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what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> greece comes to a stop with another public sector strike. these pictures live from athens. not much going on. tired, an emotional, with the world waiting to hear her story, amanda knox is back on home soil. >> i want to say thank you to everyone who believed in me, who defended me, the support of my family. >> world heritage sites under threat as thailand struggles to deal with two months of flooding welcome to this is "bbc news." . coming up on the program, the tourism trip that ended in

tragedy as a helicopter pl unges into a new york river. olie is movinglie i center stage. hello. thanks for being with us on "bbc world news." too many strikes. that is a snapshot of greece today. today, another general strike by public sector workers is making the task of balancing the books that much harder. it is taking athens ever closer to the default which euro-zone countries they cannot happen. we will get more on the situation across the euro-zone in a moment.

first, let's go to athens. our reporter is there on what is another wretched day. >> a significant disruption. the biggest show of strength from the public sector union in several weeks. 24 hour strike currently underway by civil servants, doctors, teachers, and by air traffic controllers at athens airport. so severe disruption at athens international airport. there will be a demonstration on the square and a couple of hours' time. all of this showing anger and hostility by the majority of the population, towards the austerity drive the government is putting through. the government says it must stick to those austerity measures, public-sector job cuts and tax hikes, to meet the fiscal targets said by the eu. greece needs 8 billion euros

by mid november to avoid bankruptcy. >> it might get that they love money. i suppose people expect that to happen. it does not look like they will hit the targets for this year or next year. when we hear george papandreou is saying that there is a real will and determination among greeks to get back on track, how on earth we expected to believe that? >> what he is saying is that the will and determination of the government. because that is really what george papandreou and his cabinet have to show to the international community, namely through the euro-zone and the imf, to try to get back on track. the budget deficit target will be missed for this year. it will be 8.5% as opposed to 7.6% target. they are spending too much money and not raising enough revenue. on the streets of athens, there

is a real resentment. the problem really from the streets is that there is not a cohesive arguments as to what an alternative could be. people are angry at the austerity drive, but there is not a single answer for the alternative. could it be default or leaving euro-zone? the government said that would be a disaster in spread contagion. so there is some of my very very difficult challenge for the government to try to stick to international targets and show it is sympathetic for the concerns of ordinary greeks. they say that the austerity drive is denting greece's growth. the economy is expected to contract by 5.5% this year. it is reducing greece's ability to grow out of the recession and reduced the budget deficit. >> thank you. aaron, we know it is bad in greece. we have talked often enough

about whether contagion will spread and how far and how quickly. we have another dose of that as well. >> absolutely. moody's downgrading italy, giving italy a negative outlook. not a complete surprise. given that room at the moment has very low current borrowing needs and it has a low private debt sector. but still the downgrade off the worry of the exposure to the peripheral euro-zone economies. here is the big problem -- italian banks. it will now mean higher costs of borrowing for those banks in italy because of the italian downgrade. a bank is only as strong as the government that backs that bank. the question is is the sovereign debt crisis morphing into an economy-wrecking banking crisis? dexia. >> a good example.

it is interesting to read -- this is silly for me to read the markets, because it is the struggle. you do this every day. tell me. the markets bounce back this morning. really positive for a brief period of time. we are told because of a sense that there may be some recapitalization for banks. but they have sunk back again. what is going on? >> first of all, and i will talk about why they are up, but we have seen as quite regularly with the markets over the last several months. we have seen of saul and the bounce back and bargain hunting. the markets are up on the top because we have a euro-zone problem, the markets are up on the question -- will there be a euro-zone tarp program? that was the u.s. federal reserve program during the financial crisis where the pump close to $1 trillion in to pretty much every bank collectively in the u.s. to

strengthen them for a just in case scenario. this is what's being called a bucket of sand that would be needed to douse the fire and the crisis that is raging, shore up the euro-zone banks, make them strong to observe the losses. how do they do it, and will they lose credibility? in july this year, we have a strong stress tests on those banks. dexia pass that test. i will have more in 25 minutes. >> thank you for that. i am going to move on because i have drafted newspapers here for a very good reason. it is about a story we have been fixed on for the last week -- amanda knox cleared of murdering a british student in italy. she is back home now. she is speaking to supporters. what are we to make of all this? let me give you some of the

papers because there is a similarity here. just hold this up. look at the picture of amanda knox there. bright and breezy, smiling. "the sun," the same picture. it's one picture here. sorry. i move down a bit quickly there. another one -- laughing all the way to the bank. it's a very cheerful view of amanda knox as she returns to the u.s., but that said, her brief appearance before the cameras in seattle tell a different story. david willis was at the airport as the family landed back on u.s. soil. box at the start of this week, amanda knox was looking at spending another 22 years in jail. now she is home in seattle having been cleared of the murder of a british student. little wonder then that she seemed to be struggling to take all in. >> i'm really overwhelmed right

now. i was looking down from the airplane and it seemed like everything was not real. >> amanda knox sobbed as her lawyers said the acquittal announced to the world that she was not responsible for the death of meredith. >> this is our first glance a call after four years in captivity. it marks the start of a period of readjustment and of a feeding frenzy for the rights to purchase a remarkable story. for the time being, it would seem any decisions have been put on hold. >> my family is the most important thing to me and i just want to go and be with them. so, thank you for being there for me. >> yet amanda knox requests for privacy are likely to be denied by a media hungry for the details of her extraordinary story.

>> to catch up on other stories. president ahmadinejad has criticized turkey for agreeing to host and nato early-warning radar facility on its territory. ahmadinejad said that he believed the radar was aimed at protecting israel in the event of armed conflict with iran. turkey agreed to the project last month but says it does not target any specific country. it will be stationed iabout 700 kilometers from the iranian border. remains of the former president perez has been returned to venezuela after months of our dream where he should be buried. his estranged wife wanted him buried in venezuela. his mistress said he had vowed never to go back as long as his political rival chavez was in power. now, hundreds of people have been killed across southeast asia, china, japan, and south asia.

and it is from prolonged monsoon flooding and typhoons. in thailand more than 200 people have died. landslides' came with it. in vietnam, the worst seasonal flooding in more than a decade has led to at least 11 people losing their lives in the last week alone. our southeast asia correspondent is in bangkok. we asked her if we were closer to saying the worst is over. >> no, we're not. all the forecasters are saying there is more rain to come. another month or so of what is normally the raising -- the rainy season. the two months we have had so far have been a lot more severe. some people are saying this is the worst flooding for a decade. in cambodia and in vietnam. in part it is because the normal seasonal rains were exacerbated by severe typhoons. the philippines really hard, but the tale ends

of those weather systems are filtering down to the region and adding to the accumulated water. has become of building a picture that as it started in the north and northeast of thailand and the rivers built up, then you get the run off to the central plains. the water is moving south. the authorities here say the pressure is building up in dams. they will have to release the water, which means more water has to go somewhere. it is a tricky disaster to manage. >> you are watching bbc world news. we have a lot more still to bring you including quite some picture here. this a dust storm sweeping over arizona. we will give you an idea of the chaos it caused. david cameron is to close his conservative party's annual conference today by calling on households to pay off their debt. we are in manchester. >> party conference must almost

feel like a vacation for david cameron and after the last few months of frantic activity which saw not just one but two of his summer holidays interrupted by events. [siren] he's been enjoying the italian sunshine, when rioting broke out in london, birmingham, and manchester. force them to return home to give his assessment of what had gone wrong. >> pockets of our society that are not just broken but frankly sick. >> a couple of weeks later mr. cameron was breaking off a holiday again to deal with the fall of tripoli. leadership is the theme of the conference, sir david cameron will use his response to the libyan crisis and the riots to underline that. the polls suggest that he is the most popular of the 3 party

leaders in britain. but the economic situation volatile, the prime minister knows that could be turned on its head. critics say david cameron's privileged upbringing makes them look out of touch with households currently feeling the pinch. but not all commentators consider his background of liability in hard times. >> i think perhaps there is something deep in the british psyche their response to someone of his class. his class and has governed britain for centuries. >> nevertheless, when he speaks to conference goers later, the prime minister is bound to repeat his mantra that he feels the pain of ordinary voters. >> these other hot lines. more protests from a striking public-sector workers in greece.

european markets have risen amid hopes that governments are tackling the debt crisis. amanda knox says she is overwhelmed after her acquittal for the murder of a british student. a conundrum in women's tennis. >> i do not know what it is, but you spend your whole life trying to win a grand slam and isuzu do you fall to pieces. sam stosur lost twice in the last two weeks. the most recent occasion being that china open. kirlenko also beat her in tokyo last week. she lost 2 of them. both to the russian. they met at the u.s. open. and li na has gone completely off the boil since winning the french open. as did the wimbledon champion.

you realize your sporting dream and it falls to pieces. >> they become world number ones and can't win the grand slam. >> and that is caroline wozniacki. she was the winner against the australian. not a great evening for australian tennis at the china opened. you cannot buy a grand slam victory, a title, but she wins so consistently on the tour. that is why she is the world number one and she cannot be criticized for doing that. she just cannot translated into a grand slam. before ago, i want to give you another statistic. if any other incentives were required, the prize money for winning the australian open in january -- 1.4 million pounds. phenomenal. i might dust off the old wooden racket. we could take them on.

>> it is not often the american ambassador to the united nations walks out in protest after losing about, but frustrations and tensions are running high at the moment in new york. russia and china have vetoed a u.n. security council resolution which was threatening tough action against syria but not sanctions because of the suppression of anti-government protests there. the resolution drafted by european countries had been watered down to try to avoid any veto. after months of protests and violence in syria, this was supposed to be the day with the united nations came together. to condemn president assad and his regime. but things did not go to plan. china and russia vetoing the resolution. was based onaft the philosophy of confrontation.

we can not agree with the unilateral accusation against damascus. we believe it unacceptable. the threat of sanctions against syrian authorities. >> european countries and the u.s. had backed the resolution. >> the united nations -- united states is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security. >> during his speech, the syrian ambassador criticized the u.s. leading to this response. the u.s. delegation walking out. the end of an embarrassing day for the united nations. the resolution defeated. deep divisions within the u.s. over syria all to clear. >> german prosecutors every open hundreds of dormant investigations of former guards at a nazi concentration camps. this comes after the conviction

of one former guard earlier in the year. i am sure you will recall these pictures. he was convicted in may of 28,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as a guard in poland. in the key to this case is that previously -- a some situations not possible because there is the actual evidence to stand against them. the helicopter with a group of british tourists on board has crashed into the east river in new york. one woman believed to be a 40- year-old britney living in australia was killed. the pilot and three passengers rescued from the water. marcus georgia report ^ >> the chip of a lifetime which ended in tragedy. -- the trip of a lifetime. the helicopter plunged into the east river. in a frantic operation emergency teams rescued the pilot and three of the passengers. the body of the last passengers said to be a british woman was

recovered soon after. >> the response was quite amazing, whether it was airborne response, waterboard response, or trucks and cars that drove here. the response was everything you could ask it to be. and a quicker response could not have happened and would not have made any difference in terms of saving the people. >> several people saw the tragic events unfolding. witnesses at a nearby dock said they heard the helicopter spluttering before it came down. >> its but around a few times, and it slipped over with the nose facing towards queens. >> 'new yorker"'s business guys makes this city vulnerable for air accidents. in 2009, a plane collided with a helicopter over the hudson river, killing nine people. it is not clear what caused this crash, but air safety officials have started to investigate. markets george, abc news, washington.

>> this will bring some breaking news. comments coming from the imf. the unions in greece are protesting against austerity measures. has been reported the imf is calling for an end to euro-zone monetary tightening. it is also warning that world recession cannot be ruled out in 2012. and it is more than time, says the imf, to find a lasting solution to the crisis. those words just coming in from the imf. now the people of hungary have been marking the first anniversary of a pretty awful day. was the day of the red sludge disaster when 10 people died, 150 were injured at an aluminum factory burst its banks. we returned to the site and sent this report. >> one year after the red

sludge disaster. of the alleged weary of mourning and grateful for the aid it continues to recede. government ministers and former rescue workers joined local people to pay their respects to the dead and remember the hardest days of their lives. >> since then, we have had to get used to a new village and a new hall. and to come to terms with the loss of our old lives. nothing could bring our memories back. the mud took them all away. >> the honduran government promised to clean up and rebuild this region -- the hungarian government promised to clean up and rebuild this region. fresh water runs in the streams. two new housing areas have been built. some people feel better off than before. trials have been lots against the aluminum company, but there

is no end in sight. in the end, of the court will decide on the matter. no doubt that company will not be able to pay the amount. in that case, i have to say that before the fine was issued, the owners' offer their ownership to the hungarian government. >> in the countryside, the color green has almost replace the telltale red stain in the landscape. this was one of the most polluted fields. now it is an energy force. beyond argument over responsibility for the accident, beyond the heroism of the rescue and rebuilding effort, these trees bear witness to the amazing were cooper to powers of nature. -- we cooper to powers of nature. >> let's have a look at some pictures coming from arizona. it is a pretty bleak picture, i have to say. this is a dust storm that rolled

across the desert. the effect of which as you might expect on the ground is that there are a number of pile ups and solving it dozens of cars. aright old nest. in one of those, a 70-year-old was killed when his many as 15 other people injured the first to crashes occurred ats the dust storm hit interstate 10. a right mess there in arizona. want to take the time to bring you context of what the imf was reporting, breaking news from brussels. the imf report. this is the imf europe director saying that global recession in 2012 cannot be ruled out, saying activity could well turn downwards. this is part of the imf's economic outlook for europe. as the recommendation is for a change of economic policy away

from austerity back towards u.s. and british-style stimulus, according to this report. the pursuit of nominal deficit targets should not come at the expense of risking a widespread contraction in economic activity. that is in the report. those words basically saying, do not keep pushing the austerity line if there is any way you can avoid it. easy to say, but the message which is also easy to say is that a euro-zone solution is long overdue. that is the message from the imf. this is the message from the people of greece, public-sector workers, because they are having a 24 hour general strike. austerity measures -- no. that is clearly the message there. they want some help to get the economy going. it seems as if in certain circumstances, the imf increasingly feels that is necessary, because without it could be world recession in

2012. much more on the website, of course, on the situation and the latest remarks and the analysis from all our editors and correspondence. so do take all lo look. >> 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" was presented by kcet los angeles.