"bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. >> what is it like in the midst of a surge in afghanistan? our news team is embedded with british troops and their bloody war with the taliban. rebuilding the global economy. leaders of the world's richest nations look for inspiration in the italian city destroyed by an earthquake. calm down or face the consequences. anyone found guilty of murder will be executed.

a very warm welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast to our viewers, on pbs in america and elsewhere around the world. from stem cell to life, british researchers claim a world first, human sperm made in a laboratory, and google goes for microsoft. could the face-off between the two giants spark a computer price war? hello to british and american forces in afghanistan, in during one of the bloodiest weeks since they were deployed eight years ago, and the british defense secretary warned the country must prepare for many more casualties. he was responding to the death of another british soldier, at the seventh in seven days. seven americans died on monday.

in the river valley, a major assault against the taliban is under way. our british correspondents have been on the front line with british troops. >> this is a brutal struggle, where the line between life and death has become dangerous. chasing an enemy who has chosen to stand and fight. [gunfire] >> get down! where that is coming from -- >> stay there. >> just stay down, stay low! any casualties, mate? >> they slowly inched through the fields.

hundreds of troops, with almost limitless firepower, throwing everything they had at the insurgents, and yet, the taliban attack again and again. [gunfire] in the last few minutes, british troops have begun to be under fire from the taliban, and you can hear the response. that is coming from a helicopter gunship in the sky, strafing the area. their progress is slow because of the threat from hidden bombs. buried in roads, walls, and ditches. every step must be made safe. the british army is dependent on metal detectors. having slowed them down, the

taliban opened fire. [gunfire] this area is riddled with insurgent bombs. >> fire in the whohole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole. >> the taliban are laying more and more of the bombs. every day, they must base their demons, catching brief moments of rest, knowing that tomorrow could be very different. and just 18, martin what it is one of the young is. -- at just 18. two days later, one of his friends was killed -- martin is one of the youngest.

>> that was just like, i did not know what to do. i just stood there, in shock. now, it happens. it does not bother you anymore. >> we're all prepared for it, very well prepared for it. for the time being, heads are high, very determined. the bond is very very close. >> hundreds have fled the fighting. in five days, we met just two families. people must be persuaded to return and that the government. it is a huge task with no guarantee of success -- and back

government. today, the home became a temporary camp. the soldiers occupied the house. foreign troops are dangerous gas, and the taliban know where they are. the insurgents have ensured another bloody summer, and reinforcements have already had to be called in. [gunfire] >> anyone? just anyone with any weapons? >> reinforcements. >> there are weeks of fighting ahead, and members must try to achieve something most afghans have never known, peace. bbc news. >> and just a footnote for you

there, a commander of u.s. marines in southern afghanistan has warned there is an urgent need for more afghan security forces and civilian experts to back them up against the offensive by the taliban. marines launched an operation one week ago. only about 650 afghan forces were with them. more may news from around the world and missile strikes on tribal areas in pakistan intensified. they thought they were coming from unmanned drones. people killed in the last few days. at least 25 on wednesday. there was a convoy in south waziristan, in known stronghold for a taliban leader. police say there was tear-gas fired in one city to break up protest. demonstrators were incensed by the death of a student, they say at the hands of police. they hurled stones at police and set one car on fire. the saudi arabian court has

handed down a judgment and what is thought to be the country's first trial of al qaeda militants. one of the 130 on trial was given the death penalty. leaders of the world's richest countries have gathered in an italian town. it was devastated by an earthquake, grimly appropriate. they survey the rubble of the global economy. how to rebuild the global financial systems in the wake of the financial crisis was today's big question. our correspondent reports. >> hardly the glitzy, spruced up a venue you usually see at a global summit. central italy. still littered with rubble from the deadly disaster in april, and still precarious, there was a new, smaller earthquake year on friday. the authorities in italy insist it is safe, but emergency helicopters are on standby to airlift the g8 leaders out, just in case pre-empt for silvio

berlusconi, one by one, he has taken leaders around the city. this afternoon, it was president obama's turn. the italian leaders 's reputation is riddled with sex scandal and other allegations. the chinese president was leaving before the event even began. the g8 leaders were arriving. the main question they have to solve, how to deal with the world economic crisis. round-table talks this afternoon have brought progress. they agreed to the world economy was still too shaky to put an end to the stimulus packages both britain and the u.s. insists are necessary, but

germany's chancellor merkel are also talk about preparing exit strategy is to avoid running up too much debt, and in another breakthrough, for the first time, they agreed that rich countries should bear the brunt for global greenhouse gas emissions and pledged to limit global warming is not more than two degrees celsius. >> this is an agreement of the g8 countries. it is the first time in as ever happened. i think is very significant that even during a difficult time of recession, people want to look forward. low carbon jobs will be a huge part of the future. we will give a great deal more certainty to the world about what we intend to do. >> concrete agreements only achieved here because president obama, unlike george w. bush, is no longer dragging feet on climate change. the next challenge is to go beyond the g8 and other major nations on board.

the g8 summit in central italy, bbc news. >> and as she mentioned, president hu jintao left the summit early to return to china, where the government says a western province of xinjiang is under control. >> thousands of paramilitary troops arrived. there was nothing subtle about their deployment. they won the locals to know they have a ride to and that china is back in control -- they wanted the locals to know that they have arrived. >> people here do not even dare to step out of their homes. what we can do now is to be on our guard, and even if i want to go out and do some exercise, i feel scared. >> china's president hu jintao arise back in beijing.

-- arrived in beijing, saying it was a series that he left the g8 summit. many feel that he had no choice but to return -- saying it was so serious he left the g8 summit. there was the uighur part of town. troops are now apply all around -- are now deployed all around the uighur area. local chinese and uighurs are moving, and all around this area, the neighborhoods, it has not been quite sealed off, but it has been surrounded >> as he heads into another night under curfew, there are reports that vigilante groups have taken to

the streets. despite their enormous numbers, the troops still have not brought peace to the city. bbc news, western china. >> and police have detained an australian executive from the mining group río tinto. he is being held along with three other men since sunday, accused of spying and stealing state secrets. the canadian nuclear reactor that provides one-third of the medical isotopes is going to stay offline until later this year. it was to be turned back on later this month, and hospitals are scrambling to find new sources of isotopes, which are used to diagnose several conditions. the 50th anniversary of this father's death, kim jong il arrived and looked gaunt as he entered the auditorium. this is the second major state event he has attended since august. police in south korea and the united states are investigating a series of cyber attacks on

government website. our bbc reporter from washington. >> all american knows for sure at the moment is that it has been attacked. it is a virtual attack. it has targeted u.s. government websites. here at the treasury and other government departments, including state and commerce, the public websites, the sites we have seen on the internet, have come under enormous pressure. someone, somewhere caused them to crash. >> the attacked our state.gov website. it is still ongoing, but i am told it is much reduced now. >> they say it came from a botnet, offices worldwide, perhaps yours or mine, which have become infected with a piece of malicious software. someone. botnet -- someone using that

botnet, effective jamming the sides, but we do not know who. some say the north koreans are responsible. the experts say is very hard to identify any perpetrator. the united states faces more and more of these attacks. >> every day, we see waves of cyber thieves trolley for sensitive information, -- trolling for sensitive information. industrial spies, disgruntled employees. >> these attacks of all but against public websites. the u.s. government says it's secure computer networks have not been penetrated. it was said that this was almost like a riot on the internet, with virtual bricks thrown through the windows, but we do not know what point they are trying to make. bbc news, washington. >> still to come for you on "bbc

world news," pay a high price for the wet stuff. -- paying a high price. first, and retire el general talking about the indonesian economy and tackle corruption. he looks set for a second term. we have an report now on what is only the second fully democratic election in indonesia. >> after tallying up the votes at 2000 polling stations around the country, unofficial results showed that over 50% of indonesians' picked box number two, suggesting that the incumbent has won a second term. earlier this morning, indonesians' voted peacefully. no reports of violence. at this polling station in the wealthy djakarta neighborhood, turnout was slow but steady.

the big issues? the economy and corruption. but just down the road, in a poor part of town, the priorities are different. -- in a poorer part of town. for them, election day is just another day. for many indonesians, life is a daily struggle for survival. this as one of the highest poverty rates in all of asia. what these people want from their new leader is just a small improvement in the quality of their lives. this person has lived here for the last three years. this is how he makes a living, fishing not for food but for scraps, which he sells. >> if the government cares about us, they should give us jobs so we can improve our lives. since i do not have a job, i have to live here. >> for indonesias next

president, reaching out to be disenfranchised is a huge challenge -- for indonesia's next president. reaching out to the disenfranchised is a huge challenge. >> bbc world news, a major headline. enduring one of the bloodiest weeks since they were deployed in afghanistan 8 years ago. a human sperm created from stem cells. criticizes say they have created it, an important step they believed to overcoming male infertility, but not everyone is convinced. we have this report. >> this a fuzzy video shows sperm were grown not in man but in a dish. created from embryonic stem cells frozen in this tank. scientists put them in a chemical soup. they halved their number of

chromosomes, known as miosis, an essential element in creating sperm. finally, the group heads and tails. it took six weeks. -- they grew heads and tails. it was estimated 120 million sperm per milliliter in the 1920's, and is now just 60 million. less than half. more than 50% of couples have problems with sperm quality. >> there is sperm maturation and sperm development. this enables us to understand male infertility and provide some approaches for treatment. >> some biologists doubt that human sperm created are functional, but they say such research is crucial. it raises the prospects of new treatments for male infertility, though that will be a least five

years away. but is it ethical? some argue that destroy an embryo is to create sperm is immoral, and just because something is definitely possible does not mean to say that it should be allowed. others say that the research should be welcomed. >> mill in fertility is a distressing problem to date and for the women who want to have children with those men, so, again, this will be on the whole beneficial news -- male infertility is a distressing problem. they are trying to find a problem. >> three years ago, mice were created from libor torry sperm, but all had health problems and died -- mice or created from libor torry -- laboratory sperm. using them to create life. bbc news. >> the leader of the far-right

british national party has suggested that illegal immigrants headed it to europe in boats should be sunk. he said that they could be thrown a life raft so that they could return from where they came. >> stopping immigration and large numbers of sub-saharan africans dying on the way to get over here. the way to do that is to get very tough for them coming over, sinking some of the boats. we need to do something about it. in the end, doing something about that means bringing them in. >> two multibillion-dollar companies, each with a monopoly, are going head to head. shortly after microsoft introduced a new search engine, google is to introduce a new operating system. from new york, this report. >> google so dominates internet

search that its name has become a verb. to google means to search the internet. when it comes to computer software, and crucial operating systems, microsoft has been a dominant player for decades, but industry watchers, like jim, saying google could give microsoft a run for its money. >> when you are looking it is transitioning to the internet, where the internet is now be more efficient operating system. >> it is said that google's massive presence makes it good for an operating system. the editor of "pc magazine" says that google makes it faster and easier. >> the operating system can be the main thing that gets out of the way. that would be one benefit. the other benefit would be security. >> microsoft is so widely used that its software is tempting

for hackers and viruses. a new system could be more resistant. >> microsoft is not standing still. they know they have to move their business online. they are very aware of it, so they are going after google, and they are also moving course software applications online, as well. >> google operating systems will not be available until next year. in the meantime, microsoft is updating again. prilosec the standard for a future operating system? bbc news, new york. >> now, would you pay good money for dirty water? that is what many palestinians on the west bank are fighting they have to do because of the u.n. and several human-rights groups. 80% of it is consumed. we report from one village. >> he is sick with chronic diarrhea. not the first time.

he and his family live in a village with no running water. no sewer system. no prospect of getting better anytime soon. his mother told me she is desperate. >> i am angry that my son is sick. the doctor says it is because of the water. we bought it from outside, and i do not know where it comes from. i give it to my children even though i know it is contaminated. what else can i do? >> many west bank villages have little or no running water. 80% of the water is kept by others. palestinians get the leftovers. it is not enough. we have just come across this water tanker. it is what families in this village and many parts of the west bank used to get household water. they say it is often contaminated but also say they have no choice. it is either this or no water at

all. palestinians pay privately for this water. it cost themñr dearly. and clean water makes people sick. it means prices are high -- unclean water makes people sick. >> it is very expensive, and we need that moneyfá for other things, electricity, food, clothing, but we have no choice. we have to buy water. >> finances, too, have dried up. palestinian villages traditionally depend on farming, and for that, you need water, but israel says it is not to blame. palestinian plame -- planning is. they said they never planned to ñijoin the water grid. human rights groups disagree. >> palestinians receive much less water than is really is,

even in settlements on the west bank. hot water in our entire region is scarce. what little we have is unequally split up. -- >> water in our entire region is scarce. >> an israeli army jeep keeps a close eye. water, along with land and religion, law at the heart of this conflict. it will have to be part of any solution -- lie at the heart of this conflict. >> thanks for being with us on "bbc world news." >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, the newman's own foundation, and the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation.