>> 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. >> 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?

>> and now, bbc world news. >> syria's president says a referendum will be held on a new draft constitution as government forces continue to bombard the city of homs. after germany's economy reports a slight contraction, new figures due for the eurozone will show whether it has slipped spew recession. greek ministers prepare to send a letter of assurance to brussels after agreement on a new e.u. bailout for athens was postponed. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- times, they are a-changing, says one leading russian activist, as a presidential election looms. also, we meet kim jong il's double, who's looking for new opportunities after the north korean leader's death.

>> hello. thanks for joining us. syria's state-run news agency says that president assad has set a date for a referendum on the country's new draft constitution. and that date is the 26th of february. amendments to the constitution were a key demand by opposition groups at the start of the uprising against the president last march. now, the announcement comes as the bombardment of the city of homs just goes on. 13 days of this now. this is the picture for you at the moment, vast amounts of spoken gulfing the city. now, this is believed to have come, well, possibly from an oil pipeline serving a refinery in the city, but there are a couple of views as to what precisely caused it. but government forces have continued their assault on the city. there's been reports from opposition activists of more mortar fire and gunfire. this is coming, the smoke, that is, from the direction of

farmland near a residential area. also, opposition activists say it's coming under considerable attack. they said something like 20 people were killed in the course of attacks on tuesday. let's speak now to the bbc's jim muir, who joins us from beirut in neighboring lebanon. can you give us any more, jim, as to what is being said about the referendum at this stage? >> well, a lot of the articles coming out about the constitution, which is quite complicated, bit how you can actually hold a referendum in the current circumstances remains to be seen. the country is in a fair degree of turmoil. there are hostilities reports from practically all parts of the country, from the north you can from the middle, from around damascus to the south. i mean, it's really quite hard to see how such a complicated operation as a credible referendum could be organized

at such short notice, in such difficult circumstances, symbolized by that huge hall of smoke hanging over homs, or pumping up into the sky over homs, hours and hours after that pipeline was hit by either the government side or rebels, depending on whose version you believe. so, there's a lot to be said about the constitution. i can tell you more if you want, but it's going to be really quite hard to see a referendum in these conditions. aurp we're talking about 11 days' time, aren't we? it's not just homs either, which is dealing with violence at the moment. >> no, i mean, there are reports from practically all corners. i mean, there's the east, the north, down to the south, some of the areas around damascus itself. there's a security operation going on just on the northern side of the actual city. so, as i say, it's really hard to see how, in a situation where in a lot of parts of the country, the armed forces are regarded as an occupation force

rather than a kind of legitimate bastion of law and order, it's hard to see how such a big operation of a popular referendum can be conducted. >> jim, thanks very much for that. we can speak to a member of the secretary general of the syrian national council, one of the main opposition groups. thanks very much for speaking to us. what's your reaction to the announcement that there will be a referendum, and very soon? >> well, i think they're trying another trick in the book, which basically diverts attention from the crimes against humanity that's been happening in syria for the past two, three months, especially for the past few weeks. in homs and in the countryside of damascus, and many other areas, both in towns and in the rule. >> nonetheless, this is an

opportunity for a refer doum a new constitution which takes control away from the baath ballot box, which enshrines speech in the constitution. what would you say to your supporters and your followers? do you encourage them to get out and vote or encourage them to boycott? >> well, i mean, first of all, the regime has not really suspected the existing constitution in the past 40 years. >> this is a refer doum a new -- a referendum on a new constitution. >> well, our experience with this regime is it does not really keep its promises. it does not keep to its words. >> so are you saying boycott then? >> absolutely. the u.n. high commissioner is planning to take the leadership to the international criminal court. such a regime does not have the morals or the political ability

to propose a new constitution to the city and people. >> right. if you took this constitution at face value, if you took the regime at face value, would you feel that the changes in this constitution were the sort of changes you wanted to see? >> well, for us in syria, the main problem is not the constitution, the main problem is the fact that we have a complete control of the state over the army and the security forces. as long as you keep that, other things will just be, you know, just words and promises and empty promises. the proposed constitution does not tackle that in any way or shape, so the balance of power will always stay on the regime side. the current constitution -- sorry, the proposed constitution is basically

facilitating that and working on keeping the currency regime in its position, because it gives it all the main power in syrian society. >> ok. thank you very much indeed for joining us here on "bbc world news." ok, juliette is here now with the latest business news. we're looking at the eurozone figures, whether or not the eurozone as a whole is contracting, and the answer is -- >> i don't know because of the figures. >> the answer is hanging in the air. >> the answer is hanging in the air. >> i've just been told, .3% contract for the eurozone. >> right, they have literally come through just now. but yes, it really appears to tally with what was coming through individually, because a number of countries started posting their g.d.p. numbers during the morning. it really speaks for itself. that's the figure for the eurozone area, but if you look, for example, at the likes of italy, they are now officially in recession.

they saw a decline of .7% and also sharing that number with the netherlands. interestingly enough, there was a comment from the dutch authorities, and in their case, they actually attributed partly to a hit on consumption, but really, stemming from a drop in residential property prices. but again, no real surprises there. the other interesting thing was germany. everybody is saying, well, this is very bad news, because germany is europe's largest economy. but it's a slightly different time for economists. people are far more informed than me. they said, look, it's not a drastic slowdown. it's a glitch. because the interesting thing about germany -- and this is a really perverse aspect to the eurozone debate, this crisis, is that, yes, money is being put into the economy to shore it up. there is profound weakness, and recent g.d.p. numbers came through yesterday, and they were actually down 7% in the last quarter. but that weakness, the euro currency, actually benefits german exports, makes the their

goods cheap. of course, they're competing efficiently against the chinese, doing very well. so that's the perverse thread to it. >> france up? >> yes, another interesting component. but what's fascinating is we saw a slight rise before the cuts on the a.a.a. rating. the big question is, of course, is what's going to happen in the first quarter of 2012. >> very good point. >> the other one, as well, just very quickly, the czech economy, that's also in recession. we saw a dip though of .3%. >> right, juliette, it's a mix, but not very pretty picture. >> it's not a pretty picture. we shouldn't really be surprised given the trauma the eurozone went through in 2011. >> you use the word trauma, which is highly appropriate given we're talking about greece next. is it a country on the brink of default? that question is again hovering, really, on the lips of eurozone finance ministers. they actually cancelled the meeting they were due to have today, which was a chance to agree on a further huge

bailout. what they want are further budgetary commitments before they allow the rescue package to go through. we do understand that the party leaders in athens are preparing to provide a letter of reassurance, but one greek minister has said they've already made superhuman efforts to meet the demands. another has said the country is exhausted. how precarious is the situation in greece? our athens correspondent is mark lowen. >> it's a pretty dangerous situation at the moment, because of a combination of several factors. the greek economy is shrinking faster than people had thought. we just had figures released that show that this economy contracted by 7% in the last quarter. that's up from the 5.5% estimate. added to that, you have a growing sense of mistrust from the european union towards greece over this country's ability to implement reforms. that's why the bailout has still been withheld. on top of that, you have a darkening public mood despite the fact the sun had come out today. so all of that meaning that greece is in a pretty precarious situation at the

moment. there is a high-stakes game of brinkmanship going on between brussels and athens over this bailout. with greece so weak and so scared of the future, that game of brinksmanship could push this country toward its breaking point. >> mark lowen there. five years in prison, that is what italian prosecutors are requesting -- this is at a hearing taking place for the former prime minister of italy, silvio berlusconi. you can see there, see him in the back there. mr. berlusconi is accused of paying the brittish labor right about 450,000 euros to provide false testimony in several trials against him in the 1990's. he denies the charges. that is the latest we're getting from the italian prosecutors. prominent russian anti-corruption activist told the bbc he believes vladimir

putin will lose his grip on power within 18 months. he's one of the most significant new political figures to emerge in russia in the past few years. he was one of the organizers of the recent huge protest against election fraud. he's been talking to our moscow correspondent, daniel san ford. >> this was alexei in december emerging from two weeks in prison. it confirms that the prominent anti-corruption activist now found himself becoming a significant political figure in russia. >> corruption is the basis of the political system, so if you're involved in fighting corruption, you're also involved in politics. >> if i could run for election, i would. but first we need to achieve honest elections, so people like me can take part in them. >> how long is it going to take to get that simple demand, fair elections?

>> the transformation of russia into a country where people choose their government in normal elections will take a long time. but if you had asked me six months ago, do you believe that there will be 100,000 people on the streets of moscow, i would have said it can happen one day, though i would have been skeptical that it could happen so quickly. but it happened. that was a big surprise even for the russian opposition. >> revolution has become a bit of a dirty word in russian politics. everywhere i go, people say, well, what we don't want is a revolution. do you think actually maybe a peaceful revolution is exactly what is needed in russia? >> the truth is the criminal revolution was carried out by vladimir putin. he really usurped power in an illegal way. vladimir putin staged a revolution, and what we need to

do now is to return the power to the people. >> can you yourself being part of the government one day? >> our task now is to secure fair elections. that is task number one. once we have done that, i'm sure that great new politicians will appear as candidates for the posts of prime minister or president. and i think i will be among those people, and i will fight for a leadership position. >> in truth, vladimir putin is the most popular politician in russia. do you have to accept that perhaps his style of government is what people want? >> these days his popularity is based on a monopoly of the media, but they destroyed all the politicians around him. and there is the huge machine exclusively serving him. but even this machine can serve

anymore. >> i don't think that vladimir putin will be able to sustain the system he built for more than another 18 months. >> alexei has transformed himself from a lawyer and activist into a political phenomenon. but the russian election landscape is still hostile and even hard for the opposition. the months ahead will be hard. >> and you're watching "bbc world news" with me, david eades. thanks for being with us. still to come -- a slice of the netherlands in north london. we'll have a look at how olympic nations are setting up their homes in the host city. >> want to get a look at what the papers are saying around the world today. we'll begin with the "financial times," which is paying a lot of attention to the greek debt crisis. the front page article saying eurozone officials have called off a meeting of finance ministers, as we know, to

approve a vital bailout for athens. all this amid a growing fight about the merits of allowing a national default. the international herald tribune business has a warning for greece that doesn't using portugal, because it sums up their debt to g.d.p. ratio is rising and economic growth is slowing. the "china daily" says relations between the u.s. and maturing are maturing, as vice president xi jinping speaks candidly with american leaders about their differences. and there's a new report suggesting a quarter of the world's children are too malnourished to grow properly. hundreds dive malnutrition every hour because of the global food shortage. >> you're watching "bbc world news" with me, david eades. our main headline this hour -- syria's president says a referendum will be held on a new draft constitution as

government forces continue to bombard the city of homs. 1/4 of the world's children are malnourished. hundreds are dying of hunger every day. that's according to save the children, which says the situation is getting worse because food is becoming increasingly unaffordable. our world affairs correspondent , mike wooldridge, has this. >> in the spotlight now, with a new hunger emergency feared if aid isn't rapidly stepped up, the region of west africa. children with is he viewer malnutrition being treated in niger, one of the countries hit by a deadly combination of drought, crop pests, and soaring food prices. and it's the record food prices of the past year that this new report from save the children focuses on. it says they've compounded the chronic problem of child malnutrition and forecasts terrible consequences if there isn't more concerted action.

>> we've made progress to reduce child mortality because of immunization, for things like diarrhea and pneumonia from measles. but that will stahl unless we deal with this stubborn problem of malnutrition f. we don't, 2.6 million children will continue to die every year. >> in bangladesh, one of the countries where save the children carried out its survey, prices in the food markets are said to have risen by up to 50%. for many, they're now unaffordable. this woman says whatever she gets is never enough to feed her children properly. lessons to help mothers make meals that are as nutrition as possible, save the children says millions of parents have cut back on food for their families this past year, and the risk is many more children will now end up with fiscal and mental stunting. children have also been dropping out of school to work to pay for food. the agency is proposing a world

hunger summit, where leaders are in london for the olympics. mike wooldridge, bbc news. >> north korea is preparing to mark the birth date of its former leader, kim jong il, this week. his personality dominated the country for the better part of two decades, but since his sudden death in december, the country has been headed by a much less familiar figure. that's his son, kim jong un. our correspondent has been looking at their very different public personalities. >> identities are mr. kim's bread and butter. business cards and rubber stamps are essential daily needs. ironic, because when he's not validating other people, mr. kim gets paid for being someone else. the former north korean leader, kim jong il. it doesn't take much to pull off the former dictator, says mr. kim, the permed hair,less distinctive jump suit, and

maybe a bit of clapping. having a former north korean leader as a guest on your tv chat somehow or a prop for your music video is surprisingly popular near the south. but now that kim jong il is dead, will impersonators like mr. kim switch to mimicking his son? hmm, he says, there's not much similarity between kim jong il and his son, i'd need to get a different haircut. he'd probably need to do more than that. kim jong un has a very different style than his father, much more, well, matey, more tactile, more hands on. north korean state media has shown him testing soldiers' equipment, tasting their food, sitting on their beds. even the anchor who carried news of his exploits has been replaced by a younger, softer looking model. the new chummy style has

generated a few crunch inches in the south. this newspaper for north korean defectors in south korea is run by a man better prepared than most to make the comparison. he met and dined with kim jong il before leaving north korea. >> kim jong il had such status that people didn't dare look him in the face, but kim jong un had no choice but to approach the people and embrace them. he's begging for their loyalties. >> whether his style signals warmth or weakness, here in the south, officials say its new policy they're watching for, on that score, north korea says nothing will change. the style may be news, but when it comes to substance, it says kim john you know is kim jong il. lucy williamson, bbc news, seoul. >> sport coming up in about 20 minutes. sue is here. >> got lots of ice in the

bulletin today. we're going to start with ice hockey. detroit red wings setting a new record, 21 successive home victories. how good is that? this latest victory over the dallas stars, they've been unstoppable at home this season. their home record, phenomenal. since november 3, in 27 home matches, they've had 24 wins, two ties, and just one defeat. so, if you are a fan of the red wings, you are very happy indeed. >> not bad. and also something that we don't see an awful lot of. >> no, we just watched the last goal go in. look at this. this is horseracing on the ice basically. so you just get yourself on a pair of skis to be the sort of jockey -- that's all you go. >> and there you go. skiing itself is a bit tricky. horseracing can be a dangerous profession in the best of times, so you put the two together, and the danger factor goes up exponentially. but yes, terrific action, isn't it? >> what a pace. >> magnificent animals. fancy that? >> no, not really. sue, thanks.

on to the london 2012 olympics. they're not far away. the games are going to have obviously a sporting element, cultural, but social as well. and many countries have their own hospitality base. our olympics correspondent has been finding out what some of those countries are planning. >> they might paint the town red, but they'll definitely turn this part of north london orange. the dutch are going to make alexander palace their home during the games. it will be the biggest hospitality house for sponsors and spectators in the capital. they're expecting 6,000 people a night here. these places are like an embassy, but with a lot more fun. the dutch have a reputation for enjoying a party, and here at alexander palace, they're going to have entertainment every night during the olympics. it's not just the dutch that are doing this. the jamaicans, czechs, nigerians, most countries are planning to host parties and business meetings in some of the capital's most famous

buildings. the germans are taking over the museum of london documents. and like the holland house, the public will be allowed to come in too. >> you can really taste and feel german culture right up close. you can eat wonderful german food, all kinds of exciting food, and really have fun. if you're part of the german delegation, you'll probably come here for meetings, press conferences, for banquets. it's a place where people can spread out and report back what's happening here in london for the polingse back home in germany. >> other countries have the same idea. the italians will be based at the conference center in westminster, and the brazilians are just up the river at somerset house. >> nigeria has their base very close to the olympic park. they'll be staging culture events in this victorian building. the theater royale in the middle of strat ford. but some countries have opted for more exclusive homes in west london. the americans are going to move in opposite the albert hall at

the royal college of arts, but their house is said to be very private. it won't be open to the public. the college is used to changing its scenery for art fairs and exhibitions. >> like the artists who use the college, we'll be transforming this space into something very unique. it's going to be something that's comfortable, welcoming, a little bit away from the hustle and bus he will of london, but still, right in the center of london. >> the russians are hoping to be just around the corner. they want to not a temporary pavilion on this expensive piece of land in kensington palace far dense. these houses are where business diplomacy and party-going meets sport, a home from home in olympic london. >> not far away, is it? just want to bring you back to the situation in syria. the president has said there will be a referendum on a new constitution in 11 days' time. one leading opposition figure

in this program said that should be boycotted. more on the website, of course. >> 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. >> 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.