>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.

>> union bank offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> north. threatens to use the nuclear deterrent as the u.s. and south korea got ahead with military exercises. 84 european banks and passed the stress test oft. s center has urged the scottish government to reconsider the release of the lockerbie bombing. the british royal family hit the high seas for the holiday special.

>> hello and welcome. north korea says it will use the nuclear deterrent in response to a joint u.s./south korea military exercises this weekend. according to officials, it is ready to launch in retaliation war. washington says the word games are a deterrent of north korean aggression. this weekend joint exercise is a response to the sinking of a south korea warship in march. >> this was a statement from the country's powerful national defence commission, reported by north korea's of fish a news agency. it repeated the denial of any involvement in the sinking of a south korean war ship in march. these exercises are taking place involving south korean and american ships. it is a response to the allegations that north korea sink the warship.

the national defense commission spokesman went on to say that the exercises threatened north korea's sovereignty and security. it will launch a retaliatory assaults or. -- sacred war. white house sears issue we take the suggestions from north korea? -- >> how seriously should we take the suggestions from north korea? >> i think this will be dismissed as the usual diplomatic issues. washington is already refusing to take this latest outburst at face value. a spokesperson responded saying, we need from north korea is fewer provocative words and more constructive action. having said that, i think it will cause concern. any hint of rising tension will trouble the government. in particular, china.

they have been warning them to trade carefully. >> the war games take place on sunday. is the right? >> they will begin on sunday morning. they last for four days. they are very large-scale exercise. 22 ships. 8000 personnel. >> and american research institute says research measures by u.s.-led forces in afghanistan should also lead to a decline in insurgent attacks after analyzing incidents involved more than 4000 deaths across the country, they concluded that revenge was a key motive in carrying out attacks. the curve on the bombings were introduced last year by a general mcchrystal. conrad black has been told to stay in the u.s. until his last

court hearing in august. a judge in chicago said she needed more information on this financial situation before she could rule on the issue. he is released from prison on wednesday after serving more than two years. the philippines has been hit by a major 7.3 magnitude earthquake. it struck wonder kilometers southwest of the city. -- 700 kilometers south of the city. it had yardy been rocked by the initial quake measuring 6.9. all of europe's major banks have passed the test is designed to check if they could survive a crisis. the seven small regional banks in spain, germany, and greece failed. critics argue the test were not tough enough. >> europe's banks have been widely viewed as a link. the 91 biggest have been giving a health take.

would they be lowered to half mast in respect for legions of banks on their deathbed? in practice, only seven have failed the test. the edit 85 are in the pink. as for the seven who flunked it, they could be a small regional outlets. >> the top of the system had the capital ratios above 60%. it is smaller institutions. they are very small. they have been less capitalized. >> house of bear were the tests imposed on banks? thanks estimated the losses they generated, it to be trivial recession compared to what happened a year ago. this the jury losses of around 2.6 billion pounds a year. it is a great deal compared to what i saw happen in the median

time. those that fear that they are too mild also point to the losses that things have to endure on their loans to european governments. a tiny 33 billion pounds out of total european government debt of $7.40 trillion come. >> given the -- you might think losses would be bigger. you are being government and regulators have refused to count even the theoretical possibility that any government will fail to keep up the payment on their debt. ? we have not assumed the assumption of a default of any country. we do not believe there will be in default. >> will it all work? will the financial institutions that lent the banks be reassured or a unsettled by the results? but i think there is a realistic possibility of a banking crisis.

nothing has changed to make this less likely. i think there is the possibility. the difference it would be more worrying. governments are out of ammunition. we are in a sovereign debt crisis. >> they found it harder and more expensive to borrow because of the anxiety of those that invest. the verdict on the health is the market when it opens on monday. >> a senior u.s. senator is called on bases got fish government to reconsider the decision not to send representatives to a congressional hearing for the release of the lockerbie bombing. he was pleading to help shed light on claims of lobbying by a bp influence released him last summer. the letter was pretty emotionally charged.

>> what to attack in the past seven days is a senate committee setting up an inquiry into the release a year ago, and released a thing was possibly linked to lobbying by a new york company, bp. they extend an invitation is to senior members of the scottish government f. jack straw and the spot is government has said they will not be attending that hearing in washington. they will not be coming to give evidence. the reaction here has been quite emotionally charged. frank writing to the first minister saying, i am pleading for direct representation from the slot-government of the u.s. senate hearing next week. one final attempt to get them to change their minds. it really chooses the spot to

governments for blaming each other for this trial -- the scotties government for blaming each other for this rowel. >> scotland is not have a case to answer. how long while the center's go on trying to get them to come to the hearing? >> it is scheduled for the end of next week brita there is conceivably time for people to change their minds. i frankly do not think that will happen. they have sent detailed shows. the problem here is this, it was ultimately the scottish government that to the decision to release him a year ago. it did that on compassionate grounds. doctors said he was terminally ill. however, the u.k. government was

lobbied by bp. it was signing a deal with libya. the deal was put into jeopardy by the ongoing sentiment. it is love being with the u.k. government over prisoner transfer. the american politicians and not get that distinction. they are unhappy. there is still some way to go between now and the hearing at the end of this week. >> in the united states, if the storm that caused the evacuation of ships in the gulf of mexico has weakened across florida. some ships in the area are preparing to leave. hal>> it makes his way over floa toward the gulf of mexico.

it is a scenario that bp the government thought when not happen. it is forcing operations to come to a standstill. they have declared a state of emergency. we think it is prudent to claim for a hurricane. new hope for the best in you prepare for the worst. >> everything depends on the new caps holding up. engineers and crews are forced to stay away from the side. the solutions to cap the well have been stopped. thad allen said bp be back to work within 48 hours. he said it is an uncertain as demand. >> our priority is safety of our personnel. that dictate movement of the vessels and preservation of the equipment.

>> well work is suspended, there is a danger that strong winds may force the oil of against the delicate shorelines of the gulf states. so far, most have remained clear of oil. >> things have stopped. it is a huge concern to residents. experts say they are confident that it can withhold the pressure in the absence of engineers. work in the gulf could be stopped for days. forecasters say this will be a busy of potentially dangerous hurricane season. any delay now could be costly. >> this is bbc news. overhead, saving no. this prisoners plant to stay at home to fight for democracy. a trading company has been fined more than $1 million for exporting hazardous waste to south africa.

thousands of people were made ill by toxic waste in 2006. trafigura may appeal. >> the cargo ships transported a cocktail of foul and a corrosive chemicals from europe to west of occur, doubling them onshore in the ivory coast in july 2006. in court, trafigura was fined 1 million euros for alito -- for illegally moving the hazardous waste. company has been found guilty of breaking export laws. the company has always denied any wrongdoing m-1 now consider how to respond to the guilty

verdict. >> i think it is important to notice that the convictions relate to a highly technical complex legal matter. for they study the judgement to the effect possibility of an uphill. -- of an appeal. the west ever can country has concluded that there is strong evidence linking it to death and injury. this is denied by scientific evidence. the company has made an out-of- court payments of more than two under million dollars without admitting liability -- $200 million to outbid in liability. >> was a bad our headlines. north korea has threatened to use the nuclear deterrent and what it called a sacred war against the u.s. and south. .

84 european banks have passed financial stress tests designed to show whether they can withstand another recession. seven smaller banks failed. in britain, he is in sentence for two years in prison for downloading child pornography. some of the children were as young as two some. think of the sentence was too short. his lawyers say he thought every day about what he had done and how different life might have been for those affected. >> it is 17 years since he was arrested for the murder. the grainy images of him and his friends, luring the three-year old to is that are as chilling as ever. today, his mother arrived at

the bailey to hear him down loading in sharing images of children. in court, only the judge could see his face by a video link from prison for their as you listen, he was asked to plead guilty three times. he was convicted of possessing 67 indecent images of children. the victims were as young as two years old. several images were particularly disturbing. some were available to other users. in court, we learned a lot more about the life he was bleeding. he had an extensive history of downloading in decent images and children. he called it "the last taboo he posed as a married mother, selling access to an imaginary daughter. he became addicted to drugs and

cocaine. he was arrested in 2008. the chargers dropped. he has no long-term growth friend. he would have to tell our his real identity. concern that is anonymity was directing, he called in a probation officer. he was found trying to delete the images from his computer in removing the hard drive. dissonance in today was not enough for him. >> we it had to sit through proceedings were justice has not been done. these are very serious offenses. it was simply not enough to make the gravity of what this person did. >> one experienced figure said the sentence passed was to be put expected. >> two years is the high end for cases like this. when you take into account the

horrendous a fence that occurred 20 years ago, two years is probably proportionate. >> for his part, the lawyer released a statement saying every day since what did place in 1993, he has thought about the different life might have been for all those affected. as children, they committed when the worst crimes imaginable. they were given a second chance. as an adult, he must pay the price for breaking the law again, unwilling or unable to escape the shadow of his past. >> a mass grave containing at least 18 bodies has been discovered in northeastern mexico. security forces say a tipoff lead into the site. in the northern state at the center of battles.

>> a grim discovery in a remote part of northeastern mexico. a massive hole in the ground that is 20 meters deep. investigators say an enormous -- an anonymous tip of lead in to it. they are not sure how many bodies they will find. >> yellow flags are used to mark the flags of remained already uncovered. heavy machinery will be used to dig out the rest of the area. >> bloody battles between rival drug gangs are common. police say the drug traffickers use this remote spot to torture and execute their victims. then they threw them into the ditch and set them alight. ms. kanter of car terrace to mexican drug cartels have led a chill of bodies nationwide. -- mexican drug cartels have led a trail of bodies nationwide. he praised the army for its help.

>> there is no force more than the state force. it is not a superior in numbers and discipline but also in intelligence and knowledge. >> 25,000 people have been killed in mexico since the government launched its offensive against the drug cartel four years ago. victims are often buried in mass graves. many may never be found. >> when the news broke two weeks ago that cuba had agreed to free 52 political prisoners, it was met with guarded optimism. 20 of those on the list have accepted residency in spain and are embarking on a new life there. for some of those remaining, the and no desire to go abroad. they want to stay in cuba, raising a thorny issue. >> after seven years raising a

family on her own, she is hoping that your husband will soon be free to join them. he is one of 52 political prisoners that the cuban government has agreed to release with an offer to take the whole family abroad to spain. they do not want to go into exile. >> my husband was to stay here in cuba and carry on fighting for human rights and democracy. i think those tuesday will be the last to be released. >> several groups of political prisoners have already arrived in spain with their families. more are expected to follow shortly. it is the largest mass release of political prisoners since castro to over the presidency from fidel. it could mark the start of a major change in policy. >> the issue of prisoners and human rights has long been a major stumbling block toward

improved relations with both europe and the united states. president castro would rather concentrate on getting this country out of it the deep economic problem, which may be why the government has announced it is willing to release all the political prisoners currently being held in cuban jails. >> the devil is in the details. all we, families of those prisoners have been attending three things a bit if they go to spain, they can join relatives in the united states in sitting granted asylum. they have to apply for immigrant status that can take years. crack>> she is the head of wised families of poetical --

political prisoners. >> the experience of this first group in spain will influence what the others do. it runs other risks. he was freed from jail on health grounds recently and has been granted refugee status in the u.s. and has permission to leave cuba. his wife also has a u.s. visa. she has been told that cannot go with them. >> she has everything she needs from the americans. the cubans still have not given her an exit visa. the urgency required hospital treatment in the u.s. and is going ahead without her. >> queen elizabeth and prince philip are off on their summer holiday on the world's smallest luxury cruise ship repair they have -- cruise ship.

they have headed to scotland. a number of important birthdays will be celebrated. >> gone was the usual uniform of a public parade. gone were the party guests. this was the queen of duty in going on holiday and didn't the smile just say it? does that she did in 2006, she has started a small cruise ship for a family holiday afloat and another birthday celebration. this time for the princess royal that will be 16 next month and the duke of york. for many of war, it will be a reminder of favorite holidays from the past. it brought to an into the royal family's around the scottish highlands. the loss was keenly felt.

it seemed to be destined no more than a memory until 2006 this little ship stepped into the picture. she is a former -- refitted in renamed. on board are 30 cavan's and sweets, and not exactly palatial. the coziness scenes to work. the queen is paying the estimated 1 to 25,000 pounds to a chartered the ship again. it headed out to sea to] the first thing she does not often enjoy, and escape from her normal routine. for the next 10 days, she will be afloat and away from it all. the queen of the aisles in the aisles -- isles in the isles. >> there is plenty more on all the stories recovered on their

website. do check it out. for now, bye bye. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. >> union bank has put its global hophea expertise to wor

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