♪ ♪ >> "bbc world news" presented by

kcet los angeles. ♪ >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> >> the c.i.a. again under the spotlight for prisoner abuse, including threats to the children of the alleged mastermind of 9/11. forensic tests show michael jackson was killed by a lethal

dose of the anesthetic propofol. greece, response to wildfires ravaging forests north of athens. my name is mike emblen. coming up later for you, the shifting landscape of china's energy needs, why the country is facing a particular challenge on climate change. why success in japanese politics often means having the right relatives. ♪ >> hello. allegations of prisoners threatened with execution, intimidated with an electric drill. one allegedly told his children would be killed. another that his mother would be

sexually assaulted. as new details emerge in the u.s. of the apparent abuse of detainees in the war on terror, a prosecutor has been appointed to investigate c.i.a. agents who may find themselves on trial. high-level terror suspects will now be interrogated by a new unit supervised by the white house itself, but all this brings new political dilemmas. bbc special correspondent is in washington. >> this renewed focus on c.i.a. tactics and excesses is creating a lot of tension here, mike. c.i.a. director leon panetta has issued an outspoken defense of his agents, as he says, standing up for those officers who did what their country asked of them. and rumor is rife of more angry exchanges behind the scenes. some in the intelligence community feel they're being made scapegoats for what they did at a time of national crisis. here is adam brooks. >> after 9/11, a stunned united states sent its spies to war,

and the white house rewrote the rules on interrogation of terrorist suspects. tonight we're learning more about what that meant and how some c.i.a. officers may have broken even the bush administration's new rules. it's all in this report from 2004 written by the c.i.a.'s own investigators. now, we're learning what's under all that blacking out. take the case of the bombing of the u.s.s. cole in 2000. 17 american sailors dead. an al qaeda operative was arrested in 2002. c.i.a. interrogators, the report will reveal threatened him with an electric drill. they fired a handgun and threatened execution. another al qaeda figure was reportedly told his children would be killed if he didn't cooperate. another, that his mother would be sexually assaulted. all this may have been illegal even under the bush strrgdz's newly rewritten -- the bush

administration's newly rewritten rule book. >> officials should have known the techniques were illegal and the enteringors should have known they were illegal. it is absolutely essential that individuals who both authorized these techniques and those who implemented them be held accountable. >> now, the attorney general, eric holder, must decide if c.i.a. officers committed crimes, if they should be prosecuted. tonight he announced a fresh review of the evidence to help him make the decision. in recent days, an angry c.i.a. has been pushing back. >> i think it's just destructive of the agency and unfair to the good people who did what they did out of duty, not out of enthusiasm, and they did what the nation asked them to do. >> but the white house is unimpressed. another surprise, today. we learned the c.i.a. will no longer interrogate high-level terrorist suspects. there will be a new, special unit to do it which will answer straight to the white house. >> the president, after the consensus recommendation of his

interagency task force on interrogations of detainees did put in place a new group, the high-value interrogation group which will be housed at the f.b.i. >> president obama is trying to break with his predecessor, george bush, trying to wipe out the stain left by the persistent allegation that u.s. soldiers and intelligence officers committed torture. an allegation evidented by images like these from abu ghraib and allegations that grossly undermined america's moral authority. the president is on holiday tonight with his family. his administration is haunted by the activities of the c.i.a. he said he wants to look forward, not back. but today, it became much harder for him to lay the torture question to rest. >> the long, bitter row about interrogation techniques is already under way, fueled by the details we're getting in that newly declassified c.i.a. report. the document says, for example, that one interrogator threatened khalid sheik muhammad that if

any other attacks happened in the united states, "we're going to kill your children." >> philipa and adam lynn in washington. it's been revealed pop star michael jackson's death was caused by lethal levels of the power anesthetic propofol. the los angeles coroner's findings have been made public in court documents. the singer died two months ago at the age of 50. he had suffered cardiac arrest at his home in l.a. his doctor, dr. conrad murray has been interviewed twice by police but has not been named as an official suspect. speculation about this drug has been around since michael jackson's death but this is new, isn't it? >> it's a concern what was reported at the time, yes, and has been reported heavily ever since and it's almost become fact but this is the first real confirmation we have of it in court documents made public in houston -- details of what the

coroner found, details of conversations that michael jackson's personal doctor, dr. conrad murray had with investigators investigating the singer's death. court documents show dr. murray told police he had been treating michael jackson for insomnia for some six weeks and that treatment had included using this power anesthetic, propofol. propofol is normally used in hospitals administered by an anesthesiologist awaiting surgery -- it's very powerful, it needs to be supervised and someone needs to administer it, they need to monitor you and bring you off the drug to bring you around again. this is the kind of thing michael jackson was using just in order to get to sleep. >> by all accounts it doesn't give you a refreshing sleep, it just knocks you out flat -- an extraordinary thing to be using for this purpose and surely raises all kinds of questions for those around michael jackson. >> it does, and dr. murray pointed out to police that he had become worried that michael jackson was becoming addicted to

propofol, and he had tried to wean the drug off the star by introducing different sedatives and in fact in the early hours of the day that michael jackson died according to these court papers dr. murray told police he gave michael jackson other drugs not propofol, but when they didn't work he gave michael jackson propofol, left the room to make phone calls, went back in and michael jackson wasn't breathing. propofol is the drug at the center of the investigation. dr. conrad murray is the focus of the police investigation. there are other doctors involved as well -- the one investigators are trying to establish is if there is a case for manslaughter via medical negligence, for example. >> on that point, just briefly, if you can, there are reports going around that the coroner ruled that jackson's death was homicide which would make criminal charges more likely. thataise understand it is not confirmed. >> the coroner's office will not confirm anything in court papers today. they say they have not released

their findings and will not do so because there is a police investigation going on, so they will not confirm this line that says they have called this homicide. what's important to remember, though, is that in the u.s. homicide includes both murder and manslaughter so that would include the potential charge. everything that we've learned today seems to go in the direction of a potential prosecution, but we can't second-guess the police or the authorities on this and we must wait to see what they decide to do. >> thank you. let's move on for the moment. a bit more briefly, at least 20 people have been killed in bomb blasts on two buses in iraq. the attacks happened near the town of kut. that's a mainly shia area in the southeast of the country. police say the bombs were stuck on the side of the buses and exploded within half an hour of each other. one of the youngest detainees held at america's guantanamo bay privenl has been released. the more of muhammad javard says he's been sent back to his family in afghanistan. he's expected to meet president karzai. he's accused of throwing a

grenade that injured two american soldiers and their interpreter seven years ago. seven members of an outlaw group connected to al qaeda in karachi. the group is blamed for a string of attacks including killing the american journalist, daniel pearl. scotland's justice secretary was unrepentant in parliament in edinburgh, defending his decision to free the man convicted of the lockerbie bombing. kenny mccaskill says his decision had nothing to do with diplomacy or politics, only scottish law and scottish values. the bbc's jane francis kelly has this report. >> an act of merciy or one of naive folly? in releasing a convicted terrorist, the scottish

parliament has been recalled for an emergency session so it can defend his decision. the opposition liberal democrat leader was scathing in his assessment. >> what the minister and his government have done is to split scotland within itself and split our nation from many international friends. >> mr. mccaskill remained angrily defiant. >> i repeat what i said at the beginning. it's my decision, i will stand by it and i will live with the consequences. >> earlier, he accepted some would never come to terms with his decision. >> who have been bereaved cannot be expected to forget, let alone forgive. but as i said, mr. al-megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. >> this hero's return for the man convicted of the u.k.'s worst terrorist atrocity still played on the minds of many. mr. mccaskill said he had asked the libyans for sensitivity but it appears colonel gadhafi

wasn't listening. >> does he understand how much that decision angered the majority in scotland, how ashamed we were to see our flag flying to welcome a convicted bomber home and does he understand how astonished we were when he visited a convicted murderer in prison? >> questions were also raised about the role of the british government in megrahi's release. gordon brown met colonel gadhafi last month but has failed to comment on the controversy. >> equally disturbing is the extraordinary and incomprehensible silence of the prime minister, gordon brown. this government's flawed decision has significant implications for foreign policy and trade, so what joint efforts are now being undertaken by alex sal mond and gordon brown to limit the damage? >> mr. mccaskill reiterated he had followed due process and believed there was also international support for his decision. he said suggestions that megrahi could have spent his final days

in a hospice were ludicrous. it will now be for m.s.p.'s to decide if they're convinced by his arguments. jane frances kelly, bbc news. >> looks as if firefighters in greece are beginning to contain the wildfires that have threatened the suburbs of athens for three days. thousands have had to flee their homes. large parts of the countryside around the greek capital have been destroyed. derek hughes spent the day in one of the areas worst affected. >> people are using whatever comes to hand to fight these fires. at the monastery east of the capital, nuns use hoses to beat back the flames. they've helped save most of the medieval buildings. the fight to contain greece's wildfires continued. these waterbombing aircraft are one of the effective weapons against the flames but such is

the spread of these fires across a huge area north and east of athens, help came too late here -- one building lost, but the main house saved. the biggest danger is the speed with which these fires can move. just an hour or so ago, this whole area was in flames, but water-bombing aircraft came across and doused the fires. the problem is, these smaller fires can quickly spread to become much, much larger, driven by these strong winds, they then tear up the side of these valleys and narrow gullies, meaning the people who live here are in constant fear their homes may fall victim to the flames. just over the hill is the home of bill smith and rebecca panopolis who fought the flames back with water from their swimming pool and had an incredibly narrow escape. >> there were moments there was so much heap that you couldn't breathe and i thought i better get out of here, i better come down because i might die here. >> it must have been terrifying for all of you. >> of course it was.

everybody left. if there was anything i could do, i wanted to do it to the last-minute. it's your life in your house. >> only two years ago, greece suffered another outbreak of vicious wildfires that claimed more than 70 lives. in the wake of that tragedy, dr. nicholas markotos of athens university offered the government an early warning system but they failed to act. >> an early warning system to gain 5-10-15 minutes would be very important. if this fire had been stopped at its start 60 kilometers away from here, then this disaster wouldn't have happened. >> but there is a recognition, too, that fighting every fire across such a huge and rugged region is an almost impossible task. fighting these fires remains dirty, dangerous and difficult. this fire engine was destroyed when it was caught as the flames jumped from one side of the road to the other. fortunately, all the crew members managed to escape and it shows these fires still pose a very real threat. dominick hughes, bbc news.

>> stay with us on bbc world news if you can. still to come, she was supposed to get six lashes for drinking a beer. this malaysian woman has received a last-minute reprieve. >> human trafficking is the woman largely hidden but affecting much of the world and the u.k. is at the hub of the trade. few people are ever convicted. bbc correspondent chris barkley has been speaking to one young woman brought to britain and forced to work as a prostitute. >> the u.k. is seen as a country full of opportunity. many travel to take advantage of that. but it can be the people themselves who are taken advantage of. >> it was really, really scary because i didn't know what to say, what to do, where to go. i was really, really lost. >> katya left eastern europe having been promised a job in a shop in london. instead, she was taken to

manchester where she was held by people traffickers and forced into prostitution. manchester was just the first place that katya was exploited. she was later sold to other criminals and taken to wales -- the price just 2,000 pounds. some of those trafficked can make 10's of thousands of pounds and a crime fighting agency believes it's happening in towns throughout the u.k. >> each victim generates an income for their abuser in the region of 93,000 pounds a year, so if you have an asset that's worth to you 93,000 pounds, you're not going to easily let it go, and they use physical violence. >> the home office believes that there are around 4,000 victims of sex trafficking in the u.k. but that's a rough estimate. the actual figure is simply unknown. many are reluctant to go to court, but earlier this summer, katya did give evidence and saw the people who trafficked her

jailed for the crime. victims often feel isolated and alone. traffickers rely on that confusion and fear to keep them hidden in the shadows. chris buckler, bbc news, manchester. ♪ >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. go to bbc.com/news. it's easy. click here to watch the one-minute world news video summary. you can read the latest headlines. get the top stories from around the globe. and click to play video reports. discover more about the subjects that really interest you. and find out what issues the world is talking about right now. bbc world news online, go to bbc.com/news and watch the news unfold. >> latest headlines for you, on

"bbc world news," it's alleged c.i.a. interrogators threatened to kill the children of khalid sheik muhammad, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. documents show michael jackson was killed by a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol. ahead of the landmark copenhagen summit on climate change at the end of the year, our correspondents are exploring how different parts of the globe are being affected. chinese participation is key to making any international framework work, but it's a difficult balance, curbing emissions but also allowing more and more chinese people the modern appliances many now regard as essentials. quentin somerville traveled to inner mongolia to see how its landscape is changing. >> by inner mongolian sunlight, 10-year-old anna is taking care of her homework. there is no electricity here. she has one of the tiniest carbon footprints. she lives slap in the middle of

the region's biggest wind farm. here, on the grasslands, there is no ignoring china's growing appetite for energy. when she grows up, she tells me, she wants a television, a fridge, a car and an apartment. the world's energy landscape is being transformed because of china. lana is part of a new generation of hungry consumers. millions of people across this country are buying their first refrigerators, their first cars, their first motorcycles. that means by the time nana is in her 30's, china's energy needs will have doubled and the bad news for the rest of us is that most of that power will come from polluting coal, not wind. millions here are in an unstoppable rush for a better life. fueling it could end up overwhelming the planet. quentin somerville, bbc news, inner mongolia.

>> china >> china is to put 200 people on trying over the riots -- on charges of murder, arson and vandalism. more than 200 people died in the riots in what authorities say were attacks by muslim uighurs. a passenger bus has crashed in peru's remote highway southeast of the capital, lima. firefighters at the scene say the highway was in poor condition. a new study suggests married people are more likely to survive cancer, and those going through a breakup have the worst chance of beating it. researchers from indiana university analyzed data from 3.8 million people diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2004. now for the malaysian woman who was due to be caned for drinking a beer in a hotel bar, a reprieve. she was actually on her way to

prison to have her sentence carried out when the call came through but the punishment was only delayed until after the end of the muslim holy month of ramadan. robin brant reports from kuala lumpur. >> she thought she was going to jail to face a whipping. the islamic authorities came away and took her away on monday but an hour into the drive they turned around and returned her to her home. >> i am still the same because i have not yet seen if it is true. there is a responsible order in black and white. for now, i will wait and see their decision. >> the early relief at avoiding jail did not last long, though. she will face the punishment of six lashes once the fasting month of ramadan is over. malaysia's muslims are not allowed to drink alcohol, although many do in the liberal urban areas. others, though, agree with the judge. >> my opinion as to whether to whip or not to whip is in fact the prerogative of the judge to

decide. it is a lesson for the public. it is better to have caning. >> kartika shukarno has to wait four weeks. if it's carried out, malaysia's reputation as a moderate nation is likely to be changed by many. >> just a few days before japan's general election and it looks as though the opposition democratic party could defeat the liberal democrats who have ruled japan the past few decades but many names and faces will stay the same, as the bbc's roland burke reports from rokosuko. in japanese politics, the family name can be a valuable asset. >> katsuhito yakahume is trying to make a virtue of his humble origins, using his bike to campaign for parliament. but however many people he bows to as he tries to struggle

through the streets he will struggle to be as well known as his president. also running for office is shinjiro kin jumi. in this town he's like a favorite son. his father is jinichiro koizumi who was one of the most popular prime ministers of japan in recent times. now the seat is being passed down along with plenty of support. america has the kennedys and the bushes, india the gandhis. the leaders of both leading parties have men vying to be prime minister and the grandson of the men who were prime ministers before. bbc. >> hi. >> there seems to be some concern in japan about

hereditary politicians. do you think that might hurt your campaign? >> i am criticized every day for succeeding my father's seat. i want to overcome the criticism aimed at hereditary politicians and overcome it to win. >> at the matsushita institute they're trying to develop a new breed of leaders without family connections but with plenty of old-fashioned japanese virtues. students are given a taste of humble tasks. on their way, they hope to high office. some in japan blame what's perceived as ineffectual government on the large numbers of family dynasties in government. >> they have money. they have supporters. and they have a name value handed down from parents. it's not good for japan, because the dynamism of the political power is not strong as other

countries. >> katsuhito is hoping he can win but he likens his campaign to an ant taking on an elephant. come election day, it will be up to the voters to decide. roland burke, bbc news, yokosuka. >> just briefly before we leave you, to italy where there is unbearable excitement -- europe's biggest lottery prize has finally been won and the winning ticket was bought in one of its shops. there have been no jackpot winners since january and the prize has reached $210 million. locals in the bars and cafes are still talking about who might be the super-lucky one. it is said that some know who the winner is but he's keeping his or her identity a secret. thanks for being with us. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont and honolulu. the newman's own