giving your company the resources and stability to thrive. mufg -- we build relationships that build the world. >> and now, "bbc world news." >> this is bbc world news america reporting from washington. continuity in the kingdom. saudi arabia's new ruler faust to uphold the policies of -- vows to uphold the policies of the late king abdullah. u.s. officials cautious about the outcome of discussions with cuba. henry the eighth's sigrid passion -- secret passion was not women but weeding. the ruler may have had a bit of a green thumb. >> welcome to our viewers in public television in america and around the globe. the new king of saudi arabia says he will continue the policies of the late king abdullah. king salman was speaking hours after the death of his brother. his words were watched carefully. >> wrapped in a simple shroud, the body of king abdullah laid to rest today. 90 years old, he died of pneumonia, the world's oldest monarch. buried by tradition in an unmarked grave. his death was expected, but many are morning. he was a symbol of stability in turbulent times. >> i can't describe my feelings, said this man. from early morning, everyone was upset. he meant a lot to us. he meant a lot to world leaders, too. saudi arabia's enormous oil wealth has made it one of the biggest trading partners in arms importers. king abdullah was a firm ally of the west. at home he had to tread a careful path as to not antagonize the deeply conservative religious clerics. saudi arabia remains the only country in the world where women are for been to drive. >> there are lot of practices in saudi arabia that don't fit well with practices in britain. one thing king abdullah did was modernize the country substantially. there are more women in higher education than there are men in saudi arabia. this would have been unthinkable a few years ago. >> saudi women still need a male relative's permission to travel mary, or started business. >> you can be a millionaire but you need a man to manage her day-to-day business. you still need a man to sign you out to leave the country. you still need a man to drive you around. >> the saudi government has been receiving condolences at embassies around the world. king abdullah is being generally mourned, but critics say that his reforms did not go nearly far enough and that the saudi authorities must learn how to tolerate peaceful dissent without locking people up on charges of terrorism. the new saudi monarch king salman is from the old guard. he is thought unlikely to embark on reforms and there are questions about his health. >> if you saw the speech he gave, it did not sound good. he was mumbling. he seemed somewhat spacey, somewhat unsure how to inflect meaning to the words in his speech. >> tonight king salman has been sitting old of allegiance from his countrymen. tomorrow he will receive world leaders like david cameron, keen to cement their ties with arguably the most important arab country. >> for more on the death of king abdullah, i spoke a short time ago to jane smith who served as america's ambassador to saudi arabia until 2013. thank you very much for coming. what changes now in saudi arabia ? >> you have a transition that speaks to stability. the transition was seamless. as expected, salman became king after being crowned prince for three years. interestingly, very quickly prints muqrin -- prince muqrin becomes the crown prince. over the next few hours he will be given allegiance by the allegiance commission. they announced prince mohammed as the deputy prince. it is a master stroke because they told the saudi people there will be stability for the next 30 years. they signal the transition to the next generation. >> that is interesting because of the questions about king salman's health. >> people have different opinions about his health. there are some that say he has dementia. i personally never saw that. >> you met him? >> many times. he was the governor of riyadh for almost 50 years. we dealt with him on an ongoing basis. >> what did you make of him in terms of his capacity to rule what is a very important american ally? >> i don't have any reservations about his ability. again, he was governor of the most populated region of saudi arabia for a very long time. he is a very well respected inside the family. he is the family enforcer. he deals with the challenges inside the family. he is well-respected inside the family. over the last years his portfolio has expanded to include ministry of defense and crown prince. i don't have reservations. i am comfortable with the other two, prince muqrin and mohammed and their ability to manage wealth. the problem is not so much the age of the king in terms of wisdom. that is respected. you need energy to force a bureaucracy. that is the problem king abdullah has had over the last five years. king salman takes over when they are facing challenges from the north and south. yemen and the east, iran. >> i think what you will see is a continuation of policies in place. that they will maintain a distance from iran even though with isis, they face a common threat and they have been in talks with iranians that they have not been in years. their biggest concern other than iran is to the south, the border conflict in 2009. there is a concern with isis to the north, although less so in terms of the border threat. the europeans, like america like australia, are concerned when they come home. >> thanks for coming in. the head of the american delegation to cuba has wrapped up her high-level visit to the island in a controversial manner. rebecca jacobs met a high number of cuban visitors. despite that visit and continuing disagreements, both sides to take pains to say the meeting was constr uctive. >> it is not every day there is a media stampede in cuba, especially one that leaves a casualty on the floor. all this not for a celebrity but an american diplomat here to break new ground between old enemies. the two sides laid out a detailed agenda for reestablishing diplomatic relations, but they will need more meetings to finalize and years to be with disagreements. at this stage, roberta jacobson was not ready to protect the success of the new u.s. policy. >> i have learned in diplomacy for the number of years i have been involved it is never a good idea to draw your conclusions after a first conversation. >> she was clear about america's goals. empowering the cuban people, including with internet opportunities in this tightly-controlled communist state. >> this is a critical part of our new policy, the access and ability of the cuban people to information is really critically important. >> she also pressed the cubans on freedom of expression. already that has been tested by an artist to try to set up an open microphone in havana's revolution square. a handful of activists showed up but she was detained. it released 53 political prisoners. one says he was not free to unconditionally. authorities are still keeping and i on him. >> i believe in obama but i do not believe in the cuban government because we are in the same position we have been in for 55 years. i believe that america is trying to do something right for the people, but i do not believe that the u.s. here can make changes or make things better for the people. >> the government has made economic changes, giving more space to the private sector. it was to manage the change, suspicious of u.s. internal meddling. when the economic space is filled, it sometimes looks like america. it is a strange and complicated relationship. on one hand, the united states is seen as the enemy, the bully. on the other hand, america and things american art scene as cool and sometimes copy. this will be an interesting and bumpy ride and it is only yet begun. >> the president of argentina says she is convinced the death of a senior prosecutor is not suicide. he was found shot dead in his apartment. the 51-year-old had been in boston getting -- had been investigating a bombing of a jewish center where more than 80 people were killed. >> remembering the dead. 21 years after a bombing attack on a jewish cultural center, a new list has been -- a new name has been added to the list. many think he was killed because he was getting close to the trip. 85 people died when the building was bombed. suspicion has focused on iran and its ally hezbollah. the prosecutor went even further. eq senior figures -- he accused senior figures including the president, of trying to do deals with iraq in terms for a lucrative trade agreement. nisman was found dead at his luxury buenos aires apartment. initially police insisted he committed suicide, but then backtracked, saying it was possibly murder. an argentinian journalist said that nisman's investigations were inconsistent and relied on foreign intelligence, but a balanced his death is a huge blow to a country which has failed to find the bombers. >> it is very important for argentina. regarding the benefit to the government, this is secondary for me. the main point is to know who and how they bombed the building. >> anita weinstein escaped from the rubble and survived the 1994 attack that killed many of for colleagues. she says the committee won't be bowed. >> they wanted to kill me and wanted me to leave. in this life i wanted to be something that would overcome. not forget, not thinking that it did not happen, not showing them that they did not succeed in killing. >> nisman had been due to give evidence at congress about his accusations. and while the president's egg knowledge meant --acknowledgment that he was murdered is important, many believe this case will remain unsolved. >> still to come, president obama heads to india for a much-anticipated visit. we speak with the only indian member of congress. >> the first batch of a trial vaccine against the ebola virus is on its way to west africa. the drug will be given to people in the worst-affected countries. >> in west africa, they are still digging graves. each small white cross, another life claimed by ebola. there are signs the pace of the outbreak is slowing. and now, in high-tech laborde tories -- high-tech laboratories in u.k., medicine that will be used on volunteers. as the number of cases falls that we comes harder. >> the duration of the trial depends on how many cases there are. the more active the disease is the quicker the trial will go. the less active, the slower. over the next months you would expect to learn more and more information about the vaccine. that will confirm exactly what the safety and protective effect is. >> of the volunteers, 10,000 will be given the gsk vaccine from the u.k. 10,000 a dummy or placebo vaccine, and 10,000 a separate, experimental vaccine. it is just a few months since volunteers began helping researchers, developing a test vaccine this quickly is unprecedented. scientists say they are still challenges ahead. it won't be easy to gather reliable information. >> you need to be able to collect data. you need to be able to monitor the data for the vaccines. >> nurses and doctors will be among those trying to get the test vaccines. no risks will be taken with this deadly virus. >> president obama heads to india this weekend where he will receive the rare honor of being the guest of honor at bay celebrations. congressman amey bara will be part of the delegation joining the president. he is a democratic congressman from california. congressman bara, to some extent the relationship between india and america has been full of promise but since 2008 there has been less delivery on that promise. >> i think that is a fair statement. the relationship has never met the full promise people talked about. >> i think if you go back decades, india had aligned more with russia and the united states was lined with pakistan. as we are moving into a new century, it seems like something has changed in the relationship. the focus of the united states partnering with india, you see demographic rising. >> calmly about the indian demographic in the united states. you are a second-generation american. 3 million indian americans living here. how committee do they still -- how committed do they still feel to india? >> we were raised understanding the cultural heritage of our parents. many of us travel as children to visit friends and family back in india. there is a natural type. we recce -- natural tie. we recognize how well we have done here. >> what do your constituents once out of this is it? >> in california and sacramento, agriculture is very big for us. on the president's agenda is helping open markets in india. 1.2 5 billion consumers. it really does create market opportunities and california stands to benefit. >> the usa, the world biggest economy. india, the world's biggest10th-biggest economy. do non-indian americans care about this? >> i think they do. we have counter to the -- counterterrorism issues to talk about. markets opening is important. as we look to asia, india has the ability to be an anchor in south asia. >> some americans might say all of our problems are in the middle east. india is fine. why is the president spending three days there? >> as we change our mission in afghanistan, india has gains to make there. india has been at tactic in mom by -- mumbai in 2008. >> you will be at republic day. any conflict for use? >> i'm an american first, but i'm proud that the president is taking steps to build this relationship. >> thank you very much for coming in. >> that is one very happy congressman. many indian americans will be taking keen interest in this trip. they will be looking for business opportunities between the world's largest and 10th-largest economies. indians are a powerful force in the business scene, particularly in technology. they are also praised for their aunt for new real -- onto for newer -- entreprenuerial flair. >> it was born because of a need i had. >> it was a problem i carried about. >> you can choose from local stores order under smartphone, and what a personal shopper will buy the item and deliver them to your door. die you today at $2 billion, you will find instacart in 2000 u.s. cities. he says he knew he would eventually hit on a winning idea. >> people understand that failure is a part of this. that allows people to take bigger risks. that allows people to take more frequent risks. that is cherished in silicon valley. >> in the past, indians have prized a job security as something that guarantees a monthly salary. silicon valley brings a massive change that mindset. they are no longer afraid to fail and willing to take risks. indians dominate silicon valley's immigrant startup scenes. part of that success comes from the strong network that is built up. >> indians have been giving back to the community. to visit the houses of these people, they are like the taj mahal. beautiful, magnificent mansions but they are open and inclusive of people. they are unlikely what happens in india where the rich cut themselves off. >> organization that helps foster the culture of startups in india says the road was not easy. >> most of the investors in those days would look at someone who came from india and say who are these funny-looking people with funny accents and why would they have the skill to become an entrepreneur? now if you do not have the funny accent they will not hire you. >> many believe this could be a game-changer as these companies could bring innovation for the masses and not just for the privileged. >> a group of people who are making the best of their own heritage and of their newfound country as well. it is believed to be the oldest gardening book in the world kept for centuries in the royal library at windsor castle. soon it will be shown to the public at buckingham palace. research shows this book once owned by henry viii transformed him into a green-fingered monarch. >> he is known for his love of hunting, women, and wine. it may seems that -- it now seems that henry viii may have harbored a secret passion. this ancient book has been studied closely by experts for the first time. they believe that henry thumbed through the pages when he wanted ideas on how to plant his own garden. >> we know he was influenced by it. many elements of the book appear very contemporary to modern-day gardeners. >> it has advice on how to grows herbs fit for a king, and even produce giant leaks. >> i think henry saw gardening as a way to increase his power and establish tudor credentials. it is another unknown expert aspect of henry's method of kingship. >> how do we know that henry followed the book's advice? here at the haunted gallery and hampton court, there is a tantalizing clue as to how henry put his green fingers into practice. this painting shows the king and his family at whitehall palace with his freshly-planted garden behind him. the garden no longer exists, but here we can see rosa verbs -- rows of herbs, high garden walls, and walkways, all features mentioned in the book. together with the book, they realized the king was something of a secret gardener. >> i'd bet that is something you did not know about king henry viii. he was a secret gardener. that brings today's show to the close. you can find out more news on her website. from all of us here at world news america thanks so much for watching. have a great weekend. >> 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 from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, and mufg. >> build a solid foundation and you can connect communities and commerce for centuries. that's the strength behind good banking relationships, too. which is why at mufg, we believe financial partnerships should endure the test of time, because with time comes change, and what matters in the end is that you're strong enough to support it. mufg -- we build relationships that build the world. >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet, los angeles. >> the state of the union, the state of congress, the state of the white house. and the state of the 2016 presidential campaign. tonight on "washington week." rnings we need to set our sights higher than just making sure government doesn't screw things up. we need to do more than just do no harm. i know the republicans disagree with my approach. i could see that from their body language yesterday. gwen: but it was more than body language. it was a significantly different world view. >> all the president really offered last night was more taxes, more government more of the same approach that has failed the middle class for decades. gwen: what instead? we dive into a debate that extends far beyond washington