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>> and now "bbc world news." >> activists in syria say a major attack is being waged by government forces against the opposition in a suburb of the capitol damascus. this and other offenses by the government countdown for their commitment to by the national envoy kofi annan. >> it's part of the agreement that we stop the killing and we top the violence and we start talking. that both sides come to the table. >> hello and welcome. also coming up in this program, shock and anger in grease after a man shoots himself in the head

in a public suicide. and armies from west african nations meet to try to restore democracy. it's midday here in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington and 2:00 in the afternoon in damascus. where the syrian government has said they've begun with drawing from major centers where pro democracy protests have taken place. an advanced international team is due to arrive in the country to broker a deal that would lead to the deployment of 250 unarmed people to monitor a cease-fire. activists say that syrian troops are attacking a suburb of damascus in what they describe as one of the most violent campaigns since the uprising began. jim muir reports from neighboring lebanon. >> just half an hour's drive

from damascus center, shooting in the city of douma. just four days from the deadline for it to call off its crackdown, the regime seems to be pulling out all stops. activists say there's a real state of war here. even closer to the city center, video showed large numbers of groups where hay are engaged in a crack down there as well. syrians say they've already begun to with draw. defiance under the regime continues. it is also close to damascus. they lay siege to the local government building and fry to raise the rebel flag there. far away to the north, government forces were also in action attacking several towns, including this one.

but homs, the third biggest city in central syria continues to take the brunt of the battering. clashes go on. rebel fighters displaced from the quarter seem to have dug in in other districts. some of them from the free syrian army took over the homs national hospital on tuesday. they filmed large numbers of decomposed bodies that had been stored there. images too gruesome for us to show. under kofi annan's peace plan, rebel fighters are also supposed to stop fighting. russia, playing a key role in securing syrian compliance is strongly critical of western and arab support for the opposition, especially those calling for it to be armed. >> it is clear as day that even if the opposition is armed to the teeth, it will not defeat the syrian army. and there will simply be slaughter and mutual destruction for many years.

>> despite the supposedly imminent peace agreement, frightened civilians are still fleeing across the border, like these families crossing into turkey at night. thousands of others have already fled to turkey, lebanon and jordan. if the annan plan fails, there may be many more to follow. >> and that report was jim muir. now let's take over some of the other stories making headlines today. there is shock and anger in greece after a pension publicly committed suicide on wednesday. the 77-year-old man shot himself in the head in despair at the measures imposed by the government. he left a note behind linking his actions to the countries deeping economic crisis and his own debts.

so mark, clearly people are have been reacting with great shock, but also anger at the news of this man who kl i'd himself so publicly. >> those clashes that went on for several hours between riot police and protesters, they hurled pet roll bombs who responded with stunned grenades and tear gas. also a lot of solidarity. this case is taking on greater proportions. seen as representatives of the deep disspare that many are feeling here. this is a nation whose very essential fabric is tearing. 51% unemployment among young people. suicide has soared. it has doubled in the last couple of years. there is anti-immigrant vie lance on a scale that was not known before. all of these signs of a society that lives extremely troubled and which sees the death of this

77-year-old penger as very much representative of a greater nation. >> and in emphasizing the suffering of the order people through this suicide, is it also it creasing public anger at the politicians? >> clearly. public anger at the politicians is really at boiling point here. we've got collections in greece in five or six weeks time, and the main party that has supported the measures throughout greece's financial crisis are likely to take a huge battering of those ballot boxes. losing ground to smaller, newer parties. there is a lot of anger at politicians here. greeks feel it is the politicians who have brought this country to their knees now and likely to vent their anger at the ballot box. there's a lieutenant of anger -- there's a lot of anger, a lot of

disagreement. but restaurants are still full, people going about their daily life. not a picture of doom and glome, but certainly a sizable section is suffering very badly indeed. >> sure. mark, the prime minister has expressed his sympathy for what has happened, however this is not going to have any impact on the continuing measures? >> no because the main party is under a three-line whip from the european union to continue these misches in order to be bailed out. remember, this country is surviving now on two separate bailouts totaling over $200 billion euros. it needs to continue to cut myrrh, in order to receive international bailout money. greeks see very, very little light at the end of the tumble. >> mark, thank you very much.

chinese dissent artist says he has been ordered to shutdown live web cams at his home which he said he set up to highlight the 24 hour surveillance he has lived under. he said he installed cameras allowing his supporters and the chinese authorities to go online and see what he's up to. the israeli police say a rocket fired from the egypt's sinai desert hit the eilat. authorities say nobody was injured and there was no damage done. police in pakistan say suicide blast in the country's biggest city has killed at least four people and wounded more than a dozen. officials say the bomber targetted a senior police official who was traveling in a

police control. major cancer charity in britain says the number of women diagnosed with cancer of the womb has increased by more than 40% sibs the 1990's. cancer research u.k. says the increase may be caused by a rise of obesity levels. >> cancer of the womb remains a relatively rare disease in the u.k., but over the past decade more and more women have been affected. since the late 1990's, the number of women diagnosed with womb cancer in the u.k. has risen by more than 40%. alongside that rise, the numbers of death from the disease have also increased. in 2000, fewer than 1,500 people wid died. now the number is more like 1,900. >> to reduce the risk of womb cancer you can do that by keeping a healthy body weight. also very important to spot the

signs of the disease as early as possible, particularly look out for any unexplained bleeding, any pain after sex. >> but even though the number of women ho are dying has increased, so too are the number getting treatment. they now survive for five years or more. cancer research u.k. says maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the best ways to protect against the disease. >> now, armies from west african nations are pleeting to evaluation the situation from the coup in mali. they are preparing for a force to deal with the conflict. how real east i think do you think the -- sending a military

force is? >> it is a complicated operation because you may remember they tried in vain actually to do the same in the rivery coast when there was political turmoil there. so i think the main issue here is they're going into mali, it is against these military counsel which has the taken the power over 10 days ago. or against the rebels who are occupying north of the country. >> the french, they have said there isn't going to be a military solution to the problem in mali. there's going to have to be a political one. what's the likelihood of getting any talks between the rebels and the two leaders and the traditional political leaders? mali? >> it is very hard now to say. but you know there is an organization -- so they need to

solve the issue raised by the coup in mali. but with the rebels, it will be difficult to see how we can come to a decision since the rebels themselves seem to be having some division among themselves. so it's diff call to say because theme people want their freedom, and the authorities do not want two separate countries in mali. they want same mali they have now. so the position seems to be a bit complicated in this crisis in mali. >> if there were to be some kind of military intervention by west african nations, what kind of force might they have to deal with? >> it is believed the rebels in

the north are well armed. >> yes, they are really well armed. that's why we need to see how they would come up with the forces. the plan is, in one region, it is supposed to be deployed -- but you know, nigeria and other countries is already facing its own difficulties. rebels got arms from the libyan situation, so it's difficult for them to two against those people. i think i might be looking for help from someone else even though they will be leading the oppression. >> thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. still to come here, how much

environmental damage could this cargo ship cause in wails here in the u.k.? before it spills out. the u.s. secretary of state has announced that the obama administration is prepared to ease sanctions against burma. this comes just days after the pro democracy leader awning awning one a -- andrei kirilenko won won the election. >> a new day in burma, the united states announced they would ease sanctions. >> we are prepared to take steps for a fully acredited ambassador in the coming days followed by a form announcement of our

nominee. >> mrs. clinton also praised this man, burma's president whose preforms are bearing fruit. >> the president and many of his colleagues helped launch the country on a historic new path. while there is still much to be done, we applaud the president and his colleagues for their leadership and courage. >> last sunday's elections gave aung san suu kyi, the democracy campaigner, a first seat. and there were many more for her party. marking a turning point in the country that had grown used to military backed governments. but for some, hillary clinton had this warning. >> sanctions and prohobitions will stay in place on individuals and institutions that remain on the wrong side of these historic reform efforts.

>> the military backed party still dominates the parliaments. >> it is time now for the business news. so spain, triggering worries again about the euro. >> absolutely. taking a line from a famous hor are film, it's back. and i think investors are fretting once again. sort of co waves, lapping at the shores once again. but it is important to remind everybody we've had a bit of a respite. the reason being $1.3 trillion into the european financial system. that action has kept the markets relatively calm.

that action has kept the interest rate that some of these troubled economies have forced to borrow money to pay them done. you touched on it, spain returned to the money to pay the highest interest rate it's had to pay so far this year. 5.7%. it goes beyond that because the likes of italy, portugal and greece were also forced to pay higher interest rates. let's have a listen to what the experts are saying about this current picture. >> over the last months we always had some bad news here and there. we had portugal in january, greece in february and march. now we've had these spanish problems, but beyond spain they sell off again in italy where there was no major news except the labor market form. in portugal, no news and greece, little news. we see it spreading.

>> well, you mentioned three weeks before the first rounds in those presidential elections, and the economy now is really reasserting itself after all that business, when it was securities, now the economy. >> we are talking of course the second largest economy in the euros, and president sarkozy unveils his economic manifest. how will deal with the economy. he wants to stick to the target of cutting $115 billion euros from the budget over the next five years. and also talked about taking training program so they can take their benefits. tax exile, having to cough up basically. we know his main competition is from the -- they include higher taxes for the rich, a freeze on fuel prices and pay cuts fsht president and the cabinet

ministers. but what sort of challenges face the winner, or what condition are they in? >> i think it's fair to say they're in a fairly precarious position. we had the latest debt figures for last year. we showed debt higher than probably most people expected at around 86 g.d.p. within a couple of years that figure will be above 0%. that's the level where the french government is really in danger of losing control of its public finances. >> i think it's interesting to note that from some of the sources i've been reading, the french voter, cutting the budget deficit isn't one of their proirts but i think it will be for whoever wins the presidential election. >> that goes without saying. >> absolutely >> let's return to our main story. activists say government troops are attacking a suburb of

damascus in what they say is the most violent campaign since the uprising began. jim, the syrian government says they have accepted kofi annan's deal, but the reality on the ground is far from anything to do with a cease-fire. >> they say they have pulled troops out of some areas. but in the hot spots it seems they're fully engaged. the impression is they're trying to deal a heavy blow before and assuming they of course start respecting the final end for this crack down on tuesday, which is the deadline. now, there's precious little evidence from the trouble spots of winding down. homs has seen more shelling, attacks up on towns in the

north. one shouldn't exclude the possibility that rebel fighters may indeed be carrying out attacks themselves, trying to provoke the government and make it look bad by appearing to be doing what they're doing, or apparently doing. i think we have to keep an open mind. but the signs on the ground are certainly not looking good. a lot of skepticism about the compliance of the final truth on tuesday. but at the same time, a huge amount of momentum behind mr. ah north korean painstakingly balanced. >> ok, tell us a bit more about that because we understand there kofi annan will be heading to iran to talk to people about putting their weight behind the big ally. but just very quickly, do you know anything about this so-called offensive in the suburb of damascus? supposedly the worst since the uprising began? >> well, the heaviest is in douma itself. douma is a suburb to the

northeast of the capitol itself, roughly perhaps about half an hour's drive from the central town, probably the explosion going on there is being heard in large parts of city. it has been a center of opposition activity in the past. one of the areas where the government forces were cleared out in late january when they began with the damascus suburbs in this drive to reimpose stale control throughout the country along the borders and elsewhere. now it could be that for symbolic reasons the opposition itself may have chosen to show some activity there in order to pro vehicle the government. but certainly there is defiance still there in those suburbs, in parts of damascus and many other parts of the country. >> jim muir, thank you very much. now here in the u.k. salvage experts are trying to remove about 24,000 liters of fuel in north wales which ran aground on

tuesday. the environment agency says it has leeched a small amount of oil into surrounding areas. sean, alarm bells ring of course when we hear about oil leaks among pretty coastlines. >> absolutely. it is important to say that it is oil that does disperse easily into the sea. it can be broken up by rough seas. of course having said that, nobody is complacent here. the agencies want to get this oil off the vessel as soon as possible. there's some 24,000 leaders in this tank. said to be on the port side, which has been undamaged. it was grounded here from the last bay and very rough seas on tuesday night.

seven members of the crew had to be air lifted to safety in a dramatic rescue. the seas were so rough that the life boats from near by were not able to board from the sea. now, a few miles away from where i am now, just up the road, immediatings have been taking place throughout the morning. representatives of the coast guard agency are been meeting with police, the counsels too and 5 five salvage companies are bidding for the contracts to remove this fuel. the environmental agency of wales, they are there of course. they're playing a very, very key role in this. as you mentioned a small amount of fuel had earlier leaked into the sea. but we're told the impact it had has been minimal.

there are a great many birds in this area, so they have been patrolling the beaches, checking for any signs of pollution. they haven't found any. it's a positive thing here at the moment. they want to keep it that way and they want to try to get the fuel off as safely and as quickly as possible. >> thanks very much for that very thorough update of the state affairs there. and stay in the u.k., it's been confirmed that giant pandas in scotland will not have cubs this year after they failed to mate. officials announced that the panda mating season was over after her hormone levels dropped to almost normal levels. it follows major mating attempts over the past few days. officials had hoped to bring the pandas for one last try, but her hormone levels were just too low. what a pity. no panda babies.

that's all for the moment. good-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, 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. >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet los angeles.