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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> france and russia discuss a new u.n. resolution on syria. moscow's veto stopped the last attempt. and a growing humanitarian crisis. supplying food and medicine in aid corridors. hello and welcome to gmt. world of news and opinion. a generation lost tomb hunger. millions of children and are being pulled out of school so they can work for food. hunger.tost to and the iranian government, where this leaves prospects for talks.

it's early morning in washington, 2:00 in the afternoon in the syrian city of hama, the latest area to feel the full force of the government's crackdown. the opposition stronghold of homs had been shelled previously. the syrian government has announced a day for its referendum on a new constitution that was promised. now the latest. >> a symbol of a country deepening crisis. it's not the first time a pipeline has been hit, but this fire will be hard to put out. two sides planned one another. activists say that it was hit by government shellfire. state tv said it was sabotage si by terrorists.

security forces have tried to root out armed rebels. it's not only the central cities that are affected. the government admitted five soldiers killed in clashes in this town in aleppo province in the north. many similar incidents reported from all parts of the country almost. president assad has ordered a popular referendum on the new draft constitution that was finished on sunday. it puts an end to the monopoly of the ruling party and will allow any president to be reelected only once. but the syrian opposition and its outside supporters are not likely to be convinced. regards his reform process, strongly backed by russia, as cosmetic and the radical. they are calling on him to go. >> we strongly disagree with china and russia's veto a

resolution against the violence being perpetrated by the regime. >> humanitarian conditions worsening all the time, the french are also trying to get agreement past the u.n., but no outside countries are stepping up to protect the corridor. >> a humanitarian corridor to allow the ngo's to reach areas where massacres are taking place need to be put forward by the un security council. >> they will hold a friends of syria meeting indonesia' tunisi. it's hard to see how such a big operation could be carried out on the ground in such conditions. abc news reported from beirut. >> many occasions on this program when we have reported on impending famine and calls for

urgent humanitarian aid, but a new report from save the children suggests the problem is more deep-seated than the occasional crisis. it's as rising food prices have led millions of parents to pull their children out of school so they can help bring food in. it says any gains in child welfare are now threatened. our world affairs correspondent now reports. >> in the spotlight now is a new hundred emergency fear as the agencies have rapidly stepped up in west africa. children with severe malnutrition being treated in niger, recently hit by drought, crop pests, and soaring food prices. record food prices of the past year is focused on in the new report. the chronic problem of child malnutrition is compounded and they're forecasting terrible

consequences if there's no mt more concerted action. >> we have made progress on diarrhea and pneumonia and measles, but that will stall unless we deal with the stubborn problem of malnutrition. to 0.6 million children will continue to die every year if we don't. >> in bangladesh, prices and food markets have risen by up to 50%. for many they are not affordable now. this person says whatever she gets is never enough to feed her children properly. >millions of parents and countries struggling with malnutrition have cut back on food for their families this past year. the risk is that many more children will end up with physical and mental stunting. children have also been dropping out of school to work to pay for food.

the agency is proposing a world congress summit when leaders are in london for the olympics. bbc news reporting. works as a nutrition adviser for the world food program. she's joining us from the office in senegal. there are figures all over the report. it's something like half a billion children could be physically or mentally stunted as a result of hunger. how credible are these conclusions? >> in the sahara region of west africa we have a recurrent food and nutrition problem on going all year round and over the years. we have different types of malnutrition. stunting is a type of malnutrition that affects the quality and quantity of food children receive. this is something gets a problem -- that is a problem in

2012 that we were expecting an even more of a problem in this crisis. children under the age of five, this will have a long-term impact on their development and mortality of children. >> in a general sense, you don't think this report is in any way alarmist? you think it is well-founded? >> in this context when you have so many children and studies that have been done on the impact of stunting on the children, it is important to note this will have a long-term impact and it's a large majority of the children in the sahara region and throughout the world there are many areas that have high stunting rates. in 2012 where we have food security and nutrition crises, we have high levels of wasting,

which is when there is immediate lack of access to food for children and this can lead to very high mortality rates and compounds the problems we have with stunting. >> one of the things causing the deep-seated crisis according to the report is surprises. i was having a look at food prices. the latest evidence seems to suggest that prices started coming down towards the end of last year and in the last month that they were down again. according to the united nations. so is the problem possibly going away? >> i don't think we can say that. there's been volatility in food prices. it varies from place to place. we have seen them rise and lower, but in general they are rising every year through the honker season over the summer when people have a difficult access to crops. during that time even in the best of years we have a hard time accessing all the food we

need and that plays out in the prices. when prices rise, there are many coping strategies families use which have an impact on nutrition. they limit the use of more expensive commodities, things like this and vegetables, meat and dairy and then rely on staples like rice and cereals, which are not the root of a well-balanced diets. >> i am afraid we will have to stop there. sorry to interrupt. thanks for your time. thes take a look at some of other stories making headlines around a world. iran's president has every reason to look pleased as local media report domestically produced nuclear fuel spill will be loaded for the first time in theesearch reactor into arou capital of to arouiran.

we will talk about the significance of today's developments there. mark fitzpatrick is a journey from the international institute for strategic studies. thanks for being with us. for the benefit of people like me who are not familiar with this. how significant are the things happening in iran today? >> two developments. the rest of them, developing domestic fuel rods for the pope tehran research reactor is politically significant, but not militarily significant because it only produces isotopes for treating cancer patients. second, a development of a new centrifuged that apparently is being announced, is military -- is militarily insignificant if iran is able to produce them in large amounts. domestic ands the m

the other has political implications. >> with both of these things -- and i hear the distinction you amazed -- where does that leave the balance of international opinion between those who think maybe we still have time to talk, to negotiate and those that say if there's military progress being made, then we need to do something more drastic? but the developments today really affect iran pose a timeline for being able to produce a nuclear weapon, were they to make that momentous decision. but both of these developments have a political impact. as they play into iran pose domestic line, we hear from the supreme leader on down, that sanctions are not affecting its nuclear program. in fact, they are making iran more self-sufficient. iran is under tremendous sanctions these days and people are feeling the pinch. the government has tried to demonstrate that the sanctions are having some kind of positive

effect. that is the real importance of today's announcement. >> we have to leave it there. thank you very much. thailand officials say they believe the data suspects arrested after tuesday's bomb attacks in bangkok or planning to target individuals. they are investigating possible links to a similar plot targeting israeli diplomats in india and georgia, which israel has blamed on the iran. two people in custody are iranian as is a third man who thailand authorities are searching for. fire has swept through a jail in honduras killing 200 prisoners, most are believed to have suffocated to death. because of the car has not been established. officials don't think right-wing is to blame. snow as deep as five bidders has hit parts of eastern europe as a big freeze shows no signs of letting up. thousands of people across romania and albania and moldova are trapped in their villages

and authorities are using helicopters and army trucks to deliver supplies and are digging people out. still ahead, will they remain side-by-side? european union talks on a new bailout for the country of greece as brussels six more reassurance for its money. let's take a look at stories making headlines around the world. we begin with the financial times, which is still focusing on the greek debt crisis. the front-page article says euro zone officials have called off a meeting of finance ministers to approve a vital bailout for aspin's. itomes amid a growing by about the merits of allowing a national default. the international herald tribune of business as a warning for greece, summing up portugal opposing position. economic growth slowing. the china daily said relations between china and the u.s. are

maturing as the vice-president of china speaks candidly with american leaders about their differences. the independents front pages dedicated to a new report that suggested a quarter of the world's children are too malnourished to grow properly, claiming hundreds die of malnutrition every hour because of the global food shortage. this is gmt from bbc world news. the headlines --an oil pipeline is on fire in the syrian city of homes which has been under assault by government forces nearly two weeks. unconfirmed reports say that hama is also being shelled. a new report from save the children says millions of children have been pulled out of school to pay for the rising cost of food. time for business news. let's look at these new figures

on the euro zone gdp. what does it all means if you look at it as all? >> it means all those countries which use the european single currency as a whole bureau's own experience as a contraction of around 0.3%. the real interesting fact lies beyond the numbers. if you take germany, the biggest european economy, there was a contraction of 0.2%, because they benefited from the weak currency, exports. italy and the netherlands are in recession now. they contracted 0.7%. france and romania actually bucked the trend. the question is what is going to happen going forward? i spoke with a lady who says if you take whole, you have to be

positive especially for the likes of germany. >> receive encouraging numbers from china. inflation coming down around the world. from today's point of view, i would much rather start looking forward and try to analyze too much into what has happened in the last three months of 2011. >> the numbers show the difference between the seven economies and those in the north in europe. >> the greek debt crisis and all the ramifications, to what extent is this having an effect on the corporate world? >> again as sense of preparedness. a couple of companies, a french banker called bnp paribas took cheap money that the ec be was offering in december and used that to reach capital targets, sold their shares rallied 7%.

another interesting company called heineken, they said we are having problems in the euro zone, but we have to adapt accordingly and we are looking outside the euro zone as well to give us a helping hand. >> the biggest growth is coming from the emerging markets where population growth, economic growth, and political stability work hand-in-hand to boost our business. if at the same time, if we look back to results from last year, not only did we have domestic growth from emerging markets but also our mature part of the business posted growth and in particular europe. our european business is still very healthy with the exception of greece. >> there you are. they are surviving in these troubled times. >> thank you. staying with economic problems, greece was hoping to get

approval for multibillion euro bailout from the european union today. the key ingredient was missing. european ministers want written assurances that asserted measures adopted on the weekend will actually be implemented. in greece there's a sense that the euro zone ministers are simply pushing too hard. finance minister said that the country is on a knife's edge although he now expects a deal to go ahead. another minister echoed the desperation that many greeks are feeling my now. >> greece is making all the efforts required. the people cannot take it anymore. the government is operating with superhuman efforts and we are past the point of exhaustion and in the social and economic system. europe should also take responsibility. >> let's get the latest from our correspondent in greece. interesting to have somebody in the government like that used that kind of language about the crisis.

what does it mean? >> i think there's a lot of frustration here. the government feels it has done its part. it has passed a painful package of austerity measures that prompted the worst rioting in the country for many years and brazil is still asking for more conditions. that shows the mistrust there is between the euro zone panned gr -- and greece. i have just gotten off the phone with a government source who had previously as suggested greece had done all that was necessary for the bailout funds, but i've been told there was one more hurdle. it's in the 325 million euros of extra savings the government task defined. that is not get there, but they are confident it will be found before telephone conference call later on today. what's clear is party leaders - -here have signed a

written pledge. >> you and i have spoken about this before. to get back to the very old question -- and we have seen other european countries going into recession -- it had better make the other cuts that the euro zone is suggesting. where does that leave the economy room to grow? >> figures have just come out from last year. the final corder in greece, the economy contracted by 7% -- the final quarter. that was up from the 5% that was estimated. the country is mired in recession. a lot of people say that cuts and iausterity are deepening the recession, that the country needs to grow out of the crisis. even if the country gets a bailout which it hopes to win the next few days, because otherwise bankruptcy looms large on the horizon, perhaps it will not be enough to solve problems.

perhaps the recession is deeper than previously thought and if the country will need extra money, perhaps then from the european central bank, which will be reluctant to contribute to all this. many questions remain. a lot more pain , many ordinary people and austerity and cuts ever deeper. >> this program that is being imposed on greece, pastor survived an election in the near future. >> it does. with the european union is worried about is the election will herald in a new government that is not committed to the path of austerity. at the moment ahead in the polls is a party coalition called new democracy. it's party leader has finally signed the pledge, so that will assure european leaders somewhat. >> a prominent russian anti- corruption activists believe is vladimir putin will start to lose his grip on power within 18

months. he is one of the most significant new political figures to emerge in russia in recent years and is one of the organizers behind recent protests against election fraud. he has been talking to our moscow correspondent daniel stanford. >> this was him in december emerging from two weeks in prison. confirms that a prominent anti- corruption activist now finds himself becoming a significant political figure in russia. >> corruption is the basis of the political system that mr. vladimir putin founded. if you are involved in corruption, you are also involved in politics. if i could run for election, i would. first we need to achieve honest elections. so that people like me can take part in them. >> how long will it take to get that simple demands, fair elections? >> the transformation of russia

into a country where people choose their government in normal free elections will take. a long take but if you can ask me six months ago and you believe that there will be 100,000 people on the streets of moscow, i would have said it can happen one day, although i would of been skeptical that it could happen so quickly. but it happened. that was a big surprise. even for the revolution. >> revolution has become a dirty word. everywhere i go, people say we don't want a revolution. do you think that there could be a peaceful revolution which is what is needed in russia? >> the truth is that the a kremlin revolution was carried out by vladimir putin. he usurped power illegally. what we need to do now is to

return power to the people. >> can you see yourself being part of the government sunday? >> our task now is to secure fair elections. that is been task number one. once we have done that, i am sure that great people will appear for candidates for prime minister or candidate for president. i think i will be among those people and i will fight for. a leadership for >> vladimir putin is the most popular politician in russia. you have to expect that perhaps his style of perhapsis what people want. his popularityh is based on monopoly of the media, putting his face on the television. they destroyed all the other politicians around him. and there's the big public relations machine exclusively serving. -- serving him.

i don't think that he can sustain the evil system that he built for more than 18 months. >> he has transformed himself from a lawyer and activists into a political phenomenon. but the russian election landscape is still high style and hazardous for the opposition. the months ahead will be hard. bbc news reported from moscow. >> a reminder of our. top our syria has announced that it will hold a referendum on a new constitution on february 26. the new constitution has dropped a clause which makes the ruling party the exclusive leader for its politics and society. but with government forces continued their attacks on opposition stronghold across the country, i activists remain deeply skeptical.