>> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to help make strategic decisions.

we offer tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." this is bbc world news america reporting from washington. i am jane o'briant. u.s. western inspectors are met with gunfire as they try to reach the site of a chemical attack. there is tough talk against the assad regime. >> make no mistake. president obama there must be accountability for those who would use the world most heinous weapons against the world's most honorable people. >> the high-profile trial draws to a close in china. now he also awaits the verdict. animals have long world rushes arctic oceans. oil and gas are moving and.

tonight we look at the potential impact. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. a moral obscenity is what the u.s. secretary of state is accusing the assad regime of perpetrating against its own. today he ramped up the pressure by saying the syrian government was behind the use of chemical weapons last week and has now destroyed the evidence. this comes as inspectors trying to get to the scene of the alleged attack were fired on today. , watched byamascus the world, inspector set up this morning to visit one of the site of last week's alleged nerve gas attack.

the car was replace. the survivors led to hundreds to death. they also examined what appears to be missions. it's been five days since the attack. the international manti is pressing to know who carried it out. >> they interviewed. survivors. doctors. they are returning to damascus. >> experts are convinced a were hit with nerve gas. tonight the u.s. faced the plane u.s. on the syrian regime. >> everything these images are our the screaming at us israel.

we know that the stream is maintaining custody. they have the capacity to do it with rockets. it has been determined to clear the opposition run those very places where the attacks took place. >> the state department said officials were repairing options for the president. >> make no mistake. thereent obama believes must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people. >> it is a serious enough crisis for david cameron to cut short his holiday and return from london. he will be chairing the council on wednesday for the government may be deciding on how to respond. >> is it possible to act on chemical weapons? is it possible to respond without complete unity on the un council?

i would argue it is. respond impossible to to such outrages. >> this is the most likely weapon to be deployed if they decide on a military response. this was fired from hundreds of miles out to sea. russia, syria's closest ally at the human is firmly opposed to any military intervention. of force without the approval of the united nations security council is a very grave violation of international law. this is not intended to change the balance of power. they may have consequences. bbc news. >> as we just reported, the

white house and the international committee are contemplating how to respond to recent events in syria. for more consideration, i spoke with the direct your of the center on international security at the atlantic council into formerly served as a senior director of president obama's national security council. >> nothing is being treated more seriously at the moment. ?hat are the options >> there are a range of options. what we heard from secretary kerry today was a definitive statement on what are the likely objectives of a military operation. it strikes me that is deterring further use of chemical weapons. there could be more ambitious objectives all the way up to changing the balance of power. i think we heard very clearly a case that is just being made to date -- today. at cruiselooking

missile strikes? where? >> i think that will be determined in the coming days. we will look at an air campaign with some focus. it will focus on targets but in the eyes of the coalition will help convince assad this was not a good threshold to cross and it should not be done again. >> we also heard some very impassioned language coming from john kerry. quite a change from their measured tone. what is going on behind the scenes? what has changed? >> i heard from the white house over the weekend the messaging that was coming out. additional pretty strong language when there is a question of the access. too little too late to be credible. i think we are developing the

political legal and moral arguments to underwrite a diplomatic strategy to put a aalition together to begin focused military operation. >> the u.s. is not managed to put a coalition together in two years. isn't there a chance it will divide the community further? >> i think it will be a coalition of specific members. the key places to watch our nato -- our nato and the arab league. those a be the focus of a future coalition. will the administration go to the united nations where it ultimately would be blocked by russia or china? that is interesting. >> just very briefly. what is the greater risk here? ?s it in action

>> we have seen two years of relative inaction. it has piled up. more than 100,000 dead. much more extremist elements in the rebel groups. i think we have seen what doing nothing ducks. it is time to do something in response to this egregious use -- weapons ofns mass destruction. >> thank you for joining me. >> he was once a rising star in china's communist party leadership. close.is trial drew to a he deniedtement abuse of power and accused others close to him of being guilty of greed. the verdict will be delivered at a later date. >> for five days the communist party has been busy destroying one of its own.

bo xilai, a popular politician and once one of the 25 most powerful men in the country, has been portrayed in court as greedy, corrupt, and violent. experimentcedented in openness, the public have been able to follow the trial roof transcripts even though public we -- heavily edited. many watch as he mounted his defense, an attack on the reputations of his accusers. he dismissed his wife to the video evidence against him as insane and he denied trying to cover up her crime, the murder of her business partner in a dispute over money. he described the lies as a testimony of one key witness, this former police chip with whom he appears to suggest his wife may have been having an affair. it seems we have not been given a full account. evidence emerged that show some claiming they hire communist

party authorities were aware at trying tof at least cover up the murder. have momentarily switched pass. almost as soon as it appeared, his feisty,ed. >> colorful performance is well in character. he has a rare charisma and the normally gray suited world chinese politics. his ambition has made him powerful enemies. china says it is what is the stain of corruption from public life. those connecting water from this natural spring close to the court know there's much more at stake. sensitive to talk about this man says. i do not dare to. so much -- show trial is bo xilai's last

evidence of power. will be long enough to bury him politically. bbc news. >> peace negotiators have called off a meeting with their counterparts after security forces shot dead three palestinians during clashes at a refugee cap in the west inc.. the military said it has opened fire on the police. afghanistan's president karzai has asked pakistan's government to help arrange peace talks. he was the thing on a visit with now what sharif. mr. karzai said lack of security was the main concern for both countries. america's highest military declaration, the medal of honor, has been awarded to tie carter. he is only the living recipient from the conflict in iraq to

receive the distinction. he was recognized for his heroism during a battle which took place in 2009. far from the battlefields of afghanistan, a nation paying homage to a soldier who risked andlife to save a comrade whose actions change the course of a battle. >> it was chaos. a blizzard of bullets in steel in which he ran perhaps 10 times. in doing so he displayed the essence of true heroism. >> i just knew this is what needed to happen. i also knew that if i did not prove -- bring them that ammo that i would be letting them down and i would refer to i doing what i knew was right then using fear to make my decision and be because of one of their deaths. >> a professional shoulders --

a professional soldiers a modest account. many more would have parish without him. he kept coming while dragging his wounded comrades to safety. but if you are left to just one image on that day, let it be this. him,nding over, looking up creating owing him in his arms in carrying him through all the bullets in getting him back to the humvee. toll.s has taken its like many others returning from a decade of conflict in iraq and suffers fromhe posttraumatic stress disorder. often called the hidden wound of war. >> i did not notice a change. all i knew was that i do not want to talk to anybody. i did not want to see anybody. i do not want to do anything. the only thing i wanted to do was go into my hunk and hide. >> he has earned other rewards including the purple heart.

>> god bless you all. back at home he continue serving his military by helping other soldiers. this battle may still lie ahead. >> and stored in a story of heroism. you are watching bbc world news america. today it ise, it he' donald trump you has felt the what-- the heat over authorities say was simply a scam. the global diamond industry is undergoing a huge transformation. change this to botswana. they have joined the ranks of antwerp and tel aviv as one of the world most important diamond hubs. the world's richest diamond

mines in the world's biggest diamond producing nation. this is worth billion to but juana. the country wants more benefit before it will eventually be dried. there are millions and millions of dollars worth on this table. this one alone is worth a cool $12 million. previously it would have been sold all the way to london for global buyers. moment for this country. quite the mining giant has been relocating more of the diamond work. sales are next. there should be more jobs for locals. >> $6 billion worth of diamonds will be sold here every year.

there is hope that will make an economic impact. botswana has become one of the richest countries in africa thanks to diamond mining. there are warnings. >> it is a concern. the diamonds are running out. they should be far more diversified than we are at the moment. >> botswana has at least another decade of diamonds left. the challenge is to turn this company into a global trading hub before they run out. bbc news. one of the most famous businessmen in the world is now in a fight with the state of new york over a school bearing his name. donald trump is being sued by the state attorney general for defrauding students who enrolled at trump university.

a claim to teach them how to make money. the lawsuit alleges students were convinced to pay for expensive seminars that proved to be worthless. trump says the accusations are baseless. bbc in new york. >> he has picked quite a battle. what has led to these charges? the lawsuit was filed on saturday according to the authorities. trump university was unlicensed. promises were not met. some of the examples included that he was supposed to handpick the instructors with the university but he allegedly did not. 5000 students hope they will be able to meet him in person. instead they only managed to take a photo with the light side picture of mr. trump. the amount he is being sued for

is not a lot given his wealth. it was with his reputation. he has been aggressively denying these charges. he has been appearing on a number of tv programs this morning. he is a lightweight who is using this as a reason to gain popularity. they are using this as another pr opportunity. this is what the attorney general has been saying today. maybe president obama might be involved. they say that they did meet on thursday. to bed that he seems using this as a pr stunt. he cannot seem to have a bad headline in using this for more publicity as well.

>> a lot of personal comments are being made. is likely to reach the courts? too soon tobably tell. it seems like there have been quite a number of complaints. they hoped that the price tag of $35,000 that they would be able to learn how to be as rich and successful as mr. trump. many of them felt they were disappointed. donald trump has been saying that they have been providing the testimonies of 11,000 accounts. 98% of them have said that the program was really good. .t is becoming an ugly battle >> power and politics in new york again. thank you for joining us. in the current economic climate, countries are all trying to spur thinks it has a

solution. head north. he planned to embark on a large- scale drilling drilling for oil and gas in the russian ark to ocean. if the environmental price -- is the environmental price too high? daniel sanford joined an expedition to the russian arctic. he filed this report. from a town deep inside the arctic circle. headed evene further north. as we entered the arctic ocean, polar bears patrolled the shores. the bears and the huge walruses cold.ll adopted to the the world is changing around them. august.dnight in mid it is pretty much still daylight. only a few years ago this part would have been all of ice flows .nd -- and unnavigable

this year it is open water. climate change has to medically reduce the arctic ice in the summer. even up here in dc it is driving the animals onto land. are coming ashore in far greater numbers and in places they never used to. >> i'm going to have to talk quietly. may crush each other to death. they are precious creatures. they're trying to establish if the role races here -- walruses here are a completely unique subspecies. like the untouched landscape which the wildlife enjoys is about to be disrupted by the arrival of the oil and gas industry. vladimir putin says the

economic future depends on exploiting the huge deposits in the arctic including here in the laptop see. give more than this to the arctic seas. >> very little research has been done. this is gathering dna to try to establish with species need special protection when the oil and gas companies arrived in force. something to make protect our system. we are supposed to know which -- are most important. >> drilling for oil means

helping the pallbearers will not be easy. although no one is yet pumping oil from under the seas, exploration has already begun. bbc news, in the russian arctic. >> for animals and the wild to those a little closer. breeding pandas in captivity is difficult. tozoos have reason celebrate. in washington,, a baby cut that was born friday is said to be vibrant, healthy, and active. in at number of, -- in edinburgh they are ready for the first panda to be born in britain. >> they say a short stroke and help bring things on. he was not giving anything away. hormones have -- spiked and she is making moves toward nesting. nobody is certain she is pregnant. >> we are pretty sure that this

is a pregnancy. we would love have to be able to confirm that she would not corporate with us on that. >> they put her on 24-hour alert. an expert has been flown in from china. all she could do this morning was a and wait. we may not know for certain whether she is pregnant despite the good signs. she has certainly been enjoying the line late -- limelight. she has been basking in the sunshine. >> we have been watching on the internet and being very excited for the fact that it might happen while we were here. it is wonderful. even if there is a cub, they are tiny and vulnerable. the days after birth are critical to survival. it easily does have a baby on the way, she was not letting on. stay tuned for that.

that brings us today to a close. you can continue watching bbc world news on our 24-hour news network. from me, goodbye. >> makes sense of international news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years,and union bank. i union bank our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in working to nurture new ventures

and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" wasfor presented by kcet, los angeles.

captioning sponsored by >> ifill: the obama administration declared today the syrian government did use poison gas on its citizens and the u.s. will hold the assad regime accountable. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, after facing sniper fire, u.n. inspectors arrived at the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack in syria.. we have the latest on the investigation, and look at options on the table for a u.s. response. >> ifill: a massive wildfire near yosemite national park has engulfed more than 200 square miles, threatening key sources of water and power for the city of san francisco. jeffrey brown gets the latest on the dangerous blaze.