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a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> months of protests, thousands dead, and growing international pressure. the foreign minister of syria defense his country to the arab league. >> the decision is a series lead dangerous ont. e . >> welcome to gmt. i am naga munchetty. also in the program, italy and greece's new leaders hoping they will put the economy back

on track. >> three, two, one. lift off, soyuz. >> russia resumes its manned space mission. hello. the afternoon is just beginning in damascus. that's for international pressure is mounting on syria to end months of oppression, which began in march and left thousands dead. european foreign ministers are meeting in brussels after the arab league voted to suspend syria's membership. syria remains defiant. syrian foreign minister walid al-muallem is insisting that syria will not be treated as another libya. >> the arab league decision is illegal. it has not been issued. it does not rely on the legality of the charter.

we set in the past that syria -- reforms and dialogues and were halting -- [inaudible] syria is aware of the magnitude of the conspiracy that faces its people from all walks of life. syrian leadership sees the dialogue and reform as the basis for a dignified life. syria [inaudible] any friendly effort for active dialogue and to support the reform. >> in a moment, we will talk to our correspondent, matthew price, in brussels. jonathan, i think turkey could

have made its position much more clear with some stern language. >> that's the latest language from the foreign minister. it's as strong as it has ever been. he has warned president assad. he said turkey will fully support what he called the justify demands of the syrian people and will use all international platforms to campaign against the syrian government. he said the government frankly can no longer be trusted. this is very strong language. turkey is angry about the attacks by pro-assad demonstrate weekend, butthe anchored by months and months of its own efforts to get president embrace reform. also, the bloodshed along the border. all of those have spurred along

but has not formally recognize the main opposition group. although, it is helping a lot. nor has it spelt out was sanctions it would take. i think that tells you something about the dilemmas facing all countries dealing with syria now. there are no good options. they're not fully confident in the opposition taking over or replacing president assad. they are not confident sanctions would work. the language is strong. the next that have not yet been spelled out. >> how significant is it that they have not named the opposition? how significant would it be if they did? >> it would be seen as symbolic in very important, given what happened in libya. it was when the national transitional council was recognized, in effect, the world gave up on gaddafi. the syrian council said it made great strides to represent

people in syria. we know there are other people out there. one of the biggest dilemmas will be, if the syrian government accepts the arab league's proposal to end violence, then there would need to be talks between the assad government and the syrian national council. many have said they would never talk with assad. the fact that this is not yet as coherent as the council was in libya. if they do recognize the syrian national council, that would be the next step, some sort of international convention. people engaged in serious say they're not ready for that. it's a very different scenario than in libya. >> matthew, we've seen some sanctions in place by the eu.

what more can be done? >> almost 60 people and 19 organizations connected to the regime in damascus. what we are likely to see today from the eu foreign ministers meeting in brussels at the moment is strong condemnation, continued condonation of what's going on in syria. a sense, i think, of concern that it continues and the syrians do not appear to be listening at all to the arab league -- from the western perspective. there's clear support in brussels of the arab league decision to look as suspending syria over the weekend. then, more sanctions. specifically, they are going to agree, we believe, on stopping the disbursement of investment funds to syria. that's another way of trying to drain the money that's going into the regime at the moment and trying to say to them, we

will cut this off to you if you do not start behaving. more sanctions. also, a real sense of with the arab league decision over the weekend and continued movement to try to get some sort of security council resolution that condemns syria in the strongest language possible, there is a sense in brussels that they are doing all they can. at the same time, there is also acknowledgment while is believed sanctions have worked, they are probably getting to the limit of what they can do. >> international pressure from all sides. thank you. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world. president obama says the united states consult russia and china about new measures that ensure iran does not develop nuclear weapons. speaking at the asian pacific summit in hawaii, obama suspended transitions against iran over the nuclear issue,

saying that they have enormous bite. iran has denied that it is trying to make a nuclear weapon. in explosion in north beach, china has killed at least seven people. another 31 were injured in the explosion that happened at the start of the morning rush hour. it is believed that the blast may have been caused by a natural gas leak. cocaine worth $80 million has been seized in australia. 300 kilograms was built into a cockyacht. a link been discovered between partisans disease and a common industrial cleaning products. the exact cause is not known yet. a new international study said it found a significant association between parkinson's disease and a solvent that is used in paints, glue, and cleaning solutions. .

they are the unelected leaders whose job it is now to guide their countries through crises. mario monti and the prime minister of greece have been put in place to implement tough security measures. an unusual position for both democracies to be in. >> the future of the european project may now live with the skills of two unelected technocrats. mario monti in italy, trying to form a government. economist lucas papademos in greece, looking to push through. the balance shown needed to bring in cuts while keeping public support and curbing unrest. the markets and tdebt drove this crisis. in asia this morning, markets

rose. >> if you have to deal with unsustainable debt, it might be very difficult to fix that. the economy of italy is a week. we think it's very unfavorable. >> italy's economy is too big to bail out. greece's has been already. austerity plans include tax raises in vat, cuts to public sectors, and changes to pensions, mainly raising the retirement age. >> [speaking foreign language] >> mario monti will be better than what we had before, obviously. he seems to be a person who is serious, normal, and with experience. >> [speaking foreign language] >> for the good of italy, let's hope he makes it. >> yesterday, he spoke about his sense of responsibility and service towards the nation. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the country must meet the challenge. we must go back and increasingly be a strong element, not a big element of the european union, which we found it. we need to be a protagonist within the european union. >> today, it stands to work, with a question as to whether the skills of a technocrat can also involve the popular skills of a politician needed to retain support in the tough times ahead. >> anders breivik, the man who confessed to killing 77 people in july, has been appearing in court in oslo. hundreds of journalists, as well as family and friends of those who were killed were waiting for him. it was anders breivik's first open court appearance since he was taken into custody. he said he wants to explain why he carried out the attacks in

oslo and the nearby island. we can show you also the scene at the court in oslo. the judge is currently giving a press conference. of course, as we get more news from there, we will bring it to you. there has been a success for russia's space program. a soyuz spacecraft has launched following a number of failures. in august, an unmanned cargo crashed. this crew is on its way to the international space station. daniel sanford has more. >> 5, 4, 3, -- >> the site of a soyuz rocket blasting off. for all the reassurance from the russian space agency and from nasa, this was a nervous moment. on board were nasa's member and

others. there the first men to head into space since the space shuttle was retired last july. now th soyuz is the only route. it was delayed by two months. on august 24, a similar rocket carrying cargo to the space station crashed. all manned missions were put on hold until the cause was identified. that led to concerns that the international space station might have to be abandoned, because there was no safe way of getting there to replace the current crew. the soyuz has now been declared safe by the russian space agency after they identified the faults in what is called the gas generator in the third stage of the rockets. >> still to come on gmt -- they know where you live. the microscopic bugs of that in test your home, ready to make you sneeze.

>> it is the biggest slump in brazil and widely regarded as one of its most dangerous. police have taken control of the area as part of an effort to clean up the city ahead of the world cup in 2014. >> police helicopters doing surveillance from the sky while ground troops went into the largest slum. the criminals that have not fled or been arrested chose not to come out to fight. the first day of the police occupation ended with four criminals arrested, drugs and weapons seized, but not a single shot fired. >> [speaking foreign language] >> together, we have conquered this. together, we will conquer the

territories that are still held by the gangs. this is a permanent action together with the citizens. >> be heavily armed elite troops will now remain in the area for a few months to prepare for what is being called a permanent police unit. >> the occupation of the largest slum is an important accomplishment for the authorities. the vast majority of the city remains under the control of drug dealers. there's still a lot of room for criminals to operate. >> critics say that all the attention goes to the slums near the venues of the 2014 world cup and the 2016 olympics, while hundreds of others remain forgotten in the suburbs of rio

de janeiro. bbc news. >> you are watching gmt from "bbc world news." i am naga munchetty. the syrian foreign minister has spoken falling international condemnation of the country's suggestion. the new unelected leaders of italy and greece begin putting together the policies that they hope will put their economies back on track. aaron is here with the latest big news -- the latest business news. all eyes are back on italy. has gone back to the bond market on the hopes that reduced yields will spawn some fortune. >> italy wanted to borrow 3 billion euros. they did that. investors were able to lend them that, but they wanted 6.3% interest rates. it's a lot better than the more

than 7% we saw last week. of course, let me just say that emphasizing the magnitude of the task ahead of mario monti's new government bearing numbers show that factories in italy and the rest of the eurozone are producing fewer goods. industrial output slid 2% across the region. the head of bga says mario monti and his new government hold the key to eurozone's future prosperity. the commerce minister has said his country is willing to help with the process of stabilizing those european economies affected by the current debt crisis. the minister was speaking at the indian economic forum, an annual gathering of business leaders. most of the discussion has been on the slow pace of economic reform and in india. so, the commerce minister says india will be a part of europe's stabilization, but it does not

mean he's talking about throwing money into a bailout. >> this is not about the funds or the money. this is about making sure that a country like india, an emerging economy, is there keeping the trade routes open and keeping a sense of nurture, keeping in mind that many indian companies have relied on areas like the eurozone to grow and 60 over the past decade. india is looking at this -- we are here to help. >> at last, some good news for japan. of course, the world's third biggest economy is out of recession. an annual rate of 6% and three months until september. it's the first period of growth since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in march. rland has more from tokyo. >> the earthquake and tsunami damaged and destroyed factories in northeastern japan, shaking the supply chain at companies that make things like electronics and cars.

the recovery has been far quicker than many had expected. rivals cooperated. customers pitched in to help. in the last quarter, many firms have been able to turn their attention towards catching up on lost production, which means july and september -- japan's economy expanded by 1.5% quarter over quarter. if they continued on the same trajectory for one year, that would be the equivalent of an annualized rate of 6%, the best of any major industrialized country. consumer spending was also up by 1%. one reason why, there was a rush on energy efficient appliances as people try to save on electricity in the wake of the nuclear disaster at fukushima. the question, of course, is, can this momentum be sustained? economists say -- probably not.

in fact, growth has already slowed down in this quarter. the turmoil in europe has pushed the yen to record highs against the u.s. dollar in recent weeks and demanding the competitiveness of japanese exporters and prompting the government to intervene in the currency market. then there is the flooding in thailand. many japanese companies have factories there. it has been disrupting the supply chain again. >> let's take a look at the markets. the cautious optimism won the markets opened this monday morning -- blink and you will miss it. what they want to see, a technocrat mario monti is in charge of italy. want to see what policies he will put in place to cap the two trillion euros italy is sitting on. once again, the eurozone is in focus on the markets. i would not want to be mario monti. >> good to see you. in other news, with constant

reports of violence and conflict, it's difficult to picture anything that is bleak as what life is like in afghanistan. the 10 years since the taliban was driven from the capital of kabul, there have been many events, especially when it comes to education for girls. from kabul, this report. >> schoolgirls of kabul free to learn. 10 years ago under the taliban, they were prisoners in their homes. now, in the oxford-model schools and colleges, they rushed to classes, hungry for knowledge. anita teaches class 4. sometimes her pupils aren't distracted by explosions in the distance. kabul is still insecure. this is a class full of hope and ambition. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> doctor. >> [inaudible] >> 1 decagon, the afghan government and nato want to -- one decade on, the afghan government and nato want a formula for peace. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the government should be careful about talking to them, she says. we have to worry about this. >> the 11-year-old shares were concerns. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i do not want the taliban to come back and close the girls' schools. >> the girls study hard, harder than the boys. they come to classes without fear. the school has not been threatened. the teachers have not forgotten the lessons of the past. they know all this could be at risk if the taliban are part of

the equation. back in the classroom, more subjects to conquer, but not far from the capital, the taliban are still threatening schools -- still stealing the future. >> an unwelcome the thought, but these dust mites are found all around your home. the microscopic bugs are in your carpet, clothing, and in your bed. to top it off, they are apparently making millions of us allergic to where we live. i warn you. it's not a pleasant tale. >> are you allergic to your own home? the 15-year-old, gabriel, has been suffering for years. >> i have difficulty breathing. my eyes will get really irritated. i have a runny nose. yes, it's not very pleasant.

>> and you cannot see them coming. attack of the dust mites. >> now warning. the next 30 seconds or so are hideous. these are the causes of some of gabriel's problems, the house dust mites. they feed on dead human skin. there could be a million of them living in your mattress. what causes the allergic reaction is frankly disgusting. it happens when we breathe in the waste, the poo, of the house dust mites. >> if you have a runny nose, sore eyes, sneezing, you might have a normal cold. the symptoms do not go away, it's worth thinking about. you may be reacting to an hour and within the home environment. >> in gabriel's house, they have removed most of the carpet.

he has an air purifier in his room. he uses a special allergenic cover for his fellow and mattress. even the vacuum cleaner has an anti-allergy filter. it's all an attempt to make his home free of dust mites. >> two polish hikers have had a lucky escape after the rebuff for eight days in the colombian jungle. they were stranded here. the current took them off course. you will see now -- one of the men was brought to safety from the water, thank goodness. also, his friend, thomas, we will see in a moment. he was rescued from the river bank. they were both very pleased to be rescued. they were very relieved and not

really, surprisingly, no wonder. well done. >> 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.

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