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>> the russian foreign minister blamed the syrian rebel forces for some of the deaths during the weekend violence. in syria, no sign of a stop to the conflict. the latest was shelling in homs. hello and welcome. i am george alagiah. tony blair facing questions for his relationship with murdoch companies. conflict in eastern congo, reports on you and claims defectors are being trained by neighboring rwanda. it's midday in london, 7:00 in the morning in washington, 2:00 in the afternoon in damascus,

where the peace envoy kofi annan has arrived for talks on tuesday with president assad. the faltering peace process remains the best hope to end the conflict. is something britain and russia agree on. beyond that, a meeting of the two foreign ministers in moscow shows continued divisions on how to deal with a conflict that has killed and least 10,000 people in the last 16 months. >> despite international uproar over the massacre at houla, the violence and killings continue. still coming under shellfire according to unverified activist video. houla isge art dominating the news. syria is blaming rebel fighters for the bloodbath. this boy said that he survived

by playing dead. when the army tanks got outside the family house, a mixture of government troops and army came in. he said that they killed his mother and sister right there and took away his brother and uncles, who were found dead later. russia is reluctant to blame the regime outright for the massacre. but the foreign minister sergei lavrov said what matters is stopping the violence, not who wins in damascus. can only come if president assad goes, as far as britain is concerned. -- peace can only come. >> ever increasing chaos and

descent into almost all-out civil war and collapse. >> the focus is on kofi annan's talks in damascus. will tell president assad that the security council insists he must comply with the peace plan and withdraw his troops, tanks, and artillery. that should have been done weeks ago under the peace plan. but it has not happened and the cease-fire is in tatters. especially after the houla massacre, the rebels are not interested in dialogue with the regime. are reports they are getting more weapons. rebels control significant parts of the towns and cities. are even planting the rebel flag on government schools in hama. now we talk to the gym in beirut. let's turn to the kofi annan mission. i am told that he is just arrived. what is he supposed to do,

realistically? we have had six or seven weeks of his plan and not much has changed, as your reporters made clear. >> yes, well and he is fighting to say that plan and to get some sort of process going, which seems almost like a joke under current circumstances. he will convey from the security council its insistence that the government must be serious about implementing its plan. the government announced it accepted the plan. he received a letter from the foreign minister who he will meet shortly that says in writing they have implemented the plan to pull their army and weapons back to the barracks. that has not happened, but it is in writing from the government that it has. he will likely have strong words behind-the-scenes about what is going on. beyond that, he wants to get a political process going. the only way out of this is a

process of dialogue between the government and the opposition. the opposition is deeply fractured over the idea of some kind of dialogue with the government. the government seems to be attending houla had not happened. >> use a the kofi annan will take a message from the security council, but today in moscow we have heard that message is not as clear as it might be. differing quite significantly and still. >> yes, the russians don't want to call for president assad to go, but i think that one should go below the surface of what sergei lavrov said in the last press conference. he did not give a hint about what the russians were doing, but it was clear later if that they have put heavy pressure on damascus to accept kofi annan's plan including withdrawing

troops and tanks and artillery. sergei lavrov said today that we did put pressure on them and we have been putting pressure on them every day. i would not place too much heed to what is said in public. what matters is privately how the russians feel they have been affected and whether the time has come for the russians to avoid the prospect that the british foreign minister -- one secretary woul see collapsed -- would see collapsed. russia is not going to announce these things at a press conference. >> thanks very much. we will have a special program looking at the massacre in the syrian town of houla and with

international community can do about it. that's the latest in 1900 gmt. that is right here on bbc world news. let's take a look debts and other stories making headlines around the world today. the former british prime minister tony blair has said the relationship between politicians and media moguls was unhealthy but not cozy. he has been accused of being too close to rupert murdoch during this time in power. our political correspondent has been working the inquiry and is with us now. when have we learned from tony blair? >> he began with a guilty plea because he said that 21st came into office it had crossed his mind he could do something about the influence that the newspapers wielded in public life, but he decided against doing that. he said otherwise it would have on least a long and protracted

battle for the government and the consequences for politicians could of been harsh. >> it's very important not to see this as simply about the murdoch media. with any of these big media groups, you fall out with them and you watch out, because it is unrelenting once that happens. my view is that is what creates the situation in which the media people get a power in the system that is not guilty and which i felt throughout my time uncomfortable with. i took the decision and this could be subject to criticism, and i took a strategic decision to manage this, not to confront it. but the power is inconceivable. >> a key question is whether because of that media power was

policy influenced by it? >> exactly. tony blair is adamant that he never gave in to what rupert murdoch wanted, but he does explain that it did become a bit difficult because rupert murdoch was talking to him regularly, particularly about the issue of of whether britain joined the the euro. tony blair said i came into government as a pro-european and i left in that way. the other thing he has denied is that there was some kind of unspoken pact between the two men. rupert murdoch would support tony blair oppose the government. but that was never implied. >> sri lanka's controversial defense minister has told bbc it is no longer corporate s -- no longer appropriate to see the north of the country as a tamil

area and has replaced those officials from the majority ethnic group. the un says tens of thousands of tamil civilians were killed towards the end of the war. . there's been strong criticism of remarks made by the head of international monetary fund christine lagarde in which she called on all greeks to pay their taxes. many of posted angry messages on her facebook page. a socialist party leader in athens said that christine lagarde had consulted the greek people. the captain of one of the leading football clubs in italy has been arrested by police investigating match fixing. seen here arriving for questioning, stefano mauri is one of many players that the administrators -- one of many players and administrators from top-level clubs that have been detained. foreign investors are lining up to do business in burma as the

country opens its doors to the outside world after its recent elections. the indian prime minister has become the latest international leader to visit. india is keen on getting access to the rich and largely unexploited gas fields. we have our representative in the capital to explain the significance of the. prime minister the. significance of the prime minister's visit. >> it was a delegation of not just senior delegovernment officials but some of the best known names in the indian industry trying to exploit some opportunities that exist in burma today, to get access to oil and gas reserves that the country has and has yet to be exploited, working on infrastructure in key areas. indians are hoping to use ports

in northwest burma as a gateway to its own northeast. also on the list of security and especially along the deeply troubled border. >> i want to take you to nairobi. we have been reporting of an explosion that has hit downtown nairobi. there was a building on fire after the explosion and several people have been injured in that explosion. joining me from nairobi is who has been to the scene of the blast. >> a lot of people were curious about what happened and managed to get close up to where it took place. part of the roof of the shop had been blown off. the explosion blew off the back end of the building. there were lots of clothing and shoes strewn in front of the store. an explosion did take place.

not able to establish. the fire services managed to put out the fire and police are beginning to cordon off the area. >> this is bound to bring back memories of past explosions. any w discussion hmight-- is there any discussion about who might be to blame? >> its early to tell, but it puts nigeria on jitters as well. there have been a series of low- level explosions if not just in nairobi but in northern kenya and somalia with the most recent having taken place on the weekend. but it makes people anxious. >> there will be those who point the finger at al-shabab in somalia. >> they are the first suspects, but at this time it is too early to tell who is responsible.

>> thanks very much. still to come, the bbc is shown evidence from the un accusing rwanda of fuelling rebellion in the democratic republic of congo. the former japanese prime minister naoto kan has been giving evidence to a parliamentary commission investigating the fukushima disaster which happened during his time in office. he has been criticized for being too hesitant when the nuclear power stations were hit by an earthquake and tsunami last year. then later for interfering too much. the plant operator says the actors are now stable. our correspondent in tokyo has the latest. >> this is the first time that they have set up an independent inquiry like this to look into a disaster. it is modeled on something like

a congressional hearing in the united states. today is the turn of the former prime minister to testify before that inquiry. he began by saying that it was the states that should bear the heaviest responsibility for the disaster. he as prime minister should bear that responsibility. he said that japan does did not have the crisis management in place. it was not prepared to deal with three disasters on such a scale. your earthquake, tsunami, and the nuclear crisis at fukushima. this is not a confrontational and counter. the object of this inquiry is to try to get to the bottom of what happened, to establish the sequence of events, and to try to make sure that if japan does turn its nuclear reactors back on earth, they can be run safely and that the country will be better prepared if a nuclear disaster like this were to happen again. >> what was one of rio day most notorious

neighborhoods, there was apeac peace run to bring together reformed gang members, members of the community, and police. there was a major operation by police and the army that led to hundreds of arrests last year of hundreds of gang members. this is bbc world news. kofi annan urges the syrian government to take bold steps to solve the crisis in the country. tony blair has words on a relationship between media moguls and politicians -- it was not helping. there's so much we have to catch up on on the euro zone.

let's look at that and in particular an update with the spanish bank. >> the fourth largest spanish bank, 19 billion euros needed for the bailout. certainly more than most expected. how is the spanish government going to afford this on top of another bailout? especially when you look of the borrowing costs in spain today, 6.4%. that is unsustainable long-term. all of this really still reeling off the back of the greek contagion, expectations that greece will leave. we are seeing more and more companies and countries planning strategies around that possible exit. in placeas a plan to deal with the drachma.

>> the potential problem is exposure, companies exposed to the potential greek exit, imports, exports. the secondary is contagion. what if this spreads to portugal, ireland, italy? there needs to be contingency planning. there is an immediate contingency plan, which is getting six or seven people around a table and saying, what are the issues and how can? we deal can? cracks interesting. i want to ask about -- the boardroom table. pressured to get more women on their. european proposal. the deadline for a confrontation ended today. >> the european union proposal, forcing countries around europe to put more women in the boardroom. the reason is despite all the

years of trying to do that, women still today only make up on average of 3% of european board membership. no doubt that women are underrepresented within europe. 34% of your's biggest companies don't have a woman on the board. that is a remarkable number, given that women represent 60% of all university graduates. if we look at the current rate of recruitment at the moment, it will take 50 years to get women to even represent 40% of the board. five countries in the european union have passed a lot to do this, to force companies to take on women. belgium, france, italy, spain, and the netherlands. the campaigners say that it's good, but that we needed to be all of europe. -- need it to be. >> it does not ensure that companies are able to find competent women.

second, it improves economic productivity, efficiency, and the functioning of company boards. >> there's an explanation of the reasons companies should be putting women on the boards. >> thanks very much. in greece, journalists will go on strike later over labor and wage issues. they are the latest group to protest following austerity demonstrations in recent months. many greeks have come up with their own solutions to their economic hardships. now this. >> what looks like a healthy hobby, working hard on a vegetable patch. it is a lifeline for people here. a local dumping ground until recently, the town hall has transformed the land into small allotments for 40 families hit hard by the greek economic crisis.

>> we are both pensioners, but the state has cut our pensions because of the crisis. we had to do something. this covers more than 50% of our needs so we don't have to spend money in the supermarket. >> this allotment is one of the growing number of examples in greece where people are simply giving up asking for help from the outside from their national government or the european union and they are starting to take matters into their own hands, looking after for themselves, their neighbors, their local communities. the old or the young, rich or poor. this is an unemployed cinematographer. he describes this allotment as a microcosm of creeks society where people from all walks of life reduced to the same economic misery are now joining together to try to make things better. every month the families

working the land hand over a chunk of it to people in need. you're beginning to see this all over greece. low-income families can shop at cut-rate prices. the money they pay is used to provide the most destitute with goods offering. >> these families cannot survive without our help. they cannot keep their children and home -- at home. there are waves of people coming to ask for help. >> the child and family group commands a growing army of volunteers social workers, doctors, and dentists, helping more than 4000 greek families. like maria, she tries to shield her children from the desperation of their situation.

they will need these handouts for a long time to come as she and many others find themselves unemployed, abandoned by a couple state and reliant on their neighbors. bbc news, athens. >> to the rebellion in the eastern democratic republic of congo, there's evidence the country -- conflict is being fueled by neighboring rwanda. we've seen a report that accuses rwanda of supplying weapons and soldiers. our correspondent is in eastern contra. -- congo. >> these soldiers are on their way back to the front lines. until last month, they and their enemy were on the same side. but in april, several hundred of their former comrades went. the fighting is now concentrated

on the rwandan border. the latest conflict is stretching you and resources as peacekeepers struggle to reassure anxious population. the u.n. claims in as testimony from deserters that the rebellion is being fuelled by recruits and support from neighboring rwanda. >> they were given training with weapons handling and they were sent to drc. >> day un spoke with 11 defectors who deserted their poorest in the mountainous jungle area on the rwanda border. the confidential report says it was under the pretext of joining the rwandan military. there were given weapons and training and then sent across the border to fight. one of the deserters is a minor according to the report. the 11 men are staying at this

you encounter while the u.n. and the congo government figure out what to do with it. the condo military say they have heard from defectors telling similar stories. nearly 100,000 people have been forced from their homes by this latest fighting. for two decades this region has had over 1 million note that have fled following the genocide. that horror gave birth to the countless aftershocks that have been felt again here today. bbc news, eastern congo. >> kofi annan has arrived in damascus for talks with the syrian president bashar al- assad. that's all for the moment. stay with us on bbc world news. much more to come.

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