>> 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 offeg 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." >> relief across the financial markets as eu leaders agree on new measures to calm but that storm. eu funding for stronger banks is the plan. will it work? welcome to gmt. i am stephen sackur. also in the program -- a hero's welcome for china's first female astronaut as beijing's flexes its muscle.

one of the most troubled regions path to growth. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 1:00 p.m. in brussels, where eurozone leaders have after a long night of had galene agreed to a plan designed to take the sting out of the eurozone debt crisis. eu bailout funds will be made available direct to struggling banks. the eurozone will work on plans for a banking and fiscal union. the president of the european council, herman van rompuy, claims the agreement was a breakthrough. the latest from brussels -- >> after 13 hours of talks, they got what they wanted. italy's prime minister is happy. spain's leader is all smiles. europe has agreed to a direct bailout for troubled banks in those two countries. it gives them and the euro breathing space.

some see it as europe's richest nation caving in. angela merkel said there were conditions. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i think we've done something important. we still maintain there is nothing without getting something in return. >> in the early hours, talks have stalled over europe's 120 billion euro plan for growth. that is for the long term. europe's leaders are positive about the deal. >> the decision shows once again the commitment of the member states, the versatility of the euro. >> written is not in the euro, but david cameron has been urging those in the club -- britain is not in the euro, but david cameron was content with the agreement. >> they took some steps forward

last night. for a long time, we've said more action needs to be taken for short-term financial facility, to drive down bond spreads and interest rates to create greater stability. it was an important step forward last night. i very much applaud that. >> a vision for the future. more integration and a closer union. that is the result. >> we are expecting more from brussels as leaders begin to make their statements to the press over the next few minutes. we will bring you that as it happens on gmt. now to some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. three chinese astronauts have returned to earth to a hero's welcome after carrying out china's most complex and longest space mission. the 13-day voyage solve china's into space for the

first time. martin patience reports. >> astronauts hurtled to wo earth. these were the final moments of china's space mission. it was a hard landing. china's leaders looking on at mission control -- appeared to be worried. would blanket media coverage, this mission has been partly about bolstering national pride. among the astronauts was liu yang, the country's first woman in space. one of her fellow astronauts said it was good to have his feedback on the ground -- his feet back on the ground. china carried out its first manual docking operation in space. that has been seen as a milestone in the country's bid to build a space station within

the next decade. the prime minister was full of praise. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the success of shenzhou-9 and tiangong-1's manned mission and docking realizes another breakthrough. it marked important progress made by china on the second strategic goal of the manned space flight project, which is of decisive significance. >> china is still no match for russia and the u.s. with money and momentum, beijing wants to catch up fast. martin patiences, beijing. >> a report has accused unjustly tle -- they company hired an independent auditor. it says it will carry out all of its recommendations.

the u.s. congress has voted to hold the attorney general, eric holder, a criminal contempt for failing to turn over documents related to a botched gunrunning investigation. it is the first time a sitting cabinet member has faced such thing. the chinese president has arrived in hong kong to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the restoration of chinese sovereignty. the visit comes amid signs of growing discontent in the territory, 15 years after its handover from britain. police have set up a giant barricades around the president 's hotel. they are expecting demonstrations. the next 48 hours could be vital to the international effort to calm the violence in syria. the u.s. secretary of state, and hillary clinton, is due to meet her russian counterpart to

annan's planned to the meeting, the head of a wider gathering of the so-called syria action group on saturday. this report from moscow. >> at an arms fair outside moscow, they are promoting russian hardware. this has been choreographed. newia is maneuvering for markets. it's working hard to keep old customers, the matter how controversial. syria is due to take delivery of complexes like this one and these are the rocket systems. the west accuses russia of shoring up president assad.

russia accuses the west of hypocrisy. >> russia does not see any problems in selling weapons to syria. the cia and french and british secret service's are shipping military hardware to the rebels. >> lastly, russia tried to ship refurbished attack helicopters to syria. its insurance was withdrawn. moscow says it is determined to complete the delivery. >> moscow claims that money is not the main reason it is still shipping arms to president assad. for russia, there are bigger concerns. moscow fears that if the syrian rebels pushed president assad from power, radical islamists could replace him and pose a

threat to russia's national security. geopolitics are at play. these images claim to show the russian supply and repair facility in syria's port. it is tiny, but russia's only foothold in the mediterranean. the russians do not want to lose it. they are determined to maintain its influence there. >> our task is not to be king of the region. our task is to keep peace there. >> selling arms does not mean brothers in arms. for russia, the national interest is paramount. if the kremlin concludes it has more to lose than gain, the messages for moscow could be very different. >> now linked by geography,

culture, and a bloody and turbulent past. yesterday, we had a special report from rwanda. in a special part of our series, we now focus on this tiny landlocked country that has made strides, but it is still struggling to tackle poverty and establish a fully functional democracy. our correspondent filed this report. >> soldiers preparing for the 50th independence celebration. this army -- [inaudible] genocidal killings have scarred the country since its independence. these rivalries have also robbed the nation of badly needed economic growth. ethnic divisions affected every aspect of daily life. take this neighborhood, for instance. to my left, only two people are

allowed to be there. despite the close proximity, there was hardly any interaction between the two communities. peace has now yield troubled loans. -- now healed tribal wounds. she is right about another form of violence that could gripper country. >> [speaking foreign language] >> though we have -- what we are seeing now is a government that is not against hutu or tusi. the killings taking place now are political. >> the president's party has 90% of the seats in parliament. of the last elections, government opponents have either fled the country, been arrested,

or have died. the press is also closely monitored. recently, a journalist working for this radio station was jailed for life. activists fear burundi is slowly slipping into authoritarian rule. >> [speaking foreign language] >> things that are going wrong in our country. we are now doing politicians work. that's why the government is making things difficult for us. >> these are happier times for the country. unless burundi deals with its human rights record, any gains made will be dropped out. bbc news. >> still to come on gmt -- fleeing the flames. wildfires threaten and

devastate colorado springs. president obama is to tour the area. more than 100 people have died in bangladesh as a result of flooding and landslides. the monsoon season has brought nearly a week of heavy rains, which has also brought devastation to parts of india. at least 27 people have died there. nearly 1 million people have been forced from their homes. >> bangladesh's second largest city is struggling. for nearly one week, the monsoon downpours have kept coming. the relentless rains are making life extremely difficult for the city's four million or so residents. nationwide, the death toll is now into three figures. with the water exceeding nine places, the army is battling to repair the badly damaged infrastructure. some polite have resumed after

airport closures. many roads have been blocked by landslides. activists say it has been exacerbated by locgging. this kind of flooding and damage it causes are common occurrences here. the monsoon rain is crucial to the economy heavy in agriculture. at least 250,000 people have been forced from their homes. the rains have also caused heavy damage across the border in india. officials in assam say most areas have been affected. at least 1500 temporary shelters have been set up. the authorities say that amongst the dead are five people whose sunk as they fled. >> mexican authorities have

identified two policemen as the men who shot down three officers at mexico city's international airport. they claim the gunmen and another person who disappeared with them were part of a trafficking ring. >> this is gmt from "bbc world news." i am stephen sackur. the headlines -- markets react favorably to a so-called breakthrough in brussels. european leaders agree on a plan to strengthen the eurozone. returning glory for three chinese astronauts after they achieved their country's first manned spacecraft travel. now let's go back to the eurozone. let's talk about what they have done in brussels. the markets seem to like it. is this really the breakthrough that some leaders are talking about. >> if you were skeptical, yes, you would say the politicians would argue that.

the predecessors did not really satisfy the financial market. on the surface, it does appear there's enough to be cheerful about. i have pointed back to spain. the money has been given to the spanish government and then pumped into the banks. now they say you can actually have money, but it goes directly to the banks, as opposed to on to the books of a country. >> why is that important? >> the countries do not want to be seen as having too much debt. otherwise, it makes it impossible for them. they have to pay more to borrow in the financial markets. at one point, the 10-year spanish bond, their borrowing cost went above 7%, which is seen as a danger zone. they look at greece and ireland and portugal. they wanted a full bailout. spain took the capitalization to

banks. in theory, it should make it easier for them. >> is this a real concession on germany's part? the germans were always very worried about direct funding from eu institutions. >> this is where some elements of the german press have said angela merkel is down the river. if you want to borrow, you have to have strong conditions attached to this. there seems to have been loosening on that. the spanish and the italian bond markets, their yields actually went down. of course they're going to like that. they have escaped the hoop of fire. the irish themselves have given it the thumbs up. european commission president jose manuel barroso has said

the deal shows they are committed. >> very ambitious decisions that show, once again, the commitment of the member states. >> there is barroso. at the same time members are doing this, we've had mervyn king in the u.k., and he has been talking about the state of banking in the u.k. there have been so many questions about whether we can trust our banks. >> that is correct. obviously, those questions or there -- questions were there before the libor banking

scandal. the feeling was, maybe having taking the taxpayers shelling, maybe it would be more contrite. mervyn king was talking about plans to kickstart banks into lending money. of course, he's not going to be avoided the question about the culture within banks. he said something needs to be done about it now. here is what he said. >> everyone understands that something went very wrong with the u.k. banking industry and we need to put it right. that goes to both the question of culture in the banking industry into the structure of the banking industry. >> that was murdering king there. after he -- that was mervyn king. >> thank you of so much for that. we'll be back as we get more

reaction. thousands of firefighters have been deployed in colorado, where wildfires are threatening the state's second biggest city, colorado springs. one person has been killed. officials say they are making progress. president obama is due to tour the affected areas later today. >> it is one of the worst fires in america in decades. officials here have other names for it. they called it epic and a monster. >> it does not want to give me a good place to figure out the best actions to take. today, with the winds down, we have a shot to dictate what going to happen. >> this wildfire is just that. it refuses to be tamed. firefighters have only contained

10% of it. thanks to the wind, embers have been carried more than half a mile away. it's now four miles of from the state's second biggest city, colorado springs. there are 20,000 homes in its path. aerial photographs show how the fire has burned through neighborhoods, destroying 350 homes so far. such is its speed and that people have very little time to escape. he shot this video on tuesday as he and his parents escaped the flames. >> it is all the way down the hill. we've got to go. >> on thursday he found out whether his house had survived by looking online at an aerial photo of history. >> it's one of those things you're not going to get back. you can rebuild the house, but it will not be the same. >> fire officials are sounding a little more hopeful, not because the wildfire has suddenly fallen

into line, but because the weather is helping. it is cooler. the wind has dropped. >> after a ninth night in hiding in the ecuadorean embassy in london, julian assange as been issued with a formal notice to surrender to the metropolitan police today. he has said he will probably ignore it. escapetempting to extradition to sweden. he was asked if he would leave the embassy. >> our advice is asylum law takes precedence. the answer is almost certainly not. >> it was the release of this shocking footage of that first brought wikileaks to international attention and

embarrassed the american government. a u.s. helicopter gunships after fighting in baghdad in 2007. secret u.s. documents followed. and then, classified diplomatic cables. he says they convened a secret grand jury. >> in the united states, a u.s. grand jury in washington has been pulling in witnesses, subpoenaed records from google, from twitter. >> he is a criminal. he ought to be hunted down and put on trial for what he has done. >> this guy is a trader, a treasonous, and he has broken every lot of the united states.

>> if we can to, we are going to hang you. >> assange sent as a selection of american television interviews, which showed the feeling against him. he is still not been charged with anything, but the man who was the source of the biggest leak of state secrets in u.s. history has been charged with aiding the enemy. julian assange is now at the center of an extraordinary international legal drama. earlier this month, he lost his battle against extradition to sweden. it was then that he walked into the ecuadorean embassy. back in 2010 in stockholm, the two women accused assange of sexual offenses. that's why the swedish authorities want to question him. their lawyer says that with his claim of asylum, he has created a circus to divert attention away from the suspicions against him. >> what do you say to those two women in sweden?

their lawyer has said that they want to see you in court, that that is their right. what do you have to say to them? >> really, that is what is important in this battle. >> you have nothing to say to the two women? >> what has been sent in public records is sufficient. >> assange says he is safer in the uk than sweden because it's hard for the u.s. to extradite him from here. he still faces judicial proceedings in stockholm. can he really avoid being put on the plane to sweden? ecuador is still making up its mind on his asylum claim. even if it does take him in, how does he get there with the police poised to arrest him? >> a quick reminder of our top story on gmt. european leaders reached a late night deal in stabilizing the eurozone's struggling economies. the financial markets like it.

it allows money to be sent directly to banks without having to channel funds via a government. that is it for us. thank you for watching. 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, we 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? >> "bbc world news" was brought to you by kcet, los angeles.