united healthcare. >> 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." watching "gmt," on bbc world news. our top story, the dutch have a new mark. signs away the position that she has held for 33 years. william alexander becomes the first king for more than 100 years. amsterdam her a

huge party has already begun. thousands of people have gathered in the city to celebrate the transfer of public power from one mark to another. >> to close for comfort, the syrian government forces operating on the border with lebanon. >> there are concerns that the conflict in syria is increasingly spilling over into lebanon itself. >> living with the past, amanda knox was acquitted of murder in italy, but for some people that is not enough. >> i would like the truth comes out. >> aaron is here with the business news as usual. the trouble in spain keeps going on? >> an economy that just will not grow. confirmation today that spain is in trench in a double dip recession. meaning possibly more spaniards

joining the already 6.2 million people who simply cannot find a job. ♪ >> it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 1:00 in the afternoon in the netherlands, where worries about the economy have been set aside to celebrate the inauguration of prince william alexander as the new king. as far as the planned abdication of his mother, the ceremonies are not over yet, so let's get the latest in orange square, amsterdam. very good afternoon to you, george. good afternoon to all of you joining us in amsterdam. i am in orange square, where you can see i am surrounded by a sea

of orange. tens of thousands of people have gathered here to celebrate this momentous occasion, something that has not happened in nearly a century. when the queen abdicated today, she transferred power to person. for the first time in 100 years, this country has a king. matthew looks back of the day so far. >> they gathered in front of the royal palace, dressed in the national caller. a sea of orange for the house of orange from which the monarch becomes. mostly. of the houseyears of orange? a historic occasion. >> i think that this is a once in a lifetime. part of the reason i wanted to spend it here today. >> what are those for? >> it is going to be very emotional to me. >> this is an pen and the

herself off the throne. [cheering] now just princess beatrix, she squeezed the hand of her new king. outside, 33 years of rule had passed seamlessly to the first came here in 123 years. i advocatedents ago from the throne. i am happy and grateful to present to you your new king, king william alexander.

>> dear mother, to date you abdicated after 33 years, for which we are entirely grateful. also, on behalf of the queen, i would like to thank you all in amsterdam, the netherlands, and the caribbean for the support and confidence that you give us. thank you. >> the fact that everyone can get so close is a sign of how down to earth the royal family here is, or at least once to appear. unlike the monarchy in britain, they do not have that same uncomfortable feel about them. the new king has said he wants to be seen as a man of the people that will not stand on ceremony. >> together they sang the national anthem.

and then out came the next generation. princess camellia on the left, nine years old, now heir to the dutch throne. >> and of a report that we have been seeing. what is interesting is when we think of the netherlands we think of a forward thinking and progressive country, some might say that there is a paradox between that and the apparent affection that we see for the marquee. >> george, you are absolutely correct. there is a question about how the officials deal with it, as addressed by the prime minister early this week. the fact is that the royal family is well loved, but people appreciate their democracy. most of the people say yes, the royal family is necessary and is a powerful symbol that unifies the country.

and in the meantime even those who are critical of the whole idea of a marquee, they are willing to put those see it -- those feelings aside and celebrate. sign have seen the queen of a rat -- signed away her rights, but there is more ceremony to come, is there not? >> that is correct. it is so simple, it is fascinating. earlier today we saw an abdication, which was simply a appending a signature to a document. later today there will and of the ceremony were the new king will sign documents from a number of officials from around the country. , he is prettyone much the king. the fact of the matter is that the abdication, once taken place, he becomes the king.

what happens next is just typical of the culture involved in the process. >> as we speak we're looking at pictures -- correct me if i am lot -- if i am wrong, but this is the new church? on, it is thet new church next to the royal palace. he will be presented to those dignitaries who have gathered there. we will see the royal crown, the scepter. we have a glimpse of it right there on the table. just symbols for people to see, the authority of the crowd,e scepter, the symbol that i think represents the authority of the sovereign. >> thank you very much. enjoy your day.

from the pomp and ceremony, let's get on with some rather down to earth stories. the bangladeshi government defended its decision to reject government help from abroad after the collapse last week. a government minister told the bbc that they were confident that they could handle the rest you alone. at least 380 people are now known to have died when the building collapsed. hundreds are still missing. the governor of tokyo has apologize for comments that he made about the rival bid for the olympic games in 2020. in an interview with "the new york times," he says the only thing that the islamic countries had in common was allah. he said the of the city's lack the infrastructure needed to host the games. in rugby, sam moore burton has been named captain of the british tour of australia.

to the surprise of many people there was no place for the current capt. in the squad. of the hero ofce the 2003 rugby world cup. there he is. right, let's see what aaron has for us. spain eurozone, between on the front line in terms of the eurozone battle, the recession will simply not go away, it could mean more spending added to the millions already struggling. hello, there. one of the eurozone's most troubled economies had a bad start to the year. the spanish economy shrank by half of 1% in the first three months of the year, making it the seventh straight month of contraction. in fact, the spanish economy

shrank by 1.9% last year. this came as the government forecast for the coming year came to 1.3%. meaning basically that the recession is going to continue for all of this year around that figure. also figures out of the european union last week, i am sure that you remember this, of whopping 27% of the spanish population out of work, meaning 6.2 million people who simply cannot find work there. pretty nasty, but believe it or not, experts have been telling us that all of this could have been a lot worse. >> it was good news in a way that we see the pace of construction flowing. the spanish economy has been contracting, but these were relaxed effects from the financial term. things are slowing down a little bit and of course, this year and

next year it will be very challenging, very difficult for spain. as you mentioned, unemployment is still very high. credit is still difficult to get in spain and if you get it it is still very expensive compared to the german economy. >> well, there you go. from further bad news in spain to better news in japan. confidence appears to be returning in that country. household spending is very important, jumping in march to its fastest point in nine years with another report showing the jobless rate in japan falling to its lowest level in four years, but some are crediting the government's aggressive plan to boost the economy. spain has already lifted confidence, japanese people spending their money in japan, which is important, getting the world's third largest economy back on its feet. listen to this. >> like any other economy, private consumption holds the

largest portion of the gdp. the problem with japan is that we were hit with under-inflation for 15 years. the government did everything. they threw cash, through the incentives, none of it worked. but what is most important for the japanese now is job security. suiting feelings for the future and employment. the fact of the matter is that the most difficult thing to have the security, which is one of the reasons why this factor is kicking in. >> good news for japan, that is it. i will be back to talk about a .irthday for the w w w world wide web, just in case. >> ok. now, 13 people killed and many more injured after a big explosion in the capital of syria, damascus. pictures from syrian television

show damaged cars and buildings on monday. the prime minister survive the attack. several others, including his bodyguards, did not. as the conflict widens, supporters of president assad in lebanon have been increasingly drawn into the fight. our middle east correspondent assesses whether lebanon can avoid being dragged into the war next door. >> heading north through lebanon and the long frontier with syria. the narrow street marks the , where they patrol just kilometers from the front line. here the pro-government fighters are increasingly reliant on support from hezbollah, their allies in lebanon.

politically, they will help us, but they are not militarily involved in our fight. we are defending our land from the rebels. stand up to them and they will get what is coming to them. >> in this area both sides of this completely open border between syria and lebanon are now controlled by hezbollah and their syrian allies, who claimed to be gaining the upper hand. there are concerns that the conflict in syria is increasingly spilling over into lebanon itself. >> it is already happening. been deliberately targeted because it supports the assad regime across the border. anti-regime rebs in syria have repeatedly shelled the town, testing the resolve of lebanese factions, including hezbollah, to stay out of the conflict.

lebanon, a between suny and shia muslims, have been dangerously exposed. fighters from both sides have been drawn into the war on a new and alarming level. men arees the young being radicalized, called in by the cause of war. the necessary response, they say, to the role in the fighting. legitimate thought walk, a ruling from god, from a rulingon -- fatwah, from god, from the koran. we will be rewarded by god. >> their own future is threatened by the turmoil in syria. the longer that it continues, the more nervous the army and

the increasingly divided factions on this side of the border will get. northern lebanon. >> they with us, still to come -- guantanamo bay back in the spotlight as 100 inmates refuse to eat. the american basketball player, jason collins, has become the first athlete in a major sport to reveal that he is gay during his playing career. the 34-year-old made the announcement in an online essay. president barack obama and his teammates have expressed their public support for the veteran center. from washington, our correspondent sent us this report. broken, aal barrier basketball player proclaiming that he is black and gay.

jason collins has been playing basketball for a dozen years, loyalty to the team is why he says he did not come out earlier. his relief at acknowledging his sexuality is clear. "i have endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. i was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew. yet when i acknowledge my sexuality, i felt whole for the first time." athletes have come out before, but only after they have retired. for gay and lesbian activists, this is a big moment. >> we are seeing the barriers falling. this is probably the last bastion of those barriers, or one of the last ones. as more and more people come out, the people still in the closet are now less afraid. because someone has taken the step ahead of them.

>> this is not just about sport and it is not just about the plight of gay men, this is about a ciety in transition. the u.s. military dropped their policy in the military of don't ask, don't tell. america's attitude towards alternative sensuality is changing and fast. tony diamond, washington. >> the top stories this hour, the first thing in 100 years, the netherlands celebrated a new mark, a huge crowd welcomed him for his first appearance. there has been a big explosion in the center of damascus. syrian officials say that at least 13 people have been killed. u.s. military has sent 40 nurses to theand

guantanamo bay detention center as inmates stage a mass hunger strike. the 166 prisoners are refusing food to protest being held indefinitely without trial. jonathan explains how the prison operates. >> it is a geographical, legal, political anomaly. an american base for the military off the coast of cuba, deliberately chosen by the bush should ministration to hold suspects in their global war on terror as it is outside u.s. legal jurisdiction and limits the rights of those detained. invasion ofhe u.s. afghanistan, prisoners were brought in. s,erated in an orange jumpsuit

it quickly became the center of international outrage. when president obama came to power he said that he would close down guantanamo within one year. congress blocked any move to transfer the detainee's to the u.s. mainland for trial and the president appears to have losses earlier enthusiasm. gonel, 779 prisoners have through guantanamo. 166 are still being held there. just three individuals have been convicted of terrorism charges. at least six detainees are currently facing charges. many have already been cleared for release. there is growing concern about the state of those left in this legal limbo, who seem to have become increasingly desperate over their fate. this is not the first time that there has been a mass of hunger strike. in the past decade six individuals have committed

suicide. there is still no sign that guantanamo will soon be closing. in fact the pentagon recently requested $200 million to carry out the work of the camp. the, with now, and all of the files on the detainee's there, thank you for being with us. some of these people on the thunderstrike, these detainee's, they are being forced fed. is that legal, actually? forhe problem for the year, the authorities, is that it would be terrible pr for people to starve themselves to death. the irony is that the worst pr is that guantanamo exists at all. the president said he would get rid of it, the congress blocked him, 86 men cleared for release by a sober interagency task force established by the

president, but everyone is stuck there. that ought to be extremely bad. does the president have to share some of the blame? >> he does. he personally introduced a ban on releasing the yemenis after we fought -- after we had a failed bomb plot christmas day in 2009. there was a huge backlash against the yemenis. he imposed a ban, these people are in prison solely on the basis of their nationality alone, which people can recognize as unjust. >> 86 people have been cleared, what stops america from sending them back to their homes? ares i said, two-thirds yemeni and congress has put obstacles in their way where they help and will not take anti-american activity. it is up to the president,

really, to say to congress that you need to change the way you're doing things, or he needs to use the waiver in the current legislation that allows him to free prisoners. >> all right, going to leave it there. thank you very much. amanda knox, the american convicted and cleared from murdering her british flat rate has appeared on television in the u.s., talking about how those events are still coloring her life. david has more. in october on appeal 2011 after serving four years in an italian prison, she was told a few weeks ago that the italian authorities intend to try her again for the murder of the british exchange student, meredith bircher. >> she is convicted of murdering her roommate? >> she is taking to the airwaves to protester innocence.

>> i was in the courtroom and they were calling me a devil. it is one thing to be called certain things in the media, it is another to be sitting in a court room fighting for life while people call you a devil. for all intents and purposes, i was a murderer, whether i was or not. idea had to live with the that that would be my life. >> what is the first thing you want people to know about you? >> i want the truth to come out. i want to be reconsidered as a person. >> italian prosecutors and members of her family do not -- members of the family of the murdered girl do not buy her claims of innocence, but now that she is back in america any retrial will almost certainly have to take place in her absence. >> we have a break coming up,

but do not go away, soon we will have more on the orange fever that is sweeping the netherlands as they welcome the new king. we will be live from amsterdam as huge crowds celebrate the change in the royal family. preparations are also under way for the enthronement ceremony. all right, do not go away, as i said, there is plenty more to come. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, united healthcare, union bank, and fidelity investments. >> your personal economy is made up of the things that

most, including your career. as those things change, fidelity can help you adjust your retirement plan, rethink how you are invested and refocus as your career moves forward. wherever you are today, a fidelity ira has a wide range of investment choices that can fit your personal economy. fidelity investments. turn here.

u.s. and south korean troops have wrapped up two months of joint exercises. their commanders say they' remain on alert for a possible missile launch by north korea. the leaders of japan and russia say they want to move beyond a territorial dispute and work toward more economic partnerships. they greeed to talks to try to settle their differences over four islands. and the dementia dilemma facing the chinese government. the growing number of elderly suffering froms