♪ >> this is "bbc world news." funding of 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." >> can the united states calm the tensions between china and japan? american secretary of defense is the man expected to become -- expected to go to the chinese leader, who had denounced tokyo over there territorial dispute. gmt."llo, welcome t

the situation is described as desperate in damascus. president obama, spurned on to comments by president obama. >> my expectation is that if you want to be president, you have got to work for everyone, not just for some. >> london, washington, 7:00 in the evening in beijing, where the chinese leader in waiting should rein in behavior. tensions have been running high for days. major protests in cities across china. the next communist party chief and president of the country is making his first appearance with a foreign dignitary since he

dropped from public view, fueling speculation on his health or a power struggle. >> from rome, to new york, chinese communities around the globe have been aroused by the same nationalistic passion that has brought thousands onto the streets of china. a chorus of condemnation provoked by a tiny set of uninhabited islands. this is the problem facing chinese rulers. how to manage the anger poring over without provoking a backlash against the authorities. behind closed doors, the ruling communist party is finalizing its first change in leadership in decades. as the key players jockey for power, this is no time to look soft. the chinese foreign ministry

spokesman said that his country is no longer ready to be believed and the chinese government and people will not let the country be invaded. out at sea, the situation is not clear. a small fleet of chinese vessels sailed near the islands, but then departed. a flotilla of 1000 fishing boats is supposedly on the way, but so far it has not appeared. the cost of the protest is hitting other areas as well. the japanese cycling team has been kicked off a race in china. passions are high in japan as well. neither side is ready to back down. >> for the latest, let's speak to our correspondent in beijing. first of all, martin, the new

prime minister seen in public after not being viewed for a fortnight. that seems to have excited quite a great bit of interest. >> that is right. this is the first time they have held a meeting with foreign dignitaries. earlier this month you might remember that he disappeared for two weeks from a series of high- profile meetings, including one with hillary clinton. he held this meeting with leon panetta and, according to mr. panetta, he appeared in robust health. from one insider we heard that he injured his back while he was swimming. that is one reason that the party put him forward for this absence.

the fact that the man expected to become one of the most powerful leaders anywhere on earth disappeared for two weeks, it shows you how opaque the chinese political system remains. >> he used very strong language against tokyo and leon panetta there. he is going to have to try to assuage the beijing concerns, is in not? >> america and japan have a very close military alliance. it is worth pointing out that the bbc has just spoken to leon panetta, and he has delivered a very stark warning. he said that these territorial dispute need to be resolved peacefully, otherwise they risk becoming violent conflicts. and he said they cannot be allowed to become the kind of

dynamite that can result in a larger conflict. in terms of america, he said there was a risk of the u.s. being drawn into a conflict. giving you some indication of the worry from washington that this dispute between japan and china over a chain of islands in the east china sea could escalate even further. >> martin, thank you very much indeed. now, for much more on the relationship between the united states and china, do not forget to check out our website where you will find an interactive flow chart showing how china is ruled. now, there has been further heavy fighting in damascus.

activists have described the situation as desperate and amnesty international has highlighted a recent increase in heavy bombardments on residential areas. this coincides with a visit to damascus by the iranian foreign minister. he has proposed that observers attempt to quell the violence. from beirut and neighboring lebanon, jim has more. >> another young boy, injured according to this activist video. amnesty says that civilians are the main victims of increasingly indiscriminate bombardments by these forces. heavy artillery is being used routinely on areas that had slipped out of government control. the regime is making good use of its unchallenged air power.

the result is massive damage in areas that are under attack. these days that means anywhere in the country. this includes parts of the capital in damascus. this is activist footage from the southern side of the city, where the rebels have been holding out. army troops have moved into parts of the quarter. more than 20 people were summarily executed and a similar number drove by in eastern damascus. investigators say that human rights violations are increasing as the struggle has -- intensifies. on top of all of this is the challenge facing the international envoy. he says the bloody struggle is deadlocked and there is no way out. >> i do not think either side is winning now or in the future. this situation is getting worse

and it is a huge threat for the region. these kinds of conflicts cannot be bottled up within one country. >> amnesty says within recent weeks government forces have increasingly used heavy weaponry not just to support troops, but to randomly hit areas that have slipped out of their control. this boy, whom activists say was wounded in an airstrike, is a monk's one of the lucky survivors. every day now around 150 people are killed. many of them children and women. >> now let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. an explosion killed 26 people in the northern mexico city of [unintelligible] the majority of those who died

were contractors taking out -- participating in a network. previous blasts were blamed on pipelines being tampered with by criminal gangs. the support of further easing on criminal sanctions, her first visit to the united states in 20 years. she said the people have started to take responsibility for their own destiny. the colombian president said that the last of the country's great drug barons has been captured in neighboring venezuela. arrested with help from the venezuelan authorities as well as american and british intelligence. in america, president obama has accused his republican opponent of writing off a large part of america. he made this -- mr. romney made disparaging comments about a

wide section of voters. mr. obama said the one of the first things he learned as president was that he had to represent the whole of the country, republicans and democrats. jane has the story. >> all smiles from the president, having received this surprise gift from his opponent. him making the most of it on "the late show with david letterman." >> one thing i have learned as president is that you represent the entire country. when i need republicans as i travel around the country, they are hard working family people who care deeply about this country. my expectation is that if you want to be president, you have got to work for everybody, not just for some. >> mitt romney, putting on a brave face as he shows his grandchildren his campaign airplane.

but his campaign is again in damage control. news bulletins announced a political earthquake that has shaken up the race, leaving conservatives to call his campaign in that and his remarks arrogant and stupid. thanks to comments that he made four months ago inside of a florida mansion at a private, $50,000 per head fund-raiser. >> at a fund-raising lunch that the cameras were allowed into, he stood by his remarks. >> his approach is a government- centered america where the government takes more and more and then gives to those who believe they need that help. we all believe that when people are in distress, we give them

temporary help, but we do not believe in redistribution. >> four years ago candidate barack obama was taped talking about voters to cling to their god and their guns, but that was months before their election. mitt romney has seven weeks left only of a very tight race. >> still to come, a conservative interview with the ultra- conservatives libyan group. the united states says it is closing down its aid mission in russia at the request of the russian government. they said they feared that non- government aid organizations are inciting the anti-government rallies. the watchdog that oversaw recent russian elections said that this departure of u.s. aid is a worrying development.

>> there is a feeling amongst officials that these organizations are being used to foment anti-government feeling on the streets of russia. vladimir putin has not hit his conviction that the protests we have seen over the last few months have been inspired and funded by the u.s. government. it comes as no surprise, really, that moscow has taken this decision. it is a significant step. although the have been critical of the u.s. state department and u.s. aid programs before, it is one thing to criticize and another thing to close down. it is a significant step. >> have we seen any response from the u.s. or the aid groups themselves? >> the u.s. government says that although the aid mission will no longer have a physical presence

in russia, it will continue to support democracy, democratic programs, and the development of a civic society in russia. as far as non-government organizations in russia, some of the leading ones have expressed their deep concern about the closing down of u.s. aid in russia. they said the whole of the russian population will be a victim of this. the election watchdog funded says that it is a very bad signal indeed. and >> you are watching "gmt." these are our top headlines. the man picked to be the next leader of china says that japan should rein in its behavior over a chain of disputed islands in the east china sea.

syrian rebels say that heavy fighting in damascus6 [unintelligible] let's get the latest business news. japan, the central bank there is following a dispute from the federal reserve. >> appalling figures coming out of japan today, down 1.2%. when would you think the people expecting an increase would realize that things are out of kilter? injecting extra dollars into the economy, by the end of 2013 they reckon it will be $1 trillion pushed into the economy. this is meant to encourage people to borrow money, bring down interest rates, weakening the yen, which could help exports. but the problem is you can give people this money, like reading

a horse to water and making it drink, but will they actually barrault? this is what christopher answered. >> monetary policy can only go so far in terms of encouraging people, but of course if this money is not passed on to more lending, we might find that this money will trickle out from banks into other assets, like the equity market or assets under seat -- overseas, weakening the exchange rate as well. >> other assets, that was a direct result of people thinking that this is the place. >> it went bankrupt in 2011, as

you remember. this was the biggest ipo of any non-financial company in japan, the $8.5 billion that they're raising. however, in that time it has been restructuring itself. it has reorganized its international routes and is becoming a leaner and meaner machine. the man in charge for the last couple of years, i asked him what kind of job he has been doing. >> this has been an extraordinary turnaround. the company is now making 1 billion pounds per year, pushing through enormous job cuts. that is 15,000 redundancies in a culture where they are pretty

hard to affect. no question that he has done a fairly extraordinary job. >> shares are up only 1% today. worried about tensions between japan and china? not a great time in the market when those other things are crop -- are going on. they say it has been a tough battle to fight in terms of winning market share again. >> thank you very much indeed, jamie. one of the biggest fraud cases related to the trade in rare musical instruments opened in vienna today, focusing on a prominent dealer, a world expert in rare and highly prized violence. he is accused of defrauding creditors by securing a huge bank loans using the same rare instruments. we have more from bethany, who just came out of the court.

a very intriguing case. what, exactly, is this dealer accused of having done in court? >> he is accused of a lot of things. it accused of having huge amounts of collateral with fake instruments in order to secure several different loans from several different banks. he is accused of using that money and putting it into his own personal bank accounts. fraud has been suggested by the prosecution, that some of the instruments were not real rare instruments. he has denied some of those charges of fraud and was not particular today about cases of instruments given to musicians here. he said he never claimed 100% that it was a stradivarius.

a huge range. in court today we also heard that this was a man who lived a very jet set lifestyle, with a castle and lots of cars, but that this was a lifestyle that the judge said appeared to be unsupportable. >> give us a bit of the flavor of this man. what more do we know about him? >> he was the big stradivarius' expert for years, the big expert in the trade of rare instruments. what prosecutors have alleged is that in many cases, when he was putting forward the banks trying to get collateral for these instruments as a type of loan, the banks would accept the certificate. he was a very big expert in

this. now, he went bankrupt in 2010, which is where many of these charges started coming out. what we understand this business is what he said in court today, that this was a business that went up and down a great deal. at one point he would sell or buy a violin and would need the loans from the bank to do it. >> thank you very much, indeed, bethany. now, in a devastating nighttime attack in the gaza last week, the american ambassador and three of his staff were killed. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, and altered as conservative muslim group has denied any involvement in that and other attacks against western targets. they said they rejected the imposition of democracy in

libya. >> libya's celebrating mortars day, with guns. and since the fight against muammar gaddafi began, we are reminded of the sacrifices the state -- these people made. but there are some here who still refuse to lay down their weapons. radical islamist groups say that the fight for libya is not over. that they completely reject these western-style solutions. >> we do not believe in the democratic system. even countries ruled by democracy know that it is fake. we want to tell the whole world that the project of democracy is not for us and does not suit

islam. >> they deny allegations that they are responsible for the death of the american ambassador. although they said they sympathized with other organizations, including al qaeda. >> they have identified and arrested 50 people in connection with last week's attack. and they admit that many of the perpetrators hold against libya. >> much of this is just for show. authorities have been criticized for failing to get on top of a worsening security situation. >> we believe that public opinion, the majority of libyans, are. >> then there is the impact of all of this instability on the

gauzy. this sprawling, have built new town was abandoned last year by its chinese developers. they and other foreign investors have yet to return. >> many are hesitant to come back to been gauzy. this is tragic for libya. it seems like we're shooting ourselves in the foot. >> the majority of libyans claim to support the democratic project. but a handful of radical militants could still spoil everything. >> now, one of nature as rare as weather events has been captured by an australian film maker. a fire tornado may have a flames reaching up to 30 meters above the ground was caught on tape by

a filmmaker. he was searching for locations to shoot in the desert. these are caused by warm, rotating columns of air. those dramatic pictures and this edition of "gmt," for me and the team, good bye for now. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation 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. presented by kcet, los angeles.