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>> and now "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome. i'm in singapore. >> and these are the headlines. they order the you'reian diplomats to leave after the attack of on the embassy in tehran. central banks unveil plans to tackle europe's credit crisis. >> quite hopeful the words of hillary clinton as she prepares for a historic meeting with burma's isolated leaders. making headway in hollywood, why india's screen stars are switching from east to west. it's 10:00 in the morning here in spinning pore -- in singapore. >> it's 2:00 a.m. in london broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. >> hello, welcome once again. britain has ordered the

immediate closer of the iranian embassy in london and given iran's staff 48 hours to leave the country. the decision follows tuesday's attack on the british embassy in tehran, hundreds of protesters rampaged two compounds and trashed embassy offices. some countries have recalled their ambassadors for consultations. our world affairs editor john simpson reports. >> syria said yesterday's attack, there has been worse over the years but cutting off all diplomatic relations is extraordinary rare in peacetime. perhaps it was to teach a lesson to a country that doesn't play by the rules. a country which seems close to having a nuclear bomb. >> the iranians are being informed now we require the immediate closer of the iranian embassy in london and all iranian diplomatic staff must leave the united kingdom within 48 hours. if any country makes it

impossible for us to operate on their soil, they cannot expect to have a functioning embassy here. >> so by the weekend, iran's embassy here in london, just like britain's embassy in tehran will effectively be closed down. almost at the very last moment, iran's foreign ministry put out a statement seeming to apologize for yesterday's attack, but it was too late and the apology wasn't strong enough. in six years, then, britain has gone from offering friendship to iran, that was angrily rejected, to shutting down all direct links altogether. and the basic reason is the political in fighting in tehran itself. [speaking in foreign language] >> today the speaker of iran's parliament, larijani, who seems to harbor political ambitions, said the british action was hathesy and criticized british interference in iran over the

years. it may be hard for us to understand nowadays but many people in iran still believe britain is immensely powerful. perhaps it's not surprising, a century ago much of southern iran was directly under british control and britain blocked iran's first democratic constitution. by 1991, shar parlavie was overthrown and his son installed instead. in 1953 the british and americans staged a coup against the nationalist prime minister, mohammed mosaday. when the revolution of 1979 came, the shah himself believed the british were behind it. to us this may seem like ancient history but yesterday's attack showed how it can still stir people up in iran itself when one faction is making trouble for another, britain seems a natural target, john

simpson, bbc news. >> syria says it's released more than 900 people detained during the uprising which began in march. the announcement came as pressure continues to build on damascus with turkey now joining the arab league in announcing the immediate imposition at the economic and financial sanctions. five somali men have been jailed between four and eight years for taking a french couple hostage aboard their yacht and is the first case of somali piracy to be held in court. the yacht was attacked in 2008. the french forces stormed the vessel two weeks after it was captured. one of the u.k.'s leading universities, the london school of economics has been heavily criticized in a report for accepting large donations with donations. the university said it will implement all the report's recommendations and it had already brought in many of the advised changes. let's head to singapore.

the central banks have taken new steps to support the global financial system. >> that's right, and the action it assigned basically to prevent a credit crunch that might threaten the survival of the euro zone. they approved of the move after signs the european banks stopped lending to each other. for more we go to michelle. >> the reaction was swift, within minutes of the announcement, share prices rose in markets across the world, including the u.s. >> with this news out of europe that the liquidity crisis might offensive board verted at least for the time being, the financials have led the way today. >> what impressed the market was action taken here inside america's central bank. the federal reserve said it was cutting the cost of supplying dollars to five central banks around the world, including the e.c.b., the bank of england and the swiss national bank. so why act now? euro zone bank has been finding

it increasingly difficult to borrow dollars. this should make it easier. >> we come to a situation where the banks do need to get some dollar funding, bingo, it's going to be there and we won't have the types of problems that we had previously in the crisis of recent years. >> while this helps in the short term, some fear is won't do much in the long term unless there's further action. >> the hope is that the central banks are moving because they feel confident that the other agencies which have been basically asleep at the wheel, the other agencies are going to move. >> regardless, investors seemed impressed. only yesterday the rate invasion and poor's downgraded a bunch of banks, one day later the markets welcomed a dramatic and coordinated move by central banks around the world, designed to relieve pressure on the financial sector and avert a second credit crisis.

bbc news from the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> hillary clinton with a cautious hold for reform in burma as she begin as landmark visit to the diplomatically isolated country. she will meet top officials before heading to rangoon before meeting the leader. mrs. clinton said she was quite hopeful about this visit to burma and will be meeting with government leaders and aung san suuky. >> she said she'll do lots of listening but there are things she'll want to say. we expect she'll be in a meeting with her counterpart, the burmese foreign minister and then she goes in two hours of meetings with president thein sein and is arguably the most important meeting of the whole trip. she wants to get a sense of

where the changes that appear to be underway in burma may be leading. is this a genuine reform process? she wants to get a sense directly from the man who appears to be spearheading these reforms to what his vision is. two hour is a pretty long meeting for these kind of trips. she obviously feels that that is where she really needs to make an impression. she goes on from there to have a private dinner with aung san and more meetings with the party tomorrow. there will be a mixture in hillary clinton's message, it will be we like what we've seen so far, there have been some positive steps but there are still genuine and real areas of concern they want to see more movement on. >> rachel, you are currently where there are burmese exiles. what has been their reaction to this visit of mrs. clinton to burma? >> in some ways it's quite

mixed. there are some people who have been in exile here for more than two decades. some among them, particularly those from ethnic minorities who fled conflict are very, very wary there can't ever be any genuine peace in burma. they've had so many disappointments before, they find it hard to believe there could be a more positive future. others, particularly the more politically minded are very cautious but are beginning to see now some signs of hope. though the people i've spoken to here said look, we're not about to go home immediately. there needs to be greater security and greater assurances and particularly movement on the issues of political prisoners still detained and on trying to resolve some of the outstanding ethnic issues. it's very cautious people are watching very carefully this side of the border, too, what comes out of this trip by hillary clinton. >> rachel harvey in thailand. thank you so much for the update. and you're watching "newsday"

on the bbc live from singapore and london. still to come on the program, endangering the process. why afghan women are worried about the withdrawal of western forces. >> why too much love is a bad thing. oscar wild's new kiss-prove tomb has been unveiled in paris. >> supporters of the former president of the ivory coast say they're outraged he's been flown out of his country to face charges at the international criminal court. lauren gbagbo was overthrown after refusing to accept defeat in last year's presidential election. >> the transfer to the hague came with little warning. lauren gbagbo was thrown into the netherlands overnight. he'd spent seven months under house arrest in ivory coast. he's not the first former head of state to be brought to the hague but he's the first to come before the international criminal court. his initial appearance should be within a matter of days.

>> this is a meeting with a purpose of informing the suspect of his rights before the i.c.c. and also informing him of the charges brought against him. >> lauren gbagbo was arrested in april after refusing to give up power even when his rival had been recognized as the winner of last year's elections. it's thought that around 3,000 people were killed in the post election violence. mr. gbagbo's supporters argue that he's been unfairly targeted. >> throughout, this is a kidnapping. it shows the brutality of this regime, the violence of justice which since april 11 has at no stage respected the rights of the defendant. >> the i.c.c.'s chief prosecutor, lewis moreno campo say the investigation continues and there could be further cases irrespective of political

affiliation. gbagbo was at the center of politics if a decade. his transfer to the hague is welcomed by some but it could reopen old wounds in a country still traumatized by conflict. peter biles, bbc news. ♪ >> this is news from the bbc. >> i'm in london and these are the headlines. britain has ordered you'reian diplomats to leave the country following the attack on the british embassy in tehran. >> stock markets have surged after the world's central banks unveiled plans to tackle europe's credit crisis. >> let's return to our main story the diplomatic tensions between britain and iran. joining me from our washington studio is judith kipper who is the director of the middle east program at the institute of world affairs. judith kipper, how serious is

this for iran's relations not only with britain but other western nations as well? >> i think it's very serious. for iran as well as for the west having a british ambassador, british embassy in tehran was an extremely, extremely important channel of communication, and while for the united states the swiss represent american interest, i think the diplomatic business at hand, trying to deal with iranians on the nuclear question really goes through the british embassy, and it will be a tremendous blow for trying to reach out to iran, and of course for iran, it's going to isolate them even further because the behavior they demonstrated was simply, utterly unacceptable. >> yes, you talk about the nuclear issue, of course. just last week the iaea

published its report about what it believes iran is doing with its nuclear technology. in terms of that development and this one, do you think this is just a buildup in terms of a long-term game that is going to end with sanctions or even a military strike against iran? >> i doubt there will be a military strike because i think it can't accomplish the goal of what really destroying iran's nuclear program. but sanctions will get tougher and tougher. the iranian economy is already in a state of catastrophe. people are struggling, even middle class and upper middle class people have to have two or three different jobs. and there is obviously, and i think what happened at the british embassy was the result of the internal power struggle between the supreme leader and the guard and the others who report directly to him. and the various forces and

supporters the leader has. the country is now being run by thugs. including the economy. it's a very militaristic approach by less educated people that are willing to do really brutal things to accomplish their goals. the government itself has lost its legitimacy in the election a couple of years ago. but it is hanging on. i expect several disruptions but this one is very costly. >> you think the west is overreacted to iran? there are some analysts who say iran is full of verbal talk but in the end it's not as radical as it suggests it is. >> well, i think that the external rhetoric, particularly from the united states and the u.k. more than others is probably not helpful because iran is going through this

power struggle at home and we need to let it play itself out based on its domestic components and not based on rhetorical approaches to the west. what's going on inside iran is very, very important and could have a positive outcome after some time goes by. it's not going to happen today or tomorrow but over the next few years it may actually produce a positive outcome for the iranians and the international community. >> judith kipper in washington. thanks very much indeed for your time. we have some breaking news coming in, specifically on the reuters news agency. it's from the capsule of the northwest frontier in pakistan. reuters reports a huge explosion has been heard in the city. there's no immediate indications of casualties or damage but the city is very much often a target of taliban insurgents. we'll bring you more when we get that. here in the u.k., public sector

staff walked out on wednesday to protest changes to their pension. they are returning to work. the leaders of the many teaching audience will meet with government officials thursday to discuss the points of the proposal and the union will hold similar talks on friday. >> meanwhile, women rights activists in afghanistan say the international community is preparing to abandon them in the rush to withdraw troops from the country. improving women's rights was one of the major objectives cited when u.s. forces toppled the taliban 10 years ago. from kabul, we have a report. >> fashioning a new future for themselves and their country. every stitch, testament to a fragile freedom. under the taliban, afghan women were trapped at home, uneducated and unemployed. move forward 10 years, they make up half the work force,

and here at a kabul design company they toil alongside men. this woman says she's proud to be the breadwinner for her two younger brothers. but the company's founder worries about the outlook, if there's reconciliation with the insurgents. >> many of the taliban have come forward to say i'm a moderate and i believe differently. we're fooling ourselves if we believe that taliban has changed their mandate has changed, their view has changed and their philosophy has changed, you know. because they haven't claimed they've changed and they're going to be different. >> there are big plans for this business. the hope is to begin exporting to the united states and europe, eventually to create a few hundred jobs here. all of that might be possible in the future if the future isn't shaped by the taliban. in areas under their control, women are still voiceless and

defenseless. this is a woman 25 years old, her final moments are captured in this footage which emerged in january. for the crime of adultery, the taliban stoned her and then shot her dead. this woman is another of their targets. she's a prominent member of parliament who survived a taliban ambush on her car last year. this outspoken activist refuses to be silenced, but she fears that afghan women could soon be abandoned by the international community which promised them so much. >> seems to have turned their face to the woman issues and say we just want to say goodbye and leave afghanistan which could put more at risk because we've been outspoken about what we want. >> her eldest daughter is studying hard. she wants to be an aerospace

engineer. but she and her younger sister are afraid for themselves and their mother. they want a future outside afghanistan. bbc news, kabul. >> tom cruise is in india to promote his latest film "mission impossible: ghost protocol." also appearing is a bollywood actor and his appearance is in a high profile film is seen as significant. for many actors making the move from bollywood to hollywood has been fraught with difficulty as tom brooks reports. >> he shot through international fame after playing quiz master in a movie three years ago. he is a top indian star whose bollywood career goes back more than 30 years. he got cast in the final season of the top rated popular american tv counterterrorism drama "24" and then in the new

installment of "mission impossible" albeit in a small role but this mum buy based actor making headway in hollywood has meant spending time in los angeles humbly sitting in waiting rooms for auditions but it hasn't bothered him. >> i love sitting there, the way i sat two years back when i started my career over there, wait for the call, or wait for any filmmaker or director to cast me in the film. i'm just enjoying this whole bit. >> some big named stars like ash is wari have made way in the west but a flourishing hollywood career didn't follow. one of bollywood's top star, rambi kapur claims there's some opposition to indian actors in hollywood. >> i don't know, i guess we're brown skinned, the way we speak is probably not very friendly in a hollywood audience. >> another possible reason why indian actors haven't made inroads in the west is because

they won't, unlike this actor play the hollywood game. karina kapur would feel uncomfortable going before hollywood agents to audition for a role. >> feel a little below us if they asked for a screen test because our mindset is totally different. and i think there is a little bit of difference here, so i don't know if we're ready for that kind of stuff. i think. >> resistance to casting bollywood actors in hollywood movies may halter things but it may bring in revenues in the indian market. >> i'd like to tell them that we can act to the business of the film, the international business, they're getting aware of that. speaking of a veteran well over 100 bollywood films, this actor

remains optimistic but is getting to the point where he says it will be a smart business proposition to cast a big indian star in a hollywood film. tom brook, bbc news, mumbai. >> looking forward to the movie. and also, a kiss may ruin a human life. >> what they couldn't have anticipated is that hundreds of lipstick kisses left by adoring fans would one day threaten to ruin the tombstone. his grave in a famous cemetery has proven so popular a protective glass barrier has been put around it. we this report. >> no object is so beautiful that under certain conditions it will not look ugly. so said oscar wild. it might also be said by those who tended the writer's grave, for the past few years this flying angel statue was stained by the graffiti and lipstick by

the legions of adoring fans and such was the risk of damage to jacob epstein's creation, they've been forced to protect the tomb with a glass screen. today on the anniversary of the writer's death, 200 people turned up to mark the official unveiling, including the writer's grandson. >> if they kissed it simply without lipstick we wouldn't have had to do this and it's sad. but the public regrettably is a little bit to blame for what we've had to do. >> when oscar wild died they could only afford a burial platt in a pauper's cemetery. over the years enough money was raised through the sale of his works to pay for a plot here. this actor who has been searching his last few years for a british screenplay, they would be shocked how badly the actor was treated after his disgrace. >> tons and tons of witnesses and writings about people who bumped into him in paris and

people who, you know, people could spit at him or turn to leave a restaurant and he was constantly humiliated by english people abroad. >> there are of course plenty of famous tombs here including that of jim morrison which attracts the same kind of attention and graffiti. there is in fact a 9,000 euro penalty for anyone caught defacing the tombs but since most of those who do it are tourists they've already left the country by the time the courts caught up with him. epstein's statue is new though there's not one part that's been repaired, a prominent anatomy of the angel. that's still missing. some claim it was last seen sitting on the desk of the former cemetery caretaker who by all accounts used it as a paperweight. christian frazier, bbc news, paris. >> thanks for watching. >> bye, bye for now.

>> 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.