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bank. >> union bank has put its strength for to help a variety of companies. what can we do for you? >> the spread of swine flu leaves governments around the globe struggle to cope. america's top diplomat is called an unintelligent, funny lady. and a war of words. joe biden's trip to georgia brings a fresh threats from russia. welcome to bbc world news. coming up later for you, he has been arrested and bodyguard. now, bulgaria's new premier says he will with his country into shape.

and meat sweden's pirate'. they have hijacked the issue of free downloads for everybody. hello, and welcome. there has been a dramatic rise in the number of swine flu cases here in england. 100,000 more in seven days, most of them children. a new tamiflu program crashed within minutes because of high demand. in a moment, how the fear is affecting saudi arabia, spreading among muslims making the pilgrimage to mecca. but first, this report on plants in england to deal with the epidemic.

>> according to the health protection agency, the epidemic mainly affects children. the number of cases have almost doubled, with an estimated 100,000 cases in the last couple of days. 63 people are in critical condition. figures for the number dead have been revised. it is now thought that swine flu is responsible for 26 deaths in england, for in otherwise healthy people. in scotland, there have been four deaths. >> we have seen a big surge, but if retract it carefully, we may see signs of a slowing. i do not think that takes away from the fact that it will come back in larger numbers in autumn and winter. >> the new on-line service to

help people with the symptoms struggled to cope today with demand. it is expected to be the route used by most of england. if the questions are answered correctly, they could be eligible to enter by rote treatment to be picked up by a relative. >> this means that it will be less. it means people can go to the call center or go online and check whether the condition is and get advice on how to get access to the antiviral. >> general practitioners will still be busy. pregnant women and young children with health problems are still likely to be referred to doctors. tamiflu is only meant for those sick, and it can have side effects, like nausea. doctors warned that the international phone service should not be abused.

at this american -- emergency meeting in cairo, arab health officials talk about trying to contain swine flu. vulnerable groups, the elderly, children, and chronically ill, are to be excluded from this year. >> today, the saudi government will make it -- no one will be covered unless requirements are filled. >> the pilgrimage to mecca is a duty all muslims must carry out in their lifetime. the proximity of so many people in november could fuel the outbreak. an egyptian woman died after contracting swine flu on a pilgrimage to saudi arabia.

one of osama bin laden's sons is believed to be killed by a u.s. missile strike earlier this year. it was 85% certain that he was dead. saad bin laden is his father's third son. the fbi has arrested 35 people in a massive corruption case in new jersey. it caps a tenure investigation which uncovered illegible illegal activity from money- laundering to kidney trafficking. " like and has unveiled --

volkswagen has unveiled plans to take over porsche after that company's unsuccessful attempt to swallow and larger rival that left them with debt. the u.s. secretary of state warned p'yongyang that they have no friends left to support nuclear ambitions. the loyal state media described the top diplomat as an on intelligent, funny lady. it has been a challenging few days. in her interview with the bbc -- >> hillary clinton just wrapped up a week-long trip to north korea, where they came to emphasize that the obama's station wanted to cooperate. she had a full agenda. north korea were there to

discuss and incentives package. she also warned iran against continuing its nuclear program and spoke about defense. i asked her to flesh out a few ideas. >> they do not seem to be responding to what you are giving them, and the escalation continues. you could reach dangerous territory where there's a lot of tension. at some point, someone will have to back down and i'm assuming it will have to be responsible adult rather than the tantrum adolescents. >> there is no way to resolve the danger if north korea is given a pass to continue their nuclear program. we have been through this before. we have made agreements they have broken. so we do have to keep the pressure on, and sanctions are designed to do that. i've been amazed, actually, at the extent to which other

countries are going, showing that they're concerned about the implications not only of north korea having deliverable nuclear weapons, which we are determined to present -- prevent, but also because of the arms race, which will destabilize. >> you said you are still ready to engage with iran. i was wondering, engage with who? the president? the ayatollah? if you do that, you would demoralize millions of iranians. why not say that a full engagement is on hold while you sort out issues but we will still talk to about the nuclear issue? >> that is pretty much what is happening. the internal debate is going on

within iran and has made it difficult if not impossible for them to pursue any diplomatic engagement, not just with us, but with everyone. our saying that we're willing to engage iran does not necessarily mean we are deciding if we will engage with. there on this path towards nuclear-weapons. >> hillary clinton talking to the be -- bbc. her colleague, joe biden, was provoking russians with support for the president of georgia. he has been met with a top response. russia has expressed concerns about george and efforts to rearm, saying they will take

steps to prevent that from going ahead. >> georgia is the vice- president's second stop on his tour of the region. >> we understand that they aspire to join nato and fully support that aspiration. we will work to continue to help you meet the standards of nato. >> georgia has sent peacekeeping troops to afghanistan, some of whom will be trained by u.s. military. george has asked for military hardware and american units to be sent.

>> it was a specified in the ceasefire agreement april 4, including withdrawal of all forces out of your territorial area. >> this visit follows barack obama's trip to moscow early this morning. united states now wants good relations with georgia and russia, but russia warns that they have taken concrete steps to prevent georgia firm rearming. bbc news, tblisi. >> still to come -- the british effort to deal with drunken tourists.

japanese exports. it just keeps on spreading. scientists in the u.k. are waging war on the alien species, introducing another one, as we report. >> they might look attractive, but it is out of control. it was introduced in japan in 1940 as an ornamental plant. it grew at the rate of 3 feet a month, and can damage. this is run by a not-for-profit research organization who hopes they have found the answer. it is this. tiny insect, also over from japan. its impact could be immense.

>> that the nymphs of the species suck the juice out of the plant and depletes the nutrients. the alternatives are not sustainable. you are applying chemicals continuously, and it will do the job for you. >> biocontrol is not without risk. it can end up replacing one problem with another. scientists have not and examining the affects the insects have, but on other plants as well. it could have huge ramifications if as a negative impact, but so far, it seems insect will only eat leaves. >> even if this biocontrol gets the go-ahead, it could take years to work. but for those who have seen the damage that can be done, it cannot help soon enough.

>> swine flu spreads. 1000 new cases in england this week, double seven days ago. hillary clinton has said that north korea has no friends left to protect it from efforts to end its nuclear program. he was once a bodyguard and wrestler, now boyko borisov presents his new cabinet just one day after his justice system was criticized for failing to meet standards. >> he is bold. 's most popular politician, mayor of the capital sofia and also the prime minister.

he shakes hands wherever he goes. he is a man with a colorful past, promising to tackle the crime and production which bedeviled the poorest country in the european union. bulgarians are used to corruption in high places. last year, the interior minister and head of the tax office, three heads of the road-building agency, all resigned under allegations of bribery and corruption. at his office, surrounded by wrestling trophies, he talks about his priority, to get bulgaria back into the good graces of europe. >> i will not shield a minister or deputy minister or anyone engaging in corruption. we need 100% trust from brussels. >> corruption cost bulgaria dearly. the farmer should have benefited from hundreds of billions of

euros in subsidies, but last year the money was frozen. it was not getting through to those who needed it. also, this farmer has not seen a penny. why? >> corruption. i do not have proof, but i have proved that we have applied for different programs and have not received the money. >> as mayor, he has filled potholes in notoriously bad streets. some of them. his no-nonsense approach goes down well with taxpayers. he is a real tough guy, he says. when he was young, he made his name in the 1990's as a bodyguard for his deposed communistic trader. before that, he was a wrestler and a karate coach. before that, he guarded the former bulgarian king, who

became prime minister. he was so impressed that he was made a general and put in charge of the police. last week, the new parliament opened, and his party has 113 seats, just short of an overall majority. a brooding presence from the balcony, he now has to match words with deeds. >> one of the biggest shocks of the recent european election was the success of the swedish candidate under the banner of internet piracy. legal reform supported for file sharing and downloading. we hear from stockholm. >> festival season, and about the closest many swedes will get to paying for music. when the government tried to clamp down on illegal file sharing, it has swiftly become

the most powerful party among younger citizens. >> does anybody vote for the pirates party? how about you? >> everyone has the right to privacy. >> you think is a civil rights for you to be able to share the music you want. >> yes. >> those sentiments propelled the party to success with a seat in parliament. the man behind it say it is about more than file sharing. >> the big brother society is being set up. so many societies before us. >> it is hard to imagine that a

country as consentual and apparently perfect as sweden has become the new frontline in the battle for civil rights in the 21st century. it pitches privacy against foreign forces. the root cause is a new law which takes its name from the sra, the swedish wiretapping agency. it prohibits the monitoring -- permits the monitoring of traffic. computer scan for a quarter of a million words and phrases, each of which could trigger further investigation. it is not just to catch pirates. the government says it is also intended to harvest intelligence on terrorists. >> i think we have struck a balance between security conditions.

the party has its roots in music, and major political parties have adapted pirate policies. independent parties spread out across the globe. >> we're hearing a lot about when that twister is changing social networking and how it is affecting the way we view movies. tweaking it is changing the habits of filmgoers, critics, and hollywood studios. we report. >> one estimate claims the service has 30 million users, and enables short messages to be sent. moviegoers use it to transmit instant opinions on new films. word of mouth spread bread's fire early and rapidly. lots of moviegoers tweaked about movies.

>> you get out, and he might comment about the movie, whether or not you liked it. >> film goers say that they're being influenced by this. >> when "bruno" came out, i saw what my friends were saying about the movie and chose not to go to it. >> "bruno" is one of film said to have been harmed by-tweaked -- negative tweets. "the hangover" may have been a beneficiary. it has no big-name stars, but it has been helped by the service. it could be argued that twitter is making moviegoers' better off. but not everyone agrees. >> millions of users are

responding to whatever film. it is creating a news source that the general reader has to wade through. it is becoming more difficult. >> some critics are turning the bandwagon, including this critic. critics everywhere have been losing their jobs with cost cutting and competition from online. they're hoping that other internet sites will not kill off critics. >> i think in the end, people will come to the critics they trust, probably with newspapers and televisions. >> the journalist might be under threat. >> you're finding so many alternative ways for people to judge whether they want to see a film or not that i think the stronghold journalism's had is

ebbing away. >> twitter is not just taking the spotlight away from the movie studios. >> they are going to the audience to promote their films. >> and there is definitely an audience out there with a marketing agenda. >> they always have interesting clips about the movies to release behind-the-scenes that i found interesting. i always want to know everything i can about a movie that i see. >> twister is animated fans, marketers, and making it harder for the voices of professional critics to be heard. fans claim it is a tool of the empowerment, but there is no news out of wisdom. it is just a high-velocity forum where many messages are of

questionable value. >> chiefs of police in greek islands are trying to decide how to deal with drunken british tourists. many blame tour companies for encouraging binge drinking, and british tourists have secured the unenviable reputation of being around the west in europe. we report. >> they drink from morning to night. i was not allowed into film a game where a man collect women's underwear. this is mild compared to behavior in several notorious

island resorts that have given britain the reputation as home of the worst tourist in europe. the mayor accuses british companies of blackmailing the island, saying they chose to pull out completely. the government of britain says they are trying to encourage tourists and companies to act responsibly. >> i am worried about making sure that the british have a good holiday and a safe one