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>> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america" reporting from washington. making history in burma, hillary clinton dines with aung san suu kyi. getting tough on tehran, the european union and poses new sanctions as the fallout spreads from the storming of the british embassy. >> the right hon. gentleman knows very well that he has no choice. >> meryl streep takes on margaret thatcher on the big screen. she talks exclusively to the bbc about her role as the iron lady. >> i wanted to in some way capture what everett was that drew people to her.

>> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the u.s. secretary of state made history when she dined with nobel laureate aung san suu kyi. hillary clinton is the most senior official to visit the country in more than half a century. she met with the most famous political prisoner. is there a lasting guarantee that this new openness will last? >> an american secretary of state shaking hands with burma's president, thein sein, a former junta leader. then, face-to-face with aung san

suu kyi. this was all unthinkable even a few months ago. this is a sign that things might be changing in this country. in the morning, at the capitol, the burmese president laid out his program for reform. he seemed keen on this outside expertise on change. the american diplomat gave some praise but said that more work was required. she offered incentives to do more. the four ministers supported invitation to visit washington. this is the beginning of a long process. -- the foreign minister scored an invitation to visit washington. >> we will certainly consider the easing and elimination of sanctions as we go forward in this process. >> this was the reason for the very cautious optimism. for years, the burmese people

have suffered terribly at the hands of the country's when the -- country's junta. thousands of local prisoners are in jail and the fighting continues. aung san suu kyi was only released from house arrest last year. she said it was important to reinforce the hands of the reformers and the government. she said she trust the president. it appears that not everyone in his entourage is on board was changed. the american secretary of state's hopes that this would not be a solitary visit but the beginning of a long partnership. this all depends on whether the leadership can demonstrate that they are serious about reform. washington and the burmese opposition will be watching thein sein's every move.

>> for more on the historic nature of this visit, i am joined now from new york by the director of the burma project at the open society institute. thank you for joining us. everyone is excited to see those pictures of hillary clinton and aung san suu kyi being able to meet openly. how much leverage does the government in the u.s. have over the burmese government? >> they have a lot of leverage. they are the biggest market. they have outsized influence around the world. before the regime took over, but for the military regime took over, the two countries were very friendly. -- before the military regime took over, the countries were very friendly. >> we have seen steps towards reform. do you think that this is real? >> i think it is.

for one thing, aung san suu kyi thinks it is and she trusts president thein sein. this is different feeling and very exciting. >> why do you think it is different? what is motivating the government here? why should this field right? >> this is like reading tea leaves. -- why should this feel right. >> the regime is the most unpredictable group there is and one does not really know. the world has changed. it is difficult to keep information out. the region has changed. they are probably sick of being a pariah. >> what are you looking for as a benchmark? hillary clinton said that there should be no political prisoners in burma. would that be an indication to

you that this would be long- lasting if all political prisoners were released? >> that is one of them. as aung san suu kyi, you have to have the rule of law and independent judiciary. >> do you think that you will get that in burma? >> do you mean the independent judiciary? >> right. >> yes, i think that we will get democracy. yes, i think that we will have a rule of law and independent judiciary. >> what more would you like hillary clinton to save behind closed doors during this visit? -- to say behind closed doors during this visit? >> i would like her to tell them what they get out of a partnership with the united states. the kind of exchanges, even with the military to upgrade their education.

i hate to say this, they can get a lot better arms than they have now from china and they cannot afford really anything. they are a pretty miserably equipped army. there is probably a lot of enticement. i am not saying that that is what she was saying, we will say -- we will sell you arms. >> your opinion has tightened sanctions against iran following the storming of the british embassy in tehran. 180 companies and individuals have been blacklisted and the you presented plans for an oil embargo. the coordinated effort to isolate iran highlights concerns over the country's nuclear program. at the scene of the day's meeting, we get our report. >> european union foreign ministers were planning this

meeting long before the embassy was attacked. now, it has greater urgency. >> we have added 180 additional companies, individuals, associated with iran's nuclear program, or with the shipping lines, or with the revolutionary guard. that is a major extension of the european union's sanctions on iran. >> tuesday's and to see a tax are still vivid. the british government believe that the attackers had connections with the conservative establishment. areuesday's embassy attacks still vivid. >> their greatest resource is will exports. they are sustaining their human rights abuses and this is feeding their nuclear ambitions like northern sector of their economy. >> for some, that pressure

should focus on their oil fields. the islamic republic is one of the world's largest exporters of oil and they sell to europe. some ministers suggested that an oil abroad go but others oppose it. -- as some ministers suggested an oil embargo but others are opposed to it. some european sanctions can only have a limited impact on iran turned down so, for now the west has agreed to focus on stopping making's military from military weapons. -- some of european sanctions can only have limited impact on iran. so, the west has agreed to focus on stopping iran's military from making military weapons. >> syria is considered to be in a state of civil war with 4000 people killed since the protests

began in march. the transitional council and the syrian -- the free syrian army have joined forces. the president of france has said that he and the german chancellor, angela merkel, will seek a new european union treaty to impose greater financial discipline. he said that the debt crisis revealed major weaknesses in the european union and that it needed to be rebuilt. there is new evidence that the crisis in the eurozone stretches far beyond europe possible orders. china has seen its manufacturing output shrank partly because european nations are not importing some many chinese goods. >> shanghai, china, the world's second-biggest economy. still growing fast while western

economies stagnate. the eurozone is floundering under its debt and they are not buying as much chinese staff. all of those troubles some western debts, someone say that china is partly to blame. look at the extraordinary wealth that the chinese economic miracle has generated. the way that china has exported some much more than they import and they produce so much more than they consume. that is the global economy on a fragile foundation. they have lent money to us that we can buy their products? in the process the u.s., u.k., much of the european union has become unsustainably large. outside of shanghai, this farmer is living and working in harsh conditions of the sort we have not seen in britain for 100 years. the economic miracle allowed his

son to escape the poverty of the land. >> my son does not do this. my village is in an industrial area. on the farm, we live at the mercy of the elements which means the income is not stable. my son will not do farm work. he is a salesman in a factory. >> because of the millions coming into the jobs market every year, china needs economic growth of 8% or more to prevent social unrest. purchases of chinese products probably will not deliver that prosperity. i asked the new generation of billionaires' whether the chinese themselves can be persuaded to spend more. >> yes, it is happening. consumption is growing at a faster rate in the economy. workers' wages have been improving and that will drive

consumption. the older generation is not spend too much but the younger generation has almost the same spending habits as their american counterparts. >> if debris engineered their economy said that chinese people consume more and -- if the chinese engineer their economy so that the chinese people consume more and save less, they could import more. this could well determine our future is. >> now to afghanistan where as the u.s. prepares to bring its troops home, women's rights groups say that the international community is preparing to abandon them. 10 years ago when the u.s. arrived, improving the lot of women was considered a major objective. now, activists have said that the advances they have made will be lost. >> fashioning the new future for

themselves and their country. every stitch is a testament to a fragile freedom. under the taliban, afghan women were trapped at home. there were uneducated and unemployed. fast forward 10 years and now they make up half of the work force. at this design company, they toiled alongside men. this woman says that she is proud to be the bread winner for her brothers. founder is's concerned about the outlook if there is a reconciliation with the taliban. >> none of them have come forward to say that they are moderate and they believe differently. if their mandate has changed, their view has changed, because they have not claimed that they have changed and they will be different. >> there are big plans for this

business. they hope to begin exporting to the u.s. and europe and eventually to create a few hundred jobs. all of that might be possible in the future if the future is not shaped by the taliban. in areas under their control, women are still voiceless and defenseless. this woman is 25. her final moments are captured in this footage which emerged in january. for the crime of adultery, she was stoned and then shot dead. this is another of their targets. she is a prominent member of parliament who survived a taliban ambush on her car last year. this outspoken activist refuses to be silenced. she fears that afghan women could soon be abandoned by the international community which promised to them so much.

>> they have turned their face on the women's issues and they just want to say goodbye and leave afghanistan. we have been outspoken about what we want to. >> her eldest daughter is studying hard. she would like to be an aerospace engineer. but she and her younger sister are afraid for themselves and their mother. they want a future outside of afghanistan. >> a terrifying future for afghan women. you are watching "bbc world news america," still to come --, getting aids into the american south. campaigners are out to change a trend. -- combating aids in the

american south. >> the flicker of the haunting past. they are some of the 7144 macedonian jews lost in the holocaust. with 90% of the community killed, it was the most complete annihilation of jews anywhere in the world. in an area that sought genocide again in the balkan wars, a new museum had renewed residents. -- in an area that saw genocide again in the balkan wars. >> problems are solved by education, not by wars. >> the video talks about how jews and expelled from europe settled in macedonia. during world war ii, they were sent to their death in poland. a few years ago, this was a -- years ago, this was a thriving

jewish area. today, few remain. the community was almost totally wiped out. for many beyond the borders, this is a virtually unknown story. this 89-year-old knows the details too well. she lost almost 20 members of her family and only survived by joining the resistance force. >> i did not even say goodbye to my family. i was hiding and another building. i heard screams and the soldiers were shouting. i cannot forget those screams. i dream about them. >> decades ago, only jews made up this choir. today, only two members are jewish. small in number with a painful history, they are determined to keep their voice heard. >> we can beat this disease,

that was president obama's vow to day. his promise might be more true for some of the u.s. than others. there is more evidence of the geographic divide in the battle against aids. a disproportionate amount of hiv-positive americans live in southern states. ♪ ♪ >> they don't want to talk about it in church, they don't want to talk about it in the home. they don't want to warn the children. >> with the number is continuing to be high in the south, there is a need for us to address this up front. that has not happened yet. >> the cemeteries are littered with secrets. scores of those buried here died

from hiv. such is the stigma of the disease in the south that many took the true cause of their debt to the grave. >> i have lost my sisters, i have lost my sisters, and lost, -- sisters, in-laws. >> this woman, who has lost much of her family, is determined to make sure the story is told. >> i try not to cry. >> she is one of the few to speak out about a disease that in the south has oval on the affected african americans. >> -- that in the south has overwhelmingly affected african americans. >> how can i be a woman of god and give someone a condom? i said, i would prefer to give you a condom and to preach at

your funeral. >> in new york, public health officials had no choice but to respond to the aids crisis. >> this author chronicles the reference story and the aids epidemic in the south. >> we had a major shift in the cultural avenue and it is still continuing to plague the south. >> we have a key types of tests. >> a short drive away, this clinic treats 450 people in the area that are hiv positive. it is an uphill battle to get those at the highest risk advice and treatment. >> people wait longer to get tested so they come into the system more sick. that adds to the academic -- to the epidemic because the virus

is higher in the community. >> i don't want anyone to have to experience this. aid to gaza strip you. if i can keep one family from going through this, then it it is worth it. -- aids will strip you. >> now to a movie generating global bus before it hits the big screen. more than two decades after leaving downing street, margaret thatcher is being immortalized in a film on her life. marc rich -- meryl streep played the part and she spoke to us. >> whose fault is this? >> there might be only one margaret thatcher but she has had many imitators over the years. >> teachers cannot teach. >> now, meryl streep is taking a

turn. what did she want to bring to what is already a well-worn path? >> i wanted to been some way to capture what ever it was that drew people to her and whatever was that made people have just a special venom for her as a public figure. >> u-turn if you want to. [laughter] [applause] the lady is not for turning. >> the most difficult thing that i had to do was to find the breath to make my points but to make sure that you did not get your point in at any point. another thing, milk has gone up. 49 p a pint. >> 1 version as her as a

political powerhouse, the other is as an old lady with dementia. this is not easy. >> there is a shakespearean element to it like king lear or hamlet. >> oh, i love you. oh, my god. i always called her lear for girls. it is concerned with in the endgame and how power diminishes. >> here is a man who knows margaret thatcher well. he found meryl streep's conformance -- performance totally convincing. >> this will be very controversial. margaret thatcher depicted as a feeble old lady, lonely and in some instances, hallucinating.

i found it very painful to watch. if it was about my mother, i would feel very unhappy about it. you can defend it as a work of art. >> how you feel about doing it while she was still alive? >> i felt that if we did it in the right way, yes, it would be ok. there is a feeling that the walls are more permeable between the present and the past. >> meryl streep has been nominated for more oscars than any other actress. it has been quite a while since she won. the iron lady might turn that around. >> meryl streep. that brings the day to a close. from all of us here at "bbc world news america" thank you

for watching. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global strength to work for a wide range of companies.

what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet los angeles.