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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. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> this is bbc "world news." the death toll keeps rising after the pacific tsunami.

devastation in the islands of samoa and american samoa. 6 feet of waves destroyed homes. divisions in the u.s. in afghanistan. the imf says the global economy has turned a corner, but there's a warning. financial reform is still a priority. 60 years of the people's republic will be asking whether a grown up china is changing its role in the world. and by archaeologists are in a spec. got th>> it is 7:00 a.m. in washington, midnight in the

somali capital, where we're still getting reports after the tsunami. more than 100 people are dead, but that number may rise. waves measuring 6 meters high in some cases. flatten the whole villages on the island of samoa and american samoa. president obama has declared a national disaster in american samoa. and the last half hour, we had reports of a separate earthquake. the u.s. geological survey put the strength at 7.9. it could be felt in the indonesian capital, liches several hundred miles away. there were no immediate reports of injuries. let's take a closer look at the south pacific region affected. the pacific tsunami warning center said this magnitude was

eight. it was comprised of two separate entities, the nation of samoa and american samoa. the tsunami also struck tonga, where government officials say at least six people were killed and four more are missing. >> the earthquake struck in the early morning. the tremors are said to have lasted for several minutes. a series of tsunamis followed. scores of people are reported to have been killed. in american samoa, the initial relief efforts were seriously hampers. >> when the tsunami struck, and major connecting bridge was destroyed. the efforts to get people from one side of the bay to the

other was compromised because of that. >>. -- >> these photographs were taken a couple of hours after the salamis. several villages are said to have been badly hit. dozens of people are reported to be missing. local radio stations have been trying to provide vital information. >> most of the people living in the low-lying area are moving to the high grounds. it is very crowded here at the national hospital. the military are providing a lot of treatment and help for the people. >> experts in hawaii said it is struck at a depth of 20 miles. >> even though it is miles deep, all of that water is moving. in the deep ocean, the height

of the waves is pretty small. when you get near the shore, you are compacting that energy to much less water. >> as far away as new zealand people began moving to higher ground after the initial alert. the authorities later canceled the warning. nonetheless, the damage has been extensive, though it could be some time before the full scale of the devastation can be understood. >> and reporter in the samoan us this of state. >> there are many stories about local heroes. in new zealand, toiletry and items of clothing for people in temporary shelters. the new zealand government and australian governments have called in whatever service they can. they will do an aerial survey to

get an idea of the extent of the damage. people felt the earthquake. there was a local alarm that went off. local people told me that folks did that in an orderly fashion here. in the south along the resort beaches, there was very little warning. i spoke to a family on the beach with their children. they said they felt the earthquake, but they had no idea. he thought something was not right when he looked at the ocean. he told his kids to run for the hills. they managed to scrabblscramblea cliff. some of them were not fast enough. the british tourist suffered a punctured lung.

acer effort managed to -- a surfer managed to avoid. >> we will keep you posted on the latest report of a separate earthquake. we'll also be speaking to an oceanographer on the causes and effects of tsunamis. america's top diplomat of the un mission in afghanistan has been removed from his post. a source at the un said it had become impossible for peter galbraith continue with his work in afghanistan. it is thought that he disagreed with his european boss. it is likely to be seen as a division upon western nations to the response of the flawed elections.

my colleague to lend me now. what do you know? >> there is tensions between these two men. there have been continuing tussles four months. it came to a head over how to deal with the serious fraud. mr galbraith' wanted a much more aggressive approach. the other man preferred a much quieter. the had a disagreement. the un secretary general decided to mr galbraith's cannot continue to work in afghanistan, so better to remove him from the mission. >> it is not just about two men. these are western nations. these are powerful nations.

>> there's a severe disagreement. there are all these observers and think tanks and afghan watchers who argue there should be a second round of the election a matter what. they believe that karzai did not win fair and square. if karzai emerges as the one winners, what will be the legitimacy of his government? whether it is security, politics, or dealing with the taliban, it does not make it any easier. it is a tough time in afghanistan. >> thank you very much. we have jamie year. the international monetary fund says losses are rising. these new figures from the imf

-- does it suggest recovery? >> it is just stabilization. it also suggests the future is extremely fragile. instead of having to write off $4 trillion between 2007 and 2010, it will be $3.4 trillion. one of the interesting things is the difference between europe and the u.s. in total, the write-offs have come to $1.3 trillion. they still expect $1.7 trillion to be written off. a lot of that writing off. >> when they give these figures, there global figures. is there a difference between what is happening in america and

europe? >> yes, and also looking at japan. japan has not have much problem. europe still has a lot of problems, which they feel are not for a nice sentiment. more with the continental bank's then the eastern banks. with the continental banks, they have exposure to europe. those who think it's still has to come to the whole system. as we reach the next reporting system and we have the banks reporting on the last quarter, we have seen remarkable recovery so far. whether that recovery will continue -- that is a different matter altogether. it may not continue. >> you will be looking at all this in the business report in 25 minutes.

thank you very much. let's look at some other news stories. the military government in guinea has announced an indefinite ban on what it calls somerset gathering speed this comes after monday's opposition rally. reports of more than 150 dead. space tourist guy bliley burtlae reportedly paid $35 million for his ticket. michelle obama arrived support the bid for chicago for the 2016 olympics. president obama will also rise.

this is "world news." coming up, a new report appears to reveal who started last year 's war between russia and georgia. china marks the 60th anniversary of communist rule. >> the british prime minister's hopes of convincing british voters said he should be reelected as prime minister has suffered a serious blow. yesterday delivered a blow was dubbed a fight back speech. within hours, "the sun"announced that it had changed its allegiance and is publicly supporting the opposition conservative party for the first time since 1992.

here's our political correspondent. >> gordon brown got the ritual standing ovation for his conference speech. delegates here liked the top. "the sun" is abandoning its support after 12 years. it's as labor has failed on crime, education, health, and it has failed british troops in iraq and afghanistan. it is throwing its weight behind the conservative david cameron. >> he is a fresh administration. we will be an honest friend, and we will also be a critical friend. >> the prime minister would not be drawn on the significance of

last night. >> today was supposed to be about labor's commitment to public services. but the overnight news is what to end its support to conservatives will likely have a greater impact on voters and will make the fight back tougher still. >> popped this is "world news." the main headline -- is tsunami has hit the south pacific killing more than 100 people on samoa, american samoa, and tonka. villages have been flattened. thousands are homeless. a senior un official in afghanistan is sacked after he accused the electoral commission

of failing to deal with fraud. more on that pacific tsunami. i'm joined by the doctor from the u.k. national oceanography center. of a light to give your comments on these reports of a new earthquake. is there a link between the two events? >> it is quite common where we have water's quicken the maintain of earthquakes. it is still a surprising. the big question is whether these aftershocks will cause a second tsunami. >> we cannot know that yet? >> we cannot. we have to be very careful that we do not cry wolf too often. it would be sensible to evacuate certain coastal areas. people need to be aware that

they need to move to higher ground fairly soon. >> we have seen these pictures coming in of the devastation. in technical terms, how severe was this? >> the earthquake that took place yesterday was basically about 8 to 8.3 on the richter scale could it is about 1/10 of the power of the tsunami we have in the indian ocean in 2004. that is still a very powerful earthquake. it creates a wave about 15 ft. it is significant. it has caused a severe threat loss of life. >> in some cases, people in samoa did not have time to get to high ground. i thought the whole point of early warning is that people would now be given the time. >> the pacific -- the problem is that the waves move across the

ocean move that the speed of a jumbo jet. it is about five hunter miles per hour. the earthquake that took place was very close to the samoa islands. that means it would typically have 10 minutes to 50 minutes from the earthquake occurring to the waves hitting. even the best early warning systems in the world, you could never warn people could enough. cuts if that is the case, then we have given people false hope. -- >> if that is the case, then we have given people false hope. >> we were very on monday that the earthquake took place so close to the island. -- we were very unlucky but here's a quick to place so close to the island. the early warning system gives

more leawarning to other areas. in this case, it was just too close. >> are we reporting these events more often, or are they happening more often? >> it is hard to say. i think we are reporting more often. bear in mind, with tourism, with increasing populations, with more people living by the coast, -- as a result of that, every time we get a coastal disaster, we see more people affected. >> thank you very much for being with us. . the cause of last year's war between russia and georgia, under the microscope today with the publication of a report into who started to accomplish. at the time, both countries blamed each other. the independent study is expected to say that while the

georgians did fire the first shot, it was the russians who created and exploited the conditions that led to war. here's our europe correspondent. this report is not out yet. and looks like it will establish the facts. people want to know who is to blame. >> the representatives from russia and georgia got this report about one hour and 20 minutes ago. the least we are getting now seem to be backing up at the georgia fire the first shot. that follows months of russian pressure. the russians creating the conditions and the and exploiting the conditions for war. it is pretty even-handed in its portion eve of the blame. to be honest, i do not think that will surprise many

observers, who were seen one year ago that georgia fire the first shot after a careful build up of pressure by russia. >> what is the point of this report. is it going to change anything the eu does? >> no, e policies are dictated by what happens on the ground. i sensed the fight distancing itself from this report. a spokesman said to me yesterday, we commissioned this report, it is an independent group, and we are not associated with the content of the report. i think that is partly because there's some criticism of george other that will not go down well with the former communist countries who are now part of the eu.

and relations with moscow have gotten better. the eu is treading very carefully. >> thank you very much. baseball's playoffs are one week away. >> they begin next wednesday. the big news it for boston fans is the red sox will be in the postseason. they get the wild-card spot in the american league because of other results. in detroit, the tigers and the minnesota twins played two games on the same night because monday's game was rained out. they split them one game apiece. the tigers are the leading team in the american league central. three games remaining for the colorado rockies. they have a three-game lead against the atlanta team.

this game into extra innings. to see what remains. that is why he is a pinch hitter. he hits the ball very far. in tennis, calling the early departure of the top two seeds, the no. 3 has also been knocked out in tokyo. she was beaten in three sets b. that will be plenty of bankers reform maria, who is aiming for her first title of the year. she has been injured for most of the season. this is the last 16 after a straight set crashing from the australian athletes. the vilest of the recent u.s. open had to pull out of her second round match. -- the final list of the recent

u.s. open had to pull out of her second round match. on tuesday, there were held to a draw in russia, held in barcelona take sole control. it certainly is an equalizer. the 19-year-old scored both of the goals against liverpool. in group three, four different scorers. only 13 and a half thousand showed up. and the man knew it scored eight equalizer. let's hear now from the manager.

>> statistics show that the champions no. 1 again the following year, or the previous champions have gone not. not the quarterfinals. not the semifinals. you are out. it is difficult because you're the champions and you think you can get by with a little less efforts. everyone is gunning for you and that is when you get knocked out. >> later this week, a big meeting. byron, now coached by that man on the left. and the other game in that group will be an interesting one. the german champions played the inclose champions, of manchester united.

brilliant players indeed. you could see them scoring. >> getting back to baseball, why do we call it a pinch hitter? >> he is a designated hitter. he does not have to do anything else in the game. comes in at the designated time and hits the ball. >> thank you very much. a summary of our top stories. tsunami triggered by a strong earthquake in the south pacific has killed more than 100 people across a number of islands. at least 77 people reported dead in samoa, more than 25 in american samoa, and people were killed in tom go. -- and people were killed in tonga. >> funding 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. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates, jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerry washington, and public broadcasting is my source for intelligent connections to my community.

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