>> 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. >> and now, bbc "world news." >> a supreme endorsement for ahmadinejad. but senior iranian political figures stay away from the

ceremony. we'll do whatever it takes in afghanistan, the message from nato's new secretary general, who is speaking exclusively to the bbc. >> i will, of course, not exclude the possibility that we will need more troops in the future. we have to do what it takes. >> big profits for british banks, less than a year after many appeared on the verge of collapse. very warm welcome to bbc "world news," on pbs and america, also, around the globe. coming up later for you -- >> i will give my loyalty to the united kingdom. >> i will give my loyalty to the united kingdom. >> britain's patriot act, how taking part in protests may bar immigrants from becoming british citizens. the writing is on the walls. a modern curse hits ancient rome. wall after wall, street after street, dogged with graffiti.

one says there would be as many as 1,000 taggers at work doing this. >> hello, to you. it was to be ahmadinejad's crowning glory. a week of official ceremonies to mark his second term in office as irrelevant ran's president. starting today with endorsement from the country's supreme leader, but two previous presidents stayed away, and the islamic republic is marred in its worst crisis since its foundation 30 years ago. iranian authorities asked the bbc's tehran correspondent to leave the country. he's compiled this report from london. >> they say they're like father and son. the supreme leader has staked his political future on supporting president

ahmadinejad. but today the strain was showing in this complicated relationship, with an awkward prelude to mr. ahmadinejad's second term. it was all so much friendlier when he was first sworn in four years ago. even the former president managed a kiss now for his bitter rival. he stayed away from today's ceremony. mr. ahmadinejad's political opponents were also notable in their absence. it's more evidence of the political feud that threatens to tear apart the islamic republic, though the government continues to blame foreign enemies. >> enemies should not imagine that the islamic revolution and system can be brought to its knees by such trivial moves. the islamic system is alive and well. >> but by the weekend more than 100 members of the opposition

were brought to court in what government opponents immediately denounced as a show trial. those in prison clothes included former ministers, a former government spokesman and a noted filmmaker. a former vice president was forced to remove his turban and make his confession. all the attacks about the confession were made up. but a picture of him before he was arrested shows how much weight he's lost in prison. his daughter told the bbc he might even have been drugged. last week popular demonstrations gathered strength once again and this evening there were reports of more protests in iran. mr. ahmadinejad now faces growing opposition both on the streets and in the very heart of the iranian political establishment. bbc news. >> authorities in southern sudan are reporting more than 185 people killed, most of them women and children, in an

outbreak of ethnic violence. officials there say the killings were carried out on a 'roid on a rival group short of food who had come to fish. the dead included 12 government soldiers sent to guard the group. israel's foreign minister says he will resign if he is charged with corruption. on sunday israeli police said a nine-year investigation had found enough evidence to support indictment. he denies any wrong dog. a los angeles court has granted the mother of michael jackson the right to raise the pop star's children. since their father's death the children have been living with their 79-year-old grandmother. katherine jackson, his son's ex-wife, deborah rowe. reached agreement to custody last week. a roadside bomb in western afghanistan has killed 12 people and wounded around 20, this after a week that saw nine foreign soldiers killed across the country.

today's target looks to have been a local police chief. the bbc's reporter reports from the afghan capital of kabul. >> the attack on a convoy of police vehicles brought chaos to a town which has been remote from the violence elsewhere in afghanistan for many months. the bomb had been placed in a roadside rubbish bin and was remotely detonated as the vehicles passed. but it was not only police who were caught up in it. motor bikes, other vehicles and pedestrians were weaving through the morning traffic as the bomb went off. the police chief says this was the third time there had been an attempt on the life of the district police chief, who was targeted and is now injured and in hospital. harat is strategiccally important to afghanistan as it sits at the gateway to iran. customs dues collected here make up a large proportion of government revenue. more than 20 injured people were taken to hospital, many of them very seriously hurt.

three weeks before the presidential election here, afghanistan is bracing itself for taliban attempts to disrupt law and order. bbc news, kabul. >> well, nato has a new secretary general at a time when public opinion in many member states is registering alarm. for the country's contributing nato troops, fast-rising casualty, more coffins returning from afghanistan sends an unhappy message. the odds of success are not yet good, surely failure is all too real a possibility. >> in my world, failure is not a possibility. it's not an option. we have to prevail. a lot is at stake for the afghan people, for the international community and also, for nato. >> do you believe that the new nato military commander, general mcchrystal, has really turned the corner with his new orders to his troops, which are that civilians have got to be looked after now, that you've

got to win the minds of civilians, rather than killing them? >> yet, in order to win heart and mind we have to do our utmost to avoid civilian casualties and reduce the number of civilian casualties. and i think the new strategy will work. >> your predecessor, who was in office until last thursday, he was saying exactly the same thing for two years. has a corner been turned, or is it just more rhetoric about our intention? >> well, i think a corner has been turned. and it is essential to focus on this for obvious reasons. the afghan people, as well as the afghan government, is very much focused on this. if we are to win hearts and minds, we must focus more on the civilian side of this conflict. >> let me put to you, though, what general mcchrystal said in his circular essentially to

troops back on july 2. he said the taliban cannot militarily defeat us. we, though, can defeat ourselves. in other words, the military suggesting this is going to be a var long haul with no guarantees -- very long haul with no guarantees of success. >> i think we will have success, but i fully agree that we have to stay committed in afghanistan as long as it takes to prevail. >> an entire town in china is in quarantine. a second person has died there from mnemonic plague. the town has a population of 10,000. apart from the two dead, another 10 people are infected. the world health organization's office in beijing says it does feel chinese authorities are taking appropriate measures. in japan, the first jury trial

for more than 60 years is underway as part of an overhaul of the legal system. six locals have been selected at random to work with three judges at a murder trial, to make justice more transparent and bring it closer to the public. 100,000 peel have lined the streets of manila to watch the funeral of a leader there. she led a popular uprising against the regime of marcos and became asia's first woman president in 1986. she died of cancer at the age of 76. well, the banks have been blamed for helping to cause the worldwide recession and now they're being criticized for making money out of it. two of britain's big banks have announced profits today, barclays and h.b.c. making 3 million pounds in the first half of the year. here's richard scott. >> it's the worst global recession since the 1930's, and at the heart of the crisis have

been the banks. but is the city on the rise again? today we found out how two of the biggest players have weathered the storm. barclays made a profit of nearly 3 billion pounds in the first six months of the year, up 8% compared with a year earlier. hsbc made the same -- around 3 billion pounds. but in its case profits were down by more than half, hit by massive losses on u.s. mortgages. both the banks, though, are upbeat about the future, with the head of barclays's arguing big profits are good for all of us. >> banks must say sorry, banks must apologize for the things that have gun wrong in the industry over the course course of the last two years. risk-taking by banks is an absolutely essential ingredient of the restoration of growth in the global economy. >> but with big profits comes renewed concern over pay and bonuses. one city veteran argues the bonus culture will never disappear, but that it needs to be linked to long-term

performance. >> we understand that it can't be right for people to walk off after one year. >> for many ordinary businesses struggling in this recession, those sort of huge profits are going to be pretty difficult to take, especially, as for many people, it was the investment banking world that caused this recession in the first place. someone is feeling pretty hard done by, simon knight, who runs a construction business. the banks wouldn't give him a loan to build new houses. >> i'm disappointed that they've been having big bonuses. if my business is struggling and i take very little money out of the business, and it's only when it's doing well i reward myself. but even so, i think it's absolutely preposterous that they should take the big bonuses out until we have a proven track record of steady growth. >> the controversy will continue. later this weak we'll find out how those banks have performed. bbc news, richard scott. >> still to come for you on bbc

"world news." after the biggest reef gee movement of modern times, some are coming back to pakistan's swat valley. >> under taliban control, i couldn't have stood here like this. now the reign of terror is over. >> first, though, tough year for japan's corporate sector. a big drop in demand for new consumer product. one result, new interest in green energy. could going green be the route back into the black? our bbc tokyo correspondent reports now. >> in a mocked-up pace, panasonic is demonstrating some of its products it hopes will reduce emissions and return the company to profit. >> this is a low-energy microwave often and this is a rice cooker where you can cook with this instead of water. this is a refrigerator.

>> there are solar panels on the roof and fuel cells in the back garden. even the toilet is designed to use less water, and power consumption in the house is controlled electronically. despite its neon-lit cities, japan is relatively energy efficient. it's the second biggest economy, but only the fifth largest emitor of greenhouse gas. japan's government wants the country to be a world leader in environmentally friendly technology. as part of its strategy to try to beat the recession. but campaigners say consumers shouldn't think just buying a more efficient fridge will be enough to be truly green. >> of course energy efficiency is very important, and to buy energy efficient products is the first thing you can do. but still you have to think about the source of the electricity, how it's made. >> in the panasonic case, even

the occurrence and lights are automatic to reduce power consumption. the company is betting that while people may want to live in a more environmentally friendly way, they won't be willing to give up the convenience of modern life. bbc news, tockio. -- tokyo. >> the latest headlines for you on bbc "world news." a lot of big, big political names stayed away, but iran's supreme leader has officially endorsed ahmadinejad as winner of the presidential election. the new international troops will stay in afghanistan as long as the country is in danger of being a hub of international terrorism. a new system is planned for immigrants who want to become british citizens. newcomers could speed up their applications by gaining point for their skills and qualifications. but they could also lose points for bad behavior.

the bbc's june kelly reports. >> i will give my loyalty to the united kingdom. >> i will give my loyalty to the united kingdom. >> and respect its rights and freedoms. >> and respect its rights and freedoms. >> new britains. they're taking part in a citizenship enceremony. this happened this morning. 29 people from a dozen countries. at present, to become aumplet k. national, you have to pass a test, speak english, pay taxes and be involved in the community. now the plan is to introduce a point space system, and you only get your passport if you've earned enough points. >> of course, immigration is always a hot political issue, and the government says that in the short term the number of migrants in the u.k. will fall. that's people from outside e.u. countries. >> the reason to break between temporary my grantcy and permanent settlement remains, which gives access to people to welfare benefits, access to

more cland stein immigration and also doesn't provides the reassurance to the migrant or to the indigenous population that this is beneficial. >> under the new system, if you took part in a demonstration like this against british troops, you would lose points. civil liberties groups say this is perverse, when freedom of speech is such a valued part of life in the u.k. >> i think it's going to be very, very difficult. and if you are going to have these things, somehow if you go o'a protest against government policy that that might count against you in terms of your application for citizenship, i don't see how that can work. >> the proposals should be enforced ahead of the general election. june kelly, bbc world news. >> in pakistan, people displaced by fighting have been return together the swat valley, where the government is claiming victory in its three-month offensive against the taliban. the army says it has cleared

most of the valley, but there are still pockets of resistance. two million people were displaced from the area. about 600,000 have returned. from swat, the bbc correspondent sent this. >> the heavy guns are silent, but swat remains tense. troops on alert. they still face pockets of resistance. the displaced are now returning to this tourist resort, turned battleground to rebuild their shattered lives. under the taliban this came to be known as blood square. the militants dumped beheaded bodies here. shopkeepers would find them in the morning. under taliban control, i couldn't have stood here like this. now the reign of terror is over, but many in swat have been deeply scarred. this was the picture just a few months ago. the taliban flaunting their control. nouha rogue accounts are

emerging of -- now harrowing accounts are are emerging of what they did to the young. these boys, age 13 to 16, escaped from cal tan camps where they say hundreds of children were being trained much the boys are cooperating with the army. their identities are concealed for their own protection. >> they told us that if your parents don't allow you to go for jihad, then you should kill them. but how could we kill our own parents? when we tried to escape, they surrounded us. they told us that if they caught us they would shoot us or cut our throats. >> the army says children as young as 9 were being trained as fighters, informers or suicide bombers. the daily routine for these boys was prayer, exercise and brainwashing. >> we would ask to fight the

army because they are against islam and they are the enemies of god. that is what they told us. >> they are now back with their parents, but they are fearful the militants could find them and punish them. the stolen youth of swat. innocent children instructed to kill. bbc news in the swat valley. >> reducing deforestation is absolutely critical to the success of climate change. negotiations in copenhagen later this year. that's not me talking, that's a senior british minister. the u.k.'s minister for climate change has been visiting one of brazil's indigenous communities in the amazon. gary duffy reports from the rain forest. >> set deep in among the southern edge of the amazon rain forest, the indigenous park seems isolated from the problems of the world. but the tribal leaders here were pleased to welcome a british minister who will play a key role in this year's

summit on climate change in copenhagen. the people here are worried over government plans for more hydroelectric projects along the river. but other problems, rains that do not come with the same frequency, nearby waters that do not rise and fall the way they used to, are a concern. >> this young indigenous leader says the rain used to come in october or november, and now with these changes, the community tries to follow the stars to plant the crops. but the rain doesn't come and the plants are dying, he says, while the river is drier. this small community is raising issues that will soon be at the top of the agenda from ministers from all over the world. community leaders here say deforestation, illegal logging

and now climate change pose a threat to their way of life. the problems surrounding the river can be sleerly seen from the air. the smoke from these fires, a sign of yet more destruction. deforestation is responsible for more than half of brazil's carbon emissions. but it is an issue which reaches well beyond this country. >> the cutting down of the forest is possible for about 1/5 of the world's carbon emission put together. it's absolutely critical that we get an agreement in copenhagen which involves reducing the rates of deforestation. >> he got an almost royal welcome to another part of the amazon, where farmers and local communities are working together to restore parts of the rain forest. it is a slow process which for the moment is far exceeded by destruction elsewhere. but it is in work such as this

that the politicians who gather in copenhagen we find at least some of the answers to deforestation. gary duffy, bbc news in the amazon rain forest. >> italians gave the word graffiti to the world, but now their prime minister has had enough. silvio berlusconi says the capitol is dirty and disfigured. workers are trying to remove it all, but as duncan kennedy reports, it's not that simple. >> this is why rome is a unesco world heritage site, monuments of stunning beauty. but its rich fabric dating from the first century is now being unpicked by the graffiti of the 21st. known as tagging, the paint is hard to miss. down its cobblestonallyways, houses, churches, businesses, nothing has been spared by the sprayers.

rome's surface is getting an unplanned makeover. >> pretty much everywhere you go here in the historic center of rome is like this. wall after wall, street after street, dogged with graffiti. one estimate says there could be as many as 1,000 taggers at work doing this. >> the taggers have filmed themselves and posted their work on youtube. it's mostly done at night and rapidly. the authorities are trying to catch them before they inflict too much damage. those who have studied it say it's a form of reckless exhibitionism. >> the graffiti is a pathetic attempt to emerge, to be visible, and i connect it with the saddest continue knee of a whole generation of -- destiny of a whole generation, of people who cannot find a good job and they're really in a precarious state. >> the city now has a team of 16 people working 24 hours a day to clean off or paint over

the graffiti. but the authorities are struggling to keep it under control. one other solution is this -- the 10 kilometers of walls rome has now set aside for the graffiti artists to work legally. they include this man, who used to spray illegally. if it's controlled, graffiti has a place, even in the city of rome. >> they are an expression of the people who live in the city. the city is not only -- >> mainstream or maintenance headache, the best graffiti is already in galleries, the rest, like this, alien in such beautiful surroundings. italy gave the world the word

"graffiti." duncan kennedy, bbc news in rome. >> finally, it is one of the iconic images of the sent re's old university of cambridge. the distinctive flat-bottomed boats have been a trademark for generations, but they now have a modern challenger. the new kid in town is a kind of surfboard, officially called stand-up paddle boarding. it certainly breaks with cambridge traditions. could be an improvement on punting, in my experience. usually the water trickles down your arm and then your pole ends up getting stuck in the water and the punt sails on. but you're rather separate from it all. maybe that's just me. thanks very much for being with us. >> 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 bake kohn. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> i'm ken burns. >> i'm lilly taylor. >> public broadcasting is my source for news about the world for intelligent conversation. >>