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>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> it is being described as the biggest disaster in pakistan history. 49 people have been affected so far. another breakable friendship, the pakistan president and the british prime minister have agreed to work together to fight terrorism. health officials warn people to stay indoors and moscow as fires burn across russia. why hundreds -- 100 and thousands of people have not been able to use -- why hundreds of thousands of people have not been able to use their blackberry in saudi arabia. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in u.k. and around the world.

hundreds of thousands of homes have said to been destroyed in the floods and darnell gushing into the south and into the center of the country. >> the flood is consuming village after village. this is southern punjab. local people risk their lives to stay with their livestock. in the end, they were forced to go. officials say it is the biggest disaster in pakistan's history. presidenthe man who saberi is in charge back home asked for help. >> i would like to appeal to the international community to support pakistan, to help alleviate the suffering of the flood-affected people. >> of the suffering here is spreading. the raging waters are rising

because of the latest brain. the river here is already swollen. the floodwaters are moving swiftly down stream, putting more communities under threat. every deluge like this means that relief operations have to stop. helicopters cannot fly. and the forecast is grim. there's more rain forecast for the coming days. at least 1600 people have already lost their lives. 650,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. over 12 million people have been affected so far. it is being called the flood of the century. some say that their only hope is outside help. >> please help us. please save our souls. nothing else, i think.

>> some are fleeing for the second time. these villagers were driven out, forced by an army offensive against the elements. now it is natures army. half a million people have already been evacuated here. this is the birthplace of president zardari. many are asking how he could stay away while his nation suffers show much. >> flash flooding has killed around 90 people in indian- administered kashmir. the indian army said it has launched a major rescue operation. hasstan's president restated his commitment to fighting terrorism following talks with the british prime

minister david cameron. the men stressed the closeness of the relationship between their two countries. zardari refused to be drawn up of certain comments. >> checkers, a, a country house for the prime minister. it is the setting for a place for the issue eager to be pushed. neither the president nor the prime minister retract anything they had said when each accused the other of failing against violent extremism but today, the language after their talks sounded shooting. >> we will work together to combat terrorism, to make sure that whether it is keeping troops safe and afghanistan are keeping people safer in britain, with pakistan, we will work together in this strategic

partnership. crisps pakistan and britain will step -- >> pakistan and britain will stand together. >> book-to-bill leaders parted -- the two leaders parted. cameron headed straight to london. >> i do not think that british terrorism has a near routes with terrorist groups in pakistan. roots inerrorist route pakistan. i am the one who has given the powers of the presidency from the parliament. it is the prime minister's

responsibility. he is fulfilling his responsibilities. >> he is apologizing for nothing. it is 7 days cents chairman ignited -- it is seven days since cameron ignited the the debate. >> since some unclear and unpleasant truths have been declared, things have settled down. the relationship is on a sound and realistic footing. >> being realistic about relations with pakistan involves accepting harsh realities. president zardari's powers are limited. >> health officials are warning people in moscow to stay indoors.

the worst wildfires in russia's history blanket the city with small. og.with sma our correspondent richard on the city streets to see how bad -- our correspondent ventured on the city streets to see how bad it really was. >> the smoke is so thick that it caused me to use headlights from dawn to dusk. the city's most historic and turnedocolorful buildings were into ghostly silhouettes. this is by far the worst day in the russian capital. that is the kremlin. most of it has disappeared from view. out of the gloom on red square, there are scenes of typical

russian stoicism. couples are still having traditional wedding photographs. >> despite the smoke and heat, that these people truly love it. they'everyone should always hava smile on their face. >> but for most, this was the grimmest of days. masque are now common sight on the streets here. people are increasingly worried about their health with pollution levels dangerously high. telephone operators at this medical clinic have been taking hundreds of calls today. they are from people desperate for a vice about what they should do. >> they are advising people not to travel to moscow. people here should follow common sense. spend a limited time outside.

wear a mask when you are outside. >> the advice for those with children or who are pregnant is to consider leaving this city with no clear idea as to when they will be able to return. >> the latest unemployment figures from the united states have raised fears that this country's economic recovery could be stalling. the number of jobs in the private sector grew by 71000. but the total number of duds in the economy fell by 131,000. >> july marked the seventh straight month of job creation in the private sector. >> speaking of the positive in the jobs market picture, but the suns are not good for president obama.

job cuts were much worse than economists expected. the private firm's hearts of a new 1000 staff seemed to disappointing. it is hard to find the right people. >> we are having a tough time hiring people. we've been growing at a pace of 30% or 40% in the last two years or three years. it is tough to find people to hire that are qualified. >> mr. obama himself is in need .f the right new highere christina romo retired.

she says the u.s. is still on track for gradual improvement, despite the big bad jobs report. pressure is mounting ahead of crucial midterm elections in november. >> the democrats will be hard- pressed to explain why there has not been more of a bounce in the economy, given how long the administration has been in power for the first time, the president is beginning to a poll as the person responsible for the downturn more so than george bush. >> 8 million jobs were lost year during the great recession. but not enough of them seemed to be coming back quickly. that puts the u.s. closer to its second economic slump. >> you are watching bbc news. could the creatures them popple the key to their real impact in

the oil spill? a dutch woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing four of her babies. she is said to have hidden the bodies in suitcases and hidden them in the attic. >> stunned into silence, the grisly discovery was enough to bring life here to a standstill. it is a farming community in the netherlands. it is home to 2000 people. on friday, this modest house was declared a crime scene after police found four suitcases in the attic, each containing a tiny human body. >> the conclusion of the forensic investigation is that they were remains of children in each of the suitcases. because of this will be investigated and whether or not they were already dead. >> the 25-year-old woman has been arrested and lived here with her parents.

police say neighbors became suspicious after she was repeatedly pregnant but was never seen with a baby. >> the mother told us she had offered her children for adoption and that she had official adoption papers to prove it. but these documents could not be found. later, she said she was keeping her babies in the attic. >> a post-mortem examination will be held to establish healthy babies died. already, neighbors could barely hide their revolution. >> -- their revolutiultion. >> if it happens more than once, it is not an accident anymore. >> the woman will be held in custody for two weeks while the investigations continue. any hope for a return to normality in this usually peaceful village will take much longer.

>> this is bbc news. these are our headlines. officials in pakistan say the number of people affected by the devastating monsoon's has raised at least 14 million. the flooding has submerged whole villages. pakistan's president zardari has reaffirmed his commitment to attacking terrorism following talks with david cameron. officials areh warning people in moscow to stay indoors to avoid a choking smoke from while files that has smothered the city. -- from wildfires that has smothered the city. 16 years after the rwandan genocide, the country goes to the polls next week. the incumbent is facing only his second presidential alexian since the massacres.

-- presidential election since the massacres. the opposition party and human rights groups say that human rights freedoms have lagged behind. >> in the chaos, an island of progress and discipline. the spread of broadband is just one sign of rwanda's scherr's determination to remake itself. it is now 16 years since the genocide left 800,000 people dead. this woman lost her husband. but her organic banana company today is booming. she sees herself as a symbol of rwanda's transformation. it is hard to believe how much rwanda has changed, she says.

it is shocking. but we're doing well and working hard. leading the march, the former rebel soldier, now president, hailed as a visionary by tony blair, britain continues to pour millions into the cause. but the president's reputation is under fire. opposition groups talk about a climate of fear and attacks against the government's critic. some of them are violent. this is their record, a former member of the alliance to was killed. are you scared? >> of course. everyone is worried.

it does not go hand-in-hand with the democratic process. >> the president is now up for reelection and serious opponents have been allowed to stand. he insists the murders have nothing to do with his government and argues that the district of discipline is necessary given the history of ethnic cleansing that led to genocide. those who say bad things about us and want to destabilize our country should take a rope to hang themselves. many rwandans, at least in public, agree with the tough line. if you have a bad leader, he could take this back to genocide. my children go to school now because of this president. rwanda has achieved so much so quickly that it has become a

beacon of progress. that is why what happens in this tiny country really does matter and why the president and his authoritarian tendencies are being watched so closely. >> thousands of people in saudi arabia were not able to use their back -- they are blackberry phones. the diriment -- the government opposes the use of the device because of encryption. >> for some, it is an essential tool for business. but to the government, it is a threat to national security. in saudi arabia today, that dispute came to a head. the male and messaging services shut down for several hours.

they were finally restored, but many saw as a show of force from saudi arabia that it could and would enforce a ban. but the dispute began here in dubai. authorities here were the first to raise concerns about blackberry security. they say they will enforce a ban of the company does not hand over the information it is demanding. but that has angered many. many businesses here are now questioning why the government feels a need to monitor and intercept their private messages. >> most companies already have this legislation in place. we have this in the uk. americans have a similar one. but many are working to the fact that many of these new technologies do not allow them to snoop effectively on the messages being sent around. many governments see it as a problem for national security.

>> india, algeria, and now indonesia say that they what? this, too. for the company that makes them -- say they want to them, too. for the company, that makes it difficult. >> it makes it sound like they do not want the device to be used. >> but barrett -- black birds are now still working. that has -- blackberrys or now still working. that has raised speculation that they have reached a deal. >> scientists are turning to a vast collection of sea creatures in the gulf of mexico to help them understand the impact of the bp oil spill. the smithsonian has collected a

massive invertebrates for the last 30 years. it allows them to look at what the ecosystem looked like before this bill. -- before the spill. >> in this huge mayor house -- in this huge warehouse in maryland, there's this secret. >> in order to measure the effects, you have to know how the chrysostom was before the oil spill. we have about 93,000 samples of life. >> he is in charge of the collection which began in earnest 30 years ago. it includes in vertebrates, such as the gigantic casanova's -- gigantius basinovus. >> the question is, are they

still there? and if they are, are there as many as there were before? the ecosystem is best assessed by assisting the top of the food change. >> they will want to know whether crabs and shrimp have been struck by pollution. this is said to be the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history. but researchers have discovered that some species thrive on oil. naturally-occurring leaks on the ocean floor support entire ecosystems. the probe of so much, but to return the chemicals and to assure that enable -- deprived

of some lives, the chemicals allowed the bacteria to turn it into sugar. around 15,000 different species have been identified. scientists believe there could be 2000 more yet to be discovered. many of those could be found soon as research intensifies in the wake of the bp still. obviously, the gulf ecosystem took thousands of years to evolve. but they are hoping that these creatures will give them a pretty good idea as to how the environment may change over the next few years. >> rescue workers into they are trying to reach 34 miners who are trapped underground. they were working at 3,400

meters when the area collapse. >> waiting and hoping, the miners have now been underground for more than 24 hours and their relatives on the surface are growing increasingly anxious. the rescue parties have arrived, but even getting heavy lifting equipment to this barron part of chile is a challenge. bringing the miners out alive is even more so. the thought is that the miners have reached a refuge underneath that has food, water, and oxygen. even if they do have them, the supplies will not last for long. >> the only information that we have is that they have food supplies for 22 hours. they have to work as quickly as possible, but we have to do things carefully. >> rescue workers have entered

the mind and trying to reach the men by ventilation hatch. but it is blocked and proving difficult. meanwhile, the waiting continues. three years ago, an explosion here killed three workers. chileans are hoping and praying that this latest incident has a far happier incident. >> let's take you to china and sure use some of the latest pictures coming in from a fire in a mine -- at a gold mine in eastern china. we understand that this is a fire that broke out on friday afternoon. at least 14 miners have been killed. but we understand that there are something like eight miners still trapped underground and believed to be alive. you're watching bbc news.

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