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>> union bank has put its glob ehexpert 's to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news. >> tension in tahrir. another mass protest. the military insists next week's election will go ahead. demonstrators are calling on the generals to quit. >> welcome to "g.m. t. " also, syria in a standoff. are sanctions on the way?

>> fears grow london's heathrow airport could grind to a halt next week. it is midday here in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, d.c., and 2:00 in the afternoon in cairo where at least 100,000 protesters are again gathered in tahrir square demanding the departure of the military power. kamal gonzuri's forming a new government reports of this have not stopped the fury. we go live to our correspondent who is in tahrir square. what are you hearing from the square right now? protesters are adamant that the military council must go? >> indeed, that's the overwhelming feeling here in the square. it is loud and passionate here. but it is also peaceful.

that's the key thing. the crowds have been building for an hour. we have about 100,000 people in the square by the end of the day . if this passes off relatively peacefully, the ruling military council will breathe a sigh of relief because that will be deemed as not conducive to holding parliamentary elections on monday. the big gage danger is if there is a -- the big danger is if there is a resumption of violence or angry young men attack the interior store and violence spreads to other cities as well, there will be cause, i think, to call off the elections on monday. but as it stands, a new interim prime minister has been appointed and there is a euphoric atmosphere in the square. these people demanding the military should step aside from politics. >> you talk about the interim prime minister. we understand it will be kamal

gonzuri in his 70's. is he a man, do you think, that can win over at least some of the protesters in tahrir square? >> well, he already has. many people say he is a good choice as interim prime minister. he was, as you say, a politician in a former regime. he was a relatively popular politician at times. he was seen as the minister for the poor because of the work he did with egypt's lower classes. but many people say, no, this is still a puppet prime minister. he is behind-the-scenes having his strings pulled by the military leadership. and until the general steps aside and hands over a properly elected civilian administration, a lot of people won't be happy, no. it has had the effect of dividing the opposition. we have heard from the muslim brotherhood of course, and many say it is time for protests to end because they feel the

military council has made enough concessions. >> we heard there was an attempt to organize support for the military council today. have you seen evidence of that? >> yes, we understand there is a council protest in new cairo, about five kilometers here today largely in support of the ruling military council. there are 300,000 to 4 hundred hn,000 not being allowed to travel to tahrir square for fear of classes. and in alexandria a lot of people want protests to end and for people to get on with their daily lives and for egypt to rebuild their economy. >> thank you for joining us on "qmt." >> now, the arab league appears

to be locked in a trial of strength. they admitted 500 observers in or face sanctions and further isolation. in the last hour a deadline past apparently without a syrian response. turkey's foreign minister says if damascus doesn't accept the arab league plan the region will no longer tolerate the continued bloodshed. frank gardner reports. >> when an army starts using anti-aircraft guns on its own people, the regime is getting desperate. undetered by tanks, torture, and 300 deaths, syrians are taking to the streets, risking their lives to call an end to the rule

of president bashar al-assad. he's facing the most serious challenge to his rule. many think he's only hanging on because much of the population fears chaos will follow his departure. >> as long as the regime can maintain financial viability to keep paying those who need to fight for the regime and defend it, there will be many syrians who have too much to lose to want to join the opposition. >> desserters like these from the syrian army are starting to appear but not in big numbers. there have been attacks on military installations prompting fears of a civil war, a nightmare for the arab league. its members have already suspended syria. its chair stands empty. today they have been voting on whether to introduce harsh new sanctions unless syria stops the bloodshed and allows in

monitors. syria's neighbor, turkey, said time is running out for the regime. already there is talk for humanitarian response. france is looking at establishing humanitarian corridors to protect civilians. any foreign military intervention in syria will be fraught with problems and opposed by russia and china. meanwhile protests continue. the sniping, the arrests, the timation, torture, and bloodshed. they show no sign of stopping. frank gardner, bbc news. >> our correspondent jim muir is watching the events from neighboring lebanon. jim let's stick with this arab league story for a moment. do you think they have no intention of letting the syrian monitors travel into the country from the arab league? >> it is not totally clear, but the deadline has come and gone, as you remarked, and the signs

are very negative. the syrians are reporting, the official media reporting, state encouraged rallies in several places, including demassous right now to denounce the arab league decision and denounce any prospect of foreign intervention which they are dismissing the arab league stands as. so it is not looking good. they would have to do a tremendous u-turn in propaganda and political terms. let's make no bones about it, if they went along with this seriously and pulled security forces out, that could easily spell their doom. a large part of the country would almost certainly slip out of their control, and that would just leave damascus and the two big cities under clear government control and the rest would be pretty much out -- as i say, out of their orbit.

>> jim, we know the arab league isn't known for taking decisive stands on anything, frankly, in the region. what do you think they might and will do to ratchet up the prerve on syria if syria is indeed exhibiting the signs? >> they are talking about holding a meeting on the weekend saturday, possibly sunday, to basically impose economic sanctions that would hurt. it would be for example a commercial flight ban. they are talking about freezing the assets of syrian officials in the arab world, and freezing all dealings, halting all dealings with the syrian central bank and so on. it would be nasty. the fact is, syria has quite good norks with iraq to its east and lebanon to its west. both close neighbors, of course, i think they would be looking to them as their kind of unofficial back yards, as it were, economically. it might not actually hurt that much. it would be quite a severe blow

including of course if turkey went along with sanctions as well as it said it would do on the northern border. so it would be a severe tightening of the squeeze already there. >> jim in beirut, thank you for joining us. if we get news out of the arab league in cairo, we will bring them to you straight away. >> let's look at other stories making news. >> prioritization in the philippines are asking gloria arroyo to be moved from house arrest. one of her doctors said she is fit enough. she went to the court last week in a net brace. she was refused the act to leave. >> a bbc poll found little public appetite for building new nuclear reactors. more than two-thirds of respondents are opposedbuilding.

>> the first novel written by the american author jack kero uack has been published. he wrote "the sea is my brother" based on his life as a merchant sailor. it was arkifed by his -- it was archived by his brother-in-law. >> moroccans have brought forth a new p.m. election. it is the first held under a new constitution which gives greater powers to the prime minister and parliament. some reformers insist changes do not go far enough. richard galpin reports. >> printing presses churning out leaflets for what should be an historic election for moroccans.

campaigning has been low key. more than 30 parties are taking part. this time, the authorities are telling the electorate they are voting for a parliament and prime minister with real powers transferred from the king. and according to those who drew up the new constitution, the king agrees with this shift toward a parliamentary democracy. >> is he aware of the fact that the traditional is not in house. it needs to be strength yentened. that's why he has been anticipating the people and has satisfied them in advance. >> these first stirings of trouble in february in morocco prompted the political reform. thousands poured onto the streets demanding equality,

justice, and an end to the monopoly of power held by the ruling elite. a few weeks later, king mohammed vi addressed the nation promising comprehensive changes to the constitution. he's lost his power to appoint the prime minister. he says the independence of the judiciary will be reinforced and there will be more rights for women. the king seems to have moved fast enough to prevent a major uprising. not everyone here is happy. some fear changes are superficial and the monarchy will remain extremely powerful. richard galpin, bbc news. >> still to come on "gmt." at home or away? the ideal place to give birth, a study.

>> over a million young people are unemployed in britain. today the government is unrolling plans it hopes will tackling -- tackle the problem. they are looking for workplacements for more than 400,000 young people. here is our deputy political editor james landale. >> there are now more than one million young people out of work and the government knows it has to act. today they will announce a new scheme, by nick clege, that he hopes will make a difference. it will give firms $16,000 to -- apprentice they employ. the price tag for all this is a billion pounds over three years. the ministers insist it is new money and could come from

squeezing tax credits. in all they claim it will help more than 400,000 young people find work. the unions are doubtful. >> what we have to do is ensure that in making these nu new opportunities p. for example, work experience opportunities available, we absolutely ensure that young people aren't allowed to be exploited by a scrupe -- by unscrupulous employers. there are some that will treat them in that way. we welcome any action to address this problem, but we still need to do more than this. >> ministers think the scheme will get every unemployment person learning this morning. they make sure it is a contract. anyone that drops out of that workplacement will receive placement. >> and you can get more on the british government's plans to tackle youth unemployment by going on to our web site at

bbc.com/news. >> this is "gmt" from "bbc world news." the headlines, mounting pressure on egypt's military rulers to step down. that despite the aappointment as kamal ganzuri as the new prime minister. >> no word from syria on allowing an observer into the country. the passing of the deadline is expected to trigger arab league sanctions. quote, "an evil devious act of treason," end quote. that is how trinidad's prime minister described an alleged assassination plot against her and three members of her cabinet. police have arrested around 12 people. the bb's nick davisñrr is in t capital port of spain. nick, what exactly do we knee know -- nick, what exactly do we

know about this alleged assassination plot? >> there is an active investigation. they don't know the scope of it. we are gathering there may be other people implicated who are on the run. the government is concerned that members of the security department are actually implicated in this plot, whatever it may have been. they have begun looking for explosives and weapons. at the moment, all security forces and police are on high alert. >> nick, thank you for joining us from port of spain. i'm delighted to say aaron is here with all the business news. >> absolutely. what do you think we're going to talk about? the euro-zone. italy went to borrow 10 billion ours -- euros. italy is now paying 8%. that is considered sky-high. shockingly expensive money.

meanwhile the euro-dipped to another -- the our oh, dipped to another seven-week low in what they consider a lack of action. many people think the e.c.b. should take stronger action but germany is opposed to that plan. charlie parker is the investment editor of "citywide ." he explained to me why the german leader is at the center of this crisis. >> germany is the only economy in europe that has the fire power to solve this problem. if they want to keep europe together, they will have to pay for it. whether they keep for it in an obvious way by giving loans or whether they find some mission, like effectively the bank buying banks, ultimately it falls on germany. while merkel is the problem, she is also the only possible solution.

>> let's talk about olympus the japanese camera meth maker. he met with directors for the first time since revealing one of the biggest corporate scandals in history. he says he would like to rejoin the company but it is up to share holders. >> i am not obsessed about returning back. i have a wonderful position and i will be comfortably well off. i was fired for gross misconduct. if any of you look at the case. so if i'm not wanted back, and if the share holders will make the decision, then that's fine by me. >> turning our attention to the day after thanksgiving in america. because it heralds really the start of the holiday shopping season. it is a crucial time of the year for the retailers. this year they are fighting harder than ever for consumer dollars in a tough economy. well, jerry is the boss of one of america's biggest retailers at toys r us.

he is confident business will be brisk. >> a lot of consumers have been waiting for this day to start their holiday shopping. something happens when they get in that holiday spirit. i think we all want to have a little bit of fun. we have seen that christmas always comes, and the last thing patients parents want to can the back on is holiday perez events for their child. >> a quick flash of the markets. this is what we saw. in asia, a big dip. the chinese government or authorities may ease monetary policy doesn't seem to have come to fruition. so asia certainly down. europe, guess what, they are focused once again on the euro-zone. i have to tell you, european markets and global markets fed up with what's going on in the markets. that's it. back to you. >> aaron, thank you very much. >> fears growing that one of the world's businessest airports london's heathrow, could grind to a halt when immigration officials go on strike next

week. 8,000 passengers an hour pass through heath row -- heafhrow. they have been trying to minimize impact of wednesday's public sector strike. i'm joined by a p an airline specialist. paul charles. from what you hear of it, do you think heathrow will be lunged into chaos next week? >> we are not just talking about the border around heathrow but who goes in and out of them. the issue is even if the airlines themselves start to cut some of their flights and operate at reduced frequency the passengers that would have traveled on wednesday will look to travel on monday or tuesday or thursday or friday next week. so i this there will likely be a spillover into other days and that will cause a ridiculous

mess at heathrow. >> if there are huge cues of people trying to cross immigration, does that mean planes will be diverted beyond the u.k. all together? >> there is a chance of that. i think the airlines in their planning over the next few days, and they are busy planning at the moment, will be making sure they consider whether they should operate some of their aircraft. in cases like this, they will look at their flights and say which are lightly loaded, which don't have many passengers, can we move them on to other planes so we reduce the number of aircraft actually coming into the airport. this time of year it is not the busiest time of year. that is from about the middle of december onwards. the deage is, should this strike be successful, the unions may call another day later in december which has even more of an impact on heath row and other -- heathrow and other airports.

>> do women who choose to give birth at home rather than in the hospital run risks? home births do carry a higher risk, but the chance of anything going wrong is still well under 1% for a woman giving birth for the first time. and for a second baby, there is actually no extra risk at all. i'm joined to discuss this from the royal college of mid wives. first of all, putting myself in the position of a woman who is about to give birth for the first time, if you can imagine that, the research done, it suggests there is a significantly higher risk for a home birth? >> we need to make clear this was not just on home birth, it was all cases of birth, home, midwife-led units and object stet strick -- obstetric units. it is clear mid-wife births are very safe. it is a fractional percentage of

first-time women that choose to give birth at home that might have problems with their babies. >> you say it is fractional, but is it significant? is it something women should factor in if they are considering a home birth? >> i think any woman considering giving birth where ever needs to factor in the information that this evidence presents us with today. for the first time we know that for example giving birth in an object stet trick -- obstetric unit leads to unnecessary intervention that are not necessarily helpful at all. she and her partner speak to midwife and obstetrician. >> in your view is it only relevant to industrialized nations with have a good infrastructure of midwifery? >> i think it can't be extrapolated across the globe or

even the netherlands because they have a strong history of women giving birth at home. it does have very key indicators that can be used by countries in europe and across the globe. >> finally and briefly, is there any sort of pressure on women these days in the u.k. to go to hospital to give birth? >> i think there has been pressure since the 1970's. we have presented it as the place to give birth to be safe, but there is no evidence that suggests it is actually safer to give birth in hospital. it all depends on the woman, whether she is at low risk, whether she is healthy or not, and really what she feels she wants to do at the time of birth. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> that is all we have time for today. do stay with us today here on "bbc world news." there is plenty more to come. you can keep up with us on the web as well. keep following us here on "bbc world news." thanks for watching. er

>> make nse of internationa news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for yu?o >> bbc world news wasu?