>> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. shell. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news america" reporting from washington. the prime minister sows confusion and now greek politics looks as confusing as its finances. this is dominating school of economics at the g-20 meeting in cannes and there saysare few solutions. if only james bond could save the day.

we talk to daniel craig. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and also around the globe. what on earth is going on in greece? i wish we knew and so the leaders of every eurozone country because there is high drama and athens. having announced a referendum, the time minister seems ready to shelve the plan. he may or may not have offered to resign. greek politics is dominating the meeting of the g-20 in cannes,. >> at the greek parliament they are waiting and watching, fearful about where this country is headed is is so close we have moved from one to another. >> inside, the prime minister is

planning on to power. his call to hold a referendum on the next bailout package provoked this crisis. today, he said it was just a political ploy. >> opening a debate revived people and created a positive shock and brought positive results to politics in this country. i think we should appreciate the different national positions. i hope that this can be the beginning of a new political culture, a new start for all of us. >> some suggest that a deal is being discussed. in return for dropping the referendum, a new national unity will be formed followed by fresh elections. the opposition leader is still gunning for the prime minister. wondering, mr. papandreou almost destroyed greece and europe, the europe,

international stock markets, his own party in order to ensure what? so he could blackmail millions of the public. >> rumors persisted that the prime minister was about to step down. damaged by his pledge to ask a public weary of cuts whether they wanted more austerity in return for more than 100 billion euros and a 50% write-down of publicly held greek debt. >> it is difficult for him having see reaction by members of this parliamentary group and also a key ministers that have expressed their views today for him to remain as prime minister. >> this country is already on its knees. the legal system paralyzed, court movements are on a slow pace. what is happening in the greek parliament right now is taking europe and the euro to the brink. no one here in athens knows who

will be running this country in the next 24 hours, let alone the coming months. there is political uncertainty in athens, there can be no solution to greece's economic problems and that means that the european debt crisis cannot be contained. time seems to be running out for george papandreou. he has told parliament that he is not tied to his post. there is a confidence vote tomorrow. elsewhere, they have already lost confidence in greece. >> that is matthew price reporting from athens. for more on the confusion, we can speak allies to mark low man who was also there. -- we can speak live to mark who was also there. they have had financial chaos, now they have to add political chaos. >> right. an evening of uncertainty

follows a day of uncertainty. all we know is that mr. papandreou seems to be rowing back on his plan for referendum. we also know that a confidence vote in the prime minister is still to be held tomorrow in the parliament building just behind me. earlier in the day, it was thought that he would lose that vote because three of his mp's threatened to vote against him. now it seems that he is rowing against the threat. he is hoping for more broad political support here. mr. papandreou's future is very uncertain and it is unclear who will be leading greece in the next 24 hours let alone the next few months. >> this confusion being felt all over europe. do the greeks care about that? >> they do. one leading commentator has called george papandreou the lord of chaos. people i were speaking to on the

streets of athens were frustrated and embarrassed that streets is once again at the eye of the storm. the plans for the referendum have caused such anger and in other european capitals. greece is riding a wave of financial and political instability. people are wary of austerity and they are against the plan negotiated in brussels. there is one other important statistic, the majority of greeks are in favor of the country remaining in the euro. he is hoping that if he can for in this debate in terms if greece should remain in the euro and he should leave greece, he is hoping to continue to support. -- he should lead greece, he is hoping to continue to get support. >> we will see if greece manages to stay in the eurozone.

ag 20 summit which was meant to discuss the global financial crisis is being derailed. leaders appear terrified by the fallout from that country. for more on how they are reacting, we have this report from cannes. >> the leaders of the world's largest economies getting together for 8 chinwag -- a chin wag. what is shocking is that they are held hostage by a tiny country that is not even in the club. this is not how nicolas sarkozy plant at the gathering. >> we spent most of our conversation focused on strengthening the global economic recovery so that we are creating jobs for our people and stabilizing the financial markets around the world. the most important aspect of our task over the next two days is

to resolve the financial crisis here in europe. >> the extraordinary change came late last night when the french and german leaders suggested for the first time that greece could leave the euro parent of the was we want you in but you need it to want it too. -- the french and german leader suggested for the first time that greece could leave the euro. >> we have done everything we can to achieve that. there are other rules, the bedrock of the solidarity package. it is up to the greeks to decide whether they want to continue with us or not. >> today, the french president said that if the euro explodes, then europe explodes. there was plenty of important issues they were meant to be talking about today but they kept getting interrupted by the latest news from greece. the leaders think it would be disastrous for greece ever to

leave the euro. but greece in the euro, there is all this never-ending drama, this is feeling disastrous as well. the focus is shifting from trying to control what happens in athens to trying to contain it. the europeans had hoped china would help them beef up their rescue fund for the country's caught in the fallout the chinese officials say that europe has to sort itself out first. new money for the imf is likely but it cannot only be for the eurozone. >> no government ever lost money by lending money to the imf by supporting countries around the world but we would not support the imf working directly and some european bailout fund. that would not be right and we will not packet. >> they did offer some help with a modest cut in interest rates.

the ecb new president said that there was little idea that they could save the euroyinlegdg unlimited resources. >> this is not in the treaty. i have nothing to add to that. this is not in the treaty. on the second question, i actually have a question for you, what makes you think that to become the lender of last resorts for government is actually the thing that you need to keep the eurozone together? >> maybe this summit will go down in history as the first time the european publicly contemplated a country leaving the euro. something tells me it will not be the last. >> for more on the was gripping the eurozone, i am joined by a writer for the "new yorker."

thank you for joining me. we have talked about the knock on the fact of the crisis in europe on americans and on this side of the atlantic. if greece leaves the eurozone as is being discussed in the key 20, does that bring some needed stability at least temporarily? >> it is a possibility, certainly. the greek prime minister said it would deliver a positive shot. i'm not sure that the rest of the world sees it that way. if they say that they cannot go through with the bailout, we will leave the euro, i think there would be some relief in the markets, actually. the big question is if there would be a contagion to italy, spain, and other countries. greece is a pretty small country and the banks which hold the debt have had the opportunity to prepare for this day.

there could be a precedent where countries would crash out and the markets would say, who is next? >> how nervously are they watching the events in cannes and athens? >> i spoke to some americans who said that it makes us look pretty good. americans have been sour on what has been happening in washington. this afternoon and this evening, there has been a rally in the markets. the fact that papandreou back of his remarks for referendum has seen -- has been seen as positive. we might actually get a unity government in greece which is committed to going forward with the bailout, which has been the problem all along because the opposition party has been playing politics and that has been driving papandreou crazy. this might cost him his career but this could end up on a

positive side for uniting the greeks. >> i was wondering whether what is happening in athens tonight makes you think that it is possible to change economic policies but not possible to change culture and that is the message from greece, isn't it? >> you can only push it so far. the problem here is that the greek people basically to not support of the austerity measures necessary for the bailout. -- do not support the austerity measures necessary for the bailout. at the same time, they don't want to leave the road. what the world is saying is that we cannot have it both ways. we can get out of the euro and see how we can resurrect this and how we do on our own achy feet or else we have to do with the germans and french are saying. -- how we do on our own two feet

or else we have to do with the germans and french are saying. however, i see this as a positive development. >> 3 pakistani cricketers have been jailed for their involvement in a betting scandal involving the bowling of snowballs in a test match in england. the former captain has been sentenced to two and a half years. the fast bowler was given six months, the former world number two was jailed for one year. a rescue operation has been taking place in the red sea after a ferry caught fire on its way to an egyptian port. all of the 1200 passengers were evacuated. one jordanian man was killed and several were treated for smoke inhalation. now to syria, where there are reports of continued violence just days after the country except in an arab league proposal aimed at ending the

violence. army tanks fired heavy machine guns at a residential district in hamza -- homs. both sides are determined to hold their ground, what pressure is being brought to bear against the assad regime? i was joined by my guest earlier from new york. yesterday, we saw the arab league broker a deal that would have given progress in syria. now, we have reports of people being killed in homs. what did you believe? >> we have to believe what is the reality on the ground. president assad is continuing with his program of trying to demolish the opposition. he has used this time, the last

great time he was given he used to kill 300 people. -- the last grace time he was given he used it to kill 300 people. he is determined to crush the opposition. he told the "daily telegraph" that he did not want to talk to the opposition. >> tomorrow is friday and we have seen a pattern of friday's key to the day that protesters have turned out. as this goes on, is there a risk to being a part of this opposition? they have crossed the rubicon. they cannot simply call off this rebellion. they don't trust of the arab league any way. the arab league has been a front for dictators. many members support the syrian regime.

many many of these and people, they have no choice but to continue this rebellion. he is dug-in and he thinks that the equation has not changed. the people are against this regime. >> this regime was in place before the nato action against gaddafi. what it takes some kind of international action to get him to go? >> they would like to see this same outcome that played out in libya play out in syria. who knows, it could come to pass. syria has more resources, it is more centrally located in the arab world than the isolated libyan regime.

>> thank you very much. the conflict in syria has been going on for almost 8 months. you are watching "bbc world is america," still to come -- after months of unrest, thousands of priceless antiques are unaccounted for in libya. archaeologists are beginning one of the largest investigations ever mounted on the battlefields of the first world war parent of -- of the first world war. >> they are following the old maps into a of labyrinths -- into a labyrinth. tunnels carved in as the battle raged above and the two armies or desperately to undermine each other. this village lay in the path of

the attacks come a long before the whistles blew in the tensions. teams of toddlers had borrowed under the no-man's land which were designed to plug gaps in the german defenses. this shows the areas we are standing in. underneath our feet, we have this network of tunnels. the first world war technology lead them to the tunnel entrances. >> this is so clear. this is the method which the original tunnel used in 1915, 1916, to locate where the enemy was making this kind of sound. >> the team have reached a shaft leading to the 80 foot levels. men grappled and died in the dark. on the surface, a constant stream of what visitors peer

curiously into the crater and take a look at the soldiers -- british, french, german, who still lie in the gaps. the team will be able to tell families more about the tragedies that unfolded in this patch of land. >> in libya, the damage done to the nation's cultural heritage during this year's unrest is becoming clear. thousands of priceless items have gone missing from libya's museums. most of them were apparently stolen during the conflict. one of the biggest losses is the so-called treasure of benghazi, an ancient collection of stones, statues, and jewelry. >> this was one of the best collections in the region but

for now, tripoli's museum is closed. inside, display cases are still empty. the head of the antiquities department said that what would happen in iraq in 2003 in mind, they took special precautions. >> we decided to hide most of these things in many places. to give you an example, sometimes we decide to put them in a room and then we build a wall and then we painted the walls with it the color like the same color. >> in benghazi, a ceiling and a vault was no deterrent to what was called one of the largest deaths of archeological materials in history. -- the largest thefts of archeological materials in history. and all, it thousands of items from the greek, roman, and

islamic past are gone. these are pictures of the kinds of toys that were missing. because it was never properly documented, it might be difficult to trust. >> this will present quite a segment of human history in that area. this is a huge loss for the villa and the world. >> in the tripoli museum, there was some revolutionary vandalism. this is a proclamation of colonel gaddafi's revolution. this is the jeep that he used when he came to power, his headlights are smashed. so, too, i the windows of a car that he drove in the 1960's. -- are the windows of the car that he used to drive in the 1960's. the staff says it will be a while before they can reopen its galleries to the public. in these uncertain times, they

don't want to take any risks with their precious heritage. until the new shorties' are assured that the borders are secure, they will play it safe. -- until the new authorities are assured that the borders are secure. until then, the past will stay behind closed doors. >> now to a powerhouse on the big screen. after weeks of speculation, the latest james bond adventure has been given a title. this is due to hit screens a year from now and audiences are clamoring for their next installment of 007. >> three years after his last outing, daniel craig is preparing to immerse himself in the world of explosions from exotic locations, girls, girls.

the film was put on hold because of the financial problems of mgm. that has resulted in the new film's the scheduled release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first film, "dr. no." >> this is a great challenge. we have gathered together an amazing cast. the crew is phenomenal. it is up to us to make something fitting for the 50th year. >> the movies have often shaken audiences but not stirred awards judges. the new castgembers have gathered 10 oscar nominations between them. the actors previous films have won six officers -- six oscars. >> i don't think in terms about anything. for me, the bond is for the

audience and only for the audience. like any good movie should be. the rest is what happens afterwards and that is not in my hands bent out -- that is not in my hands. from sean connery to daniel craig, this has become the longest-running film series. >> they have been very successful in negotiating the changes in the film industry and the popular taste of film audiences. >> bond, james bond. >> fans will be expecting a new film to be a fitting tribute that is almost half as old as cinema itself. >> those old films are so great. i must confess, i am a total daniel craig fan.

that brings us to the end of today's show. you can get updates on the website. do have a look at we are working on, go to our facebook page. thank you so much for watching. we will see you back here tomorrow. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, we're developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources. let's use energy more efficiently. let's go.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet los angeles.