>> 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. shell. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> financial markets punish italy as the country's borrowing costs reach a new record high. markets had rallied on news that the italian prime minister would be stepping down. we will stick on our nuclear power, dechairs iran's president, as he rejects the latest accusations that tehran is developing a nuclear weapon. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- the bacteria bites back, fears grow that antibiotics are no longer up to the job. also, we have a problem. russia's probe to mars is off course. >> hello. thanks for joining us. financial markets are certainly testing italy, this despite the

fact that its prime minister said he would be standing down. italy's borrowing costs have risen to unsustainable levels, probably breaching that key 7% area on 10-year bonds. when the borrowing costs of portugal and greece hit this level, they all had to accept a bailout. well, jamie robertson is with me now, just to look at how significant it is from italy's point of view. they've also breached that hurdle. >> the magic 7% number. we're getting to the point now where it just becomes increasingly expensive for them to borrow. they are borrowing money in order to be able to pay off debt and borrow more money, so you get a vicious circle. to give you an example of what's happening, the amount of money which they have to borrow next year, if they were to borrow it at the rate they were paying at the beginning of this year, they would probably be paying something like $12 billion, 12 billion euros in interest. however, at 7%, they'll be

paying something like 20 something billion euros a year in interest. you can see how it's getting more and more expensive. >> sorry. are they then in a position, as we've seen with the likes of greece and ireland, where they're going to have to say they need a bailout? >> they're going to have to find cheap ways of bailing money, and the only way to do that is go to the european union, the eurozone. and what is in place in the eurozone is the efsf. we know they've got $220 billion in it. it's not $450 billion. some of that is gone. they're trying to boost it back up to something like a trillion dollars. but as yet, there's no mechanism in place for them doing so. now, over the next few weeks, they're going to try furiously to find a way of building that money up. there are lots of different ways, complicated ways in which you could build up that firepower. even at a trillion euros, people do not feel that that is enough money to actually be able to bail out the country.

>> just to give us an example as who to you this eurozone is not -- give us an example as to why this eurozone is not working as a single currency? >> well, germany is paying something like 1%, and then italy is having to pay something like 7%, and greece, which is way, way out there, something like 27%. one of the interesting ones to note is actually ireland, which went through a panic. its interest rate is coming down, coming down to 8%, having gone up to about 12%. so ireland is an interesting one and may be on some road to recovery. probably too early to say that yet, but there is a glimmer of hope. people do speak about ireland in a slightly more optimistic way. >> but markets have played up the uncertainty of a berlusconi office for a long period of time, not happy with him. he says, fine, i'll go, and what happens? >> well, they got the berlusconi premium, everybody says, well, thank goodness he's

out of the way. well, underlying problems are so severe. i think the problems are -- the big problem which people have to try to deal with now, or politicians have to deal with, is the problem of growth. if you can grow the economy and create more income for the government, then you can afford to pay the interest on this ever-increasing bill. and as a result, people will continue to lend to you. so, it is growth which is absolutely at the core. however, italy has failed to grow really significantly over the last 10 years, and that is the problem. people are thinking that the structure of the economy, the reforms are just not in place at the moment. and even with the latest austerity package which is being put in place, there's a feeling that is simply not enough. austerity is not really the answer. growth is the answer, but where you get it from hasn't -- >> we've got to be more austere first is what everybody wants. thanks very much indeed for that.

well, mr. berlusconi himself has said he's not going to stand for election again. he'll be resigning as prime minister as soon as the tough economic package of austerity measures is passed by parliament. he was making his remarks in the aftermath of a parliamentary vote which shows he has lost majority control. from rome, our correspondent. >> he had blustered for days. he dismissed reports of a series of defections from his coalition. he said that his parliamentary majority was solid. and when the voting began, it became clear that his coalition no longer had an overall majority. immediately the opposition called for his resignation. soon afterwards, mr. berlusconi made a short, grim journey through the rainy streets of rome. he was heading for the residence of italy's head of state, the president. they discussed the implications of what had happened in

parliament, and soon mr. berlusconi emerged to tell italy what he planned to do. >> i went to see the president after today's vote, and i explained to him why i did, which is what the opposition said with these measures. and after the approval of this finance law, i will resign to allow the head of state to open consultation. >> but silvio berlusconi has a way of springing political surprises. and when he says that he will go soon, some here in rome will only really believe it when they see it. >> well, we'll believe it when we see it is a bit what some people are saying in greece, as they wait to see who will be their next prime minister. negotiations still underway to try to form a unity government. some reports suggest a new administration could be announced within the next few

hours, others say within the day. but still plenty of uncertainty as well. plenty of new names being thrown into the pot as well for potential prime ministers. we can go to mark lowen in athens to see if we can get the latest. mark, who are the front-runners now, and what are the chances we're going to get an announcement today? >> well, david, last night it seemed that the former vice president of the european central bank was a shoo-in to be the next prime minister. we all thought he was on the verge of being named. now more uncertainty. the new name in the frame is the president of the european court of justice, former minister of the interior. there's really still a lot of uncertainty here, a lot of disagreement. we're getting some reports that the outgoing prime minister, george papandreou, will go and see the president shortly to inform him of progress on reaching a deal, perhaps announce that a deal has been reached. one newspaper headline here today saying sinking without a

captain. one analyst this morning said greece has never known such uncertainty in its recent political history, a lame-dumb prime minister, a power vacuum here with a government unable to be formed. >> horrible sense of uncertainty for the greeks in general, mark. as each day goes by, is there a growing sense of exasperation, or is everyone just sitting back these days, they've seen it all? >> really, there is exasperation growing here. there is frustration. there is anger because there was a lot of talk this new government was asked to be formed, and it is urgent, because it has an urgent priority, and that is to ratify the latest bailout package for greece, without which we will not get the next installment of an international lone, eight billion euros by mid-december in order to stave off bankruptcy. and so, the specter of greek defaulting on its debt is still real, and that could send shock

waves throughout the global economy. it really is a race against time. and this political wrangling is making the confidence of greeks plummet even further. there is a feeling that people here really need a government urgently to be formed, because, of course, without the government, without political stability here, greece cannot get a handle on its debt crisis, which continues to threaten the whole of the eurozone. >> mark, thank you very much indeed. mark lowen, who is in athens. now, iran's president has declared that the country won't budge one iota from its nuclear power. in a speech in central iran, mahmoud ahmadinejad did say the country doesn't need an atomic bomb, and he rejected allegations its civilian nuclear program is being used to build weapons. the u.s. has threatened new sanctions against iran after a report by the u.n.'s nuclear watch dog accused this of carrying out the activities that could lead to the development of a nuclear device. the report is being dismissed

by iran's permanent representative to the international atomic energy agency. >> unfortunately, the report is not balanced, is not professional, it is mostly politically motivated. it has been programmed in an unprecedented manner. >> i'm joined from jerusalem by the israeli opposition leader. thank you very much for joining us. not much new in this report. why the fuss? >> because now it's formal. until now, when we said and others said that iran could achieve a nuclear weapon, they denied it, and i heard some leaders saying to me that it was not proven. so this is something that we think, but it was not proven. now it was proved. it's formal. it's not britain. it's not the united states. it's formal. it was proved that they tried to choose a nuclear weapon, and it needs to be stosmed

>> well, it's evidence, certainly. what sort of measures do you think would be appropriate at this stage? >> until now, we saw some hesitations coming from some part of the international community. and in my talks with some russian leaders, they said that it was not proven. now it was proved. a lot of sanctions that the world didn't put until now, and now they can decide on these sanctions, including energy, including diplomatic and a sense of legitimacy, and time is of the essence. while we are talking, they try to achieve a nuclear weapon. >> sorry to interrupt, but presumably you could appreciate why a country like israel might see a need to hold nuclear weapons, so why not a country like iran? >> i cannot accept any

comparison between israel and iran, as i cannot accept one between a soldier and terrorist. the price to achieve a nuclear weapon is deceiving the world, trying to hide it, and by talking about -- >> it is also a sovereign state. >> sorry? >> it is also a state. it also faces -- >> it is a state -- >> faces threats from the united states, from israel, and you can imagine people within iran being anxious about that. >> it is a state. it is a sovereign state. but i expect any state that is member in the united nations, an organization that you know was created and established after the second world war, under the words of never again, to act in accordance to some rule of the international community. what iranians are doing is

doing something against the world. and since we don't have a conflict with iran, but iran is talking in terms of the state of the map, but yet it's a credit not only to israel, but to the entire region. >> the rhetoric has been there quite a long time. i appreciate what you're saying there. do you get any sense, though, at this stage that there is momentum, a growing sense of likelihood of further, tougher sanctions at this stage? >> i hope so. it is the responsibility of the international community. since it is clear now that this is what they try to do, it is clear, i hope, it's not an israeli problem, but a problem of the entire region. the time is not the time of the bomb. it is clear now that if iran continues, there are some states that will go to appease iran, because we live in a tough neighborhood whether you beat the bully or join him.

and when we have this clash of basically civilizations or values inside different states now in the region as part behalf we call the art, they need to understand all the extremists that the world is -- they're also acting against the interests of the world. >> we'll have to leave it there. thank you very much. now, we're talking about novak djokovic, a very costly decision to take here. >> excuse me. >> he wants to be great, a great tennis player, he shouldn't take chances. >> well, there is a scenario that he's had a wonderful season, he's won something like 10 million in prize money already. he won the wimbledon, the u.s. and australian open. however, he's got a shoulder injury. if he plays in paris later today, it means he would have played seven out of the eight master series events. this is him with the wimbledon trophy when he went home, of course. if he plays seven out of the eight, he gets a bonus of $1.6

million. if he played all eight -- and he missed shanghai last month -- he would have got $2 million. basic it comes down to a hard choice. does the shoulder allow him to play and pick up -- literally playing, it could be a few must not of tennis, $1.6 million in a bonus fee, or does he say my shoulder is injured, i'm going to rest it until the new season, with the australian open coming up in barely eight weeks' time. >> he struggled against andy murray when no one really expected it. he had this shocker of a set the other day, losing it 6-0. >> yes, it doesn't enhance his status, really, just going in for the cash. >> no, i imagine what he doesn't want to do is look like someone just to grab the money. >> i think if he can play and play well, then i think he will. if he can't, i imagine he'll sit down. >> well, let's hope he stays. thanks very much. you're watching "bbc world news" with me, david eades. thanks for being with us. coming up in a moment, mars, here we come, at least for a

moment, but maybe not all the way. russia's probe to mars has gone off course. we'll have more. apparently we need more darkness. that may seem strange, especially this time of year, but if you want to look at the stars, there's simply too many lights on. astronomers have started designating areas that suit their needs. a national park in southern england has been named europe's first dark sky reserve. our reporter is at the observatory in devin to find out more. >> the earth at night shot from space. japan, far right. america to the left. and europe in the middle. it shows that even after dark, we love to leave the lights on. >> white lights affects our ability to see the stars. >> it's called light pollution. now some are aiming to put the

darkness back into nighttime. using these light monitors, they prove that this was officially one of the u.k.'s darkest spots. now it's the first dark sky reserve, somewhere the stars really do come out at night. >> we direct light where and when it's needed, so you can really lose yourself in the sights we have here. >> i'm looking here -- >> it's already attracting seasoned stargazers and telescope tourists alike. >> when it's dark, you can see as many as 2,500 stars. whereas in the city, you might be lucky to see 200. >> this is what the professionals have captured here. now, staff photography is very tricky, not least because of the rotation of the earth. but here, even an amateur -- me -- can take this shot of the plow with no training. >> night skies are so much --

are some of the best you can see in the u.k. >> the forest in scotland is a dark sky park, and the island of suak is a dark sky community. but this is only the world's second dark sky reserve. even in our towns and cities, there can be stargazing sweet spots. scientists are asking the public to share their best ones. >> somewhere away from street lamps, away from overhanging trees, and where they can go and enjoy the stars or the planet or even a satellite that they can see above their heads in the night sky. >> it's a commitment that's catching on to help everyone in the light and appreciate the night sky again. >> there's no sign, i'm afraid, that those floods in thailand, the worst in 50 years, bringing so much destruction to the country, are abating, and that's why -- look at that -- the floodwaters reaching

bangkok's business district, they've entered office buildings, disrupted transport. water levels getting up to 1 1/2 meters on the main road into the capital. >> this is "bbc world news." i'm david eades. these are the headlines. italy's cost of borrowing has hit a new record, a day after the prime minister, silvio berlusconi, says he would resign once budget reforms have been passed. the iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, has dismissed a report from the united nations which says there are signs tehran may have worked on designing a nuclear weapon. >> legs on is one of africa's largest cities, home to thousands of young men known as area boys who are notorious for street crime. nigeria's commercial capital is full of social and economic hardships. among them, unemployment, which many believe has led the area boys into the streets. as part of our failing youth

series, our correspondent has been there to meet some of them torque hear their stories. >> in high spirits, but just for the moment. these young men known as area boys are dreaded in legos. they're mostly unemployed and notorious for their rowdy behavior. >> we cannot enjoy it if we have no jobs. >> we shouldn't look like this. but no one is willing to help us. >> legos is a bustling commercial center with 15 million people. it's one of the largest cities in africa, and here, jobs are not easy to come by. the area boys have ruled these streets for decades, defying authorities and extorting money from the public. they're widely seen as a menace, but they say this is

the only way they can make money. for many nigerians, the responsibility of employment lies with a familiar source. >> i would blame the government for many of the area boys. the moment the government stopped caring about their welfare, then they fell into something else. then the area boy syndrome became a plague. >> the security forces are generally seen as corrupt and ineffective and are labeled to protect people from the area boys. but the police insist that they're doing enough to keep the streets safe. >> of a job to do. -- of a job to do. >> nigeria's economy is growing steadily, but the effects are not trickling to the poor. with its population expected to

double over the next 50 years, the challenge would be to give its young people a future with real opportunities. >> something like 70 taliban rebels have been killed in a clash with afghanistan and nato-led troops near the border of pakistan. a spokeman for the international forces said a large group of insurgents that attacked a military base used small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. russian's mission to mars has run into problems again. the unmanned probe that was launched on tuesday has now veered off course. scientists are hoping the probe can still be brought back on course over the next few days. >> it's a textbook launch. phobos-grunt probe blasted off from the cosmodrome in the middle of the night.

its destination is the larger of mars' two moons. but the russian spacecraft failed to fire its own engine, so it remains in orbit around the earth. it seems its navigation system has failed. engineers have three days to reprogram the craft's computer in a desperate attempt to salvage the mission before the batteries go flat. phobos-grunt was designed to go into orbit and make observations of the main planet and collect soil samples before returning to earth. it was always an ambitious mission, but no one expected it to fail so soon. russia has had a successful half a century in space, launching the first man into orbit and even sending spacecraft as far as venus and haley's comet. but somehow they've always been unlucky on their missions to mars. many have failed, and not one of them has been completely

successful. daniel sanford, bbc news, moscow. >> there's a big match this weekend, england versus the world champion spain. we're talking football on saturday. the friendly interpret at wembley comes the very weekend the u.k. marks remembrance day. the english football association is very keen that their players wear the symbolic poppy on their shirt, a sign of respect. the world government body, fifa, says no way, because it says commercial, political, or religious symbols are banned. well, our reporter has been looking at the argument. >> this year's poppy appeal is set to be the most successful ever with around 40 million pounds expected to be raised for the royal british legion. most politicians would not dare to be seen without one, and celebrity endorsements has added a touch of glamour and sparkle. >> please give generously for your poppy. a at --

>> the tradition is rooted in the national consciousness. so fifa banning it has caused wide spread anger. >> i think any signal of remembering people who died in wars is universal. fifa is wrong. a few they think it's political, then they're certainly in the wrong. we're both from service families, so we're all for it. >> yeah, i think it's the right decision, because you wouldn't know when to stop. there would be something for everything. >> obviously with the poppies, it stands for something. obviously the british pride and the people who died in the wars, all the previous wars. >> fifa have allowed a minute of silence to be held before the game, and england players will wear poppies in the run up to it, just not on the pitch. >> well, it's got everyone talking over here. i wonder what your views on that are. if you go to the website, share in the conversation, bbc.com/news is the way to get into the website and take it

from there. plenty more stories there, as well, of course. >> 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, were developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources. lets use energy more efficiently. lets go.

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