>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is ma 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? >> and now "bbc world news." grilled before congress, toyota's president says sari for the technical problems -- says sari for the technical problems that prompted the recall of millions of vehicles. >> toyota will work vigorously to restore the trust of our customers, thank you. >> a rare statement for a cuban leader, raul castro regrets the

death of a political dissident. three google executives are violate -- are convicted in italy for violating privacy laws. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast on pbs in america. coming up later, the bbc's correspondent cents a day with the air force. and copper sale had of it -- and controversial head of the protestant church is caught drunk driving and resigns. hello. 24 hours ago, congress heard tearful testimony from the head of toyota in the u.s. today, we heard from the man whose name is on every vehicle produced by the carmaker.

it he made a lengthy public apology for the mechanical faults affecting millions of vehicles worldwide. he pledged his full cooperation with the u.s. government's investigation, but insisted no electronic faults have been discovered. >> on japanese television, they broke into programming in the middle of the night. toyota's chief executive came to the u.s. congress to rescue his company's reputation. >> do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> it is not true that heat -- is not clear that he succeeded. >> i am deeply sorry for any accident that toyota drivers have experienced. >> he was not very specific, and a hearing was permeated by the sense that the congressman was not getting the information they

sought. them is that a yes or no? -- >> is that a yes or no? >> summit remain unpersuaded that point even fully understands why its cars have on occasion accelerated wildly out of control. some believe that toyota is not telling everything that it knows. when, for example, was mr. toyoda told by american officials of the safety complaints? >> i do not know the specific content of the discussion or the timing. >> well, there seems to be some discrepancy. we are trying to get at what did we know and when did we know it? >> the suspicions are not likely to dissipate as a result of the hearing. in california, this family is suing toyota to get to the truth. he was killed in a toyota at

inexplicably driving 100 m.p.h. three residential neighborhood. >> hopefully, we will get the message out to people this is happening, and could easily happen to us and somebody else. >> toyota's sales in america have fallen. troubled american car companies have benefited. is toyota getting trashed to help u.scarmaker's? >> certainly, there has been some access piling on. congress does two things well, nothing at all and overreact. let's hope we do not do either this time. >> they seem concerned over the reliability of toyota cars and the reliability of toyota's call. -- toyota's corporate culture, its ability to respond in an open and timely way. i think it is safe to say that their reputation is not rescued

yet. >> we will bring more on that story later in the program from washington. the cuban president raul castro says he regrets the death of orlando zapata, who died on tuesday after 85 days on hunger strike. other dissidents have been arrested for attending his funeral. it is unprecedented for a cuban leader to comment on a political prisoner. our reporter describe the impact of the statement. >> the message from castro about the death of the prisoner was emailed to the foreign press by we have been looking online. it has not appeared on state radio or television or the official government website, but it is on par said it to actually regret the death of a prisoner.

-- it is on precedent to actually regret the death of a prisoner. they did not say how it was the result of the united states, and he also said there was no torture in cuban prisons. the only torture takes place at guantanamo bay. but the death of this dissident and jail has really focused world attention for the moment on the plight of political prisoners in cuba. they say there are about 200 here. the human rights commission puts it at that number, about one- third less when raul castro came to power. the cubans and says the are no political prisoners, the call them mercenaries in the pay of the united states. >> any more about the reports 30 other dissidents have been arrested for attending the funeral? >> this is what we're being told by the dissident groups and by the cuban commission for human

rights. the potto was from a province -- orlando zapata was from a province on the other end of the island. what we are hearing isthese were temporary detentions. people were held or forced to stay at home to stop them from attending. we did not believe anyone has been arrested or charged. once the funeral is over, they will probably be let go. police and dubai have identified 15 more suspects in the execution of a senior palestinian militant. it they have expanded the involvement to 26. they used british, french, irish, and australian passports. the killing has been widely blamed on israel. israel has refused to confirm or deny. tougher measures against the best known date rape drug seems to have been successful, but

they warn that sexual predator'' are turning to other substances. an italian court has convicted three google executives for violation of privacy over a video posted on youtube which showed a group of teenagers abusing an autistic boy. the trio had no involvemt in the video and were given suspended jail sentences. >> the google executives were not in court to hear the verdicts. three out of four or found guilty of breaching the privacy rights of the teenager with autism who was filmed being bullied and a video posted online. the judge gave the 36 months in jail, terms suspended. the prosecution's sake google failed to act quickly enough to reve the video and an important principle about which should and what should not appear on the internet has been established. >> we think this verdict might

define the relationship between the rights of business enterprise, because that is what google is about, and the defense of human dignity, which we must always -- which we think must always prevail. >> in 2006, the video showing four teenagers abusing a young man with autism was posted. it was up for two months. google said they removed the video as soon as they were alerted and help the police identify the police. it is not the responsibility of the host platform to police the internet. >> if the sites are held responsible for looking at every video, then the freedom that we know, the web that we know will cease to exist. >> google says it will vigorously appealed the decision against its members of staff. google says it asking it and other host providers to stop

these videos before they are put up is like asking the postal service to stop hate mail. they say it is not realistic. these are important issues for he internet, regulation, content, and most importantly, control. duncan kennedy, bbc news. general motors has announced the iconic hummer brand will close down. they announced plans to sell the brand last year before it went into bankruptcy protection, but its attempt to sell the brand to a chinese firm has collapsed. hundreds of thousands of greeks have protested the austerity measures. the police fired tear gas. this is the second general strike in two weeks. they were angry with the response to the european crisis that seems to be growing. members of the british parliament accused members of the tabloid of collective

amnesia, insisting they were not aware of the legal hacking of phone messages left by celebrities, a fake personalities, and the royal family. the owner of the tabloid has rejected the criticism. 11 days from the start against the taliban offensive, the overall commander in southern afghanistan has told the bbc further progress has been made. the british royal air force has played a key role. our defense corres spent the day with nine squadrons from the raf. >> it is early morning. the tornado crews are flying around the clock missions. they are on their first sortie

of the day. it started with a weather briefing, before the run through of what theirasks will be. they will give close air support to forces on the ground anywhere in afghanistan. they flew the same amount of sorties in one week as they normally fly in one month. >> it is quite rewarding. >> the first time was slow. the second time, it was in support of american troops and the guys screaming on the radio. at that point, you tried to move quicker. >> the tornado has been service for many years and the squadron has already flown at 200 sorties and played a vital role in the operation. on one mission, the knights sadron commander had true -- had to locate taliban rocket

positions. the use the sophisticated camera pod to locate it. >> we located the rockets and after 15 minutes of going through the targeting process, we ascertained no civilians in the area and we destroyed the rocket. >> this was the moment of impact, flying at 7 miles per minute, thousands of feet up. such a footage is not just about dropping bombs. the crew spends up to one-third of their time filming intelligence material, showing exactly what is happening on the ground. in this tiny office, the men and women analyzed pictures that the air crews brought back. they can even be viewed it in 3- d, looking at the height of walls and the change in road height surface. >> we are able to identify on the ground at sotheby's that may identify -- we are able to

identify on the ground at suddenly what may identify an the primary objective is to save lives. >> the tornadoes returned and the engineers have maintenance to do to make sure nothing goes wrong in the air. for the others, it is the end of a long day, just enough time to relax in the cafe and had of an early night and another start in the morning. good to have you with us on "bbc world news." still to come, britain's forgotten children, the prime minister apologizes for the young migrants to suffered abuse and neglect overseas. discover what the world is talking about at bbc.com/news.

>> the first iranian women to take part in the winter olympics will cross the finish line wednesday. she is wearing a headscarf underneath her ski helmet. she hopes to inspire muslim women across the world to get involved in sports. the remains of a fossilized short have been discovered in the u.s. state of kansas. the shark with 89 million years ago and may be the largest shellfish-eating animal to ever roamed the earth. this black labrador will be awarded medals at the imperial war museum in london. he twice found hidden bonds and helmand province. -- he twice found hidden bombs in the helmand province. the latest headlines on "bbc

world news," ahead of toyota has made a lengthy public apology it before the u.s. congress. it is affecting millions of vehicles worldwide. castro has issued an unprecedented statement expressing regret over the death of a jailed dissident orlando zapata. back to the testimony on capitol hill from the testimony of akio toyofa over this worldwide recalls. >> the u.s. transport secretary told a congressional hearing he believes toyota has been safety deaf, but also said the fact that point is president is appearing as a game changer. we're speaking to a visiting senior fellow at the hudson and

turf -- hudson institute. first, what do you think of american politicians attitude towards toyota? >> i think this is the biggest economic country in the world. the japanese economy responded under u.s. military protection. now mr. obama has very nationalistic policies of the economy. the u.s. government owns gm, chrysler. gm and toyota are competing with each other to make a new factory in china. so the u.s. government is retaliating against toyota, that is my understanding. >> my you believe that the u.s. government is behind this?

>> yes. >> not to crush toyota? yes, the hearing is about safety. >> safety, that is a mistake. all the management of toyota, now they have new management. toyota is a huge company like a country, controlled by bureaucrats. new management cannot control the bureaucrats well. so this has happened. >> you think there is a problem with the corporate culture of point? >> yes, it is too bureaucratic. >> my you feel that this hearing in congress, what is at stake is the union and nationalistic interest? >> exactly. mr. obama got the help from the labor union, and now his

economic policy is very nationalistic. he tried to help the u.s. automotive companies in droit. so toyota is a good target. the next one is nissan and honda. >> we have to leave it there. thank you for joining us. obviously, those hearings were very charged today. back to you. for three months, nigeria's president has spent too sick to rule and has been receiving medical treatment and saudi arabia. now surprise, he has returned home. nigerian officials say he needs time to recuperate, so the vice president jonathan will lead the country for now.

>> a secret, silent homecoming in the small hours of the morning. government advisers say nigeria's missing president was on this airplane. yet it has still not been seen -- yet, he has still not been seen in public. the president's health has always been closely watched. it for nigerians, seeing him again with their own eyes will be critical. he and his circle have suffered a massive loss of trust and credibility while he was gone. tensions bubbled into near panic amid fears of a coup, and it was clear that the power vacuum needed to be filled. it was this man, vice president jonathan, who assumed office behind an extraordinary vote in parliament. some say it was not legal, but he brought a new energy to government and promised change.

now it is clear that the president's circle wants to regain control, but the president must convince people he can once more rumbas massive oil-rich nation -- this masse oil-rich nation, and he will need every strength to do that. british prime minister gordon brown has apologized fully and unconditionally for a policy that sent thousands of british children to australia and canada without their parents' knowledge. the job migrants program ended 40 years ago. it was meant to offer a better life abroad, but the reality was very different. >> they were promised so much. thousands of british children transported to the other side of the world. the so-called good white stock to populate the economy. they weren't expecting -- they were expecting a happy new life in australia, but the reality

wasery different. >> they treated their dogs better than they treated us. >> when her mother died, this woman was shipped to new south wales. she spent 10 years in a children's home, where she claims there was abuse of every kind. 50 years on, she is still haunted by it. >> i lot get that at -- i look at it as a prison. i spent 10 years he. they robbed me of my childhood. i will never get that back. >> we are sorry. >> three months ago, the australian government apologized. today, britain has done the same. >> to each and every one, we are truly sorry. theyere let down. we are sorry they were sent away at the time they were most vulnerable. we are sorry that instead of caring for them, this country

turned its back. >> this man has waited decades to hear those words and he was overwhelmed. as a boy he was wrongly told that his mother was dead before being sent to live down under. gordon brown apology has gone some way to help him move on. >> i think my opinion has changed. i think i can accept the government's apology. >> decades after they said goodbye to britain, their campaign for an apology is over. of the government has announced a fund to support the victims, but their battle for full compensation goes on. an employee at the sea world theme park in florida has died

in an attack by a killer whale. the woman had just finished talking to a group of visitors when the whale rose up from the water and grabbed her around the waist. there was another report, contradictory from orlando county sheriff's office, that she slipped or fell into the tank. the head of germany's evangelical church has resigned because she was caught drunk driving. her blood alcohol level was several times over the limit when she was stopped by the police. >> the morning's headlines and hinted at the drama to come. the night of alcohol, this tabloid declared. the head of germany's protestant church, bishop margot kaessmann, had been caught drunk driving. this paper describes her as a center. by the afternoon, the bishop decided to resign. >> last saturday, i made a

serious error for which i am deeply sorry. i cannot deny that my authority as bishop and head of the church council has been damaged. >> margot kaessmann was the first female bishop to lead the church that represents 25 million protestants in germany. she had been in the job less than four months and had already sparked controversy. earlier this year, bishop kaessmann called for german troops to be pulled out of afghanistan. she was heavily criticized by liticians. >> her comments on afghanistan war controversy, but her recent incident was embarrassing, both for the bishop and her church. on announcing her decision to step aside, bishop kaessmann said her heart told her clearly she could no longer remain in office. there was mixed reaction to the resignation. "you cannot be a bishop when

youre drunk driving three times over the legal limit." " -- " i think it is unforgivable. she should not have resigned." >> i think it is good for her to step down, but i hope she comes back one day. >> margot kaessmann says she will continue to serve as a pastor of the church begins the search for a new leader. that is it for now, from "bbc world news." thank you for being with us. >> funding was 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? >> 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. presented by kcet, los angeles.