>> 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. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> brit an's public sector workers say no to pension

changes, as two million go on strike. britain pulls staff from its embassy in tehran after two compounds were attacked by protesters. turkey says syria has squandered its last chance and announces sanctions. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- what next for the former ivorian president as he faces charges in the hague? also, how to survive on $230 a month. we see how russia's pensioners manage. >> hello. up to two million people across britain will not be working today. they're striking instead. they're all public sector workers. they're fighting against the government's plans to reduce their pensions. the strike is extending from

airports to classrooms, from hospitals to courtrooms. it may well affect visitors to britain as well, as border agency staff are among those who walked out. ros atkins is at heathrow airport, where there have been certainly warnings of long delays to be expected. >> yes, dade. as you can see behind me, the planes are coming and going. it's not as normal, well, very close to the normal situation for a wednesday morning in november. the authorities here at heathrow are very happy with how they reduced the impact of this strike. that's partly to do with managing flights coming in and out, partly to do with a slightly bigger turnout that they were starting. starting levels are at about 2/3. of course, heathrow is just one part of a very big story, as you were saying, over two million people are striking, and this is all about how the chancellor, george osborne, can balance the books. he has said the u.k. is going to have to take these austerity measures. one of the ones that he's

suggesting is that public sector workers change the way their pensions work. essentially they'll pay more, they'll work longer. the unions simply don't accept that this is fair. let's get more information on this pension wrangle with naomi grimsley. >> as the clock struck midnight, the walkout began. here, hospital workers in bristol left their posts to cheers. as many as 2.5 million public sector workers may stay at home in protest at the government's plans for pension reform. that makes it the biggest strike for a generation. >> workers united! we'll never be defeated! >> as a result, most schools will be closed. job centers will stand empty. and even the country's airports could be affected, although early signs from heathrow suggest the situation may be better than was feared. meanwhile, ministers are condemning the unions. >> i don't think this strike is going to achieve anything. it is going to damage our economy and cost jobs at a time

when britain can't afford that. i think what's on offer is a very decent pension for people in the public sector, something that millions of people in the private sector could never have. >> so what exactly is the government proposing? well, ministers say to balance the books, most public sector workers must put aside 3% more for their pensions. the retirement age will have to rise to 66 by 2020, and pensions will be based on a career average, not a final stahl are you. ministers say it's only fair that public sector workers should face reforms similar to those at many private sector workers have already seen, but union bosses insist they have public opinion on their side. >> what we'll see on wednesday is very solidly supported action by people right across the public services, but it will be action that will be will winning public support too, explaining to them why

people feel this strong sense of grievance. >> just how this dispute plays out will hinge a great deal on public opinion. polls suggest there is broad sympathy with the unions, but any more disruption on such a big scale, and that may change. naomi grimley, bbc news, westminster. >> if any of you watching -- and indeed you, david -- would go put heathrow into the twitter, you'll see loads of people saying it's actually better than usual, they're getting an experience that is arguably an improvement on what they're used to. let's try to find out why with john strickland. he's an independent air industry consultant. john, why are the people over there finding it easier than they normally would? >> first of all, mid-november, midweekday is going to be the least worst option for a day to have a strike taking place. it does reflect a lot of hard work by the airlines and airport authority to preempt this program. this means they've been able to

move passengers to travel on flights before today or after, and there has been a capacity available. two weeks later will be a different story as the christmas rush begins to build. >> what about later in the day? we haven't actually reached the busiest part of the day for gatwick and heathrow. >> at heathrow, everything relies on everything working 100%, and we've been blessed by a beautiful blue sky, no weather problems, so the fact there seems to be enough staff on duty is assuring things are working ok, but any other glitches will change later in the day or a number of aircraft will develop problems, problems keeping them in their parking places, that will cause problems. fingers cross the we're not going to see that. >> a quick word about the unions and the airport industry. do you think today marks a watershed in the role they play? >> not necessarily. airlines and unions are frequently at logger heads. unfortunately, it's an industry with low or zero profit margins. there's been a lot of changes in terms of organization and working practices.

that's gin a lot of attention. of course, this is completely out of the hands of both the airport authority and airlines, being a government-related issue today. >> john, thank you very much indeed for joining us. the story isn't yet told here at heathrow, but certainly when you go back a couple of weeks and look at those warnings of 12-hour delays, that simply has not come to pass here, david. >> ok, ros, good news for travelers at least. let's move on then. we've got not much to talk about for the moment for the airports, so let's have a look at the decision last night on the eurozone, a ron? . >> decision? >> well, there was at least a grain of hope that the assurance the eurozone is offering now is kind of bigger than it was the day before yesterday. >> sure. the only problem is they didn't specify how much, and they don't think it will go -- we're talking about the rescue of the eurozone, rescue pot. you know, it should really, to be able to withstand the big shocks from the likes of spain or italy, if that was to ever

happen, it should be up to tarned a trillion dollars. it's not going to reach that kind of amount. they'll increase it, but how much by, they haven't put a specific amount on that. they also mentioned that the rescue pot, some of the moneys could be used to be partial guarantees for investors if they lose out on government bonds. but look, nothing, nowhere near enough what the markets want to see. you know what's interesting is we are starting to now see companies, there's a report that companies around europe are starting to put action plans basically in place for a eurozone breakup. we've got the big drinks maker, it's saying, i'm just quoting, we're starting to think what a breakup might look like. >> also, you've got to have contingency plans. >> absolutely. siemens, the industrial giant, it has created, formed its own bank so it can put money into the european central bank. you need to be a bank to put money into the e.c.b.

here's the worry -- last night, european banks, regular retail commercial banks, deposited 300 billion euros into the e.c.b. the e.c.b. is paying a very paltry interest rate, but this suggests that banks would much prefer to get virtually nothing for their money, but have it safeguarded as opposed to putting their money out and get it to work, put it into -- >> get it moving again. >> it's a real worry. it's a real, serious situation at the moment. but look, i'll have a lot more on the "world james business report. we'll talk about that in 20 minutes' time. >> aaron, thanks. britain has evacuated some of its embassy staff from the iranian capital of tehran after two british diplomatic compounds were stormed by protesters on tuesday. now, iran's government has apologized for those attacks. britain nonetheless has warned that the islamic state faces what it's calling serious consequences. britain called the protests themselves outrageous and indefensible.

our tehran correspondent, james reynolds, told me that some of the consequences mentioned by britain are already fairly apparent. >> we already know what some of those consequences will be, because britain announced it is evacuating some of its staff from tehran. we don't know how many, we don't know at what level, we don't know where the ambassador will be, will he remain in tehran, will he be sent back? we expect more later today. >> right. we already recognize that relations are weak and getting weaker. that's a fact, isn't it? >> yeah, relations at the moment are in a pretty terrible moment. iran actually doesn't have an ambassador to the united kingdom. britain and iran, despite a lot of hostility, the two governments have usually managed to maintain diplomatic relations. at the moment, it seems difficult to know the way forward. >> i suppose that's the point. do we know even really who is behind this assault on the compound? >> look, clearly we'd love to

be able to ask the students or the protesters who had sent them there, anyone who they're answers to, we weren't able to. some reports suggest they were members. militia, which is allied to the revolutionary guard, which is very close to the conservative establishment of the supreme leader. but it's impossible to verify that at the moment. >> the bbc says it is deeply concerned that "bbc world news" is being blocked in pakistan. the move by cable operators is in a broadcast called secret pakistan, and it questions the country's commitment to tackling taliban militancy much a bbc spokesperson says we condemn any actions that threaten our editorial independence and prevent people from accessing our impartial international news service. to turkey now, where the government says it will suspend all financial dealings with syria and freeze syrian government assets as part of

sanctions against president bashar al assad's government. the turkish foreign minister said the syrian regime had, as he put it, come to the end of the road as it ignored calls to stop its crackdown on protesters. our correspondent, jonathan head, gave me more details about the expected impact of those sanctions. >> i don't think they'll be very severe in their immediate impact on president assad. the government never thought they would be. in fact, that's why they've been hesitant about applying these sanctions, because turkish businesses here are already crying out about the collapsing trade with syria. that's got a lot to do with what's going on in syria and security fears inside the country. there was 2.5 billion worth of trade between the two countries last year. but what turkey has done is they've decided that the arab league must take the lead. it has supplied its own sanctions. now turkey is following course. they're trying to target them

as much as possible on the leadership, on people close to president assad, so businesses and people in the top leadership of the syrian government have a travel ban. their assets froze finance they have any here. they are the ones in particular being targeted. the effect of the financial sanctions, it will be interesting to see. turkey is a big banking center for this region. it's used a lot, for example, by iran as a place to do its banking. so that might have knock-on effects on the ability of syrian banks to function. realistically, the turkish government feels it has to do this, but it doesn't think this is going to change president assad's mind. they are resigned now so that keeping up this incremental pressure and, of course, to the possibility that the country could still slide the civil war, something it doesn't want, because there would be a lot of chaos, something it has to plan for. >> jonathan head. you're watching "bbc world news." thanks very much for being with us. we've got some sports coming in just a moment. if you're a chelsea fan or liverpool fan, what works for

chelsea and liverpool. >> it's 50 years since an american has visited burma. hillary clinton will meet government visitors and opposition figures, including aung san suu kyi. >> two generations learning together. one fled into exile, the other born in exile. ying belonged to the ethnic minority. she escaped across the border when she was still a teenager. after she saw the burmese army force her mother into a barrel full of water, then roll it down a hill. >> i lost my mother. there was nothing left for me there anymore. the army said if we didn't leave our home, they would burn

it down and burn us too. i've seen so many things. i don't think i could ever go back. >> over the years, many of burma's ethnic minorities have taken up arms. these insurgents are still fighting today. diplomats warn resolving such conflicts must now be a priority if reform in burma is to succeed. aung once served as a soldier on the government side. he deserted in 2005. he asked that we obscure his identity. he's pessimistic about the prospects for peace in his homeland. the military, he tells me, won't give up easily. you can't beat them in a battle, and you can't beat them by protesting. but things are changing inside burma. aung san suu kyi's picture on open display is testimony to that. she and her party have rejoined the political system, a clear

vote of confidence in the reforms now underway. burma's political exiles are watching the shifting landscape carefully. >> there will be step-by-step changes, because after all, former military men are still in power. there are people that want to go back to the old system, but the most important thick about this whole thing is the introduction of democracy. >> it's only a year since burma went to the polls in elections widely criticized as a sham. few would have predicted the pace of change since then. for decades, burmese political exiles have sought refuge here in thailand, so it's perhaps understandable they might feel great caution, wariness about the changes that are taking place across the border in their homeland. after all the years of struggles and sacrifice, it's hard for some to believe that burma might just possibly be at the start of a road towards

genuine freedom and democracy. rachel harvey, bbc news, thailand. >> this is "bbc world news." thanks for being with us. i'm david eades. these are the headlines. all aboard as two million u.k. public sector workers join industrial action against pension reforms. a new low in british-iranian relations as the foreign office withdraws staff from tehran. now we're here with the sport. and it's a miserable, miserable run for chelsea. to the point at which the coach might worry. >> well, yeah, especially a couple of english newspapers from last night. the majority are trying to reflect the scenes that people were paying to gary speed, the former manager who died over the weekend. that's the "daily express", agony, basically hinting it's a crisis point now. he's got two big games coming

up. and this is in the "daily mirror." again, it says liverpool delivered a new body blow. so let's have a look at that. it was a pretty grim night for chelsea all around. there's rodriguez. he scored the first goal in the early stages of the first -- second half, i should say. he scored 10 days ago. just no market now and no marking here. martin kelly, 21 years old, scoring his first-ever goal for liverpool. a torrid night. his body language, if you look, of course he's positive. he's hardly ever known disappointment in his short career. but he didn't look the same man that we've seen. he did actually allude to the fact he didn't play well last night.

>> he only seemed to have peaks at the moment, don't they? >> wonderful football at times. it's not surprising when you look at the cost of some of the players they've got with them. he was recruited for some cost last season, and he's gone on strike. that's adam johnston, the special winger. and that close to take into extra time. so city march they can still do , big week next week. >> thanks a lot. the former president of ivory coast, laurent gbagbo, has been taken into custody of the international criminal court in the hague, where he's charged with crimes against humanity. mr. gbagbo was flown to the

netherlands overnight. he's likely to appear in court next week. he'll be the first former head of state to be tried by the international criminal court since it was set up in 2002. >> laurent gbagbo has been arrested and transferred to the i.c.c. detention center in the night. that in accordance with an arrest warrant issued. that's for charges of crimes against humanity, murder, rape, other sexual violences, and other inhuman act that allegedly has been perpetrated in a period when there was violence committed in this country. >> well, our world affairs correspondent, peter biles, told me there would be some satisfaction within the i.c.c. at getting such a significant player to the hague. >> it's not the first former head of state to go to the

hague. there was milosevic and charles taylor from liberia, but they were in different courts. he appeared before the tribunal of the former yugoslavia, and charles taylor, sperm court for sierra leone. this is the first case in which he's been brought before the i.c.c. judges. but the prosecutor says mr. gbagbo is the first to be brought to account. there is more to come. and the i.c.c. has faced criticism in its even-handedness, but mr. campo says investigations are continuing and other cases will be brought before the judges irrespective of political affiliation. that's crimes committed on both sides in ivory coast. >> we were just seeing some of the charges, including murder, persecution, rape among them. where is all the evidence coming from, peter? >> the i.c.c. has been gathering this evidence during the course of this year. this relates to the period after the elections, exactly a year ago, up until april when mr. gbagbo was taken into

custody and placed under house arrest. it's quite a short period, four months at the beginning of this year when there was a lot of conflict on ivory coast. he's facing four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, other forms of sexual violence, and persecution. >> who beverage become used to with international criminal court cases is a long duration of trial, of pretrial. should we expect the same here? because, so far, this has moved pretty quickly from what the events have said. >> doyle say at this stage as to how long it will be drawn out. there was a lot of evidence, and it went back along. this is much more recent, and it covers a very short period. so it may be different. >> peter biles. some other stories for you now -- senior officials overseeing egypt's first parliamentary elections since the fall of hosni mubarak have described the turnout as massive and unexpected. political results from the first round are due in the course of the day.

the republican presidential hopeful in the u.k., her mayne cane -- herman cane, says he is reassessing his campaign after allegations of an extramarital affair. he denies he had a 13-year relationship and said he was only friends with his accuser. he already faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, all of which he denies. eating baked or grilled fish on a weekly basis might help improve your brain's health and also reduce the risk of alzheimer's. that's according to a new study by the university of pittsburgh. eating fried fish, however, is said to have no benefit at all. now, this sunday, russians will be going to the polls in parliamentary elections. there are seven parties taking part, but what are the key issues for the voters? the bbc has traveled to a town about 500 kilometers from moscow known as the black heart of russia. that's large the because of its rich soil there. in this, the second of three of

four, steve rosenberg looked at the challenges faced by the older generation. >> retired doctor has just collected her state pension. now comes the challenge, surviving the month on $230. at the supermarket, she has no spare rubles to spend on luxuries. she just buys the basics. >> i have buckwheat for breakfast. there's enough here for three days. i'd love to get a nice piece of meat, but it's just too expensive. i only get the bare necessities. >> if she needs clothes, it's off to the secondhand shop. she can pick up a pair of trousers here for $3. shopping done, it's back to her flat, where there are plenty of bills waiting to be paid. central heating and electricity, the most expensive. like most russian pensioners, she has no savings to rely on.

she lives from pension to pension. >> if the pension runs out, i try to borrow from friends, but there are other problems here, too, like medical care. when you call for an ambulance, it doesn't always come. they ask out phone, how old are you. if you say you're over 70, they say goodbye, granny. >> this is the pension she gets every month, 7,500 rubles. of that, just under a third is spent on utility bills. she spends this much on medicine, this on her telephone calls, but she says she can't afford a telephone anymore and she's going to get rid of it. that leaves just 4,000 rubles or $130 to spend on food, clothes, and everything else she needs to get by. when life gets her down, she vents her frustration through her poems. she's written hundreds of them.

>> the people in power, they've promised paradise, but they didn't deliver, and now it's too late. >> this russian pensioner isn't expecting elections to make her life better. she's lost faith in politicians and feels abandoned by the state. steve rosenberg, bbc news. >> just want to bring you back to the state of affairs here in britain. in fact, this is the situation outside parliament this morning. there is a public sector workers strike. up to two million people in all due to be coming out in the course of today, rather low key there at the moment, but the message coming loud and clear. my pension is my pay, you see it on the banner there. bbc.com/news for more.

>> 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. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.