solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? ♪ >> and now, "bbc world news america." this is bbc world news america. reporting from washington, am katty kay. a few islands in the south china sea and a pair of american bombers caused a whole lot of tension between beijing and washington. italy's most controversial, colorful, combative leader. is this really good for silvio berlusconi? and it has been around for four point 5 billion years, and now, meetingment -- comet is the sun. we could be in for a real treat.

welcome to our viewers on public television in america and elsewhere around the globe. reaffirming support to japan in the midst of growing tension with china. vice president joe biden will raise concerns with beijing he visits china next week. today, the u.s. secretary of defense called his japanese counterpart to stress the japanese security agreement does include the set of disputed items in the south china sea. bombers flew over those islands on monday in defiance of chinese restrictions. it is still not clear how beijing will respond. the tension could even affect commercial planes that fly over the protected territory. >> we are tempting to determine

about the civil aviation commercial air flight. in the meantime, u.s. air .arriers are being advised to >> i spoke earlier with a man who formerly served with the u.s. security council and is now vice president of the atlantic council. he joined me. x much for joining me. how concerned do you think they are in the white house about what happened with china this week? >> i think quite concerned. one of the most dangerous potential flashpoint in general in the world in 2013 and 2014 is, indeed, sort of a dispute over these islands, where rising nationalism in china and japan could lead to mistakes of miscalculation, and now we have the u.s. involved, so i think this is something that is taken very seriously. i worry that my colleagues in the white house are not going to

formuch for time thanksgiving. >> emergency measures. this newly declared airspace was infringed upon, the americans went ahead and sent bombers into that airspace, and the chinese so far have done nothing. what do you read into that? >> i read into that that the chinese might realize, one hopes that they realize, that they overplayed their hand once again. let's step back. in 2010, there were a lot of chinese actions that made a lot of their neighbors very worried, seeking reassurance from the u.s., and then where our military would focus on asia and reassuring our allies there. after that, china kind of stopped taking these kinds of measures. this is the first time they are sort of testing and probing again, and if you think about it, this is sort of classic rising powers stuff. the rising power tries to change

the status quo. the current superpower tries to prevent that. we have to be very careful to avoid a miscalculation that possibly get us into a conflict. >> calculations, you mentioned this a few minutes ago. what are you thinking? >> if one of their planes which is not as controlled by their military commanders as ours are, maybe it makes a mistake. maybe it does not have appropriate rules of engagement. maybe its radar locks onto the next u.s. aircraft in that area and that our planes respond in kind. you have to have a lot of discipline. military aircraft and ships are complex. there is a lot going on. there is a lot of people involved, and it is easy to old it was very tight reins, or we could have an accident or incident that escalates. faultwhat extent does the lie with your former colleagues in the white house that have

been necessarily preoccupied with events in the middle east, although they might have wanted to pay more attention to rising tension in asia? >> i think that is right. there are issues. china sees that our secretary of date, our secretary of defense, our president, everyone is focused a lot on the major turmoil in the middle east. perhaps they think it distracts us, but they have to understand that as they say the u.s. can walk and chew gum at the same time, as they say. sense that the obama administration has prioritized cooperation with china at a very, very high level, so it has gone out of its way to not inside problems. we need china's cooperation on global challenges, such as sanctions on iran, such as north korea, so they have prioritized sort of a softer approach to china, but i think this chinese announcement of their own defensive zone in international waters went too far, and i

applaud the white house or the very quick and clear response that puts china back in an appropriate box in this case. you very much. >> more from the elements in the south china seas which are causing issues. and police say they have detained radical islam is in moscow. the raids were in the east of the city, and police also uncovered guns and bombs, and they say this group had links to al qaeda. this is two months ahead of the winter olympic games. and the leader of the crew which into crisis has been charged. he was to be taken before a judge after being remanded to custody. it allowed the al qaeda-linked militants to affect the north.

thesetting fire to headquarters of the islamic led headquarters in a southern town. this follows rallies and strikes and other parts of the country, where they are calling for greater government intervention. and brazil's chances of being ready for next year's world cup took another hit today when the stadium that will host the opening match partially collapsed. two workers were killed at the site in san paolo. sao paulo. they may not meet the deadline. we were sent this report from brazil. >> it could hardly be worse news for brazil. 40's,rkers, both in their killed, several injured in são paulo. this is where they are due to take off the world cup next

year. a huge crane crashed into part of the roof. >> we are worried about the families. earlier this week, the bbc revealed the huge pressure brazil is under to get its 12 world cup stadiums ready for the fee for deadline -- the fifa deadline. we saw exhausted workers sleeping between shifts, but others not able to finish jobs because of torrential rain. >> now we have teams working day and night to finish the structure. when we conclude this park, we will go back to a normal day shift. >> the situation at some stadiums is critical. golding standards are good, but as they try to beat the clock, there are concerns risks may be taken to finish the job and to avoid the embarrassment from

having venues removed from the schedule. -- in an and on almost almost impossible schedule. they must be finished, because they an initial another stadium will not be finished until the middle of january at the latest. and top officials expressed their sorrow for today's events in são paulo. they do not know how the setback will affect the tournament program, and local officials reject any suggestion the opening games may have to be moved elsewhere. abc news, brazil. out of theing kicked italian senate but vows he is not finished with italian politics yet. silvio berlusconi, three times the prime minister, watched today as his fellow politicians voted him out of parliament. there were his convictions of tax fraud. so now what for the charismatic media mobile? we have this report.

moment that many italians will remember all of their lives, the announcement that silvio berlusconi was being thrown out of parliament. told berity of senators convicted tax fraudster he was not fit for this place. some were outraged. they insist he is innocent, thatly convicted by judges were trying to end his political career. moments before the vote against him, the man himself was defiant as he addressed the supporters outside his home. he said he would fight on, continue to lead his party from outside parliament. >> we must not despair that the leader of the center right is no longer a senator. there are leaders of other

parties who are not members of parliament. even if one is not a member of parliament, one can continue to fight for our freedom. that began a career nearly 20 years ago. politics and the football club, but along with the champagne, endless scandals and court cases. and it was his conviction for tax fraud last summer that led to his expulsion from parliament. he now finds himself pushed out of the frontline of the political frame. he is weaker and more marginalized. and italians voted for him at the last election, and he will continue to look at support. berlusconi shows this is far from over. rome.ws, >> yes, what a show it is.

the process continued in the ukraine. by somee been welcomed and opposed by others. there is still economic pressure from russia that was instrumental in unveiling the deal. our correspondent traveled across the ukraine and sent us this report. >> it is a town that looks russian, speaks russian. it even has its own russian but this isy thomas in eastern ukraine, the country's industrial heartland. the local refrigerator factory remains reliant on the russian market. it sells many of these to europe. here, they are rather cool to the idea of eu intervention. a free trade deal with brussels would mean trade barriers to the east, and these refrigerators would subtly become 35% more expensive in russia and would be priced out of the market. >> russia is much more important

to us right now than europe. we do not want those links broken. >> it is a similar story across this part of ukraine, where the factories here find good relations with russia to be vital. the european union is something that is so far away, and although there is some support for closer ties with europe, there is also great concern about damaging relations with russia. >> it is a different story here. this is in western ukraine. it is part of austria-hungary. at thes like europe. catholic cathedral here, a baptism. he is named after the pope, baby , theys

dependent on russia. >> if we keep taking the bread which russia hand out to us, we would just keep coming back for more. we will never be our own masters. >> this fruit juice manufacture were has moved closer to europe. it has opened two factories in poland, and there are more on the way. if we bring ukrainian laws into line with european legislation, that will help us. >> in the city, they know exactly what part they want ukraine to take, but this country is divided. to the east and to the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, ukraine. >> you are watching "bbc world news america." to come, this american

woman is winning medals in the swimming pool. we will tell you her remarkable story. minister, the prime has resigned, following the death of 64 people when the roof of a supermarket caved in last week. the bbc's nick charles has more on the political turmoil. >> repercussions from this catastrophic building collapse continue. the country is still reeling from the country's disaster since it declared its independence from the soviet union 22 years ago. much national grief and mourning on display since the tragedy, but also anger, and the prime minister has emerged before the cameras to announce his resignation. politicaling responsibility for the disaster, he said. his departure also means that a new government has to be formed just weeks before the country is meant to join the euro zone.

shell of the supermarket is being demolished. emergency workers are also sifting through debris for clues into an investigation into whether building regulations were violated. many are pointing to the tons of soil from a new roof garden as a key factor. the minister has partly blamed a lack of oversight of construction projects, part of the austerity for the eurozone membership. there is also the say willon that some not create economic or political instability. >> politicians have made similar decisions, and this is really ,he biggest ever catastrophe and politicians have agreed to start negotiations to start consultations about a new >> but latvians are now having to come to terms with a period of political

uncertainty, even as they continue to digest the scale of last week's tragedy. nick charles, bbc news. >> a comet survived a trip near meet a fieryill it death? that is a question fascinating physicist and amateur astronomers today. astronomers say we have never quite seen a comment like this one, which will be about one million miles from the sun. for more on the 4.5 billion- year-old comet, we have the chief astronomer of the franklin institute in philadelphia. getting soentists excited about this particular comet? >> scientists are particularly interested in this comment because this is a comment that comes from a cloud that is a sphere of proto-comets at

encircles the entire solar thatm, and the information is contained in the nucleus of the comet helps astronomers understand what the early history of the solar system was like way back in the beginning, so it has pristine information about the early solar system. and there are names you could not make up, but it could not be real for us on earth when we look at it after thanksgiving, what are we likely to see? in the predawn sky, this is on the eastern side of the sky, and we will be able to see what is left of the nucleus with a tail extending above it heading up into the northeastern sky. on december 1, and then on successive days after that, it will move higher in the predawn sky.

>> what is the component? >> it is what happens to the nucleus as it passes close to the son on thanksgiving day. i call this the thanksgiving be that but it could conglomeration of dirty, frozen carbon dioxide. it may not have enough integrity to hold due to the pull of the sun's gravity, and it may fall apart. it may already have done so. also, generating enough clout to generate a long tail, so depending on what happens as it goes around the sun, it will determine how bright it will look and how long the tail will be and how much of a nucleus we will see coming out of it at all. >> ok, my understanding about comet is that they are made up put it near the

sun, and i am managing it as a combination. >> it is an even worse combination, because the ice is not water ice, but frozen carbon dioxide. we can freeze it into what called dry ice, but as it warms, there is what is sublime, and it goes directly into a gas, so in this case, it makes up the head around the nucleus, and the solar wind with the electromagnetic particles coming from the sun, it will blow the dust and the gas out behind the will, and hopefully, there be a enough to sustain a path around the sun. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> now, to a remarkable story for courage in the face of adversity. in 2008, an american swimmer was paralyzed from the waist down after an epidural to treat back pain went arab league wrong.

just three months later, she returned to the pool and went on to win a gold medal at the paralympic games. we were given exclusive access to her treatment as she continues her dream to walk again. learning to walk for the second time in her life. it she is that much closer to achieving her goal of once again being able to walk. >> it is not the same walking by any means. it is not graceful, strutting around in high heels. i am not doing any of that, but i am up and walking, and that was something that i did not know i would ever be able to do again. it is about just moving forward with life and doing everything.

>> two months before her 19th birthday, the teenager from minnesota was left paralyzed from the waist down. >> everything i knew was instantly just to fred, and everything that was normal to me before hand was just, you know, flew off the door, and i had to learn how to do it again, and it was a very, very challenging thing, in general and especially at that age. >> with her world falling down around her, swimming proved to be her savior. >> it was one of the most freeing things i have ever experienced. it forced me to start pushing forward in life and realize that, you know, being in a wheelchair is not a death sentence by any means. i might have to do things different, but i can't do everything i did before. she will spends

the rest of her life in a wheelchair. she has accepted that, but with the help of her carbon fiber leg braces, she has given herself another chance. >> i wanted to upgrade and see but,e and do those things, specifically, i was paralyzed in the hospital, and i always talk about my story and how i walked in and never walked out, and today was my first time doing that. i had my family and loved ones around me, and i got to walk out of the door in the hospital, what was so simple and may be silly, but that day, i still remember every day about it. i remember walking down the hallway the last time, i remember everything, so to be able to walk out of the hospital was, like, the coolest thing ever. and it just means so much, it means that six years later, i am at this point where that day

does not define me, and i pushed forward. >> one incredibly determined and courageous young woman, and also a gold medal winning olympian. i have to admit, it has struck me as one of the more curious american traditions, the annual thanksgiving pardon of a turkey by the most powerful man in the world, and if that itself was not odd enough, this year's turkey was called popcorn. yes, the bird that was given a reprieve from stuffing and gravy has a name. in fact, this year, president obama became all soft and decided to pardon two turkeys, and the other one was called paramount. caramel. like to, but we would wish all of you in the united states a very happy

thanksgiving, and we hope you have a happy and cheerful day with all of your family and friends. for me, katty kay, and all of us here at "bbc world news america," in join your thanksgiving, and we will see you back here. -- enjoy your thanksgiving. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank, >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard

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(george chattering excitedly) this program was made possible by: have over 90 years of first steps behind them. what he does know is that, today, he's started walking, and life got a whole lot more exciting. stride rite is a proud sponsor of "curious george." can fuel a lifetime of learning. abcmouse.com early learning academy, proud sponsor of pbs kids and curious george. funding for curious george is provided by contributions to your pbs station... ooh. ...and from: ) (lively drum intro) ♪ you never do know what's around the bend ♪ ♪ big adventure or a brand-new friend ♪ ♪ when you're curious like curious george ♪

♪ swing! ♪ ♪ well, every day ♪ every day ♪ ♪ is so glorious ♪ glorious ♪ george! ♪ and everything ♪ everything ♪ ♪ is so wondrous ♪ wondrous ♪ ♪ there's more to explore when you open the door ♪ ♪ and meet friends like this, you just can't miss ♪ ♪ i know you're curious ♪ ♪ curious ♪ ♪ and that's marvelous ♪ ♪ marvelous ♪ ♪ and that's your reward ♪ ♪ you'll never be bored ♪ ♪ if you ask yourself, "what is this?" ♪ ♪ like curious... ♪ like curious... curious george. ♪ oh... captioning sponsored by nbc/universal narrator: the country house was a great place for a monkey. (door opens) though sometimes george ran up against the house rules. (stammering) i-i... the... (groans)

we don't draw on the walls. house rules, remember? george, what did we say about buttering your corn with your feet? some house rules make sense, and some seem like a complete waste of feet. (birds twittering) ooh. (chittering) the animals in the tree didn't have to worry about any old house rules, which made it sound like a great place for a monkey. (chittering scream) hi.