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>> union bank put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies -- from small businesses, to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> now bbc world news. >> this is "world news today." i'm jonathan charles. u.s. vice president provoked a war of words. his visit to the republic of georgia brings fresh threats from russia. behind the smile, elrich and exchanges barbs with north the korea -- with north korea over nuclear weapons. >> the unit -- the united states and its allies cannot accept a

north korea that tries to retain nuclear weapons. >> porsche's boss resigns as the sports car maker runs into trouble after trying to take over volkswagen. one brief message on twitter can make or break a movie. >> ♪ when we landed in nebraska, i confirmed what i suspected ♪ >> the canadian singer using youtube to get back in an airline that mishandled his musical instrument. 7:00 a.m. in washington, midday in london and 3:00 p.m. in tbilisi where the u.s. vice- president visit to the republic of georgia provoked a tough response from neighboring russia. joe biden is there in a show of support almost one year on after georgia's short war.

now russia is threatening concrete measures to prevent the georgians rearming. accusing them of provocative the incident close to the breakaway region of south ossetia. let's go live to our correspondent who is also watching with -- as we are now, the arrival any moment now of joe biden. we see the live pictures in parliament, in tbilisi. he is expected to meet the speaker of the georgian parliament. it is interesting -- clearly the russians are getting quite jumpy about this. >> yes, they are. i suppose it is not a typical of the russian response to perhaps the notion that georgia has admitted that it wants to get further military support from the united states. just in the last few hours, we had this statement from the russian foreign ministry saying it will take concrete steps were georgia have been -- to have the scene to try to rearm and its

borders with the two disputed territories. it should be mentioned the current state of play, as vice president joe biden takes part in these meetings with president saakashvili and other officials is that georgia wants further support from the united states. it wants concrete support from the united states and it has been very clear it does one military hardware and perhaps even police officers along the borders of the two disputed regions. i think at the moment, what one can say about what america is offering is just words. and at this stage words are not very much in the line of guarantee action. >> that is the point. president obama and vice- president joe biden is not president george bush. >> that's right, george bush came here in 2005, to tbilisi. he declared georgette a beacon of liberty. i think many georgians never really forgotten that.

that is why saakashvili, the president, is trying to make sure that he capitalizes on the american support he is getting now. although it is not barack obama, it is, nevertheless, extremely important for georgia to try to make the most of every bit of support it can get from the united states. but that said, i think joe biden has been clear that any support it does offer will come at a price, and that is further democratization. georgia is seen as a fledgling democracy by many and i think the united states wants to see further electorial reforms, electoral and judicial reforms that america feels as not been acted on in enough capacity as yet. >> we will see what the georgians get out of him. thank you so much. you see the live pictures now and any moment now he will be arriving.

you can follow what online, bbc.com/news. let us take a look at the rest of the main news. swapping insult -- u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton and north korea have been exchanging strong words. of the north called for a primary school girl, because she likens the regime of penang as a child but ending attention bitchy is attending the summit in thailand. >> the united states and its allies and partners cannot accept a north korea that tries to maintain nuclear weapons, to launch ballistic missiles or proliferate nuclear materials. and we are committed verifiable denuclearization of the korean peninsula -- peninsula in a peaceful manner. >> our correspondent is on the line. a very undiplomatic words. i suppose it says a lot about relations. >> an awkward moment, actually before the press conference when

there was a delay -- back-to- back news conferences were planned in the same room at the same time for a much from the two sides, north korea and hillary clinton and it made for quite an all or clash of schedules and a moment. i think that says it all, the words that have been exchanged here have been strong. you heard some of the comments that she made. north korea has no friends left, hillary clinton said, and this whole idea of exchanging the views. hillary clinton said she had meetings with the other members of the group that had been involved in trying to sort things out, the six-party talks. they seem to have -- in what she said in a press conference -- come together with a strong view. of course, north korea has not sent their foreign minister to this meeting in thailand. they sent a lower-level

ambassador instead and hillary clinton has not had direct dealings with the north koreans at this meeting. >> thank you. also this hour, the trial of the main suspects in the mumbai attacks will continue despite his change of plea to guilty. the judge says confessions cannot dress all charges but should be put on record and considered at a later stage. the gunman, qasab, surprised the court. the committee on climate change said wealthy nations would have to find least $10 billion to help developing countries reduce carbon emissions. at the copenhagen climate summit in december, and also agreed a burden sharing formula. at least 53 people thought to be missing after heavy rains triggered a landslide in southwestern china's sichuan province yesterday. the news agency says the

landslide was triggered by heavy rain. the first of four of the six cables designed to bring high- speed internet access to eastern and southern africa is to be switched on thursday. the company that will operate the fiber-optic cable says it will enable much faster broadband connections in kenya, tanzania, mozambique, and south africa. president obama it is taking his message to the people using a prime-time television address to tell americans that the u.s. health-care system must be reformed. he is insisting he will the five opposition to promote better choice, coverage, and lower costs for insurance. 47 million u.s. citizens have no coverage at all. it has been near the top of his agenda. but the issue is also knocking his popularity ratings. from washington -- >> the administration's top salesman, the president himself, pushing the need for health-care reform. in his latest television news

conference, he once again stressed that reform is essential to rebuilding america's economy. >> let me be clear. if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficits. if we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. >> he wants lawmakers to vote on a bill before the break for the summer on august 7. >> if you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen. the default position is that there shall because doing something always -- some people are unhappy. >> but the cost of covering 47 million uninsured americans is likely to top $1 trillion over 10 years. and even members of his own party are balking at that. >> the next big ticket item -- a risky experiment with our health care. >> republicans launched tv advertisements accusing him of conducting a dangerous

experiment. >> thank you, everybody. >> although his overall approval ratings are still solid, some opinion polls show that barely half of americans now agree with the way he is handling health care reform. this is the first big test of president obama's political strength and an early measure of how far he is willing to bend to achieve his agenda. any failure will be seen as a massive, personal defeat and one that could mar the rest of his presidency. jana o'brien, bbc news, washington. >> let us talk about this. live in new york, a journalist. if you believe the opinion polls, he is facing a pretty uphill battle persuading americans this change is necessary. >> i agree with that. he does not have to persuade the extreme right, they never liked him -- and extreme left never warmed to him because of a continuation of wiretapping and guantanamo has not closed yet.

but the middle is who selected him in november and that this is constituency and who he is speaking to bit of that is the honeymoon he has now and watch it feet and continue that. health care, jobs, and national security are the issues that middle part of a voting bloc which was fought over so toughly with hillary clinton in a primary and then john mccain and the general election, and the white, were largely white blue- collar worker of pennsylvania, ohio, michigan -- until the economy comes back and gets them health care, i obviously agree with your report, he could be damaged seriously even for a second term if he doesn't come through with jobs and health care. >> interesting way he was tried to couch this message. he was portraying it in the light of the current economics of which is saying actually america's economy cannot get better unless we sort of health care. >> it is an approach he took -- he had to say something. having a press conference itself showed a bit of desperation, having to go over the heads of

congress. the united states has failed since harry truman in 1947 to try to get health care -- bismarck in 1883 passed health care legislation and here we are in the largest industrial nation and we still cannot get this done and his presidency could rest on that one issue. >> a lot of people outside america would be a bit been used as they say, well, he's got a democratic congress, what can it get through? >> unfortunately for him, a lot of democrats are wealthy now. and the congressmen who represent the district are sending their constituents don't want to have their taxes raised to pay for this. there are acting in many ways like republicans, perhaps. they have to show the kind of empathy that is kind of been the hallmark of democratic politics, of the poor and working-class. they have to come through. the have to find a way to pay for this but a lot of people look on the left and say that wall street was bailed out, it is time to help out the american -- average american. of the moment of truth for congress as well. but the president is the one who

will suffer -- there is a bi- election that he could suffer badly as well. >> thank you there are much indeed for joining us live from new york. months of negotiations, scanning and brinkmanship of the sat up -- but the side up around portia and volkswagen finally coming to an end -- porsche and a volkswagen. >> these are the people who are standing in the way of emerging between the two. i need to give you a bit of history. what happened is porsche tried to take over volkswagen. during the glory days about four or five years ago it started a campaign to build a huge stake, got to 51% and then a financial crisis hit and no more credit and it cannot get to the 75 percent side it needed to take over the whole company and it is leading the 675% it needed to take a little company and it is in debt. how could read that?

it can sell off the car part of porsche, which is the biggest part. to volkswagen, kind of a sister company. the two companies are run by the descendants of ferdinand -- wonder what christmas is like. >> acrimonious. >> their boat is a lot of to and fro. with the above the grandsons of ferdinand porsche who developed the volkswagen beetle in the 1930's. also there is an investor and the wings who will certainly be buying a stake somewhere and also the sale of porsche to volkswagen itself. >> j. robinson, to whether much. coming up on the program, hollywood on the run. how uses of twitter are dictating which movies are a hit and which are misses. >> ♪ you broke my ♪ >> 1 canadian cigarette uses

youtube to vent his anger at an airline -- singer uses youtube to vent his anger at an airline. the investigation into the death of michael jackson is gathering pace. police raided the offices of the pop star's dr. in the state of texas. dr. conrad mary was with the singer immediately before he died in his home in los angeles four weeks ago. the official coroner's report into the 50-year-olds that has been deferred amid suggestions powerful prescription drugs may have been to blame. let us get a report from los angeles. our correspondent there. >> for 2 1/2 hours, officials searched this clinic in houston, texas, looking for potential evidence of wrongdoing in the death of michael jackson. >> they are probably going through records to save what it is they will be seizing or taking into custody as evidence in the lapd case. >> they took away 21 documents and data from the computer hard

drive, material all by dr. conrad murray, the star's personal doctor who was there when he died. they say he is not a suspect. still investigators want to know was the center taking powerful painkillers that may have played a part in his death and if so, who gave them to him. now that are questions about the stars memorial service in los angeles. city officials spent nearly a million pounds of public money for police in the event, which led to claims of possible corruption. >> our investigation has taken an unanticipated turn. that raises both civil and criminal aspects. ethical considerations and the need to protect the integrity of the investigation prevent me from discussing anything related to the criminal investigation. >> ♪ some things in life ♪ >> four weeks at the died michael jackson is still making

headlines. it is likely to last much longer. bbc news, los angeles. >> this is "world news today" from bbc world news. i'm jonathan charles. u.s. vice-president joe biden promises continued u.s. support for georgia's president sekt is fairly while russia is a deep concern over georgian efforts to rearm. north korea's official media describe u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton as unintelligent at also restated the six party talks were dead. he was once a bodyguard and wrestler and most recently the mayor of serbia. now bulgaria's -- mayor of serpia. he formally presents his new cabinet. european union just issued its latest report on corruption and bulgaria saying the justice system still fails to meet

european standards. the report now from the capital. ♪ >> he is bulgaria's most popular politician, mayor of the capital sofia for the last few years, he is also the product minister. he is a man with a colorful past. now he is promising to tackle crime and corruption which bedeviled the poorest country in the european union. bulgarians have grown depressingly used to stores of corruption, sometimes in high places. and last year the interior minister, deputy interior minister, had a tax office, three heads of national road- building agency all resigned amid allegations of bribery and corruption. in his office at sofia's city hall, surrounded by trophies from his wrestling career, he talks tough. this priorities,, to get bulgaria back into your good

books. >> i am not going to shield the minister or deputy minister or anybody who engages and corruption. we need 100 percent trust from brussels. >> corruption has possible. dearly. the country's farmers should have benefited from hundreds of millions of heroes and subsidies the last year brussels froze the money. it simply wasn't getting through. the boss of this farm says he hasn't seen a penny. why? >> corruption i don't have proof, but applied for different programs and we have not seen the money for different kinds of reasons. >> as mayor of sofia brorosov of the pot holes -- welcome some of them. his no-nonsense approach goes down well with voters like this taxi driver. he is a real tough guy, he says.

he made his name in the 1990's. bodyguard to the deposed communist dictator. before that he had been a fireman, wrestler, and carotid coach. a decade later he was guarding bulgaria's former king who became prime minister. the king was so impressed he made him a general and put him in charge of bulgaria's police. last week the new parliament formally opened. his party has 113 seats, just short of an overall majority. the new man watched from the balcony, a brooding presence now has to match words with deeds. bbc news, sofia. >> the use of twitter, sending of short messages, continues to reverberate in social networking. now cinema is feeling the impact. it film critics and hollywood studios are changing their habits as a result of tweeting.

but not everyone is happening. >> twitter it is growing. one estimate claims the services 32 million users, which enables people to send short messages up to 140 characters long and movie group -- movie goers are using it to transmit and is the opinion. word-of-mouth is spreading very rapidly. >> going to see this movie tonight. really excited. the ft it out he might say, make a comment, whether or not you like it. >> film goers say tweets our influence in them. >> when brokamp out, i saw what my friends were saying -- bruno cannot compress all my friends were saying and chose not to go to it. >> it was hit hard. time magazine declared it could be the first film defeated by the twitter effect. conversely, one surprise hit of

the summer, "the hang over" may be the beneficiary of positive tweets. no big-name stars but positive word of mouth blockbuster which twitter no doubt helped. the could be argued twitter is making moviegoers' better off especially with their following people will know their taste. but not everyone agrees. >> someone -- sometimes it becomes noise. and with the noise of users on twitter responding to whatever film that is out -- whether "g.i. joe," or "transformer's the tiered it becomes more difficult to get a view point. some film critics are joining the ban wacker. -- bandwagon. critics everywhere have been losing their jobs, cost-cutting and competition from online. alisyn bales as hopeful tweeting and other internet sites will not cut off the

professional critics. >> it is great to read information about the ems but in the and people will come to the critics that they trust. probably in newspapers or on television. >> some movie stars acknowledge the power of a professional film critic journalist may indeed be under threat. >> you look at some bit like twitter, people are finding alternative ways to judge whether not to see a film. i think the stronghold of that journalism used to have is ebbing away. >> twitter isn't just taking the spotlight away from the movie critics, it is also having an impact because it is creating and marketing. as for the movie studios. >> movie production studios 100% are using twitter and other social needed to provoke the did promote films. there are going to the audience. >> there is definitely an audience for tweets with a marketing agenda. >> i follow disney pixar and they also -- the always an

interesting clips that i find interesting because once i see a movie i always wanted everything i can about it. >> so, twitter is certainly animating movie fans, marketers, and making it harder for the voices of professional film critics to be heard. the great toll of empowerment, but the detractors are quick to point out there is no new movie wisdom -- just a high velocity forum where millions of messages being made are of questionable value to the serious moviegoer. >> distillate lance armstrong is keen on twitter. perhaps he should concentrate on cycling. >> didn't know you would play that piece because i wonder what you would say before the 18th stage. the brothers tried their best to break the tour leader contador, but they didn't, but they may have ended armstrong's bid. not only did contrador maintain

the jersey -- he increased to almost two and a half minutes. s. chleck 117 but did right in the middle was contrador and armstrong trail more than two minutes behind, from second to fourth place overall. he will hope to make up a couple of places in the 40 kilometer time trial in about an hour or so but winning and paris on sunday, that may now be too much to ask. >> all right, thank you very much. before we go in this half hour, the broken guitar that has given his owner a huge musical break and the large headache. a canadian country singer took a flight and watched in horror as is prized possession was somewhat manhandle on the tarmac. his complaints to united airlines fell on deaf ears so did what only a musician can do, posted a song on youtube. the song has been a massive hit on line. >> ♪ ♪ action of the tarmac

knowing who's projectile these would-be so before i left chicago i alerted three employees who showed complete indifference toward me ♪ >> there he is seen as strumming along to the sounds and scenes of a supposedly different airline. we have not had a response yet from united airlines. you can get more details on that and everything else online act bbc.com. >> funding was made possible by --

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