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>> hello and welcome to news day on the bbc. >> the headlines from london. in egypt millions of voters are prepared to go to the polls to elect a new president. a threat to global economy. pressure mounts on e.u. leaders to tackle the euro zone crisis. >> in spain and beirut, a group of lebanese men are kidnapped in syria. offering to sell olympic tickets illegally. there is a ticket scandal. it's 9:00 in the morning in singapore. >> 2:00 in the morning in london, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. welcome to "news day." >> 15 months after the uprising

which overthrew president hosni mubarak, egyptians begin voting to elect a new leader, the first time they've done so freely including candidates as islamists and former members of the mubarak regime. the election is too close to call but two candidates likely to make it in the runoff next month. we have a report. >> this is the square that made history in egypt and around the world. the topic is back. the protesters and police are gone. egypt is a new country. historic presidential elections will take place here. >> after the elections, anything wrong, we will make it stand. >> so they'll come back to a

place of protest if there's not a good president? >> yes. >> everywhere you go in cairo you see the election posters and huge billboards. we've come to this working class neighborhood in the center of cairo to try to find out. this man backs the candidate who calls himself a liberal islamist. abdul will get me a shop. >> the former prime minister? >> yes. ahmed shafiq. why are you voting for him? >> he has a good education and many things. >> you're not sure who to vote for? >> not sure. >> why? >> i do not hear well. i do not see well. i do not discuss yet.

>> what do you want from your president. what is most important? >> i need one who has vision. >> these are also the numbers that matter now in egypt. this is the stock exchange in cairo, the measure of a country's economic activity. for many egyptians, that's what matters in this election. since the events of last year, the economy has taken a nosedive. unemployment is up. tourism the main exchange earner, is down. this trader tells me political events are what influences the market now. if the election runs smoothly it will have a big impact on the economy. indeed, the first truly open poll will determine what happens next in the new egypt. bbc news, cairo. >> an egyptian court has given 10-year jail sentences to five policemen for their role in killing protesters in the

uprising which toppled the former president last year. they're the first to be convicted over the violence. the international monetary fund has delivered a mixed verdict on the state of the british economy. the i.m.f. endorsed the deficit reduction policies which the coalition has put in place but said fresh measures may be needed as growth fails to materialize. the managing director gave this verdict from the country's economic outlet. >> unfortunately, the economy in the u.k. has not yet taken hold and uncertainties bound. the stresses in the euro affects the u.k. through many channels. growth is too slow and unemployment, including youth unemployment, too high. policies to both the demands before low growth becomes entrenched, are need. i'm encouraged that prime minister cameron emphasized the need to use the credibility of the government's balance sheet

to help the economy grow. >> they measure the economic growth and will dominate the meeting. the debt crisis in greece will be high on the agenda. the process of solving it has been highlighted for the development of economic corporation and development. the european crisis is the single biggest threat to the global economy. we have a report on how the situation in greece is affecting countries outside the euro. >> thousands of years of history and prestige but where does greece go from here? looking to the future is as uncertain as ever. waiting for something to turn up but as to what that "something" is no one is daring to guess. many in the u.k. and europe will be asking how did greece get into this mess and why are concerns about the greek economy which is relatively small causing such shock waves across the world financial markets?

greek government debt soared though it had to be bailed out. it would have to pay a tripling 30% interest rate if the bailout stops now and will have to go back to the market. by comparison, the u.k. costs, like some of the leading economies, are below 2%. and the economy has been shrinking in a lengthy recession. by the end of 2012, output will have fallen more than 17% over five years. so why is the economy stuck in reverse? i asked the head of the leading greek business organization. >> people prefer to keep whatever euros they have in the state or in the wallet and not spend it. and of course, you know, business, investment is about taking a calculated risk for the future. it is not possible to calculate any risk at this time, so investment is important. >> tax rises and spending cuts are not helping growth and

without it and with higher tax revenues, greece struggles to reduce its borrowing. >> greece's debt problem has become euro's debt problem because financial markets are so closely interlinked. european banks are dealing with bad debt caused by the economic downturn and the fear in greece could damage confidence across the system. >> there are warnings of serious consequences for europe's banks including the u.k.'s if there's a complete default. >> if grease really is not in the situation to -- if greece really is not in the situation to deal with the bailout package and instead has to officially go bankrupt, then the contingent is going to be very significant. i don't see a way that this can be avoided. >> speculation about greece's ability to repay debt and membership of a single currency will intensify as elections approach. one tourist vendor is selling coins of the old currency, the

drachma and right now is a souvenir but could it become part of a new economy? bbc news, athens. >> in the syrian city a dozen lebanese men, at least a dozen, have been kidnapped. >> that's right. the hostages are shi'ia muslims who had been returning from a pilgrimage in iran. the captors are reported to be fighters from the rebels syrian free army. after the abduction, they began blocking major roads in protest. we have more. >> there are no shortage of fires to burn. the roads of southern beirut were in flames. as relatives of the kidnapped men showed their anger. the men, all shi'ia pilgrims were kidnapped in syria, apparently by members of the free syrian army made up of defectors from president bash

iral-assad's army. >> this man said his brother was one of the men taken by the rebel army and said the kidnappers told the women to leave and said the men were kept as hostages. for bargain for the release of their own fighters held by their regular forces. the conflict in syria is exposing sectarian tensions in lebanon. this time the leader of the shi'ia militant group intervened. >> in this situation responsibility lies with the state and we tell everyone to be restrained. we can express our stance in civil and peaceful ways and will workday and night so we can have those loved ones among us. >> his request seems to have worked for now and beirut is calmer. at nightfall, some of the freed women pilgrims returned. this woman confirmed that there have been some shelling close to where the men were taken and it was reported that syrian

security forces mounted a major operation there. certainly the focus is on the tension across the border between pro and anti-assad in lebanon. clashes between the two sides in recent weeks have left 12 people dead. they had in part been sparked by the detention in northern lebanon of this man, a sunni leader, shadi malawi, a critic of the syrian regime and on tuesday was released to a hero's welcome but already people are asking whether his release and the intervention by neswela will be enough to prevent further spillover from the syrian uprising. bbc news. >> ukraine's olympic committee suspended its him general assembly. undercover bbc reporter.

the general secretary of the ukraine national olympic committee told the undercover reporter posing as a ticket scout had up to 100 tickets to sell and such a sale could be illegal and carry a fine up to 20,000 pounds. he later insisted he had no intention of actually selling the tickets. adrian warner reports. >> very few tickets are left now for the top event at this olympic park this summer so this is often the moment when scouts step into the market. where do they get their tickets from? in past games it's been suspected the tickets allocated to the national committees around the world have been sold on the black market and against the olympic rules and in britain against the law. it's a bbc investigation that indicates it's likely to happen again. this is the general secretary of the ukrainian olympic team. an undercover bbc reporter posing as a tout arranged a meeting with him in london to

discuss buying tickets. >> very nice to meet you. >> he explained he was in the process of distributing tickets to ukrainian fans, coaches and officials but indicated he should have some left over to sell. [inaudible] >> the general secretary was willing to discuss how any tickets would be paid for. >> how would you prefer to receive, you know, if we arrange payment? [inaudible] >> i believe it should be cash. >> 13 years ago the international olympic committee was hit by a major corruption scandal and it vowed to clean up its ranges and this is particularly embarrassing because it involves one of the big success stories of the 2012 olympics. unprecedented ticket sales. >> do you think it's maybe pie in the sky you really are going to stop ticket touting. >> absolutely not. and if i thought that we would not have increased the maximum fine from 5,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds. >> we contacted the general secretary and asked him about

our conversations with our reporter. he said we never planned to sell tickets in the u.k. territory and our talk was only diplomatic talk to satisfy the persistent interest of the ticket dealer. london 2012 and the i.o.c. say they'll investigate the allegations but with one million tickets allocated to olympic committees worldwide, any suggestion of them getting into the wrong hands could be damaging to the games. him bbc news. >> you're watching "news day" on the bbc, live in singapore and london. coming later on the program we follow the trail of human traffickers smuggling women from mexico to the u.s. to be sold for sex. >> and we look into the dangers of fake anti-malaria blamed for the spread of drug listant forms of the disease. >> let's take a look at what's making headlines around the world. egypt's momentous day is how

the youth describe egypt's first democratic elections to open in hours. after the i.m.f. warped the british government, it was warned, a massive infrastructure plans will be used to stimulate growth. the pro growth mood is stronger in neighboring france as the president sets for a standoff with germany's chancellor merkel after a e.u. meeting in brussels but insist it's mostly posturing ahead of the elections. with relatively small economies like greece and spain causing such trouble there are thoughts for japan and the international herald tribune say the agency has done great with its credit rating thanks to a gigantic national debt and the moscow times reports the russian prime minister dmitry medvedevive is a card carrying member of united russia and is vladimir putin, the ally president. >> this is "news day" in the

bbc. >> i'm in london. good to have you with us. a reminder of the headlines this hour. millions of egyptians are preparing to cast their votes in the country's first ever free presidential elections. >> european leaders are preparing to gather in brussels for a summit set to be dominated by the debt crisis. >> making and selling fake anti-malaria drugs should be treated as crimes against humanity. are the authors of a new study into the problem. the researchers from the u.s. research national institutes of health found over a 1/3 of the anti-malaria drugs available in southeast asia and sub-saharan africa are either fake or such bad quality they can make the problem worse. the study links the spread of fake drugs to the spread of drug resistant forms of malaria which have begun to spread in areas such as cambodia and thailand. the bbc joins me from the

cambodian capital. how big of a problem is the distribution and scale of these fake anti-malaria drugs in cambodia? >> the stakes could hardly be higher. what we're talking about here is a drug that has been one of the most effective weapons against malaria the past few years and the issue is it you get drug which is don't have the right dosage in them or you have the right drugs but don't take them enough, then you risk not only becoming sicker but also the malaria parasites become resistant to the drug and it can spread outside cambodia and thailand and go worldwide. if it did it would have an impact worldwide on the treatment of malaria, one of the most effective drugs wiped out at a stroke and people in malaria countries all over the world could face serious problems. >> the most vulnerable with the sale and distribution of these fake anti-malaria drugs in the

country? >> well, again, it's poor people who don't have access to high quality health services and in cambodia it's probably migrant agricultural workers going from place to place and may not know the risks of malaria in those particular areas and may not take steps to protect themselves in getting bitten by mosquitos in the first place and don't know what to do next. the very poor, most vulnerable groups are the most vulnerable to getting the wrong sort of medication. >> so you've accompanied the world organization under programs to combat this problem. what are they doing about it? >> well, there's a couple of efforts. one is at the very local level. they set up this network of what they call village malaria workers in the villages of cambodia and could be people running a small shop and they train in very basic way how to identify malaria and give people the correct medicines and the correct dosages so they

don't have to go searching for drugs themselves and run the risk of having the one kind and then there's enforcement as well, officials from the health department here who go around the pharmacies in the towns and villages, making sure that what they're selling is correct and that they know how to prescribe the correct dosage. >> thank you from the cambodian capital. thank you for the update. in other news, at least 10 people have died after gunmen opened fire on a political rally in pakistan's volatile southern poor city of karachi, 35 others are wounds a as the pro session up of ethnic parties is under attack. they killed hundreds of people in karachi since january of 2012. we have a report. >> it begun as a peaceful march. a burst of indiscriminate gunfire then came towards the

crowd as it reached karachi's main commercial district, causing protesters to three. -- to flee. organized by ethnic parties, the rally was intended to support for the unity of send and denounce calls for a new province to be created for the urban majority. officials say among the dead were a woman and a girl. while a television reporter and a cameraman were among dozens wounded. as soon as we crossed the street, we were fired on. i cannot tell you how many of our young men got injured. you can see by my bloody clothes i've picked up many bodies myself. in the aftermath of the attack the participants then turned into rioters. shops and vehicles were set on fire and security forces were attacked. the people behind the shooting remain unidentified. hundreds of lives have been claimed as the government remains largely asilent spectator.

karachi's authorities have restored control to the scene but the city remains tense as political parties participating in the rally have called their supporters out on strike. bbc news. >> the united nations nuclear watchdog says he expects a deal soon to give his inspectors better access to iran's disputed nuclear program and comes before wednesday's planned meeting between israeli negotiators and representatives from six world towers. the meeting is scheduled for the iraqi capital of baghdad. police authorities in argentina say they have defused a bomb timed to go off by a speech of colombia's former president and the device was found in the ceiling in buenos aires in which uribe was's set to speak and was accused of committing atrocities by colombia in argentina. >> a controversial painting which shows the south african

president with his genitals exposed have been defaced at an art gallery in johannesburg. he told the bbc he smeared the picture with paint because he thought it was disrespectful. the bbc has the details. >> it was business as usual at the goodman gallery in johannesburg. then suddenly this is what happened. he depicted a fully clothed president but with his genitals exposed. a scuttle ensued and the two gentlemen were apprehended by security guards. >> we have authority. >> and then handed over to the police. they will appear in court soon. the african national congress president jacob zuma's party is in court trying to force this gallery to take the painting down. there's been a lot of

controversy in the last week about that painting. people were saying, especially from the african national congress that it is racist, disrespectful, and uncultural. these supporters from the government african mission congress were outside court singing old liberation songs. in his application to stop the display of the spear, president jacob zuma said he was hit by the artwork. why continue with court action when the painting is always vandalized? >> it affects the south african people. everyone has a right to human dignity. that everyone includes the president of this country. he is the father. he is their father. he is the president of this country. >> president has been under public scrutiny for some time. a polygamist, he has four wives

and has admitted fathering at least one child out of wedlock. bbc news, johannesburg. >> it's the final of the show "american idol" this week and the guitarist phillips is up against a 16-year-old singer from california called sanchez. and while phillips phillips is being talked about as the frontrunner, ms. sanchez has a more rounded fan base where her mother it is from the philippines. we have a report from manila. >> the philippines is half a world away from america but doesn't mean the people here won't be glued to their tv sets this week watching "american idol." most people are obsessed with those kind of shows anyway but this year is special because jessica sanchez, a phillipine american is in the final. and has taken this country by storm. you look at facebook or listen to any conversation in an office block or a schoolroom, everyone if is talking about

jessica sanchez. it's even in all the papers. why is it such a big phenomenon here? >> of course jessica sanchez would be a big phenomenon. filipinos are obsessed with looking for and creating heroes. this country is so vulnerable. this country is in dire need of role models. so much so that the fact she has filipino blood qualifies her as a rallying point for filipinos to idolize and make us a hero. >> what are the effects of the fact that everybody here is so obsessed with american culture? >> this is a culture which has been shaped by a hundred years or so of hollywood from the americans. in other words, the affinity of filipinos for americans is so strong that despite so many years, almost half a century of independence, the welding of these two culture is still strong in terms of sharing and in terms of development.

>> "american idol" combines this country's love the united states with its love for singing. even president aquino says he's rooting for jessica sanchez. while america waits with baits breath to see who has won, those in the philippines will be doing the same thing. >> now prince charles has taken to the deck, the deejay deck and was intensive for the highness and he visited a training center in canada. you see he learned how to spin records and do some mixing. this comes only a few days after prince harry was of course in the british press to be training as a reggae deejay, like father, like son. >> you've been watching "news day." >> stay with us. headlines on the way for you next.

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