17/03/2017 BBC World News America

This is a World News America, reporting from Washington, I'm Jane

O'Brien. A rift in relations between the US and UK. Britain's

intelligence agencies says allegations it eavesdropped on

President Trump are utterly ridiculous. Wiretapping allegations

also took centre stage at President Trump's meeting with Angela Merkel,

where he stood by his claim. As far as wiretapping, I guess this past

Administration, at least we have something in common perhaps. And the

famous Kronos Quartet is now helping the next generation of musicians

with new music from around the globe.

Welcome to our viewers on public television in America and around the

globe. They are supposed to be the closest allies, but unusually sharp

words have been exchanged between Britain and the US. The UK is

outraged over a claim its intelligence agency bugged Donald

Trump during the election campaign. The allegation was made by a

television analyst and repeated by the White House press secretary.

Britain's denials come just one day after a key Senate committee said

there was also no evidence that Mr Trump was bugged by US intelligence

either. The risk Frank Gardner. Britain's GCHQ surveillance agency -

secretly listening in, said the White House,

on President-Elect Not true, says GCHQ,

in a rare public rebuttal. It all began with a tweet,

with Donald Trump alleging on social media Barack Obama had ordered

the tapping of his phone calls Then came the claim, from Fox News,

that GCHQ may have been behind it. Sources have told Fox News

that President Obama could very easily have,

and probably did, use a foreign intelligence service to gather this

information for him. The probable culprit

here is called GCHQ. The next thing, that unsubstantiated

claim was being quoted That triggered alarm

bells in Whitehall. I'm told it was serious enough

to be considered a threat It prompted this

unprecedented denial by GCHQ. Recent allegations, it said,

made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ

being asked to conduct wiretapping against the then

President-Elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous

and should be ignored. This is just not

something GCHQ does. The legislation under which it

operates doesn't allow it to happen. The governance and the oversight

of the organisation just does not I think, in this case,

it is absolutely clear this If Donald Trump was embarrassed,

he wasn't showing it today - seen here meeting the German

Chancellor, Angela Merkel. His administration has promised not

to repeat these allegations, So, what is the damage

to relations with Washington? MI6, MI5 and GCHQ, Britain's three

spy agencies, all have incredibly close working relationships

with their US counterparts. Whitehall officials insisted

today that partnership remains as strong as ever,

despite the controversy Still, it is a bad day

for Western intelligence, when Britain has to publicly

contradict a statement coming out of the highest office

of its closest partner, Frank Gardner, BBC News, outside MI6

headquarters in central London. President Trump was asked about

allegations against a day. He said the media initially pointed the

finger at the British intelligence agency and not the White House or

the president himself. We said nothing. All we did was quote a

certain very talented legal mind, who was the one responsible for

saying that on television. I didn't make an opinion on it, that was a

statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. You shouldn't be

talking to me, you should be talking to Fox, OK? Making matters even

murkier, late today Fox News said they had no evidence of any kind

President Trump was under surveillance at any time in any way.

Wiretapping was just one of the topics the leaders discussed today

and a short time ago I discussed Chancellor Merkel's visit with

Charles Koch who served as senior director for European affairs at the

National Security Council during the Obama Administration. Thanks for

joining me, how damaging are these wiretapping allegations? They won't

go away. We have an expression here, when you're in a hole stop digging.

President Trump seems to keep digging. The Republican leadership

has come out and said no wiretapping. Now the US has more or

less had to apologise to the UK for this report that it was British

intelligence that was giving misinformation. That is no more

confirmable than the wiretapping to begin with. Rather than backing off

President Trump keeps doubling down and it is damaging his credibility.

Those comments came at the end of that news conference but what we saw

throughout was really a vision of two different worldviews. Angela

Merkel talking about globalisation, defending free trade, and Donald

Trump putting America first. How are these different approaches going to

be reconciled? Angela Merkel put her finger on it when G said it's better

to be talking to each other than about each other. In some ways it

was an indication that the discussion in the Oval Office was

probably pretty frank and tough. As you said, they are coming at the

core issues from opposite ends of the political spectrum. I think we

did see a bit of movement on some of the core issues, with the Chancellor

accepting she needs to do more on defence spending, with President

Trump saying, I will stand by historic institutions, whatever that

means. He didn't come right out and say I support the EU, which I think

Chancellor Merkel would have liked. There is no question this is the

initial conversation in what is going to be a very tough

conversation across the Atlantic over the coming months. What are the

priorities here? They disagree on virtually everything from Russia, to

Nato, to the future of the EU. What is the consequence if they don't get

it right? Particularly on Russia. I think if they don't get it right we

are in a heap of trouble because as we found out during the Obama

presidency, Berlin and Washington need to stay in lockstep. In part

because the French are weak politically and economically, the

British are tied up in the Brexit negotiation, so it is really the

leader of Germany and the United States that have been guiding the

West at a very troubled time when there is populous rising on both

sides of the Atlantic. The key issues for now are to stand by the

core institutions of Nato and EU. Trump did say he supports Nato. To

stand up to Russia because Russia continues to leaning and interfere

in our politics. It's still got troops in Ukraine. I think the

toughest conversation may be on trade. We saw that today in the

press conference, Merkel said, I'm a free trader, standing by trade

deals. Trump was really America first. That's going to be a tough

conversation especially because Merkel is hosting the G20 coming up

in July. All eyes on that. Charles, thank you very much indeed. Let's

take a look at some of the other news. The UN refugee agency has said

it is appalled by the deaths of dozens of Somali refugees after

their boat was attacked off Yemen's red Sea coast. More than 40 bodies

have been recovered and survivors taken to detention centres. It's not

clear who was behind the attack. Coastguards say the vessel was

travelling from Yemen to Sudan when it was fired at from the air. A US

Secret Service laptop containing sensitive information about

President Trump and Hillary Clinton has been stolen. The computer

contained the floor plans of Trump Tower and details of the

investigation into Mrs Clinton's use of a private e-mail server. It was

reportedly taken from an agent's car in the New York borough of Brooklyn

on Thursday, police are trying to identify suspects from CCTV footage.

Egyptian archaeologists say a vast statue uncovered in a suburb of

Cairo last week is not Pharaoh Rameses the second as originally

thought, it is believed to depict a much later King, some take the

first. It was found by an Egyptian- German archaeological team and had

split into a number of parts. Its torso alone weighed more than 300

tonnes. Today the US secretary of state Rex Tillerson continued his

trip to Asia with a blunt message for North Korea. The White House's

ruling nothing out including military action. Speaking after

talks with South Korean leaders, Rex Tillerson said a policy of strategic

patience with Pyongyang was over. Stephen Evans reports from Seoul. Mr

to and came here with a particular message in the Foreign Ministry and

that is that the ironclad alliance between the US and South Korea, as

he calls it, will remain, whoever wins power in elections here in two

months. He was firm, though quietly spoken, he said the old policy has

ended. We wait, though, to see exactly what the new policy will be.

Let me be very clear, the policy of strategic patience has ended. We are

exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures, all

options are on the table. North Korea must understand that the only

path to a secure economically prosperous future is to abandon its

development of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other

weapons of mass destruction. We call on other regional powers and all

nations to join us in demanding the North Korean government choose a

better path and different future for its people. Beyond the actual words,

the tone of the press conference was that the moment North Korea has the

ability to hit the continental United States with nuclear weapons

is a moment of real crisis. And military options really will be an

the table then. For more on secretary Tillerson's tough tour, I

spoke to Jordan Chang, author of nuclear showdown: North Korea takes

on the world. He joined us from New York. -- Gordon. Thank you for

joining me. Very different tone, but what can we make of it, what does it

mean? The Trump administration has yet to figure out its policy on

North Korea. That is sort of understandable because North Korea

policy isn't just about North Korea, it's about Iran, Pakistan and China,

because these countries cooperate on ballistic missiles and nuclear

weapon technology. This is a hard issue for the United States. Part of

Tillerson 's brief is to find out what the Chinese position is and how

far they can be pushed. Tillerson talks about the military operation

but it's not going to happen because there are 25 million South Koreans

living in Seoul, 30 parameters from the demilitarised zone separating

the two careers. The North Korean army has about 60% of its forces

deployed on the DMC. What can he do, if the military option isn't an

option, what is? He talked about arming North Korea, South Korea and

Japan with the world's most dangerous weapons. I don't think

it's going to happen because that is ditching seven decades of American

proliferation policy. One thing he can do which administrations in the

past haven't tried, as a matter of fact the only thing they haven't

tried, is to impose costs on China for aiding North Korea in illicit

ways. If we unplugged Chinese banks from the global system for money

laundering, which we should do, it would rock global markets but it

would tell the Chinese for the first time in more than two decade we're

serious about protecting the American homeland. There are no

longer any low-cost solutions, we've got ourselves in a very bad place,

it's going to be horrible getting out of it. How is China going to

react? Because that is his next stop. If Tillerson was going to do

this, and he has talked about sanctioning Chinese companies,

Beijing would be upset. Beijing has not been cooperating, it's been

helping North Korea, transferring missile technology, and probably

nuclear weapons technology as well, because we know they have also

transferred material to the North Koreans. We have to come to some

understanding. Really a horrible realisation for us, but the Chinese

are not on our side. They are on the side of North Korea, and we have a

long way to go in getting China to a good place on this. The wild card is

North Korea, you haven't mentioned what their reaction is likely to be

and you're not dealing with a rational regime. They think the

regime is rational but Kim Jong-un the ruler has a low threshold of

risk. Within about three or four week period at the end of January,

through February, we saw many instances of instability. For

instance the demotion of the Minister of State Security, the

execution of five senior subordinates. The killing of King

Jong-un, the older half brother of the ruler. -- Tillerson. On the Lord

of the intermediate range ballistic missile the head of the North Korean

missile forces wasn't there, indicating turbulence at the top of

the North Korean military. This is an exceedingly difficult situation

because I believe North Korea is not stable. Thank you very much for

joining me, Gordon Chang. You're watching World News America.

Still to come... Reaching a remote part of China where a security

crackdown is underway. Why Beijing worries about terrorism among this

community. Authorities in Peru remain on high

alert after heavy rains caused mudslides and two rivers to burst

banks in the capital, Lima. The damage has forced schools and roads

to close and tens of thousands of people have been left homeless, as

Greg Dawson reports. As a mudslide churns up the debris of what was

somebody's home, a woman suddenly emerges clinging for her life.

Slowly, she is able to find her feet and carefully step away. Before

onlookers rushed to help her. Later commit Peru's health Minister tells

her she's had a lucky escape. She's not the only one. Just watch as a

mudslide takes out two chucks. One of the drivers somehow manages to

climb from his cab, just before the rushing water drags his vehicle

away. It's not clear what happened to the people in the other lorry. In

some parts of Peru's capital, Lima, the only route to safety is up as

police as if children out of the flood waters. One temperatures in

the Pacific have brought torrential rain to Peru according to the macro

causing burst river banks and mudslides. 50 people have died in

floods since December and tens of thousands have lost their homes. The

floods have damaged crops and hit the tourism industry. The full

extent of the damage will be Nova while, heavy rain will continue for

at least another two weeks. Greg Dawson, BBC News.

China has declared that Islamist separatists in the far west of the

country are the greatest threat to the nation's security. The president

promised to build what he calls a great wall of iron to safeguard the

vast western region option Jang, home to a community of some 10

million mostly Muslims who the government says may be vulnerable to

radicalising propaganda from Syria and Iraq. Widespread intimidation

makes reporting from the region extremely difficult, but Carrie

Gracie gained exclusive access and sent this report.

Once the fabled silk Road between China and the West, now the front

line in China's war on terror. They called it an all-out offensive. A

new great wall of iron. Thousands of troops, pledging to lay down their

lives and shed blood. We're heading for the scene of the only confirmed

attack this year. China doesn't want the world to see the police

checkpoints. Filming has to be discreet. Body searches in every

public building. We're the only foreign reporters to get to this

county. Three young Uighurs knifed a group of hanging Chinese on the

street here last month. Five victims died of their wounds. Police shot

the attackers dead. -- Han Chinese. Some are glad of the heightened

security. TRANSLATION: You don't need to be afraid, she

says, this place is full of police, you can feel safe, it's a lot better

than before. Recent attacks have all been local and low-tech. A handful

of young farmers armed only with knives. They show no sign of

delivering the kind of large-scale atrocity that would explain the

government call for an all-out offensive and sending thousands of

troops to this so-called front line. But some say there are more attacks

than the government admits to. Security, the only growth business.

They say it's backward here. They would get out if they could. But

Beijing worries about where they would go. TRANSLATION: The so-called

Islamic the so-called Islamic State posted

videos of Xinjiang in Iraq, promising rivers of blood in Chinese

heartland. Religion in Xinjiang is under ever-growing pressure. No

young people in the mosque, no beards except the very old. And

propaganda slogans urging the public to thank their Communist Party

leaders. Some are grateful. This man sings a

tune that Beijing likes. They call him Xinjiang's Justin Bieber. A

reminder that Uighurs were once more famous for song than for violence.

He told his fans disease every chance the government offers but the

relationship between Uighurs and Han were Chinese, he says he can't talk

about it, and I can see why he is careful. People disappear. Armed

SWAT teams are everywhere. Foreign critics warned this repression is

the recruiting Sergeant for terror. But China vows it will triumph. And

until then every Uighur is suspect. Carrie Gracie, BBC News, Xinjiang.

The Kronos Quartet has been entertaining audiences worldwide for

more than 40 years, now they are turning their attention to the next

generation of musicians. They've launched a project which helps

emerging professionals and students with a series of specially

commissioned scores. The BBC caught up with the team at the historic

sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC.

50 for the future is a five-year commissioning programme. Each year

we commissioned five women and five men composers and making music for

future generations. And I want just the most amazing music we can find.

We're frequently working with young groups, some from high school, some

from colleges, and young professional groups. They are

playing our repertoire, that they can download for free from our

website, the scores on the parts, you can listen to the coding is. You

can hear each composer speaking about their work, giving details of

interpretation and background. For free. Any time of day and night.

Whether it has been written by Laurie Anderson, Terry Riley, we

decided to make it has readily available as possible. That is what

50 for the Future is trying to do. Writing for the Kronos is a great

honour, but to think of the younger quartets behind them, I was thinking

as I was writing, what is useful for a young quartet to learn? A nice

thing for them to do, some little things they haven't seen before but

nothing too extreme. I thought, what is enjoyable in this part, I play

myself, I know what is fun to do and less fun to do. In very conscious of

how it feels to play, so when I write something I wanted to feel

good as well sound good, when it feels good and the player is happy

to it, it works. I'm so pleased about the way the

project is developing, it's much bigger than I thought. I think it's

a very generous gesture on behalf of Chronos to give to the new

generation is 50 new pieces which they have access to free online,

it's a wonderful thing they are doing. What I hope is that 50 for

the Future is this platform that will allow other groups all over the

world to have as much fun as Chronos does.

I want musical viewpoint expressed not only through 50 for the Future,

but all the work Kronos does. That is is ending on a high note.

You can find much more on all the news of the day on the website. For

now, from all of us at World News America, thank you for watching and

have a good weekend. For an extended look at the weather.

We're going to look at the weather for the next week. And a little bit

beyond. We start looking into the Atlantic at the jet stream, that

fast flowing river in the upper atmosphere