king abdullah of jordan became the first arab leader to ask him to step down. >> he will also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of a syrian political life. >> the syrian response has been almost theatrical acts of defiance. huge numbers of syrians were encouraged on to the streets over the weekend to support the government and to protest against the arab league decision to suspend syria. angry mobs attacked the embassies of qatar, saudi arabia, and turkey, three countries that have taken a very tough line against syria. it is just leaving syria into more price isolation than ever before. at the european union, britain joined other countries in voting for new sanctions against damascus. they were targeting key figures around president faÇade. >> it is so important in the european union that we consider additional measures to put pressure on that regime. >> there is evidence the sanctions are beginning to bite. there may be the syrian government trying to start out opposition supporters. syrian opposition figures have been at the arab league in cairo discussing how t

in an earlier exclusive interview with bbc, king abdullah called to step down. and wants to suspend syria in the violent government crackdown. activists say another 40 people were killed monday. our bbc middle east editor has this report. >> it was another hard and bloody day in holmes, which has become the center of the uprising in syria. most foreign journalists are banned from the country so we're relying get on pictures taken by opponents of the regime and sent out on the internet. the assad regime said it's fighting an armed plot encited by foreigners to design the country. but evidence has piled up of security forces killing syrian protesters, many or most of them unarmed. and with broken promises to take armor off the streets, the syrian president is now under intense political pressure to go. the latest coming from the king of jordan in a bbc interview. >> if assad had interest of his country he would step down but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of syrian political life. >> but the answer to the pressure has been defia

of jordan earlier that that took place earlier this week in london king abdullah is actually the first arab leader to publicly called for president assad to step down that he's believed also to prefer britain and france over america to lead any such mission because of their success they had in libya where they led military intervention that ousted colonel gadhafi now there's no mention of any such military activity with syria at the moment at the moment this is clearly the offensive is clearly verbal but that is of course how the libya intervention and an operation started is already several similarities france and will have already recalled their ambassador from the masses and of course the timing with the militarization of the opposition which would make any kind of intervention a lot easier to support now russia they see it as a two way street because both sides are guilty of violence the free syrian army which is one of the main opposition groups that in syria the moment is largely made up now of defectors from the syrian army. we suggested in order to put in place all countries co

britain are reportedly being urged by jordan's king abdullah to take the lead in the diplomatic drive against syria after the u.k.'s key role in bombing out libya's colonel qadhafi international pressure continues ratcheting up on president assad who's been given till saturday to halt crackdowns on demonstrators or face more isolation this is russia warns against taking sides artie's ivor bennett has the latest from london. britain's been picked as team captain along with france quite least one arab country to lead a libya style contact group now their task at the moment is a diplomatic one to coordinate policy between arab countries and the west and what will be of verbal offensive putting pressure on president assad they could indeed end with him being forced to step down now the details of this will most following a meeting between the british prime minister david cameron and king abdullah of jordan earlier that took place earlier this week in london and king abdullah is actually the first arab leader to publicly call for president assad to step down that he's believed also to pref

today, jordan's king abdullah called on president bashir al assad to quit.lah's statement follows saturday's overwhelming vote by arab league nations to suspend syria's membership. syria denounced the vote as western-inspired. we begin our coverage with a report by john ray of independent television news. >> reporter: still it is the government's guns that answer the call for change. and circled and under fire, it shows the city of homs today. but the crackdown cannot drown out an almost complete chorus of international condemnation and now isolation. stunned by their suspension from the arab league, syria's foreign minister denounced the move as shameful, malicious, and dangerous. the violence seems unending. few are the signs the regime is willing to compromise, and now there is is fresh intet us to tighten sanctions. >> i think it's very good that the arab league is taking a leading role on this crisis. it's very important in the european union that we consider additional measures to add to the pressure on the assad regime. >> our goal here is to increase

. -- king abdullah called on him to step down. activists say another 40 people were killed on monday. jeremy bowen reports. >> it was another hard and bloody day in the center of the uprising in syria. most foreign journalists are banned from the country, so we are relying again on pictures taken by opponents of the regime and sent out on the internet. [gunfire] the assad regina says it is fighting a bomb plot to destroy the country. but evidence has piled up of security forces killing syrian protesters, many or most of them on the arms. with broken promises to take armor off the streets, the syrian president is now under intense political pressure to go. the latest coming from the king of jordan in a bbc interview. >> if he has the interests of the country, he would step down but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of syrian political life. >> but the answer to the pressure has been defiant. demonstrations were held in damascus. the opposition has students that were forced to take part in threaten t

saleh signed the agreement on wednesday while seated beside saudi arabia's king abdullah in the saudi capital riyadh. saleh said he hopes the people of yemen will unite in order to overcome the country's troubles. the deal calls for the ruling party and anti-government forces to set up a provisional government and for an election to choose a new president to be held within three months. anti-government demonstrations have continued in yemen since january, demanding that president saleh step down after more than 20 years in power. following the arab spring upridings in tunisia, egypt, and libya, it appears that yemen's autocratic administration is likely to be forced out as well. however, some people in yemen doubt that the president will give up power. armed clashes continue between troops led by president saleh's family and anti-government forces with no prospect of a settlement being reached any time soon. >>> the foreign ministers of japan and china have agreed that the two countries will strengthen their relationship. foreign minister koichiro gemba met with his chinese counterpar

king abdullah has been pushing a pricey economic agenda. could economic policy differ under the new to the thrown? leona lakhani takes a look. >> reporter: many people that oil producers face less economic pressure because of their enormous wealth but even in an oil-rich country like saudi arabia, the high cost of living and unemployment are still pressing issues. regardless of the politics, the economic needs in saudi arabia are urgent and king abdullah and his successor are aware they have to address them. otherwise it could result in political turmoil. saudi arabia is the gulf's most populous country but 70% of its population is under the age of 29. unemployment amongst the youth is at about 25%. that's a huge number. the government needs to create jobs to absorb all those people entering the work force and it has been putting some plans into place, for instance, it's building what it calls four economic cities to house and employee millions of saudis but these are long-term plans. there's no clear time line on when or how these cities w

has reportedly been asked by jordan's king abdullah to lead a diplomatic offensive against president bashar al assad the move echoes the build up to the recent libyan operation a direction moscow vehemently opposes archies i bet it has more. after its pivotal role in the overthrow of moammar gadhafi britain's become the new go to guy when it's trouble in the middle east prime minister david cameron's been handpicked his team captain for another libya style control group aimed at forcing president bashar al assad out to begin with it will be a diplomatic offensive but russia please it's an overreaction that could pave the way for military intervention. we suggested in order to put your initiative in place all countries concerned with a peaceful outcome develop a system seriously if you demand not only from the syrian authorities but also from the opposition to stop the violence the ongoing attacks of this government buildings in syria look like a civil war. at the moment there's no mention of military action from britain their offensive is purely verbal for now but that's exactly how

in a fact right now have in syria a proxy sunni shia sectarian war underway and i think king abdullah could really put a stop to it even though he may want. president bashar assad out there the ramifications of this continuing are far greater they could actually creep into saudi arabia itself this is clearly saudi arabia against iran using. syria as a as one of the battlegrounds and battle lines right now but i think. really needs to be much more assertive in trying to placate this and try to bring the sides together and and i think that turkey even though it's sunni as well really it has a major role to play in terms of. its no no problem foreign policy to bring sides together to bring this to a much more peaceful outcome. i think that we're going to be seen much more. chaos in the streets in that this this tends to not be the waters in terms of what the real issues are here and i think that this is really. a battleground for saudi arabia at this point to try and make to try to keep iran of the middle east because of the sunni shia problem you're also going to be seeing this by the w

. >>> an exclusive interview with jordan's king abdullah within we come back. >>> along with jordan'sto tackle higher oil prices, there's a wave of unrest hitting the country earlier this year. in an exclusive interview with jordan's king abdullah ii, i talked to him about the arab spring and the biggest challenges still to come. >> it started economically. there's a lack of confidence because there was a problem in our country as there is throughout the region with a lack of jobs and poverty. that's the major challenge we have, how do we get an individual away from voting for somebody because he's from my tribe orvilleage to voting for people to come out with a economic, political and social package? that's going to be the most challenge of democracy. >> the first thing the business community says we need to tackle corruption. >> absolutely. >> the people around you shield you from the real corruption that's on the ground in this society. it's not a big economy. can you get your hands on the root causes of the corruption today? >> i think one of the biggest problems is we have to hav

of jordan earlier took place earlier this week in london king abdullah is actually the first arab leader to publicly call for president assad to step down now he's believed also to prefer britain and france over america to lead any such mission because of the success they had in libya where they led military intervention that ousted colonel gadhafi now there's no mention of any such military activity with syria at the moment at the moment this is purely defensive is purely verbal but that is of course how the libyan intervention and an operation started there's already several similarities france will have a ready recall there and faster from the masses and of course the timing with the militarization of the opposition which would make any kind of intervention a lot easier to support and of course with libya we all know that it wasn't long before those words also turned into actions. under any other attempts to resolve the crisis are part from political pressure. well russia and china certainly view the whole situation very differently. they are very much against any kind of repeat of th

when my father was prime minister, they were so close that king abdullah went to get my father as a present a beautiful purebred arabian horse. now, my father told the king looked, and the prime minister's office basement we have a room full of presidents that the prime minister gets. what will they do with the horse down there? [laughter] will they type the horse or feed the horse? and so, the jordanians drop the subject worldwide. but then israeli paper published with the horses in the background, the horse in the stable. so the whole issue is raised again. and we were just that close from a diplomatic incident. and the king was insulted. why was my father refusing to get his present? and so, at the end of the horse was left in the kings stables in jordan, but sometimes when i ride my horse, sometimes they ask me, is that the kings horse? now my horse is a beautiful horse, and it is not a gift from the king. it was not only -- prime minister blair, while i was doing my research for the book on march 2010, he told me i had huge respect for your father. he was a courageous man and a visiona

you're going to pay for king abdullah's welfare programs, and you're going to pay for king abdullah's new fighter aircraft and warships of before the unrest in the middle east this year, the saudis calculated that their budget tear needs could be met if oil stayed at or above approximately $68 a barrel. but now according to estimates with all the new, expensive subsidies and weapons to pay for, the saudi budget will only be balanced the the price of oil is at least $88 this year and $115 by 2015. so you can see the relationship here between arms sales, oil prices, political stability and financial, financial insecurity in a country such as this. i want to bring my remarks to a close by quoting from a recent article in britain's daily telegraph newspaper which warmed my heart. under the headline-grabbing banner, "without history, we have only ignorance." [laughter] columnist jenny mccartney noted that in britain today fewer and fewer school students are taking history as a subject. indeed, she said, they are being active hi discouraged from taking a subject that is perceived to be too

king abdullah of jordan has added his voice to those condemning the regime. he called don bashar al-assad to step down. the arab league has announced -- damascus said welcome such a mission. over the weekend, the arab league suspended serious membership and is also planning to introduce economic sanctions. in addition to that, eu foreign ministers meeting in brussels agreed on tougher measures to impose on syria for its crackdown on opposition protesters. this comes as turkey warns that the syrian leader is committing political suicide by going after his own people. >> german foreign minister insisting military intervention is out of the question, saying syria is a completely different case that libya. >> it means assets worth several hundred million euros will be frozen. their bank accounts will be frozen. >> in a reference to russia's recent veto against sanctions 40, they called -- sanctions, they called on moscow to rethink its stance. >> the dutch foreign minister says his government no longer rule out military action. germany and france disagreed. >> we

angela merkel and king abdullah hope pakistan will change its mind. >> jordan has its commitments infghanistan. but again, the political process is what takes precedence at the we have a strong relationship with pakistan we hope the situation will improve. >> but progress towards peace and stability in afghanistan will be nearly impossible without pakistan's involvement. >> now to the legacy of the arab spring in morocco. last week, the country had its first elections since king mahomet virgin islands introduced constitutional reforms. on tuesday, he recognized the country's first ever islamist prime minister. the prime minister has the moderate justice and development party, which won the election. the keen agreed to reforms following widespread demonstrations in the country earlier this year. he still has the final say on defense and national security and religious affairs. there has been another arrest in germany in connection with a neo-nazi killer gang. the group is believed to have killed nine immigrants and one police officer of the past decade but two weeks ago, the nation wa

the prime minister of turkey and king abdullah of jordan both now critics. the arab league and turkey appear to be planning for a transition to a post-assad era. so much depends on what happens inside syria. more funerals, as the violence seems to be growing in intensity. there are signs that syria might be splitting towards civil war. the pressure is on the arab league to find a solution before that happens. >> back over to press. he has some latest pictures of president obama is the arrival in australia. >> air force one has just touched down. amid tight security. the u.s. president is going straight from the asia-pacific cooperation forum in honolulu. this visit comes as the two countries marked a 60-year security alliance. they are expected to announce plans for expanded military cooperation. we could also see a pledge by president obama to refocus on allies of the asia-pacific region. there is australia's prime minister walking out onto the tarmac to welcome barack obama up. this visit was twice delayed. it has finally happened and is expected to focus

king abdullah saying that's what he would do if he was in bashar al assad's place.comes after bloody crackdown on antigovernment protesters which has claimed more than 3500 looiches. zain verjee joins us live with more on this. good morning, zain. >> good morning, carol. dozens more killed in yet more clashes in a brutal crackdown by the syrian government. this comes a day after the king of jordan, king abdullah said that bashar al assad should step down. this is a really big deal, the first arab leader that's come out and said something like this so explicitly. he said this, i would step down and i would make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing. now, that comment was preceded by the arab league taking action. a lot of people thinking this is an organization that's essentially toothless. but they surprised everyone over the weekend by moving to swiftly temporarily kick out syria from the group. at the same time the european union is targeting sanctions on at least 18 lead senior leaders of this country. the questio

prime minister verdoorn of turkey and king abdullah of jordan are both critics.h appear to be encouraging a post-assad era. but so much depends on what is happening in syrup. the violence seems to be growing in intensity. there are signs that syria may be slipping toward civil war. the pressure is on the arab league to find a solution before that happens. >> smoke in rome at last. >> that is right, positive news from the italian prime minister designate. mario monti will meet the country on wednesday morning to confirm he can form a new government. and mr. monti says he is convinced the country can overcome its financial crisis. >> a day three in the corridors of power for mario monti, and it seems he is starting to read some success. after what must feel like a never-ending schedule of meetings and talks, the new italian government finally beckons. >> i will be able to present the conclusions of this work to the president of the italian republic. clearly, out of respect, i cannot anticipate the contents of it, but i would like to confirm my absolute serenity and

saleh signed the agreement on wednesday besides saudi arabia's king abdullah in the saudi capit capital riyadh. he hopes he will unite to overcome the country's troubles. it call for them to set up a provisional government. then yemenis would choose a new president in an election to be held within three months. anti-government protesters first took to the street in january. they've been demanding that saleh step down after more than 20 years in power. the transition in yemen followings a wave of arab spring uprisings in tunisia, egypt and libya and other countries across north africa and the middle east. still, some people in yemen doubt the president will give up power. fighting continues between troops led by president saleh's family and anti-government forces. world leaders have been pushing saleh for months to step aside. they're urging the emwhieny people to move quickly to emmyment the agreement. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon said that saleh told him over the phone that he'd decided to step the deal. he said that he is hoping to visit new york for medical treatment as soon as

jordan's king abdullah on monday. >> if it was me, i would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing. >> reporter: turkey has even threatened to cut electricity it supplies to part of syria. the prime minister said the future cannot be built on the blood of the oppressed. even a leading saudi royal is now predicting president bashar al assad's downfall. >> i think it's inevitable he will have to step down in one form or another. >> reporter: today in morocco, an emergency meeting of the arab league to condemn syria. syria's seat was empty. its membership suspended. the arab league has given syria three days to stop the violence, allow in international monitors or face new sanctions. brian? >> richard engel from the region tonight. richard, thanks. >>> still ahead for us here this evening, the grandmother paying the price for the big money fight going on in the nba. and the question, how did it come to this? >>> and later on, two guys on a road trip across our country. and they're cleaning the place up as they go. >>> this

jordan's king abdullah is upping the ante.e is saying he should step down after his long, bloody crackdown on opposition protesters. zain verjee is following this for us. hi, zain. >> hi, kyra. this is a really big deal. he is the first arab leader to come out and call for that explicitly, the stepping down of another arab leader. king abdullah of jordan spoke to bbc world. he said this, "i believe if i were in his shoes, i would step down. i would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing." jordan has been pretty critical of this crackdown in syria on protesters of king abdullah in the past has said assad to create a whole new era of syrian political life. a couple other countries, too, that have protested. saudi arabia and qatar, kyra. they withdrew a while ago because of the crackdown. this is a huge deal, you have an arab ruler saying this. one thing if the u.s. says it and a total other thing if an arab leader says step out, get down. a couple things the ara

this comes hours after king abdullah of jordan called for president assad to step down from his family's four decades of rule. turkey is also signaling it may be time for assad to go, threatening to cut off key supplies to syria as this continues. >>> turning to business, the european bond market jumped yesterday as a group of relatively stable companies in the eurozone were dragged deeper into the global financial crisis. let's get a look at the early markets as we get all up in your business. steve sedgwick is live in london. good morning. >>> good morning. what i want to emphasize today is the strength of the u.s. markets compared with what we're seeing in europe. we see a bit less jittery reaction to every time we see a problem in the euro zone market. yesterday they were reacting on u.s. sales figures, and the dow managed to have a flat session despite the fact that yields jumped on eurozone bonds, and the physical bond market fell in europe as even worried about the spread of the crisis, not only from greece to italy but also to countries that had been immune, countries such as fra

. >> reporter: along with arab nations suspending syria from their alliance, jordan's king abdullah is taking the astonishing step of calling for assad to step down. even though there is no guarantee he will. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> and now, onto australia. the president is there tonight and an announcement, that, for the first time in peacetime, the u.s. is sending 2,500 troops to be stationed there. u.s. troops in australia? abc's jake tapper is there with the president and says it's a chess move that has everything to do with china. >> reporter: the move to create a permanent u.s. military presence in australia is a show of solidarity and force. when the president said america now has -- >> the presence necessary to maintain the security architecture in the region. >> reporter: what he means an american troop presence in japan, south korea, the philippines and soon 2,500 marines and potentially dozens of air force aircraft in australia to serve as a counterweight to china. the chinese navy has been aggressive in the pacific, asserting control of key trade routes th

question of iraq the whole question of is well the ukase apparently been handed its leading role by king abdullah of jordan so far the only arab leader to publicly call for and sad to quit but the patience of ceres other neighbors and crucial regional brokers is now wearing thin to the arab league suspended series membership in the free syrian army has been the main driving force behind the growing opposition movement most to defectors from the army launching their latest attack on a security base russia and china are still appealing for. dialogue is the way to in they call two way violence desperate to avoid another libya style intervention but that chance may be fading but the wheels are already in motion for a coordinated attack it's verbal for now but when it came to libya it wasn't long before the words were backed up by weapons and bombs after bennett r t russia refused to back calls for president asad to step down after hosting serious opposition council in moscow earlier this week during a meeting with foreign minister sergey lavrov said dialogue wasn't possible without sufficient pressur

morocco this really leaves aside on syria alone in the arab world we heard from the king of jordan king abdullah saying that if he was in assad's position that he would be considering stepping down himself. the news this syria had be would be suspended from the arab league was greeted with dismay here in russia for storage minister sergei lavrov saying that it was counterproductive to an ongoing discussions of peace and to getting people to the table to talk this out saying they try suspending so. area from the arab league that they give the opposition in protests to try and implement regime change instead of trying to talk this out and finding a peaceful solution now the news that syria would be suspended from the arab league cost thousands of people to take to the streets of damascus and other cities across the country protesting against this we saw some protests outside of the embassies of saudi arabia and qatar two nations which voted to suspend syria from millie the people of syria and damascus saying clearly thinking that the suspension of syria from the arab league not the way to bring ab

hear these terms about these moderate arab regimes such as saudi arabia hosni mubarak's egypt king abdullah's jordan. yes these are moderate in the sense that they are working very closely with us foreign policy but they're certainly not moderate with respect to any objective definition of what constitutes democracy and any objective definition of what constitutes you know universal standard of human rights so i think you know you're serious point is an important one what really matters is not. how some people in the west are characterizing events in the arab spring what really matters and i think what really needs to be celebrated is that for the first time in the modern history of the arab and islamic world you are having democratic revolutions and and perhaps the first opportunity you know for people in these regions to really exercise a meaningful self-determination and so that's what i think the focus of the discussion should be that's something to celebrate and once again we see tunisia sort of leading the way they led the way with the with the revolt last january and and now they're le

has apparently been handed its leading role by king abdullah of jordan so far the only arab leader to publicly call for and sad to quit but the patience of series of other neighbors and crucial regional brokers' is now wearing thin to the arab league suspended series membership and given presents a sad until saturday to end the violence with britain already primed this could be the last ditch attempt at conventional diplomacy they're in a position now where they have to take some action in effect they've extended the different regions like strike yesterday from syria three days out so perhaps they're trying to offers us out as much as possible but so it's kind of an opportunity for having sort of taken action. congress for the very heart of this would have to have to make good on the promise a trick of the white stuff for free got them on the credibility and free syrian army has been the main driving force behind the growing opposition movement most to defectors from the army launching their latest attack on a security base russia and china are still appealing for dialogue and they're

question of the whole question of israel the ukase apparently been handed its leading role by king abdullah of jordan so far the only arab leader to publicly call for and sad to quit but the patience of syria's other neighbors and crucial regional brokers' is now wearing thin to the arab league suspended series membership and given president assad until saturday to end the violence with britain already primed this could be the last ditch attempt at conventional diplomacy there in a position now where they have to take some action but in effect they've extended the deadline the original deadline expires yesterday another conference or another three days so perhaps they're trying to offer us our side as much as possible in order to give up which unity for having sort of taken gregson them. every article should never have to have to make a promise a different otherwise that was a video about a credibility and free syrian army has been the main driving force behind the growing opposition movement most of defectors from the army launching their latest attack on a security base russia and china a

over details of this most following a meeting between british prime minister david cameron and king abdullah of jordan earlier took place earlier this week in london cancel or is actually the first arab leader to publicly course with president assad to step down and he's believed also to prefer britain and france over america to lead any such mission because of the success they had in libya where they led military intervention the ousted colonel gadhafi now there's no mention of any such military activity with syria at the moment at the moment this is truly the offensive is clearly verbal but that is of course how the libya intervention and operation started is already several similarities france and all the already recalled their ambassador from damascus and of course the timing with the militarization of the opposition which would make any kind of intervention a lot easier to support. if germany to stop the war coalition says the lessons of libya should be learned the arab league. as it was in libya. the ideas of the arab league against syria there must be. dreadfully wrong with syria we s