♪ >> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their --pertise in global finance to

to understand the business you operate in and help provide capital for strategic decisions. expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> this is bbc world news america. reporting live from washington. denies that the rebels hit his convoy today as enjoying ase, and newfound freedom in pakistan. a bbc story free to this young girl from forced labor and hopefully opened a world of opportunity. >> the biggest change is she can take her place in the classroom and have a chance to learn.

this seemed impossible before. their photograph captured faces -- a look at the groundbreaking work of walter evans. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and across the globe. the syrian government is describing rebel claims that the motorcade was hit today. assassination the attempt happened as he was going to a mosque to celebrate the end of ramadan. video of him unharmed has surfaced. >> no longer do western leaders say that president assad will be gone in months. his forces are making gains in the battlefield, and the war

could last for years, leading to a refugee crisis of epic proportions. confidence is his message. on state television today he was shown smiling as he attended prayers to celebrate the end of from a don. rebel forces said they had hit his motorcade. this was dismissed as false dreams by the information minister. it is not clear how old that these pictures are. his british-born wife has been visible. she was shown helping to prepare a meal to orphans in syria. across the country both sides claim tactical victories. this military airbase near aleppo fell under rebel control after months of fighting. opposition fighters are rated among the abandoned tanks and helicopters.

homs,r south in government forces said they had taken neighborhoods now in ruins. areas where there is fighting they hold pockets of the south and around the coastal stronghold. rebel forces are strongest across the north. -- there is also a homeland between where the conflict is most fierce, there are many contested areas. >> across -- across the border with jordan, one of the largest with a fraction of the refugees who fled syria. the disaster whose scale and speed is overwhelming and this is still unfolding. the fighting continues on

the ground in syria, this will be one of the key topics in meetings between u.s. and russian representatives tomorrow. those talks have been complicated by the cancellation of a summit with vladimir putin in moscow. we spoke with the former u.s. ambassador. to nato. meetingthis high-level in washington and what will it achieve over serious? >> we know what the positions are, they are very content with this and the u.s. is still trying to figure out if they can get russian support or approval for something. it is more important that the u.s. should be figuring out what they really want to do. doesn't want to support the rebels were not want to do that? ofhink there are a range issues where we have subordinated our own interest to

try to figure out how to work with russia. >> what do you think the real u.s. options are on syria? >> our options are now progressively worse. nonetheless, if you believe, as i do, that the situation will continue to get worse and tens of thousands of more people will be killed and you will have more refugees we have to look at the options of the no-fly zone. >> that will cost a billion dollars. >> that will cost the lives of if not americans, people on the ground. this is fine -- this is harming not only syria but the security of a greater region, including -- including lebanon and iraq. really a u.s. appetite for this? >> does anyone want the middle east to go up in flames and see

more lives lost? sometimes you don't choose the world you live in. >> what do you make of the fact that the rebels, whether or not they got to his motorcade, they were still in the heart of the territory of resident assad -- president assad? >> we don't know the situation that well. he has direct report -- direct support from hezbollah and russia. if the rebels carried out an attack like that, i think it was to create a demonstration that they are not dead yet. >> what do you think is happening in the white house? is there a desperate look at all of the options or a look at who is going to win? >> i think that they genuine -- genuinely believe in syria there is no option to make things better and we could not improve the situation.

know who would end up with the weapons, and so they are watching this train wreck in progress. this is a shame because real lives are at stake. >> the president will give a press conference tomorrow. do you believe syria will be featured? i am not questioning the motives in the administration. this is not something you want to spend a lot of time talking about, you want to focus on other things where you can achieve something. >> thank you for joining us. >> israel has opened the airspace along a southern red sea resort close to the egyptian border after they temporarily close to the airport. all departures have been suspended and incoming flights diverted. in pakistan, a suicide bomb

attack at the funeral of a policeman in the town of quetta has killed 29 people and wounded 50 others. most of the dead and wounded were police officers who gathered to attend the funeral of a colleague killed in an earlier attack. now, the story of hope for a 10- year-old girl who had her childhood stolen from her. two weeks ago we brought you the story of a girl who was forced to live in a pakistani factory. her family was enslaved by debt. since the first report that debt has been written off, and now we have returned to southern pakistan to see how much has changed. fields,in the cotton she is at work. a child shouldering the burden of an adult. but if this looks like hard labor, remember what she left behind.

home, ander effectively her prison. she and her entire family toiled here, bonded laborers enslaved by debt. story,er we featured her that debt was suddenly forgiven. >> this is her house. >> we were taken to see the small room she shared with 14 family members. this campaigner says that she would have been liable for the debt of her parents. >> she would have had to work her entire life to pay this off, -- >> the owner claims that he treats his workers well, though bonded labor is illegal. her father owed him

almost $8,000, which he rode off out of compassion. report, the bbc campaigners came to me and i said i have forgiven the debt. i have children to. i took pity on theirs. >> how are you? >> for jeannie and her family, this means the chance of a better life. they are still poor, but no longer trapped. with pickingys cotton he hopes to send her and her brother to school. that, anding for tells me she likes it here, working the land. >> we spent all day in the mud making bricks, she says. now we work for four hours per day. we are better off here.

>> but this is another advantage of the new location. >> life certainly looks a lot different or her. at least for a time she can set work aside and simply be a child. but the biggest change is she can look forward to taking her place in the classroom and having a chance to learn, and that is something that seemed impossible before. >> millions of children in pakistan never get to school. siblings, aand her new future may be written. bbc news, southern pakistan. >> international flights have resumed from the main airport in nairobi after a devastating fire forced the airport to close. this is a vital international hub for africa and beyond, handling 16,000 passengers per day.

from nairobi, we have this report. morning after, the largest transportation hub was gutted by yesterday's fire. it is not clear how long it will take to fix. >> the damage is extensive. inside the area -- the mediation area and everything is burnt down. that will be required to be done just to refurbish this to being operational will be very huge. passengersprocessing for those flights as questions are asked about the speed of the emergency response. and the number of engines at the screen -- at the scene. toit is extremely difficult

hold water from any position. >> for many passengers of this a frustrating wait. >> i believe they have been very overwhelmed, to try to accommodate everyone, but this is taking too long. >> my flight is supposed to be have nonight, but i idea and i may be here for a while. >> you are watching bbc world news america. still to come, looking back at the crime of the century. 50 years after the great train robbery, we speak to those who played a part in this piece of criminal history. in hungary, the government has ordered the restoration of water supply and roadside wells to a northern town, after an outcry issues were harming a

local community. we have more on this story. >> more than 10,000 roma live in this steel town. in the scorching heat of this hungarian summer, they are very thirsty. >> it is crazy that they shut down the water. the kids used a splash and spray a lot of water but now we are forced to go further to other wells. >> i would go but i am unable. cannot get water so far away. last year they shut down 27 wells and drastically reduced the water supply. the mayor says the move was designed to prevent waste, not hurt the roma.

>> we can only provide a drinking water service but cannot ensure water for washing cars or taking away large tanks. this is not an issue of roman settlements. , theythere is wastage should track down the corporate set not punish the needy. ater five days of ques water pumps, the government intervened and told them to restore full supply as the heatwave last. the crisis underlines a bigger problem, how little trust remains between the minority and the society. bbc world news. >> for nearly two decades, italian police have searched for the mafia boss who has been

discovered living in england and running a travel agency. this took many people by surprise. >> can you give me today's reaction? >> after hearing their husband and father described as that of a mafia family, the man was caught after 20 years on the run. this is to minute goal repertory ranccidori. for 20 years this has been his house. he was convicted of being a boss of the mafia in italy. he was arrested last night and faces extradition. >> i was shocked. chose thisised he place. it is not particularly glamorous. when he first got here he

built a big hedges, i remember the neighbor at the time did not like that because it blocked things out. i guess you want privacy if you are on the run. if he wanted to be extradited, he simply said, no. the court was told after he arrived at home, he had disappeared out of the back toward trying to escape, but there was a police officer waiting there. he said his name was mark skinner. knowfficer said to him, we who you are. >> this was big news in italy and brought this reaction from the deputy prime minister. >> i am pleased to announce that overnight in london, one of the most dangerous fugitives was arrested. this was dominico ranccidori.

another mobster will go to jail. significante deficiencies in the war and now there are serious talks going on between prosecutors in london and those in italy. >> it means he and his family will be back at court tomorrow afternoon. he was in custody as lawyers go over the extradition warrants. >> from one audacious criminal act to another. the crime of the century. 50 years later the great train robbery holds a unique place in criminal history. on this day of august 1963, a group of armed robbers held up a mail train from glascow to london. we have more on the fascination that still surrounds this. they were the criminals who changed the history of crime.

>> the engine and the front two coaches have been brought back here to be examined yet again. >> the robbery was a mixture of audacity and violence. they stopped the train by fixing the signals, and then hit the driver to force him to move his train to this bridge, where the rest of the gang was waiting. they took around two and a half million pounds, the equivalent today of 40 million. >> the country was stunned and the police baffled, the train was emptied. >> this could be 5 million pounds. >> he was part of the gang. now 84 years old and living in spain, he told a documentary that he knew this was an epic raid. >> i was aware of the

consequences. suppose that you could say we were modern -- >> for the train driver, they were not glamorous highwaymen. they hid at this farm. this was the local bobby. now 75, he was asked to check out the farm. >> this is one of the outlying buildings. >> as soon as he arrived he became suspicious. >> there is a trap door in the floor. wrappers,e banknote all of them bearing the name of the famous banks. theink i knew that i was in hideout of the train robbers. >> this banal bullies set was also found there.

they gang had played using real money. adding to the mythology of this crime. era, one the in devon of the last great cops and robbers crimes, the american press said that this was the greatest robbery of all times. >> there have been bigger robberies since. the greatrs on, it is train robbery that slips into iconic notoriety. >> cops and robbers, 50 years on. another piece of history with an enduring impact. walter evans talks about some of the most memorable -- took some of the most route -- took some of the most memorable pictures of the depression. 75 years after a book of his photos was published, the museum

of modern art is revisiting his work. we spoke to the curator, -- >> in the pantheon of american photographers, he is at the very top. signifiede book that a photo book could be considered a work of art. we were so happy to have the 75th anniversary to be an excuse to put this back in print. this book, the exercise he set for himself was to make photographs that looked like very straightforward documents that adopted the physical -- the language of the particular photography and declared what he was doing to be fine art. this was a very radical thing to do at the time.

alabama cotton farmer -- this was a fixture he made working for the united states government during the depression, to show the effect of the depression and to bring that to tori a back to washington. it really is a picture that comes to symbolize that era in united states history and the history of photography perhaps. the second part of his american photographs is about the american environment, about the way that the structure that the americans built could come to symbolize or represent a picture of america in the same way that pictures of people may have done.

we see the detail of the new orleans houses, or the youerbread cutting area and see what evans was doing was looking at the very local manifestations of vernacular american architecture and how that could symbolize as well as everything else what you would call an american photographs. every example remains relevant and a benchmark against contemporary achievements and where they may be measured. what is signified by the continued interest in the photographs is that there is something distinctive about this achievement, that makes people want to continue to see this. >> such strong faces in those groundbreaking photographs of walter evans.

just as powerful 75 years on. that will bring today's program to a close. you can find more on our website. and simply go to twitter. thank you for watching. we will see you tomorrow. >> make sense of international news -- at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. >> at union bank, our

relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

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