>> this is "bbc world news." >> 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 know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> baghdad hosts its first arab league summit in two decades, but most gulf leaders stay away. iraq was hoping it would lead to census in the region. there are sunni-shiite disputes behind the scenes. hello and welcome to gmt. i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. also in the program -- a general strike under way in spain. a test of strength as the government prepares its latest austerity measures. it is the hippest capital in europe, but is berlin's reputation for alternative

culture being swamped by big business moving in? it is 2:00 p.m. in baghdad, where the arab league summit is getting under way amid very tight security. there are reports there has been a bomb explosion outside the iranian embassy in baghdad. we will bring you more as we cae details. the meeting is being held by baghdad. the list of the delegates attending tells a very different story. only one of the gulf states has sent a head of government. behind the scenes, a failure to take a stand over the syrian crisis. >> mortar shells crashing into homs. verifiable footage that shows a town being blasted.

the commentator on the video appeals to syria's arab neighbors for help. in their absence, he then calls to god. >> [speaking foreign language] >> syrian president bashar al- assad is reported to have accepted an international plan to stop the bloodshed. these images show protesters coming under fire. they say the regime is not interested in dialogue until its opponents have been rousted. if anything, the situation in syria is getting worse. 9000 people have been killed. the army continues its offensive. in baghdad at the arab league summit, regional leaders say they will not attack -- there shackled -- they are shackled.

many are not even here. direct neighbors, iraq and lebanon, are urging caution. the entire region is tense. iraq is emerging slowly from a decade of conflict. there's a complete block down in baghdad. insurgents have already threatened to attack the summit. >> in there. unlikely there will be any resolution. if this summit passes off peacefully and without violence, it will be regarded as a success. bbc news, baghdad. >> now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world. a general strike is underway in spain. it's been called by unions to oppose reforms the government says are essential. more cuts are expected on friday in an effort to reduce

the country's deficit. joining me from madrid is our correspondent. tom, what is the turnout light for this strike? >> the main event is expected for this evening, george. there's a strange feeling on the streets of madrid that more rubbish analysts people and less traffic. as i said, there are small protests. reforms are designed to cut the massive problem of unemployment in spain. nearly one in four people here cannot find a job. there are a lot of people opposed. >> as the day began, so the standoff between spanish police and members of the country's union. there was some trouble. the authorities tried to allow businesses to work.

the unions protested to stop that from happening. already, there have been dozens of arrests across the country. public transport here is affected, as are other services. clearly, many people are not working. others struggle with their morning commute. >> [speaking foreign language] >> this man thinks the strike will not solve any of the country's problems. >> [speaking foreign language] >> it is another believe the action is justified. he said workers' rights in spain need to be protected. the strike is made a response from the union to the government's labour reforms, which it hopes will cut the soaring unemployment. it comes one day before the announcement of the budget this year, in which we can expect more cuts to public services but officials in brussels have said madrid needs to do more to get its budget deficit in order. >> [speaking foreign language] >> demonstrations have been building steadily today.

the unions say spain should stand up to brussels and not bowed to pressure. the government says it is committed to its program of reform and will not change anything. it says many will work today. tomorrow, it promises a very austere budget. that will only feel more discontent. >> tom, this is a real kind of test of strength, isn't it, for prime minister mariano rajoy? >> mr. mariano rajoy's biggest test since he took power in december. george, the government came in and said the situation we are confronted with is a lot worse than we expected. the government before, the previous government, has left a much worse and. therefore, they had to cut the budget deficit much more than they thought. brussels said, no, your target is not big enough, and we want you to cut your deficit even

further. the union told us last night that spain has been twisted, its arms being bent by brussels. >> tom, is there any sort of coherent alternative argument? what is the alternative? >> it is a very good question. i don't think anyone has put any real credible answers on the table yet as to what spain can do. there is that internal debate, which we've seen in other countries across the eurozone. it is whether you should cut so much so quickly, and whether that will suck growth out of the economy. spain's economy is not in recession. we are expecting a recession of 1% to 1.5% negative growth this year. i do not think anyone has put a concrete proposals for anything other than austerity. >> tom, thank you very much.

thank you. japan has carried out its first executions for more than a year and half. three prisoners were hanged. japan has more than 100 inmates on death row, including the ringleader of the 1995 gas attacks on the tokyo subway. at least 70 people have been killed in several days of tribal fighting and southern libya. a libyan government spokesman said 150 people have been wounded and 1500 government troops have been sent to the region. italian officials say they have seized assets belonging to muammar gaddafi and his family. even a harley-davidson motorcycle were recovered. the founder of the amazon, jeff bezos, said an underwater

expedition he launched has found the engines of the apollo 11 moon missions. he now hopes at least one of them can be recovered. an american teenager is beginning a life sentence for the murder of two british tourists in florida. both in their mid-20s, they were shot dead last april. witnesses say tyson killed the two after initially trying to rob them. >> 17 years old and guilty of a brutal double murder. tyson will spend the rest of his life in jail. during sentencing, the convicted killer was shown a video tribute to his british victims. he was confronted across the courtroom by his friends. >> every night you go to sleep, every morning you wake up, i want you to think about my

friends who you murdered. their images will be imprinted in your conscious until your very last breath in life. they continue to inspire those who knew them. the you might think that being a man is about carrying a gun, but it is not. shooting to guys in cold blood is being a coward. >> james cooper and james kourzaris were on a holiday. they went out for drinks. security cameras in one bar showed them chatting to women. they took these photos of themselves, which were later released by the police. at closing time, they set out on foot into the night, ending up 20 blocks away in a low-income housing project. local people heard gunfire at about 3:00 in the morning.

soon afterwards, the bodies of the two britons were found. james kouzaris had been shot twice. both men did not have their clothing. this key witness testified that shawn tyson had given him a gun to hide under his house. other witnesses described how the defendant confessed to the killings, boasting, "i did that." hours before the murders, tyson had been in custody after an earlier fire arms arrest. he was free on the same night he ended the lives of two young men and thousands of miles from home. steve kingstone, bbc news. >> india's rural revolution.

-prices are filling the pockets of those who were once poor. prosecutors in chile will seek murder charges against four neo- nazis accused of killing a man. the case has prompted a national debate in chile about hate crimes. thes for aiel sold clos living, but dreamed of the theater. he was beaten, burned with cigarettes, and nazi symbols were carved into his body. outside the hospital, hundreds kept vigil as daniel late in a coma. there is anger here. the crowd shouted out "murder

er." the president has promised that he will not rest until an anti- discrimination law is passed. >> [speaking foreign language] >> we are going to construct a better protected society with more love, when no one is discriminated against for many reasons. all chileans have the same rights. >> on tuesday, the date daniel died, his mother thing to those who had gathered for his support. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i want to say on behalf of all my family that we appreciate the support and all the beautiful things that you have given us here. >> four people have been jailed for attempted murder charges. it is not clear whether any of them have any links to neo-nazi groups. >> stay in chile, a large fire has ripped through a plastics factory in the capital of santiago. nearby residents were evacuated. the mayor of the city said the

exact chemical content of the burning plastic is not known. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am george alagiah. the headlines -- the arab league is holding a historic summit in iraq, ending the violence in syria is at the top of the agenda. a general strike is underway in spain. a test of strength as the government prepares its latest austerity measure. time now to catch up on all the business news. let's just start with -- brazil, russia, india, and china. >> and south africa. >> they have a summit going on. they're talking about using their muscle in a little bit more. >> absolutely. i do not think we can stress how important this group is. bric's account for 45% of the

world's population. they account for a quarter of the world's growth. george, you talk about them getting louder and bigger. that's because they are being the up with these financial and political institutions that were created six decades ago. the imf, which is typically always led by a european and the world bank, which is typically led by an american. a nice little deal. we've had many stories. the voices from these emerging economies are growing louder and saying now is the time that a non-western is in the top tier of those places. the indian prime minister has said these are institutions that have not kept pace with the changing world. can they find enough common ground given that jim o'neill,

who coined the term bric? most experts believe that there is still enough common ground. having listened to this. >> there are other areas. these are five countries that have had tremendous growth in the last ticket. these are countries fully adapted. in this process, we also have new challenges and new problems that we can learn from each other. >> interesting. it will be very interesting. >> let's go from big multinational stuff to stores. h & m are doing all right. >> giving in the squeeze in consumer wallets, they're doing pretty well.

in the last three months, profits up 5%. profits at $550 million. but before tax. they were slightly less than expected. here is the reason why. they have kept their discounts going for some time, for a long time now. like all retailers, they are facing a squeeze of rising prices. things like cotton and you'll have been going through the roof. in asia, rising wages. at the end of the day, they're doing pretty well. i asked one fashion expert what their secret was. he gave us the answer. >> they have been a really good retailer over an extended period now. what they do in particular, they think globally and act locally. i think you do have to do that. quite a lot of retailers over time have not done that. also, they are in a very good segment of the marketplace. they are not a commodity-value retailer. they have this fashion element.

they bring in brands, as well. >> he's not talking about us. make it quick and sell it cheap, basically. >> as he was just explaining, the brick nations are meeting in delhi. rising energy costs and the uncertain economic climate in the u.s. and europe are taking their toll. despite a slowdown in economic growth, countries such as india still offer lucrative business opportunities. >> india is cashing in on its rich farmland. a bounty that is filling a rural revolution. two decades ago, he was heavily in debt. as the economy of india boomed, so did demand for his oranges. it now fetches $300,000 per

year. the money has transformed his life. his family live in a large, modern home. he sends his children to boarding school. they've developed a case for the urban luxury that you would not normally find in the countryside. >> i bought my wife all the luxuries you have in the city. microwaves, washing machine, a gas oven [inaudible] -- everything to make her life easier. >> increasingly, rural india is where the money is. it has surged ahead. rising food prices may have hit the pockets of those in the city. it is filling the wallets of people here. most indian villages are still really under developed. there are no proper roads, clean drinking water, or even enough electricity. what the government has done is pumped in and of money to rural

welfare programs, which, along with rising farm incomes, has left everybody here with a bit of cash to spare. while urban india is spending less, in rural areas, they're keeping the cash registers ringing. >> people come in and buy coke and many other things. >> 2/3 of indians still live in villages. that is a population of nearly8 800 million people. one reason why india is still taking giant economic straits and hoping to translate that into political clout. >> i said we would go back to our top story, the explosion in baghdad on the weday of the arab

league summit. this explosion outside the iranian embassy is the last thing baghdad would have wanted. >> yes, but there's very little information about the explosion. we did hear it. i heard two explosions. other people are reporting loud explosions. it's tough to tell where exactly it is and what was the cause. definitely embarrassing for the iraqi government. at the same time, bear in mind that the iraqi officials have been saying that iraq is still in a very difficult security situation. what they're saying is, this is a success precisely because under such circumstances, they have managed to hold this summit and to have a number of arab leaders, and for the summit. >> thank you for that update. >> there cannot be many capital cities like berlin.

destroyed and split for half a century and it opened up for business. the city is famous for its underground arts and music scene. some residents fear the subculture is under threat as new developments began to take over. our berlin correspondent, steve evans, has more. >> [speaking foreign language] >> this is one of berlin's iconic buildings. it has been a home to artists for the last 20 years, now earmarked for development. they are ready to move squatters out. >> the mayor of berlin once called the city's poor but sexy. not so poor anymore. residents say berlin is changing. >> berlin is getting more and posh. more

and losing artists. this is not the same berlin anymore. >> people are entertained at the open air market in an up-and- coming area. this was a mixed area in the old east berlin. now it is upwardly mobile. the >> everything has restaurants, bars, shops, and everything. it is for people who have a lot of money. >> big corporate money has come into berlin. it looks like any of the world's corporate complexes. when berlin became the capital of the united germany, and in came lawyers, accountants, and professional people. there are now tensions between this new area and older residents that are being priced out. >> its a scrubby bit of waste land in a grungy, rundown part of the city, or is a piece of

prime real estate in a global cities where the money is rushing in. the problem is, it's both of those things. >> there was an exhibition sponsored by bmw and the guggenheim foundation of new york in this land on the port area. activists went on the internet to urge protesters to derail the project, prompting its cancellation here. the city government is striving for a change to make berlin more prosperous. no more poor but sexy. >> berlin is the capital of germany, but it does not have the german industries. it does not have the number of jobs it needs. >> berlin is a mix of old and new, like all cities, but runs berlin, the berlin of protesters, is an area of capitalism. can berlin have the jobs it needs and keep its old, a gritty side?

steve evans, bbc news, berlin. >> that's just about the end of this edition of gmt. before we go, a reminder of the story we have been leading with today. the start of the first arab league summit to be held in baghdad in two decades. the government was hoping it would put its census stage in the region. what's happening, as the meeting was just about to get under way, there were a couple of explosions in the center of the city. rockets or mortar rounds are reported to have been fired. one witness said a blast occurred near baghdad's heavily fortified greene's own. another said it was near an embassy. our correspondent said there was some explosions. there are no immediate reports of casualties or any damage. stay with us on "bbc world news." there is plenty more to come.

>> 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 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? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.