[ 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.] [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" >> could become the worst flu pandemic ever?

>> [unintelligible] >> ben bernanke tells congress the federal reserve policies will help prop up the u.s. economy. trading minerals for mobile phones, conflict in the condo could be supplying parts for the phone in your pocket. welcome to "bbc world news" broadcast on pbs in america and also a brown the globe. coming up, the release made good. -- carol was made good. and where is the remote?

hello, the world health organization is now calling swine flu the fastest moving pandemic ever. it has just released figures showing the death toll shows at 700 people worldwide and that is a jump from two weeks ago. here in britain, we are among some of the state's best prepared to deal with a pandemic. china, italy and the u.s. have reports for you on reaction around the globe. chris hall is in beijing. >> here in china, the authorities have taken the toughest measures to try to stop the spread of what swine flu. beijing is a densely populated city and they are not taking any chances. health officials board some flights are arriving here to check the temperatures before anyone is allowed off. if you have contact with someone suspected of having swine flu,

you are facing quarantine. these british pupils were released today after a week of confinement in a beijing hotel. >> you see people in big suits around you. >> in the past, china was criticized. it is worried that if swine flu takes hold here, it will not be able to cope. but is this the right approach? italy, they are doing things very differently. >> kiron italy, the reaction to swine flu has been much more çsubtle. there are no restrictions on tourists and no medical examinations. although, as italians themselves out are being advised to check before they travel to places like the uk. in italy, there have only been about 250 cases and so far, no deaths. the medical authorities say they are merely following the advice of the w. h. 0.

>> we were very fast pace in the first place and now we just do not want to overreact. >> they expect more cases in september when children go back to school. and there is talk of delaying the start of school, but for now that is only a plan. >> despite the weather today, the concern here in the united states is that's one flu is continuing to spread, even -- that swine flu is continuing to spread, even during the hot summer months. the swine flu invaded of around 50 u.s. summer camps. volunteer david baker was among those who tested positive. >> i did not feel too tired. i was dead tired all week. i'm still pretty tired. >> america vaccinates millions against flu each autumn. swine flu has killed 263 here. they're worried that seasonal

and swine flu could combine and become more deadly. >> right from the top, president obama has been telling people to wash their hands. dewpoint prepared. -- do not be prepared. >> if you would like more context, check out the blog of our medical correspondent. of around 6000 people every year die here and in the u.k. from ordinary flu. reports from iran reported that there are fresh clashes between police and demonstrators in the capital of tehran. dozens of protesters were arrested in one of the city's main squares after chanting slogans against ahmadinejad, the official winner of last month's heated election. attacks by the taliban in two

afghan cities have left at least five members of the security forces and five militants dead. the attacks in jalalabad , head of the elections on august 20. -- come ahead of the elections on august 20. good news and bad news on capitol hill in washington today. the chairman of the u.s. central bank said the economy should start picking up as the year progresses. but then, he added the downside. unemployment, currently running at 9.5% of the work force, would increase. here is our business correspondent from new york. >> the federal reserve has cut short some interest rates to record lows and pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the banking system to counteract the effects of the credit crunch and economic downturn. giving his half yearly evidence to congress, ben bernanke said

these policies will help to avert the collapse of the global financial system and will continue for some time. >> the u.s. economy contracted sharply in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. more recently, the pace of decline has in to slowed significantly and showed signs of civilization. the labor market, however, has continued to weaken. the consumer price index remained subdued in the first six months of 2009. >> however, as economic recovery takes hold, there is a danger that the sheer amount of money sloshing around in the banking system will cause inflation to take off again. mr. bernanke assured congress that the fed had the necessary tools to raise interest rates as needed. the federal reserve is under attack from some politicians in washington who believe it has washington who believe it has become too >> "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.] [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" >> could become the worst flu

pandemic ever? >> [unintelligible] >> ben bernanke tells congress the federal reserve policies will help prop up the u.s. economy. trading minerals for mobile phones, conflict in the condo could be supplying parts for the phone in your pocket. welcome to "bbc world news" broadcast on pbs in america and also a brown the globe. coming up, the release made good. -- carol was made good. and where is the remote?

hello, the world health organization is now calling swine flu the fastest moving pandemic ever. they followed three and a half thousand -- 33500 patients over a time for of six years. -- 3500 patients over a time frame of six years. it had little or no effect on the majority. research has shown that they should put clinics in rural africa rather than make laboratories in the cities. >> we are able to provide better treatment to many more patients closer to where they live. >> in which case, christine may soon no longer have to make this long walk home. she called her baby a child born

after his father's death. she said others have aids in her village, but cannot make the journey. their only hope is to get the medicine to that village, which is now going to be much easier. >> helping the people of africa to help themselves was the theme of president obama's recent visit. the stark contrast still stands between africa's natural resources and its struggle with poverty and disease. the misuse of african assets is the focus of a report by the campaign group global witness, which says that violence in the democratic republic of congo is fueled by western companies who buy minerals there without properly checking their origins. >> when president obama visited africa earlier this month, he went to gonna, an example -- he went to ghana, an example of

relative success. mr. obama said it is time to -- that african leaders stop blaming the outside world. mr. obama's father was canyon, and kenya have high hopes of a presidential visit. but the government there is fraught with corruption. the niger delta, where the oil is mine, has become a quagmire of corruption and conflict with oil smuggling now out of control. the truncated limbs from sierra leone's civil war are just the most visible scars of the conflict fueled by the competition over the valuable diamond deposits. and these are coulter miners at the -- out of the democratic republic of congo the diamonds they extract are sold on a huge

profit to companies that make mobile phones. global witness says that across the east of the diet -- of the prc, the congolese army and rebel groups compete for gold and other minerals, leaving civilians devastated in their wake. the minerals are sold to western companies through intermediaries. >> these companies are not doing enough to analyze their supply chain and interrogation they're coming from. we are not saying that they're doing anything illegal. that is an important point to make, but they're not doing the necessary due diligence to make sure that they are not buyingç minerals that have effectively come from this fighting. the largest tin producing company is owned by the british giant, a nancamc.

they have recently been quoted as saying that they will try to make their supply chain more transparent. the continent also has to choke -- to cope with the challenges of nature and disease. but of the causes of all the poverty, the net result is that 22 million children in africa go hungry every day. >> you are watching "bbc world news" and still to come, you are being watched, but is it worth it? and special report on britain. now to japan, where prime minister taro also has been a apologizing to his supporters for a series of election defeats. >> he is putting on a brave face, but even in -- but even some in his own liberal democratic party believe he is leaving -- leaving them to an

historic defeat. japan is in a recession, but still the prime minister has called for an election. he called -- he apologize for past mistakes and ask for more time. >> in my time in office i have defended the general -- i have offended the general public and made id more difficult for people to trust the government. i am deeply sorry. >> the election could have been delayed until october, and critics have openly called for him to be pulled. >> i have received a document from the japanese prime minister. it says, i hereby dissolved parliament and the japanenese constitution, clause 7. >> the democratic party of japan

is well ahead in the opinion polls. government for the ordinary people rather than big business. but a political fund-raising scandal has already claimed one opposition leader this year. this man was sitting at his successors side. tara asimo will be hoping the democratic party of japan stumbles' again -- tara [pause] ]taro aso will be hoping that the democratic party of japan stumbles' again. >> you are watching "bbc world news" swine flu has now claimed at least 700 lives. the world health organization said it is spreading so fast there is no point counting cases anymore. the head of the american central bank, ben bernanke, says the u.s. economy is improving, but

unemployment is set to rise further. the former guerrilla force in kurdistan fought the iraqi army during the reign of saddam hussein, but now it is changing roles. >> they used to be rebels. but today, they are one of the most organized forces in iraq. they are the kurdish peshmaiga, if which means, those who face death. >> the soldiers used to be a guerrilla fighters and now they have come down out of the mountains and where the iraqi before.

>> this force has been protecting the kurdish since 1991, at the very important part of the new iraqi security forces. >> these checkpoints are being controlled by the kurdish. >> this man used to be a rebel. he spent most of his youth fighting in the mountains. today, he is in the peshmaiga force. >> i consider myself a soldier of the iraqi federal army in the kurdistan regional government, but we have a dream to become an independent nationç >> in recet months, the iraqi army deployed a battalion to the disputed city of kirkuk. this move brought the kurdish

forces and the iraqi army to the brink of war. the decision to send the iraqi army to the kirkuk region was purely a political move, pressure on the kurdish. >> the kurds claim peshmaiga is a force to protect their regionalism. >> ukraine has received back a minute -- backing frofor memberp in nato from visiting u.s. president that -- vice- president, joe biden. the u.s. secretary of state, hillary clinton says that that russia is concerned at concerns of -- a signs of growing military cooperation between

burma and china. this nation has its people under the closest supervision by cctv camera. if the answer is not obvious, it is britain. even though the latest official figure is 1 million fewer than previously thought. but do they help? >> britain is said to be the most watched nation on earth. cameras are there to capture of removed, with new cameras being added everywhere. in one of the country's more remote communities, puffin watching has given way to people watching. this is one of britain's most watched towns. figures from the bbc highlight a

love of cctv. another of britain's smallest authorities bought more cameras than the san francisco police department. and incredibly, the london borough of what's worth has as many cameras as the dublin city council, the police departments of johannesburg and new boston and the city council combined. -- the sydney council combined. >> the numbers we have indicated they have not really left up over the years. this is interesting in another respect as well. several years ago, all of the cctv cameras were counted in the streets and from those figures, it was more than 4.2 million across the country. >> this man actually tracked

cctv sales and has shown us what his researchers calculated. >> we look at how the the market has been growing -- how the market has been growing in recent years. we then factored in some replacement rates, some of the cameras being replaced after so many years and working through the numbers that way, we realized an integral base of cameras is at about 3.2 million for the country. >> there may be about 1 million fewer cctv cameras in the country than previously thought. >> are they actually affected? >> this country'swhen it was may

one. the states all the way back to the year they were launched in 1936. >> quite attractive, but pretty standard piece of 1930's furniture, but open theç lid ad what have you got? you have got what seems to be the oldest working television in a british home. and the honor is here, jeffrey bernstein.

very attractive, what is it and where did you get it? >> it is a television from the 1930's and the chances are, it would have been used to watch the very first broadcast of bbc television in november of 1936. it was only on for two hours per day and it was only one channel. yet, you were fairly well the to afford one of these. it cost 60 guineas back then and you could have afforded a small car for that. >> show me how it works. >> very nice sound on this old said. not a lot of bright as on this old tv. if you have a slightly older said, you may remember vertical hold. >> yes, i remember bashing the tv. take us through the technology here. >> the technology is very crude by today's standards, but very sophisticated then.

we have got the picture there and it actually reflects. it is only a 12 inch screen, but the tube itself goes all the way down to the bottom of the cabinet and that is why is bill the way it is -- is built the way it is. >> you appear to have modern- day television running on that. how was that? >> you have this box that you can pick up anywhere for 20 quaid. and then you have this box here called the aurora and it converts the old line tv to the 590 that was used up until about 1964. >> it is remarkable that this is still working. >> it requires tender loving care. in the days when these were new, you would have had -- you

did not have a tv repairmen living in your house, but he would have been and all too frequent visitor. it was a lot more dangerous because it had real power behind it. you could touch it once and it was the last thing you did. the oldest working television in britain and is working well. but after two hours, you really do need to turn it off. >> this picture during -- taken during the spanish civil war shows that a soldier during the civil war may have been a fake after all. a new study seems to back those that have argued for years that the picture taken in september 1936 was staged. a spanish newspaper was -- says it was actually taken away from the front lines. >> "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.] [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?