>> 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. greece in the doghouse, the g 20 in disarray, and the world economy under threat from a crisis that keeps growing. can the talks fix anything? what europe needs is a savior. china has the cash but chinese businesses are not sure that they want to. >> the station goes on the air. >> a milestone in media history, 75 years after the bbc launched regular television broadcasts, we take you back to the studios where it all began. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the location is lovely, the atmosphere is terrible. the g 20 leaders gathered in cannes to deal with the crisis. greece's surprise decision to put its bailout on referendum has shaken the market an inferior raided the european leaders. angela merkel said that the rescue package is not up for renegotiation. >> some of the world's most powerful leaders and officials arrived ahead of the g-20 summit but hanging over the meeting, the latest crisis in the eurozone. >> we are going to do a little bit of business. >> the french president was playing host and found himself waiting for 10 minutes for the chinese president. on his mind was the decision by the greeks to call a referendum on the bailout plan. this put in jeopardy the entire agreement reached by the eu last week. before the summit, he and the german chancellor, angela merkel, and european leaders held an emergency leader. the greeks were told there would be no reopening of negotiations. there were strong hints that greece might not get their latest bailout money until after the brand of random -- until after the referendum. when george papandreou arrived, there was no french leader to greet him. european leaders are furious with him. there could be a greek the fault with the enormous consequences for europe. in greece, they are debating how they will vote to. >> i will vote yes because this is the only way. they will cut our debt 50%. if they don't do that, then we are in trouble. >> totally wrong. the wrong person, wrong decision, wrong government. >> back in your in -- back here in cannes, george papandreou is told that the referendum must be done quickly. the greek government insist that the people would be asked whether they approved the bailout deal. the french would much prefer a question that asked the greeks whether they wanted to remain inside of the eurozone or outside. the french prime minister said greece had to decide where its future lay. >> the greeks misunderstand that europe cannot spend weeks waiting for the response. -- the greeks must understand that europe cannot spend weeks waiting. we must know whether or not they're choosing to keep their place in the eurozone. >> there are limits to what pressure can do, however. it would be almost impossible for the greek prime minister to back off holding a vote. the fear is that until the referendum is resolved, there will be uncertainty and that is damaging to the world economy. >> tomorrow, president obama will join the g 20 leaders in france. with the world's economies all closely linked together, the u.s. has a lot riding on the outcome. i spoke with obama's former top economic adviser. we asked him if this was real and urgent. >> yes, i think so. especially on the financial side. we did go through a terrible financial crisis, addressed it in a pretty reasonable way but having very little cost. this did not prevent what our worst recession of anyone's lifetime and deep unpopularity of saving the financial system, which is no stranger to the u.k., or ireland, or any other place that had to save its financial system. that said, because we did that, there is a little bit of a sandbag between the flood is going straight into the u.s.. there is not as much uncertainty about our banks because we had a stress test and everyone feels like they know what is in the banks. >> until recently, it was your job to advise obama on what to do on topics economic. what would you be advising the president to do about europe? >> i would be advising was secretary geithner did which was to go over and try to persuade some of the leaders in europe that they are going to need to recapitalize the banks and be up front and honest about what the circumstances are about what those banks are in and recommit to recapitalization. if they do a test and see if they don't have enough money in there. the resistance to that is largely founded on the fact that every government that has done what i described has been thrown out of office. >> isn't there a frustration for the white house in the sense that this is a major crisis that has potentially serious political implications for president obama but actually these are sovereign nations and there is not a whole lot that the white house can do about this one. >> that doesn't make it different for the major problems we have had to face down. there is very little that the white house can control. they are trying to get people to face up to the problems that confront them head-on. i do think there is a little bit of distance between the problems and the immediate impact on the u.s. but this is a pretty serious situation. i think they will have to address the banking problem immediately and then they will have to address this issue of what is the growth strategy for southern europe? if southern europe is not going to grow, this is seen in the u.s. and everywhere in the advanced world, you cannot balance the budget. you can cut as much as you want but tax revenue will be low and the mandatory spending will be high. they are lecturing them and said that you have months to figure out your problems in spain, italy, ireland, wherever. why didn't you cut your deficit? if they are shrinking 3% a year, they will not be able to cut the deficit. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you. great to see you again. >> the u.s. is not the only country anxiously watching tomorrow's g-20 meeting. european leaders have asked china to help finance the greek bailout. this prompts the question, can beijing help to rescue the economy? china is flush with cash from export surpluses. it might not be so keen to play the role of economic savior. >> the peaceful canals, not quite. this is china with enough cash to recreate gondolas in a shopping mall. europe is hoping that china will sail to its rescue. the problem is that china has said that it will not be europe's savior. the country is starting to get rich but they have a host of their own problems and you only have to look at this place to see why. it is empty. built six years ago to be the biggest mall in the world, a few shops have moved in but they have mostly closed. if you're a things that chinese consumers are the answer, they need to think again. -- if you're up that -- if europe thinks that chinese consumers are the answer. >> this is a very small part of global consumption. >> china was a bright spot when the global crisis hit three years ago, then it pumped money into its economy. china might not able to repeat that trick. now, they are trying to rein in inflation and the building boom has slowed. you can see the impact here. recycling scrap metal used to be profitable. in the new economy, it has cooled. >> metal demand has gone down. international prices have gone down and prices in china have dropped. >> a slow in china is vulnerable, especially if there is a slowdown in europe. china's biggest exports, the turnover is equivalent to the economy of a small nation like lithuania. >> some of them, they don't attend. >> they're not even coming here? >> sure. >> are the people that are here, are they buying much? >> i don't think so. >> many more are doing well. some have had to let the shops stay rent-free. >> there are fewer people coming here. i think the economy is getting worse. some days, not a single person even walk into the shot. >> china might decide it is better to hold onto its cash rather than bailout europe. >> the effect of the your crisis is fell to around the world. -- the effect of the european crisis is phelps -- is felt all around the world. syria had agreed to withdraw its tanks, release the prisoners, and start a dialogue with the opposition. foreign journalists will be allowed to monitor. a new york court has found viktor bout guilty of conspiracy charges. he is guilty of attempting to sell missiles, land mines, assault rifles, and other explosives for use by columbia's rebels. he was captured in a sting operation by american agents. the lawyers for the founders of the wikileaks web site, julian assange, says he will appeal the decision to send him to sweden. judges rejected his claim that it would be unfair and unlawful to extradite him to sweden. the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has told the united nations that mercenaries might be trying to help, gaddafi's son escape from libya. the counsel is investigating evidence of mass rape committed by forces loyal to colonel gaddafi. i spoke to the prosecutor a short time ago. what kind of talks has the court had directly or indirectly with gaddafi? >> the international criminal court issued -- some contacted us to check some legal questions, what happened with him, if he is convicted. we clarified the issue and we offered him assistance if he wants to surrender, now it is up to him. he can surrender himself to the court. >> did this intermediary tell you where he is? >> no. he is considering his options. at the same time, we are urging the state to increase their efforts to arrest him. there is also some information about the mercenary sent to help him escape. this is important. >> you told the u.n. today that you did think that mercenaries might try to help him escape from libya. you suggested that if he did so by airplane, you would be prepared to intercept that plane. >> the state can do it. i have no army myself. we can work with the states to see if they can interfere with any flights that is trying to help him escape. i think that libya had a big crisis and it is proper to show that people are accountable. saif al-islam must be brought to justice and be held accountable. >> you are watching "bbc world news america," still to come -- lights, camera, broadcast. 75 years after the bbc broke new ground, the birthday being celebrated. the french prime minister says an arson attack which has destroyed the offices of a satirical magazine is a justifiable but some say that they were asking for trouble by saying that their latest issue would be edited by the profit muhammed. we report on the controversy and crime which took place. >> the arson attack, on the same day that the satirical weekly printed a cartoon of the prophet. the fire broke down -- the fire started in the middle of the night. it was suspected this was started by a petrol bomb. most of the equipment has been destroyed and they don't know if they will be able to publish next week's addition. the issue that has cost so much offense is already on the newsstands. newspaper's editors said he had no doubt that the attack was carried out by muslim extremists. he rejects accusations that by announcing that the prophet muhammad was the guest editor, he was deliberately seeking provocation. >> we are ready to face justice when we go too far, which we actually do quite often. i would not have minded to go to trial against any islamist. if you read the magazine, you see there is no reason to sue and we will not be sued. >> the paper was taken to court in 2007 by muslim groups after it they printed danish cartoons of the prophet muhammad. >> world leaders gather in france to tackle the global economic problems, in istanbul today it was the future of afghanistan at the top of the agenda. at the conference, the president pressed pakistan to help his country negotiate with the taliban. will the show of solidarity rally last? that asiand by program director for the international crisis group. i hope some good news came out of this conference today. >> we have had a lot of these over the years. they produce a lot of nice phrases about peace and cooperation, what they don't do is turn into real change on the ground. this is a matter of waiting to see if this really does lead to improvement. >> this comes at a critical time for afghanistan because it looks like nato forces will be at of the country in the next year or so and that leaves them at pakistan's mercy, doesn't it? >> it does. pakistan has not shown any signs of ending their support for the taliban. pakistan has a long way to go before it becomes a positive actor in afghanistan. we have seen no signs of them moving towards that. >> we just had two american senators who came back and one of them said that it is hard to know when pakistan is playing firemen or arsonist. >> they have been playing both sides of this game for the past decades. their support has been a major problem to the u.s.. this is vitally being realized by the u.s. government. this is difficult because there is huge resistance from the military. the pakistani military does not want to see india to get a foothold in afghanistan and they will use any means necessary to keep that from happening. >> we have heard about the stepped up attacks within afghanistan. how much of an effect is this having on the pakistani military to try to clamp down? >> that is the view they take, that there are good at jihadi groups and bad jihadi groups. whether they cause problems domestically within pakistan. that is a dangerous game they have played for some time and this is coming back to bite them quite seriously. >> ok. thank you for coming in. we will be watching this for a while, i suspect. in east africa, 13 million people are affected by the worst drought in decades. today, prince william and his wife were doing their part to help. they visited an emergency supply center run by unicef. this report contains flash photography. >> william and frederick, kate and mary. britain and denmark's future kings and queens getting stuck in on one continent to remind of the suffering elsewhere. the aid is for the children suffering by the worst drought. they are malnourished and they needed urgent help. william and kate are aware of the intense scrutiny. they are trying to exploit the global fascination to focus it on the needs of others. aid agencies are appealing for more money. prince william knows it will be a challenge. >> what is going on around the world, what is going on in east africa puts things in perspective. coruscate with like to put the spotlight on this crisis. -- to align >> kate would like to put the spotlight on this crisis. >> this is still ongoing and this has to happen with hundreds of children still no nurse at the moment. >> in a warehouse this side of three football pitches, the british and danish royals learn about the work done here. they have come for a day. >> today, we celebrate a birthday which this particular -- which is of particular interest to those of us who work here. 75 years ago, bbc was launched in alexander palace. the old studios are opened to the public for this anniversary. we went to look at where a television history was made. >> vision and sound. the vision and sound are on, the station goes on the air. >> they thought of calling it seeing by wireless or the electric telescope. they settled for television and the world was never the same again. >> ♪ ♪ >> a specially written songs opened the new service. to begin with, only some 20,000 homes could receive the program in the london area. the bbc was given 18 months to get the service on the air. they came to alexander palace partly because it was available and there was plenty of space and partly because it was so high up. the television transmitter needed to be 600 feet above sea level. it turned out that putting the transmitter and studios in the same building wasn't such a good idea. next toin the studio's the transmitter meant that the transmitters used ticket into the electronics, the cameras -- used to get into the electronics, the cameras. in the cafe, there used to be sparks on the knives and forks. >> the technology might have been primitive but the programs were ambitious. they included the first opera outside broadcast. in 1939, the outbreak of war that the transmissions. they resumed in 1946. this woman joined the service in 1947. she went on to the producer. >> there was no television before this. nobody knew it would be any better. >> she has fond memories. >> it was a big family atmosphere. you knew everyone, you see. everyone, writers, the cameramen, the writers coming -- to the cameraman, the directors. >> today, this is the world's favorite form of entertainment. it started small on a hilltop in london. >> television in the glory days. here are live pictures from cannes where president sarkozy has taken to the podium after a meeting with greek prime minister george papandreou. he said that if there is a referendum, is to happen as soon as possible. president sarkozy there also with angela merkel ahead of the key 20 meeting. thank you for watching, do join me tomorrow. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new 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.