>> "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, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.

>> this is "world news" today. it could be quite a blow to pakistan's taliban. there are a strong indications that a militant leader was killed. russia and georgia remember their five-day war. south africa, secretary of state

hillary clinton arrives to try to intensify the pressure on zimbabwe. millions of pilgrims in karbala. it is quite a challenge for iraqi security forces. we will speak to the only british bullfighter to take to the rain in spain about his controversial sport. >> it is 7:00 a.m. in washington, midday in london, and 5:00 p.m. in islamabad. it is believed to the commander of the militants there has been killed. baitullah mehsud had a $5 million down the on his head. it is claimed he died when two missiles were shot into my home on wednesday.

taliban sources have told the bbc he is dead. there has been no confirmation of this. >> he has been the most wanted man in pakistan, with a five million-dollar bounty on his head. there'these are rare pictures of baitullah mehsud. the stronghold had been targeted. there are indications the home of one of baitullah mehsud's relatives holmes was hit by a missile. officials in pakistan are still trying to piece together the intelligence. >> to be 100% sure, we are going for ground verification. once the ground verification reconfirms this, then we will be 100% sure. >> baitullah mehsud is accused

of having been behind a wave of suicide attacks and the assassination of the pakistani prime minister. if his death is confirmed, it will be seen as a setback for the taliban in pakistan and a major success for the authorities. it may have less of an impact on nato and afghan forces to deal with the taliban led insurgency in afghanistan. >> joining me from islamabad is our correspondent. if this turns out to be true, what will it mean for the pakistani taliban? >> it will be a huge blow. baitullah mehsud is believed to have commanded 20,000 militants. he is believed to have a hand in a wave of suicide bombings across the country in the last couple of years. they include a bombings on police stations. he is also implicated in the death of benazir bhutto.

he has denied involvement in that attack. the authorities believe he has the blood of many pakistanis on his hands. not only that, but he has provided a safe haven for al- qaeda operatives from afghanistan who have planned attacks outside this country. this continued push by american forces and by pakistani forces in the last few months against islamist militants in the northwest would have achieved a great success, if it is confirmed that he has died. >> is he replaceable? >> there are many commanders below him who could take control, but he is a man who ruled the pakistani taliban with an iron fist. he was particularly brutal. he is said to have a good relationship with the commander of the taliban in afghanistan, and also with al-qaeda.

he had the sort of charisma to take the taliban forward. was he who forced this fight with the pakistani army in 2004. he forced the pakistani army to come up with a peace deal with him. that was when he was able to consolidate his power. >> thank you. bbc.com is where you'll find more on that. the anniversary is marked by rising tensions and plenty of ceremonies. georgia and russia are marked one year since they went to war over disputed territory. five days of fighting ended in an eu brokered ceasefire after several hundred were killed and thousands were wounded. georgia's president mikheil saakashvili is speaking to his region. he is also holding a minute of silence. since the war, saw the city has become closely linked to russia

-- south ossetia has become even more closely linked to russia. >> a show of force by the russian military as tensions mount. this is a long the defense still border with georgia. the russian president recently came to south ossetia to emphasize his forces will continue to defend this region. the russians have built up their military presence here over the last year with large amounts of hard worware. the leader told me this is the only way to prevent another georgian attack. >> georgia remains an aggressive state. we want to integrate with russia to have even closer ties. >> on the outskirts of the south

ossetian capital, we found more evidence of the mounting cemented of relations with russia following the war. these homes and schools are all being billed as a present from the mayor of moscow. >> this is it symbolic of how fast south ossetia has become part of prussia. russian troops are developing this area. it is being financed by the russian authorities. >> despite the russian money, the enormous task of reconstruction has been very slow. for almost one year, his family has lived in this tent at the end of the garden. he still only looks to the russian president for help. >> president medvedev came here

and told everybody everything would be ok. we were told the construction of homes would begin at the end of september. i am confident that will happen. >> out of the ruins here caused by last year's war, there is one very clear result. this impoverished region has been lost from georgia for good. >> what is happening just across the complete line in georgia today? our correspondent is in gori. it is a big opportunity for them to pretend that this is some sort of victory. >> yes, that is right. gori was at the center of the conflict in many ways. they have tried to hammer home

the message that russia was responsible for the conflict. in the town center, the reds a moment of silence just a few moments ago. -- there was a moment of silence just a few moments ago. there's a large billboard depicting a graphic images of the conflict. it says, "stopped russian aggression." georgia is trying to convince of world it was not to blame for the war. the origins of the conflict are still very much disputed. >> whoever started it, it does look like georgia did send its troops into south ossetia. it has been a testing time for president mikheil saakashvili. >> he has had a political crisis

of his own here. a large number of people in georgia blamed president mikheil saakashvili for mishandling the conflict. even western diplomats have felt that president mikheil saakashvili took a gamble going into war. he is now using this anniversary to try to remind his people that he is in control and he has survived the political crisis. what we are all waiting for is the potentially definitive report, which is an eu-sponsored report which comes out in september. if that were to show that georgia were responsible for starting the complex, that could be very damaging for president mikheil saakashvili. >> thank you. we have all the background to that war between russia and georgia on our news website, bbc.com/news.

also, the new leader of the tamil tigers has been arrested. it took over leadership after the former leader was killed. he was being sought on suspicion of smuggling weapons for the tamil tigers. the colombian president has received a report from brazil. this came after a meeting between the two leaders. the american film director john hughes has died at the age of 59. he first became known for "the breakfast club" and wrote to the family movie "home alone." he suffered a heart attack in new york. south africa must put more pressure on zimbabwe to implement political and economic reforms. that is the tough message of

u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. she wants action to try to force the president of zimbabwe to the plight with a power- sharing deal that he made with his rival. he has been telling me more about what clinton hopes to achieve on zimbabwe. >> it will be high on her agenda. she is not actually median jacob zuma until saturday. prior to arriving in south africa, clinton made it clear that zimbabwe would be a key topic for her. it appears clear america is not convinced by the power-sharing government that is now in place in zimbabwe. the economy has stabilized. the americans feel that robert mugabe is not really sure ain't power. klemper-- the americans feel tht

robert mugabe is not really sharing power. >> south of the has been reluctant to get involved -- south africa has been reluctant to get involved. >> we have a new president here, jacob zuma, who has expressed that he wants to get more involved. at the moment, jacob zuma has quite a lot on his plate in south africa. there has been on rest in the township. in the two months he has been in office, we have not seen a real sign that he will take things a step forward and get heavily involved in zimbabwe's government. the power-sharing agreement is in place. i think zimbabwe will continue to take a key interest. >> we are getting breaking news out of northern iraq. an iraqi police officials said a parked car bomb exploded near a

shi'ite mosque. reuters is reporting that 52 have been injured. the ap says dozens. it is the latest. three bombs killed seven people and injured dozens. more on that online at bbc.com. . we are expecting those american jobs figures. tell us exactly what is going on. >> i think the expectation is that we will see more jobs lost in july. we will find out exactly how many in about one hour. if you look earlier this week, a report focused on the private sector. it said that 371,000 jobs were

lost in july could we have not seen any stabilization. the unemployment rate in the u.s. went 4.5% to 9.5%. people expect the number of people losing their jobs to continue to climb throughout the end of this year. >> what about the bankers claimed for causing all the world chaos? >> it is interesting. they have been blamed for the financial crisis. you can still see the effects from royal bank of scotland. it announced a small profit, even less of a profit when you take into all the debt. that bank was still an improvement. not long ago, it announced the biggest corporate loss in british history. >> something to be grateful for. we will see you later on.

thank you. coming up, georgia marks one year since the war with russia, and i will be speaking to an expert on the region about the prospects for reconciliation. and a test of iraqi security. >> the notorious british train robber biggs will be released from prison. he is suffering from pneumonia and is said to be unlikely to recover. >> of the great train robbery of 1973 was one of britain's most notorious crimes. it turned biggs into a household name. not least when he escaped from prison and fled to australia, and then later to brazil. for years, he seemed to flaunt his fugitive status, living in

the sunshine. >> i do not regret the fact i was involved in a train robbery. i am quite pleased and was involved with it. it has given me a little place in history. >> in 2001, he finally returned to his homeland. basic and frail man, he came for medical treatment, but he was sent back to jail. he is being released from prison. >> he had a pretty difficult night. we're all delighted that, a sense has prevailed. -- we are all delighted that common sense has prevailed. >> initially, his parole was refused. his release now is on compassionate grounds. representatives from the ministry of justice will sign

off this morning. then he will be a free man. following a brief operation to replace a tube into his stomach, he is expected to be moved to a nursing home in north london. on saturday, he is due to celebrate his 80th birthday. >> this is "world news" from bbc. there are growing signs that one of pakistan's most wanted men, baitullah mehsud, has been killed. ceremonies are being held in georgia to mark one year since the war with russia over the south ossetia region. let's get more on the anniversary. it is one year since they went to war over south ossetia. how have relations between the two countries altered and what prospects are there for

reconciliation? i'm joined by a russian and midwestern analyst -- middle eastern analyst. relations are pretty poisonous from what i can see. >> that is a pretty good summary. technically, we still seek cooperation. russia still supplies gas to georgia. georgia is passing some of the dust onto south ossetia. -- some of the gas onto south ossetia. the problem is that president mikheil saakashvili is not welcome in russia. his political dead meat. it is hard to see any political dialogue resuming. >> whenever useyou hear them speak about each other, it is very personal. >> it is very personal.

in the russian political narrative, these are basically western backed coups. the russian elite are very keen to see the end to this orange virus, which is what they call it. they would like to see president mikheil saakashvili go more than anyone. one year ago, at least there was a comment legal understanding on both sides. both sides accepted that these were parts of the georgian state. the problem now is russia has recognized these territories as independent. i do not see any way the russians can walk back the recognition. there's really nothing for the two sides to talk about. >> economically, that is bad news for georgia. it really needs russia. >> georgia still receives a high

volume of the amadiremittances. a lot of these georgians have russian passports as well. in that sense, they are untouchable did a lot of the building sites are standing idle. it is the same with many other soviet nationalities. they have lost jobs and less money to send home. economically, georgia has been quite a successful at diversifying some of its exports. the georgians have done reasonably successful. russia is the single largest market for georgia. it is the of his home for many georgian products. it does hurt them that trade relations are normalized. >> thank you.

iraqi security forces are facing their biggest challenges since the withdrawal of u.s. troops from the country's towns and cities. millions of pilgrims are visiting karbala to attend one of the most important festivals. it marks the birth of the 12th and last shi'ite died. >> over 20,000 policemen have been deployed to prevent potential trouble and to protect pilgrims gather it in karbala. this is a reminder of why the need for the protection to it in the evening, a car bomb exploded, killing at least one pilgrim. three were wounded. it has not stopped the others, but many fear more attacks. the pilgrims have been targeted

in the past, especially during religious gatherings. this festival could turn into a test for the iraqi government, which says their security forces are firmly in control. many in iraq say they have not proved it yet. less than one week ago, 30 people were killed in bomb attacks. on tuesday, a bomb killed a three and wounded many more in the city's predominantly sunni neighborhood. shiites believe monday, he will return to earth. >> it is bad news if you are in england cricket fan. cuts but good news if you're an australian cricket fan.

a fantastic start in leeds after losing the toss. earlier, they selected steve harmison. england went for three. just eight balls by mitchell johnson. a few moments ago, england was 40-3. the draw has been made for the playoff round of the champion lead with both sides million four eight -- with both sides going for it.

they have been drawn against the scottish. the velasco club won in 1967. it will be a tough time for the athlete who finished fourth. he recently has not had much success in europe. the top of the leader board at a golf championship and additionainvitational. he is having a difficult season. now arguably the greatest horsemen in the world has made a rare public appearance. mohammad ali was at yankee stadium in new york on thursday. he received a warm ovation. ali was there to present a

warrants to the yankees -- to present awards to the yankees. he has fond memories of the bronx. he also has ties to baseball. his adopted son is a catching prospect currently with the los angeles angels. if your ending one fan, things have gone from bad to worse. that is all for me. >> this is 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, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank.