Life. Woodruff plus, with the spotlight of the world on brazil a group of artists take to the streets to call attention to violence against women. Ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. Bnsf railway. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions. 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. Woodruff new allegations emerged today of chinese cyber hacking into u. S. Government personnel files. The New York Times reported hackers accessed the office of personnel managements system, focusing on applications for top secret clearances. In beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman called the reports irresponsible. translated we have consistently stressed that china resolutely opposes internet hacking. On this issue, china does what it says. Some of the American Media and Cyber Security firms are making constant efforts to smear china and create the so called china cyber threat. Woodruff the allegations came as secretary of state john kerry was visiting china. He said theres no indication the hackers got hold of any sensitive material. Ifill the federal trade commission sued web retailer amazon. Com today for letting kids run up millions of dollars in charges without their parents permission. The charges usually involve mobile apps, such as games. The f. T. C. Wants amazon to refund any money spent without parental approval. It also wants an end to woodruff a mississippi child who once appeared to be cured of the aids virus is no longer in remission. Researchers initially hoped the child had no detectable h. I. V. Levels despite going more than two years without anti retroviral medicines. Federal Health Officials said today that new tests found signs of h. I. V. In her system after two years of clean results. Ifill the rift between kurds and shiite Prime Minister nuri almaliki deepened today. Kurdish ministers announced they will boycott weekly cabinet meetings after maliki accused them of harboring sunni militants whove captured iraqi territory. translated we declare that we will not take part in the upcoming cabinet sessions to show our protest, and we cannot endure any more such behavior, statements and stances. Ifill the kurds have infuriated maliki by seizing kirkuk and its oil reserves and moving toward a referendum on independence from iraq. Woodruff the Pakistani Military claimed major progress today in a bid to drive militant fighters out of their stronghold near the afghan border. Army leaders said their forces now control 80 of miranshah the largest town in north waziristan. The news came as pakistani intelligence reported a u. S. Drone strike killed six militants in the same region. Ifill a financial scare at a major bank in portugal sent european markets down today and wall street followed. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 70 points to close at 16,915; the nasdaq fell more than 22 points to close at 4,396; and the s p 500 dropped eight, to 1,964. Woodruff still to come on the newshour. A spat over spying escalates between germany and the u. S. The death toll climbs amid escalating violence in the middle east. A test that evaluates American Students and schools. Addressing the backlog of cases in u. S. Immigration courts. Did todays emmy nominations make netflix the new black . And, brazilian artists take to the streets to combat violence against women. Ifill germany announced today that it is kicking americas top spy out of the country after new allegations of u. S. Espionage. Local media there have reported that a German Defense ministry worker who dealt with International Security issues was also being investigated because of his close contacts to u. S. Spies. And last week, a 31yearold intelligence employee was arrested on suspicion of spying for foreign powers reportedly the c. I. A. Since 2012. The allegations come on the heels of last falls revelation that the u. S. Was intercepting the internet traffic of millions of german citizens, and tapping german chancellor Angela Merkels cell phone. Before the expulsion request was made public today, the chancellor told reporters that germany and the u. S. Have very different approaches to intelligence. translated spying on allies is a waste of energy in the end. We have so many problems and i think we should focus on the important things. Just look at the challenges posed in syria regarding isis, if you look at the fight against terrorism there are huge problems. That is of the highest priority from my point of view and not spying among allies. Ifill the white house and state department did not respond directly to questions about the expulsion request. Joining me now to discuss whether the u. S. Should or shouldnt be spying on allies Annette Heuser, the executive director of the Washington Office of the bertelsmann foundation, a Nonpartisan Organization that seeks to promote trans atlantic cooperation. Mark lowenthal, a former assistant director of the Central Intelligence agency. Annette heuser, is Angela Merkels response to this latest breach, is it overreaction or responding to what she sees as a betrayal . There is no doubt Angela Merkel is angry and outreached and disappointed, but the entire political cast in berlin and what has happened today sending a highlevel u. S. Citizen who is the head of the Surveillance Services in germany home back to the u. S. Is a very unusual step that tells you how serious these latest spy incidents are taken by the German Government. Ifill mark lowenthal, how unusual is it to expel someone that high ranking. Unusual among the allies, not with the russians. I think shes overreacting. Ifill why . Shes a little disingenuous, first of all. Countries spy on each other, including allies, and shes not going to temp it down by sending a Senior Intelligence officer home. Shell make it worse. This has to do with her domestic politics. Ifill Annette Heuser, you hear that, mr. Lowenthal says this happens all the time, this is overreaction. Its a very usual reaction among allies to take such a step as the chancellor has today and to respond to the allegations by saying everybody is spying on everybody is an easy answer to a complex political problem here and, dont forget, berlin was waiting for a very solid response from the white house for days right now and, so far, berlin has not received anything but radio silence. So what else should you do other than taking these steps, sending someone home who is a highlevel official in order to signal to the allies, in this case to the white house and washington, that the government has definitely crossed a line here and that germany, in this case berlin, is expecting a solid answer. Ifill how deep a split is this, really, do you think . Well get over it, the germans will get over it. I would contrast merkels response to the president of frances response in another case who said well get over it. It will not be the end all of germanu. S. Relations. Ifill Annette Heuser, what about the domestic problems . You said you see it as a complex political problem. An international or domestic concern . Its both. The United States has to understand that the u. S. Position and perception on its Intelligence Services is not shared by everyone in the world, in particular not by close allies and certainly not by germany. The germans will much more sensitive when it comes to the activities of their own Intelligence Services and even more so when it comes to the activities of other Intelligence Services, as we have seen right now, and, therefore, its first and foremost a perception problem between berlin and washington right now and i feel right now that washington did not get the memo that this is a very serious incident for the German Government and that the cracks that the nsa scandal has caused in the transatlantic relationship on the way to even getting worse right now. Ifill lets talk about whats on the table that the u. S. Needs germany for, an interlocutor involving ukraine or syria or iran . Germany is always at the table. Theres a german word that means alliance worthiness and a lot of seen your american officials are not alliance worthy. You may remember secretary of defense gates in his last memo basically read them a t riot act when said we cant have some Alliance Members opt in and opt out. When we took the case to the u. N. , the germans wouldnt vote for us. So allies come and. Go they pick and choose. So to say that you cant be an ally, there are issues we have with the germans where we are uncertain about their policy and that will sometimes necessitate getting information through other means. Ifill Annette Heuser what about that . Is Germany Alliance worthy or an unreliable ally on these issues . I think there can be no court at all that germany is a very serious and solid partner of the Transatlantic Alliance and a friend of the United States still. And the fact that, in some cases, germany has a different position in foreign politics than the United States doesnt mean its not a solid ally, and for decades right now, the u. S. Has forced us and supported us and developed german and european Foreign Security policy. But now we have different perceptions regarding ukraine and how to deal with vladimir putin, for instance, we are not seen as a solid ally anymore. Ifill let me ask you both the question, is it worse the president did know about some of these incidents or he may not have known about them . Either is not good. There have been press stories he did not know. I dont think you tell the president every time there was a human operation if there was. There are certain operations you say is the risk worth the game in a sensitive area. It really depends how long this was going on. It is interesting both of these were revealed in the same week. Its not accidental. The germans didnt trip over this and expose it. I think they have been sitting on it and played it like a trump card when they didnt get satisfaction out of the snowden investigation. Ifill Annette Heuser, timing and knowledge. What do you say about that . We can only speculate at this point but the fact is the damage has been done to the transatlantic relationship right now and i would say the ball is in the field of the white house to respond and, so far, there hasnt been a solid and sufficient response from the administration in washington. Ifill in any case, germany is not going to get its fondish wish immediately that it gets a nospying agreement . No, thats not going to happen. Ifill you agree with that, Annette Heuser. Yes, the germans swallowed two big pills, first the no spy agreement after the n. S. A. Scandal and the second germany will not be a part of the five and therefore have started the cyber dialogue with the United States that just took place a couple of weeks ago and immediately after there were new spy allegations from the u. S. Side and germany and this was really bad timing. I would say, right now, we cant afford this in the transatlantic relationship. Brown Annette Heuser and mark lowenthal, thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff the white house announced late today that president obama has told israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu the u. S. Is willing to negotiate a ceasefire between israel and hamas. On the ground, the death toll and damage continued to mount in gaza today, as israel sharply stepped up its air assault on the palestinian territory. Palestinians reported at least 85 people have been killed this week. The Israeli Military said it hit 500 targets throughout the day and 860 since the offensive began. Meanwhile, hamas continued to target israels two largest cities with missile strikes. Palestinians picked through the rubble of still smoldering homes in gaza, even as other buildings burned from fresh israeli air strikes. sirens in israel, streets were filled with more people running for cover, from tel aviv to jerusalem, as hamas militants shot off more rockets. Most have been intercepted by israeli air defense. translated we were just passing by the bridge at the entrance of jerusalem and we heard the sirens so we went into the supermarket straight away. Yes in the beginning its scary. It is bizarre that it is getting all the way to jerusalem. Woodruff the crisis forced an emergency meeting of the u. N. Security council in new york, where the israeli ambassador used a smartphone to help make his point. siren 15 seconds. Thats how much time you have to run for your life. Imagine having only 15 seconds to find a bomb shelter. Now imagine doing it with small children, or elderly parents, or an ailing friend. A generation of israeli children is growing up under the shadow of this threat. Woodruff outside the meeting, the Palestinian Ambassador said his people have even less time to escape danger. Fifteen seconds it takes to react to an incoming rocket. How many seconds does it take to react to a raiding aircraft over the heads of our people in the gaza strip . I can assure you, it doesnt take more than one or two seconds. It is death for sure. As we have noticed today, a death of total family, composed of eight individuals, five of them children. Woodruff that family died in a predawn israeli air strike that destroyed their home. translated children, women and old people, there cant be more oppression than this in the world, cant they see what is happening to the people here . Woodruff their funerals were held later in the day, and mourners carried their bodies through the streets of khan younis wrapped in hamas flags. A spokesman for the militant group called it genocide. We confirm that what is happening in gaza are real war crimes that take place while the world is standing in silence and the arab world is weak, we ask the International Community to carry out its responsibilities against the war crimes committed by the occupation. Woodruff but last night, israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu blamed hamas for putting palestinians in harms way. It embeds its terrorists in hospitals and schools, and mosques, apartment buildings throughout the gaza strip. Hamas is thus committing a double war crime it targets israeli civilians, while hiding behind palestinian civilians. Woodruff as the air strikes continued, israeli troops and tanks readied for a possible ground assault. Palestinian president abbas said israeli authorities warned gaza residents today to move away from the border. Israeli troops trained as tanks moved into strategic positions all along the border with gaza. Earlier today i spoke again tonight to Josef Federman of the associated press. Joseph, thank you for talking with us again. Bring us up to date about whats been happening just in the last few hours there. Yeah, i feel like its sort of like the Middle Grounds of a boxing match right now where the two sides are just kind of slugging each other and no sign of either side gaining momental. I think were kind of in a Holding Period that may go on for a couple of days. Woodruff there was a statement by president abbas that the residents on the gaza side of the border need to move back, suggesting he has some information about an israeli assault in what do you know about that . Well, i think what wes doing, hes reflecting the fears that israel could be moving in soon. As you know, israel has been moving forces, en massing forces along the worried boor of gaza preparing for the possibility of ground invasion, so that created speculation something could be around the border but, from what i could tell, i dont think its imminent. The Israeli Military says its happen by with the way the airplane campaign is going and is in no rush to go in with ground forces. The report that the military ordered people away from the border, its something that happened in past fight, but the army tells me that has not been the case this time around. Woodruff josef, we also heard the palestinian representative at the u. N. Say that, in gaza, they have only one or two seconds to respond when there has been or is about to be a strike. How much warning do they have . What are the israelis saying about that . Well, the israelis say that they will warn residents if theyve identified a building as a target, they will tell people to g