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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to the bbc. i am in singapore. >> ayman london. the headlines this hour. the former british prime minister says the news international paper hires criminals to get his secret information. the debt crisis may be spreading to italy. third largests economy. >> more secure -- concern about security inanimate -- security and afghanistan. leading the u.s. back under a grant. it is 11:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> it is 4:00 a.m. here in london. broadcasting to people around the world.

news international has intensified with fresh criticism from the former prime minister gordon brown. in an interview with the bbc mr. brown claimed that the sunday brown newspaper hired criminals to get his financial and medical records and he was left in tears after the signing gave information about his son's a cystic fibrosis. ministers will discuss whether to call on plans for rupert murdoch's bid for the bskyb to be abandoned. this report from our deputy political editor does contain flash cryptography. >> here is gordon again in downing street with his daughter elisabeth next to him. and their top editor, rebekah brooks, the red hat on the

right. for years a team brown stayed close. no more. the smiles fell away. using criminals to investigate his private life. >> i had my bank accounts broken into. ilesd my lawyers' f blanked. my tax returns went missing at one point. medical records have been broken into. i do not know how all this happened but i do know one thing, into of these instances, there is absolute proof that news international was involved in hiring people to get this information. i also know that the people they work with our criminals. >> court of mankind were looking for information about a flat in this london street in the early 1990's. he said he paid the market rate.

the sunday times conceded not. >> are you considering resigning? >> he is not resigning. his newspaper had been out to bring brown down as a government minister he climbs. the statements -- the paper said we believe no law was broken. the story was published giving all sides a fair hearing. mr. brown also talk about another paper. he attacked the way it reported his youngest son was sauce -- suffering from cystic fibrosis. the revelation was not legitimate and left him -- >> in tears. your son is not quite to be broadcast across the media. sarah and i are upset about it. we're thinking about our family. there is nothing you can do.

>> other parents and public life have also had children with medical conditions. there were sympathetic. >> my heart goes out to them. to have your children's privacy invaded in that way, when your child is not well, it is unacceptable and heartbreaking. >> the sun said it did not access medical records. the article was written appropriately. above all, mr. brown accused news international of having an agenda against him. he says rupert murdoch had wanted the bbc and the media rater reforms. he did not. >> when the record of my time as prime minister was determined all the papers will be there for people to see, they will show which stood up to news international. we refuse to support the commercial ambitions when they're against the public

interest. >> the murdoch empire is faced allegations about phone hacking by the news of the world. mr. brown has widened the attack two other newspapers, and attacked that is being pressed on by labor's current leader. his phone was also allegedly attacked. tomorrow we'll ask for a motion calling on mr. murdoch to withdraw his bid for bskyb, and motion backed by the government. dow there will be the opportunity to say no and question james murdoch, his dad, and other executives if they greek to appear before a committee next week. what a thought. >> across the galactic, a u.s. senator has called for a probe into whether the hacking had extended to u.s. citizens and warned of severe consequences. the bbc says murdoch's activity

is under scrutiny. >> this story is gaining traction intent of the u.s. the sanitary referred to is jay rockefeller, a democrat. he is the chairman of the commerce committee in the senate. he has put out a statement saying, "the hacking is offensive. a serious breach of a journalistic ethics. this raises serious questions of whether the company has broken u.s. law. i call upon the appropriate agencies to investigate to ensure americans have not have their privacy violated. i am concerned about the phone hacking and that it may have extended to 9/11 victims or other americans. the consequences will be severe." mr. rockefeller does not present any evidence to prove that the victims on 9/11 had their voice- mail sacked. it is something that and has

been reported. it is causing concern to him. he is calling for an investigation by the justice department. >> reflecting continuing -- anxiety about the debt crisis. the international crating -- credit rating agency moody's has downgraded it to junk status. it also has increased fears that italy could follow greece and portugal and struggling to deal with this public debt. as matthew price reports from brussels. >> europe's debt crisis spreads dangerously far today to delete. there the interest rates have been rising sharply. let's hope we don't end up like greece, this man said. spain also faced a similar pressure, two huge economies have been rattled by the greek

debt crisis. europe's finance ministers gathered. it really overshadowed the meeting. >> there used to be an assumption that if a country uses the euro, lending money is basically say. the greek debt crisis has changed all that. many international investors are worried that they might not be able to get back all of the money they lent to greece. by extension, they are rethinking the terms they lent to other euro countries that are in debt. that is why the interest rate payments for italy and others are going up. sorting out greece is crucial. finance ministers from the eurozone say they have agreed to work quickly on a second bailout for greece. they also said they would increase the size of the rescue mechanism currently in place and adjusted the terms of european union loans to indebted countries like greece to make it cheaper for them to pay off the debt.

there are serious disagreements within europe about how to help greece. all the while, other countries are getting dragged into the crisis. iraqi price, bbc news. >> violence has spread to north belfast as nationalist marked the height of the marching season. petrol bombs and missiles have been thrown at police in this city after -- they responded by firing plastic rounds. it has been a dark day for afghanistan. >> that is right. there has been condemnation of the killing of the half-brother of president karzai. ahmed wali karzai was regarded as one of the most powerful politicians in the south of the country. his death has raised fears about instead -- instability. we have a report from the afghan

capital. >> he described himself as the most powerful man in southern afghanistan. few disagreed. ahmed wali karzai was a controversial figure. he said he added spice to afghan life. the roads to his compound were closed. the president's half brother lived under tight security. only the most trusted could get close. his head a personal protection arose little suspicion when he entered the room without saying a word. he shot him twice. hamid karzai paused as he welcomed president nicolas sarkozy of france. >> this morning my younger brother was martyred in his house. this is the life of the afghan people. we have all suffered the same kind of pain. forgive me for not speaking with a smile today.

wali karzai was said to be involved with terror -- he had many other enemies besides. >> i have done nothing. >> he spoke to a bbc documentary crew about attempts on his life. >> there were a major suicide attacks on me and my office. every day there are threats. >> the taliban? >> the taliban. >> despite always protesting his innocence, ahmed wali karzai came close to being charged with corruption but according to a u.s. official, he was too valuable. we needed him. he kept a lid on things and can hard. they say they have lost a strong man in the fight against the taliban in the south. the fight just became harder.

>> in other news, the u.n. security council has condemned the attacks against the french embassies in the syrian capital of damascus. staff were injured and property damage when government supporters stormed the embassy on monday. speaking on u.s. television, president obama criticized the president for a missing opportunities for reform and warned against anybody "messing with the american embassy." thousands of people have held protests in cairo demanding the removal of egypt's ruling military council. the act of this wants faster political reform. the military has said the elections could be delayed. you're watching live. still to come, one of the lucky ones. the struggle of migrants fleeing the arab uprising to reach

mainland europe. >> rare earth elements are crucial but to controls the lion's share of the production? >> police have arrested two men in connection with the killing of the argentine singer facundo cabral. cabral, one of the most respected folk singers, was being driven to the airport when his car was ambushed. for the details, we have this report. >> facundo cabral gave voice to millions of disenfranchise latin americans. he is back on home soil. after his violent killing in guatemala city last week, the argentine folk singer was returned to when cyrus will -- where he will be mourned the most. argentines have a question

about how a singer could have been brutally murdered. >> we know there is an investigation about a person who drove the car. it is a person who had ties to traffickers, prostitution, and gambling. if anything were further for the idea, it would be violence or anything related to the drug cartels. >> the authorities in guatemala are under pressure to act swiftly. they have arrested two man. the chief prosecutors say they have been caught on video following the music promoter who had brought cabral to perform. he was also injured in the attack. >> his murder has been a source of great embarrassment to the guatemalan government. it has strained ties with argentina. it is a poignant reminder of the

extent of drug-related violence in latin america. a peace loving artist was caught up in it. >> this is tuesday on the bbc. >> i am in london. the headlines. pressure on news international has intensified with fresh criticism from the former prime minister gordon brown and senior police officers. >> it has been a volatile day on the financial markets. here's continue about the debt crisis. six months on the toppling of the middle east regime, many people are still trying to flee the region. it has led to a surgeon migration to europe. for thousands of north africans,

one of the main routes is from libya to the italian island of -- we have this report from there. >> in the darkness, the boat was hard to pick out. but there were 300 people on board without any cover. then another boat, all heading for an italian port. this is an african exit this best followed the are of spring. these boats are all from the libyan capital, tripoli. for the 30 hour crossing, the migrants have been packed in tight. among them, very small children, a mark of the desperation that have driven these people to flee. many of them said they were escaping the conflict. >> why did you leave? >> because of the fighting. they are fighting each other.

no food, no water. they are bombing everywhere. i lost some of my friends and colleagues. that is why i am here. >> the song -- this man was put on the but by libyan authorities. we heard from others. raising the question of khaddafi is making good on a threat to unleash an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration into europe. this woman was heavily pregnant. this is the fifth vote to arrive in the past 24 hours. in the first few months after the arab spring began, most of the migrants came from tunisia. there's is a different but equally difficult story.

over 50,000 to museums arrived. they were many economic migrants. their numbers have unsettled governments but they began questioning the policy of boredom borders. these migrants have their hopes pinned on paris. we caught up with some of them in the french capital. all of them told me they wanted to return to tunisia. this man said, without papers it was impossible to find work. many had paid smugglers to come to europe but cannot find the money to leave. >> most of them want to return home. there is no hope here. the dream is not coming true. >> back on the boats, young men travel with help. >> we would like to wear. >> showing off hands eager for work. europe, with 24 million people at work, can be a hard place to invest your dreams.

>> a major battle is looming over political freedom and hong kong. protesters are expected to join a pro-democracy rally on wednesday. it is a protest against the abolition of by-election. the issue began in january of last year when five members of the council collectively resigned to force by elections which they called a referendum on iraq -- democracy. all five were reelected although on a very low turnout after beijing candidates boycotted the polls. they call the vote a waste of money. the opposition said they were trying to stop the system of beijing. last week, more than 220,000 protesters showed up. what the opposition hopes to

gain by staging a protest. >> they are showing public support for political freedom in hong kong. the government cannot say, we're going to ban elections without public consultation. the government has been forced into a position where it has to consult the public, something it is not used to. what people is hoping to achieve is to keep this subject in the public eye and give the public a voice. >> that was and marie evans in hong kong. a tourist result about 50 kilometers inside the city, more than a million tourists until 2008. exactly three years ago this week, one south korean visitor were shot dead after she strayed into a military area. the south barred all visitors to

the result. the bbc's correspondent has more details on how this issue began. >> a female tourist at a resort strayed outside the tourist zone and were shot dead by a north korean soldier. south korea has asked for investigation into this. it wants guarantees that it will not happen again. they have not been satisfied with the response. there has not been any tourism at the results for the last three years. the economic situation is thought to be getting worse and worse. that is one of the reasons why experts feel the north is keen to get this project started again. it has issued a number of threats to south korea sang, they're going to seize the south korean assets at the result unless they get to a deal by today. that is why this team is going up to talk to the north. it is the second chance they

have had to try to resolve this dispute. they came back having achieved nothing on the last attempt. >> that was lucy. a tale involving a mining, the ipad bits and pieces from the periodic table. >> i am not a scientist but come -- raw materials like oil have been regarded as a strategic elements. rare earth elements are in hot demand. they erred in everything from ipad to wind turbines. parts of the world. 97% is produced in china. from california here is a reporter. >> in a dusty old mine high up in california's mojave desert, americans digging to secure its future.

being cast cut from underground is a substance found in very few places. in these rocks are rare earth elements, high-tech building blocks. there's a shortage. >> we have done enough of exploration to know it will last 30 years. >> this might closed 10 years ago. with prices jumping tenfold, it is viable again. >> china is producing 97% of what the world needs. they are starting to eat more of their own. they're starting to let less of those be exported. we're now looking at shortages are rare earths this year and next year. that is why this-trying to get up and running. >> there is an urgent demand for these elements. this is what they're digging for, this great powder.

-- grey powder. from here it gets turned into a metal. that is when it starts to get useful. our tv sets need a rare earth element for a full-color picture. they are essential for some many things today. the latest generation of when turbines work more efficiently with rare earth magnets and hybrid cars are full of them from the batteries to the fuel. the future of affordable green technology depends on these elements. fighter jets need them to. that affects american security. >> we should be worried when any country completely dominates any raw material supply. china is not uniquely at fault in this situation. but they are using political leverage to drive the corner of the market they have. >> as technology changes the world, demand for natural resources will become more

important. the competition could reshape global politics. >> the funeral for a betti ford has taken place in california. hundreds of mourners including first ladies past and present it gathered at the church in southern california to honor mrs. ford died on friday at the age of 93. george w. bush, nancy reagan, michelle obama, alongside u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton were among those who attended the funeral. >> he had been watching news day from the bbc. >> a reminder of our main story this hour, the pressure on news international has intensified as fresh criticism from gordon brown and a senior police officers. you have been watching tuesday on the bbc.

thank you for watching. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its

global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles. >> marie howe is a new yorker best known for her book what the living do, poems she wrote after her brother john died of aids. marie howe, who said, "john's living and dying changed my aesthetic entirely." >> the gate. i had no idea that the gate i would step through to finally enter this world

would be the space my brother's body made. he was a little taller than me: a young man but grown, himself by then, done at twenty-eight, having folded every sheet, rinsed every glass he would ever rinse under the cold and running water. this is what you have been waiting for, he used to say to me. and i'd say, what? and he'd say, this -- holding up my cheese and mustard sandwich. and i would say, what? and he would say, this, sort of looking around.