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corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> returning to his childhood home, president obama lands in indonesia on the latest leg of his asian tour. the american leader is hoping to use this special relationship with the country to show he is reaching out to the muslim world. >> indonesia has more muslim people living here than any country on the planet, and so he will be coming here to the biggest mosque in southeast asia. >> welcome to gmt. i'm jonathan charles, with a world of news and opinion. george bush insists he was right to allow the wa waterboarding of terror suspects.

it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 7:00 p.m. in jakarta, where indonesia is welcoming back barack obama , who spent his childhood there. he will find a nation that is not as enthusiastic about him as it once was. many indonesians believe he can make sufficient progress reaching out to islam and helping them out of poverty. >> back in indonesia, his old home, for the first time as american president. he had canceled twice before because domestic politics kept him in the u.s. but today, barack obama finally arrived in jakarta and at his indonesian counterpart, to launch a new partnership between the two countries. >> prosperity, expanding

partnership between our people, and deepening political and security cooperation, the pillars of our new partnership, which owes so much of gratitude to my good friend, president yudhoyono. >> they wrote a song for him at his old school and were practicing in case he dropped by. but, little barrie, as he was known in 1967, is here in less than 24 hours. he will that have time to meet the children and my only briefly see old friends. >> by november as a chubby boy, very chevy, a little fat. >> she knew him back then as a neighbor and school friend. >> he lived in indonesia, where a lot of people are muslim. a lot of people expect that he will do something different for

the world. but i do not know, do you think he did that now already? >> do you? >> not yet. >> do you think he will? >> i hope. >> this is barack obama in indonesia as a child, but this visit is not just about his past but america's future in asia as chinaand that is about , trying to increase american exports to a part of the world that has with the economic storm well. and it is about is lot. indonesia has more muslims and living here than any country of the world. so the key speech while he is here, expected to use the backdrop of indonesia moderate islam to reach out beyond asia and to the muslim world. .> let's go live to jakarta guy, did he have the reception that you expect for a prodigal

son? but he is already saying that he is delighted with the reception he received. it is raining pretty heavily in jakarta, but people are turning out on the streets to cheer his motorcade, and that made him feel very happy indeed. although he hardly recognized the place from when he was a boy. there has been an awful lot of development here since then. this is one of the fastest moving economies in the world, and a lot of high-rise development here. it sounds from the press conference that he is rather enjoying being back. >> i noted in that news conference he prayed to the country's march -- he praised the country's marched down the road. >> he says that the u.s. once again to be a leader in asia. it is a muslim majority country, the largest majority country of them all, and saying that the u.s. is a friend of this country is a very important signal in the.

>> when he was elected a couple of years ago, people said that would be great for indonesia. he will help us get out of poverty. they are a bit wiser now, aren't they? >> the are wiser. the report that you heard earlier was really quite heart rending, all these children expecting mr. obama to come and then being stood up, as it were. but he has promised he will be back next year when the east asia summit convenes. i am sure people will be hoping that we will see more of this personal connection that president obama has with indonesia. >> and this will be a very swift trip, perhaps made swifter by the volcano that is bubbling away? >> it was never going to be a long trip. about 20 hours was going to be the original schedule. mount merapi had other ideas with international flights being captain of the weekend. he is concerned that -- being canceled over the weekend. >> thank you very much indeed.

there is putting more coverage of president obama's indonesia trip. let's go to not go to bbc.com /news. -- let's go to bbc.com/news. former u.s. president george bush has thrown off the cloak of invisibility that he has won since leaving the white house almost two years ago. he has reclaimed the spotlight with the defense of the controversial practice of waterboarding, the near drowning of terror suspects in order to persuade them to talk. he was speaking in a television interview to publicize the release of his new memoir. he says the techniques saved lives in america and prevented attacks in britain. here's our correspondent from washington. pot 4 w bush has had two years to reflect on his present -- >> george w bush has had two years to reflect on his presidency. among them, the field search for weapons of mass destruction in iraq.

>> your words, "no one was more sicken or angry than i was when we did not find weapons of mass destruction." was there any consideration of apologizing to the american people? >> i mean, apologizing would basically say the decision was a wrong decision, and i do not believe it was a wrong decision. >> on the war and terror, the former president remained defiant, saying he personally gave the go-ahead to use the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding. >> the technique is legal, and yes they are. i said use them. i will tell you this, using those techniques saved lives. out there was also anger as the pettitte or -- >> there was also anger as the president -- >> george bush does not care about black people. >> he called me a racist. it is one thing to say i do not

appreciate the way he handles his business. it is another thing to say he is a racist. it, it is-- i resent not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency. >> unlikely to change the views of either side. ian mackenzie, bbc news, washington. >> for more on waterboarding, you go to the bbc news website. you will find more details about how effective it can be as an interrogation technique. it is very controversial. we received lots of comments from you about this. remember, you can tell us what you think. president broadcast row of cuba has called the first congress -- president raul castro of cuba has called the first congress to solve the economic problems of cuba. it is supposed to take place every five years but it has been -- that has been a fatal mining

accident in july, close to where the 33 miners were -- in she l-- chile close to where the 33 miners were arrested last month. a shipment of radioactive waste has finally reached a storage site in germany. it took a record 92 hours for the german waste to be returned from france where it had been reprocessed. david cameron is on his first is it to china as british prime minister, saying he wants to spread the message that britain is open for business with the world's second largest economy, but he is also expected to raise the issue of china's's human rights record. >> from britain to china, the contrast could hardly be more stark. david cameron arrived here in the world's fastest growing economy seeking a new relationship with china.

hoping his deals done in the east can secure jobs back home. >> we have a central objective to work together to resist protectionism in all its forms, to reduce barriers to trade and investment, to develop new markets. >> a while china is booming on exports, there are many barriers when selling to china. david cameron must tackle these head-on. >> when the chinese come to britain, they are free to invest in what they like, but we want to invest freely in china while we encourage the chinese to invest freely in britain, and through britain and europe. >> there is one key test for david cameron -- will he raise human rights publicly here? nobel peace prize winner liu xiaobo is in jail. such talk would anger china, but

it will define what relationship the prime minister has with this rising power. >> the results are no surprise after such a careful record raft -- after a careful choreographed general election. being denounced by the west end pro-democracy parties in burma as a sham. clashes between the burmese army and rebels. >> unsurprisingly, burma's military party is claiming victory in elections set up by the ruling generals. pro-democracy politicians say there victory was stolen by rig rules and fraud. but while the talk goes on in the city, border areas -- these

people have been involved in fighting that broke out between ethnic rebels and burmese troops. >> i could hear gunfire this morning. the sounds were a distance from my house. >> at least 15,000 people picked up what they could then headed for thailand. thailand is used to the problem. within 200,000 burmese already live in camps around the border. bangkok does not refugee -- does not recognize the refugee status. to the thai authorities, these are illegal immigrants and temporary shelters is what they offer. >> we would like to send them back as soon as possible. when the burmese army says it is safe to go, we will send these people back. >> the united nations high commission for refugees says any return must be voluntary, but even as some choose to go home,

more burmese are poring over the border so that -- through the south. fighting has broken out and do here. berne needs much more than -- burma is much more than an election to sell its deep divisions. that minister to come -- still to come here on gmt, a special report from yemen. >> the russian president in the treatment that has pledged that those responsible for the brutal beating of a prominent newspaper journalist will be brought to justice and punished. a well-known political reporter and blogger is still in intensive care following the attack outside his home in central moscow last weekend. it was the latest in a series of attacks on germany in recent years that left dozens dead and many more injured. let's get a report from the bbc

's moscow correspondent. >> inside this hospital in the capital lies yet another journalist in critical condition. his legs, hands, and jaw smashed. his father said he had been operated on, but it was too early to speak of any improvement in his condition. it was outside his apartment in central moscow that blunt weapon.

most believe he had become a target because of his bold reporting and hard-hitting position of the internet challenging those in power. no even the president, dmitri medvedev, has been called to speak about the latest brazen attack on a journalist. he said the journalist's job was honestly andruth professionally. he said those behind the attack would be punished regardless of their stake. those of the words that journalists want to hear. but they also vowed to continue the process. until the president's words are turned into action and those responsible for the attack are actually brought to justice. >> this is gmt from bbc world news. i'm jonathan charles. our main story -- president obama is visiting indonesia, the country where he spent part of his childhood. the former u.s. president george w bush said the interrogation technique waterboarding helps to stop of qaeda attacks. in a moment, the stuff before

communism in parts of germany. but first, business news. >> temple of capitalism? i kind of like that. let's talk about it because there is a shift in strategy at the world's biggest mobile operator. it is moving out of japan to focus on india, africa, and europe. it is selling its stake in the carrier softbank 4 $5 billion. it also hinted at other sales, saying it wants to concentrate on what it believes are its most valuable growth opportunities. one company watchers said there are speculations that it may offload its stake in -- that it depends on how aggressive they will be with the strategy -- >> it depends on how aggressive they will be with the strategy. the announcement this morning -- they did say that they were

of looking to offload any assets that were not a major part of the business, but it generated revenue, but not significant revenue. they will be selling the stake on verizon at some point in the next couple of years or so. but that will happen fairly soon. >> is this the right strategy? you said it depends on how aggressive they are. is it the right strategy to get out of china and japan, and possibly sell verizon? >> i am not sure is the right strategy to come out of japan, or rather, china, but certainly japan. looking at where they want to focus in the emerging markets -- africa, india -- these are places where there is still increasing demand for mobile phones. the demand for internet is high, but access is not fantastic. there is also the increasing use of smart phones as well. basically what i think they're

doing is a touch of housekeeping, getting rid of many low revenue assets, and then getting that money back to shareholders and with the rest of the funds they are looking to concentrate on high-revenue areas such as emerging markets. >> some of the other business is making headlines around the world -- chinese regulators have taken steps to tighten controls on foreign cash coming into the country. they will strictly enforce limits on how much their firms are allowed to borrow abroad. rolls-royce has signed a $1.2 billion sale to supply and service jet engines for china's eastern airlines. that is one deal announced by the visit of britain's prime minister to beijing.

talking of aviation, a host of big airlines could be facing fines totaling more than $1 billion. euro watchdog will reveal the results into a probe of an air freighter. many are being considered -- are concerned that they are being investigated. >> when you need to get one -- last year nearly 37 million tons were removed, and it is worth billions of dollars every year to the airline industry. but the 2007 air freight came under scrutiny in the european union's competition watchdog. it is investigating whether or around 10 airlines have been running a so-called cartel, that is, cooperate to make sure that prices stay high. some of those include air france, british airways, and lufthansa. if found guilty, they could in

theory be fined up to 10% of their total annual revenues. airlines, european airlines in particular, has had a tough year with of panic ash clouds, -- of volcanic ash clouds. for those accused of -- if those accused of running a cartel are found guilty, the people behind me will be taking away yet more of their money. >> a quick look of the markets. stocks falling across the board. commodity-related companies declined on concerns that the recent gains we have seen are perhaps a bit overdone. so we have seen a bit of profit- taking going on. gold continues to hover, just under $1,420 a troy ounce. i wish i had some of that. >> new security rules are in effect in the united states for yemen and somalia.

in yemen, where they were posted to all packages now go through a rigorous screening. bbc are back correspondent reports now from the capital. >> this is from the capital of yemen and the center for -- parcel bombs were sent to the u.s. and were discovered by authorities before they could be detonated. now yemen has tightened its security measures, sending a package from here to anywhere in the world has become a lot more difficult. >> we immediately reinforced our measures, manually checking 100% of air freight parcells, and the american government has supplied us with six modern bomb detection scanners. >> we tried to get the reaction from freight companies hear about the new security checks, but all declined to speak to us, including ups and fedex, through

which the parcel bombs were sent. those two companies are currently closed in yemen pending an investigation into the case. that this government post office, we watched a yemeni sent a package to the united states. security agents now take part in checking parcels. but not everyone here agrees with the tougher measures. the executive of this luxury car dealership told me it was undermining his business. >> customer service is a basic advantage for any dealer, especially in delivering spare parts. now we are losing customers because of the delays. >> have you actually lost customers? >> so far is about 5%. >> despite any criticism, the yemeni government is under

pressure to strengthen its security at the borders. a pilot at the arabian peninsula has -- al qaeda at the arabian peninsula has claimed responsibility. and it has vowed to do so again. >> the beginning of the end of the cold war, there was much euphoria, and regret. it is sometimes called eight -- a play on words about the stalled in the east. even the gdr restaurant is about to open. here is our berlin correspondent, steve ellis. >> you can still find remnants of the berlin wall, but much of it is dust and memory. the old german democratic republic is coming into vogue.

there is a gdr style hotel. >> we want to bring it back because there was a lot of good things in gdr, and good food and good kitchen was one thing that we want to show again. >> it is kind of a radical chic, that looks like bdr -- like the gre, but without the secret police. our guest chef, today we are going to make a great gdr classic, what is left in the fridge soup. >> vegetables. ok. hour,'s move forward one or back 20 years. so here we have it, everything that is left in the fridge supeoup.

not too bad, but you know what it really needs? nostalgia. steven evans, bbc news, the old east germany. >> i remember the food at the time certainly did not taste that good. a reminder of our top story -- president obama is visiting his childhood home in indonesia. he says he believes the united states is on the right path with better relationships in the muslim world. let's take a look at what is coming up later on bbc news america with matt frye. the world's economic leaders, including president obama, will gather in south korea to keep the global recovery on track. 7:00 p.m. eastern time at midnight gmt. i am on twitter.com. i would love to hear from you on all these issues. stay with us here on bbc world news. there is plenty more to come.

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