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>> and now, "bbc world news america." >> hello, and welcome. brett favre headlines this hour. a defiant message from one of colonel gaddafi's sons. he said his father is alive and well and they will fight to the death. within tripoli, the focus is on creating a new government. >> a warning that millions could die of starvation in somalia if more aid does not reach them soon, and president obama will travel to new jersey to see the damage caused by hurricane irene. >> broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world.

hello, and welcome. in libya, a message apparently delivered by one of colonel gaddafi's sons has been broadcast on television in which he promises a fight to the death and insists his father is alive and well, but there are reports that another of the colonel's son that he is in power. he is quoted as saying he had been in touch with the opposition to end the bloodshed. despite recent success, there is no sign of a stable government being formed in tripoli. >> the war has swept through aaa and back into the desert, taking the colonel with state

superior region swept through tripoli's -- the war has swept through tripoli and back into the desert. it is the end of the holy month of ramadan. just after dawn, the square was full of people and memories of almost 42 years of dictatorship. >> they killed our children and raped our women. he is a murderer, and god will punish him. suburban growth still have barricades' put up by residents to keep the violence of colonel gaddafi's fall away from him. the war had already touched. a nato mistake killed a family here, but now the children can

play outside. he can save the fighters gave think its and and and we is going to be fine for our families and -- gave their lives, and we think it is going to be fine for our families now. people are looking out for themselves, their families, and their neighbors. now the government has been recognized by some of the biggest government in the world, but around here, it is local people making decisions, and decision making starts with these men, locals who picked up guns to stop the regime. anyone suspicious deaths take into this school, requisitioned by the fighters. -- anyone suspicious and gets taken to the schools, requisitioned by the fighters. they said they were innocent migrant workers picked up

because they were black. the captors went through their papers. what do you suspect them of the? >> we have to do our investigations first. >> they were terrified and not much reassured when their captors said there would be just as in the new libya. >> we are going to build our country. we are going to have creative people. we are going to do everything. >> men with guns still set the pace here. long term, it does not equal stability. >> that was jeremy reporting from tripoli. we can speak with a member of the new american foundation.

he has been in libya for five months now and joins us on the phone. what do you make of these different views? one is very aggressive and another more conciliatory. >> colonel gaddafi had been grooming his son to succeed him for many years. he did not control any of these militias, and he took a lesser role in the political process, so he tried to appease the other libyans and reintegrate himself by surrendering. the most truths? >> i thing he is really speaking for his father. his father still wants to keep her resistance strong. he thinks there is a share of

state to reject a chance he can create some sort of insurgency. he understands the fight is over, and he wants to live a normal life. >> how important is that city? >> it is very important. it is colonel gaddafi's and birthplace and the anniversary of his revolution on september 1. ever since the 1990's, he has increasingly come to rely on his tribe to staff security who positions within his regime, so a lot of people have families and will probably put up no resistance. >> really good to talk to you. in other news, a man claiming to be the top legal official in the

syrian city has announced he has resigned in protest of the crimes against humanity committed by security forces. the attorney general says he has evidence of more than 70 executions of hundreds of cases of torture. it is not clear when he was filmed. the syrian state news agency says he was kidnapped, but the syrian activist says it may be an attempt to discredit the video. now to famine in africa, and despite repeated attempts, millions are still at risk. >> did you win refugee high commissioner says more than -- the un refugee high commissioner says more than 3 million people could starve to death if aid does not reach them soon. >> in the shadow of a church, a

makeshift tent. some of these people walked for days to reach the city. such is their desperation for food and water. they live in squalor, but their are far for survival roma less than they would be in the city. some aid is now getting through, but it is only a fraction of what is being delivered to somalia. now al-shabaab still controls a large portions, and they are stopping aid from reaching those in need. the u.n. high commissioner visited the camp in mogadishu on wednesday and talk to some of the refugees. his message was clear. not enough was being done for these people, and if things do not change soon, millions of somalis will die.

>> because of this deadly combination. >> the young are particularly at risk. the u.s. agency for international development says more than 29,000 children over the age of five starved to death in somalia in the last three months alone. every day, hundreds more refugees arrived at camp all over the city. they construct shelters from anything they can find. the survival is wholly dependent on aid. there are no guarantees. >> president obama will be traveling to new jersey to see the damage caused by hurricane irene. the effects are really only becoming clearer and right now.

flooding that has not been seen in decades. >> irene may have gone, but misery and winkers. -- misery lingers. in patterson, new jersey, widespread flooding, triggering fresh evacuation's and rescues. some towns were cut off for two days, rhode swept away by rivers. >> it is more than i ever thought i would see. >> william swept through the debris who. they have seen floods before, but nothing like this. >> here we have 1927, and this line is hurricane irene. >> from north carolina sued new

it -- to new england, people are without electricity. estimates of the cost very to as much as $10 billion, a figure that would make this one of the 10 costliest natural disasters and the country's history. >> we have responded to a immediate need, and that has been our focus. once we get damage assessments completed, we will have a better idea of the funding not only for this storm but other disasters. >> the government has less than $800 million to spend this year. i read comes on the top of tornadoes in the spring but cost millions of dollars. partisan politics threatens to intrude. republicans say federal aid will have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere. key democrats vehemently oppose.

not the sort of bickering be immediately affected need to hear. >> in jamaica, a guilty plea to racketeering charges in the u.s. christopher admitted to a manhattan courtroom he was the leader of a criminal organization that now distributed drugs around the world. coke was extradited to the united states and could face up to 23 years in prison. still to come, school is out. why some of the children of migrant workers in beijing are struggling to get an education. >> bucking the trend. why the markets remain buoyant despite economic gloom. the british high court has ruled dozens of families can be effected in essex, the biggest of its kind in britain.

the travelers' own the land but do not have the planning permission for their homes. >> only divine intervention could save them now. time and options have all but run not for the travelers. they must egon by autumn, but they say they how are -- they must be gone by autumn, but they say they are going nowhere. the last glimmer of judicial hope was distinguished out the high court. it was an act of discrimination, said one traveler. >> no one has to lose their culture. i think it is unfair that they had to lose our culture and they are reared with their whole lives. >> like many, they were encouraged to buy land in the -- to buy land in the 1990's.

it was an unlawful who, but the community and not put down roots. a decade on, and the council is preparing to rip them up. >> we will be up front and let them know when the operation will commence, and that will give the opportunity for travelers to move off peacefully. >> the deal farm community was talking of non-violent direct action when the bailiff arrive. the courts have ruled, but questions remain. the eviction may be unlawful, but is it moral? is there a clash between legal rights and human rights? is this really a showdown between conventional society and a way of life that is not mainstream? >> i am in singapore.

>> i am in london, our headlines this hour. in libya, one of gaddafi's sons has broadcast a message in which he promises to fight to the death and insists his father is alive and well. >> thing you win refugee agency says 3 million people could starve to death if aid does not reach them soon in somalia. after years of tension between taiwan and mainland china, relations are at the best since the civil war ended in 1949. nowhere is this more apparent than in the outlying island of taiwan, which was once a battleground but is now popular with chinese tourists. taiwan who -- the belief is fears that taiwan is becoming too dependent on china. >> for decades, he has been

fashioning knives out of spent artillery shells fired by china. sales have doubled. more chinese tourists have been visiting his shops and they were first allowed to travel in your in 2008. >> this is an -- to travel here in 2008. >> this is an outlying island. we depend on tourism. the number of mainland tourists is increasing. this has helped every aspect of the economy, including our steel knife making business. >> more than 160,000 chinese tourists come here each year. trade is booming. like the rest of taiwan, it is increasingly linked to china, but china still claims taiwan as one of its provinces. it has threatened to invade if taiwan declares formal independence. relations might be the best in decades, but just behind me is

the mainland, and it has hundreds of missiles targeted at taiwan. military tensions remain. some people, especially the opposition party candidate in the upcoming election, fear taiwan may be getting too close to china. >> i am concerned the next generation may be losing the ability to make independent political decisions for themselves. >> at a ceremony to celebrate the republican centennial and to celebrate one of the worst battles, the president insists taiwan has no choice but to continue to build ties with its giant and powerful neighbor. he expresses hope for a permanent peace between the two sides. >> nino of peace has just barely take it -- we know that he says just nearly taken off.

it is still fragile. it will require long-term efforts from both sides. efforts cannot just come from one side. we need to build a peaceful environment for the next generation. >> it was not long ago that china have heard this body of water with missiles in the run- up to taiwan's hoselection. it may seem, now, but it is clear it is still an important front line. >> to discuss further the relationship with china, i am joined by a professor of international relations of the school of international studies at beijing university. thank you for joining us. is this a sign that tensions are easing between china and taiwan?

>> of course. my latest readings as there were some 550 scheduled flights between different destinations here on the mainland and in taiwan, so you do have a venue for the average citizens on both sides to interact with each other. >> how is staging seeing this improving relationship with taiwan -- how is in beijing seeing this improving relationship with taiwan? >> that implies how the government views is. i cannot speak for the government, but i view this in a very positive and white -- positive light. i think the leader in taiwan made it very clear. i agree that the basis for trust

is still not that strong. you can say it is fragile, and even with marriages across the strait. >> the trust is still quite tenuous, but for taiwan, do you think they are becoming too dependent on china? >> that is a little simplistic to say it is too dependent, because the tendency in trade and tourism is a two-way thing. if you say taiwan is dependent, the mainland is also dependent on that front. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you so much for your

insight. school children from across china return to their classrooms today, but several thousand are still not sure where they will be studying. the city has decided to cut down schools for migrant workers, a group that has regularly face discrimination. >> the long summer holidays are over, and is back-to-school. the parents and build as themselves, because the state provides little for their children. they are migrant workers, people who travel to the city to find better work. the school is one of two for migrant better now being forced to close down. parents are anxious. they want to know what is going on. >> we got a letter from local officials of the end of july saying we have to close.

they say it does not meet their standards. >> authorities cut off electricity and their water. they have decided this. the government has been promising for years to give the migrant workers more right so they are not treated like second-class citizens, but if it discloses, it is only going to make their lives more difficult. officials say these children can go to state-run schools. she does not know what to do with her children. she says migrant workers are at the mercy of the government. >> if they say we can go to school, we will go. if they say we cannot, we will not. we are migrant workers. we have no choice. >> beijing may be genuinely trying to help migrant children,

but so much that the authorities are simply trying to drag them out. migrant workers will not be happy until they have the same choices as everyone else. >> amid all this economic gloom, the markets have remained remarkably buoyant. >> there's still fetching unbelievable sums. this has proved an irresistible draw for forgers. officials in germany have recently discovered. >> german detectives have open the door on what they say is a huge scandal. in a berlin police station lies a collection of master works by artists of the first half of the 20th century. they sold in the art market for tens of millions. all fake, it is alleged.

they have what looks like labels of old exhibitions. the signatures seemed genuine, but it is alleged to the scientific analysis revealed and to be part of a con. >> it is a scandal. we are discussing 47, 48, 50 very famous paintings, which are fake. ers arealleged painting awaiting trial. they have produced something no one had heard of. this sold for $6.2 billion. now they are worth a fraction of what people paid, and scientific investigations using microscopes and x-rays revealed some of the paint could not have come from

the time the artists were painting. artists say the problem was that art experts did not look below the surface. >> there are a lot of experts who think they do not need scientific investigation. now they say, i know the artist so well, and i know the works of art, and there is charisma, and i can define this as an original. >> germany has many copiers of arts. these russian brothers sometimes called the old masters for billionaires who put the originals and -- sometimes copy old and a master's for millionaires to keep the originals in a safe. >> that is it for now, but do not forget you can follow both of us on twitter. for now, thank you for watching.

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