what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, james o'brien. luting spreads across some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in london and beyond. the u.s. grapples with been downgraded by s&p. >> we do not need a rating agency to tell us that the gridlock in washington in the last several months has not been constructive, to say the least. >> and the calls for condemnation roe against syria, as they recall their on voice and made even more violence. -- of their envoy ths and it evn more violence. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. it fires are burning in parts of london tonight as more serious violence breaks out on the streets of the capital for the third night in a row. the latest trouble has started in hackney in the east of the city before spreading to other areas. and for the first time since the trouble began on saturday, violence has spread outside the capital in birmingham. david cameron is cutting short his holiday and flying home tonight. june kelly starts our coverage. >> the smoke is the signal of the mayhem in the distance. the death of the man in one part of london has triggered violence in the north and south of the capital. in hackney, the disturbances began in the early evening. the police said they would have more officers on the streets of london tonight, and here they moved in in force. >> all around the area, it is building up. we have copycat acts of violence. it is what police are calling pure criminality. >> one of these looters carried away a box full of drink. and shopkeepers livelihood being destroyed. a furniture store was in flames. this is the view of one local eyewitness. >> i do not care. i have never seen such a disregard for human life. i hope they rot in hell because of the grief they have caused people. these are decent people who have done nothing to anyone. >> this is an area that is miles from the shooting, which has triggered the unimaginable spiral of violence. >> let's be clear that there is no excuse for violence. there is no excuse for losing -- looting. the police will deal with emergency situations as they consider most appropriate for those situations. but i am absolutely clear that there is no excuse for looters or thuggery or violence on the streets. >> people are helping themselves as others looked on. a bus was spent out. police were guarding a supermarket, but could not stop a pharmacy from being attacked. there is an appeal for help in stopping the lawbreaking. >> we have a lot of police officers on duty, but i do urge parents to start counting -- contacting their children and asking where there are. there are far too many spectators getting in way -- in the way of police operations. i am in deploring that people within those communities start clearing the streets to enable my police officers to deal with the criminality that is incurring -- occurring in front of them. >> in an adult element -- in a development that alarmed police and officials, trouble moved outside birmingham. social media has played a massive part in the spread of violence. police are warning that anyone encouraging the spread of violence through social media sites could face prosecution. a fatal shooting by police last thursday has become the trigger for an unimaginable chain of destruction. -- and unimagined the chain of destruction. >> the rioting began in northland on saturday after what was meant to be a peaceful protest following the death of a local man who was shot dead by police. our special correspondent has spent the day there. residents and local traders count the cost of the violence. >> two days ago, this was someone's home. 26 families live in the flats above the shops. the building teeter all day on the edge of collapse. totten ham, where the violence began, can scarcely -- scarcely believe what happened. >> we were in such a panic. and then we got outside and i saw the building. there was just black smoke billowing down from the corner of the high rise. two minutes longer, and we would have been dead. >> this man opened his bar and restaurant, the pride of totten hamm, only in december. he came home to find -- to find the looters ransacking it. one had a knife. terrified, he escaped through an upstairs window. he climbed down the drain pipe to get away. >> he had a knife. that is why i just went upstairs. >> were you scared? >> i was really scared. for me, i was thinking that maybe the end of my life. >> the deputy prime minister came to the area this afternoon to listen. the voices he heard were polite, patient, eloquent, but angry. >> what is going to happen in england now because of the cuts? people are suddenly made homeless. >> why aren't we protected? >> we left the flat and the buildings were on fire. >> and the fire engines could not be there because the police were not there to protect them, but there was no one there to protect us. >> it is not what the city wants less than a year before the world gathers here for olympic games. the capital city police force has two origin questions to answer now. what was the sequence of events that led to the man's death that triggered this, and how could the peaceful protest get out of hand so quickly and lead to this? >> marc vivian was shot by police on thursday. his family did not believe he was armed or that he opened fire first. on saturday there was a peaceful demonstration of supporters. within hours, tottenham was in flames. it is a poor burro, but not the forest. no one here now believes the violence sweeping the capital has anything to do with mark duggan's death. his own friends and family have condemned it. >> this is not a wide -- the right way to go about getting answers. >> a landmark is coming down tonight. but the flames that started here are spreading and the emergency goes on, and the questions, a house and a wise remain unanswered. -- the house and the wise thethe remain the why's unanswered. >> mark, can you describe what you are seeing at the moment? >> yes, i arrived probably an hour ago to see depraved shopping, i am calling it. aita chaos. not a single shot was left untouched. -- better chaos. not a single shop was left untouched. >> have they lost control? >> i believe the police needed to be here. their response time was quite poor. i understand they were across the city, but there was just the zero police presence here. there were people having an absolute field day, picking up whatever they wanted, jewelry, shoes, clothing. i have even seen people wheeling suitcases full of items away from a high rise. >> how large would you say the crowds are? >> the crowd here on the street sort of peak and dropped anywhere from 170 people at any one time. and groups were pummeling and smashing windows with anything they could find. things turned of the violence as police finally moved in about 15 minutes ago. they arrested two youths coming out of a mobile phone store. they came under a significant attack from people with bottles, breaks, anything they could find. >> thank you for joining us. now, to global stocks, which today took a beating as the worries about the u.s. down great shock investors worldwide. even the buying of spanish and italian bonds was not enough to quiet nerves. the dow jones plunged more than 600 points. >> fear on the trading zone -- trading floor in three time zones. it is of the likes that we have not seen since the 2008 slump. but it is a symptom, not the cause. it is on trading floors like this one that this great drama is being played out. the financial crisis is all about growing doubts over whether the government of giant economies like italy, spain, even the u.s., can we pay all of their debts. what you can see here, the rising cost of borrowing for spanish and italian governments, an increase in wary about lending to those countries. there has been a sharp fall in lending to those countries. this bank has taken the historic decision to buy italian and spanish bonds, which is an indirect way to lend to those countries. >> this kind of short-term relief is simply because these countries are too big to bailout. >> the c.b. is owned by the -- the european central bank is owned by all of these countries. how much of a risk are the germans and french taking? >> about 2.5 billion euros per day, which adds up to a big number, about 800 billion euros. >> american investors have been blue, too. many have thought the rating dropped from standard and poor's is what has stripped the u.s. government of its borrowing power. >> this is the u.s. government. no matter what some agency may say, we have always been and always will be a aaa country. >> the lead weight on share prices is the fear that america may be headed back to recession. bank of america is plunging by 20%, and citigroup by 16%. >> people are selling today, not just because of the downgrade, but because the u.s. economy looks a lot less promising today than it did one week ago, or three weeks ago. >> and there is a conundrum about what to do about record debt bearing down on rich economies. we pay them too fast, and perhaps go back to recession. -- we pay them -- if we read pay them payrepay them too fast, perhapwe prounced go back to recession. >> john mccain says do not shoot the messenger. the s&p is telling us what we pretty much already know. isn't this a confirmation that there are serious fundamental problems affecting the american economy that are not being addressed? >> the u.s. economy does have fundamental problems, but a rating agency is supposed to focus government can service its debts. and the u.s. can and always has for over 200 years, including in the great depression. if worse came to worse, we could print the money. what the s&p did, i think it was political. i think it was a travesty. if you are talking about the broader economy, there are problems. but in terms of servicing our government despots, that is not in question. -- government debts, that is not in question. rating agencies do not like the messes that democracies go through when they go through fundamental changes. >> but isn't this about america's willingness to pay, not its ability to pay? >> everyone knew, and certainly the market's new, that there would be no default. that is why the treasury market did not react at all during the negotiations on the debt ceiling. they knew a default was not going to happen, and indeed, it did not. bond yields, u.s. bond yields, treasury yields have fallen. the market is still considered -- the market has still considered the u.s. government aaa during this turmoil. in that sense, the bonds, which is what s&p is supposed to focus on, the s&p has been a failure. in terms of agreement, the president has one view of the world and republicans have another. i think that is why it will be the 2012 elections to make the changes we need. >> do you think there is a risk that we could be facing a double dip recession? >> i do not think we will get a double-dip recession in the u.s. as a matter of fact from i think the second half -- as a matter of fact, i think the second half will be a bit better than the first half. but it is like saying we're 0.25 miles per hour instead of 20 when we should be going -- we are going 25 miles per hour instead of 21 we should be going 75 miles per hour at this point. >> in other news, the high court has stopped authorities from deporting a boatload of refugees to malaysia. they have argued their transfer would be illegal. it could jeopardize australia's deal to send 800 asylum seekers to malaysia over the next four years. at least one person has been killed and two others missing as has battledorm recenrisa the coast. more than 100 have been evacuated from the eastern coast of china because of the storm as well. as the crackdown in syria continues, the international community brings more pressure to bear. the united nations says the first airlift in five years has landed in the somali capital of mogadishu. 100,000 somalis have fled to the city due to the famine in the south of the country. more than 1 million people are affected by the severe drought in the region. >> flying aid into mogadishu is the relatively easy part of the job. distributing it is a far harder task in this volatile city. over the weekend, the islamist insurgents -- insurgent group al-shabab withdrew from its positions in the somali capital, and surprise move. here u.n. peacekeepers and somali government troops patrol parts of the city that had been held by ash about. eight agencies have returned to areas that they have -- international aid agencies have returned to areas they have for years not been able to reach. the guns may be silent for now, but few people expect the silence to last for long. the al qaeda-linked al-shabab fighters have launched offensives to hear. in recent weeks, tens of thousands have come to the capital. they come in search of food. agencies are managing to reach them, but supplies are limited, and as the drought continues they will need food for several more months. some people are on the move again to my displaced from the very camps where they have sought refuge. they have packed up their makeshift homes after a pro- government militia attacked the camp last week, killing several people and looting of food. in this city of guns and hunger, the aid agencies face a daunting challenge. will ross, bbc news, nairobi. >> there is growing diplomatic pressure tonight on the syrian government, with calls to end its violent crackdown on opposition activists. king of dela of saudi arabia has urged -- king abdullah of saudi urged a stop toas the killing. >> every day in syria, more protesters are killed. this is in the east. with pictures like these is seen across the arab world, it seems saudi arabia finally felt it had to speak out. >> arab channels across the region have been reading a strongly worded statement from saudi king abdallah. the kingdom of saudi arabia, the statement says, demands a stop to the killing machine, bloodshed, and calls for acts of wisdom before it is to lead. -- before it is too late. syria needs genuine reform, not promises. but they send armor into neighboring bahrain, precisely to help stop the opposition there. why has saudi arabiaused such language now? partly because king abdallah feels a responsibility to fellow sunni muslims who are leading the uprising in syria and taking on heavy casualties. but partly because there is fear that any unrest against autocrats, wherever it breaks out, could inspire their own people to rise up against them. this is still a significant moment. and now the arab league, representing 22 states, has moved against one of its own members, syria, and expressed serious worries. and the response to all this from syria's president, seen visiting wounded soldiers in recent days, he has enacted a defense minister. >> he is isolated internally within his country and if he also becomes isolated regionally, this will tip the balance drastically against him, and against his regime. it will force him to either speed up reforms, or to leave power altogether. he cannot continue the way he is. >> but so far, president assad has simply tough things out. international rights organizations say they have killed more than 1600 civilians and at least 12,000 people have been arrested since protests broke out in march. the protesters are celebrating king abdallah's condemnation, but its survival depends on rushing descent, by what everer means. >> i spoke to a senior fellow at the hoover institute in new york. professor, thank you for joining me. three arab countries have withdrawn their envoys from syria. what affect is this likely to have on the government there? >> i think what is clear is that bashar al-assad has become the greedy stabilizer. he is risking -- has become the destabilizer.bilize he is risking much right now. they have given him five long months of indulgence and patience. the people of the city said that last friday, open corridor silence is killing us." it was a message -- "your silence is killing us." it was a message to the world at large. >> why did they wait this long? >> when the syrian president who, let's face it, comes from a minority community, when he basically banned protests and friday prayers, and now you have the most prestigious figure in sunni islam, i think people have wanted to put a stop to this crisis because it was risking a deep religious crisis. >> but even now, do you think the country is ultimately heading toward civil war? or with the lack of any significant international intervention? >> yes, you are describing it correctly. it is the irresistible force, that the people in syria, meeting the a movable object, which is the regime. i think it will move toward civil war. the people have rejected bashar alassane. they do not want him or his regime. but the regime itself still has an enormous amount of firepower and destruction. that is why the league of arab states, traditionally silent on all of these violations in the arab world, finally stepped in. they began to basically speak against him because he has become this great destabilizing figure in the arab world. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> a third night of violence in the british capital, london. there has been rioting and looting across the city, but the biggest blaze occurred in south london where a furniture store that had stood for more than 100 years was destroyed. as the violence started to spread outside the capital, the british prime minister and the london mayor cut short their holidays to return to the capital to tap of the unrest. that brings today to the -- to tackle the unrest. that brings today to the end. you can get updates any time at our website. thank you 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 financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? 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