>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t.

macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." "gmt j this is "gmt." with an election in next few weeks, alistair darling faces a choice. fees in the voters or those who

want record to -- record movement on the opposite. benjamin netanyahu, is it no deal at the white house? pakistan's military cooperation under the spotlight as there are talks in washington. 30 years on, the people of san salvador remember the murder of oscar romero. the british finance minister, alistair darling, is performing a balancing act today. his pre-election budget has to satisfy voters in financial markets of the same time. international market movers want to know how serious he is about cutting the deficit.

a challenge that is not unique to britain alone. >> here at westminster officials have been working on the last budget before the general election. usually at this stage, politicians like to have a bit of a giveaway budget for voters. this year such is the state of the nation's finances that there simply is not the money to do anything spectacular. alistair darling, the chancellor exchequer has been trying to manage expectations ahead of the big day. >> there will not be a christmas tree of a budget, you will be getting an essential budget for the time in which we live. >> will the chancellor be up front and not about the standard cuts and tax write-offs needed to plug the uk's massive deficit?

now at almost 30%. so far the two main parties heavily sketched out some of the ways in which they will reduce the debt. the difference lies chiefly in the speed in which they would make the cuts. >> the reality is that what the two parties are saying is pretty similar. neither party is coming clean about exactly what they're going to do. in some ways we will be electing in the dark. we just do not know yet. we do not know how radical it will be or where the pain will be felt. >> they're not the only ones left in the dark. the financial market wants much more details from politicians about how they plan to balance the books. that is not likely come until after the election is over. bbc news, westminster.

>> in a few minutes we will hear more from there, live, getting the latest economic analysis. some investors worry that the british deficit could lead to a tragedy of greek proportions. the israeli ministers talk spent the white house and all the other made headlines, over david. >> an unequivocal message to washington, leaves our settlements alone. for two days benjamin netanyahu expressed his determination. while he was talking with the president and the white house, plans for further settlements in east jerusalem were being moved forward. tension between the u.s. and israel is not likely to dissipate soon. >> headed for an historic test

of wills, israel in the u.s.. some of the details of that meeting are interesting. a 90 minute meeting in the oval office, then there was a break, and then they went back for another 35 minute meeting. no details were released, although clearly there were hard negotiations. it comes down to this, benjamin netanyahu said -- sees no difference between building in tel aviv and building in jerusalem. there's a lot of pressure on him to cancel some of these projects. overnight as the meeting was taking place, the municipality released plans for 20 additional homes in disputed areas of east jerusalem, which most of the world regards as occupied land but israel says is very much a part of its capital. >> lawyers for the american

television host, oprah winfrey, has reached a settlement in the case against a former headmistress of her school in south africa. there were allegations that another teacher had committed child abuse. she claimed that statements made by oprah winfrey damaged her reputation. four executives employed by the anglo mining company, riyad tempo -- rio tinto, were accused of taking bribes, they admitted to some charges. the afghanistan president reached out to his neighbors as part of a solution to his search through the difficulties of his company -- country. chinese leaders have alleged that muslim separatists have

received shelter and training in afghanistan. police in india said that the number of people killed in a fire in calcutta have risen to 24. firefighters spent eight hours tackling the blaze on tuesday. a colonial era building that was set alight. u.s. specialists are planning to link to meet production the climate change. an earlier report evidently exaggerated the link. a 2006 report said that meat production was responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. but a new analysis calls a flawed. lee gung hee was given a suspended sentence for tax evasion in 2008, given a presidential pardon last year.

john is in the capital. >> it is remarkable, he is already a kind of mythical figure in the world of south korean business, widely credited with having drag it up from humble origins to the major of global player that it is today. one of the country's most wealthy men. he was once even rumored to have rented four ski slopes in the french alps for his own personal use did. he released a statement today saying that to maintain its global business position at the time, they hoped that he could work his magic again. >> one of the biggest names in golfing has given support to tiger woods in his return to the sport next month. sydney done other things he is good enough to win it.

in a rare public appearance in made the statement. looking pretty frail after recovering from a life- threatening brain tumor. he said the spain had the best bid for the world cup games. back to you, george. >> david, thank you. you are watching "gmt." let's return to our main story, the budget being delivered by the finance minister in the next couple of hours. of course, all eyes will be on downing street. there we have it. from our helicopter. no. 11 is one of the buildings where the chancellor has his office. he will be heading off to parliament to give his budget. he has a tough task coming up. he will have to sue the worries

of investors about public debt. joining me from our central london studio, an investment editor from the city wide web site. thank you for being with us. what is the bottom line for these fabled money markets? what other looking for >> they realize it is not likely that in this budget we will get detailed plans for reducing the deficit. as long as the chancellor does not do anything to exacerbate the problem with the deficit today, it is probably likely that that response from the money market will be muted. they're looking forward to the budget after the election where people will of up to the cuts that were necessary to reduce the deficit. do the money markets know that there is an election pending and that he will not be doing anything terribly drastic either

way? but because an election is coming, can they absorb some of the giveaway? >> one of the things to understand that with government spending is the scale of what is involved. if a chancellor announces he will spend billions on green technology, billions of youth unemployment, it makes good headlines. but the city and money markets will look on to say it is a modest amount of money and not likely to have a big impact. there's a sense that the last trump card that this chancellor has is that people do not know how much government costs. just a little bit of money invested in what they care about couple of it will not affect the city greatly. >> we have millions of people listening to us talk about this all around the world. other lessons to be learned from

the way in which britain in this bella >> they have led the way in elements of this. taking the lead -- things? >> they have led the way in elements of this. britain has been one of those countries that has urged the need for continuing spending to tackle a recession. we have not seen a major panic on money markets, even as the deficit has grown, but that is because we have not hit the crunch point yet. at some point there will be a big deficit reduction program in britain, we do not know how many cups the money markets will demand. in that sense, the british model of dealing with this recession has not yet been tested at its weakest point. >> what about these fears, some say they are over exaggerated, that britain is headed the way

of greece. we heard that portugal has been downgraded. is that an over exaggeration? >> a bit. clearly there are many countries in europe that are in a worse position. greece, portugal. worry about spain before you worry about britain. nonetheless, there is a real problem there. we have our own currency, it can be devalued. but obviously if we are willing to cycle the investments, we could avoid a crunch but of the government loses control of the plan to reduce the deficit, the market could start to demand cuts. that is what happened in greece, it was very demoralizing. we can avoid the greeks situation, but if we do nothing we will head down the road. >> thank you, charlie parker. our political counsel joins us

now live from westminster to get a flavor of the politics of all of this. i suppose this is all political. these men have their voters always in front of them. but this one, more so than most. >> absolutely. alistair darling has not got massive money to give away to voters as he would like to in this stage of the electoral cycle, but nevertheless i am sure we will see some sweeteners by way of enticement to vote labor. people have been warned that there might be new attempts to lure first-time buyers on to the first rung of the housing market. it will be a political budget. we will hear much about how the labor government is the one they can encourage growth and protect the a government -- the recovery. that will be the argument, other

governments will bring in too many cuts, too soon, putting a fragile government at risk. >> charlie parker was talking about britain in a sense, or a british model, dealing with these red -- record deficits around the world, what is the alternative model? in essence, what is the difference between the parties that will be competing? >> some people say that there's hardly any difference at all. conservatives said they want to make an example of cutting the deficit sooner. they say that if you keep the deficit as high as it is now, it could speak to the financial arm months -- markets. labour governments say that it makes sense to the leg because the british economy relies on public spending. when it comes down to it, the

difference is chiefly in the timing in which they would cut the deficit. both of them agree that there are big cuts needed to bring the deficit down. of course, neither party is willing to say what kind of cuts those will be because they're worried about scaring off the voters altogether. >> thank you very much. this is "gmt." coming up, revered like a saint, the archbishop that stood up to violence and paid the ultimate price. there has been sharp criticism at the immigration removal center in eastern england. 420 children were held there between may and october of last year. one baby was there for 100 days. in the reports. >> the immigration removal center for women and families

holds around 300 immigrants. it has a troubled history. in 2002, disturbances in a fire destroyed much of the building. and there have been allegations of abuse. today's report except that conditions have improved, expressing worries and concerns about young detainee's. over the last six months as many as 420 children were detained, even though half of them were later released back into the community. 68 children were held for more than one month. >> you must ask questions about whether the right questions are being asked at the point of detention. >> the report also criticizes the large number of single women held for long periods of time with little the do. one called the bbc to complain

about their situation. >> we have been in detention for 12 months, even two years. waiting for a decision from the home office, which is not fair. they say the centers are needed to deal with immigrants to refuse to leave the u.k. voluntarily, the alternative being separated from their families. bedford shire, bbc news. >> this is "gmt" from "bbc world news." the main headlines, tackling the deficit and boosting investment, the budget -- budget challenge for the election.

benjamin netanyahu says that the peace process will stagnate if the u.s. does not leave the settlement process alone. and there reversing decades of mistrust between nations, the goal in washington is a new strategic partnership that deals with everything from building dams the building roads. they will be attempting to tackle the taliban. the former pakistan ambassador to the united states joins me now. thank you for being with us. biting the people will be surprised that there is any mistrust. how would you react? >> for the last 60 years, relations between the countries have had their ups and downs.

pakistan has gone from being the biggest ally of the united states to being its most sanctioned. those decades of mistrust, as you put it, these talks are meant to get past that so that common ground can be found at a time that this pivotal for the region. the obama administration needs very much to show results there. on the pakistani side, there will be a desire to test the united states on a number of big ticket items where they would be interested in knowing how the u.s. would position itself. >> these talks are being described as a first ever strategic dialogue. but it is not clear to me what that actually means. how will it be different after these talks on wednesday and thursday? >> i think that the two sides

want to be able to demonstrate a high level of participation, as well as the range of issues being discussed, that they're looking towards a long-term relationship rather than one that is simply defined by tactical reasons or transactional substance. whether the talks are able to get past that, we will have to wait and see. >> is that what you are saying? being governed largely by tactics that any particular time rather than a long-term goal? >> i think it has been very much the meat of what has driven the relations. the united states clearly has a vision for longer-term relationship. what is driving the relationship right now is afghanistan. the need to get the full cooperation of pakistan. on the pakistani side there is a

desire to find out whether the administration has overcome what they have seen as what they are confused about, is it really reconciling the peaceful war -- reconciling a peaceful war or continuing in afghanistan? obviously they want an orderly and so that there is not continuous fighting. pakistan has borne the brunt of the fighting that has gone on for years. >> alright, we must leave it there. thank you very much. seen by many as a lot -- dante of latin america, 30 years to the day that he was assassinated while celebrating mass at a church in el salvador. the small central american country was set on a path of violence in the ensuing decade, salvadoran people killed in a

bloody civil war. we return there to look at the legacy of oscar romero. >> he was celebrating mass on that alter, it marked a turning point in the history of this central american country. two days before he died, he said that he would write again of the salvadoran people. how prescient was the 30 years later? he dedicated his three years as archbishop in urging an end to the political violence that engulfed the country, a conflict that later sparked the civil war that killed 70,000 people. he ignited international condemnation, creating embarrassment for the united states government, who was seen as an ally for the right wing at the time. romero raises by and the

cathedral, his to his visited daily. -- romero rests in the cathedral, his tomb is visited daily. >> i think he is careful,mkl -- a role model. >> even amongst the thousands that have emigrated from the catholic church to other churches like this one, romero has been an inspiration. >> he was a victim of what happened here and he deserves our respect, regardless of our religion. >> for many, including the current leftist president, romero is a source of political

inspiration. and some on the right to disagree. >> many of us can admire the work of mr. romero. i do not think that he thought of himself as part of the political sphere. commercial icon, spiritual leader -- spiritual leader, he is still present in the minds of the people of san salvador. bbc news, san salvador. >> we will take you straight over to the other part of london, downing street. there is the british finance minister, there he is with his finance team on his way to the houses of parliament where he will deliver a budget that everyone is going to be looking at.

just a few weeks away from election, they call them read boxes, that was being used -- it has been used many times for decades, in there is a budget that has got to satisfy both the voters that will be making their choice in a few weeks, and of course the city. we heard from the investors that city-wide saying that the markets will be looking to make sure that he is not throwing money away, which he could do. that is all for this edition no ." stay well -- this edition of "gmt." stay well. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

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