america." >> welcome. the headlines this hour -- shares in asia down. the new imf chief faces allegations she abused her a party which he was the finance minister. the u.s. suspends -- suspend sanctions against syria. latest figures success -- suggested that the people have died so far. this latest image of mars -- as a pollute -- prove there is water on the red planet? it is 11:00 a.m. in singapore and 4:00 a.m. in london. this is newsday. shares in asia have fallen sharply, reacting badly to the ongoing debt crisis. hong kong opened almost 5% lower. early on wall street, the dow jones index fell by nearly 4%. the eu failed to calm markets. our economics editor has more. >> two weeks ago today at their emergency summit, eurozone leaders said the future of the euro was safe. but somebody forgot to tell the financial markets. >> this is an abc news special report. >> the closing bell is just ringing now at the new york stock exchange. stocks have plunged this afternoon. >> tens of billions of pounds were wiped off the british and american stock prices as fears about the euro fed into growing worries about the strength of the recovery. stocks are down to where they were at the end of last year. >> a couple of weeks ago, markets anticipated that the ecb would find a solution to the problem. it is very clear there is no more money on the table. there is no political will at the moment to sort out the problems. >> italy and spain are sparking investor doubts. spain was paying 44% to borrow from the markets. a few weeks ago in the lead up to the summit, it went up to 6.3%. it is now back up to that level. the higher this at -- the interest rate they pay, the more difficult for these countries to get on top of their debt. that is the fierce on mines in brussels. they are working out a way to respond. the european commission president sent a stern message to governments talking about growing market skepticism about their capacity to deal with the crisis, which, he said, had extended beyond the periphery of the eurozone. he urged a rapid reassessment of what more can be done. the european central bank did take action today, announcing it would step in to support governments under pressure by buying their bonds, something it has not done since march. bank presidents also had some stern words for national politicians. >> the key for everything is government ahead of the curve in both fiscal policy and structural reforms. i know that structural reforms are difficult and may be politically difficult -- particularly difficult in our democracies. >> today putt to fall was the biggest since the financial crisis nearly three years ago. the details have changed, but the mood in the market is starting to feel familiar. >> we take a look at the asian markets now. they have tumbled as much as 5% this friday. that is after the sell-off on wall street. it is the worst since the global financial crisis started. investors are now looking for employment -- employment data from the u.s. later. it could trigger further sell- offs. we take a look at currencies. japan -- switzerland and intervene to weaken their currency. let's turn to asia. lin sinjab joins me now on the line. your -- you are a reporter for a financial services organization. it is been a busy morning for you. >> it sure has. it is shaping up to be quite a day in hong kong. we are seeing sell-offs across the asian benchmarks. u.s. and europe combining into a global slowdown, practically erasing japan's efforts to weaken the yen yesterday. it is back on the rise today as investors monitored the bloomberg monitor. bloomberg news talked to someone at sydney based asset management. he tells us he is calling this a panic attack. there are fears growth is walking off a cliff. >> people are calling this a panic attack. why should asian investors be acting this way? >> i think it is what you're talking about earlier where investors are keeping an eye on the big jobs report will be given later today. economists forecast the country added 85,000 jobs last month, likely failing to get the 9.2% unemployment rate. that continues to put pressure on the u.s. consumer. spending accounts for 70% of the u.s. economy. if you do not have a job, you do not have money to spend. your purchases of age in goods and tax products -- the supplier of toys and goods for retailers, including wal-mart stores, tumbled 4.3%. we are also seeing espireit dropping 5.6% right now. concern about consumer markets are weighing on markets here in asia today. >> all right. more trouble at the end terry -- international monetary fund. the new boss, christine bedard, faces a -- christine legarde is being investigated. she denies any misconduct. >> among her first duties as managing director of the imf was several days of ethics training. it was to avoid the kind of problems that faced her predecessor. today was a decision by french judges will come as a disappointment. prosecutors allege that in 2008 she abused her position as finance minister. she approved a $400 million payment in compensation to this man to settle his claim that the former state-run bank had defaulted him in 1993 when he sold his stake in a sports company. a former left-wing minister, he had switched sides in 2007 to support nicolas sarkozy's campaign. oday, christine legarde's lawyers say she welcomes the opportunity to clear her name. >> she is perfectly calm about all of this. just because an investigation has been launched, does not mean she it should be worried. she is not worried in the least and neither am i.. knew she was facing this investigation when they appointed her. they still felt she was the best candidate. nonetheless, it is damaging, particularly given the circumstances in which she got this job. >> now a over to new castle. we have more on syria in the city of hama. the government is shooting at anything that moves. >> the city has been under siege for five days. lettis reports say as many as 45 civilians have been killed. now there are food and medical surge -- shortages. activist has sent pictures of the bbc -- to the bbc, but many are too shocking to show. the ones in this report are disturbing. >> syrian military vehicles are heading towards hama today. the video is hard to verify, but a troubling picture is emerging. yesterday it seemed tanks and troops swept into the city center -- a concerted effort to crush the uprising in hama. >> they were using anti-aircraft guns to shoot the buildings, the cars and the people. they're trying to find anyone and kill them. the hospitals are shut down. the generators do not work anymore. there is no food. it is like a battlefield. it is like some villages in iraq when the u.s. army invaded. >> as evidence from these pictures, injured civilians being targeted. what we are now about to show maybe distressing. possible evidence of a terrific casualty's. the blanket covers what is too awful to show. most of this man's head was blown off by a tank, we are told. the picture in hama is sketchy, but it seems tanks and troops began to move in on sunday. activist reported that residential areas were targeted along with the hospitals. a second man with his head blown off. a young girl allegedly crushed by a tank. a small boy with gunshot wounds visible on his body. the latest pictures suggest the rebellion is far from over. this is apparently last night in the hama region. crowds still openly defiant. it is hard to know where this crisis is heading. >> we are live from singapore and london. still to come, president obama hits a half century, but with economic problems mounting, along with the celebration last? getting out to bring out video games to life -- we explore the world of cosplay. the u.n. has called for a $1 billion fund to clean up oil pollution in nigeria. it comes as shell accepted liability. they face compensation -- compensation claims. there are reports of contamination levels that are worse than previously thought. our correspondent reports from nigeria. >> this report is a forensic examination of how oil brought pollution and ruin to a small part of nigeria. for decades, oil was pumped from the gobi land. it came at a terrible cost. the water is so contaminated it poses a public health risk. results showed that for a first- time the pollution has sarg deep down into the soil, 5 meters down in some places. this is primarily a report about the impact that the solution, which is thought will take between 25 and 30 years to clean up. oil giant, shell, was criticized for failing to maintain their infrastructure in the area which directly led to the leak. local committees attempted to seek -- stem the lead. shell accepted responsibility for two spills in which oil flowed unchecked for several months. the u.n. has recommended that a $1 billion fund be set up for what it is calling the most wide-ranging and long-term cleanup operation the world has ever seen. it asked oil companies and the nigerian government to come up with the money. the question is, having made billions of dollars by exporting the oil of this land, the cash can now be found to clear up all the pollution. >> this is newsday on the bbc. the advise this hour, share prices in asia have plunged amid concerns that the eurzone debt crisis could spread to italy and spain. the head of the imf, christine legarde, is under investigation for a huge payout to a businessman when she was french finance minister. it is one of the largest and most lucrative in the world. it is estimated to be worth about $7 billion. they just up like characters. the world of cosplay breeze virtual reality to life. what is it like? we talked to a university student. >> i am a senior year student at the music academy. i am 21-years old. i love cosplay. i think the biggest attraction is to be able to act out different sides of my personality. in cosplay, i performed several different characters. when i am acting, i can show different sides of myself. i think at some people want to escape their world and they put their energy into another world because nowadays a lot of chinese young people are from one-child families. you can make lots of friends. when i am at home and not so busy, i play computer games or do some research. i practice a lot for these competitions. i am a very shy person, but cosplay is a game of display. the more i do it, the greater i become. it also helps my social life. i have met a lot of people by acting in cosplay. with the competition is over, i feel sad. i have to say goodbye. i take lots of photographs, but i know it is not the end and i look forward to the next competition. >> parliament has gathered to vote in the first female prime minister. she rose to elected glory in july. she faces many challenges. her immediate goal will bring -- will be to bring peace to the country. we are seeing some live pictures now of that voting in ceremony. for more of this, we will speak to rachel harvey. why would it take this long after she clearly won a decisive victory? >> the committee have to go through each and every complaint made after the election. there were a lot of them. they have to endorse each one by one. once there is enough confirmation, then parliament can set them. that is the point we've gotten to now. a vote will take place to elect a new prime minister. there is only one candidate. the opposition is not putting up a candidate of their own. it should be a formality. given the kind of majority she commands in parliament, it is a certainty she will be elected prime minister. that will probably the easiest part of her job the entire time in office. there are formidable challenges facing the new government. it is a testament to the turbulence in recent tahhai politics. she is already speculating about how long she will last in the job. she says he is determined and she will be her own woman. she says she is not a puppet of her brother. many people believe he is directing policy and, perhaps, having influence over the lineup of the new cabinet. she says not. she says she will be her own woman. we will see what she can do. >> we will have to leave it there. i am sure we will get a lot more pictures of that ceremony later on. over to new castle -- -- over to america -- it is happy birthday to the new president. >> barack obama is celebrating his 50th birthday. if he was hoping for a birthday gift from the u.s. economy, he will be disappointed. the debt crisis may of been dealt with for the moment, but economic figures suggest that america's recovery is stalling. >> many worry when they hit the big 5-0, but it is probably the only thing the president does not fear at the moment. >> it does not matter how tough a week i have in washington because i know you have my back. when i go to chicago, when i travel across the country, i know we cannot be stopped. >> the lack of recovery is set to dominate next year's election. last month's bad figures were called a bump in the road. >> i am an american, not a bug in the road. >> the graying of the president bears witness to the pressures of the job. the biggest worry is the recovery. many of the present's plans will depend on growth. there is nothing to celebrate in the latest round of statistics. there were more job cuts in july than the previous 16 months. manufacturing figures show the sector hardly grew at all. consumer confidence is low. spending dropped in june for the first time in nearly two years. with unemployment figures out tomorrow, there is expected to be more bad news. mason-frederick has found the business, but they are not hiring as many people as they like. >> borrowing money is so much more difficult right now that there is a state of unknown. that state of unknown is "-- is what is keeping people from moving forward with projects. >> it is a prosperous place, but even here there is gloom. the economy is just bopping along the bottom. now a few economists say the figures point to another recession. things could actually be getting worse. there are new worries. >> sales are definitely down. people are not spending as much money. my husband is unemployed right now. i am the only income that my family has. we are barely scraping. we can pay our rent and our bills, but that is about it. >> it is down right now. i thought it was coming back. in the summer, we had a couple of good months. this political snafu in washington and a higher gas prices wiped it out. >> obama is enjoying his party, but as the dow plunges, the president has little to celebrate. >> the entire police force in a town in northern mexico has resigned after two colleagues were killed by suspected drug traffickers. they state that the 26 officers quit their posts for fear of further attacks. state and federal police as well as soldiers of the call in to take their place. it is an important smuggling route into the united states. in what could be a major scientific development, nasa scientists believe they may have spotted scientists -- may have spotted signs of water on mars. if confirmed, it will be the first discovery of an active mix of water on the ground of the red planet. >> for centuries we have looked up at mars and wondered whether there might be life on the red planet. now scientists have made a discovery that could bring us much closer to an answer. >> we have followed the water and we have found repeated and predictable evidence suggesting water flowing on mars. >> these pictures taken by nasa have revealed a dark lines on the surface of the planet. hundreds of meters long. scientists believe they may be streams of water. astronomers have already discovered ice on mars, but no liquid water has ever been found. >> we expect water on mars to be salty because we know the surface is salty. any water that flows to the subsurface will be salty. >> scientists say these pictures are not direct evidence of water. even if there is water on mars, that does not necessarily mean life. a conclusive answer may come soon. nasa's next mission to mars is due to launch later this year. it is likely to provide definitive evidence of whether there is or ever has been life on mars. >> you have been watching "newsday" from the bbc. >> time for a quick reminder of our main news. stock markets around the world have fallen sharply amid concerns that the eurozone debt crisis could spread to italy and spain. the tokyo markets opened down at 4%. thanks for watching. >> 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. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet, los angeles.