hello, you're watching "bbc world news." president obama makes contact with iran's supreme leader. there's criticism of the u.s. president for writing a letter about their mutual interest in defeating the islamic state group. fresh tensions in jerusalem around a holy site, while explosions rock gaza. also today, sao paulo's worst drought in decades. an expert tells the bbc it's directly linked to the destruction of the amazon rain

forest. >> what is at stake is so grave and so serious, if we don't act now, we are lost. also in the program, aaron's here talking about that big finance ministers gathering in brussels today. >> they've got a lot on their plate, as usual. one key area, eurozone growth, or the lack of it. we've seen further signs that europe's powerhouse germany, its economic engines continue to slow. so we're going to go live to find out what is needed to get europe back up off its knees. hello. thanks for joining us. it's midday here in london, and 7:00 a.m. in new york, where there are reports that president obama has secretly written to iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei.

"the wall street journal" says mr. obama sent the letter last month, and in it, it says he referred to a shared interest in fighting i.s. in iraq and syria. the white house refused to comment on the report. let's get the latest now from gary o'donahue. >> reporter: it's not the first time iran's spiritual leader, ie -- ayatollah khamenei, has had a letter from iran. in the american capital, getting a deal done with iran on its nuclear program has long been a foreign policy priority. but any secret contact like this makes allies of the united states in the region very jittery. so a careful reluctance to confirm anything. >> can you confirm that that letter was sent? >> i'm not in a position to discuss private correspondence between the president and any world leader.

i can tell you that the policy that the president and his administration have articulated about iran remains unchanged. >> reports have suggested that iran is already assisting the shia dominated iraqi government of prime minister abadi, and the united states has 600 military advisers of its own on the ground, but the secret letter suggests any cooperation would depend on iran making progress on a deal to curb its nuclear program. earlier this week, president obama was asked about the prospects for a nuclear deal. >> we have presented to them a framework that would allow them to meet their peaceful energy needs, and if in fact what their leadership says, that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon, if that is, in fact, true, then they've got an avenue to provide that assurance to the

world. >> reporter: an interim duel deal with iran is due to expire on november 24th. this weekend, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is set to hold talks with his iranian counterpart. but with congress now firmly in the hands of the republicans, any deal that leads to a relaxation of sanctions will be hard to push through. gary o'donahue, bbc news. >> for more on this story, i'm joined now from teheran by the professor of north american studies at the university of teheran. great to speak with you. how would the iranians cooperate, do you think, with the u.s. against i.s.? would they be interested in that? >> well, the iranians are already struggling against isil across the board. the iranians actually from the very beginning four years ago when this crisis began warned of american policies leading to the rise of extremism. the american alliance with saudi

arabia and others that promote -- is basically what has led to this situation. so the iranians by supporting the legitimate government in iraq and damascus and in lebanon, they believe that through this, they've had the most important role to play in the fight against extremism. now that the united states is changing its view about what is going on in the region, it's really up to the united states to see if it can come to an agreement with iran so that further issues can be discussed such as cooperation over extremism. >> but exactly how would the iranians cooperate? i mean, you talked there about iran having backed the legitimate government in damascus. many would argue that's not a legitimate government because president assad is targeting his own people and the iranians have been supporting him in that. so there are question marks over iran's involvement there. you talk about question marks over the west's involvement. everyone has been involved in

some respect or another, haven't they. but how would iran actually cooperate with the u.s. in tackling the specific threat of islamic state? that's what i'm quite interested to understand. >> well, very quickly, i will remind you that from the very beginning, the iranians were warning the united states by supporting saudi arabia in qatar and their funding of extremists organizations that they're going to lead syria to civil war. the united states, by giving arms and supporting countries that give arms to groups, they are very much involved in the budget. >> professor, i'm sorry to interrupt you -- i'm sorry to interrupt you. i'd like to just actually talk about the i.s. situation, not the situation in syria. how would iran, if it was asked to, cooperate with the u.s. or the west to tackle i.s.? how do you think it would do that? >> well, it's really for the

united states to show that it is serious in struggling against i.s. in the first place. the united states really has to put pressure on countries like saudi arabia and others to stop promoting extremism. then iran could take the united states seriously. but even before that can happen, for iran, the litmus test is the nuclear negotiations. until the united states shows a shift, a significant shift in its attitude towards iran at the negotiating table over iran's nuclear program, i think that any form of cooperation would be impossible. the iranians, president rouhani has said it will not accept nuclear apartheid. if the united states accepts the nuclear program, then i think that will be a strong signal to iran that the united states is seriously changing its attitude and policy towards the country.

not just here in iraq. it's also afghanistan and yemen and other hot spots in this region. >> so what you're saying is that iran might tie any cooperation over islamic state to an advantageous nuclear deal? >> well, it's not an advantageous deal in the eyes of the iranians. the iranians from the beginning said specifically that there's never been any evidence that iran is doing anything that is not peaceful with regard to its nuclear program. there's never been any evidence provided that iran's nuclear program is anything but peaceful. it says that it must be able to pursue its rights within the frame of international law and the iaa. the iranians are willing to be flexible. the new administration has shown its flexibility. it's willing to be more open. to deal with any concerns or legitimate concerns that western countries may have. but with regards to its sovereignty, the iranians --

that's a red line for iran. so if the americans are serious about cooperation, it will become clear at the negotiating table over the nuclear program. >> okay. the view from teheran there. thank you very much for speaking with us. now, the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, has ordered the demolition of homes of palestinians in east jerusalem who have carried out attacks on israels. that decision follows the death of an israel who was seriously wounded in a car attack in jerusalem on wednesday. meanwhile, there have been some clashes between israeli security forces and palestinian youths who were demonstrating in support of the al-aqsa mosque in the west bank, one of the holiest sites of islam, and that complex also a very holy site for jews as well. let's speak with our correspondent kevin connolly. it seems that there have been these rising tensions, fresh clashes now after friday prayers around jerusalem.

can you bring us up to date with the latest? >> reporter: i think we have to be very careful to watch the scale of any disorder that follows friday prayers. of course, the potential for disorder is always here in and around jerusalem, in and around areas where palestinian youths have clashed with israeli security forces. so we need to watch as the day goes on to see if the disturbances really are out of the ordinary. because it's true that the security situation in jerusalem has been deteriorating for some months. in east jerusalem, that's the sector of the city which the palestinians want to make the capital of a future state. there's been continuing resentment over jewish settlement there, which has continued in an area. tensions began to rise during the summer conflict in gaza as well. and over time, they have come to focus, as they have often focussed in the past on this historic area inside the old city of jerusalem, which is the

essence of what's made jerusalem a cockpit of violence for many hundreds of years. that is the place called the al-aqsa compound by muslims and temple mount by jews, sacred to both faiths, and any suspicion in the arab world that israel is preparing to tinker with the delicate religious status quo of that site is a very powerful fuel for disorder. that's why we're watching the situation in and around jerusalem, particularly carefully on this friday, and as i say, that's why we need to be careful, to see if the disorder here is really out of the ordinary when the day is done. >> and while you're talking, we're just looking at pictures from jerusalem of black smoke on a road. i think that's actually just a dumpster on fire. no indication of any kind of attack there. but certainly quite dramatic pictures there. as you say, very good to get the context from you, the wider context. let's ask you now about the situation in gaza. because there were several

explosions there on friday. that seemed to target vehicles and homes belonging to the fattah movement, which is the party of the palestinian president mahmoud abbas. >> that's right. that party, of course, is preparing to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of its leader, its hero, its central figu figure yasser arafat. what we're looking at is a division in the palestinian world between the islamists of hamas on the one hand and the plo fattah, the palestinian authority, the party of mahmoud abbas on the other. in gaza, of course, where these explosions happened, hamas is in the ascendant and this is part of a power struggle for influence, especially among younger palestinians, between two organizations which are very different. that is hamas and fattah. even during the summer conflict, there were clashes between the two movements inside gaza, when hamas was fighting.

the thing to take away from this is that we've seen a lot of headlines the last couple of years about the two palestinian factions coming together to form a unity government, technically in newspaper headline terms, that has happened to some extent. but events like the violence of this morning, those explosions at the homes of fattah activists, clearly thought the work of hamas, they show you that the underlying relationships remain dangerously bad, whatever the headline politics looks like. >> okay. kevin in jerusalem, always good to talk to you. we should just point out on that, no one has claimed responsibility for those explosions. fattah accused hamas, but hamas have condemned the attacks. now, let me bring you some other stories making headlines around the world. approval has been given to restart nuclear reactors, the first to come back online since the meldown at fukushima in

2011. japan stopped all nuclear power plants after the disaster, even though atomic power provides 30% of its energy needs. there's still public opposition to the reactors restarting. authorities in new zealand have done something of a u-turn and dropped charges against the drummer of the rock group ac/dc phil rudd. he was accused of attempting to arrange a murder, but his lawyer said there was not enough evidence to proceed. he still faces charges of drug possession and making threats to kill. now stay with us here on "bbc world news." still plenty more to come, including this. 25 years after the berlin wall came down, we hear how a symbol of division became an inspiration for western artists. but going back to school is hard. because you work. now capella university offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. it's called flexpath, and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. so you can get a degree at your pace

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now, let's take you to brazil, where the country's biggest city sao paulo is experiencing its worst drought in decades. now a leading climatologist and

earth scientist has told the bbc he thinks there's a direct link between deforestation in the amazon and the drought. in sao paulo, water levels are dangerously low. state authorities there have acknowledged there may be extended power cuts and other emergency measures in the new year. our correspondent has been to sao paulo to meet some of those most affected by the drought. >> reporter: brazil has an estimated 12% of all the world's fresh water. it should be an abundant resource. but gilberto rodriguez and his laborers have been filling up from this emergency well in the southeastern town of etu for weeks. tired of heaving jerry cans day after day, gilberto and his wife laugh when they hear politicians say there is no water crisis. there's been no water in our pipes now for a month, she says. it's not as bad as this in every community. we've had water rationing here

since february. it certainly looks like a crisis after the worst drought in 80 years in the state of sao paulo. reservoirs have reached rock bottom, and everyone's hoping the rainy season will bring a miracle. while some rain has returned, but this lake is still at only 10% of its capacity and it would take an extraordinary large amount of rainfall to return things to normal. all the while, this reservoir is part of a system that has to supply down the valley south america's biggest city. 20 million people running low on water. after the long drought, the system can't cope. demand is outstripping supply. and as the city grows uncontrolled, the failure exacerbates a problem. open sewers mean sao paulo's rivers are completely polluted. another waste of precious water. but a leading scientist suggests the reasons for the drought may

be even more worrying for brazil in the long run. as continued deforestation in the amazon and in the atlantic forest drastically altered the climate. >> they have an innate ability to import moisture and to cool down and to moisten the air. what is at stake is so grave and so serious, if we don't act now, we are lost. >> reporter: water shortages harm the economy, too. sao paulo's industries drive brazil's economic growth. this factory uses 15,000 liters of water a day and the owner is worried about future supplies. the authorities know exactly what's needed. they have to invest in basic infrastructure, says mauricio. because without water, there are companies here who won't be able to produce anything.

the state border authority has acknowledged that unless water levels recover, there may be power cuts and more rationing. everyone here is praying for more rain, but is it already too late? bbc news, sao paulo. now, let's bring you the latest on ebola. it's been a crucial week for mali. within a matter of days, we find out whether a 2-year-old girl who died of ebola in that country has passed the virus on to anyone else. more than 100 people are currently in quarantine in the capital and a western town. anne soy reports from the capital bamako. >> reporter: along this street in bamako lives a large family that's now stuck at home. volunteers from the red cross have been visiting them for two weeks now. twice a day they assess the health of each person here. a 2-year-old girl who had ebola passed through this home to visit relatives on her way to

the western side of mali. so far, no one here has showed symptoms of disease. but their lives have changed. since the first day the authorities came here, says saran, we do what they ask. this is why we are sat here all time. staying here is a big problem for the family because they're vendors. more people have also been monitored where the girl ended her journey and died. the next will be critical. their 21-day incubation period will be over. >> we know that some people with the girl on the bus were not identified. we are working to make sure that they are ready to detect any suspected sign of the disease. every day, we are improving, because we want to make sure that people are, you know, really focused and don't lose momentum. >> reporter: some of those missing contacts could have used

this bus station. the key town for travelers passing between the two countries. since mali confirmed its first case of ebola, which was imported from guinea, the government here decided it was not going to close its border, but rather it hopes to identify cases as and when they arise. so arrivals from guinea at this bus station are going to continue. surveillance is going to be a daunting task. this bus is getting ready. passengers declined to talk to us. stigma is a big issue here. but the driver said attitudes are slowly changing. he told me ebola slowed down business, but now people know more about it, they're changing their behavior. they wash their hands, avoid shaking hands, and those who suspect they have the disease go to hospital. mali is taking no chances.

they're building an isolation unit in the capital. with the large outbreak next door, it is only a matter of time before they closed the border. when it did, the authorities moved swiftly to prevent it spreading. they hoped they wouldn't need to use this isolation unit after all. anne soy, bbc news, bamako. something of a major milestone in history to mark now. it's almost 25 years to the day since one of the most potent symbols of the cold war came crashing down. the berlin wall divided the russian sector of the city by the parts administered by the west. its western side became a massive area for graffiti artists. we're told about the moment the wall came down. >> it was a a very emotional moment. and everything was possible at

that moment. everywhere, boom, boom, boom. everybody wanted a small piece of the painted war. now all over the world, a symbol of the freedom in europe. new names now. green line. i don't want to travel around the world to paint walls. it's not my thing in israel or cyprus. because i paint the wall in berlin. it was just in front of my door. that's why i paint the wall. local people have to make it, to send a message.

>> now, check this out. it's pretty much out of this world, isn't it? in fact, it is. these are some of the most detailed images ever taken of new planets being born around a star. the star is 450 light years from earth, which makes it around a million years old. that's a baby by astronomers' standards. and because it's a young star, what we learned now is planetary formation happens much earlier than previously thought. it's also pretty impressive to look at, isn't it? now, we were telling you earlier about fresh tensions in jerusalem. let me show you some of those live pictures from jerusalem now. it seems reasonably quiet, but we know that israel has deployed some 1,300 police on to the streets of jerusalem to deal with potential violence. it is, of course, prid there. so friday prayers have justfrid. so friday prayers have just taken place. there is the burned out wreck of

what was a dumpster. we saw that on fire earlier. and in other shots that we've seen, there have been armed police on the streets. the deployment of the police came two days after riot police clashed with palestinians at the al-aqsa mosque. an incredibly important site for muslims and for jews as well. so we'll keep across those pictures and that story for you. come back for more "gmt." goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. you know how fast you were going? about 55. where you headed at such an appropriate speed? across the country to enhance the nation's most reliable 4g lte network. how's it working for ya? better than ever. how'd you do it? added cell sites. increased capacity.

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hello, and welcome to "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm rajesh mirchandani. these are our top stories. a year on from the devastating typhoon in the philippines, we're back in tacloban to see how the city's being rebuilt. and as the american football juggernaut rolls into london for a game at the weekend, we look at the idea of having an nfl team permanently based in the uk's capital. also in the program, aaron's back with more on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. >> yeah, rajesh. sunday marks that big day. and for the former east germany,

i have to say it has faced huge economic changes and challenges since reunification. wages are still lower in the east and unemployment is high, but there are some big business opportunities. so yes, we've got a special report, all the way from eisenhuttenstadt. hello. thanks for joining us. now it is a year senince one of the world's most powerful storms devastated the philippines. many survivors are still in tents and temporary shelters and they're struggling to meet ends meet. typhoon haiyan made landfall with wind speeds of more than 310 kilometers an hour. that produced a storm surge of more than five meters in the city of tacloban. at least 6,000 people died. and around 11.5 million people in all felt the effects of the

storm. our correspondent rupert winfield-hayes was in tacloban for us then, and he is back for us there now. rupert? >> reporter: thank you, rajesh. as you will remember, because i remember you were here with me too at that time, you remember what these streets were like a year ago. the overturned cars, the downed power lines, the lack of electricity, the no telephones. complete devastation here. tonight, it's a very, very different scene. as you can see, the streets are bustling. there's a posh coffee shop open just across the street from me here. a fancy pizzaria just down the street. it feels like life is very much back to normal. but if you go just a couple kilometers down the street from here, you'll find a very different scene. on the coast, on the bay, the squatter settlements that were completely wiped out by the wave. by the storm surge as it came in here a year ago, those squatter settlements are back. people have gone straight back

to where they're most vulnerable and where they suffereder the play year ago and have rebuilt there. i've been out with lionel from habitat for humanity, an organization that is working to try and move those people away from the vulnerable places and is building model villages on high ground far away from the coast. i'm curious, this to me as an outsider looks like you're building a housing estate. but it's not really just about building houses. can you tell us what's the concept of what you're doing here? >> if you can look become and haiyan and the events that focused after that, specifically focus on those families living along the seashore, along the shoreline, most of the children that inspire us to do this in this area. every time there is a strong wind or rain, and without a

typhoon, children who are still living in those locations are traumatized and panicked. they start crying and asking their parents to take them out of that location and move them somewhere safe. >> reporter: this is like a totally new community that you're building in a safe place. >> correct. and this is not just a communeticommunit community. later on when there are disasters, this could be a safe haven. they can host families in areas that are considered difficult for them to stay for them to come here. >> away from the coast. to higher ground. >> and stay. >> reporter: in strong houses. >> right. >> reporter: now, who's going to get these houses? you're giving these houses away. it's a great thing to have. but who's going get these houses? >> first, those living in what we call no build zones. those families living along the shoreline, or the river banks, considered not safe for them to stay. those families who are -- have

no capacity to actually rebuild their own houses. those families who don't have income. these families are actually being supported by the government even before the typhoon hit this area. >> that was my colleague rupert winfield-hayes out with habitat for humanity, on the outskirts of tacloban in the philippines. rupert still with us now. one thing that's really surprising to me, or inspiring to me, having been there at the same time as you were covering the disaster, is seeing all the traffic and the hustle and bustle in the area where you are. but we must also remember that the areas that we saw when we were there, and we have some pictures actually that i can show you now, as i was flying in, of the area down by the shore front, which was completely destroyed. we can see actually a ship washed ashore and just sitting there in the middle of what were people's homes. now, one thing to remember is that these were the poorest

parts of town. and i think that ship is still actually there. so i'm wondering, if you can tell us about -- there's a difference, isn't there, between where you are and the poorest parts of tacloban and that are really still facing a lot of devastation. >> reporter: absolutely. this is really a tale of two cities. i was next to that ship earlier today before it got dark. that ship is still there. and those vulnerable communities are still very much there. and this is -- you know, this is really the story of what's happened here. this was a very poor area already, with the poorest of the poor people living along the coastline in the most vulnerable place when the storm came in. those communities were destroyed. now those poor people have nothing. they lost everything. they're going back to the same building. they don't have any money to rebuild with, so they're taking loans out to get building

materials to try and rebuild their lives. and essentially, that means they're going further into debt. so the long-term impact of this storm is not just for a year, it's for many, many years to come. it is pushing these very poor people further into poverty. >> okay. rupert winfield-hayes in that tale of two cities. thanks, rupert. good to talk to you. now let's get all the latest business news. aaron is here. or he's over there. eurozone finance ministers gathering in brussels. and as always, a bit of a row, but there's a lot on that plate. >> maches it sound more interesting than that. those ministers are gathering in brussels to discuss this growing row over the eu budgets. but look, there are more problems looming in the eurozone. new figures indicate that the powerhouse germany, its industrial production rose less than expected in september. it is a sign that europe's

biggest economy is continuing to struggle. and on thursday, just yesterday, we saw the ecb, the european central bank saying that it was poised to help bolster eurozone growth if necessary. also this week, the european commission cut its growth forecast for the eurozone to just 0.8 of a percent for this year. that's down from the previous expectation or estimate of 1.2%. lots to talk about. let's get straight over to berlin now and talk to dr. tim genko. great to have you with us on the program. what started several years ago over the worries of the peripheral economies where we used to love to blame spain and greece, portugal. surely our biggest problems today are our biggest economies. italy in recession. france, zero growth this year. and where you are in germany, real worries that you are slowing. >> certainly when we look back,

for example ten years, we see that germany was an even greater problems back then. so it's very true that we can't take for granted that the big economies will be performing well, but they are particularly crucial for the success of the eurozone. so it is very important that governments in san francisco and in italy commit to genuine improvements, genuine structural reforms in their country, and also that in germany we see both more investment and a better focus on competitiveness, rather than increasing social spending. >> let me ask you this, though. this slowdown, we're seeing weaker industrial output. this is more of an external problem. more than internal issues in germany. >> we have both, actually. we conduct regular survey of about 30,000 german companies, and we can see that a major

driver in the current climate is reduced export expectations, especially due to a political crisis that we all know. but we also see a loss of consumer confidence inside germany, so that's also slowing us down at the moment. >> just very briefly, can i ask you this, do you believe the european central bank has the -- well, has the right tools to help solve these problems? >> the ecb has adopted the role of firefighter, helping immediately at a point where the national government did not do enough to stabilize the economy. but it cannot really move beyond this part. the ecb does not have the means to replace genuine social reforms or to bring the eurozone back on a sustainable growth path on its own.

that's still a task of national government. >> it sure is, and that is the challenge right there. we appreciate your time. thank you very much. let's get a wider perspective across the eurozone. let's go over to christian schultz, senior economist at the bearenburg bank. i'm wondering, if europe will always struggle to grow, when i guess we struggle to compete in a global arena. as an example, in the united states, cheaper labor, higher productivity than europe. they've got a competitive raw material prices, certainly competitive energy prices. all things that we don't have in europe at the moment. >> well, yes, but germany, which has a population less than a fourth of the u.s., is exporting more or roughly the same as the entire u.s. also german exports. we just had data out this morning, were up very sharply in

september. 5.5% on the export front. also in the third quarter, german exports were up. i don't really see that europe by nature has a competitive problem. germany is indeed very competitive. if you look at countries like spain or portugal, even greece, the export growth has been one of the drivers of their respective recoveries because they have done more to improve competitiveness. but there are clearly weak spots. france and italy were mentioned. these countries haven't done enough to improve competitiveness, but i don't really see a big competitive problem here. >> okay. fair point, christian. let me ask you this then. many will say this has been going on for far, far too long. we just heard from dr. gemkow in berlin who said it's basically up to the national government to fix these problems and we have been waiting, hearing, heard the promises and suggestion. i'm wondering, do they have the will to fix all of these issues? >> well, some countries have the

will and have done the reforms. others are still struggling. for them, apparently the situation isn't quite bad enough, and i think france is a case in point. the economy is, of course, stagnating. but it's not really a big recession. unemployment is rising, but it's doing so very, very gradually. and the fiscal situation is bad, but no bad as bad as japan or even in the uk. so i think overall the french situation is not one that gives you a sense of crisis and that's probably why the politicians don't do anything, even though everybody knows, of course, that san francisco needs serious reforms. >> well, we get those latest numbers, we'll know this time next week, so we may speak to you then. christian, thank you, mate. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> christian schultz joining us us there. from the divisions into today's europe to a rather bigger one in the past. we're talking about the berlin wall. i thought i had a picture of the section of the berlin wall, which is now used in an art

gallery. that's the old wall. this sunday, it marks 25 years since the wall came down. the former east germany has faced huge economic changes and challenges since reunification. and now nigel cassidy reports from eisenhuttenstadt. that literally means "iron works city." close to the polish border. take a look at this. >> reporter: a steel town in the far east of germany. today, an intriguing monument to an economic system consigned to the history books. 53,000 once housed in this socialist city. but once the berlin wall was down, these homes started to go the same way. as the work dried up, the cities almost halved in size. but it's making sterling efforts to attract new employers, updating a central core of apartments designed for the workers at the vast state steel complex. against all odds, the plant itself didn't melt away, but doggedly strode to attract eu

investors. a quarter of the original 12,000 work force, but it's a modern show piece. this plant is churning these out every five minutes. just ten people work on the shift here. compare that with hundreds of thousands that would have worked here in the days of the gdr. >> we are going to the industry which are now thriving in poland. and then you see the growth rate for poland being about 3% of gdp growth. for us, it's really good to be in this region. >> reporter: when capitalism triumphed 25 years ago, everything changed. this building used to be a car showroom, and the famous state-made contraband used to go around on a turntable. but now this place is a town

bakers. karen started this shop when the state system bakery where she was a technologist went down. >> translator: the economics of running a business are difficult for me. today i am the only one responsible. before i went to work, and got my wages. but today i have to find customers and suppliers. >> reporter: losing state employment brought uncertainty for many and it's still true for this community today. roads, railways, industries, and plenty of room for more. nigel cassidy, bbc news, eisenhuttenstadt in eastern germany. okay, let's quickly talk about this, the global financial markets are waiting with baited breath for the u.s. jobs numbers. october is expected to have been another strong month for job creation by u.s. employers. but some experts say that falling unemployment isn't always real evidence that the economy is making a recovery. we're expecting about 231,000. that's the number of new jobs

created in october. follow me on twitter. tweet me. i'll tweet you right back. you can get me @bbcaaron. that's it with the business. so what is the word for iron works city? >> eisenhuttenstadt. >> eisenhuttenstadt. >> everyone knows that. >> yeah, i know. >> well, now they do. thanks, buddy. stay with us here on "bbc world news." still plenty more to come, including this. american football's nfl comes to london this weekend. it's a growing sport here. but can britain really fall in love with a ball that isn't round? s all military. you don't know what to expect. then suddenly you're there... in another world. i did my job. you do your best. i remember the faces... how everything mattered... so much more. my buddies... my country... everything... and everyone i loved... back home. ♪ [ male announcer ] for all who've served and all who serve, we can never thank them enough. ♪

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hello, i'm rajesh mirchandani with "bbc world news." president obama is reported to have written a secret letter to iran's supreme leader describing their shared interest in islamic

state militants. tensions are riding high in east jerusalem after clashes between israeli police and palestinian protesters. fancy watching football with me this weekend? here in london, we would be talking about the round ball variety, also known as soccer across the atlantic. but on sunday, the jacksonville jaguars take on the dallas cowboys at wembley stadium, and now there's even serious talk about a permanent london-based nfl team by 2022. well, nodding at the prospect of that is mike carlson, who's an nfl journalist. here to talk more about that with me. i was just doing some research. there have been 11 nfl games played in the uk since 2007. all of them have had capacity crowds of 80,000. but it's a rarity that makes them so popular. is there really the interest to

sustain a full-time team? >> that's one of the two big questions that the nfl is facing. the tradition in this country is that once you pick a team for your own, it becomes your team for life and you're not allowed to change your allegiance to anybody else, so most of the nfl fans in britain who are very numerous, certainly enough fans to support a franchise, but they all have teams of their own that they've already selected. in the u.s. whether they could transfer that allegiance to a london team remains an open question. when it's just three games a year and you want to just see a real nfl game, you will go to any game. but if it were a london franchise, you might not want to go. >> also, it begs the question how would it actually work. it would be london-based. they'd have to spend most of their year in america. >> there are a ton of practical problems involved. but what's really encouraging and why for the first time i'm sort of seeing it turn toward the feasibility, the probability stage, is that the politicians in britain have been jumping onboard with this idea.

>> because they've sent money. >> probably. and there is money there in the n nfl. >> it would be worth 100 million pounds. >> but management consultants will tell you what you want to haempl and those kind of studies, they're always under fire. because they're not complete in what they do. but even so, yes, it's a moneymaker. and if a government is involved, a lot of the practical problems become a lot easier because you have things like immigration problems, tax problems, logistical security problems when you bring in all the equipment that teams need. so if a government's behind all that, all of a sudden things look rosier for staging the games. but yes, there is a definite problem in terms of do you base the team here, do they come over and play for two weeks at a time and then go back to the states and play for two weeks at a time. do the players live here for a long period in the season. things like that will have to be resolved. >> culturally, do you think american football could ever

catch on in the uk, which invented the beautiful game of football? >> do you believe it is a beautiful game? >> i think most of the world would probably agree. >> three of the four largest countries in the world aren't football countries. and everybody seems to ignore that. and most of the british commonwealth aren't football countries, but everyone seems to ignore that. ireland as well. >> but could it catch on here? >> culturally, yes. as a participant sport, it's not going to replace association football. what they're bringing is a different kind of sport, which is a great spectacle, a great day out at the stadium. and on that basis, i think there certainly is enough following to make a franchise viable. and then, obviously, the nfl's aim would be to move on from there. >> always great to talk to you. thanks for coming into the studio. now, china and japan have agreed to resume dialogue following a freeze in their relations that was fueled by a dispute over a chain of islands in the east china sea.

this diplomatic breakthrough could lead to a meeting between china's president xi jinping and the japanese prime minister shinzo abe in beijing next week. the scale and cost of preparation for the summit would put any other host city to shame. >> reporter: when it comes the hosting a summit, china pulls out all the stops. with world leaders rolling in to town, beijing's being spruced up for the occasion. security's tight. but it's clearing the city's notorious smog that's the biggest challenge. rare blue skies in the capital. air fit for world leaders. suck it in and you feel fine. i tell you, when beijing's hosting a summit, it's a great place to be. this was the scene two weeks ago. and as you can see, the city is enveloped by thick smog. and this is absolutely hazardous

to your health. to prevent embarrassment of a foreign president donning a facemask, factories have been shut, constructed halted, cars pulled off the road. a local holiday to encourage people to leave home. but locals think the preparations are overkill. >> translator: the whole city benefits. i do worry about after the summit the smog will return. but what can we do? if the measures stay in place, the city will grind to a halt. >> translator: the preparations show we care. if we can have clean air for the summit, why not after it as well? >> reporter: china's leaders made a pledge to clean up the smock in the next few years. but when this summit's over, the public won't enjoy the presidential treatment. bbc news, beijing.

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