is. property owners are getting out rage. >> the tax will be collected by electricity bills and the power

of union said it will sabotage it. even the police battling protesters for months have seen their salaries cut between two and 600 euros a month. >> due to the cuts, the nearly 50% of all great staples cannot be used. -- greek staples can not be used. >> the imf criticized greece for wasting time and falling behind on the target. >> thank you. >> yes, there have already been tax rises and pay cuts, but they have not done the job. the numbers and the public sector remain hybrid tax collection is a shambles and the economy is reeling. more cuts are on the way, but this time increasingly, the greeks are resisting. there were reports that they are

close to a deal to continue receiving the bailout funds. there is widespread speculation that houses the public sector workers would be sacked as part of the plan. >> this week, palestinians are expected to go to the united nations in new york to ask to be recognized as a state. that would enclose the west bank, gaza, all land that israel captured in 1967. netanyahu has offered to hold direct talks with the president of the palestinian authority. peace talks between the two sides broke down a year ago. from new york, here is our u.n. correspondent. >> to the middle east is dominating the agenda this year. the main issue is this palestinian bid for u.n. membership. they will submit that on friday. israel and the americans oppose this. that sets the scene for confrontation. there is a lot of activity to

try to discourage or neutralize the move to try to come up with a formula to get peace talks going again. the palestinian president is in a series of high-level meetings. he will be seeing the british foreign secretary on wednesday morning. netanyahu was also asking for a meeting. the palestinians, from what we are hearing, are saying they're determined to go ahead with their decision on friday. that is what they have told the secretary-general. most of this is going on behind the scenes. what is happening officially is the meeting on libya. it is built on decisions that were taken at the u.n. last week. they voted to give the national transitional council -- they also started to ease the sanctions that were proposed during the conflict and set of arrangements to help the libyans and the political transition. we're not expecting a major declaration from the meeting. it is going to be a show of

international support for the political process. >> we are joined in our studio bite a senior fellow at the school of international studies. thank you so much for joining us. but united states was -- will be dealt palestine -- veto palestine's bid for statehood. >> it will undermine a weakened u.s. position as a mediator in the israeli-palestinian conflict. it will call into question the relationship with some of its closest allies in the region. the saudis has said that this can be a game changer. >> what about for palestine? what does state could mean it? >> on the ground, it does not mean much more.

it does change the legal position. it allows them to give them a broader platform to push for their rights. it also allows them to pressure israel, for example, trying to take into the international criminal court. >> what will be their assault on the bed of the palestine for statehood? -- the bid of the palestinians for stated? >> if it comes to a vote and the security council, there is no doubt that the united states will veto it. a majority of members of the united nations to favor a palestinian statehood and recognition of that state could. >> do you think they will eventually have their status? >> they will have their stated, but this fight is about whether they get a state. everybody agrees that a two- state solution is the solution.

it is about the terms with which it will be negotiated. >> stated is symbolic for the palestinians and the middle east. when the think that will happen? >> i will not put a time frame on it. one thing is clear. the reality on the ground for the middle east have changed as autocratic leaders are being overthrown. that will have an impact on a problem that can no longer be allowed to fester. >> james dorsey, a senior fellow at the school of international studies. thank you for your perspective. a second day of violence and yemen. >> another difficult day. casualty's have been mounting and the capital between pro- democracy opponents and forces loyal. activists say 50 people have been killed in the past two days. >> they came to protest, to call once again for the president to step down.

after more than 30 years in power. this was the response. security forces opened fire. people were running for their lives. for many, there was no place to go. ambulances rushed the casualties to hospital. these were some of the worst days of violence is the anti- government demonstrations began a months ago. a major escalation and the crisis. as the ambulances arrived at hospital, crowds rush out to meet them. -- are carried inside. hospitals appear to be overwhelmed by the number of casualties. staff are struggling to cope. >> the main problem is that we do not have enough hospitals. the hospitals that we have are filled with patients. the second problem is a lack of

medical supplies. >> it is not just sahba. this was the south. the president is still in saudi arabia were he is recovering from attack. he is facing multiple challenges from demonstrators, local tribes, and militants. the international community is trying to organize a peaceful transition. united nations envoy is -- so far, there has been no progress. there is still the sign of how this crisis ends. >> you are watching "newsday" on the bbc. pakistan caused floods leave millions without food and water.

>> in the u.k., six men and one of women have been arrested as part of a major tourism operation. they were detained in a series of raids and the city. the woman is being questioned over suspicion of withholding information. >> the operation to disrupt the suspected al qaeda inspired terrorist plot involved counterterrorism police and mi5. they said the threat was not imminent, but was real. they acted in the interest of public safety. officers were not armed women made the arrests, an indication that they did not expect to find explosives. >> this was a plant operation that has been running for a lot of time.

>> today, forensic teams take great care to protect any potential evidence. forensics teams -- they are conducting a thorough search. they have been here all day. he grew up with two of the men arrested. he did not want to show his face. the aim of this operation was to follow a potential plot at the planning stage. >> al qaeda may not be the group it once was, but the threat remains active, alive. it has diversified. we are facing a number of different challenges from new groups that are emerging. >> under the prevention of terrorism act, police have 14 days to question the suspects.

>> you can see more by visiting the web site. >> president obama has outlined plans for cutting america's huge debt -- deficit, saying america is a rich must pay their share. >> greece has held crisis talks with international lenders. it has been told to slash spending. >> the u.k. business secretary has told his conference that britain's face dangerous times. he described it as the economic equivalent of being at war. he insisted there was still no austerity for the coalition.

our political editor reports. >> a bleak warning was issued in birmingham today. a warning to the country that danger lies ahead. the enemy is not one we can see, not one they can protect us against. it is the threats that the economy will not recover. >> there are difficult times ahead, britain posset post-war pattern has been broken. -- britain's post war pattern has been broken. >> they will be sticking to their plans to cut spending. if there was an alternative, if there was an easy alternative, a big red button, or a simple remedy, you would have thought that the labor party would have come up with the alternative.

look at the small print on labor's own debit reduction plan. palin for put, they would cut almost exactly the same amount from public spending. >> minister's language is changing, though. they began to talk about the new stimulus to get the economy moving. to get more companies to follow a jaguar landover, who announced they would be creating 750 jobs building a new engine plant. if they agree, what about the sounds of disharmony? some people say coalition is a political marriage. how would your wife feel if you said divorce was inevitable? she would not be pleased.

>> do i except the liberal democrats sent stuff about the conservatives? that is what happens from politics. >> the real message is that it is not the verbal political fuss that count. it is the war. with frightening economic forces. >> pakistan's military says it has deployed troops to about flood victims. security forces have also distributed a and 85 pounds of food -- 885 pounds of food. monsoon rains have submersed many villages, drowned hundreds of people caught and left millions without shelter, food, or clean water. for women and children, they are the worst affected.

we have interviewed two women who have been operated twice by the floods in the last two years. >> this blood is very bad for us, worse than the previous one -- this flood is very bad for us, worse than the previous one. this time, all of our houses were surrounded by water. we do not have drinking water. what else can we do? we are farm laborers, but how can we get word when there is water in the fields? >> there are no toilets, sometimes we use the sugar cane crops. sometimes they go in the canal. there are five or six pregnant women here. i helped with one delivery in this tent. what could we do? it was night and we could not go

anywhere. after the delivery, he brought her home, carrying her on his shoulders. >> the flooding shook our village at 1:00 in the morning. we took our kitchen utensils, which did anything we could, we left three sheep behind and they all died. the water was very high. we climbed onto the embankment. there was no transport, so we picked up our children and ran. when we came back, there was water everywhere. we would sleep by the roads. our houses were destroyed. we would leave the children outside and died down into the water to get mod to rebuild our houses. we were displaced during the floods last year. we took nothing for our children with us.

nobody helped us, even then. during the reign, we would find some shelter and stay there. >> they are talking to bcc about the floods. there has been calling japan for the building of certain skyscrapers. >> the appeal comes from one of japan's richest men. the billionaire property developer, since the devastating earthquake and tsunami, sales of high-rise apartments have plummeted. some renters had even moved to lower apartments. >> on a clear day, he can see mount fuji from her window. it is the kind of you people in tokyo prize. living for two floors up was not so good when the earthquake hit in march. -- living 40 floors up, it was

not so good when the earthquake hit. >> i am worried this building will collapse. i want to move closer to the ground. >> during the earthquake, offices and homes were shaken violently. people rushed out into the street level, where they tried to comfort each other. looking at tokyo now, it is as if nothing happens. not a single tower fell here, or the north. people who were inside, they cannot forget the fear they felt. some of japan's biggest buildings were developed by this man, making him a billionaire. he says the era of ever taller skyscrapers is over. >> electricity, water, gas, people have to buy food. even if you are safe, the

infrastructure -- before, high floors were very popular, but now it has changed. >> others say more technology. this test facility is running a simulation. the engineers are confident special foundations embracing men's their buildings could withstand anything. the challenge dell is to make them feel like they were. -- the challenge now is to make them feel like they are. >> there were no problems with building's safety. the swaying made people very afraid. the earthquake in march reminds us of what our goals should be. we must reduce the swaying. >> the great earthquake of 2011

left tokyo's skyline unscathed. but that may change in the years to come. the japanese have been reminded of the vulnerability of their capital. a great deal has much less appeal. >> you have been watching " newsday." >> president obama has insisted that the wealthy americans must pay more in taxes to help tackle the huge u.s. budget deficit. he would veto any bill that would cut welfare benefits that does not raise taxes for the rich. plenty more on that to come. stay in touch with both of us, we are both on twitter.

>> 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 offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries.

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