>> "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. the newman's own foundation.

the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> 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." >> this is "world news" today. the prime minister of israel in germany. diplomacy and history come together. talks on the current challenges, and the reminder of the holocaust that led to its creation.

a total system failure in the wake of recent attacks. the u.s. general charged with trading them. 150 years since the start of america's oil rush. we're now in the place where it began. >> then natural gas that is being developed in this country at this point and time may get us to energy independence. >> years after britain declared war on hitler's germany, a new exhibition reveals what went on in winston churchill's secret underground bunker. >> it is 7:00 a.m. in washington, midday in london, and 1:00 p.m. in berlin. the israeli prime minister is

meeting german chancellor merkel. the country's share a unique history. the trip includes various reminders of the holocaust. two issues are likely to dominate today's talks. the question of the settlements in the west bank, which germany opposes, and what to do about iran, which netanyahu describes as a threat to israel. >> this is the last leg of benjamin netanyahu's four-day tour. it follows talks in london, during which time hopes were raised that there could be agreements on settlements in the west bank. israel is said to be ready to restrict construction. it may not be the comprehensive freeze that the americans and the palestinians want. in advance of this week's discussions, germany joined the call for israel to halt settlement building.

agreement on this issue would only be a first up toward the resumption of israeli- palestinian talks. at the time being, all sides are waiting to see if president obama will unveil a new middle east peace plan. another preoccupation is iran. germany is iran's biggest trading partner in europe. netanyahu has made it clear he wants tougher pressure imposed to stop theiran's nuclear enrichment program. >> i am joined from berlin by our correspondent. steve, this is a european tour. is he likely to hear things in berlin that he did not here yesterday in london? what are the differences? >> i think the message will be very similar.

angela merkel has made it clear that she supports the idea of a halt to settlement building in the occupied palestinian territories. she will be urging benjamin netanyahu to push harder for peace. she has spoken before of a window of opportunity for peace in the middle east. i think that will be her message to the israeli prime minister today. for mr. netanyahu, i think he will try to move the focus of the israeli-palestinian conflict. as far as israel is concerned, this is a major threat to israel. if iran wants to develop a nuclear bomb, that could threaten the existence of the state of israel. i think that will be the message he will put across to chancellor merkel today. >> when the israelis apparently

are talking quite a lot about a possible deal, are they jumping ahead of themselves? are they trying to apply pressure? what exactly is going on? >> while benjamin netanyahu was in london, he met president obama's chief peace middle east envoy. both men said progress had been made on the settlement issue. in the israeli press, it is what quite often happens. the suspicion is that the government of israel is bouncing ideas around in the press. there is talk of israel agreeing to a freeze of building settlements between six months and nine months. according to the press again, it would also be contingent on

israel being allowed to continue building in east jerusalem. it does not regard that as occupied territory. netanyahu says east and west jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the jewish state of israel. the palestinians will not like a deal like that. nobody has officially agree to this. it has not been confirmed. >> thank you. in a few minutes, we will have more analysis from jerusalem. a look now at some of our other top stories. the supreme leader of iran has rejected accusations that -- ayatollah ali khamenei said it had not been proven to him that leaders were agents for britain or the united states. that had been the accusation by some hard-line officials.

in a move that could anger china, taiwan has approved a visit by the tibetan spiritual leader, the dalai lama. typhoon morakot killed hundreds of people earlier this month. fidel castro had made his second television appearance in four days. cuban television shows the former president looking healthy and rested as he met students from venezuela to discuss the dangers of climate change. he has rarely been shown on cuban television since he fell ill three years ago, had the power to his brother raul. united states president obama will deliver a eulogy at the funeral of senator edward kennedy. he died on wednesday after suffering from brain cancer. president obama called him the greatest senator of his age.

the funeral will take place in boston on saturday. in iraq, police a string of bombings in baghdad and the northern suburb has killed at least one civilian and wounded 18 others, including three policemen. nearly three months since the iraqi army and iraqi police took over completely from the americans, they're under mounting pressure to show the year up to the job. iraqi forces failed to stop two suicide truck bombs outside government buildings in baghdad last week, which killed more than 100 people. americans are still involved in training iraqi units. our baghdad correspondent. >> i think it has gone very well. it is not perfect, but it has gone well. the iraqi security forces have provided the security that they need to provide. >> do you agree with iraqi

politicians such as the foreign minister that last week's bombing in the center of baghdad, in a place they have never been able to get to before, was a serious failure for the iraqi security forces? >> i do not discount that last week's event was a total breakdown. there is no denying that fact. also, you have to look at the longer term. we have had the lowest level of violence in this country since we started keeping statistics. the iraqi security forces are doing their part. there's no question about it. last week was a total system failure. >> what we found from talking to people is still many complaints about their dealings with iraqi security forces. that corruption is routine.

taking bribes at checkpoints in this kind of thing. that is one of the suspicions that is how the bombers got through last week. how can that be stopped? >> i think we have to wait to see the results of the investigation. the iraqi government is doing a detailed investigation of the total system failure that happened last week. they have also reassess how they can continue to provide increased security for baghdad. baghdad has eight million people inside the city. that's a significant challenge for the government of iraq. >> is the iraqi army -- are they being turned into a professional security force along american or

british lines? or are they being turned into something that simply serves the government in power at the time? >> they are not u.k. forces. they are not united states forces and they do not need to be. they need to be a credible force that can protect the citizens of this country. the citizens of this country have faith and trust in those iraqi security forces. that is what the iraqi security forces are trying to do. that's what we're trying to help them do. >> we have a business report in about 20 minutes or so. there's plenty of talk about bonuses ever since the credit crunch. now a very influential head of a financial watchdog. >> absolutely. lord turner jump on the same battlewagon. we have also seen angela merkel and sarkozy pressing to curb

these payouts. lord turner has come out with some harsh comments. he says the financial services sector in the u.k. is too big. he says you either reduce the size or impose taxes. it is not taxes on bonuses. it is taxes on the bank's profits. if you tax these millions of transactions, that reduces their profits, and that reduces the bonus pot. >> that will go down really well. [laughter] >> and all of this ahead of the g-20 summit next month in pittsburgh. >> looking forward to the business report. this is "world news" today. coming up -- jacob zuma heads to zimbabwe. nine months alone at sea pretty

17-year-old who just sailed into the record books. >> 10 years after the violence that accompanies indonesia's withdrawal from east timor, many crimes against humanity have still not been brought to justice. it wants an international tribunal set up. militarhundreds of people were d in the aftermath in which the majority voted for independence. our correspondent is in east timor. >> this is one of the places that saab eight violent massacre in 1999 after a majority voted for independence from indonesia. the amnesty international report says it is people like this who have yet to receive

justice from their government. the report says the governments of east timor, and the united nations have failed to deliver justice. it calls for an international tribunal, which will have the power to punish those responsible for the crimes during 1999 and the occupation of east timor. many of the people we have been speaking to, and people who were victims of the violence 10 years ago, say they're angry and disappointed with their government for not being able to deliver justice to them so many years on from those events. the government of east timor says it is time to start thinking about the future and to put the past behind them, and to start focusing on economic development and creating jobs. >> ellie greenwich has died in new york.

he worked on classics such as "leader of the pack" and "be my baby." this is bbc "world news." the prime minister of israel is in berlin to hear further talks to curb jewish settlements. joining me from jerusalem is the political correspondent for the jerusalem post. thank you for being with us. our correspondent tells me that the press in israel has plenty of speculation on whether there will be a compromise deal on the expansion of settlements.

is there a deal in the offing? >> it does look that way. they will not announce the deal until netanyahu meets with president obama. presumably the one the president of the united states to be given credit for the months of negotiation that are apparently coming to fruition. looks like netanyahu will say he will have prevented the building. although, he would agree to a settlement freeze in the west bank. >> if that is the case, is there is a settlement freeze in the west bank, how will that go down? presumably there are people in jerusalem who would not even accept that. >> there is no doubt about that. under olmert, he negotiated a deal with president bush.

even jimmy carter was not known for being a friend to israel and he said israel would keep forever. that was not good enough for president obama. he insisted in a complete cessation of any construction at all in order to reach out to the palestinians. so far it has not turned out that way. it is very unfortunate. >> where does this leave prime minister netanyahu? you say there will be some people who think he is already going to far in even talking about a freeze in the west bank. there are others within his own coalition who say we do need to have this. >> yes, netanyahu build a national unity government where he has left and right. it is a careful balancing act. it is not easy.

so far he has already gotten away with removing two/three of the security checkpoints. now he will be doing this. there have been junior members of parliament who have been grumbling about it. the more serious ministers, those who would hold sway, they have been mum. that shows that netanyahu is doing his homework politically and making sure he is not going to have problems later on. he is doing this all in the interest of trying to move the peace process forward, hoping the other side will do that as well. >> thank you very much. america's first oil well was drilled in pennsylvania 150 years ago today. now it is natural gas that is bringing prospective to the area in droves. massing price this is the birthplace of america's energy industry. and it is a look at how america may have a solution to

america's growing energy needs. >> 1.5 miles down is the largest gas field in the entire united states. they believe it can help break this country's dependence on foreign oil. >> natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. it can be used in cars, as a motor vehicle fuel. it can be used to generate electricity. it can be liquefied and used as jet aviation fuel. they natural gas developed in this country at this point in time could really get us to energy independence. >> pennsylvania was the center of another energy boom 150 years ago today. the oil rush. since then, the u.s. has become the world's biggest consumer of energy. this country desperately needs a new energy solution and that is

causing a growing political division between those who believe that the answer lies in the vast natural gas reserves in places like this, and those who feel that the country needs to move in an entirely new and different direction. >> at the university of pittsburgh, they're looking into alternative sources of energy. natural gas is cleaner than oil, but is still releases greenhouse gases. >> the most important thing is that we have to stop looking at the short term. we could find enough fuel for the next five years or 10 years. what happens at that point if we have not build up our renewable technology? what will we do then? >> you feel natural gas is diverting attention. >> i do. it is not the end of the all of energy generation. >> many to see natural gas as a realistic alternative source of feel. this is not the green revolution president obama once

spoke of, but it is cheap and available. it may be how america chooses to meet its energy needs at least in the short term. matthew price, bbc news, pennsylvania. >> let's catch up on the sports news. >> the williams sisters have become the very first african- american female owners of a professional sports franchise in the united states. bought a minority stake in the miami dolphins. venus has been honored for speaking out on the controversy earlier this year. >> i have been at the top of my support for a while. i think it helps the people know my name and people know my face. the message was able to get

delivered. i think that made a big difference. i guess i was meant to be in the winner's circle. >> lance armstrong's new team will make its debut in january in australia. he announced that he would set up a team radio shack. one man who will be going with him, the team manager, who oversaw lance armstrong's seventh tour de france victories. only one team in major league baseball has avoided losing four games in a row. they are the los angeles angels. they were helped by this two-run lead. they won 4-2. 4-0 up by the fifth inning.

the detroit tigers remained at the top of the a.l.. after crossing the finish line of the coast of the united kingdom, he set out last november in a 15 meter yacht. the journey was 15,000 kilometers long. he tackled huge waves and had to negotiate gil force when speedy snatched the world record from the american. i believe it took some quite a lot longer. >> thank you very much. a new exhibition revealing the life and work that went on inside winston churchill's world secrets war ii headquarters is being unveiled in london today. it will display artifacts and first-round accounts of those

who worked in secret underground bunker during the conflict. the exhibition opens later today. >> i am in the map room. 70 years ago today, the military planners came into this room, turned on the lights, and started charging the allied progress in the war. we have heard of many of the personal histories. some are quite touching and extremely interesting. in this room, we found out that this room was left in 1945 after the war ended. they walked out and close the doors. what you see here today is pretty much as. it. one of my favorites are these cigarettes and boxes. of course everyone smoked at the time. it gives you an idea of what kind of atmosphere it would have been like. it would have been stuffy and hot and smoky. not very pleasant at all. let's have a chat with the

director of the museum. give us an idea of what kind of personal histories have been coming out. >> it is interesting. you're so used to hearing about churchill as the central figure of this place. now we have four or five ladies who work heed here and you get a much better flavor of what it was like to come down here every day or every night and stay here for 10 hours or 12 hours. and the awful conditions. you get a real feel for what it was like to be down here. >> when the rear, they were keeping a very close eye on what was happening on the continent. >> very much so. there were involved in turning the promise of the words to italy, africa, and through europe. they could not tell their

friends. a lot of them knew about d-day but could not say a word about its. >> churchill was not convinced how well this bunker was built. he used to go up to the balcony and watch the bombs flying over london. back to you. >> thank you very much. a reminder of our top story. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is holding talks with german chancellor angela merkel. she is expected to add her voice to the u.s. call for a freeze on israeli settlements. stay with bbc "world news." >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

>> 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? >> i'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates, jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerry washington, and public broadcasting is my source for intelligent connections to my community. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.