hello. i'm david eads with "bbc world news." our top stories, the european union signs a controversial deal with ukraine. russia warns of serious consequences. >> the largest region of ukraine. >> i'm lucy hawkins in brussels. we bring you reaction to this deal. we bring it to you live here on "bbc world news." fanatic or freedom fighter?

we find out about the leader of boko haram from some of those who claim to know him. also, not worth the gamble. sponsors of luis suarez say they're ending the relationship after he's banned from the world cup after biting an opponent. hello. it is the biggest trade in political deal the european union has ever agreed with any other country. ukraine's president petro poroshenko signs the association agreement in brussels. here he is. so, in fact, did the leaders of georgia and moldova. they had their own to sign. and they shook hands with mr. poroshenko, a great day, he said it was. but not if you're russian it's not and certainly not if you're this man. president putin warned of

serious consequences as the result of this deal. now, earlier a senior adviser to the president lashed out. he called the deal legitimate and said ukraine was being run by nazis. lucy is there for us. lucy? >> reporter: russia not happy about this deal at all. but ukrainian officials here today absolutely delighted. we're expecting a press conference from president poroshenko sometime soon and we'll bring it to you live. earlier after he signed the deal, he said this was the greatest day for ukraine since independence in 1991. ukraine really does see the country turning a bit from russia, looking towards the european union. and, remember, this is the deal. the former president of ukraine, victor yanukovych turned his back on and that's what sparked huge protests we saw in kiev and

the consulates that we're still seeing today. a big day for ukraine, but a wrap-up of the morning's events, here is mike aldrich. >> reporter: first business, the signing of trade and economic deals with association agreements as they're called with nonmember countries ukraine, moldova. ukraine the most controversial, this being the trigger point for last winter's deadly protests. >> this signing is an arrival point. after two decades of our relations growing stronger. but it is also a starting point, opening the most ambition external relationship ever with european union. >> reporter: moscow warned that signing today's deal could cost ukraine its current free trade agreement with russia. arriving for the ceremony, ukraine's new president was emphatically undeterred. >> i think if we can use this

opportunity to modernize the country. the only thing we need for that is peace and security. >> reporter: but behind the scenes, the other issue dominating the summit, the nomination of jean-claude juncker as the next president of the european commission. and the rowe over it which provided long-standing tensions between britain and the eu. david cameron arriving today, still insisting mr. juncker is not the right person for the job. >> jean-claude juncker has been at the heart of the project to increase the power of brussels and reduce the power of nation states for his entire working life. he's not the right person to take this organization forward. >> reporter: mr. cameron is looking all set for defeat on the issue of mr. juncker. finland's prime minister was asked whether he thought this could make a british exit from the eu more likely? >> i think david cameron is a very principled man and he has felt strongly that juncker is a little bit too fed rat for his liking but i think we can all make mends and solve the

situation and i think in the uk, some people really seriously need to wake up and smell the coffee, the european union is a good thing for the united kingdom. >> what a great day. >> reporter: so today, the eu's influence in the wider europe taking a significant new turn with ukraine deal especially. but its own internal politics also likely to overshadow it within hours. >> interesting there to see the leader of finland saying that britain had to wake up and smell the coffee. that whole issue of mr. juncker still percolating here in brussels but the focus is on the association agreement, particularly that ukraine has signed. and you saw there herman van rompuy. the other comment he made a little later in the morning was that he said there was nothing in these agreements that was signed with ukraine, georgia and moldova that might harm russia in any way. he said there was nothing for russia to worry about. unlikely these kind of comments really, david, are going to

reassure russia and president putin. the bbc has been speaking to president putin's presidential adviser. this is what he had to say. >> europe is trying to push ukraine to sign this agreement by force. they should organize mutual in ukraine. they helped nazis to come in power. the largest region of ukraine. >> are you saying president poroshenko is a nazi? >> -- so-called rights sector and so forth. >> and prime minister is a nazi? >> who is nazi? it is not only those who proclaim nazi -- they come into

power, it is closely related to the government's coup when happened in ukraine. >> do you accept after the signing of this association agreement with the eu, ukraine will leave russia's sphere of influence, irreversibly? >> after the signing of the agreement of the association, european public will be too much surprised. some politicians will look to european country's doors. >> straight to moscow and daniel is there for us. remarkable comment. does he speak for president putin? >> he doesn't speak directly for president putin.

he's not a spokesman. he's an adviser to president putin. one area where he advises president putin on is ukraine. that is similar to an awful lot of what russian television stations controlled by the state have been saying over the last few months. that is the editorial line as it were of the russian state machine. so although he doesn't speak for president putin, that's what a lot of people in russia and people in eastern ukraine who watch russian television have been being told. >> do you think we can expect some retaliatory action from moscow now that ukraine signed this agreement? >> interestingly in his first comments after the association agreement, president putin concentrated more on the need for peace in eastern ukraine. that is what he focused on. but he also said that ukraine had been forced to make a decision -- forced decision between europe and russia. and the concern is, and

certainly when president putin's spokesperson talked about the risks for ukraine earlier today, that's what everyone assumed he was talking about. the concern is russia will feel they'll need to raise trade barriers between ukraine and russia. ukraine supplies russia with a lot of heavy industry materials, some steel. a lot of components for space vehicles and aircraft and a lot of those are made in the east, not just the areas in revolt, but areas of eastern ukraine. ukraine supplies russia with a lot of food stuff. if russia starts to raise the trade barriers to ukrainian response, then the ukrainian economy could suffer quite badly as a result of that, particularly bits of the ukrainian economy in the east. it may take some time for them to gain the advantages of the association agreement with the european union. so there could well be a dip in the ukrainian economy between

the signing of this agreement and russian retaliation and advantages they may get from years down the line. >> daniel, thanks so much for that update from moscow. david, signing of the agreements is the big story here in brussels. we are expecting as i mentioned that press conference with president poroshenko and we'll bring that to you when it happens. in the background, of course, there is ongoing controversy on who will be the next head of the european commission. david cameron definitely out on his own now in opposing the appointment of jean-claude juncker. we don't know when we're going to hear any news on that, but as soon as we hear, we'll bring it to you. >> thanks very much indeed. lucy hockings in brussels. let's have a look at that ukraine association agreement. jamie is here with the business implications, trade implications, jamie. >> i want to look at more detail at the deal and what it means, relations between ukraine and europe. what it hopes to do for the

ukrainian economy. the association agreement, that's what it is called, is going to open up your european and ukrainian markets to each other over the next ten years or so. it will see ukraine adopting standards, everything from food to intellectual property, copy right protection and so on. the eu says it will boost exports to europe by a billion euros, $1.35 billion every year. it will save, it says, ukrainian firms $685 million a year in customs duties, that's customs barriers are lowered. russia threatened to punish ukraine economically if they sign this. you heard that from david sandford. they argue it would cost $500 billion in lost trade with russia as those barriers went up with russia. and then it would cost another $1 billion to implement eu standards as they have to modernize equipment and so on. either way, yukraine's economy

needs a boost, dipped into deep recession by the political crisis. gdp will stop 5% this year. yesterday, it was trading 11.88 to the u.s. dollar. that is representative of about 45% over the last six months. if you look at it in the context, it is the worst performing. we'll have a report from the ukrainian capital kiev on the hopes and fears of local businesses later on during the day. big story argentina, moving closer to defaulting on its debt after a u.s. judge refused to give it more time to pay off to hedge funds. the judge has ordered buenos aires to pay both the funds by the june 30th deadline. earlier this month, argentina lost its final appeal to the u.s. supreme court against paying what it calls vulture funds, a term which covers bond speculators which bought the debt cheaply in the hope of being paid in full eventually.

let's look at the markets now. we have got a slight rise on the european markets, looking happier. but yesterday we had some poor figures on consumer spending in the united states and that affected the asian markets in particular. had figures coming out from china on industrial profits, which rose 8.9%. massive rise by most people's standards. in terms of what is expected out of china, expected a great deal more. you can see that reflected in the nikkei there, which is down 1.5%. but the other asian markets, chinese, hang seng market, not doing too badly there. that's it. more later, though. back to you. >> lovely, thank you very much indeed. how much do we really know about the leader of boko haram. we're gradually getting to learn more. the bbc is gaining exclusive access to those who do know abu bakr shekau, a fanatic and a loner, some thought he had

psychological issue. boko haram is the same group which abducted school girls from northern nigeria in april. we traveled there to find out more. >> reporter: this is abu bakr shekau, the leader of the boko haram militant group. little is known about the man whose gunman abducted 200 school girls in the northeast of nigeria. filming openly in the region is dangerous, so the bbcc covertly into the north of the country and gained access to those who knew him well. interviews have been done anonymously. this man was a member of what became boko haram. he knew shekau personally. >> translator: he's a fanatic, not well versed in islamic law. he takes hasty decisions and is very hard lined on islamic

matters. even his former mentor was careful around him, because he was not open to any form of compromise. >> reporter: shekau spent his former years here in a major city in the northeast of nigeria. even by local standards, shekau lived in abject poverty in this house, in a slum quarter of the city. shekau later enrolled himself at this formal islamic school run by the government. one former classmate remembers him as a loner who kept himself apart from the other students. >> translator: we thought of him as psychologically affected. just looking at him you could tell that he's not completely with it. >> reporter: but shekau went on to lead boko haram five years ago. instigating a wave of terror through bombings and abductions. i headed north to meet another former colleague of abu bakr shekau. he thinks the international

outcry over the abductions of the 200 school girls will have played well with the leader of boko haram. >> translator: he will have been pleased with all the media attention. he's happy with what they've done. he said they will sell the girls on as slaves and has made it abundantly clear they will abduct more girls. >> reporter: these haunting pictures of the school girls remains the last known images of them. since the mass abduction in april, there have been further kidnappings of women and children in the same area and boko haram killed over 500 civilians. yelda hakim, bbc news. still to come on the program, the strange case of the homecoming that never was. we'll explain why all these fans in uruguay couldn't give their fan striker luis suarez a hero's welcome after all. instead of hanging out on the couch,

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you're watching "bbc world news." i'm david eades. these are the latest headlines. the european union signed a controversial association agreement with ukraine. it is a deal that russia vehemently opposes. eu leaders are expected to confirm the nomination of this man, jean-claude juncker, as european commission president, this despite strong objections from britain. okay. to the world cup now. the uruguayen football luis suarez lost one sponsorship deal after being banned from the world cup for biting. the online gambling company 888 dropped him as an ambassador. he inadvertently caused confusion when he failed to get on board an expected flight home. there were thousands out to greet him there. he found out later he wasn't coming when the uruguayen football association confirmed he was still in brazil.

that's probably because they're still hoping they might just be able to overturn his expulsion from the tournament and they promise to appeal that four-ma ban. as for the action, you won't get any today. friday is the first rest day in the world cup. the final group -- round of group matches took place on thursday. we now know the final lineup for the round of 16. the start of that knockout phase. here is the bbc's tim allman. >> usa! >> reporter: rarely has a defeat been celebrated with such enthusiasm. >> usa, baby! >> reporter: the american fans were euphoric, happy to be staying that little bit longer in brazil. back home, president obama was enjoying the role of cheerleader in chief. >> good to see you! we are in what is called the group of death, and even though we didn't win today, we were in

the toughest grouping and we got through. and so we just still got a chance to win the world cup. >> reporter: let's not get carried away too soon, mr. president. a long way to go yet. thomas mueller getting the only goal of the game, putting germany through as group winners. it was a result that offered a glimpse of an opportunity for portugal and ghana. the portuguese took the lead through a goal from john boyer. a draw wasn't much use to either side. they needed to win and win big. portugal got that winner through cristiano ronaldo. you could tell by his reaction, he knew it wasn't enough. in group h, algeria played russia, a fantastic header from alexander cochran giving the russians an early lead. the equalizer was a little controversial, a laser from the crowd being shown into theize of russia's goalkeeper during a

free kick. a free kick which algeria scored, a goal that guaranteed their place in the next round. they go through as runners up behind belgium who won their match against south korea. south korea can book their flights home. tim allman, bbc news. >> of course, good time to remind you, if you want more on the world cup and most people do, go to bbc sport's website, packed with information for you. all the latest news obviously, the fix churz cotures coming up follow the progress of your favorite team or if they have been knocked out, your next favorite team, bbc.com/worldcup and twitter as well. we have a discussion going on there. go for #bbcworldcup. the wait is pretty much over now for the tens of thousands of fans gathering for the glastonbury music festival. the lights go up soon.

the first act out of the gates, around 85,000 revellers arrived on thursday evening. another 75,000 expected by friday night. it is a rainy start as usual. >> reporter: it is a traditionally soggy start to glastonbury, but it is what many of the fans expect. they're expecting great music later on in the day. before that happens, they're exploring the shops around here. so many stores selling everything from food to clothes to anything anybody could want, especially replacement wettings and boots. they're enjoying that before the music kicks off. and we also have arcade fire on the big main pyramid stage and over the weekend, the lights of kasabian and metallica will be playing. that's one of the talking points.

two words again with m, meh metallica, the first big metal band and the other m word people are talking about is mud. people very, very worried about the weather. it has been pouring with rain for the past hour or so. predicted to carry on like this throughout the next couple of days. a genuine concern that if it does continue on like this, the festival, all areas, very many could become virtual mud baths before it all wraps up to a halt on sunday. >> before then, i should point out, you can see the actor and singer debbie harry, leader of the new wave band blondy, she'll be with us here on bbc on impact later. hang on for that certainly. to wimbledon now because it seems the staff are in something of an uproar over their

underwear. the tennis tournament has always been famed for this famous all white dress code, but this year, well, it is whiter than white. some players have been asked to change their bra or their underwear if it doesn't conform. the former wimbledon champion pat cash has pulled out of the veterans competition, the masters, after his tennis shoes were found to have broken the rules. oh, dear. if you ever wondered what is the tolerance approach to counterfeit sunglasses looks like, we'll show you. the authorities in the philippines capital manila are destroying thousands of pairs of fake glasses. they do it in style. a steamroller in for the occasion. all going under the crusher. tens of thousands also of pirated dvds, beauty products and counterfeit designer shoes. going, going, gone. quick reminder, ukraine

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"bbc world news." our top stories, ukraine, georgia and moldova sign partnership agreements with the european union in a move opposed by russia. fanatic or freedom fighter? we find out about the leader of the nigerian militant group boko haram from some of those who claim to know him. and not worth the gamble. sponsors of luis suarez say they're ending their relationship after he's banned from the world cup for biting an opponent. also, the fight against crack cocaine in brazil gets some royal support.

hello. ukraine, georgia and moldova all signed association agreements with the european union in a move strongly opposed by russia. as the deals which would bind each country more closely to the west, both economically and politically, lies at the heart of the crisis in ukraine, the russian president vladimir putin said making ukraine choose between russia and the eu will split the country in two. well, our correspondent daniel sandford is in moscow and has the reaction to the signing. >> reporter: putin concentrated more on the need for peace in eastern ukraine. that was what he focused on, but he also said that ukraine had been forced to make a decision -- forced decision

between europe and russia. and the concern is and certainly when president putin's spokesman talked about the risks for ukraine earlier today, that's what everyone was talking about. the concern is that russia will now feel that they will need to raise trade barriers between ukraine and russia. ukraine supplies russia with a lot of heavy industry materials, steel, a lot of components for space vehicles, and aircraft, and a lot of those are made in the east, not just in the areas which are in revolt, but other areas of eastern ukraine, ukraine supplies russia with a lot of food stuff. and if russia starts to raise the trade barriers to ukrainian response to what has happened today in brussels, then the ukrainian economy could suffer quite badly as a result of that, particularly bits of the ukrainian economy in the east. it may take some time for them to gain the advantages of the association agreement with the european union. so there could well be be be a

dip in ukrainian economy between the signing of the agreement and russian retaliation and then the advantages they may get from years down the line. >> well, that's daniel sandford. want to scale the problems that eastern ukrainian in particular, the russian border is facing, the u.n. refugee agency says more than 160,000 ukrainians have now left their homes to escape the unrest. nearly two-thirds of them surround 110,000 have gone to russia. the others being displaced in and around ukraine. there has been a spike in numbers in recent days in particular, more than 16,000 people from east of the country leaving their homes in just the past week. let's reflect on that. david stern is in kiev. david, those figures coming out, a cease-fire draws to a close as well. just gives the sense of the scale of the anxiety that people caught up in the hot spot have to deal with. >> well, exactly, david.

it is extremely tense and worrisome time for everybody. but especially the people in the east. these figures are bad, but, of course, they can become much worse. we can see a much larger amount of people leaving the eastern part of the country. and it just points to the very fragile situation at the moment, despite the fact we have been witnessing a cease-fire of sorts during the last few days. now, of course, this hasn't been much of a cease-fire, the fighting has gone on. the rebels shot down a helicopter of the ukrainian military, but, of course, now that the cease-fire is set to expire today, it means that there could be an escalation. and if there is an escalation, we could see an even larger number of people escaping from the region, going into russia and also coming in and going to other parts of ukraine as well. >> what do you think today's events in brussels, the signing of the association agreement, the response from moscow what is that going to do for any sense of security, i guess, in

ukraine? >> well, difficult to say, david. but of course if you're a pro european ukrainian, of course, of which there are a number of them, we saw these demonstrat n demonstrations that led to the ouster of the former president, viktor yanukovych and the signing of the agreement, if you're of that camp, this gives a sense of security where ukrainians feel they're more in the camp or more part of europe, moving closer to europe. there is this division in society, the latest polls show around 50% of ukrainians support integration with europe, with a much smaller number against it. the division is there. and the division is very much visible on the ground in the east. so ukraine's sense of security is at a very fragile point right now. and it remains to be seen what exactly is going to happen in the upcoming days, both in the east and also in the relationship with moscow. >> a tense time certainly. david, thank you very much. david stern in kiev. let's catch up on other news

for you now. and we're going to start in india. 14 people have died. dozens more have been injured in this explosion. this is a gas pipeline that has gone up in the state of pradesh. the blast was in the early hours, it gusted dozens of houses and forced people to evacuate from surrounding villages. the team is looking for more victims. they don't know what caused the blast. scientists could soon create a simple blood test to detect a woman's risk of breast cancer. researchers here in london have discovered that some women who developed the disease without having any family history have a particular marker in their blood and they believe this would show up in tests several years before symptoms actually appear. uruguayen football luis suarez lost one sponsorship deal after being banned from world cup for biting. the online gambling company 888 dropped him as an ambassador. the uruguayen president has criticized the punishment given

to suarez. he was banned for nine internationals and all football for four months. the crisis in iraq seems to deepen by the day. militants there are reported to have made another significant breakthrough as they have taken full control of the country's biggest oil refinery. the plant in the north of baghdad was captured after ten days of fighting. this coming as british foreign secretary william hague arrives in erbil to discuss the growing threat. president obama asked the u.s. congress for $500 million to train and arm rebels in neighboring syria. they're fighting both the syrian government and isis militants. i asked jim muir, our correspondent in erbil if the events in iraq have put pressure on the american leader. >> well, i don't think the machinery in washington works that fast that you can get things before congress in short order like that. this has been, as you say, a long time coming, been in the pipeline. but it is very much, i think,

jogged along by the emergence of isis, first of all, really asserting itself in syria in a way that was very hard to ignore, taking a whole track of eastern syria. and now, of course, in iraq, given greater punctuality if you like, greater urgency in washington. so as i said, been around a long time. the question is will it make a difference. even once it is approved, it takes a while for the materials to make its way through the various pipelines that deliver it to the people on the ground. so it is going to be a while before it is effective. the aim is to strengthen the so-called moderates, many of whom are themselves islamists who don't want democracy in syria against the extreme radicals of isis and that -- and actually the campaign against the syrian government somewhat taking second place, i think, now in western minds because they're overarching occupation has become with the threat they perceived from isis.

i think that will give it more political legs ta s as it were washington. whether it is too late for the strategy to work on the ground, we're going to have to wait and see. >> jim muir. now, we are learning more about the leader of boko haram. the bbc gained exclusive access to those who know abu bakr shekau, strike him as a fanatic, loner. some thought he had psychological issues. boko haram is the same group which abducted more than 200 school girls from northern nigeria in april. yalda hakim traveled there to find out more. >> reporter: this is abu bakr shekau, the leader of the boko haram militant group. little is known about the man whose gunman abducted 200 school girls from the northeast of nigeria. filming openly in the region is dangerous. so the bbc has traveled covertly into the north of the country, and has gained exclusive access to people who knew him well.

interviews have been done anonymously, as people are too scared of reprisals. this man was a member of what became boko haram, he knew shekau personally. >> translator: he's a fanatic, not well versed in islamic law. he takes hasty decisions and is very hard lined on islamic matters. even his former mentor was careful around him, because he was not open to any form of compromise. >> reporter: shekau spent his formative years here in a major city in the northeast of nigeria. even by local standards, shekau lived in abject poverty in this house, in a slum quarter of the city. shekau later enrolled himself at this formal islamic school run by the government. one former classmate remembers him as a loner who kept himself apart from the other students.

>> translator: we thought of him as psychologically affected. just looking at him you could tell that he's not completely with it. >> reporter: but shekau went on to lead boko haram five years ago. instigating a wave of terror through bombings and abductions. i headed north to meet another former colleague of abu bakr shekau. he thinks the international outcry over the abductions of the 200 school girls will have played well with the leader of boko haram. >> translator: he will have been pleased with all the media attention. he's happy with what they've done. he said they will sell the girls on as slaves and has made it abundantly clear they will abduct more girls. >> reporter: these haunting pictures of the school girls remains the last known images of them. since the mass abduction in april, there have been further kidnappings of women and children in the same area and

boko haram killed over 500 civilians. yalda hakim, bbc news. sudanese christian woman sentenced to death has been freed for a second time. meriam ibrahim was released from death row on monday, then detained a day later following accusations that she forged travel documents to try to leave sudan for the united states. >> reporter: this is the police station in khartoum, where meriam ibrahim was detained. the sudanese woman released from death row on monday was arrested a day later at the capital's airport. she and her husband were trying to leave the country for the united states. traveling on a sudanese emergency travel document, officials say the 27-year-old should have used a passport from sudan. they have now charged her with forgery and accused her of

providing false information. she has now been freed from detention after a guarantor provided assurances that miss ibrahim would report to judicial authorities as and when required. married to a u.s. citizen, meriam and her family went straight to the u.s. embassy to seek refuge. in a world exclusive interview, she spoke to the bbc outside the embassy and reacted to being spared the death penalty. >> translator: i would like to thank the sudanese people and the sudanese police. i'm really grateful to all of them. i'd like to thank those who stood beside me. >> do you consider yourself a christian? >> translator: it was the court which released me. >> what is your plan now? >> translator: i'll leave it to god. i didn't have a chance to see my family after i got out of prison. >> reporter: for the woman who eska escapes the death sentence, the

journey isn't over yet. her future is still unknown. for now, all the international community can do is look on. kyra riordan, bbc news. >> thanks for being with us here on "bbc world news." stay if you can. coming up in a moment, a backlash against skin whitening cream in pakistan. so why are sales booming? will you help us find a new house for you and your brother? ♪ ♪ ♪ woooooah. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. zillow.

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asking for nothing more than what you've got. look at your swimming pools. they'll never be enough. like your fancy watches and your big cars, one day you realize that what matters is not the size of your car. it's the size of your yacht. ♪ you're watching "bbc world news" with me david eades. the latest headlines, the european union signed a highly controversial association agreement with ukraine. it is a deal that russia has angrily opposed. eu leaders are expected to confirm the nomination of jean-claude juncker as european commissioner president despite strong objections from britain.

we're going to stay on that story. mr. juncker also has the backing of the european parliament effectively and nearly all eu heads of government, possibly the hungarian prime minister standing alongside david cameron, but nobody else. they're all ready to vote in jean-claude juncker. what mr. cameron might do, nonetheless, is demand that everyone does vote, a show of hands. that would be unprecedented, and it is annoying some of his eu colleagues, including finland's prime minister. >> i think david cameron is a very principled man and he felt strongly that juncker is a little bit too federate for his liking. i think we can all make mends and all solve the situation and i think in the uk some people really seriously need to wake up and smell the coffee. >> so does look as if mr. cameron is going to fail in his attempt to stop mr. juncker

getting that top job. but the prime minister turned up to brussels in pretty determined mood. >> the european elections showed that there is huge disquiet about the way the european union works. and yet the response, i believe, is going to be wrong on two grounds. wrong on the grounds of principle, it is not right for the elected heads of government of the european countries to give up their right to nominate the head of the european commission, the most important role in europe, that is a bad principle. and it is the wrong person. jean-claude juncker has been at the heart of the project to increase the power of brussels and reduce the power of nation states for his entire working life. he's not the right person to take this organization forward. >> well, he's pretty clear, isn't he? a short while ago i spoke to chris mooris who is in brussels. i asked him how many of the other eu leaders genuinely want jean-claude juncker as commission president. >> it is hard to find many who will come out and be gushingly

enthusiastic about him. and you talked to delegations behind the scene and they say, yeah, he's not necessarily the perfect candidate, but it's who we've got and who we've reached in general apart from one notable exception agreement on. there are those who admire david cameron for coming out so publicly and saying hang on a minute, i don't like the way this is going, we can actually change course here before we make this decision. there are others who say, no, david cameron has been way too confrontational. that's not how european politics is supposed to work. but in that clip you played, i think one sentence summed it up, the british opposition from mr. juncker, he's been at the heart of the project to increase the power of brussels and reduce the power of nation states for his entire working life. now, if you're a prime minister that wants to renegotiate britain's relationship with the european union and make that relationship a little looser, that is not a good place to start, having the eu's chief

executive in your mind fulfilling that position. >> chris mooris in brussels. lots of talk in pakistan about skin whitening soap and the country's obsession with obtaining a fairer complexion. the campaign hasn't stopped people from buying the product. retailers say demand is going up as bbc explains. >> reporter: advertisers have portrayed women in this ad as sad and lifeless. but then the promise of fairer skin. this has claims that can make every pakistani white. it is not first time whitening products have been promoted in the country. but it is the first time that

the trend has drawn noticeable criticism on social media sites and elsewhere. >> translator: in pakistan, women are conditioned to believe that they will be more acceptable in society if they are fair. and have a blemish free face. there are many advertisements which promote the same mind set and people follow these ads blindly. >> reporter: whitening and bleaching creams are not only popular among women, but also men. but there is much more social pressure on women to have fair skin compared to men. >> translator: a woman's prospects are not good enough if she's not fair. that's why i do the whitening treatments in salons. >> reporter: you can tell by the number of people coming here to get whitening treatments that lighter skin is very desirable in pakistan. and this desirability means good business, not only for salons like this, but also for stores that sell skin whitening cosmetics. there are currently over 50

whitening products available on the market in pakistan. >> translator: people are crazy for whitening creams and demand has gone up, from the cheapest to the costliest whitening creams available. they're all generating good business. >> reporter: advertisers of the whitening soap say despite the criticism, the product is proving a success with ordinary people. but after complaints it was offensive, the ads tag line which claimed it could make it more white has been changed. >> as part of his tour in south america, prince harry has been visiting sao paulo to learn more about a project to cut down on cocaine track addiction. brazil now surpassed the united

states as the biggest crack cocaine consumer in the world as katie watson reports. >> reporter: his visit to a neighborhood known as crack land attracted a lot of attention and needed heavy security. it is not often a member of the royal family drops in on a no go part of sao paulo where drug addicts and dealers converge. the prince was here to learn about a new government project, but instead of driving out the addicts, supports them, giving them food, paid work, health care and shelter and tehey don' insist they give up the drugs either. harry was mobbed as he walked through the neighborhood and met crack addicts. the prince wanted to see how authorities are dealing with the problem of crack cocaine and his visit has shown a spotlight on an issue this some experts call an epidemic. people were dealing and using the drug in open air. one person threatened us when we

tried to film openly, despite the heavy police presence. i met one of the people on the government's program. i asked him, he used to work in a circus, but he's been an addict are for 20 years. when the world cup is over, he tells me, he wants to rebuild his relationship with his family and children. when i smoke, i feel relaxed, i feel good, he tells me. but crack is like aids, he says. it has in cure. the problem is the drug is cheap. a drag can cost just 20 cents. a rock, a little over $4. and the problems have soared in past few decades. >> now the drug has spread through all social classes. it is a problem for the whole society now. >> reporter: a scene that was clear as prince harry walked the streets, not an average day in

crack land or for the prince. katie watson, bbc news, sao paulo. a look at solar energy. long champ pond as a way of solving the planet's long-term power needs, but the cost of producing it means it only accounts for a small amount of energy production. claims by scientists in the uk found a cheaper way of making solar cells and are making a stir in the industry. our science correspondent reports. >> reporter: the sun is the most powerful energy source in our solar system. and for decades, researchers have tried to find better ways of tapping into it. here, scientists are making solar cells. this block turned sunshine into electricity. it needs to be coated with a toxic chemical. recently, though, the team has developed a process that uses a much safer chemical, so no need for a gas mask. magnesium chloride is used in

bath salts and it is found in sea water and so is much cheaper. >> you can reduce the cost of making these solar cells overnight. we think this process could cause a step change in the cost of solar energy and that could make the difference into making it competitive with fossil fuels. >> reporter: writing in the journal nature, the researchers say the use of solar energy has been growing for some time. >> solar electricity has been growing 20, 30, even 40% a year for many, many years now. there is quite an increasing faction of electricity generated in european countries especially so you're quite right. there is reduction in costs in the future and must carry on and every year the cost of solar electricity gets cheaper. >> reporter: the researchers here believe that it is just a matter of time before solar electricity becomes cheaper than coal, gas and oil and one day replaces fossil fuels entirely.

bbc news, liverpool. >> see how long it really takes to make a difference. thanks for watching "bbc world news." it's a known fact that 100% of the swordfishes

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hello. you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." russia's fury and the threat of serious consequences. the leaders of ukraine, gorgia and moldova sign a landmark deal bringing them closer to europe, moscow lashes out. >> the largest region of ukraine. who gets what and when and will congress back it? the latest on president obama's t