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>> this is a gm t on bbc world news. the squeeze is on for american banks, * reform for the financial sector -- strict reform for the financial sector agreed by the center. -- by the senate. >> our goal is not to punish the banks. lexus protect the economy -- let's protect the economy and the american people from the larger evils we have seen. >> kailey clinton jets into japan, condemning north korea -- hillary clinton to get into japan, condemning north korea's sinking of a south korean ship.

and artificial life, and genuine concerns. the first synthetic cell is unveiled, bringing with it hopes of the future. >> hello, it has been described of the -- as the most radical overhaul of the banking system since the great depression in the 1930's. sweeping reform on wall street, indeed, everyone in the u.s. from co's to first-time home buyers. -- ceo's to first-time home buyers. humphrey huxley has this. >> after systematic collapse,

financial reform is on the top of the agenda. another victory for the white house. >> because of financial reform, the american people will never be passed again to front -- to foot the bill for wall street. there will be no more taxpayer funded bailout. it is a large financial institution fails, we will have to wind it down without affecting the broader economy. >> the new law is aimed at stopping home buyers from taking out a mortgage without proof that they can pay it back. and back -- banks cannot give loans and make repayment impossible. only four republican senators

voted for reform. the rest were against. and the bill was shepherded through by harry reid. >> for those who want to protect wall street, it did not work. we can no longer gamble away people's money. the days of too big to fail are over. for them, the game is over. >> the worry among republicans is that it will stifle america's capitalist spirit. >> will be judged by whether we have created a more stable, durable and competitive financial system. that judgment will not be rendered on self congratulatory press releases, but rather, by the marketplace. and the marketplace, mr. president, does not give credit for good intentions. >> in the past few months, americans have seen health care

reform and now financial reform. in the november elections, they can vote as to how much they approved. >> we will be speaking to a financial expert on what that might mean for the u.s. in particular, on the bank's ability to lend and their readiness to do so. >> u.s. secretary of state to hillary clinton has warned that north korea must face international consequences over the sinking of a south korean warship in march. despite p'yongyang's denials, the torpedoed ship was overwhelming. >> this was the start of a tour to try to find unity over north korea. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton was all smiles as she landed in tokyo. japan was already clear it was

ready to stand at america's side. both condemned the sinking of the south korean warship. and >> we agree that we must stop this provocative behavior, hauled the aggressive belligerent toward its neighbors, and take steps towards fulfilling its the denuclearization commitments. >> it was patrolling the disputed maritime border in the yellow sea. a torpedo on the c4 match those used by north korea. -- on the seafloor matched those used by north korea. and >> let me be clear, this cannot be and will not be business as usual. there must be an international,

not just a regional, but an international response. >> ready support from japan's government was found. but china could be more of a challenge. and china's agreement is critical. >> the prime minister of thailand says order has been restored to the capital and throughout the rest of the country. this follows weeks of violent anti-government protests that have left more than 50 people dead. reconciliation efforts will continue, he said. >> we have restored order in the capital of bangkok and the provinces of thailand. we have been able to do this with the cooperation of government officials, volunteers, and, of course, the people of thailand. will move quickly to restore

normalcy and recognize as we move ahead there are huge challenges at a bus -- ahead of us. >> the parliament has approved the country's -- the german parliament has approved the country's contribution for the eurozone. it is to help stop degrees crisis from spreading and to restore confidence in the euro. three members of a british family have been shot dead in pakistan in what police believe is the result of a family feud. it is believed they were attacked because of the marriage of one of their sons to a local woman had broken down. the gunmen have been arrested.

kingston has become a no go area. street have been taken over by a drug lord. the prime minister had previously opposed his extradition. the former leader of saben has been sworn in -- of sudan has been sworn in after parliamentary elections last month. is -- it is the result of a peace deal between the government and rebel leaders. british airways lost $760 million, 500 million pounds. revenues tumbled numbers of passengers fell. the figures come as cabin crews prepared to strike again on monday. the cycling phenomenon lance

armstrong has denied allegations he has used performance enhancing drugs after allegations made by former teammate floyd landis. landis claims to have seen him use performance enhancing drugs while they were on the same team. japan has launched a rocket in the solar powered space program. soon after blasting off from southern japan, the rockets deployed a satellite that will reach venus in about six months. it will be propelled by a solar cell. those are the main him blind.

-- the main headlines. >> we will go back to our main headline this hour, the u.s. senate approving sweeping changes, the biggest since the great depression. people have said -- of have been a long time wondering. is there any doubt in your mind that these regulations will kick in? >> it is still a long way to go before they become law, but it is clear that banks that have tougher rules and the protection of u.s. consumers is going to happen. >> and are the bank's right to express concern that this could have a strangling affect on the economy? >> it is hard to tell. the banks always whine about regulations. you have to take it all with a grain of salt. in this particular case, the

derivatives are the potentially toughest part. if it goes through, banks will make a lot less profit of. which means there is a lot less lending they can do and there is a lot less companies can do to hedge their investments. the crux those fears, to couey for countries like the u.k. -- >> those fears, particularly for countries like the u.k., i heard one analyst say if the u.s. put in tighter regulation, do you think -- the rest of the world will now follow. do you think so? >> absolutely, it is too big to ignore. it will make a big difference for everybody else,

particularly the u.k.. >> we have seen what the germans have done in the past few days, and of course this week, which is to bring in these bands on naked selling, as they call it. -- bring in these bands on naked selling, as they call it. will this be a knee-jerk reaction, or can you see a confluence of regulation? >> it is hard to tell. the tendency for politicians to put on their own rules is at very high right now with sentiment strongly against the banks. on the of reihan, -- on the other hand, they have shown more regulation than ever this year. at one hopes that coordination will come out of it. >> of merrill dennis blair has

resigned -- admiral dennis blair has resigned. i am joined by our count -- the security correspondent. >> there are a few things going on here. there were some security lapses that were important. in particular, the christmas day attempted bombing. and the analysts failure to follow up information. people wonder why they have not win a whole new institution have been created beneath him. why was it not working? that is one cause for his

resignation. but also, clashing with the white house. put those together and it becomes untenable. the white house decided they wanted someone new. of course you are talking about the problems with the cia -- >> you are talking about the problems with the cia. is this the biggest issue they have to deal with? >> president obama has to be seen to have a grip on national security, particularly in recent events. it is vital that he is not seen as weak or having failed to protect his country. there are these clashes with the cia. the director of the cia used to be the head of the intelligence community.

there was a clash and the cia one. -- the cia won. you have all these clashes and, clearly, they felt it was time for a change. >> coming up in a moment, artificial life not -- artificial life, but not so artificial concerns. the world's first artificial sell brings a whole body of questions. -- artificial cell brings a whole body of questions. nine people have died and thousands have been forced from their homes in the worst flooding in poland in years. the prime minister says it could cost more than $2.5 billion.

>> a state of alarm in warsaw at the moment. the levels of the river that runs through warsaw is twice its normal level. it is just 75 centimeters below the dike. there is a lot of concern that the water levels could increase and breached those dikes. people have been sandbagging this morning and, obviously, on thursday as well. 200,000 sandbags have been prepared and they're lining them up against the river in warsaw. there is concern that the low- lying areas in warsaw will be flooded, although, there is no flooding yet. the organizers and authorities there said they would be able to move some animals of the river

reaches its banks and goes into these two -- into the house yozt some may have to be shot because they would be harmed by being moved. we have seen 50,000 people evacuated, some moving down the coast. >> we've got more detail for you on our website bbc.com/news. you are watching gmt from "bbc world news." the main headlines, the victory for obama. the u.s. senate approves the biggest overhaul and regulations since the great depression in

1930. hillary clinton says north korea must face consequences internationally for sinking a south korean warship. and calls -- and it is a cause for celebration or a cause for concern? creating new life forms in a test tube. research in the u.s. has announced that it has created synthetic life in a new species of bacteria, operating entirely under the control of man-made genetic instructions. it is hoped that it will help clean water, for example, speedup vaccination development. >> the completely synthetic self is replicated over 1 billion times. it is the first species on our planet that its parent is our

computer. >> if treated a very strong response. -- if created a very strong response. we have had many males coming in. one viewer says, "this has the potential to alleviate suffering. that must be for the good, but it is an open world javaid." another says, "-- open for world debate. another says, this is an enormous breakthrough, but it also poses a huge risk because it could possibly be used inappropriately causing damage to people or the environment. and a doctor says, "is important not to underestimate technology.

people will never be able to -- but people will never be able to>w+q create in made to order genetics." dr., thanks for joining us. most of us try to wear out this frightening balance, in a sense, between the good it can do and about it can do. at what is your view? >> we just have an election in the u.k. and it does not appear on any election manifestos. it has crept upon us. the ethical question i want to address is, who is in control and what are its purposes? and unlike our grandparents' generation, the vast majority of

this money comes from the private sector. that shift some things in a way that we can stand back and say, well, there is a profit motive behind the spirit of what is really going on? -- the profit motive behind this. what is really going on? >> but that does not necessarily make it wrong, does it? >> it does not make is wrong in the sense that genetic engineering 10 years ago was wrong, but ford has happened is that genetically modified foods -- but what has happened is that genetically modified foods 10 years ago were pushed to farmers who really should not be growing them. it was funded by the public sector. here we have something that we do not know where it is going to

go. we talk about the need for scrutiny. that is correct. >> exxon funded this of research product and i think bp was on the board as well. but if they can find a way to develop what they do, to find work better ways to produce energy, i think that is a good thing. >> absolutely, but at the same time we need to be aware of the huge uncertainties here. and we need to work very hard to get to the facts of what is happening. and on the military side, there is research happening on the part of the u.s., maybe even the u.k., and other countries, such as china.

and supposedly, they could be developing something that could affect climate change. >> on that point quickly, we have heard that it has been said it will never be possible to create a made to order the gene. is that the way this research is going? >> it is hard to say because we have a very simple synthetic dna bit of an organism. it is not an entire organism this is -- an entire organism. this is being driven not by something where we have understood the whole thing or where the whole scientific community understands what is being done. it is junk science at just like there are junkbond. -- junk-bond.

>> the super model naomi campbell has given evidence that the war crimes president has given her a blood diamond. >> it is alleged mr. taylor used to these blood diamonds to fuel the insurgency in sierra leone that cost tens of thousands of lives. now prosecutors in a special court want to hear testimony from the model naomi campbell. if she received a blood diamond from mr. taylor, after a dinner hosted by nelson mandela and africa 13 years ago. she was awoken in the middle of the night, she says, by a group of men who presented her with an

uncut diamonds. she is no stranger to african, -- conflict, having campaigned tirelessly. ms. campbell refused to talk to the prosecution in the past and that she denied the rough diamond gift. she was questioned about the diamond on an appearance on the oprah winfrey show. when asked about the diamond, she said she did not want to be involved in the taylor case, saying she did not want to put your family in danger. -- her family in danger. >> and that is just about it for this edition. do stay with us here on bbc

world news. >> "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, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> 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 has put its global expertise to work for a wide

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