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tv   BBC World News  WHUT  July 21, 2009 7:00am-7:30am EDT

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>> "bbc world news" is 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]
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and unibaon bank >> unibank has put its -- union bank has put its financial strength to work for major corporations. what can it do for you? >> now, bbcc world news. >> and jonathan charles. running into problems as a critical report is exposed. $26 billion short, now a california's governor arnold schwarzenegger says there is a deal on the state troubled budget. there could be a better way, major flaws and new solutions in
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the treatment of aids revealed in africa's clinical trials. why the british population is the most watched in the world. and secrets world -- or in this case, guinea pig. the hush-hush new movie from disney. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington. that word -- that is where there appears to be a setback to president obama's efforts to close guantanamo bay. officials say the task force prompting a new policy on terrorism detainees will miss the tuesday deadline. there are on track to shut guantanamo down next january. among the unresolved questions is the problem of finding countries willing to take inmates. few have volunteered, and u.s. lawmakers say they do not want
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them on american soil either. >> guantanamo bay has been a lightning rod of criticism for the way america has pursued its war on terrorism. one of barack obama's first executive orders on becoming president was to close it by january. >> i have said repeatedly that i intend to close guantanamo, and i will follow through on that. i have said repeatedly that america does not torture, and i will make sure that we do not torture. those are part and parcel, an effort to regain america's moral stature in the world. >> but there are still a number of major problems. what to do with the remaining detainees being the biggest. other countries are reluctant to take those no longer considered a threat, and strong opposition in congress to releasing them in america. and if guantanamo closes, the administration will still have to find somewhere to detain prisoners it considers too dangerous to set free but does not have enough evidence to
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bring to trial. in spite of legal concerns, officials say they are still open to the idea of holding such prisoners indefinitely. the task force set up to find a way to close the camp now needs more time to address these issues. but the administration says it still aims to close guantanamo bay by january. >> later in the program will be hearing from a charity that provides legal support for the guantanamo detainees to find out how they are reacting to this news. you can get more and bbc.com. let's take a look at some of the rest of this hour's main story. harsh medicine about to be administered to the golden state. california's governor, arnold schwarzenegger, has reached agreement on the massive budget shortfall. it needs approval for the state legislature, including billions of dollars of budget cuts, and governor of georgia announced a resolution at a news conference in sacramento. >> we are very happy because we
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came to a budget agreement that is to be ratified by the legislat by thursday evening. we have accomplished a lot in this budget. thank you for hanging in there and negotiating all these weeks, in the last few hours. we have accomplished a lot, a budget with no tax increases. a budget that is cutting spending, dealing with the entire deficit, and around $50 billion in cuts will make an. >> authorities in afghanistan say at least five members of the -- a number of militants have been attacked in the east of the country. an efficient set -- officials
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say the militants, who launched an attack in gardez, included people with burqas. the secretary general of nato has warned that the alliance cannot afford to walk away from afghanistan, however dangerous or expense of the campaign is. he said abandoning afghanistan will give al qaeda a free run. july became the deadliest month for international troops in afghanistan since the war started there in 2001. more than 20 british students and teachers held in china over fears they had swine flu have been released from quarantine. more than 80 others remain in isolation in a hotel along with a number from the united states. the who says the disease has so far killed 700 people worldwide. it could herald a change in the wake patients of hiv aids are cared for. a study by ugandan health experts say -- it is much
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cheaper. they're finding what is described the largest hiv aids clinical trial ever done in africa. tom gibb reports in africa. but doctors say this research should help -- >> doctors say this research should help villagers like christina chan. she got medicine to prevent her and her baby becoming sick with aids. >> it takes me two days to get here. but i do this because i want to be healthy so i look after my children. >> with no treatment available near her village, this will be a regular journey to avoid the fate of her husband, who died of aids three months ago. it was a preventable death. there is still no cure, but anti-retro viral drugs can stop
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aids from developing. the difficulty in rural africa is that normal aids treatment also requires patients to do regular laboratory blood tests to check the side effects to make sure the medicines are working. in doing these tests in africa is extremely challenging. it requires sophisticated laboratories, usually only found in big cities, and a long way from the villages where most people live. now the results of africa's largest ever hiv aids clinical trial shows that these routine tests have very little benefit to patients. scientists in uganda, zimbabwe, and britain followed almost 3.5 -- three and half thousand patients in three years. if regular laboratory tests are not needed, doctors say it will
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make it cheaper and simpler to give treatment in village clinics across africa rather than making patients travel to laboratories. >> we are providing good supervision and support. we are able to provide treatment to many more patients close to where they live. >> in which case, christine may soon no longer have to make this long walk home. she calls her baby "child born after his father's death." she says others cannot make the journey from her village. their only hope is to get the medicine to their village, which is now much easier. tom gibbs, bbc news, uganda. >> it is a brave move for japanese prime minister to dissolve parliament. opinion polls suggest he is certain to lose the vote on the 30th of august. taro aso has apologized to the
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government -- to the public for the failure of this government. >> since i secure their position as prime minister, there might have been some inappropriate comments that i made, and that might have led to the lowering of the support from the nation for the people of japan. and within our party, the solidarity was lacking. that might have been because of my lack of leadership, and there might be people, japanese people, who were not very comfortable about my leadership, and i take this opportunity to apologize. >> we will have full market and financial analysis. aaron, it is going to be a tough day for chairman of the federal reserve ben bernanke. >> absolutely.
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the big boss of the fed, he is going to report the u.s. economy state, and he is expected to be somewhat guardedly optimistic. he will say that there are signs that the economy to pause in pending turnaround, but that said, he is expected to hit a bit of a grilling from lawmakers on capitol hill. they will grill him over how did he even missed seeing this economic crisis approaching, the rather slow mess that the government is trying to help homeowners stave off foreclosure. and what the true cost of this unprecedented action taken by the government in trying to stimulate the economy. some are saying that the cost could be 24 trillion dollars. >> almost unimaginable. >> it is unimaginable. an intriguing story. we have two senior managers fired from deutsche bank.
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it is all about deutsche bank management. allegedly putting spying actions to its supervisory board to some of its board members, action that hiring prostitutes are spies gathering information, putting listening devices into flowers, gps tracking devices on cars. everybody is saying why are they going to these lengths -- >> they do not have any money for that. >> absolutely. not a lot of detail at the moment, but we will -- >> we will be back with more of that. there were the former guerrilla force that fought the iraqi army. today there are taking care of security in the kurdistan region. a reporter has witnessed the changing role. >> they used to be rebels, but
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today they are one of the most organized forces in iraq. they are the kurdish group which means "those who face death." >> these soldiers used to be guerrilla fighters. they came down from the mountains had no near where the iraqi uniform. >> since the no-fly zone was created by great britain and the u.s. in 1991, the force has been protecting the kurdish region, and they are an important part of the new iraqi security forces. you have to pass through so many checkpoints, so the checkpoints are being controlled by them. the colonel used to be a rebel. he spent most of his used fighting in the mountains. today he is one of the top
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officials in the force. he is part of the iraqi federal army -- and map of kurdistan hangs on his wall. >> i consider myself a soldier of the iraqi federal army in the kurdistan region, but we have a dream to become an independent nation. >> in recent months, the iraqi army deployed to the disputed city of kirkuk. this force brought the iraqi army to the brink of war. >> the decision to send the iraqi army to the kirkuk region was a political move to put pressure on the kurds. >wanted thousand troops are loyl to the government. -- 100,000 troops are loyal to the government. they're seen as an obstacle to
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the central government agenda. >> coming up on the program, pakistan the elections are postponed indefinitely. stated with us. all that and more coming up. actors, directors, the answers, and singers have taken to the streets of rome in protest. some 380 million euros -- some of the demonstrators are calling for a boycott of the upcoming the venice film festival. let's get a report now. >> workers from the arts are so angry about silvio berlusconi's plan to slash funds that they took their objections to the front door of parliament. their banner reads "emergency," and that is how they see it. there are worries that wiping
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$180 million of the budget will bring the industry to its knees and put them all out of work. >> we are here to claim that the cuts are deadly. we're in such dire straits that we run the risk of being the scene 40% of the independent world disappear. >> the situation has to be resolved because i believe the cinema, culture, art is important to italy and has to be supported in all possible ways. >> the problem is, like most of europe, the italian government is suffering from the fallout of the global economic recession. passed incentives have already been introduced to try to pump some cash into the industry. but without the government fund s, some projects will not get off the ground, so the tax credits are meaningless. its symbol perhaps of how the protesters are feeling.
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the group of violinists give them a taste of what they might be missing if there is not enough money to go around. some are even calling for a boycott of the venice film festival in september. >> bring you some breaking news we're getting here on bbc world and news on "world news today." hillary clinton is in bangkok, holding a news conference, and saying that any military cooperation between north korea and burma could pose a threat to neighbors in southeast asia. she says there is growing concern about the cooperation between the two. we take them very seriously, and it would destabilize the region. to get more, go to bbc.com.
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your with "world news today." i'm jonathan charles. president obama's deadline for closing the u.s. detention center at guantanamo bay is in doubt following the delay of a key government report. let's get more on that now. joining me from central london in our studio is clear, the executive director of reprieve, a charity that provides support for guantanamo detainees. >> i think it is very negative. there are two reports, two task forces -- the interrogation task force and the detention task force. both of them were told by executive order when obama was inaugurated to submit reports, first of all, on the ways in which prisoners can be interrogated -- i.e., is torture allowed? and the policy with relates to guantanamo bay but also beyond background of further military
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presence beyond guantanamo. one would have hoped that it was a pretty straightforward solution to come up with. you know, that the prisoners should be given a fair trial and given representation and legal rights under the rule of law. both of those task forces need extra time -- the first six months, the interrogation one, another two months. so, disappointing. >> lot of countries would take them, even the american people will not want them to >. -- lots of countries will not take them, even the american people will not want them. >> i think one of the issues is that america says it will not take anybody, and it is many european countries see that, they say if america will lead to them, why should we? we had reprieve had said for a
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long time that europe has to assist obama, it cannot simply condemn guantanamo. it has to be willing to take -- it could be brought against them, and the charges had not been brought. we would said that europe has a position to play here. >> it is difficult, though. we have heard stories about people being let out and have found homes elsewhere in the world. we just heard about a boy being dumped in chad in africa. he does not really have any connections in chad, parents come out or saudi arabia. >> the first thing i would emphasize is that all the people coming back from guantanamo bay to england, there has been no problem at all. not one of them have received any kind of even a speeding ticket in terms of their coming back to england. you are absolutely right about him, who went back to chad. he does have a few family members back there, so, yes if
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he had gone back to saudi arabia, that would have been something that could have been managed. he definitely feels happier than he would have been in guantanamo bay, so it is a start. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us. now staying in that part of the world, where there are difficulties for america, security in pakistan is leaving its mark on the country. local elections scheduled for october had been postponed indefinitely. the government says it is too dangerous. david loin reports now on the capital, islamabad. >> this part of remote rural is part way -- as far away from the of political power in pakistan as you can get. the for 60 years of independence from british rule, they have to get their feet wet. since they have elected local
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government, a bridge was built. >> it used to be hard for children and people of bikes to cross the river. the elected mayor, who built the bridge. >> amid the carefully tended gardens of a new university he also fought for, the tazeen makes his last call. he will soon be out of power to be replaced by government officials. he will still come to see him, believing he can sort out their problems -- people still come to see him, believing he can sort out their problems. under the law, he cannot run again after serving two terms. >> this is the second term. in a years, whenever we have given, we have done so much. people coming, you listening to their problems, trying to solve
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them. they get a lot of relief. they pray for us. >> he is heading a national campaign to save local government, believing it to be more responsive to local needs. projects like a park -- politics like a park, a hospital, all improved under his rule -- projects like a park, a hospital, all improved under his rule. >> the country would have been much advance, much different, with the talk of democracy, political law, the cock of constitution. -- the talk of constitution. >> ironically, it was the democratically elected government that emerged after a decade of political rule would have stopped in local elections on the ground of security. >> how elections could be held in the province when they are so
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busy. we're taking action against them. >> corruption, corruption, corruption. political. >> elected mayors from across the country said that the real reason look elections are not being held is that they aren't into the optical to corrupt practices -- they are -- a leading political analyst says it is a first step. >> political pressure independent of the political parties. it will hurt the cause of democracy because some people will think that we will have a civilian dictator.
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>> what they have enjoyed here is spending on a lavish scale for local people, and they say it all go into local democracy. >> just on the end of the -- the strapping of local polls. it is hard to see how democracy is improving as local elected leaders are replaced by remote officials. >> hello again. cristiano ronaldo was the center of attention as he made his debut for real madrid. the famous white strip for the first time during a friendly in dublin. it was an unusual setting for the match. they failed to make much of an impression, with a number of players -- is one of real's other new faces. he secured a narrow win over the
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irish team. back in training for the first time since wimbledon because of tendinitis in his knees. he has not played competitive tennis since losing to a surviving in the fourth round of the friends -- it of the french open in may. he has returned to the top of the world rankings. he resumed training in spain after he was given the all clear by a specialist. they say life begins at 40. american man has become the oldest driver in the nascar champion chip at age 81. herschel has competed in more than 80 races in the nascar series and is a member of the motorsport hall of fame. he last raised in 2002, he has
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broken his own record as the oldest driver. the list are of oblivion club is 12 years old. here he has come about, the hard way, how tough professional football is. marie cio was tackled, with no account to his tender age. he is the son of a club coach who once played for bolivia. you are right up to date. i will have more for you later. >> maybe one day he will be a millionaire. you are watching bbc world news. [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] macarthur foundation]
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