>> "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 has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> obama gives his support for

controversial ground zero mosque. record german growth figures help the euro zone. no relief for pakistan flood victims. government offers a reward for the capture of those behind a car bomb attack. >> welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast in the u.k. and a round the world. president obama has defended plans to build mosque close to the site of ground zero.

he said muslims have the same rights to build places of worship as other americans. protesters claim this dishonors those who died on 9/11. >> this is the first time president obama has commented on the controversial mosque. he told an audience of muslims gathered at the white house to celebrate ramadan it was a rite of u.s. citizens to be able to build a place of worship. >> this is america. our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. the principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. >> a campaign group including some new yorkers who lost family members in the attacks tried to block the mosque's construction.

they claim to the intended location is deliberately provocative. the president called the site hallowed ground and recognized there were sensitivities' attached to the area, but warned americans not to confuse extremist groups like al qaeda with ordinary muslims. >> doubts persist over the european economy, but there is a ray of hope. germany posted its biggest quarterly growth since reunification. the french economy also performed better than expected. even spain managed an improvement. >> it has been a tumultuous few months for the euro zone. violent clashes on athens as greece confronts a financial crisis.

to haveeurope's leaders to step up for bailouts, there is better news on the of economy. the traditional powerhouse germany led the way with a bigger than expected output boost driven by exporting companies. it was a pleasant surprise to the nations of economy is. >> we have tremendous figure is considering our gdp growth is fantastic and the main rivals are the exports and investments in machinery. >> germany's growth figures were ahead of other economies in the second quarter. france moved up 0.6%. that compares with the u.k.'s 1.1%. others are still struggling, like greece. today figures are looking backwards to the three months ended in june. what does the future hold?

there is anxiety in france and other a economy is just as there is in the u.k. about whether the pace of the recovery can be sustained. there are signs of confidence ebbing amidst fears of government cuts. if the u.s. takes a turn for the worse, that will not help france. we cannot assume there will be another big step up. >> for two weeks pakistan has been ravaged by rains that brought about massive flooding. the un secretary general is flying there to see the damage for himself. fears are mounting about the spread of disease. the sindh and punjab provinces are of major concerns. more rain is also falling in the area. our correspondent reports from pakistan.

>> this is a disaster of epic proportions. for a nation already broke and tormented by militants, another huge burden to bear. the floods have killed 1600 people so far. aid agencies are warning did these could bring a second waves -- disease could bring a second wave of deaths. the most vulnerable are the young and old, but the biggest problem is diarrhea which can be fatal. so far, 36,000 acute cases have been registered. this boy is one of them. just four-years old. this is what diarrhea can do. we found him today in a

makeshift clinic in northwest pakistan. his mother tries to revive him, but he can barely move. >> i was hoping he would get better soon, but he does not know i am here. >> this one-year old lies beside him, still strong a enough to cry, another victim of diarrhea. the clinic itself looks like a health hazard. with flies all over the floor and another risk for the vulnerable. doctors are seeing between 300- 400 children every day and the numbers are increasing.

most are ill with diarrhea and vomiting. many get sick all over again as soon as they go back to their tents. doing the rounds here is this doctor, a volunteer. he has enough drugs but is desperate for vaccines. >> we have to safeguard the children against typhoid and cholera. if color breaks out, there will be death everywhere. -- if cholera breaks out. >> the red cross says children are dying because they don't have clean water. this boy look better later in the day. doctors say he will recover, but many others could die for nothing. >> the colombian president

offered a $270,000 reward for information leading to the capture of those behind a car bomb attack on thursday. nine people were injured when it exploded outside a building housing a radio station in the news agency. >> even in the silence of cc tv, images are clear. in just seconds a car packed with 50 kilos of explosives brought chaos to the streets. nine people were injured, but in the days aftermath came the realization that it could have been much worse. despite widespread damage, no lives were lost. but in the face of such violence, many chose calm defiance. >> we reject violence, we reject

factions who use violence. these are terrorist acts. whoever is responsible, we will not let them intimidate us. >> knowing who they are is not easy. police were quick to blame left- wing guerrilla groups, but no one claimed responsibility. is not clear what the intended target was, but such violence will not go unpunished. >> we will offer a reward of up to 500 million pesos for information that leads us to the people responsible. >> the bombing closely resembles previous attacks by the rebels and maybe a reminder that the group is still a force to be reckoned with. barely a week since he took office, mr. santos faces the first big test of his resolve. >> more heavy rain has triggered fresh landslides in

china, claiming another 24 lives. another town has already been badly affected. more than 1000 people have been killed since last weekend. an american charity is morning thousands of children could starve to death -- is warning children could starve to death without aid. drought has wiped out crops and killed livestock and malnutrition rates in some areas are topping 20%. a ship carrying 500 people has arrived in the victoria on canada's west coast. those believed on -- are believed to be asylum-seeking. some on the ship may be members of a rebel group.

>> passengers from this ship were finally able to leave friday, weeks after setting sail from south asia. the ship was guided at dawn after spending much of the previous day escorted by canadian police. officials say they will spend the weekend photograph and everyone from the boat. ottawa believes some may be a member of a group they called a terrorist organization. others were suspected of being human smugglers. the minister of public safety is facing a harder line because he wishes to send a message. >> we believe there are others watching this situation to determine the reaction of canadian authorities. they will be making decisions based on the reaction. i don't view this as an

isolated independent act. >> but genuine refugees will be treated with the warm welcome. this is the second boat to a ride on canada's west coast with asylum-seekers on board -- to arrive on canada's west coast. the high-profile newcomers have sparked some debate over -- immigration rarely plays into a major issue in canadian politics. >> you are watching "bbc world news." giving big ben a boost. work is underway to make sure the clock tower keeps its appearance. another tainted food scandal may be emerging in china. there are fears hormone-tainted milk powder have caused premature sexual development in girls.

the company denies wrongdoing. >> baby milk and china is investigating reports of contamination. after the media claimed hormones had been put into the powder. one father took his daughter in for medical tests after feeding her the milk powder three weeks ago. he came out reaffirming the allegations. >> the hospital confirmed my daughter is sexually premature, but they have no treatment. >> parents have reported daughters as young as four months have been found with abnormal levels of hormones, including prolactin which stimulates making of breast milk. >> i don't know how to select milk powder for my child. should i believe my friends, experts or the official department?

>> they company that makes the milk denies any allegations. >> we would never end hormones during the production process. why would we do this? >> two years ago china took action against a different company accused of putting industrial chemicals into baby milk. six children died and 300,000 became ill and company directors were taken to court. recent surveys show that two- thirds of chinese people worry about food safety. the government says a special panel of investigators is looking into latest fears. >> this is "bbc world news." president obama has given his support for controversial plans to build a mosque close to the

site of a 9/11 at tax. record german growth figures helped the euro zone outstrip the u.s. floodwaters in pakistan raised the threat of another wave of deaths from floodwater and disease. far right politicians from europe will visit tokyo on the eve of the anniversary of japan's defeat in world war ii. politicians come from a prominent member of the british national party and were invited by a far right group. here is our correspondent from tokyo. >> the far right politicians are in tokyo at the invitation of a japanese nationalist group which has denied the country's wartime atrocities. a prominent member of the british national party and a

prominent french person have discussed how to cooperate to further their nationalist aid. the most controversial aspect is a visit to the shrine. on the eve of the 65th anniversary of japan's defeat in world war ii. as souls of millions are symbolically entombed there. this has frequently anchored other nations which say the shrine glorifies the country's imperial past. the prime minister has already said he will go there during his time in office. the french person told police he had no hesitation. he said war criminals were not just among the defeated, but the victims, too. >> it calls the worst

environmental disaster in the u.s. now there is some doubt whether the damaged oil well has been securely sealed. the latest operation involves pumping in mud and cement, but tests reveal it may not be strong enough. >> this came from thad allen, the man in charge of the cleanup operation. he started off by talking about the operation which calls the will to stop flowing into the gulf, placing a metal cap over the well head, and the top kill operation where concrete was placed into the well. those were intended as temporary solutions, but there was some speculation the top kill operation had been more successful than anticipated and

the concrete stopper may be longer lasting. however, thad allen said that was not the case after engineers carried out pressure testing. they will have to make use of one of the relief wells bp has drilled in parallel with the damaged well. >> but there is no oil leaking any more? >> there has been no oil leaking for the past month. that was something thad allen was at pains to point out. while the operation using the relief well to insert concrete into the bottom of the well was going ahead, there will continue to be no oil flowing into the gulf. he said they have the luxury of time to get this new operation right. >> this relief will will provide

the permanent solution? >> engineers have said this was the ultimate solution. the operation is known as bottom kill,, to divert this relief well into the side of the damaged well. there are risks associated with it. there is a danger the pressure created could damage some of the sensitive equipment on the seabed, bud thad allen said they would make sure that did not happen. >> is a document dump that sent shock wikileaks said there is more to come. weeks after posting thousands of files, an additional 15,000 are said to be on their way.

this would be the height of irresponsibility, says the pentagon. some say it was unavoidable. >> they provide an unprecedented new view of war, but did they offer more clarity? the debate still rages over the disclosures. wikileaks says it has another 15,000 afghan documents. >> we think they may have another 500,000 records from the iraq war for the same period. they may also have 260,000 state department diplomatic cables. >> suspicion has gone on u.s. army private bradley manning, already charged with downloading documents. many experts suspect another culprit.

one is the post 9/11 push to share more intelligence to repent -- to prevent a repeat of the failures. >> we knew this was a danger where something like this would happen because we have moved into a world in which more information is available to more people. >> the u.s. intelligence industry has mushroomed. a recent investigation found 854,000 people hold a top-secret clearances. 1002 madrid 71 government organizations work on intelligence -- 1271 government organizations. so much of the focus has been on protecting a system from outside attacks, but whoever the leaker turns out to be, he inside job is a combination of technology,

lowering of security barriers and access that gives authorized operatives to a vast array of information may be just as much of a security risk. the failed detroit airliner bombing shows u.s. intelligence still struggles to connect the dots. the suspect's father told the u.s. embassy of his concerns. there were reports of the suspect meeting militants in yemen. history in that internal flow is not an answer to stemming leaks. keeping a better eye on how is used may be. >> i would be the last to claim this would never happen again. >> the arguments over the impact of the leaks on the ground go on. >> a sierra leone human rights

commission once south africa to hand over uncut diamonds given to naomi campbell by charles campbell. she told the war crimes trial she received a gift of dirty looking stones in 1997. the human rights group wants to sell them to help thousands of victims. police in south africa ended a search for more bodies in a gold mine run by jacob zuma. they're continuing investigations that up to 20 miners were shot dead by security miners. bodies were recovered on thursday. the un secretary general has called on burma's military authorities to free political detainees and head of the elections planned. in the last election the party detained a democracy leader and

won by a landslide, but the generals refused to accept the results. it is london's most famous landmark for tourists around the world and now they tower that houses big ben is being repaired. this involves hanging outside the space for almost 200 feet in the air. [bell rings] >> at 151 years of age is no surprise the most famous face needs a little work. this cosmetic repair requires, most -- requires the most careful work. they are repairing missing pants like these, but damage is not caused by the age -- missing pains like these.

>> pigeons are flying along and they fly straight into this class. it probably looks like the sky. >> as this class is 3 millimeters thick, it does not take much to smash it. even interior repairs acquire allied. the mechanism is a more robust feet of victorian engineering, it only needs a major refurbishment once every 50 years. with the pigeon damage repaired, they hope this clock will look as good as it sounds. [bell rings] >> president obama has given his support to controversial plans to build a mosque close to the twin towers and tax on 9/11. -- twin towers o attacks.

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