>> 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." >> heroes on finance ministers agreed a second bailout -- eurozone finance ministers agreed on a second ballot. islamic holy books disposed of at a u.s. space. welcome to the program. after months of protests, the people of yemen go to the polls to elect a new president. after being shot at, -- residents of a small italian town are fighting back against the mafia. the syrian city of homs is under

heavy bombardments once more. syrian forces have unleashed a military grosz. activists say at least " people have been killed, including children. >> in the last couple of hours, the shelling of homs has been relentless. it started about an hour and a half ago and it has been shells and rockets at a rate of quite a few every minute. just a relentless bombardment. activists say some buildings have been flat in the period -- flattened. there has been heavy bombardments since one hour ago. it is quieter right now. i will play you the sounds we heard half an hour ago.

[explosions] you can see the intensity of it. in recent -- every few seconds and explosion. quite a number of families have left in the recent weeks because it has been hard to get in and out. >> one of my colleagues has been looking at some of the footage which is too graphic to broadcast but it does show some travel casualties, including children and a baby. >> that is right. we are seeing a lot of food did john youtuber. it is too graphic to -- footage on a youtuber. it is too graphic to show. there is a mother over a child in diapers. the child has been damaged by fragments by a rocket.

it is not clear whether it was clinging to life. it appeared to be dead. the doctor was trying to resuscitate it. it did suit -- seem to be among the people believed to have died in this bombardment. activists say two children are among the 12 that have died so far. that is a provisional figure. i am sure there will be more casualties. well over 100 injured. treating the injured is a problem cured >> let's speak to a resident. thank you. can you tell me what exactly has been going on in the last few hours as far as you know? >> hello. i can see the smoke in the sky and i can hear heavy shelling.

they are using many rockets into shall the neighborhood -- to shell the neighborhood. a lot of the buildings have become a pile of stones. up until now, we know that they are more than 16 and more than 80 injuries. >> can you give us an idea of how many of the government troops and tanks are there? what weapons are they using? >> bashar al-assad is using every possible gun against his own people. we are surrounded with more than 10,000 soldiers, more than 80 tanks.

most of the tanks are heavy, like russian tanks and anti- aircraft tanks. he is using rocket launchers and missiles altered -- artillery. everything. every possible gun he has. >> you have left the city. can you give me an idea as to how many people are in the city, how many people have escaped? >> a small number of the people could escape. they have left the area because there is no trip where i am now. it is possible -- impossible for anyone with a family to leave.

i left alone on my own. we are still connected with each other in the neighborhood. they supplied me with that information which i give you now. i think the number, it is around 15,000 persons. >> how many people do you fear are going to lose their lives if this continues? >> i do not know. i hope it ends soon. i think everyday a new number, a big number will be. i do not think we can know exactly because when i was there, i do not know what is happening every day.

a large number are still under the rubble. we cannot reach them. another thing. >> i am sorry, i have to cut you off. we are out of time. we will continue to report the situation in homs. thank you for your time. we are turning to events in greece. it has been a long time coming but a rescue deal has been reached to give greece another huge financial bailout. the country is going to receive more than 130 building euros to prevent it from slipping into bankruptcy and defaulting on its debt. euros on ministers met late into the night in brussels hammering out the details. the greek prime minister was happy with the outcome. >> it was a marathon meeting, lasting 13 hours but the main

players announced a deal. it had taken that long. it was that early in the morning. one of the negotiators managed to joke. >> i have learned that it is a greek word. >> it will mean austerity measures that will be rigorously enforced. the target was to reduce debt by 2020 to 120% of the economy. in the end, they got close to that. >> we started the day at 2:30 with that debt to gdp ratio of 129%. we began the day today at 120.5%. significant progress has been made overnight. >> private investors will have to take a so called hair cut on their loans. it will be more of a crop than a

trend. they will lose more than they had thought. trade unions protested against the austerity measures and athens. greece faces many years of financial pain. the bailout means it will be able to pay next month. the possibility of a disorder the default and an exit from the eurozone has gone away for now. >> let's speak to someone who was critical of the bailout. he is an international investor and author in singapore. he thinks greece should be allowed to go bankrupt. why is that? >> if you look at this plant, the greek debt continues into this future for another eight years. you know they are not going to solve the problem. we are going to be back here in 2014 addressing the same problem. this is justified by the french and german elections.

nothing more. >> doesn't bankruptcy bring down the eurozone? >> no, if you do an organized bankruptcy, ring fenced the people who are going to survive, it does not bring down the system. what brings does the system if in a few years there is no control and all of a sudden these problems come back. they hit us hard. then you have chaos and failure. this is just to get through the election. >> even if that is the case, giving greece some stability, at least a few months. >> of course it does. that is when the german election takes place. you hit it on the head. it gives them time. q. you believe greek politicians are going to tighten their belts and cut and back? if you believe that, you must

believe in the tooth fairy. >> my children believe in the tooth fairy. we will have to leave it there. what to do the markets make of this? >> i do not think they believe and the tooth fairy. we saw some interesting movements from the currency markets. there was a swing toward the euro. it is also the equity markets which are interesting. if you look at the far east, they were not impressed. we saw the european financial markets kicking off a couple of hours ago. if you remember, we had gains on monday. it was a case of exuberance. almost the exclusion of the other factors. now they are looking at the mathematics. they do that this -- they do share that skepticism. the point about it is that greece was in recession in the last quarter of 2011.

we saw a contraction of around 7%. given they have a tougher austerity measures, water and the other numbers going to be? it is that dichotomy. how can you get growth and then there is politics. >> the american commander in afghanistan has apologized for an incident in which he says copies of the koran or improperly disposed of. the incident has sparked thousands of protesters outside the air base 2000 people are there. petrol bombs are being drawn. john allen issued this apology. >> we are investigating the incident. we are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again. i assure you. i promise you. this was not intentional. i offer my sincere apologies for

any offenses may have caused. my apologies to the president of afghanistan, to the government of the islamic republic of afghanistan, and my apologies to the noble people of afghanistan. >> general allan. our correspondent is in kabul. they did not say whether or not these copies were burned. do we know any more about what happened? >> we are still trying to find out what happened. it is interesting you heard the american commander in afghanistan fessing up, admiting something had happened. this was not entirely an allegation. we are hearing this was in relation to prisoner materials. books and other things that may have included the koran.

they are used by prisoners in american detention. after word of this got out, possibly that these books had been mistreated, that prompted a large demonstration outside the air base this morning. the reporters said he saw people throwing stones, firebombs. but we understand the crowd had dispersed and afghan security officials are saying that things are under control. >> we are told that the koran is never supposed to be disposed of. any indication as to why they are trying to get rid of these materials? will this run up the anger? >> there is a lot of concern about the possibility of violence because last year when it emerged as an american pastor had set light to the koran, that

prompted several days of violence in which 10 people, u.n. workers, were killed. there is concern about that and there had been instances when the taliban and other groups have been accused of spreading rumors. of course a lot of vincent -- sensitivity about that right now. >> you are watching "bbc world news." italian bosses fight against the mafia. judges in hong kong have heard an appeal by the government against a right to apply for permanent residency. they say it could lead to a rise of several hundred thousand in the population. most can apply after living there for seven years but domestic calpers are barred from doing so. the people of libya's third largest city have voted in local

elections, the first significant poll since the overthrow of colonel gaddafi. they say it is a dress rehearsal for national elections in june. the british government has announced changes in the border committee. it accused senior officials of failing to tell ministers that checks on travelers were being suspended. more on our website. have a look. this is "bbc world news." syrian forces have unleashed what has been called a ferocious barrage on homs. euros on finance ministers finally agree on a massive bailout -- eurozone finance

ministers finally agreed on a massive bailout package for greece. ali abdullah saleh agreed to stand down after months of protest. there is not much choice. only one candidate is on the ballot. it is the current vice president, abdrabbuh mansour hadi. the new president has a tough job ahead of him. yemen remains an international help for al qaeda. we go to the capital. >> in the streets, they are drumming support for yemen's presidential alexians. after 33 years in power, the old president, ali abdullah saleh, is finally going. by tuesday night, this man, abdrabbuh mansour hadi, will be the new president. a strange election to get excited about. there is only one candidate. this is not really an election

about a new leader, it is about getting rid of the old one. getting rid of the old president's family may not be so easy. sitting beneath the portrait of his uncle, is the nephew. he commands the elite counter- terrorism courses and he told me he is going nowhere. >> why should we leave? what did we did that we have to leave? is there a reason for us to leave? >> we were taken to see the troops that he commands. they track down oxide and militants. the rapid spread of cockeyed -- al qaeda is why they are worried. al qaeda frowns on poverty.

yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. we traveled deep in the countryside to see it for ourselves. hundreds of thousands of children are on the edge of starvation. >> this child is severely malnourished. 10.5 centimeters. acute malnutrition. >> half a million children are in danger of dying from malnutrition. >> there is a problem in yemen. if not addressed, we will regret it later. >> if it is politics and not ideology, the new president needs to start here in the villages. none of the problems here can be solved with guns.

>> dozens of grief-stricken family member stormed a morgan d hunter and capital. -- stormed a morgue in the hondoran capital. a large group of women broke into their refrigerated containers and opened body bags before they were driven out by the police who were using tear gas. there are signs of desperation still after that prison fire. in new zealand, one year after the year quite that killed 184 people, the city is being rebuilt. the heart of the central business district is classified as a red zone. anything that did not collapse has been demolished. a memorial will be held for those who lost their lives. that will mark the time the earthquake struck. a former head of the

international monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn, is facing questioned by police after he and alleged prostitution ring. he is accused of having sex with prostitutes organized in paris and washington. he resigned in may of last year after being accused of assaulting a maid at a hotel in new york. he denied the accusation and the charge was dropped. our correspondent in paris gave us the background into the investigation. >> it is named after a hotel where sex parties, orgies were organized to which mr. strauss- kahn was invited. there were a number of sects w -- sex workers who had sex with him. he does not dispute that. he said they did not know -- he did not know they were prostitutes. it is not illegal in france to

sleep of prostitutes but it is illegal to supply them. it is alleged that strauss-kahn took his own whim in to these parties. it is also alleged they were paid for out of corporate funds from a large construction company. it is also easily go for a public official to receive gifts of any kind, including sex -- illegal for a public official to receive gifts of any kind, including sex. headlines were written about him. he can be held for up to four days. >> would you have the courage to tell armed gangsters to leave you alone? the italian city of naples is the stronghold of a bloody and roofless mafia, known as that cumohah. it has forced small businesses to pay protection money. one town has stood up to the man

of the mafia. >> she is an unlikely heroine, with everything that happened here beginning with this lady. when day, the camorra came calling. gangster's walked into this shop. they demanded protection money. but rafaella would not pay. >> i told them i do not want to have anything to do with you and i do not want you to set foot in my shop. don't ever come back. >> in these streets, fear kept people quiet. but rafaella broke the silence. she went to the police. they protected her. gradually, others began speaking

out, too. today, more than 80 businesses refuse to pay. saying no takes real courage. that is what shopowners are doing. they are breaking the power of the mafia in this place. this oncepens to thriving restaurant reveals how dangerous it can be to defy the mafia. he was shot at and his business was firebombed. he says he will rebuild and reopen. although he is afraid, he says he will never pay the gangsters. >> we are humble, we are human. we cannot deny the fear we feel today.

much fear. but we have to destroy this kind of pressure. >> in this place, shopkeepers, the police, and local councilors have worked together. there have been many arrests. these people are facing down the gangsters. now it is hoped other a mafia- plate towns might to draw on the experience of this one, the place that said no to the mafia. >> much more at the website, bbc.com. the latest on syria. we have been hearing that homs is under heavy bombardment once more. syrian and forces have unleashed a heavy artillery barrage. at least 12 people killed, including children.

this is bbc world news. thanks for watching. >> make sense of international news. 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.