ray suarez talks with margaret warner, who's reporting from moscow. >> woodruff: and spencer michels reports on how music therapy can help the brain recover from disability or injury. >> music can make a positive impact on people suffering

. >> ifill: then ray suarez interviews susan rice, u.s. ambassador to the united nations, about the security council resolution calling for syria's leader to step down. >> woodruff: from germany, margaret warner reports on reaction to the european union's fiscal discipline deal. >> ifill: as florida votes, jeffrey brown examines the foreclosure crisis that has depressed housing prices there and around the country. >> woodruff: and we close with more on the political campaign from mark shields and david brooks. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

. >> woodruff: then, ray suarez looks at the new york city police department's surveillance of muslim neighborhoods across the northeast in the wake of 9/11. >> ifill: from ethiopia, we look at the battle over land and water between relocated farmers and the government. >> this country is a country that has suffered food insecurity and famine and yet gives out these huge land resources. >> woodruff: we talk with marcia coyle about today's arguments at the supreme court on whether multinational corporations can be held responsible for human rights violations. >> ifill: and jeffrey brown talks with jason moran, the pianist, composer, and new musical adviser for jazz at the kennedy center for the performing arts washington. >> improvisation of music and jazz kind of forces us to focus. it forces us to have an imagination.

ray? >> suarez: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm ray suarez. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the newshour tonight, we have a newsmaker interview with health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius on the white house shift in position. >> brown: then, two countries, one big debt crisis. from greece, james mates of independent television news reports on new austerity measures, and two days of strikes in response. >> suarez: and from italy, margaret warner takes a closer look at the flagging economy of europe's second most indebted nation. >> reality was where we're going down the drain, we are going the greece way, and that will be a disaster for us and for the rest of europe, and i think for the rest of the world. >> brown: mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> suarez: and hari sreenivasan profiles china's newest english language sensation, jessica beinecke, a teacher of american slang. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundatio

. >> ifill: ray suarez tells the story of victor rios, a one-time california gang member now college professor and mentor to at-risk youth. >> it was important for me to hear an adult tell me, "listen, we know you messed up. we know you're a dropout, but we still believe in you." and they gave me that dignity and i ran with it, and i'm still running. >> woodruff: jeffrey brown examines the much-anticipated public offering for social media giant facebook. >> ifill: and hari sreenivasan explores a fossil find in the rocky mountains packed with the bones of ice age mammoths. it's the subject of tonight's edition of "nova." >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: past negotiations over iran's nuclear program have been stalled for more than a year, and tehran appears to be moving toward gaining the technology and materials it needs to build nuclear weapons. recently, iran's government sent a letter to catherine ashton, the coordinator for talks between iran and six other nations, indicating it's ready to start again. ashton met with secretary of state hillary clinton today. afterwards, clinton said the letter appeared to acknowledge that the talks must begin with a discussion of iran's nuclear program. >> the international community has been looking to iran to demonstrate it is prepared to come to the table in a serious and constructive way. this response from the iranian government is one we've been waiting for, and if we do proceed, it will have to be a sustained effort that can produce results. >> suarez: secretary clinton said the major powers are still reviewing a formal response to the iranian letter. swift has agreed to stop handling iranian bank transfers. it's seen as an important setback to iran d

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: the story has been emerging since last summer. new york city police began extensively monitoring muslims in the city after 9/11. the operation revealed by the associated press triggered immediate criticism from civil rights groups. >> at the end o the dayit is pure and simple, a rogue domestic surveillance operation. that's a matter of serious concern to us. >> suarez: but new york city's police commissioner, ray kelly, insisted last year the surveillance is is necessary and legal. >> we're doing what we believe we have to do to protect the city. we have many many lawyers in our employ. we see ourselves as very conscious and aware of civil liberties. we know that there's always going to be scrutiny. there's always going to be some tension between the police department and so-called civil liberties groups. >> suarez: the program used undercover police officers and recruited muslim informants to keep watch. mayor michael bloomberg insisted last december the operation was not about racial profiling. >> the city's police department ha

ray suarez has that. >> suarez: in the capital damascus, a high-ranking russian visitor in other cities more death and destruction. we start with a report from jonathan miller of independent television news in beirut. >> reporter: artillery and rockets started pounding parts of homs at dawn again, the fourth straight day. this even as the president promised to cooperate with any effort to promote stability in syria. the russian foreign minister fated like a hero in damascus by a regime fast running out of friends. syrian state tv awash with love for russia which vetoed the u.n. resolution. and someone reportedly told assad that every leader should be aware of his share of responsibility, adding that he hoped the arab people could live in peace and understanding. but while the president again promised political reforms and assured the russian mediator that he wanted an end to the violence, his military clearly remaining under orders to stop the uprising and across syria, the onslaught continued. in the rest of southern where the revolt began last march, a street demonstration was met wit

ray suarez has our update. >> suarez: there have been more than 250 drugs declared in short supply in the past year. the latest worries centered around a pivotal one called methotrexate. used to treat several kinds of cancers, methotrexate is considered essential in battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia among adults and especially among children. a.l.l. is the most common form of cancer in children affecting about 3,500 kids in the u.s. each year. late last year, one of four u.s. manufacturers of the drug was forced to shut down a plant, triggering alarms that hospitals could run out of the drug within days. this afternoon, f.d.a. officials told the newshour and other news organizations they have a plan that will avert the shortage. but there are still questions being asked about the problem. doctor peter adamson of the children's hospital of philadelphia has been one of the leading voices in all this. he chairs a nationwide children's oncology group. dr. adamson, why did it even get to this point? help us understand why if one manufacturer is forced to close a plant the remaining one

major stories. >> the criminal case linked to the suicide of a gay student got under way today, ray suarezory. >> suarez: this was the day for opening statements in the trial of dharun ravi. prosecutors went first in a courtroom in new brunswick, new jersey. >> this isn'tç about da run ravi having to like tyler clementi's sexual orientation, or having to like the nature of his private sexual activity. but it is about having the decency to respect it and to respect tyler's dignity andç privacy. >> in the fall of 2010 ravi shared a freshman dorm room with tyler clementi who he knew to be gay. ravi allegedly used a web cam to spy on one of clementi's physical encounters. prosecutors say he also posted about it on twitter and invited others to watch via video chat. on september 22nd clementi killed himself by jumping off new york's george washington bridge. the suicide sent result gers-- rutgers into mourning and set off a national debate about homophobia and sign booling. >> the tools of the internet enabled this cruel or saddistic behavior to be amp find and publicized, not just on the cam

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: the vote in the u.n. general assembly endorsed an arab league proposal-- 137 to 12, with 17 nations abstaining. the non-binding resolution called for syria to end its violent crackdown and for president bashar al-assad to step down. russia and china vetoed a similar measure in the u.n. security council, but the egyptian ambassador said the arab league still wants action. >> ( translated ): this stresses the need for an immediate, complete, and faithful implementation of all the provisions of the arab action plan. the only ideal means to realize the aspirations of the syrian people that are legitimate. >> suarez: meanwhile, the violence inside syria raged on, as the army kept up an assault on homs and other cities. jonathan rugman of "independent television news" made his way to one town under siege-- saraquib. fighters from the free syrian army are trying to hold government forces at bay. >> reporter: saraquib is home to a deadly game of cat and mouse. the militiamen open fire on tanks which we saw statio

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: since the weekend syrian tanks and troops have been blasting rebel fighters in the suburbs of damascus itself. at least 100 people were killed monday alone. and by today, protestors were left to pick up the wounded since the military regained control. farther north in hommes, more deaths with activists reporting heavy shelling and machine gun fire by the syrian army. all of which means the u.n.'s most recent estimate, more than 5400 syrians killed since march, is already out of date. >> what's going on in syria is an absolute scandal. i'veeen saying it for weeks not to say months. >> suarez: french foreign minister voiced the west's mounting frustration on french radio today. >> the butchering continues despite the presence of observers who the arab league who have just left. there are dozens or hundreds of deaths every week. this is not acceptable. this president has blood on his hands. it's not possible for him to continue to assume responsibility for his country. >> suarez: he took that message to new york and the united nations where western and

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: russians go to the polls sunday to choose their next president. and current prime minister putin hopes they'll return him to his old job. tens of thousands of protestors have something different in mind. they formed a human chain on a main road circling the kremlin in central moscow yesterday to register their opposition. they're part of a movement ignited last december after alleged fraud in parliamentary elections. the 59-year-old prime minister fired back today, publishing a lengthy manifesto in a moscow paper warning the west and other powers not to take military action against syria and iran and accusing the u.s. of meddling in the politics of russia and its neighbors. and a state-run television station reported today that a joint russian-ukrainian operation had captured men reportedly plotting to assassinate putin after next sunday's election. the men are allegedly chech inseparatists. margaret warner is in moscow covering the election. margaret, good to have you with us. tell us more about this reported assassination plot. >> warner: it was