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>> and now "bbc world news." >> rebs dents flee into turkey. end game in libya. the u.s. says talks are under way with aides close to colonel gaddafi about a turn of power. a u.s. businessman is found not guilty of helping plan the 2008 mumbai terror attacks but convicted of another charge. welcome to "bbc news" broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america and also around the globe. organizers of the bahrain grand prix abandoned plans to stage this year's event after pressure from racing teams. hello, and welcome.

syrian soldiers and tanks have taken up positions on the border of turkey. the syrian government is said to be taking punitive action against the people there where it says 120 soldiers were killed by armed gangs earlier in the week. fearing a reprisal attack, families are fleeing across the border into turkey from where the bbc's owen bennett jones reports. >> a refugee camp being run by the turkish authorities. hundreds of syrians are living here. others are just mingling with the general population. many staying with relatives. some are thinking about crossing but haven't done so. they're living in makeshift tents right by the border, waiting to see what the syrian army does, and they say if it gets bad, they'll leave. those who have already made the move say they fear a major military assault. >> do they think there will be

an attack? >> yes, yes, they said. we think the army may come with tanks and air power to attack us. the syrian army does appear to be getting ready. as these unverified pictures suggest with so many people leaving syria, towns and villages in the northwest have been almost completely abandoned. the syrian authorities insist people are fleeing from what they call armed gangs, and that the security forces are only in the area because the locals have asked them to comment. >> what i do know is the army is now surrounding the area. they haven't gone in yet. i think possibly they will go in. we have been asked by people who do have relatives across the corner in turkey to move in so peace can resume and life can be go back to normal. >> the refugees are still coming out. in fact, if anything, flow is increasing and that reflects the fact that the turkish prime

minister has said that the door will not be closed to the refugees and many of those coming in se they are extremely relieved to have found sanctuary in turkey. the u.n. security council has been considering a resolution drafted by great britain and france and others to condemn the violence. but russia's opposed, saying the syrians should resolve the conflict themselves. in geneva today, the u.n. high commissioner for human rights condemned the syrian regime's use of force against his own people as unacceptable. >> as high commissioner would say, strong pressure must be brought to bear on the syrian authorities to stop the excessive violence. and respond to the demands of their people. >> but the conflict in syria could continue for months. it might be a long time before these people get back home. owen bennett jones, "bbc news" on the turkish-syrian border. >> russia has stepped up its

opposition to pass the u.n. security council resolution condemning syria. the russian foreign ministry spokesman said moscow was against such a move because the situation in syria did not threaten international peace and security. alexander bogevitch joins me on the line now from new york. russia and syria have long trade links. is this what this is about, this refusal to pass this watered down u.n. rezzluge, or is it -- resolution, or is it more than that? >> it's not that, i think. it's not more than that. it's just different than that. i think the question here is russia concerned about its own relevance and its own influence. as you notice probably, when events in libya started not so long ago, there was a conflict in russian leadership. prime minister putin was opposing the steps by the u.n.

and the united states, and president medvedev was supporting them. and this may be the reason why the current reaction is a little bit more one-sided. russia is concerned about acts of the united states and nato broadly, and he wants to show its own influence. it also has long memory and they still have some bitter aftertaste of u.s. and nato-led secession or albania from serbia. this is more than a political issue rather than the relationship with syria. >> how long can russia maintain this standoff? with international pressure bringing up -- becoming intensified, especially with the iaea, can russia maintain this? >> russia can maintain as much

strong position as it wishes to do. russia has a bit of power in the u.n. security council, so for example, this current action by u.n. will eventually lead to some sort of resolution similar to the libyan one, in which russia did not oppose, russia has quite a few, quite a bit of leverage in this circumstance. >> ok. a russian political commentator based in new york. thank you very much for that. as we said, the united nations nuclear watchdog has decided to ref syria to the security council over an alleged covert nuclear program. the international atomic energy agency voted to rebuke czar on claims of a nuclear reactor in the country's remote northeast. syria has maintained it was a non-nuclear military site, destroyed by israel in 2007. hillary clinton, the u.s. secretary of state says the

libyan government has been make tentative contacts about a possible end to the conflict. her comments came at a meeting in awe but dab by where the opposition movement was promised more than $1 billion. they said they need $3 billion over the next three months. dan griffiths now reports. >> months of war have left their scars on libya, but there's still no end to this brutal struggle. conflict has turned to confusion. that's the challenge facing these people. leaders from western nations and their meefrpb allies meeting members of the libyan transitional council in abu dhabi. together they must answer the big question. what next? an intriguing hint from the u.s., but the libyan government had been making preliminary contacts about a possible end to the conflict. >> there have been numerous and continuing discussions by people close to gaddafi and we are

aware that those discussions include among other matters the potential for a transition. >> another important outcome of this conference, libya's cash-starved rebels got a much-needed boost. nations here signing off on promises of more than $1 billion of aid. but it's not just money the rebels want from the international community. >> we are asking countries to recognize the transitional national council as the legitimate and sole representative of the libyan people. >> a final photo call for the cameras, and then it was over. but the unanswered question still hangs in the air, when and how will the war in libya end? daniel griffiths, "bbc news." >> the man picked by president obama to become the next u.s. defense secretary says he expects iraq to ask washington to maintain a presence in the country beyond this year when

american troops are currently scheduled to leave. leon pa net that didn't say how many of the 46,000 troops stationed there would be involved. newt gingrich's bid to win the republican party's presidential nomination is in disarray after all members of his senior campaign staff resigned over a dispute about tactics. mr. gingrich, a former speaker of the house of representatives, is believed to be determined to stay in the race. pakistan's prime minister has ordered an inquiry into the killing of a young man by par military. the shooting which took place in carachi was caught in camera and the footage has been broadcast across the country. the u.n. says the forces loyal to the president of ivory coast are intensifying attacks against communities believed to support the former head of state. the u.n. says troops were attacking villages, killing, wounding, and arresting people.

a canadian businessman is being convicted in the united states for helping an islammist plot. a man was found guilty of helping an attempted attack on a danish newspaper which printed cartoons of the prophet muhammud. but they were found not guilty of cooperating with the military group which carried out the mumbai attacks of 2008. the bbc's jane o'brien is in washington and she gave us more details. >> he's being cleared of any direct involvement of the mumbai attacks. these were a series of attacks in 2008 that killed 166 people, but he has been found guilty of supporting the terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for them. he also has been found guilty of supporting a plot to attack a danish newspaper that had previously published

unflattering cartoons of the prophet muhammud. but that attack never went ahead apparently because of the pressure caused by the mumbai attacks and also because of a lack of funds and other resources. but the case all hinged on evidence given by an old friend, a david headley, who had met him at the pakistani military school. >> and this evidence, this testimony, it gave a rare insight. >> that's right. a and rather disturbingly raised some questions about potential involvement about the pakistani secret service, the i.s.i., because in his testimony, it should be said that headley has admitted 12 charges related to the mumbai attacks, but has agreed to help the prosecution to avoid the death penalty. but in his testimony, he said that he carried out surveillance on potential mumbai targets and

potential targets in denmark. and the i.f.i. offered to fund the surveillance. and that when he acquired several hours of video, he handed it over both to lashka and to his i.f.i. handlers. this obviously raises some very important questions for authorities both here in the u.s. and in pakistan, following hot on the heels of the u.s. discovery of osama bin laden hiding in plain sight, as it were, just a few hundred miles from the pakistani capital islamabad. >> so prosecutors disappointed in the not guilty verdict? >> they're disappointed in that he was acquitted of the most serious charge, which is direct involvement in the mumbai attacks. but nevertheless, rama is expected to face a very stiff sentence and a date is yet to be

set for that hearing. >> jane o'brien in washington for us. you're watching "bbc news." still ahead, 33 years sbroo their epic odyssey, the voyage of space probe prepares to leave the solar system. nearly 200 firefighters have been tackled a blaze in southwest england. strong winds have spread the flames and some local people have been asked to move out of their homes. in the dry conditions, small blames rapidly developed into this, a raging fire leaving a trackling and smoking trail across the dorsett country side. all the time, strong flames pushed the wind to a nearby town. 200 firefighters fought to keep it under control, as residents watched the flames coming closer and closer. >> i didn't panic at first because it seemed a long way away and i was doing some jobs

in the garden. i could hear the fire engines and forgot what i was doing and then looked over there again. and stuff started falling out of the sky. it was just a ball of flame. started to panic a bit then. >> at its peak, five square kilometers were ablaze. at times it was unclear how quickly the fire could be brought under control. the question now is how did it start? >> i think it's a deliberate fire. if people could understand the implications of that, it doesn't sound much, but we've got fire plants from four counties. every fire fower today. >> a member of the public has reported seeing two teenagers fleeing the scene as the flames took hold. as the police investigation is under way, the heat is still smoldering. >> firefighters will remain on the scene overnight. this fire is now under control.

the damping down is expected to take two to three days. meanwhile that police investigation now fully under way to try and establish how this fire was started. louise hubble, "bbc news." >> you're watching b&b bbc. our main headlines now. syrians continue to flee into turkey, as troops and tanks amass in the northwest of the country. the u.s. has talks under way with aides close to the leader colonel gaddafi about transitions of power. it's being confirmed that the rescheduled bahrain grand prix will not go ahead after all. it was postponed in february because of political unrest. next year's formula one is due to start in bahrain in march. joining us on the line is the bbc's formula one commentator

david kroft. just explain because this has now been rescheduled, canceled. why have the organizers come to this final decision? >> the organizers have put out a statement this evening saying that they respect the view of the team basically, the teams association who said after the world motor sport council that the f.i.a., the governing body's sport council said it could be rescheduled to the 30th of october. logistically it just wasn't practical for them. they couldn't make arrangements, that they already booked for india. it wasn't fair on the fans that have booked the tickets as well. and the teams had already made an awful lot of outlay in terms of lo jest call spend and hotel rooms and flight bookings to india. they have reservations about going to bahrain and a letter to the f.i.a. and the formula one management and the bahrain circuit as well expressed those

reservations. what the bahrain circuit said tonight was in light of those reservations, it would be unfair for the race to go ahead, but in respect to the team's decision, we're looking forward now to 2012 where bahrain is scheduled to open the calendar for next year. the way this whole situation has been handled has been heavily criticized, hasn't it? >> i think a lack of guidance and firm guidance from the f.i.a. has alarmed many -- not just within the sport, but i think outside the sport as well. the f.i.a.'s vice president went to bahrain, completed a fact finding mission and said the situation went back to normal in the capital, the circuit just on the outskirts. that was christed because a lot of people are saying actually life isn't back to normal in bahrain, and how can you say that at this time? there were conflicting reports, but certainly the f.i.a.'s world motor sport council were led to believe there were no problems security-wise, logistical-wise in going to that country.

the f.i.a. president hasn't made any firm declarations to whether the sport should go on or not, but formula one is just a sport. i think a lot of people were looking to formula one to make a stand here, because it is the biggest sporting event in bahrain. the government welcomed it and the highlight of the country and to put the country on the map. was it used as a political tool? you could argue that might be the case. but i think the formula one team didn't want to be put in that position. they argued it was on logistical grounds because that was the firm standpoint they could make. the outcome is that formula one isn't going to bahrain but people will continue to look at how the judgment process was made and how it was the bahraini circuit. david kroft, thank you very much. now to the spacecraft launched

in the 1970's. the voyagers have gone where no manmade objects have been before. it takes 16 hours to get a radio message to them. they're now about to travel beyond the reach of the sun. david shipman reports from nasa's control room in california. >> hurtling past the outer planets, now more than 10 billion miles from erlt, the voyager spacecraft are on the brink of doing something unprecedented, venturing beyond the reach of the sun. >> three, two, one. we have ignition and we have liftoff. >> launched way back in 1977. the start of the longest journey ever undertaken in space. amazingly, they're still going strong. the nasa operation center in

california is in contact every day. the craft are now so far away that their radio signals take 16 hours to get here. the green figures are the latest data to come in. >> it takes 16 hours for the command to get there and another 16 hours for the spacecraft to tell earth i got it. >> professor ed stone was in at the start of the project and he's still excited. >> this is the only journey i'm aware of that has lasted now 33 years since launch and probably has another 10 years before we finally start losing enough electrical power to power the mission. this is an incredibly long journey, but even more importantly, it's one where it keeps discovering new things year after year. >> the transmitters on the spacecraft only have the power of a lightbulb. a typical mobile phone has 10 million times more memory, but this hasn't been a problem. this is an exact copy of the two voyager spacecraft, which are now the most distant objects

mankind have ever sent into space. what they've seen is quite extraordinary. jupiter with its giant red spot discovered to be an enormous and turbulent weather system. jupiter's moon blasted and racked by huge volcanos. saturn, its rings familiar, but never before seen in quite such intricate and colorful detail. neptune shimmering blue, looking placid, but the winds down there are raging at more than a thousand miles an hour. and now these craft are heading for the very edge of the sew lar system. the voyagers are now so distant from the sun, that the flow of parols from it with solar wind has slowed right down. the craft have almost entered a new relling of space. >> it's kind of like crossing an oh, right? we're beginning to think that we're seeing the shoreline where we're going to go into

interstellar space. so we're doing more activities with the spacecraft. and people are excited about it. >> and golden discs engraved with information about us and inside them something big in the 1970's, long-playing records with greetings. >> hello from the children of planet earth. [speak foreign language] >> so once they leave the solar system, where next? well, eventually they'll feel the warnlt of another star, but that won't happen for 40,000 years. "bbc news" in california. >> queen elizabeth's husband is 90 on friday. prince phillip has stood at the queen's side for nearly 60 years as the longest serving consult in british history. but in a rare interview to mark his birthday, he's told the bbc he had to work out for himself what his role was by trial and

error. he's been speaking to the bbc's fiona bruce. >> as he turns 90, the duke is now the longest serving consort. it's not a role that comes with a job description. he had to work it out for himself. >> the problem was of course it was to recognize what the niche was and to try and grow into it. and that was by trial and error. there was no precedent. if i asked somebody what do you expect me to do, they all look blank. no idea. >> when they were first married, prince phillip and princess elizabeth were able to lead a normal life. he was a dashing naval officer living with his young wife. but after the queen came to the throne in 1952, the duke's successful naval career was over. but he has no time for regrets or personal questions. >> is it something you'd have liked to have continued? >> that's hypothetical. >> it is, but i'm asking the

question. would you liked to have -- >> no answer. >> you must have thought about it. let me put it another way then. was it difficult to give up? >> if i'd thought of it at all, i thought i'd do perfectly well to go on with the career. seemed to me it would have been of great value to the queen when she became queen eventually to have somebody was in a sense professionally qualified at something, not just traipsing around. >> charitable work quickly became an important part of the duke's life. as head of the world wildlife fund, he became an early champion of the con servation movement, though not a sent mental one. >> would you describe yourself as green? >> no. >> why not? >> well, because i think that there's a difference being concerned for the conservation

of nature and being a bunny hugger. >> with 800 charities to his name, not least the duke of ed din burrow award, he's finally starting to slow down, or so he claims. >> i want to enjoy myself. with less responsibility, less frantic rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say. on top of that, memory is going. i can't remember names. so i'm just sort of winding down. >> the duke is showing little sign of sitting back and will never give up what he has always seen as his most important role, supporting the queen. >> fiona talking to the duke as he celebrates his 90th birthday. you can see that on our website at bbc.com.

>> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> 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 financial 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.