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small businesses to mar corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> new york police clear the first anti-capitalist camp, the one that inspired a worldwide protest movement. more than 70 protesters were arrested for defying orders to leave. most left when confronted by officers. >> they are surrounding the park in riot gear. they're trying to block of every street. they are lining up to surround us. >> welcome to gmt. i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. also in the program -- opposition leaders in syria meet russian officials. a boom in building in ethiopia,

which is better known for famine and complex. it is now posting a record growth. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 7:00 in the morning in new york, where police have shut down the original occupy wall street protests. they have been in the city's zuccotti park since september, sporting a protest movement that spread across to europe. new york authorities claimed it had become a health hazard and said the protesters can return, but without their tents. >> do not give in. do not give in. >> "no surrender" they shout, as some tied themselves to posts.

two months of protests and the threat to shut down the stock exchange on thursday. the new york police moved in. they barricaded the streets. they lit up the area with spotlights and began clearing the tense and the people from zuccotti park. they were given only 20 minutes notice. news also came in a put your message from the city mayor, michael bloomberg. >> i guarantee, you will remember this moment for the rest of your beautiful god-given life. >> doesn't sort of arrested amid allegations of property destroyed and people being roughed up. >> they are surrounding the park in riot gear. they are trying to take over every street. they are lining up to surround us.

i do not know anywhere but here. i cannot get arrested tonight. >> one day ago, oakland in government pitted against anger about an unfair financial system. >> this is something that's a significant portion of society. it demands to be listened to. it probably will not go away. >> technically, the city park is being prepared for cleaning. everyone knows it is far more. the disruption of the global financial center. thousands of police sent to protect it, as the seeds of discontent grow about the gap between the rich and the port. humphrey hawksley, bbc news. >> joining me now on the phone your zuccotti park is an 18- year-old protester. what happens to now?

what happens next? >> we will go back. we are currently having an emergency meeting between whoever wants to be involved, which is a few hundred people. we have unanimously decided that we will go back and we will not let this hinder us. >> when you say you will go back, will you attempt to go back with your tents? >> i am one of the day timers. i come there almost every day, but i do not sleep there. i'm sure people will come back with their tents. police brutality stop their god-given rights. >> i did not see any brutality. >> the majority of the brutality was in the middle of the park after all the people who were willing to leave left. there were about 100 people

chained inside the park. they were sprayed with mace. they were not even moving. there were a lot of macings about two blocks away from the park. >> what have you achieved since september? the bankers are still getting their big bonuses. wall street is still there. what have you achieved? >> we are spreading the message. we're getting support, which is grown tremendously in the last two months. change this drastic will not come through here a few days or a few weeks of action. we have to continuously show our message and try to teach people about what's happening. >> what is the message? what is it that you actually want? do you want a world with no

bankers? >> personally, i want money to be out of politics. i want there to be greater equality between people -- not to have the rich and the poor so seriously divided. that's just my personal demand. i cannot speak for anyone but myself. >> thank you for being with us on gmt. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world. syrian opposition activists say at least 80 people were killed on monday by government forces. the opposition is responding to the latest violence with a multi-pronged a diplomatic offensive. their representatives have held talks in moscow with the russian foreign minister. another delegation is in cairo for talks with the arab league. let's take you to moscow now. the head of the syrian delegation -- let's listen to

what he has to say. >> i would like to say, we have a fukushima negotiationl. , -- i would like to say, we had negotiations. we can reach commonplace in the future. >> the chinese artist, ai weiwei, says he has paid the first installment of a $2.5 million tax bill the beijing authorities say he owes. australia's prime minister is pushing to overturn a ban on sales of uranium to india. the move would remove eight diplomatic torn between the two countries and comes ahead of a visit by u.s. president obama. >> india rises and brings

hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. it will need more energy. is looking to supply 40% of the energy needs route nuclear energy. we are a very big supplier of uranium. having access to the new and growing market is good for australian jobs. >> the supreme court and the philippines has overturned a government ruling preventing the country's former president from travelling abroad to seek medical treatment. she is being investigated for alleged corruption. she says she wants to get expert help for a rare bone disease. a british minister has called for the release of political prisoners in burma. and number of prisoners were due to be released this week. this appears to have been delayed. the international development secretary, andrew mitchell, is visiting burma. he says the reforms being introduced are grounds for cautious optimism, but more

needed to be done. >> we need to see these prisoners released, especially some of the bright hopes for the future still incarcerated a very long way from their homes. those people need to be released immediately. we also need to see the engagement. there are a large a number of elections coming up as a result of members of parliament becoming ministers. unlike in britain -- it creates election opportunities. some of the party is not involved in the election before to now engage. >> andrew mitchell, the british developed a secretary. blighted by a feminist and border conflict -- by famine and border conflict, that's the ethiopia we hear about. you might be surprised to know it's one of the fastest-growing economies. no wonder it's attracting the

attention of investors long nervous about putting their money in africa. >> struggling to keep up. this vast open-air market. this is ethiopia's emerging class. the economy has grown steadily, pushing up demand for more than just the bare essentials. now food at ethiopia's biggest producers -- exactly the kind of business western investors wanting a piece of. >> high demand is coming on line. this is a consumer market that's growing very fast, much like china look like maybe 20 years ago. it seems to be well managed, top down by a government that has a plan. essentially, it's as good as it gets. >> increasing numbers of people are able to buy food, like the

biscuits' they make at this factory, and roads like this are opening up new markets. >> ethiopia's fast improving infrastructure is thanks largely to massive investments from india and china. each year, its stake in its economic future on more private investments from the west. >> all these buildings were nonexistent. >> the ethiopian-born man is leading the way, excited about the potential benefits all around. >> if the country focuses on four or five sectors -- infrastructure, just what you see here. i have no doubt that ethiopia will with millions of people from poverty and create jobs. >> on a number of levels, ethiopia has far to go. millions rely on food aid. allegations that basic human

rights are neglected. at home in their tiny flat, the security guard and his wife are potential winners in this growth story. all they are feeling at the moment is massive inflation. >> the price of milk has already gone from $2.5 to $7. >> you are surviving. >> yes. >> there's all the potential for an african powerhouse, but raising this troubled country out of poverty will be a tall order. >> still to come on gmt -- >> how do you feel? >> treated good. strong. >> american congresswoman talks about her

battle to recover after she was shot in the head. >> people who join choirs often say they enjoy the social side as much as the musical experience. it seems they can also have medical benefits for a range of conditions from depression to parkinsons' disease. >> they are warming up. the choir is made up exclusively of people suffering from parkinson's disease. it is a disorder of the central nervous system. it leads to difficulty controlling movement and can have a dramatic impact on the strength of the voice. michael has been coming to the choir for about four months. he is convinced the choir has led to a physical improvement in

his condition. >> wonderful. much stronger, much healthier than before. >> other acquirers have been set up around the country -- other choirs have been set up around the country. an improvement in self esteem and a reduction in anxiety and depression. he runs this choir. he says it's time for the therapeutic power of singing to be more widely recognized. >> we want to be able to get singing prescribed. realizing that patients can come together and sing with other people. that's an easy way of starting to get into a cycle of improvement. so, for a range of conditions in

the future, it may be that singing in a choir could be part of a treatment. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am george alagiah. the headlines -- police in new york have carried out an operation to clear anti-wall street campaigners from their protest camp. in a meeting with syrian opposition leaders, russia's foreign minister has restated moscow's position that they should engage in dialogue with president assad. aaron is now here with the business. europe has been cut -- we have had some growth figures for the eurozone today. >> this is all about the balance of the austerity measures and growth. the austerity measures, spending

cuts, tax increases -- we know they are pretty much killing of potential growth. in the last three months, the eurozone gross domestic product, which is the total sum of everything that produced, manufactured, and sold, came in at 0.2%. if we break that down, look at germany, the core of the eurozone. half of 1%.grew by they got a boost from domestic consumption, consumer spending, on the ground, in those countries. if we look at the stickman of europe, greece is still bogged down in a recession. greece's economy contracted by 5.2%. that's a horrible number, but it's on the part of improvement. the previous quarter was down by 7.4%. before that, 8.3%.

the very difficult decisions facing eurozone leaders. >> you have to make a choice of either belt-tightening are stimulating growth. if you look at the numbers in most european countries, its belt-tightening. that means you have to bite the bullet. if you to the belt-tightening together with measures that can stimulate and increase growth in the medium term, i think that is the right way to go. >> that balance again. let's move on. credit rating agencies. we know they have enormous power when they give their ratings. the eu is trying to impose new rules on them. >> the eu has never really forgiven the three big agencies, moody's, s&p, and fitch for not giving enough warning about the credit crisis in 2008. they are a bit angry they have not given the uncomfortable truth about the exact amount of

that we're sitting on these european books. they're angry that these agencies have not given europe the credit for all the work they've done post crisis. some even think that these agencies are a bit u.s.-centric, despite the fact that fitch is based in france. we are expecting this. they're expecting possible regulation on the agencies. a new eu regulator. we are expecting to limit or reduce the reliance on these agencies, especially in europe. more transparency. perhaps more important some would say, a penalty for misconduct by these agencies. this could all open the dialogue for an alternative. listen to this one. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i believe this will start the discussion again that an independent european ratings should be founded, which would

give an alternative to the american ratings agencies, which are dependent on private enterprises. >> richard branson. >> he's very good with his german. little mistakes there. we should get that ruling in a few hours. some airline news. shares fell today after it warned of a significant loss for the current financial year. we are talking about the singapore budget carrier. also, high fuel costs is really hurting tiger. it's not all gloom in the airline sector. the european low-cost carrier has reported a 32% rise in full- year profit. it made almost $400 million. more passengers offset rising

fuel costs. a total dividend that's equivalent to 71 cents per share. that's rare in the airline industry. let's take a quick look at the markets. i have the european markets up there. they are down, believe it or not. if we get to see them, it will be a sea of red. they are focused on the eurozone and the issues that continue to bog down the entire region. that's it for the business. they're supposed to be a whole new system, but it's less whiz and more bang. >> you get it right one day. thank you. the official accused of -- is giving his version of events in public for the first time. brody clark resigned last week saying he had been unfairly blamed.

he is now being questioned by the home of the select committee. very quickly, give us a background. >> over the summer, as many of us have experienced, airports and ports across britain. it turns out that passport checks were watered down to make the lines go away. this has now turned into a he- said-she-said dispute. she said she agreed to some wondered down, she did not for those outside the eu. that is directly conflicting with what this very senior public service is saying. he is saying he is in no rogue official and everything he did is in accordance with existing

policy. >> immigration is one of the issues.ch-tone how damaging could this be? >> one of the newspapers last week showed a cartoon of osama bin laden walking untroubled through passport control. the damage, in a sense, has already been done. david cameron has made a lot of political play over immigration. in particular, accusing the last government of being too lax. it's a very sensitive issue. when you ask voters what their list of priorities is, although the economy comes first, immigration is never that far behind. >> this prime minister does not like reshuffling too much. i know this is a difficult one, but do you think the home secretary will come out of this

ok? >> she is still in a very vulnerable position. key will be whether this public servant can produce in e-mail or a piece of paper that shows she should have known what the existing policy was. the prime minister will be reluctant to see her go, if only because she's one of the very few women in his cabinet, and he needs to appeal more now to women voters. >> thank you very much. the american congress woman who was shot in the head at a meeting in january has spoken in public for the first time about her ordeal. gabrielle giffords is still unable to speak in full sentences, but says she hopes one day to return full-time to the house of representatives. >> from this to this. a recovery that almost defies belief. 10 months after she was shot in the head at point-blank range, gabrielle giffords faces the cameras. >> how do you feel?

>> pretty good. strong. >> she is a remarkable survivor, but this is the moment the congresswoman learned that others had died in the shooting. >> sad. >> this was gabrielle giffords back in january. she was sworn in as a third term congresswoman. here she was an arizona one week later, meeting constituents outside a supermarket. moments after this picture was taken, a gunman opened fire, killing six people and wounding 14. a bullet passed right through the congresswoman's skull, traveling the entire length of the left-hand side of her brain. this intimate footage was filmed by her husband. see gabrielle giffords re- learning how to walk and talk. her speech therapy even includes 1980's pop.

>> ♪ girls just want to have fun ♪ >> there are setbacks, too. however remarkable, this recovery is far from complete. she was asked by abc news whether she would run for reelection next year. >> she wants to get better. >> you think to yourself, i will go back to congress if i get better? >> yes. >> for millions, she's already in inspiration, wherever the journey leaves. steve kingstone, bbc news, washington. >> what a touching story. a reminder of our top story on gmt. police in new york have cleared anti-wall street demonstrators from a park in the financial district where they have been camping since september. hundreds of police in riot gear went in during the night to remove the protesters, some of whom had chained themselves together. about 70 were arrested.

stay with us on gmt from "bbc world news." there's plenty 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.