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offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. tailoredexpertise and solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." "bbc world news america." european leaders vent anger at the u.s. saying allegations of widespread bugging by america could hurt the fight against terrorism. the mystery is solved. dna tests show a couple from bulgaria are her biological parents. this prison is trying to give those released a helping hand. we bring you the story of this unique transformation.

welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. could the fight against terrorism be jeopardized because of distrust of the u.s. over spying allegations? that is the charge made in brussels today at gathering of european leaders. traditionally some of america's closest friends. they said a lack of trust could prejudice intelligence gathering. our editor is in brussels and brings us the latest. >> this was the summit when leaders were guarding their cause, when europe had to decide what message to send america over allegations of spying. for david cameron, there were uncomfortable moments. caught between the u.k. close intelligence sharing relationship with the americans on one hand and the outrage of

his european partners. the prime minister today defended the role played by the intelligence agencies. >> i make no apology for that. we have intelligence services and will maintain them. i will back the work they do and criticize those that make public some of the techniques they use because that is helping our enemies. >> but europe's leaders complaint was about a breach of trust between allies. they inserted a warning into the summit conclusions that a lack of trust could damage intelligence gathering. david cameron signed the document. issue that dominated this summit was the alleged monitoring of angela merkel's mobile phone. she and the french have demanded america agreed to a new set of rules over spying by the end of the year. german intelligence officials will shortly travel to washington to seek a full account of what happened. the most important

thing right now is to work out how western allies can better cooperate in the future. trust needs to be rebuilt. that implies trust has been severely shaken. the pressure on the united states shows no sign of abating. spain has said it will summon the u.s. ambassador over reports of spying. italy is investigating allegations. there are claims 35 world leaders have their phones monitored. an american official reconfirmed a bit cameron's communications had not been monitored. but officials in washington admit these revelations are hurting. >> there is no question that the disclosure of classified a momenton has posed of tension with some of our allies. chancellorsummit, angela merkel said relations with the united states have been

severely damaged. but perhaps the tone of what happened here was best summed up by the french president. he said the americans are saying this was the past and they are willing to do things differently, so let's go for it. gavin hewitt, bbc news, brussels. diplomatic on the fallout on surveillance tactics, i spoke with the former u.s. state department spokesman. we heard european leaders are suggesting they might even jeopardize the fight against terrorism because of the spying allegations. is that politics or a possibility? >> i think ultimately interests will carry the day. it is in the interest of the united states and european allies to cooperate significantly on intelligence matters because we face a common threat. notwithstanding the understandable political pique about this, i think with some

sometments so there are understandings of the line of what is permitted and what is not, that this intelligence cooperation will continue. >> you were at the state department in 2006 when the national security agency was shopping around for the cell phone numbers of world leaders. did you have any idea this was going on? >> that was a cable in the wikileaks revelation, that you look for information that might be available on counterparts. for the most part in the state department, that was a standing request from the intelligence community that most diplomats ignored because the relationships with their interlocutors in key countries was important. >> will europeans get the new rules on spying they are pushing for? >> i think they have already had conversations. for jay carney at the white house to be able to say notwithstanding what we were doing in the past, we are not doing it now and will not do it in the future -- that means the

intelligence community has received revised guidance saying these kinds of things we need to do, these things we now assess there is greater risk in doing. >> do you think germany and france could be admitted to the club with britain, america, canada where they share intelligence and do not spy on one another? >> that remains to be seen. that depends in part on the quality of the cooperation and a sense of shared interests and shared outcomes. certainly these will be the kinds of conversations that go on in the coming days, weeks and months. it will have a real impact for a time. there is no question that while interests carry a relationship, politics animates that relationship. and hispresident relationship with leaders, which does matter at the end of the day, these are going to be awkward conversations he has already had and will continue to have for some time. >> thank you for joining us.

now to the mystery which generated headlines worldwide. today it was solved by dna gary ando confirm abel roma couple are the biological parents of maria -- abel gary bulgarian roma couple are the biological parents of maria. >> she was discovered in greece. the international search for her parents is over. in the bulgarian capital, a senior government official announced the results of dna tests. the coupley prove are her biological mother and father. was the mother on bulgarian t.v. yesterday speaking from the rundown roma neighborhood where she and her family live. the mother of 10 children claims she could not afford to bring up maria, so she claims a family in

greece agreed to take her in. she denies selling her daughter. but today, the chief secretary of the area's interior -- sayaria's interior ministry they are working on the premise maria was exchanged for money. bulgarian state will take action if persons have committed such a crime. if found guilty, steps will be taken to penalize them and look after the remaining children. >> it was the greek police who found maria during a raid on a roma community. suspecting the blond blue-eyed girl was unrelated to the man and woman claiming to be her parents, they launched an investigation and charged the couple with abduction. sasha says she wants her daughter back. but with prosecutors already resting preliminary charges against her and her husband, that looks unlikely to happen.

>> a miss resolve. -- tsunamiignal may has rolled onto the eastern shores of japan after a shallow earthquake these pictures capture the moment the earthquake hit the city north of the crippled fukushima nuclear power plant. workers at the site were told to leave waterfront areas. no damage has been reported. nigerian soap charity -- security forces have clashed with militants in the northeastern city. shooting went on for seven hours. the militants set government buildings on fire. in another operation in a neighboring state, the military says it killed 74 militants in ground and air strikes on camps. now to the latest on the two u.s. mariners kidnapped off the coast of nigeria.

identified as the captain and chief engineer of the sea the two were singled out from the rest of the crew and taken against their will on wednesday afternoon. today rebels in the troubled oil-rich niger delta say they have been contacted by the developers. for more on the danger and what is being done to combat piracy, i'm joined by the president of the international organization. thank you for being with us. tell us why it is so dangerous, this stretch of water off the coast of west africa. >> there is a tremendous amount of wealth being extracted from the seabed. where there is wealth, there is robbery. the situation has gotten out of control. >> why has it gotten out of control? >> i think there is insufficient government regulation and insufficient government forces in the area. the civil state of nigeria is in jeopardy.

there is virtually a civil war going on there. the oil corporations are active there. they are doing what they can to secure the safety, but clearly they are not doing enough. clearly a sovereign state of nigeria must do more. the international community must do more to protect seafarers. >> the pirates steal the oil. why do they also go to the trouble of kidnapping the crew? >> they will steal anything. they will steal machinery off of the vessels, supply, cargo, and they will kidnap crewmembers for ransom. >> piracy has been reduced off the coast of east africa since there was an international task force. could the same thing happen here? >> it could, but the situation is different. off the coast of somalia, you're talking about cargo vessels. the right of free passage is being contested by the pirates. ships are trained to carry cargo from point a to b.

they are moving and transiting the area. in the gulf of guinea, you have a situation where there is oil exploration and drilling. they are more or less stationary in certain areas. it is not a question of transiting the area. it is a question of being and working in the area. and you have small vessels transiting from drill platforms to the coast. they are quite vulnerable. they are small vessels and subject to being attacked. >> what could combat piracy there successfully? >> i think it is clear there has to be a stronger naval force in the vicinity, whether it is nigerian or international. to be the, it has international community that takes an interest in this and the oil corporations that put more resources into protecting the seafarers in these waters. >> is part of it the cost of doing business in an area where there is so much oil? >> it is the cost of doing business, but we are talking

about human rights and safety. it is the cost of doing business that the corporations and governments who are benefiting from this wealth need to take into account. >> thank you for joining us. the former chinese politician has lost his appeal against his conviction for corruption, embezzlement, and abuse of power. he will be made to serve out the rest of his original life sentence. we have more on the court's decision. morning, entire city blocks sealed off by chinese police. as is china's most politically sensitive case in decades. deserted.ourt then swept the convoy carrying him. he looked like he was being deliberately put on show in his moment of disgrace.

but still smiling as he did throughout his trial, he defiant asfiant -- the judges dismissed his appeal. they said the evidence was clear his family had received millions in bribes and he had tried to impede investigations into the murder by his wife of the british businessman. his downfall is above all a political purge by china's communist leaders. the party installed a new generation of leaders a year ago. he had been in contention for a spot, but his rivals brought him down. the new president has overseeing an unprecedented crackdown on corruption which is widespread and corroding the but faith in the party. the targets have been the political enemies of the powerful. he is now heading to a maximum security jail outside beijing built to hold' china's purged leaders.

the numbers imprisoned for corruption are growing. they are jailing one senior official every month on average. the government is talking on curbing our full home state enterprises. he is not enacting broader political reforms that might weaken the communist party's authoritarian rule. he will serve a life sentence. the court said he cannot make any further appeal. this conviction is the most eye- catching of the tough measures of the first year in power. china's new president is less of a reformer than many hoped. his cleansing the communist party but not bringing real change to china. tonight it has been announced the u.s. banking giant j.p. morgan has agreed to pay more than i billion dollars to settle claims -- $5 billion to settle onims it misled agencies

mortgages. rescuedican government fannie mae and freddie mac during the financial crisis when both were on the verge of collapse. you are watching "abc world news america." still to come, this team is out to represent the usa in the rugby league world cup. you will not believe what they left behind. even though brush fires continue to burn in southeast australia, the question of compensation and where it is coming from is being raised. the army could be forced to pay up. the brush fires in new south wales have been burning for over a week. now the threat level has been downgraded. there are questions over who might pay for the damage after a

fire service investigation found the biggest fire this past week was caused by an army training exercise using explosives. now the premier of new south wales says the military they have to foot the bill. >> property has been damaged. we need to settle that. it is a compensation issue. >> the fire in question is still burning not far from the town. it has destroyed more than 40,000 hectares. homes have been lost. many will question the wisdom of having soldiers work with the explosives at a time when the brush was dry after unseasonably hot weather. the department of defense has apologized. it is too early to say whether it will pay compensation. arguments over whether the fires are linked to global warming continues. the new strain prime minister again rejected that idea, describing it is hogwash. -- environment administer

minister accused his opponents of playing politics. >> some will have different views. we accept the science. but to misuse the suffering of people to make a political point, i would respectfully say it is inappropriate. >> today leading climate research group that recently had funding cut by the government said the link was clear. if the brush fire season continues as it started, arguments over the causes will only intensify. >> ♪ now to a decommissioned prison in the united states which is getting a second act. the facility in the bronx is being turned into a place where former inmates can seek help reentering the community. it is a program being run by the osborne association, a nonprofit group with 80 years experience in this field.

>> ♪ residents of the prison will not be kept against their will. this is where they will come to learn the skills to keep them out of jail. could stillwas it be used for the same population after prison. i think it is the first time anyone has recommissioned a decommissioned prison for something like this. this is one of the poorest districts in the united states. high numbers of the residents go to prison. when they return, they returned to new york's most depressed job market. jonathan harris is on parole after serving time for robbery. he says for many former inmates, it is a daily challenge just to stay on the right side of the law. >> the main thing is when you come out of prison, you want to

make some type of money and get back on your feet. but the bronx is very hard, there are not many opportunities. they go back to doing the things they did that got them in prison or worse. >> here on rikers island, new york's main jail complex, the osborne association is already working with the department of corrections to prepare young offenders for their eventual return to the community. classes like these try to equip lifemate -- inmates with life skills needed to function on the outside and address relentlessly high rates of recidivism. >> i am enthusiastic about the internship. if i could have a job, i would not have to go stealing or robbing. >> we do not want them to come back. we do not want them to grow up in the system. we do not want to see you as an adult. we want this to be a benchmark in your life. back in the south bronx,

jonathan harris is working towards becoming a carpenter's apprentice. he says many of the other young men he wasn't carbureted with -- was incarcerated with on rikers island are back in jail. livesis costing us our with our children and family. i want to leave it behind. the streets are not benefiting me. the hood do not love us, but we love it so much we cannot let it go. >> it is a massive issue. the reality is if people are able to stay connected to their families and find adequate housing and work, all of those things produce lower recidivism rates. i think we are doing things likely to make our purchase of a much less likely to go -- our participants much less likely to go back to prison. >> ♪ not as popular as the

more mainstream american sports. it might come as a surprise to you that the usa will compete in the rugby league world cup no less. the tournament starts in britain this weekend. the tomahawks will make their debut. unlike their rivals, they are not full-time players. given what some of them do for a day job, it is a wonder they find the time at all. the bbc went to meet them at their training base in england. the tomahawks have been together less than two weeks but hoping to make this world cup journey last as long as possible, even if it might go unnoticed back home. >> do you get strange looks when you say you are an american rugby league player? >> people ask what rugby league is. people over there do not know what is going on.

we are trying to get this up and going so we can show them. the boys are on the field now. it is exciting. >> how do you think you will fare? >> we are confident we will do well and try to shock the world. >> if not the world, they shocked the french last week. it was a friendly, but they say it is one of the biggest victories in their history. scotland. players are a mix of prose from the australian leagues and part-timers who have put their day jobs on hold. i am craig, a personal trainer from new york and also club.of the rugby league >> i am a cultural performer. >> his profession is slightly more exotic than the others.

he left his fire sticks in hawaii unfortunately, but this was a first for the stadium sports bar. [applause] >> some of these boys have played. they may have played for other teams. they have played or are at least getting around. they are getting some money to do this. some have got the opportunity to play in the world cup. >> they are competitive in everything they do. this was the tomahawks table tennis tournament. small beginnings for a squad from such a huge nation. >> we have 24 players representing a country that big. know we will have made a difference and played our part as ambassadors. >> the captain was a decent finalist on this occasion. in the next few weeks, they will treat every match in the world cup as a final.

together two weeks and they have already beaten the french. you have been watching "bbc world news america your coat -- america." thank you for watching and have a great weekend. >> ♪ >> make sense of international news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years. and union bank. >> ♪ bank, ourn

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