>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. shell. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> contagion and in europe. the economic fire is still raging greece. a new one is flaring up in italy. in national and unity government gives way and in greece -- a national unity government gives way in greece. the pressure piles up on the prime minister of italy. >> 6.6% interest rate for money is unsustainably high.

the bureau's own countries that had to be bailed out -- the year wrote zone countries that had to be bailed out. -- euro zone countries that had to be bailed out. >> welcome to all "gmt -- welcome to "gmt." also in the program, international protection for the un to actually listen. a test of systems that could be one day be a dominant feature that could be on every car. midday in london, 1:00 in the afternoon in rome. after days of seeing the spotlight on athens, the focus of anxiety is shifting to events in italy. the government is being charged a huge interest rates. more on that in a moment.

first, we start with greece. the makeup of the new government with national unity is taking place. >> thank you very much indeed. hello from greece, a country the stands on the brink of a new political era today. the imminent end of the premier- shift and the beating of a new, coalition government. the third member of a family to have led this country. along, political legacy is drawing to a close. the greek people are watching. let's give the latest from my colleague, emily buchanan. >> george papandreou faces off with at the end of his premiership and the start of a

new, power-sharing government. what does this mean for greece? will that make for harsh measures? with elections due in 105 days, the interim government is being described as a historic coalition after months of crisis. >> i believe that it will be a better day. i believe in the elections on the 19th of february. >> i do not feel anything yet. if nothing concrete comes out, i will continue to feel anxious. we do not know what this new government is all about. >> in germany, the new government wants to push through the measures. >> this is an opportunity for a new beginning it is becoming clear that the entire political

system wants reform and that this is necessary. >> there are more talks to push out the shape of the new government. as an economist and banker, one man guided freeze into the euro zone. -- one man died greece into the euro zone. -- one man guided greece into the euro zone. if you disagree that choosing the right person is the top priority -- few disagreed that choosing the right person is the top priority. >> it is about trust in a package. the aid package has systemic changes in greece and how we do business. >> later today, brussels, a circus performers convention in european prime tent -- finance

ministers will be jostling for space. they know that after greece, other economies teetering on the edge. beverly buchanan, bbc news. >> this coalition would be a short-term government. the races against time. it would have to vote to ratify the latest bailout package. greece desperately needs 8 billion euros by the middle of december to stave off bankruptcy. it will be an immense challenge for whoever takes over. george papandreou will be giving away a country that is at the center of the european debt crisis and in forged with austerity measures. -- engorge the austerity measures. engorged with austerity

measures. >> growing anxiety in italy, where political uncertainty is combining with growing pressure from the financial markets. the cost of government borrowing has reached a record level on monday morning. coming under parliamentary screening on -- scrutiny on tuesday. our correspondent, alan johnson, is in rome. we have been saying that this is a key week for silvio perlis county, is it not? >> you can feel the political tension rising by the hour in rome. today we have been hearing that there are a serious number of defections from the coalition government. he may no longer have the majority that he needs to govern in parliament.

there is speculation the firm of skilling may only have days to go, giving you an indication of how fevered the stock exchange with a couple of percentage falling down is. rumors that mr. burr mosconi may be considering his resignation. he is absolutely convinced that he does have the numbers. that he has a coalition that he can continue to govern with. that he will have support in government during crucial budget votes. >> of course, in greece we are used to seeing the public reaction. the violence, protests being put down. what is the public engagements like this in italy they'll love -- what is the public to

engagement like in italy? >> serious violence in protest against the austerity measures. for a fortnight i was at a rally a few days ago in a large square in rome. the main opposition policy was very ordered. everyone there was concern about the political situation they may be drawing to the end of the silvio burlesque of the era. >> thank you. -- silvio burlesque going -- prime minister era. >> a trial in paris over a series of bomb attacks in the 1980's that killed 11 people. his real name is [unintelligible] in he is already serving a life sentence in france.

he was captured by french special forces in 1994. a chinese artist and government critics has that thousands of supporters have donated money to help him pay a tax bill of $2.5 million. the money was sent by internet and bank transfers. he accused the authorities of using the tax issue to silence him. a form the -- former army general has won almost all of the of votes counted. molina was declared the winner. he declared tough action against violent crime in the increased presence of mexican drug gangs in guatemala. the main syrian opposition group has issued appeals for intervention to protect civilians where government forces have been preceded by in

several neighborhoods. the arab league peace deal, in which the syrian government accepted the military units being pulled out of residential areas last week, we have more with jonathan, who is following the development for us from neighboring turkey. i want to get on to this call to the syrian opposition for protecting civilians in a moment. can you bring us up-to-date as far as he can on the events? >> the besieged neighborhoods, including right here in the center, this opposition has been going on since around the time the syrian government accepted that deal. this is rather heavier than the other clashes we have seen. it would seem that they are

attacking quite dense neighborhoods. partly because, we believe, as we have been told, there are other deserters who have been held up there. a particular worry for the syrian government. they want to stop the tide of people flooding away from the army. in total, they have had 19 dead yesterday. making the total around 40 over the weekend. one national council person said that there were a total of 111 killed over the past week, which would mark a significant escalation of the killing from the syrian government. >> does this go back to the syrian national council excepting the protection? interesting, using the language of being underpinned in libya. >> realistically, no one

expects intervention now or in the future. they are focusing on not just protecting civilians in general, but saying that the humanitarian situation in a number of these neighborhoods is now acute because they are besieged by such heavy forces. people cannot go out in such a sustained bombardment. many of the residents have said the same thing. that they have had no electricity or water in their apartments are either. no power, no heat for what it's cold, shortages of food. they hope to focus international attention here, perhaps getting some pressure in that area and the syrian government. >> thank you very much. still to come on "gmt," we have the first results of a major

study by a major children's charity. . >> at least 1000 tourists are stranded in the foothills of mount everest because bad weather. hotels are overflowing and food is running out. andrea nicholas reports. >> the himalayas bring tens of thousands of climbers every year. 1000 tractors have been stranded in the foothills, after their flights were canceled. many have been trapped for one week, with some of them camping at the airport, waiting for a break in the weather. a transport has taken some to the airport.

officials are hoping that the weather will clear soon. >> let's keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well. we should be able to bring more tourists back. >> the peak tourist system is under way, but the beautiful mountain can be deadly. the weather can change suddenly, with no warning. those who have been rescued this time can begin along journey home. for those that are still trapped, all they can do is hope for a break in the weather and an end to their ordeal. >> islamist insurgents are planning attacks in one capital. american citizens were told to avoid luxury hotels in nigeria and to expect more checkpoints.

the government has been the target of past attacks. this is "gmt." headlines -- greece is to announce the leader of a new unity government after the prime minister agrees to stand down. the cost of government borrowing -- taly it's a new record hits and new record. -- hit a new record. we have been concentrating on greece, but the focus is shifting? >> italy is the word in the markets. you have touched on it already, but the money markets around the world are forcing italy to pay 6.6% interest rates on the money

that they borrow over a 10 year period. >> what does that mean? >> a level that is absolutely unsustainable. it makes borrowing money very expensive and if we cannot afford to continue doing that. it is approaching levels where it will start to unravel. it is important to remind everyone where italy stands. this is sitting on the largest debt in europe. close to $2 trillion bureaus. it basically means that there are fingers around the world in the italian pie. >> contagion. >> yes. listen to the market experts. >> i hear people talk about the risk of contagion. well, this is contagion. this is what it looks like. if the euro zone ministers had

intervened 12 months ago, we probably would not be here now. people are saying forget about greece, this is all about italy now. the other euro zone countries had to be bailed out. this is the concern. italy is not far away from that. >> i would like to take a step further, breaking it down and finding out how expensive we are talking about. there are viewers around the world that are paying like 19% interest rates. mortgages, a 6% mortgage is not unheard of. so, what is the problem? >> the problem is, if they have not got $1.60 trillion of debt -- italy has the third biggest debt market in the world. ness of the indebted. it has over 300 -- massively

indebted. it has over 300 billion euros. next year, italy has to find somebody, somewhere, willing to lend it 300 billion euros just to stand still. >> it is staggering. they have got to find someone who will lend that money to italy, that is the big worry. in neighboring france, the government has just unveiled aimed at 100 billion euros over the next five years. the french finance minister warned it that bankruptcy was no longer an abstract for france. the second-biggest economy in the euro zone, tried to maintain its top-notch finance rating.

no let up for this big bird, the boeing streamliner. athens had a very stressful flight to des western japan. the pilots successfully landed after a second attempt. it made its commercial debut only two weeks ago. the united states has never had a national tourism policy, but that changes the day when the corporation for troubled promotion launches its tourism strategy. the u.s. share of international travel has fallen by one-third since 2000. >> the united states has never had a tourism policy because of this arrogant and brash attitudes. we just thought everyone would come in show up.

we saw the decline over the next -- last decade of international visitation, which we call a less -- a lost decade of travel. we tried to create a corporation for travel promotion. >> there you go. >> real catchy. >> let's take a look at the markets. we cannot deny and we cannot kid ourselves, the markets are watching closely what happens in the three political situation. and of course, the 2010 budget. we keep hearing mixed news about this. burlesque only insisting that he has the majority, but also reports that say that the writing is on the wall. >> thank you very much.

>> thank you. two-thirds of girls in care homes in northern ireland are at risk of sexual exploitation. findings from a new report, published by a british children's charity. the study is believed to be the biggest of its kind ever conducted in northern ireland. >> children are often taken into care because of concerns that they could be at risk of abuse. today's report raises questions about how protected they really are in that system. it suggests that the men involved are specifically targeting children being looked after in residential homes. the report funded by the department of health claims that two-thirds of the girls there are at risk of sexual exploitation. almost half of the abusive relationship lasted at least one

year. 60% of the rumors were five years older than their victims. this child was sexually exploited before she was even a teenager. we changed her name to protect her identity. >> you think yourself that you will not go back, but then you do. you keep on going back to the same person because you are afraid. sometimes you feel like they are all you have. >> there are some children's homes that have had particular problems with groups of men working -- waiting outside for girls. >> we are actually seeing our girls getting in cars with men. we know where they are going. we know what can happen to them. they could be gone for three, four, five days. we know, and we cannot stop them from going.

>> sexual exploitation is a hidden problem that can affect both boys and girls. >> these parents thought that they knew where their child was all of the time, when in fact they are chatting with someone on the internet who is a risk to them. >> they say that the child protection guidelines need to be revised. chris butler, belfast. >> it sounds like the plot of a science-fiction movie. a computer looks into the immediate future and raises the alarm if something is about to go wrong. researchers in switzerland are looking for ways to make it real. the theory is that a computer in a car could detect the drivers intentions.

>> cars are getting smarter all of the time this is the latest method to detect potential hazards. now, a new project is looking to take things further by trying to read the minds of drivers. this is alex, who is working on a driving stimulator all day. this skullcap monitors his brain waves. these days, researchers are just analyzing brain signals, attempting to prove context in the next move. it might be possible to stop driving errors before they happen. >> we are using the brain measurement as a means of trying to understand.

we are looking at keeping the driver active and in the loop, improving the driving experience. >> this is not the only way that scientists are trying to use brain signals. this fall controlled wheelchair is also being tested. other groups are looking to use it with prosthetic arm science. back in the laboratory, time for a novice to take the wheel. >> usually when you play these kinds of things, it is easy to control, but the idea here is that it is a shared experience. you try to drive a car, the computer tries to interpret my brain signals. making sure that i do not do anything too bad. >> bbc news, switzerland. >> a reminder of our top story, the greek prime minister will hold talks with the main

opposition leader later today as the start of the makeup of the new coalition government. he will stand down as prime minister in an attempt to solve the financial and political crisis. stay with us here. more to come. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we're developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us

get the most from our energy resources. let's use energy more efficiently. let's go. >> union bank has put its