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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to "newsday". >> i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines. >> afghanistans tragic loss. the world orioles after the assassination of burhanuddin rabbani, former president and leader of peace talks with taliban. the imfa says economic woes in the u.s. and europe could cause a return to recession. >> in libya, the national transitional council says they are 10 days from forming a new government. as palestinians push shunned for united nations membership, the head of the general assembly tells the bbc they have the right to make their case. >> it is 9:00 a.m. in singapore. >> it is 2:00 a.m. and london, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world,

welcome to "newsday." >> a suicide bomber posing as a peace envoy had has killed the men leading afghanistan's effort to negotiate with taliban. burhanuddin rabbani, the former afghan president, died in his home in the capital of kabul during a meeting with two members of the taliban. >> heavy security tonight outside the house in kabul close to the american embassy. where the former president burhanuddin rabbani was killed by of taliban fighter with eight bomb concealed in his turban. he was a divisive leader and a surprise appointment to lead the council set up by president karzai to talk peace with them. the afghan president heard the news in new york just before he

met president obama. >> the mission yet undertaken was of vital to the afghan people and for the security and peace of our country. what we will miss him very, very much. >> burhanuddin rabbani may have died trying to bring peace, but he lived as a warrior. he was the founding father of mujahaddin.which i had be the country he led in 1992 wasdivided bycivil war as the muhaddin fought among themselves leading to the resurgence of taliban and their unique fundamentalist world to carry his death will send shock waves across the country worn out by war. >> whoever was responsible for carrying out this attack tonight

was sending a clear message that they believe there is more fighting to be done before there is peace in afghanistan. >> the international monetary fund warned that the global economy is entering and dangerous new phase. the u.s. and the euro-zone is in danger of falling back into recession. the imf says there is a danger that government cuts in america will further weaken at the economic outlook. here is stephanie flanders. >> the imf has taken a look at the global economy and founded a scary place. today's report talked of a dangerous new phase in what may be -- maybe a week and of the recovery, with many economies facing in the big growth. it is a big change from a few months ago, and nowhere has the outlook changed faster than in italy. italian newspapers were full of

the news that the government's credit rating has been caught for the first time in five years. the fund says italy is paying the price for the failure to resolve the crisis here in athens. where students stick to the streets again today to protest government cuts. >> it is different in greece and italy. and the lack of clarity is affecting the credibility when it comes to judgment on other countries. >> if the crisis in the euro- zone is one reason why the fund is sharply lowering its growth forecast. it expects the euro-zone to grow by 1.6% and the u.s. to grow by 1.5%, half as fast as last year. the forecast for the u.k. is for growth of 1.1%. the chancellor's budget assumes growth of 1.7%. the other big danger is in the u.s. the fund worries that the battle

between president and congress will derail the recovery here with public spending cut too sharply next year but not enough long-term to silence questions about america's debt. president obama sound like she was reading fund's script yesterday announcing his deficit plan. >> we need to invest in what promotes hiring in economic growth now while providing confidence that will come with the plan reduces our deficit long-term. >> the president's opponents know that talk of jobs strikes a chord. less than a year ago, joe fowler had a well-paid job and two cars. now all of that is gone. his wife and three sons are living in his mother's trailer, while he works a double shift of a local resident. >> try not to show my emotions too much. i do not want my husband to feel defeated and not being able to provide for his family, but for me, as a woman is hard to look

at my kids every day and know that we failed them in some th way. >> the imf has a difficult balance to strike. indeed to sound the alarm that they do not want to seriously damage confidence. one of the things that will give america and other countries all lot of decay is if ordinary people still so gloomy that date try to slash spending now. the greatest fear hanging over the global economy may well be. fear be. the imf's chief economist admits that george osborne is walking a fine line in deciding whether to slow the pace of cuts. >> at some to dub, things could be worse, and then one has to consider -- you face a loss of credibility when you establish the plan and you need to change it. at some point, you need to duet and the threshold is higher. i do not think we are there . >> the watchdog for the global

economy season dangers all around us, but it does not want anyone to press the panic button yet. >> that is the report from our economics editor. the european commission said progress was made in the latest talks with the the greece on the cuts required to secure the next phase of an international bailout. inspectors will go to athens next week to review progress. greece will run out of money within weeks unless it receives and $11 billion installment of the bailout long promised by european parliament and the international monetary fund. let's take a look at how the developments in the u.s. and europe are affecting markets. asian stocks are currently lackluster if, moving slightly higher at this hour. investors are bargain hunting, but many are on the sidelines as they take a wait and see attitude.

as for the currency markets, the against theis rallying dollar. and that is the latest on the market. oversee where there is an important announcement from libya's transitional government. >> a new government will be announced in 7-10 days. president obama and joined other world leaders and welcoming the head of the national transitional council to the u.n. in new york. president obama praised libyas achievement in liberating their country. on the ground, the fighting continues. people are fleeing colonel gaddafi's hometown, at as fighters loyal to the interim council planned to launch further attacks.

>> they're well drilled, the civilians, and certainly have the fire power. their shells are bombarding the desert gates, striking the pro- gaddafi position. up at the front lines, they have taken control of another bill whivillage. we pushed ahead to the edge of the fighting. >> stay down. get down. stay down. >> we have got along this road a little bit further and the national transitional councils have been fighting just over this help. a few rockets came in, so everyone is very nervous. it is a strong defense coming back from the pro-gaddafie

lines. meetings with the elders to establish the new order. big changes and high expectations after four decades of dictatorship. this was their new town, being built for them by the colonel gaddafi before the revolution. they made a sudden switch of loyalty for survival. many people including abdullah and his family came here to flee the fighting. and who do you support, the new people or colonel gaddafi? >> we need new people. >> why? but something was not quite right. she used the old salute. they were probably saying, rebels now. we met another abdullah explain the reality and his fears in the new era. >> our strife is related to colonel gaddafi.

>> is this why you get good houses? >> you can say that. those people that suffer from colonel gaddafi's treatment to forget everything and forget us. >> every day brings progress, but the on the wall reconciliation is keep. revenged fills the vacuum, the new freedom maybe short-lived. >> you are watching "newsday" on bbc. still to come and the program, libya's jewle. el. how this city has survived the recent conflict and three millennia. >> the united states is expected to announce whether it will sell its debt to taiwan. there is speculation that washington will not be sending its latest fighter planes to

taipei. a taipei course other reports on what this could mean for taiwan and its relationship with united states and china. >> it has been trying to upgrade its fighter jets for five years. some of the aircraft are 35 years old and have been involved in accidents. tie one argues that it needs new fighter jets to defend itself against an attack from china, even though relationships with beijing have improved recently. china continues to build up its military strike. china seized the island as one of its provinces and wants to be unified. despite china's growing military threat, analysts say, taiwan's arms supplier has become reluctant to sell big-ticket items to taiwan for fear of upsetting beijing. washington needs china's cooperation on many issues from trade to north korea to buying u.s. bonds. there are growing worries about

the balance of military power between taiwan and china. the u.s. is facing a tough balancing act. china doubles its relationship and its commitment to help taiwan defend itself. >> almost 60 people have died after torrential rains caused flooding and landslides in china. rains have swamped three provinces in the southwest center suspending local traffic and communication. the river has fallen to 7 meters. the flooding may be the worst since records started in 1847. if you're on-line, keep up-to- date with us on twitter. the address is on your screen. >> this is "newsday". >> i'm babita sharma in london.

the headlines. afghanistan's chief peace negotiator with taliban burhanuddin rabbani has been killed at a suicide bomb attack at his home in kabul. >> the international monetary fund says the u.s. economy -- the world economy is entering a dangerous phase and warns that the u.s. and europe risks falling back into recession. well in light of gloomy imf predictions about the future of u.s. and euro-zone countries, one option would be to turn to china. but how well in which china be to lend money to cash-strapped countries like spain, italy, and greece? i am joined on the line from montreal, by the chief global investment strategist in canada. thank you for joining us. how willing are the chinese to invest in the euro-zone economies battered by the debt crisis? >> i think they are probably going to provide some funds to

italy and spain. in retrunurn, they will definitely ask for some political favor. if you remember a couple of months ago, the chinese government provided some funds to spain. in return, the chinese government asked the spanish government to support their removal of arms sales ban in china. i am pretty sure that if china provides any kind of funds to italy and spain, and they will ask the same kind of condition. >> apart from lending to these debt-riddle economies, but china's want to invest. do you think that the americans and europeans will allow the chinese to invest their cash, which totals $3 trillion in foreign exchange currency reserves in their companies?

>> i think there's no restriction for the chinese government to invest in any kind of assets. i think probably the chinese government will probably choose this moment to make some investment, but the point here is this -- this is a crisis. europe faces a serious crisis. and the chinese government will seize this opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity. of course, i think they will provide some funds, but in return, they will have their political objectives in mind and they will ask for something in return. i think the biggest thing is that for removal of the arms that wassales ban to china emimposed 15 years ago. >> we would like to thank you

for joining us on bbc "newsday". barack obama will hold separate meetings on wednesday with benjamin netanyahu. >> he is also doing so with the palestinian leader abbas. the meeting will take place on the sidelines of the un general assembly. ahead withesting the membership to the united nations. our correspondent has been assessing the mood in the west bank. >> the west bank's second- biggest city is gearing up for the president's speech in new york on friday. he is expected to ask for palestine to be, also united nations member state. he is doing it despite enormous diplomatic pressure from the united states and europe. so these people here think it is the right step. >> is a good mood. we are looking forward to having our stay, because this will change a lot of things for us.

>> if he think it will change anything on the ground? >> i hope so. we only have hope as palestinians. >> to establish our state. so i guess it's going to be tough on us to do it. >> it is one of the west bank's commercial centers. the traders here in the old city say in recent years the economy has been picking up. they are enjoying a period of relative calm, but it has not always been like that. during the second palestinian intifada, it saw some of the most serious violence between israelis and palestinians. israel says the palestinian un move could provoke a return to fighting. in recent weeks, there has been increase tension between locals and jewish settlers living on occupied palestinian land nearby. we went to the palestinian

village just outside of the city. the villagers say that settlers marched towards of provoking clashes. the army moves in and firing tear gas. several palestinians were injured. this year, the eys oes of the world have been focused elsewhere in the middle east. the palestinian un move is a reminder about the region's most intractable problem will not wait. >> the u.s. has insisted it will veto any palestinian did put before the united nations are doing that this solution can only emerge from peace talks with israel. for an exclusive interview with the bbc, the president of the general assembly said the palestinians have the right to take their case to the un >> the international community witnessed all these peace talks, and nothing happened to now. i guess the palestinians have a

right, like any other nation, like other people, they want to live in their own country. they want to take care of themselves, and others taking care of them. we talk about human rights, about dignity, about democracy. i think we shouldn't have a double standard. >> president of the general assembly at united nations. during the fight and libya there was concern over the fate of the countries treasures. most have survived intact, including the ancient roman city on the mediterranean. the bbc went to visit it. >> welcome to the second city in the ancient world behind rome.

my name is halisa, a citizen. i am a tour guide and language teacher. you can see the gerareat fountain, public fountain, with a very big tower. this is the seat, and those stones are put there. when i was a boy, the place was wonderful. i'd dream of the kids looking after sheep, chasing birds. this is trafalgar square. it's called the agora. it's surrounded with shops and the pictures of medusa decorating the arches.

they used to come here very often, the the pharaoh or one of the students coming. lately, when he became a prison, er, it's another thing. we are not allowed to get near. now we are standing in front of the best monument, the arch. we come to the hot rooms. this is not only as entertainment, but also as remedial work. we are expecting a good future. it will be like athens or rome or something like. thousands of people come and go and see the heritage. >> it was a cold war conflicts that lasted two decades. the vietnam war left millions of

dead and ultimately ended in failure for the american's desire to crush communism. she is a dancer who sang to soldiers on the front line of the conflict. >> an unforgiving war. 20 years of brutal and bloody onslaught. these are the men who risked their lives in the fight against communism. and these are the women on the other side, whose stories were buried in the chaos and conflict. the women who sang to console their wounded fighters, bringing comfort with their voices. >> in these words, the subject is about the memory of the war. people told me that the nature

of human beings is like this. we live and we destroyo an and e fight. and they say that is the nature of human beings, which i really do not believe. >> but these performers are not professional dancers. they are the women themselves, from tiny villages in the north, farming communities steeped in tradition of song. >> we were very happen to support the soldiers with no regrets. we were young men. we cared about the soldiers. we have a lot of feelings for them. to describe this dance in the traditional sense. it is a great economy of movement. but with every flick of the hand, every sweep of an arm, and there is a great emotional

intensity. against the noise of war, this quiet this is very powerful. the enduring anguish of these women is plain to see. but so is their sense of duty. >> our people paid with tears, sweat and even blood so that we could have a life we lead today. i think about them with profound gratitude. >> when it was all over, when saigon fell in 1975, it is said that almost every family in vietnam had someone to mourn. that was nearly four decades ago, but for these women, the horrors of that war will not be forgotten. >> powerful message there through dance. stay with us. you're watching "newsday" on the

bbc. >> 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 we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.