i am george alagiah. the headlines -- an official report due out shortly into the protests in bahrain is expected to be highly critical of the government. the united nations human rights chief wants an independent probe into the killing of protesters across egypt as clashes between police and demonstrators continue. time now for the business news. aaron is here. the last few months have been dominated by how the eurozone gets out of this. now, the stability bond. >> it used to be called the euro bonds. i think that's off the table. its three branding. instability bonds. we know that the european union's executive commission are very strong behind these euro bonds. they see them as the best option to get out of the financial crisis. taking a step back, it's important to realize -- we talked about spain, italy, and greece going to the money markets to borrow money. that's what we callm bonds. the interest rates that investors have been forcing these countries to pay have been going through the roof. the who

i am george alagiah. the headlines -- britain's finance minister is pleased to present plans to boost the u.k.'s sluggish economy. day two of the historic elections in egypt. voting is brisk and orderly. aaron is here with the business news, but you have some corporate news. >> corporate wealth still goes on out there. i just grab this off the press. american airlines, as well as american eagle airlines, filing for chapter 11 for reorganization. that's all we are getting on this at the moment. it looks like american airlines is filing for bankruptcy protection -- chapter 11. also, citigroup, like many big american banks, still trying to settle legal cases that date back to 2008. the whole financial crisis. the judge threw out the settlement offer saying it was pocket change to such a big bang. citigroup is accused of selling investors complex financial instruments and then betting against them. >> the spotlight is once again on wall street's role in the mortgage crisis. this time, it is shining on citigro

i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. a grand assembly of politicians for the u.s.aders inn ll to stop its f controversial nigt raids. barack obama in promised closer military ties, likely to ruffle feathers in beijing. it is early morning in washington, 8:00 p.m. in hong kong, and midday in london. foreign ministers of the arab league are gathering. the meeting will probably confirm last weekend possible suspension of syria from the league. nothing has happened in the last few days. likely to boost confidence that president bashar al-assad is closer to opening credible dialogue. there have been dozens of deaths and army defectors have launched their most audacious raid yet. we just saw you there talking about the empty seats, where a syrian delegate is likely to be. what do you think will be the most likely outcome out of this meeting? >> can you hear me? >> no, okay, we will leave it then. thank you. we will move onto another story. president barack obama has announced plans to station more american troops in australia.

i am george alagiah, with a world of news and opinion. also in the program -- the condoleezza are also voting today. we found l y japan's -- found out why japan's young are queu ing up. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 2:00 in the afternoon in cairo. the election pitches the organizational prowess of the muslim brotherhood with the pro- democracy activists. will it usher in the new era the tahrir square generation wants? let's get the latest from my colleague, lyse doucet. >> welcome to cairo. welcome to this area outside the polling station. this is a historic day for egypt. it's meant to move us closer to democracy. just 10 minutes away from where i am standing, the protesters say they will have nothing to do with elections that are under the supervision of egypt's military rule. instability and uncertainty, but there's no denying the enthusiasm of many egyptians to cast their ballots. we saw the queues for mean earlier this morning. every voter i spoke to said they are here today because it matters. let's listen to

i am george alagiah. the headlines -- police in new york have carried out an operation to clear anti-wall street campaigners from their protest camp. in a meeting with syrian opposition leaders, russia's foreign minister has restated moscow's position that they should engage in dialogue with president assad. aaron is now here with the business. europe has been cut -- we have had some growth figures for the eurozone today. >> this is all about the balance of the austerity measures and growth. the austerity measures, spending cuts, tax increases -- we know they are pretty much killing of potential growth. in the last three months, the eurozone gross domestic product, which is the total sum of everything that produced, manufactured, and sold, came in at 0.2%. if we break that down, look at germany, the core of the eurozone. half of 1%.grew by they got a boost from domestic consumption, consumer spending, on the ground, in those countries. if we look at the stickman of europe, greece is still bogged down in a

i am george alagiah. economic growth in the eurozone is at a standstill and urgent action is needed. rescue workers are trying to free dozens of people still trapped as turkey's earthquake zone is hit by an aftershock. nine people have been killed. time now for the business news. >> thank you very much. italy's 1-year borrowing costs hit a 14-year high on thursday. it sold 5 billion euros added punishing rate of just about 6.9%. the longer-term borrowing rate is currently paying about 6.98% on 10-year bonds. that's similar to the levels that greece, portugal, and ireland were being charged just before they were bailed out. compare that with germany's borrowing costs. the eurozone's biggest and strongest economy pays just 1.68% on the 10-year bond. italy needs to borrow billions more euros in coming weeks and the current rate could make this unaffordable. >> at the level we're talking about, it's basically saying that your implied cost is 2 euros for every five euros of revenue you received. 40% just in yo

i am george alagiah. the cost of borrowing in italy has hit a new record one day after prime minister silvio berlusconi said he would resign once budget reforms are passed. the iranian president, ahmadinejad, has dismissed a report from the united nations which says there were signs iran may have worked on designing a nuclear weapon. time now for some business news. >> thank you very much. we will start in china. prices rose at a slower rate last month and inflation has eased back to 5.5% in october, down from a three-year high of 6.5% in july. food prices fell slightly. on average, people spend more than half of their income on food in china. >> of course, it has been increased by him saying he would resign. therefore, there have been some hope initially that his resignation would then open the door for some people, or support for the authority package. the domestic politics are much more complicated. there is a power struggle taking place. everybody wants to position themselves in the best way ahead of

i'm george alagiah. italy's mou -- new prime minister joins talks in the european debt crisis amid sharp differences between france and germany. each of the's military council says parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned on monday -- egypt's military council. they apologized for the deaths of protesters. here is the business news. guess what? eurozone? >> in particular, we are talking about the money market, the international bond market, and they all were right. let me explain. as you have been hearing, amid a worrying trend in the money markets, the leaders of germany, france, and italy are meeting in strasbourg. france wants the european central bank to help out nations and get this -- difficulty by guaranteeing their debt. but the stumbling block, german chancellor angela merkel is against it. she argues nations in trouble should reform and not be given an easy way out. but of course, these talks have been given more urgency by events in the money market. germany struggled to sell government

i'm george alagiah. after another allegation, republican presidential hopeful herman cain prepares to face the media. australia's controversial carbon tax gets the green light. critics say it will cost jobs. it is midday here in london, 8:00 p.m. in hong kong and 1:00 in the afternoon in italy where silvio berlusconi is about to face the battle of his political life. he has survived more threats to his leadership than most, but this time it is different. his top coalition partner called for the prime minister to step down. our reporter is in rome with the very latest. >> hello, and welcome to central rome. just in front of the italian lower house of parliament, where in just a few hours' time, silvio berlusconi will face the test of his political life. it should be a routine vote in this house of parliament, the financial bill, but this vote has taken on huge significance. everybody is watching what the league does, whether silvio berlusconi can hang in. because within the european union and in the finan