"bbc world news" is prested by kcet, los angeles. funding for thisresentation is made possibley the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honulu. the newman'own foundation. the john. and catherine. macarthur foundaon. and uni bank. >> ion bank has put its

financial strength to workor wide range of mpanies, from small businesses to major corpations. what can we do for u? >> and w "bbc world new" >> a hero'seturn, and international contversy. outrage at the man convted of the lockerbie bombing. thfederal reserve chaian ben bernanke says the u.s. is nearly out of recession. two candates claimed a victory afghanistan. the election commsion urges caution. very warwelcome to "bbc world news," broadcast here onbs in america anaround the globe. i am mike embley.

comingp later foryou -- security forces in a rock -- khanate protect e country? -- security forces i iraq -- candidate protect the untry? we revis the baltic states that joined nds for freedom 20 years ago. hello to you. it was outrageous, disgusting, said a white house spokesn. presidt oba saidt was jectionable himself. libya mount a warm welcome r the man cnvicted of the lockerbie mbing. terminally ill, aelbaset ali al-megrahi was freed on compassione grounds. the government is rejecting suggestions the real reason s to smooth commerciarelations

with libya. christiafrazier reports from troli. >> thiss certainly ho libya wanted this trade -- but how much damage to th celebration of al-megrahi due to the relaonship with the outside world? he was welmed home like a decorated soldier. scottish plaids wehed in jubilaon. today, the goverent kept us away from his family, but we d speak to his brother in law. >> we are saddenedy the agedy of lockerbie and the people who lost their childn. but i assure you -- he is innocent. if you uld see him now, you would realize it is impossie he cou do it. >> tt is not how the briti government seeit. they warned libyans wiin an hour of the plane taki off. a letter arrived from dning street. in thatgordon brown asked the

byans to act with "sensitivi." he said the british government expected low-key return. clearly the message w confused or nored. state medi repted the letter concerned only bilateral relations. now it seems that messa is heard loud and car. so far, the has been n reactionrom colonel gaddafi, in televisednterview, no triumph at all. behind me, you see the lights for aelebration in 11 days' time which will mark the anniversary of the up that brough colonel gaddafi to power. it is not wishedhat condemnatio overshadow the event. >> outge. >> i unid stes, the pictes carry the east coast morng shows stokes the anchor. >>hat abo the libyans, s? >> i think it was high objectionable. >> i thk the images that we

saw in libya yesterd were outragus and disgusting. we continue to express our cdolencesto the families that lost a led onas a result of this terrorist murder. >> but how mucof the british an american governmentis prepared to pu this ba in the not so distantuture, libya wi be one of the top 10 oil producers in the world british energy companies have inveed heavily, in som believe future deals were at risk unless a al-megrahi had been released. the celebrations at t end of the month mark a newawn. the world is watchinwhether libya has really turned a page. bbc news, tripoli. >> at last,ood news from the

head of the u.s. central ba. ben bernanke davisnternational counterparts an upbeat message. -- and gave hisnternational counterpar an upbeat message. he said economic activity in the stat is levelingut prospects for growth appear good. he did say recovery may be slow at fst and unempyment is likely to taktime to improve. our new york business correspondent has moren the chairm's comments. >> t comments are alway reasring, especially i a public sting. they are not coated in ultra- greenspan sak . he repeated some of the phrases hesed 10 days later in t official meeti. hwanted to get everyone confidence, but praised the for a gradualrecovery. it is interesting -- his statent with through a history of fancial decline -- the finaial decline, fm 2007ll

througlast year. he - if he cou be said to pat hielf on the back, h certainly did so. he said he and other central nkers had acted effectively and swiftlyo avoid at could have been at a mh wor situatn. he had all sorts of financ yocould tell he was an economic historian. the were so many notes about othepanics. >> president obama has praed what healled the courage of millns who voted in afghanistan, despite the threats of violee from the taliban. > there is a clear conference between thoseho seek to control the future of t ballot box and thosehoilled two prevent that from happing. once again, extremists in afhanistan have shown themselvesilling to murd nnocent men, women coming in children to advance their aims. but i believe the fure belongs to those who wanto bui, not ose who want to deroy. what we shou tell y the afghan independe election

coission has lled for -- >> we should tell y the afghan dependent election commission has called for caution bause tw candates have said they are leading the voteount. the turnout was 50%, substantially wn for the last presidenti election. >> in holand province and -- homeland province in southern afghanist, a raf helicopter delivers ballots fromhe outlyi areas. the rults will be close scrutinized. therwas a low turnout a resultof taliban intimidation. in a mosque in kabul early results are posted for t public tuesy. is to --oo soon to answer the key questions -- will the be another round? how highr low was the turnout? hear, prident karza came in

second to hs main challenger. l the same, it is said the president won the first round. >>e cannot be sure because the results have to be declared by the election commission. we expect it will not go to a second round and pefully we will w in the fir round. >> but d abdlah abdullah insists he has one. >> it is early. no doubt about it. theinitial rests are in my favor. in most provces. yes,hese are prelimina results. t these are indications. >> it is not seem that there is any doubt a all that there has been plenty of election fraud. we have come to the coound of another presidential candidates. he is not aikely winner, but he has a name that is famous throughout the country. he got his name when he fough the russians. he w the first commanr to be

give atandard missile by the cia. after that, he joi the talin, but then he left to suppt the present government. >> he says the fact that the election ssed off without widespad violen is a a big blow to hi former ally, the taliban. he is sorry there shoulhave beeno much fud. >> still, it is unlikely to change the outco. privately,he britishnd american are pleasith the way things have tued out. they know, ofourse, that there was all kin of fraud involved, but ty felt they had to allow president karzai to n things as he need to run them fonow one though, they n be expected t put lot more pressuren him to dothings the way they want them don john simpson, c news, kabul >> more of e main news for you briefly. in chechnya, suicide boers

have killed least four police oficers in the capital. a number oothers were wounded. officials say the atackers were on cycles. at least 20 pple died fighting in t smali capital of mogadishu. this was an attack on government forces and african union peacekeepers. an italian cot has jailed four people i whattate media calls china's ggest soware piracy case. there were given a 3 1/2 years for spreading an unlicensed cy of microsoft's windows operating system iraqi surity officials had been holding emeency meetgs aut security. very much on tir mnds, wednesday's explosions that injured hundreds and kied 100 people. >> it ws the worst attack at

that had seen inonths. it kled and injured hundds. three days on, some are still believed to be trapped in the bubble ofthis foreign ministry. ir's foreigninister blames groups tied to al-qaeda a the formeregime of saddamussein. there has been an increase in vionce across the country sie u.s. forcesleft iraqi cities at the endf june. despe tha general petras told the bbc that he did not anticipate nding troops back to urban areas. >> the iraqi security forces are vast more capable. very signicantnumbersf special operations, ting carry out targeted operations against whatre now more terrorist elements them large insurgen groups, given many o the sunn part of e pulation has sided

th the newiraq. >> the ministry may he faith in iraqi serity fors, but most iraqis do not. when these attacks took place, in se of the safest areas of baghdad, people here say that whether it was on recklessness, corruption, or both, it allowed lorrs full of explosives to drive thugh mtiple iraqi checoints. the u.s is still training iraqi ar, but after wednesday's explosnthe american general in charge of training aitted he was not doing it ft enough. even the iraqi governme now quesons its unsecur forces. >> we have to admit that serity forces have not done enou to limit the

explosions. the officials in chge of these area will beheld accountable. quick question is wheer there will be a fundamental change -- >> the question is whetr there will be a fundamental cnge to the security. recently, all blast was were ordered come down. the city was so safe, ey said, it nlonger needed protecte barriers. on friday, a senior iraqi official told e bbc tat their workould continue as scheduled. this is why many in baghdad accused e government of ying to create an illusion of security insteadf making rea changes. c news, baghdad. stay with us if you cn on "bbc world news." still to com-- thether iraq. we take y to iraqi kurdtan. first, a high-leveelegation from nth koreas i the south korean capital, joining those

mourning the south lksormer president. relatis do seem to be warming. >> it was are rare moment and one rich in symbolism. the six north korean officia arriving at south korea at's- uth korea and the lks -- south korea's ministry. at kidae-jungs lying in state. he organized the historic summit in june 2000, the first me the lders of the two countes had met since the korean war. his hopes for recoiliation had been batted by nths of rising tsion. north korea had fir a rocket er japaneseerritory and conducted a second nuclear test. so could this moment of natiol

unity thugh shared grief offer an opportunityto improve relations? perhaps. some detect hint of the old rivalries out play. alongside the vsit, there are other positive ses. north korea has announced it will allow a cross border cargo train to begin operating again and it will lift restrictions on travel to thijoint industrial suburb. lthough some have suggested th it is moreinterested in the ha cash that the ctory omplex provides. few people doubt th the gulf between north andouth remains very wide. there are high hopes that this visit nate marked a tuing point, but in yn, it may prove stronger on symbism -- but i the end, itay pro stronger on symbolism than sutance. bbc news, seoul. >> the latest headnes for you

this hour. outrage in the u.s. d u.k. that the man coicted of the lockerbie bombing is weomed in libyas a hero. it is the u.s. ised for covery? the headf the federal reserve says e country is nearly out of recession. there is growing and there in south africa about the eatment of t country's rising young spts star, caster semya. she won the women's 180 meters in the world championip, a huge irovement on her previous court. the internation association s and now insistinon tests that prove hurt geer. the famil is furious. >> the ta here is of nothing else. life he in thisarming community changed forever during two minutes on a trkin berlin. one of theran bece a world beater, and in the process, it

created aninternational storm. >> they doot want south africa to go forward. >> that was proof. >> if you had sn everything? >> everything. [laughter] >> and denitely a girl? >> definitely. >> so quick has been world champion success, the home she shes with her mily is still without running water. er birth certifate has en pruced as evidence. there is no ambiguity yea-- born in 1991, sex male. is clear that has lived a caster semenya all of her life -- it clear tt cast senya has lived all of her li as a girl, and then a woman. question seems certaino continue one person who should know is mother. >> the is no doubt.

what say -- there ino doubt. i give birth to her that day, from nine --y womb. >> ad many here think that caeremenya is bei targeted because she is black anfast. part of cliff h collapsed onto a crowded beach in pougal. it killed lst five holidaymakers and injured several others. it was a popular holiday destination. as reported all the vtims are portugue. the past 20 years hav seen massive changes in the baltic stesof wth the wayne rihanna, latvia, and estonia. -- lithuann, latvia, and

tonia. our correspondent has returned to investigate the legacy of europe's revolution. this jail was dark and desolate. 16 were crammed to a sce used by 31. it is where those who wanted independence for estonia were ought for interrogation because moscow treated nationalists as criminals. he got four years in jail. >> in that time,ever had the see i was alone becse i was not alone. knew backhen that the majorityof the estonian pople were with me, andt gave me streng. >> by 1989,nspired byevents poland and hungary, when million people will wiing to join r in the cause. they formed a hun chain across the three baltic republs. because they were inside the boers of the soviet union,

they have a ugher time making their case for independee -- both tmoscow and the west. although moscow was rea to let some go, it refused to release a sovereign nations wiin the soviet union. national feings that were stirred up or two powerful be resisted. after t year the entire soviet unionsplintered into separate nations russia is now a difficult neighbor. when it a brze statue of a russia soldier was moved from the city center to a cemetery, moscow protested angrily and there were night of rioting. now the russian counity appears to have acceptedhe new site,nd estonia doubts whether russia has accted its loss o pamphlets. >>emotionally, there are some leaders still -- we hav restored our independce. re members of the european

union d nato. but the still live in this era. >> an afterno at the russian cultural center showthe lin with the motherland are maintained, even encouraged. for estonia, respectinthe rights of russianpeakers as rt of e balance. they know wh scow to see it a weakness th can exploit to draw esthonia act and to russian control. bbc news, estia. >>he image many of us have a much of iraq is framed by exemist violence anthe death toll mounts th each bomb atta. iraq kdistan is possible modelfor peaceful coexistence across the country. there's a feing of prosperity acro the region. there is a nse of tolerance. weave this rport. >> srtcards, a brand w road

system, and the highes echnology. this ithe most progress in iraq. th is ecapital of kurdistan. some peopleall it "e other iraq." thisegion, even comparedith theest of the middle east, ands outn so many different ys. we d so many different ys. ♪ i have tralled extensely throughout the middleast. here, in kurstan, it is li western cotries. is there any comparison t america or rael? >>t is better that the imam ould not inspire hatred.

our prophet says we shld not torate violce to others. >> islamic parties are united in campaign as one. >> we are all on the same common ground. >> aer the invasion of ira anin 2003, iraqi christians were attacke at churche throughout iraq. ♪ many christians escape the violence and und refuge here, inurdistan. >> jusa year agothis church was built to accmodate christians to esca persecution from cities like baghd and mosul. ristians from all over iraq have found peace and comfort here. >> i am from baghdad. i came here. i am worngn in this

restaunt. >> he cristian quarter in the capital ty -- th business i thriving. ths jack niels. this costs almost 7. wait ceaper than in london. the majority of iraqi kurds are slim. the muslim faith does not me sell alcohol, saithe christians control thi lucrative tre. -- sohe christians control this lucrative trade. >> i am kurdish andave faith in islam. bui am also at the he where bars an mosques can coexi freely. >> come with me d see what they think about this liquor stor just a block away from eir mosque. comeith me. i asked the imam what he thin

about christian selling alcohol to muslims >> according to the teachingf islam, every relion suld be respecd. christian sel alcohol, let them do that. their fate the laws of. we kurds and christians are ancient people. >> extrests in iraq have conveyed omy image ofislam, and the kurdish version ofslam can now be a model forhe rest of the country. bbc news. >> bfore we leave you, mh of europe has been bakingin augt's ht plate. people art -- it is notnly people try to fd release. it is n only humans that like ice cream. keeps have found icy streets -- i see treats -- icy treats beary popular.

fore we go, a reminder of our top sty. president obama has joined the u.k. in condemng in the julee return of ablbaset ali almegri to libya. brish foreign mistry sd his hero's wlcome was deeply sturbing. manore detls for you any time on bop' bbc.com -- any time on bbc.com. >> fding was made possible by the freeman foundation onew york, stowe,ermont, and honolulu. the newm's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation and union bank

>> union bank has pu its nancial strength to work for wide range of coanies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i'julia stiles. >> i'm kevibacon. > i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken bus. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis tes, jr. and public badcasting isy source forews about the world. >> fointelligent conversation. for election coverage you can count . >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a comtment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerry washingt, and public broadcasting is myource for intellent connections to my community. >> "bbc world ws" was prented by kcet, los angeles. prented by kcet, los angeles.