>> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. ♪ >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america."

>> the deadly shelling in syria, warnings a humanitarian catastrophe as homs endorsed a sixth day of attack. and the failure to agree to a resolution has led to an increase in violence. >> by fear that the mortality that we are experiencing in homs, the firing into neighborhoods is a green harbinger of worse to come. >> hello and welcome to gmt. i'm george alagiah with a new world of news and opinion -- with a world of news and opinion. plus, calling for national

health after he is arrested. and the italian football manager quits over a raised brow -- race row and calls for a new manager. in new york, the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon has delivered his toughest message yet on the crisis in syria in what will be seen as a clear criticism of russia and china. he said the failure to agree on a u.n. security council resolution has allowed the damascus regime to step up its war on its own people. those are his words. the shelling is now in its sixth day with growing reports of a humanitarian disaster in the making. >> another day in homs and more shells and rockets crashing into building areas. at the epicenter is still a hotbed of defiance to the regime since early on.

there are armed rebel -- armed rebels, but also many civilians. inevitably, they are paying the price. activists say the victims of this latest spasm of a violence included three whole families buried in to loot -- buried in the rubble of their own homes. doctors struggled to save the lives of the seriously wounded. this man has been shot in the lower head. he is alive, but the doctor fears not for long. we called on the -- called on them immediately to stop the bombing so we can evacuate the dying and the wounded. they are dying on these tables because we cannot help them. trying to cut off the flow of weapons to rebel fighters. this is the iraqi border in the east. the outside world is slowly moving, horrified by all of the bloodshed and fears of

disintegration. >> how many deaths will it take to halt this dangerous slide toward a civil war and sectarian strife? at this moment, of such grave consequence, it is more origen'urgent than ever to findn ground. >> the concern is there, but what to do? especially after russia and china vetoed an otherwise unanimous security council resolution. one idea is to revive the suspended arab league mission, but to have in partners from the u.n. it would take time to organize and we would also need syria to agree. outside intervention as in libya is still being rolled out. there are no easy answers. as the search for a solution goes on, more people are dying. bbc news, beirut. >> let's take a look at some of

the other stories making headlines. a chord in the maldives says the arrest warrants were issued for the president and his defense minister. the president is now appealing for help from the international community. reports say his family has already fled to neighboring sri lanka. >> these pictures are being shown on a local television channel in the maldives, showing the president, former president, being seized in the store by a policeman and taken away. authorities have issued an arrest warrant for him and his former defense minister. in the capital on wednesday, police crash with his supporters, who are demanding his reinstatement. some sustained injuries in the rioting. there are other outbreaks of trouble in smaller islands across the archipelago.

the army has now deployed to the second largest city. the new leader has appealed for an end to the political turmoil that has been taking place in the indian ocean nation, which is heavily dependent on tourism for its income. he has denied that the events this week of that -- amount to a coup, but rashid says he was forced to resign at gunpoint. he has asked the international amenity to step in quickly. >> i hope that the international community will take note of what is happening. if they cannot do something right now, then it is certainly delayed until tomorrow. tomorrow, the fact on the ground will be that i will be in jail. >> he said that the new minister had promised he would be the first former president to spend the -- his life in jail and he

felt the minister was working to make good on his pledge. >> reece's finance minister said the country -- greece's finance minister said the country's survival in the coming years depend on agreement. the coalition government failed to reach an agreement on the new austerity program. there will not release a bailout worth 130 billion euros unless a series of tough measures are adopted. >> these are familiar scenes. the weary leaders of greece is a political party is trying to find agreement on how to make painful cuts. and a pained expressions tell the story. they know that more cuts and -- more cut in wages and pensions will be hard and could cost them at election. in order to get a bailout from the imf and the european central

bank of 130 billion euros, $170 billion, they often find it nearly $400 million in cuts to state and private pensions. on that, leaders could not agree. >> we are trying to ensure that the people will be heard, but it is hard. in these difficult times, we must look after the ordinary people, the ordinary pensioner. i have no right not to do this. i have no right not to negotiate hard. >> on a another condition they seem to have already come to an agreement, namely to reduce the minimum wage and cutting 15,000 public sector jobs. there is immense pressure on the greek prime minister, who spent most of the night meeting with the international debt inspectors. those talks have ended without agreement.

as the eu finance ministers meet in brussels on thursday, the coalition partners will again put their heads together, too, in the hope that an 11th-hour deal can be struck. otherwise, they say it will be a painful default and greece's exit from the eurozone. >> pakistani officials say u.s. missiles have killed in al qaeda a leader in pakistan. a drones strike near the afghan border killed monsoor. it is the second such attack in as many days. some pakistani soldiers were mistakenly killed last november in a drone attack. and human rights violations in the sudanese region of garvedar.

a new wave of attacks have been fueled by the country's breaking the and barbara. -- the embargo. thousands have been displaced by fighting between the tory rebels and to the army. -- the tuareg rebels and the army. 12 million people are at risk of going hungry. david cameron has backed the english football association in its fight with the coach. the coach put on wednesday after disagreeing with the governing bodies decision to strip john terry of the team's captain see over racial allegations. taincy over racial

allegations. the crux of like to start with a couple of thank yous. first, to my colleagues -- >> i would like to start with a couple of thank you. first to my colleagues after a challenging week. and secondly, to the board. we have had tremendous support from the board. it is a 14-person board now, but they have provided a unified view and a tremendous level of backing. and i want to mention the level of football expertise on that board. we have people with huge knowledge of the game and the guidance and help they have given during this time has been very important. i would like to publicly thank fabio capello for all of the work he has done. he has provided us with the

world cup and now the year 2012. i want to emphasize that in all his time with us he has behaved with dignity and honor. he is an honorable person. at yesterday,say th we concluded matters with a handshake. any reports of storming out are not true and a complete record -- misrepresentation of facts. and i have been in football now for nearly 20 years and i have a good understanding of relationships with managers. i do agree that the manager is the most important person in a football club or an organization like this. but there are moments when the board and the german have to step up to the plate and when strong leadership is required -- and the chairmen have to step up

to the plate and when strong leadership is required. i want to emphasize that we have 100% support for him during his tenure here. and for the sake of clarity, i want to recap on recent events. we all believed that the john terry case would be dealt with in march or april. when it was this bonsall we were taken by surprise, as was everyone. -- when it was postponed we were taken by surprise, as was everyone. we had to make an important aincy.on as to his capt.c we had communication with fabiol on friday morning. he was not happy, but he accepted the the board's authority on the matter. on sunday, fabio conducted an

interview with italian broadcaster. because conductor and huge public debate -- it caused conjecture and huge public debate and, frankly, huge dissatisfaction. i met with him yesterday and we had a meeting the loss of a little over an hour. it was a very detailed meeting with a detailed questions asked by us. we adjourned the meeting an hour later. i met again myself with fabio in his office. it was at that time that he offered his resignation. and i come on behalf of the board, agreed this was the right -- and i, on behalf of the board, agreed this was the right decision. the meeting was professional and amicable. all matters were concluded within four hours of the meeting starting.

with regard to the future, i know adrian will speak about this in a bit more detail at the mom-and-pop -- in a moment, but i'm very pleased to announce the new manager. he managed the england team and he knows the players very well. i have great confidence in storage. it will be in good hands. in stuart.war we will be in good hands. we will have the best team in place as soon as we said the weekend. >> let's leave that press conference from david bernstein. with me is our sports presenter. let's get some reaction. interesting that he said fabio

had been told of the decision to strip john kerry of the captain cy. and it was interesting that he was ready to throw in the towel. >> this is a man that has won european champions titles. he is in his 60's. he is not used to being [unintelligible] the most important position is the manager. i thought was interesting they said that. but in this instance, they daughter was necessary to strip him of his captaincy. there were not aware of the comments he was going to make and it was a situation they could not tolerate. >> basically, john terry, stripped of his captaincy because he is facing charges of racial abuse and capelo thought he should stay there until the

case was done. he perhaps, did not get, the sensitivity of race and how important this was not to take a different view from the organization? view was that he should be innocent until proven guilty. this is a sentence -- sensitive issue. a stand had to be taken and media pressure was being put on the vfa. many said that he was not the man leading and that the charge was hanging over his head. >> thank you. when libyans mark the first of -- first anniversary of their uprising against colonel gaddafi later this month, not everyone will be celebrating. part of the country supported

him and fought for inlet to the end. -- bought for him right up to the end. -- fought for him right up to the end. >> libya's freedom holds little joy for the children of the defeated. military-style morning exercises are familiar enough. but not the new national anthem. it symbolizes a revolution no one here wanted to see. the battle for gaddafi's birthplace last year left scars on almost every building. and on its children. most of their families were strong supporters of the old regime. >> nothing has changed. it is just a different flag on our books, and a new anthem.

they attacked us in our houses. they destroyed everything. what did we do to them? just look at our school. >> sirte was amply punished for its defiance. there are libyans that sai should never be rebuilt. it is too much of a gaddafi project to live on. >> his home town was a showcase of libyan capital and international venue. it has come to this destruction. and you have to wonder if it will ever fit into the new libya. the new rulers are promising that it will. they cannot overcome the hostility that it earned from its once privileged status.

>> everyone agrees that sirte should be our top priority for rebuilding. i think all libyan people now feel sympathy for the city. >> there is little evidence of that yet. much of the population here feels beaten and abandoned and remain stubbornly loyal to gaddafi. >> if you ask people here, they still want to believe gaddafi is alive. not he remains -- and he remains in our hearts. >> they have paid a very high price for the loyalty. libya, though, may also have to pay price if the losers of the uprising are pushed aside and forgotten. >> let's turn to business news now. aaron is here.

some good news for american homeowners. they have struck a deal between mortgage lenders and federal and state governments. >> they are close to a deal at the moment. this is an interesting story because we are hearing that some of america's biggest banks are very close to what is reported as a $25 billion settlement with the u.s. government. what is behind this? it has to do with allegations that these banks systematically abused these homeowners during america's worst housing crisis since the great depression. it alleges that these banks repossessed homes during the crisis that were using -- using documents that were incorrect, or in some instances, falsified. bank of america, citigroup, wells fargo, jpmorgan chase -- just to name a few. it is important because if they settle with the bank, they avoid

lawsuits. the result of the payout would be 750,000 people who lost their homes in the u.s. would receive about $2,000 each. and 1 million more would see their bree -- their mortgage reduce or refinanced. if they do reach a settlement at $25 billion, it will be the biggest ever between the u.s. government and a single industry. >> but the deal is not signed and delivered yet? >> no, but very close. it is likely. >> there is more to it than just interest rates, isn't there? >> absolutely. nobody was expecting any change in interest rates. the focus was, will these central banks within this region that is struggling, will they put more money into the system? we heard from the bank of england 20 minutes ago and that is a darkly what they are doing. it has increased its

quantitative easing, qe, by the tune of $29 billion. even though it does risk inflation -- deposes that a threat to inflation. the european central bank -- it poses a threat to inflation. the european central-bank, it is suspected they will announce another measure of cheap loans, billions of bureaus and dollars to other banks around -- billions of bureaus and dollars to other banks around europe. for interest rates in the eurozone, no change, as expected. and this is why, the experts say. >> the economy has been stabilizing over the last three weeks. we will wait and see and keep interest rates at 1%. keep some ammunition there in case the economy deteriorates

further in coming months. >> i was just calling to say -- i'm sorry, i did not listen to all of that, but this business of pumping more money into the system, is there evidence that it works its way through? in other words, that the banks will go on to lend? >> shourd, and there's the problem in a nutshell. -- sure, and there is the problem in a nutshell. the bank of england had a quantitative easing program that was something like 200 billion pounds sterling. and you talk to small businesses and they say they are still struggling to get a loan. the banks are very tied up with the money they have. we are seeing the same thing in the u.s. and in europe. the banks are reporting the money because they are scared of each other and they're putting it back into the ecb as a safe haven. >> thank you. it is a case of persistent and

patient paying off after more than two decades of drilling into the eyes of an derica. russian scientists have -- into the ice of antarctica. the russian scientists have reached a lake that is billions of years old. the courts on the surface, it is the coldest place on earth -- >> on the surface, it is the coldest place on earth, but beneath the surface there are more than 300 collegial lakes. -- glacial lakes. they had to drill through 3,000 meters abies. scientists have made a breakthrough, reaching a lake six times the size of luxembourg. >> we do not know what the climate was all that time ago, what sort of bacteria existed then, how the genesis of life was happening. the answers could be there. >> scientists say they cannot

take samples immediately because there is the risk they will be contaminated by the chemicals they have used to drill. this is exactly the reason why environmentalists are worried. >> there are risks that could damage this lake, and some of them are connected with polluting the lake, with the drilling fluids, as well as other stuff that can get into this unique lake. >> the russians say they are the first to reach any of this of glacial lakes, beating off competition from british scientists trying to access and other body of water, like ellsworth. it could take months to get the samples back to the laboratory. the sheer quantity needed means the only way to transport them to russia is by boat. >> stay with bbc world news. but-by. -- bye-bye.

♪ >> make sense of international 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. ♪ >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you?

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