17/08/2014 BBC Weekend News

Kurdish forces in northern Iraq are closing in on a strategically

important dam, seized by Islamist militants. The US has carried out

air strikes near the dam, in support of the operation.

David Cameron says Britain's military prowess will be needed to

help defeat the extremists in Iraq. Also - police say migrants,

including children, found in a shipping container in Essex, are

Sikhs from Afghanistan. A man has been shot and is critically injured

after more clashes in the US state of Missouri.

England are the world champions! England have beaten Canada to win

the women's Rugby World Cup for the first time in 20 years.

A very good evening to you. Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq say they

are close to taking back control of most of the area around the

country's largest dam at Mosul. American warplanes were also

involved in the operation. Their biggest since becoming involved in

the conflict against Islamic State. Now the dam was seized by the

radical Islamists earlier this month. It supplies much of the

area's water and electricity and would cause devastating floods if it

burst. Meanwhile, international humanitarian efforts are continuing

to help tens of thousands of people from the Yazidi minority, who have

been forced from their homes by the extremists. Paul Wood has travelled

through northern Iraq and northern Syria and sent us this report.

A whole people put to flight by the Islamic State.

Exhausted, terrified - the Yazidis suffered many individual tragedies

as they fled in their thousands. In a nearby hospital, we learned of

one of the most heartbreaking stories. The little boy is disabled,

paralysed down one side. He was found by Kurdish fighters, abandoned

and dying in the desert. Doctors think he lie in 50 degrees heat,

looking into the blazing sun for more than a day. His eyes dried out.

His corneas are scorched and infected. No-one knows his name or

where his parents are or why he was left behind. Other refugees believe

his mother no longer had the strength to carry him. And had to

make the awful choice. Which child to save. Islamic State started to

fire at people. The boy's mother panicked, he says. She dropped him

and just ran, so he was left behind. American warplanes and drones

carried out 14 air strikes in northern Iraq today. This was to

help ease the humanitarian crisis, said a US military spokesman and

also to help the Kurdish ground forces. A Kurdish offensive is

reported to have captured large parts of the Mosul dam today. It has

been in the hands of the Islamic State for the past fortnight. This

is a difficult fight, say the Kurds. They have an agenda. They have an

army - a fully-blown army. They have money, finances, they have oil. They

are controlling water resources. They are controlling the territory

of two countries - Syria and Iraq. In northern Syria, the Islamic State

is gaining more territory. They are taking it from other rebel groups in

a new offensive. Syria's opposition has called for the US military to

bomb here, just as they are doing in Iraq. There are refugee camps spread

across the region. Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and here in Iraq and some of

the camps, like this one, are starting to get an air of permanence

about them. These people, Syrian Kurds fled to Iraq two-and-a-half

years ago. The jihadis were not powerful then. They used the chaos

of the civil war to become stronger and stronger. Now they are using the

fighting in Iraq to try and carve out their own Islamic caliphate.

Their own state which they hope will make the borders between Iraq and

Syria simply irrelevant The Americans have been drawn back into

Iraq. Air power alone will not decide this conflict. The refugees

may have a long wait before they can go home.

David Cameron says Britain's military prowess will be needed to

help defeat Islamic State. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he said, a

humanitarian response to the crisis is not enough. He also warned

militants could target Britain. Our political correspondent has more.

Islamic State militants striking a triumphant pose and despite their

recent setbacks, the Prime Minister believes this represents a

significant threat. Controlling thousands of Square Miles of

territory, spanning the border between northern Iraq and Syria. In

a newspaper article, he A Conservative MP from a Kurdish

background has been visiting refugee camps in the region. He said despite

the talk of military activity, the Prime Minister has no intention of

launching another Iraq war. It is not in anyway suggesting that we

need to put boots on the ground, to put British Armed Forces to fight

this fight against the Islamic caliphate. I think it is right to

remind the British people that left unchecked, the Islamic caliphate

will spread across to Europe. So, any military response is likely

to be targeted. UK forces have been used to deliver aid and weapons are

on offer to Kurdish troops. The Prime Minister's rhetoric is

powerful. That doesn't mean it will be followed by swift action.

Instead, he is preparing us for a protracted struggle against Islamic

extremism. One he says could last his political lifetime and he's been

very clear there's a home front in this battle too.

As many as 500 British citizens are essty mated to be fighting alongside

militants in Iraq. The Prime Minister says any show of support

here, even displaying an Islamic State flag, would lead to arrest.

Labour argue he should do more to tackle the rise of extremism in the

Middle East. That response is most effectively dealt with this the

region. That is why we should talk to the Turkish, to the Kurdishes, to

the Jordanians about what efforts our allies can take to try and repel

the advance of ISIS. The Iraq war still casts a long political shadow.

But the Prime Minister insists it will not take him taking action to

tackle the extremism now. Our security correspondent is here.

These are strong words from the Prime Minister about the threat

posed by Islamic State. What has prompted his comments? I think this

is the net result of months of advice that the Prime Minister's

been getting from a number of people, from the Foreign Office,

from his national security adviser, from SIS - the Secret Intelligence

Service, from MI6, from MI5, the police. All of whom have said for a

time, this is a growing threat - the Islamic State. What changed in the

last two months is that it has turned from being a localised,

relatively localised militia, yet another part of the complicated

Middle East picture, into an army - a miniature state. And that, I

think, has been a wake-up call for a lot of people. Now the threat of

home-grown terrorism, or blowback, has existed for three years, for as

long as people started to volunteer to join groups in Syria, the MI5 and

the police and others have warned there is a risk that a small

minority would come back to this country and want to carry out

something here. The problem is it's not just people - it is the ideology

itself. That is really the thread that runs through this piece he's

written. It is this violent ideology that is most concerning people.

Plus, of course, there is the fact that the more land they take over,

the more dams, the more hydroelect trisry plants - the money they get,

the more they are attractive to other volunteers from around the

world. The more they are likely to be a launch pad, including Britain's

allies. Many thanks. Police say they believe 35 migrants

found locked in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks in Essex came from

Afghanistan and they are of the Sikh faith. One man died and some others,

including children, needed hospital treatment, after being discovered

yesterday morning. New video footage shows the moment they emerged from

the container. They are thought to be the victim of trafficking. This

report contains flashing images from the very start. Breathing fresh air

at last. This video shows the scene shortly after the container was

opened. Some people are being led away, whilst others are being helped

out of the container at the back. One man is clearly struggling to

breathe. There are many children among the group. They are

traumatised and cold. Emergency workers do their best to help.

Today, the local Sikh community delivered food, clothes and even a

teddy bear to the port terminal building where the migrants were

being held. Police say the people being interviewed here have suffered

a terrible ordeal. They say they are the victims of human trafficking and

their main concern at the moment is for their health and welfare.

A total of 34 people were taken to hospital yesterday suffering from

hypothermia and dehydration. They range from one to 72.

Human trafficking across Europe is an insidious and lucrative business.

This particular group, I understand they are from Afghanistan. They

probably would have been transported overland from Afghanistan, up to one

of the borders in the Balkans and possibly into the European Union

that way. And then they would have paid for on-washed passage to

wherever it was they were eventually picked up and headed for the UK.

What drove these people to flee Afghanistan and risk their lives?

They have faced persecution. They have been murdered. They have been

spat on. The women are in fear of going outside. Their places of

worship are under scrutiny. Their funerals cannot be done without

police protection. It is a very hard time if you are a Sikh in

Afghanistan. A man in his 40s died in the container. The rest of the

group were lucky to be alive. Police across Europe are joining forces to

find the traffickers who care only for profit, not for people.

A man has been shot and is critically injured after more

violence prompted by the killing of an unarmed black teenager in

Missouri. It happened on the first night of a curfew in Ferguson, in St

Louis. From there here is our reporter.

These images are shocking many Americans. For some, it was a police

force behaving like an invading army, in a small town in Missouri.

Demonstrators were on the streets, defying a curfew, calling not only

for justice, but an end to police heavy-handedness. Police said they

wouldn't fire tear gas, but as the night progressed, that is just what

they did. In the chaos, there were shots fired. One person was

critically injured and several were arrested. Police say their response

was proportionate after recent looting and vandalism and prevented

more people from getting hurt. Some in the mainly black community, in

which Michael Brown was killed, say they feel under siege, but they will

keep up what has become a fire of what they see as years of police

discrimination. The law to me, personally, to me, I feel like it

was necessary. Now we've got that tension of the governor, the

President and the news casts, so now we are being herded. It will be

worse before it gets better. Will it get worse? You see what's going on

now - it's getting worse and worse every day. And the antagonism has

increased over the week since he was shot multiple times and killed by

police. He was 18 and unarmed. Police released footage, they say

shows him acting aggressively in a shop and stealing cigars. It only

angered people more when it was admitted the officer who shot

Michael Brown didn't know he was a suspect. The community has become

more united since the killing. It is the authorities that are badly out

of step. A lot of these people feel that change is now going to come in

the way young, black people are treated here. They also know that

more trouble might be on the way before that happens.

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has admitted he could have

made his position on a future currency of an independent Scotland

clearer during a recent TV debate. He said he wished he explained that

aspect in more detail. He was pressed on the issue by Alistair

Darling of the Better Together campaign. The next TV debate will be

held a week tomorrow w the referendum on September 18th.

Now w all the sports news over to the BBC Sport Centre.

England's women have been crowned rugby union world champions. They

beat Canada in the final in Paris by 21-9. It's been 20 years since they

won the tournament. Many of the team had to take unpaid leave to be

involved. A trophy and a title to put an end to two decades of

heartache. Three straight World Cup finals lost. England now have their

revenge. For their most experienced players, the biggest challenge would

be to set aside the pain of the defeats. It with was nervy start.

Emily Scarratt kept England in front, until this... England

suddenly bursting forward, flowing across the field. Danielle Waterman

finally going over. In the second half, Canada cracked back to within

two points. Emily Scarratt once again, with the knee-high socks,

bounding through to clinch the title and rest the gotss of the past. --

ghosts of the past. You dare to dream - you don't want to dream too

much. For us, today, we did it. We are world champions. England finally

have their day - a team of amateurs on top of the world. Among them are

teachers, a vet, a plumber, now they go back to their day jobs. They do

so as world champions. England's cricketers have won a Test

series for the first time in over a year, beating India 3-1. They won

the fifth and Final Test by an innings and 244 runs.

Sunday at the Oval, the final verdict delivered to India. England

wall lopped the ball around for an hour or so. Joe Root 149 not out.

India 338 behind. Murali Vijay out. LBW to James Anderson. It was over

in 30 overs. Ballance had a brilliant hand in it. Dhoni stood up

for India. He was gone for none. Four wickets for Jordan. When he got

rid Kohli. It was 94 all out. England made it look simple. It is

easy to forget where they were three weeks ago - behind without a win any

where for almost a year. England have won series here before. In the

light of the last 12 months, I put it to the captain, this one was

essential. You are right. English cricket needed a series win. To

deliver it like we have delivered it, we'll have a big smile on our

face to win the last two in three days, it is like the perfect game.

England will let success in for now. The Premier League champions

Manchester City and last season's runners up, Liverpool, both played

their first games of this campaign today. If you don't want to know

what happened it is time to pop out of the room as Match of the Day 2

follows soon on BBC One, except in Scotland, where it is Sportscene

first. Manchester City beat Newcastle, 2-0 thanks to goals from

Silva and Sergio Aguero. Liverpool started with a 2-1 victory over

Southampton. Great Britain and Northern Ireland have won 12 gold

medals and finished top of the table. Mo Farah stormed to victory

in the 5,000 metres to do the long distance double again. It is the

fifth European title in all making him the most successful athlete in

the history of the championships. Greg Rutherford added European gold

to his Olympic and Commonwealth titles. There were three relay gold

medals for Team GB. That's it. Stay with us here on BBC One. It is time

for the news where