>> "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.

clacks union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now bbc world news. >> a victory against the taliban in pakistan. ed the country's most wanted man is believed killed. >> this information is that he

is dead. >> president obama speaks to a surprise drop in america's jobless. a fresh conflict in georgia edging closer? welcome to bbc world news. it is broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. coming up later for you -- just like old times. hillary clinton looks up an old friend in south africa. [inaudible] >> and the comedy crunch. performers are making light of the global recession. hello to you.

ed there are strong indications that pakistan's most wanted man, taliban commander baitullah mehsud, has been killed. he is believed to be leading al- qaeda's campaign to make pakistan ungovernable. sources have said that he is killed and buried, killed in a u.s. air strike on wednesday. this is from our correspondent in as, bob -- islamabad. >> baitullah mehsud is rarely seen in public. the white house has called him "a murderous thug." >> we have clear information that so far we do not have any evidence to confirm that he is dead. there were several killed during these attacks.

these are indications. >> he is accused of masterminding the assassination of former prime minister benazir bhutto, as well as dozens of other attacks. he has been linked to the bombing of the marriott hotel in islamabad which claimed more than 60 lives, and his stronghold has been a sanctuary for al-qaeda, a major concern for britain and the u.s.. but he is focused on targets here at home -- bombing pakistan because it backs the west. he declared war on his own country and people. some here have told us they do not believe he is dead. they have heard that before. others have said they feel a sense of relief and that this is good news, not just for pakistan, but also for the world. >> he is absolutely a bad guy. we do not need these people. he is absolutely bad for us and

all nations. >> another man in the crowd said america is bad, too, for killing innocent civilians with their drones. baitullah mehsud was targeted by one of the drones, remote control from the u.s. and increasingly used to hunt the taliban. he is believed to have commanded between 10,020 thousand fighters. experts here warn there are others waiting to take his place. bbc news, a islamabad. >> in afghanistan, three british soldiers have been killed, and a fourth is critically injured. a vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb. in surgeons opened fire. casualties' have been at record levels, ahead of presidential elections this month. the white house has been making

much of it u.s. unemployment reaching 10%. the jobless total actually fell, marginally, to 9.4%. that left economists wondering what it means. we will look at the global picture in a moment. first this from new york. >> optimism is creeping back to wall street. a better than expected unemployment picture has raised hopes further that the long u.s. recession is waning. companies did cut almost a quarter of a million jobs in july, but the trend is improving. in three months, the companies cut on average 31,000 jobs from payrolls, but that is half the level we saw at the peak of the recession in autumn and winter. president obama says his stimulus package has helped, but is cautious. >> we have a lot further to go. as far as i am concerned, we will not have a true recovery as

long as we are losing jobs and we will not rest until every american is looking -- that is looking for work can find a job. >> here they know the difficulties of finding per network. there are 5 million long-term unemployed. americans have been out of work more than six months. >> is by march i am not hired with the qualifications that i have, i think that is difficult. i am having a hard time getting employers to make a decision. >> have a couple of organizations where i am interviewing with the potential of a job offer, trying to work now to generate more leads for other companies so that i can have several options to choose from. ultimately, i am going to make a decision. >> others have been so discouraged they have quit the labour force. we saw the unexpected fall in the jobless rate to 9.4%.

there is still a long way to go. in the last two recessions, it took 16 months for jobs to bounce back. with so many americans out of work, there is concern about whether all-important consumer spending will pick up again. bbc news, new york. >> so u.s. unemployment is high, but how does it compare with other countries around the world? at the top end of the scale -- south africa. 23.6% of the working population are looking for a job. in europe, the numbers are high. spain has the highest jobless figure -- 7.9%. it is struggling with declining consumer demand. russia is comparable with america -- are around 10%. its jobless total may have peaked in may. china has a low unemployment -- 4.3% of its city-based

population are out of work. let's dig further. how do you read these figures? >> i believe this is a good indication of what is going on around the world. i want to look at one or two people like south africa. basically, what we are seeing is this is continuing to get worse and it will go on getting worse, in fact, even when we have an economic recovery. just as one example, in the early 1990's in the u.k., we saw the recession and unemployment got worse and worse. we came out of the recession, and even then, normal people were getting laid off. actually, the economy was growing. you can get economic growth, and it does not necessarily mean jobs will come back. >> is a lagging indicator. >> that is right. >> can you localize it?

>> yes. actually, this was pointed out in a report a couple of months ago -- really, as always happens when you have global downturn, the poor, women, and young people, those three categories are worst hit. geographically, the highest goals of unemployment -- south africa is the case. north africa, the middle east. that is where the highest levels of unemployment happen. east asia, the best levels of unemployment, largely because of the chinese experience. on the other hand, chinese figures -- we do not have that good figures. that 4.3% only accounts for the urban unemployed, not necessarily the rural ones. we do not have figures on that. >> thank you very much indeed. let's take you around the globe. police in indonesia are involved in a shootout. it this is believed to be one of

southeast asia's most wanted terrorist suspects. exchanging gunfire. the leader of the group is thought to be behind the bombings and the twin suicide attacks on jakarta hotels last month. the leader of the tamil tiger rebels has been arrested in southeast asia. the group leader was killed in may. a moscow court has rejected a petition by the family of the murder journalist for a renewed investigation. three suspects were killed during the -- were cleared during the first inquest. italy's prime minister silvio berlusconi has again dismissed criticism of his private life despite a series of sex

scandals. he says he has nothing to apologize for. he has denied a series of lurid investigations, -- allegations including he slept with a prostitute. >> is one of the most important days in the shia muslim calendar. in a rock, thousands converged to celebrate, but at least 36 members of the community were killed in attacks across the country. there are fierce sectarian tensions could flare again. we have reports from baghdad. >> friday is a holy day. this friday is particularly special. in iraq, the violence always overshadows when the biggest festivals of the year. as people had to the holy city in the south, security is on high alert. more than 20,000 were deployed to protect pilgrims. six of them never made it back.

their car was hit by three separate roadside bombs. and while security predicted potential trouble in the south, the biggest attack happened away from the capital, in mosul. this is the second friday in a row that she ought mosques are being attacked. there were five explosions last friday. they killed 30 people. now, just as many have been killed in mosul. a very similar type of attack -- a car bomb parked outside a mosque, and it went off as people were leaving their friday prayers. muscle is still one of the most troubled places -- mosul is still one of the most troubled places in iraq. the predominantly-shia government blames the terrorist for the attacks. but they are not the only targets here.

on thursday, 5 kurds were killed. officials insist they are still in control and security is getting better. for those who lived through yet another troubled friday, the iraqi government still has much to prove. bbc news, baghdad. >> it could mean a whole new time of cooperation in south africa. the u.s. secretary of state is on a two-day visit. the latest on her tour of the continent. in the 1990's her husband did much to warm relations, so could the clinton affect work again? we have reports from johannesburg. >> aged 91 and as popular as ever, nelson mandela received american secretary of state. a decade ago, the close french

between president clinton and president mandela brought these countries closer together. hillary was given a tour of the great man's archives by his wife. >> to be there and see the pictures of him as a young man and to know some much about his life, it of course inspires me to not only greater admiration for his public work, and even greater affection for the man. >> after rather frosty relations between the united states and south africa, and addressing it was the first order the day. mrs. clinton spoke of neighboring zimbabwe. the united states has yet to be convinced by the idea of robert mugabe sharing power. >> we, as you know, are attempting to target the leadership of zimbabwe, with

sanctions that we think might influence their behavior without hurting the people of zimbabwe. during a recent visit to the united states, prime minister -- the prime minister talked to the president, and we made a commitment to provide more help. >> mrs. clinton now heads to talks with jacob zuma. south africa is the net stop on the tour. bbc news, johannesburg. >> good to have you with us. coming up, news from the philippines. washing away whole villages. 12 are reported killed. first though, a british woman who deliberately became pregnant in jail. she has arrived back in england to serve her sentence. she would have faced the death penalty in laos if she had not

been pregnant. just a warning -- the report does contain flash photography. >> the ordeal is finally over. senior in the white hat, she arrived at heathrow early this morning. two was immediately taken into custody. the 20-year-old issued a statement describing herself as -- reciting herself as enormously relieved to be back. this afternoon, her mother spoke of her joy and relief. >> ice cream. i thank jesus. >> i do not know. i honestly do not know. >> she was facing the death penalty after allegedly admitting heroin smuggling. but laos does not execute

expectant mothers. she says she artificially inseminated herself with the help of another briton in jail there. the exchange policy allow her to transfer home. she will begin her jail sentence here and may be completed here. the prison does have a baby in it. under the terms of the agreement, she will technically have to serve a life sentence. of course, a life sentence here means something different than in laos. for her, the unimaginable nightmare is over. if she did smuggle heroin, many will say it was a nightmare of her own making. bbc news. >> the latest headlines for you on bbc world news. there are strong signs of pakistan's most wanted man, at taliban leaders baitullah mehsud, has been killed in

american missile strike. hopes that the recession may be ending after jobless numbers are lower than expected. the first anniversary of georgia's brief war with russia. five days of fighting ended in a cease-fire. that was only after several hundred people had died. georgia observed a moment of silence nationwide to remember those who were killed. in the city of gori, people held a flags in the air. the conflict is long over, but the tensions behind it remained. russia accuses georgia of rearming. georgians say they feel threatened. our correspondent has been on the border of ossetia, where russia has been building up its military presence. >> a show of force by the russian military has tensions mounting.

they are moving to bolster russian positions along the border with georgia. that is after claims of shooting. the russian president, dmitry medvedev, recently came to south ossetia to emphasize that russia will continue to defend its region from the georgians. the russians have billed up their military presence here over the past year whit -- have built up their military presence here over the past year with many more troops. this is the only way to prevent another georgian attack, according to them. >> georgia has rearmed very quickly and remains an aggressive state. we want to integrate with russia. >> on the outskirts of the the capitol, we found more evidence of the rapidly deteriorating relations with russia following

the war. these up-market homes and schools are being built from the mayor of moscow. this is symbolic of how far south ossetia has in the, a part of russia. not only are russian troops defending the territory, but they are responsible for the entire reconstruction from the war. it has been financed by the russian authorities. despite the russian money, the enormous task of reconstruction here has been very slow. for almost a year, people in this family have lived in this tent, with the shed at the end of the garden. he still looks to the russian president for help. >> president medvedev came here and told us it would be ok. we were told the construction of homes would begin at the end of september.

i am confident that will all happen. south ossetia is still part of russia. >> out of the ruins here, there is one very clear result -- this impoverished region has been lost from russia -- from georgia for good. bbc news, south ossetia. >> just well we are in this part of the world, you may remember a story about the denial of service attacks for various web sites including facebook and twitter. it now seems the target was of lager from georgia. -- was a blogger from georgia. make of that what you will. french tourists are among 12 people killed in floods in the philippines. thousands were forced from their homes. bridges and roads were washed

away. they are grounding flights and confining millions to their homes. we have a report. >> after the storm, the flood. this is the scene in the philippines were a day louche of rain caused a dam to burst, -- where a deluge of rain caused a dam to burst, forcing people from their homes. whole villages were submerged. the flood waters were so strong, rescue workers were forced to make desperate efforts to save those stranded. but some people were not so lucky. like here in this province. >> the mounting collapse, and the water gushed. they were swept away by the floods. >> in one area, all schools were

closed and the state of emergency was declared. but as they start to pick up the pieces, elsewhere, they are preparing for the worst. apart from the typhoon, it heads for mainland china. fishing boats and other vessels have been ordered to seek shelter. chinese provinces have reported more than 2000 ships have returned to harbor. nearly 50 senators of rain water has already fallen, causing power outages across the island. the impact may be prolonged of the typhoon is moving slowly. millions of people living in taipei and the north of the island are sheltering in their homes, fearful of what will come. bbc news. >> new pictures from the space

probe showing what seems to be a lake on titan, one of saturn's moons. temperatures are in the region of 180 degrees celsius. scientists say the lake is probably not water -- more likely it liquid hydrocarbons such as methane. finally, it is that time of year where aspiring comedians had to edinburgh. tough economic times are actually paying a dividend for performers. we have a report. >> the economy may be strained, but we are riding high on laughter. >> it has been a tough year, and there are more than 2000 shows. among them -- this one. rap. >> ♪ my suggestion is they spend it all and take it for the bridge ♪

>> and sales are up 20%. and it is a time for comedy. >> primal scream, the release of murder. victorians drilled holes in their heads. modern brits last. >> and it has affected the types of jokes on stage. >> the headlines, for instance. >> as soon as the words "tuck house -- "duck house" mentioned -- that is brilliant. we thank the gods of comedy. >> they just get in there. >> i like to do all maurer -- a more politics-themed show. >> however, it has to be a good value. >> you have to downsize

slightly. middle earners -- i think it is good to bring sunshine to people's lives. >> and more than 400 shows are now for a period -- are now free. abc news, at moreau. >> just a reminder -- there are strong indications that pakistan's most wanted man, baitullah mehsud, has been killed. he is believed to have led al- qaeda's campaign to make you region at affectively ungovernable. there is no confirmation. sources have told the bbc that he was killed along with his second wife and bodyguards. thank you for being with us. kce>> funding for this presentan was 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.

>> and union bank has put its financial strength to work for a while the companies -- from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i am kevin bacon. >> i am ken burns. >> public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for a election coverage. >> for conversations beyond sound bites. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> public broadcasting is my source for intelligent connections to my community.

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.