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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 corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now bbc world news. >> 70 years since the nazi troops invaded poland, european leaders paid tribute to those who died. >> there are no words to adequately describe the suffering. it is o>> the letters three

governments wrote to each other about the lockerbie bombing and now made public. beslan talks about the school siege. >> i will never forget. we can never forget. >> welcome to bbc world news broadcast on pbs in america and also are around the globe. coming up for you later, leading scientists are beginning to think that artificial trees might help save the planet. why was a distinguished american actor being watched by britain's security services?

>> the long years of suffering and the second world war has been remembered in poland. there are commemorations to mark 70 years since the conflict began. leaders from germany, russia, and poland pay their respects to the dead. no one knows how many millions have died. it was a day of solemn ceremony but that did not stop the president does poland voicing his anger at the role of the soviets in world war ii. >> september the first, 1939. the day not the troops poured into poland. -- the day nazi troops invaded poland. two days later, england and france declared war on germany. the second world war had begun. at a quarter to five this morning, the same time that

germany attacked, poland marked the anniversary of the invasion and honor the heroes. hear, polish troops were outnumbered 15 to one but they held out for a week before surrendering. it was not just the german aggression, it was also the attacks from the soviet union which followed two weeks later. >> and then came september 17th, the day when the germans were repelled. it was on the state that poland received a stab on the back from russia. >> for poland, this was a chance for them to honor their hero and to commemorate what happened 70 years ago. later, this became an international commemoration, an opportunity for former enemies and allies to give their thoughts on the second world war. from 20 countries, they gathered

at the cemetery for the defenders. a joint sign of the respect for the sacrifice made by poland. germany has apologized many times for the war. angela merkel did so today. >> i mourn the loss of lives. there are no words to describe the suffering of this war and the holocaust. >> from the russian prime minister, a confession that the secret pact between stalin and hitler to carve up poland had been wrong. he said the blame should be shared. >> all attempts since 1934 until 1939, all attempts to pacify the german aggression's with all sorts of agreements were morally unacceptable and practically were senseless. they were harmful and dangerous. that is why all of these actions

have led to the tragedy of the beginning of world war ii. one must confess these mistakes, our country did it. >> 70 years after, there are still different opinions about the start of world war ii. the one thing that unites europe is a determination that such a devastating conflict will never be repeated. >> more of the main news, iran has announced it is ready to resume talks over its nuclear program. their top nuclear negotiator says that they have new proposals to present to the u.n. security council. president obama has set a september deadline for iran to return to negotiations. 393 civilians were killed in august in iraq. 60 police officers and soldiers

also died. the number of violent deaths is the highest since july of last year but it is well below the worst levels of 2006 and 2007 when more than 2000 civilians were killed each month. the trial has begun in finland as a rwanda and priest charged with taking part in the genocide in 1994. he is accused of ordering the deaths of ethnic tutsis. he denied the charges. about 800,000 in all died in the genocide. the libyan government believes that the british prime minister did not want the man convicted for the lockerbie bombing to die in a scottish prison. that has emerged from letters and documents released today and this suggests -- and this suggestion has not been denied by the british government. the release was not the result of any hidden deal. >> it was the worst terrorist

atrocity ever committed on british soil. the way the libyans told it is that gordon brown did not want to see the lockerbie bomber died in prison. that is one reading. there has been confidential documents released by the scottish and british government. in scotland and england, they always insisted that this was a matter for scottish officials alone and this was purely done for compassion. however, there was information released about a visit to the libyan capital by this man, a british foreign minister. in britain's for abritain's fore minister was told that the death of the lockerbie scotland bomber

would have catastrophic results for the libyan and english relationship. the english officials said that they did not want a bomber to pass away in jail. >> we have published everything that we have. to our favor, we have published a lot. this is true the represents our opinion but you would have to ask the libyan official what he meant. >> any decision to release the bomber was not a matter for the english foreign minister but this was discussed how it might be handled with the libyan government. gordon brown began moves to normalize relations with libya, a country that had turned its back on terror. in tripoli, all will be

watching to see if the bomber will observe the celebrations of gaddafi's rise to power. >> libya shared its pariah status. this will be highlighted in the celebrations of the for the anniversary of muammar gaddafi's rise to power. we will look at how much the country has changed. >> in recent years, colonel gaddafi has ended his international isolation but relations with the west remain difficult. it is 40 years since he came to power in a coup. today, his image is everywhere. it is a permanent feature of the landscape. it is not just for tonight's anniversary celebration. libya is one of the most tightly

controlled countries in the entire middle east. it is very difficult to find someone who will speak out against the regime. we are on our way to meet one man who was brave enough to do so even though he knows that talking to us could mean going to jail. he's only too well aware that criticizing the rushing has a sentence of up to 25 years. -- criticizing the regime has a sentence of up to 25 years. he does not want to get anyone else into trouble by talking to us. >> they will kill you if you try to have a political party. it is a disaster for libya to have this regime for 30 years. i cannot say anything more than that. there's no freedom in this country. all the countries know that there's no freedom here, there's no freedom rights, no democracy.

>> what do you think of the government's like britain which want to do business with libya and will look the other way on the human rights situation? >> this is really stupid. the libyan people should never forget. >> the west has decided that they will do business without libya but without enthusiasm. western leaders will stay away from tonight's celebrations. >> good to have you with us. stay with us if you can. finding out firsthand as the u.n. secretary general looks more closely at climate change. some solutions are moving mainstream. first, officials in southern california now believed it could take a fortnight to bring the deadly wildfires under control. when has fanned the flames. -- wind has fanned the flames.

only 5% of the flames have been contained. the fire's moving closer to los angeles, it is only 20 kilometers away. >> don on the six the day brought a smoky haze over southern california as huge fires burn closer to america's second-largest city. -- dawn on the sixth day. since yesterday, 20,000 acres have been burned. we are in a residential neighborhood and there is a choking smoke filling the air. this is now the front line for firefighters as they battle a blaze that threatens more and more homes. thousands, including these residents, have been ordered to evacuate but many are not leaving. >> i have two older brothers and we will not leave until the fire department is in our backyard. >> even though evacuation is

mandatory? >> that is correct. >> it is scary. we hope this is for the best. >> state leaders are urging people not to hamper the progress of firefighters. >> we are hearing from law- enforcement that people are not following orders. please do. people want to stay behind and protect their home. >> low wind slows the spread. the fire near los angeles could take two weeks under control and is amongst the largest in the state. >> the latest headlines for you. ceremonies have been taking place in poland to mark the seventh anniversary of the invasion by germany that started the second world war. -- to mark the 70th anniversary

of the invasion by germany that started the second world war. new documents have been released that state of the british government did not want the lockerbie bombing to die in jail. iyou do not want to witness the death of a child. this is what people witnessed in beslan. rebels seized the school, police invaded, more than 300 people were killed, most of them are children. our reporter has returned to meet the children that have survived. >> in beslan's new cemetery, more than half of the dead are children. their lives were cut short by gunmen to storm the the school and held them hostage

for three days. >> why did they do this? why this school? i do not understand. >> alex was there with his father. >> this is where they killed my father. they threw all of the bodies of the window. -- out of the window. >> it was the start of the new school year. the gunmen forced everyone into the gymnasium. >> we just sat and sat and suddenly i opened my eyes and bang. >> i don't think that you can forget. never. i will never forget. >> after three days, russian

special forces stormed the school with such force that many blame them for the high casualties. at the end of the siege, 200 adults and 170 children were dead. only one gunman was caught alive. he was sentenced to life in prison. the rest, it was claimed, were killed, but many suspect that some of the other terrorists escaped. today, the children having new school. many have health problems. the teachers say that the school work has suffered in the wake of the attack. it has also given them a sense of purpose. >> i plan to become a prosecutor. i will fight terrorism and evil. >> life must go on, beslan is

enjoying a baby boom. >> the commonwealth has suspended fiji because its military has refused to restore democratic rule. the organ mason demanded that elections be held last year -- the organ demanded that elections be held last year. unemployment has reached its highest level in 10 years in the european union. more than 15 million are now jobless. unemployment could stay high for a while even though officially france and germany are emerging from recession. the u.n. secretary-general is visiting arctic stations to look at the effects of global warming. he is warning that the arctic might be virtually it is free

within 30 years. -- ice-free within 30 years. there are some surprises in the latest report on climate change. it appears that some way out of whack engineering solutions might work. >> combating climate change is one of our greatest challenges. as far-fetched as this may seem, this might be one of the solutions. these are artificial trees. they taken polluted air and clean it up. another idea is to spray sea water into the class to make them more shiny to reflect sunlight. these acts like a giant umbrella and the shade the planet. >> if the climate change

continues as expected or even worse, we might need additional techniques. what we need to do now is some research into the potential and the effectiveness said that if we need them, they are available. >> trees are the planet's natural air-conditioning systems. their leaves taken carbon dioxide and squeeze out oxygen and water to cool the planet. because of industrialization, we have been putting up so much carbon dioxide that our trees simply cannot keep up. >scientists are trying to find other ways to cool the climate. in 1980, we released a 38 gigatons of carbon dioxide. the latest estimates suggest that next year, it will have jumped to 50 gigatons, that would mean global temperatures rising by between 1.8 and four

degrees centigrade. in the future, a big engineering projects might slow down the damage to the environment but they are at best a short-term fix, not the solution. >> we have to lead our lives more sustainably and put less carbon into the atmosphere. without that, there is no future and all the rest is just a band-aid. >> some solutions are probably not say for affordable such as greening the seas. some of our other ideas might be the only hope of saving the planet. >> still to come, he aspires to go higher, spider-man is antics reach new highs. -- spider-man's antics reach new highs. thousands had the dalai lama pray for those who lost their

lives in the typhoons in taiwan. china has condemned the visit. [horns blowing] >> china says that the dali lama has no business here. these people disagree. they have come from all over taiwan to see him. [laughter] >> he mesmerized the crowd of mostly time when these people, cracking jokes from time to time. -- taiwanese people, cracking jokes from time to time. most of the time he answered questions and he offered prayers. >> the purpose for me being here today is because of the recent typhoon. almost 500 people lost their lives. the surviving families left behind are grieving. they are devastated. they are injured and full of sadness.

>> those who came here to see him said that he has taught them how to live as good human beings. they disagree with beijing this says that he has ulterior motives. >> it does not matter his religion, his visit here should be meaningful to all of us. it is not just about politics. >> even if people criticizing him, he still loves them. he does not differentiate. >> relations between taiwan and china have only recently improved following decades of tension. beijing has strongly criticized the visit as being politically motivated. 20,000 people have come up to see the dalai lama. they're looking for him to give them spiritual guidance, to help them deal with the typhoon and the economic downturn. >> he was a distinguished american film actor and producer

but he got no star treatment from the british security services. he was recommended for interment in the 1950's for his supposed, and a sympathy. michael buchanan has this support. >> he was a distinguished actor and producer, most famous for rebuilding the shakespeare globe theater in london. earlier this year, his daughter traveled to the west to find out why her father had moved to britain. >> i believe you have a file on my father. >> yes, we do. >> you do? >> yes, it is ready. >> nenewly released files show that he was kept under observation because of his involvement in the american communist party. he moved to britain in 1951. the authorities were interested

in any left-wing activities and they kept a close eye on him, even intercepting his mail. he writes to a friend who has asked him to help organize a party supporting peace. he said "you must understand that being an american in britain, one must tread with careful precision." he explains why he cannot help in organizing but he hopes that he can be a guest. he says he sincerely hopes that to the event is successful. >> he kept himself at arm's length from the communist party in britain. yes, he was a supporter in general. we see this in the theatrical work. he is following those agendas. he is not involving himself in communist propaganda or those activities. >> despite no obvious communist activities, one final talks

about what to do with them if the country is attacked. -- one file talks about what to do. >> there is a recommendation for interment or restriction. i ran on the 11th of november and i said it would be for interment. >> he died in 1993. his continued success is a testament of his commitment to britain and not some communist ideals, no matter what the security services might have feared. >> spider-man has pulled off another amazing feat, he scaled one of the tallest buildings without equipment. this is the third time that he is made an attempt on the 88 stories of the skyscraper in kuala lumpur. it took him two hours to reach the top. inevitably, he was arrested.

a japanese couple have zero dogs to their rivals -- have out- danced their rivals in traditional argentine dance, tango. the contest was taking place in the capital. leaders from poland, russia, and germany commemorated the anniversary of the second world war. there was a series of ceremonies in the polish capital. many more details and all of the international news on bbc.com anytime you want. >> 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.

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