10/06/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, with me Philippa Thomas.

One of its biggest cities is now under the

control of Islamists, hundreds of prisoners are on the run, and there

The jihadist fighters took over Mosul as police and army officers

fled, and thousands of civilians are now trying to get

TRANSLATION: All of the people have fled, they have left their homes,

and people are lying dead on the streets.

The Taliban strike Pakistan's largest airport again -

security forces in Karachi come under attack a day after militants

Trapped deep beneath the surface of the earth - 200 rescuers race to

save an injured man stranded inside one of Europe's most

TRANSLATION: It is quite interesting, though difficult. They

speak differently. And schooling through soccer -

how Brazil's children are learning about new countries,

thanks to the World Cup. Images like these remind us

of the Iraq war at its peak - thousands of families fleeing their

homes for safety, with barely enough But these are images taken today,

two and a half years These are civilians leaving

their homes because of the Islamic takeover of one

of Iraq's biggest cities, Mosul, Those responsible belong to

the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, an offshoot

of Al Qaeda that has already seized But this is their boldest move yet,

one that has given them control After four days of this, the jihadi

's are effectively in control of Iraq's second largest city. DCs

control of the port and the jails. 1000 prisoners escaped, it is said.

The government broadcast an appeal for the men to resist the militants.

Police and soldiers abandoned the posts as well. Many refugees

followed them. TRANSLATION: The army dissolved. They were terrified. They

fled, so we left as well. TRANSLATION: The commanders were the

first to flee, leaving the soldiers alone. The commanders are to blame.

TRANSLATION: All of the people have fled, they have left their homes and

many people were lying dead on the streets. Will Iraq except this? Wrap

Carmack Iraq will not accept this -- Iraq will not accept this, says the

Prime Minister. Plumes of smoke hanging over the city from abandoned

and looted police stations. The Islamic world have fresh weapons

even if they lose most of them now -- the Islamic state.

Laith Kubba is a former spokesman for the Iraqi

government, now a senior director with the National Endowment

Welcome. What does this say about the state that Iraq is in? They have

passed the new threshold. Those who attacked the city are a few hundred

of ISIS, but this was an army that was allowed to grow over the last

few years. They are very well equipped, they have, and structure,

and infrastructure of communication. They have managed to run a number of

operations against three or four cities in Iraq, many multiple fronts

at the same time effectively and successfully. The fact that the

Iraqi army cannot defend the second largest city, it is most alarming.

Of course, the Prime Minister, as commander-in-chief of all of the

Armed Forces and the Prime Minister, he bears the responsibility for

this. But it is an indication of much serious these -- much more

serious fears that Iraq is going through. Do you think that Iraq can

cope alone, or do you think there has to be reading answer? There is

no question that ISIS is not exclusively and Iraq problem. It now

has solid supply lines of arms and men and recruits, not only from

Syria but from all over the region. I think their recent successes are

going to become a magnet where more people will join an anti-war just

get stronger. -- and they will just get stronger. The whole thing can

start unfolding internally, perhaps with more tensions and breakdown of

authority. If the Iraqi army cannot defend cities then why should

anybody go back to Baghdad? But for the rest of the region, if this

force is allowed to grow beyond this, now that the control vast

territories with white numbers of soldiers with successes, I think

that Jardine should be worried, other countries should be worried in

the region. -- Jordan. It is no longer a great throwing skirmishes

and a great throwing skirmishes and attacks here and more serious threat

that will take months, if not longer, to confront. I understand

that you have family roots in Mosul. Put Kurdish forces join with those

in Baghdad? Regrettably those issues are being politicised in a very

petty, silly way, while the Titanic is sinking. I think that politicians

are just scrambling about, dividing power. They have come out of the

elections and are squabbling about Bashir of elections and positions.

-- about oil and positions. The Kurds do not feel immediately

threatened by this. It is somebody else's territory. So I think that

the leaders of Iraq bear the first and full responsibility for the

deterioration. They can do more. Bear in mind, Iraq had an army that

kept Iran in check for eight years in the 1980s and now it cannot even

stand an attack of a few hundreds from this new force. This says a lot

about how far Iraq has deteriorated as a state and other government.

Thank you for your time and your insight.

A day after security forces regained control of Karachi's airport

from militants, gunmen on motorbikes have fired shots at a training camp

used by security forces just outside the airport's perimeter.

The Taliban says it was responsible and a hunt is under way

From Islamabad, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge has more.

A new gunfight today, at the end of Pakistan's busiest airport. The

target was a balding close to the airport perimeter used by the

specialist security forces for training and weapons storage. The

greatest clash erupted, according to officials, when two gunmen tried to

enter the security building firing shots. They then fled. The army and

police bring in reinforcements. At the moment, the situation is 100%

under control. No terrorist is present in the area. No one has

penetrated security. Flights are operating normally. Pakistan's Prime

Minister called for the attackers to be eliminated. Today, the bodies of

seven more victims of Sunday's attack were recovered. They had

taken refuge in a cold storage building and died a day before they

could be rescued. In all of this, there are tragic echoes of the cycle

of violence that accompanied Taliban militancy at its peak year only

months after peace negotiations made a halting start.

Now a look at some of the day?s other news.

At least six people have been killed by violent storms

Most of the victims were killed by falling trees.

Trains were cancelled and flights diverted in Dusseldorf

and Cologne, as gusts of wind reached more than 150km an hour.

Weather forecasters are now issuing storm warnings for Hannover

US military sources have confirmed that five American soldiers have

been killed accidentally by their own side in southern Afghanistan.

Two Afghans were also killed in the incident, which happened on Monday

during a joint operation by Afghan and US troops in Zabul province.

In South Korea the trial has begun of the captain

They're on trial for murder, for their actions in the Sewol

Divers are still searching for victims at the site

of the sinking which left more than 300 people dead.

A further 11 crew members are facing lesser charges.

An international four-day summit on how to end sexual violence during

The event, hosted by the British foreign secretary William Hague

and the actress and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie,

is the culmination of a two-year campaign to raise awareness.

It produced a Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence

in Conflict and that's been endorsed by 148 countries.

Let's listen to some of what Angelina Jolie had to say.

We really do need your help. This whole subject has been taboo for far

too long. War zone rape is a crime that thrives on silence. And on

denial. The stigma Himes survivors and it causes feelings of shame and

worthlessness, it feeds ignorance, such as the notion that rape has

anything to do with normal sexual impulses. But most of all, it allows

the rapist to get away with it. FIFA President Sepp Blatter is

facing growing calls to step The head of the

Dutch Football Association said Blatter should not stand

because FIFA had been too badly Blatter was also challenged over

his claims that critics of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were motivated

by racism and discrimination. The calls were made

as football officials met in Sao Paulo to discuss

the allegations of corruption just two days before the start of this

year's tournament in Brazil. Well, as those officials gather,

football fans across Brazil are counting down the

hours until the World Cup opening But while excitement is growing,

there's still also a great deal of anger over the billions spent

on the tournament - with protests across the country

showing little sign of dying down. The BBC's Julia Carneiro is in Rio

with the latest. Are there are still threats to

disrupt the tournament itself? There are several protest planned for

during the tournament, also for the day of the opening match, in several

cities, in Rio, Sao Paulo. But whether they will be large and have

the capacity to disrupt the match or things that are going on in the

country, that is still very unclear. The skill that we saw last year and

the demonstrations was very large -- the scale. Everything that has been

happening recently has been much smaller. There has been nothing in

that scale of hundreds of thousands of people in the street as we saw

last year. What is new is that joining the protest movement is that

joining the protest movements there have been lots of strokes, Sao Paulo

for instance, something which could disrupt the opening match of the

Strait of underground workers. They have decided to have an assembly

rate before the opening match on Wednesday evening to decide whether

they will strike on the Thursday or not. So these movements, the

underground workers for instance, and other classes of workers, from

these industrial actions, it could lead to destruction during the World

Cup. -- disruption. 200 rescuers from Germany, Italy,

Switzerland and Austria are working to bring out an injured man stuck

inside one of the most complicated The 52-year-old researcher was one

of the first to discover the Riesending cave,

which is near the town of He was exploring it further

when he was injured by falling rocks Let's talk more about the challenges

of this rescue operation. I'm joined from Sheffield by

Bill Whitehouse, chairman What do you think is the most

difficult thing about this operation? The size of the

operation. It is an enormous cave. The deepest and longest in Germany

and goes down to about 1100 metres deep. There are a total of 19

kilometres of passages. He is about 1000 metres from the entrance and

about six kilometres horizontally. I think the biggest shaft is about 300

metres deep. You must get down all these shafts. You must go down on

single rope is and come back up the same ropes. After about 900 metres,

it gets more horizontal. There are a lot of constricted passages and it

is very cold, about three degrees at this time of year. It is damp and

completely dark all the time. It sounds terrifying. Something that

strikes me is how can the people at the top know what is happening

underground? Can make communicate? -- can they communicate? Radios and

mobiles don't work through solid rock so you can either lay a phone

line or use special radios which allow you to send text messages

about 1000 metres maximum. It is like being able to send messages

from one point to another but you can't communicate between -- if you

are between those points. How will they look after the medical

condition of this man as they bring him out? How do they supply him with

drugs or check his condition? It depends on his condition. I have

heard he is not as bad as first thought. I think he is able to stand

and walk a little bit. What condition he is an will depend on

what they have to do. The first-team will reach and 24 hours after his

accident so they will be interested in attending him medically and

stabilising him and keeping him warm and fed and getting into the

condition before evacuation. How the evacuation goes will depend on

whether he can move himself or whether he must be in a stretcher.

If that is the case it will be a very long exercise. If he can walk

through some of the parts and perhaps only goal in a stretcher to

go up the egg shafts then it will be quicker.

The British government has admitted that royal pardons were secretly

given to paramilitaries in Northern Ireland in return for information

But the current Northern Ireland Secretary has told the BBC details

of who received the pardons should not be published because it could

Our Ireland correspondent Chris Buckler has the details.

In cemeteries across Northern Ireland there are headstones that

remember the murdered, loved ones killed in acts of terrorism. In many

cases, there have never been convictions. This man was shot dead

by the IRA as he left work in 1982. His family learned during a review

of the case that the main suspect had been given a so-called On The

Run letter. It is so wrong. I can't understand why a government would do

this to people, to innocent victims. The On The Run scheme was made

public recently. The man was the main suspect in the Hyde Park

bombing and although he always denied involvement. The letters are

the focus of a judge led inquiry and a House of Commons committee. To

deal with some cases, the government used the Royal prerogative of mercy

which is more usually known as a royal pardon. Documents relating to

some of these are missing. The government has admitted that royal

pardons were used in some terrorist related incidents as far back as the

1980s. Yes, there were some. It was used in relation to cases where

people may be released early on compassionate grounds if they had

terminal illnesses and also in some instances, I understand, in exchange

for information provided to assist the police in prosecuting other

people. It is believed the pardons involved people who gave evidence in

support grass trials. -- super grass. People will begin to ask what

else can we not know about and what other deals have been done. In

Northern Ireland, people are still hurting as a result of years of

violence and politics remains chained to the past.

And now the latest in our Living Online series.

One year ago, photography was just a hobby for Daniel Arnold.

Dissatisfied with his corporate job, he walked the streets of New York

taking pictures of the unusual sights of the city.

My name is Daniel Arnold and I am a photographer living in Brooklyn New

York. I have been photographing New York for 11 years. I always had a

camera in my hand. I try to capture things as they happen, not

interrupted or asking for permission or opposing anything. There were two

ladies on a bench and they were not paying attention to their dog and

another dog came past with a horrible ferocious beast face.

Sometimes I just feel moved by something, a quirk or oddity about

something. I think there is something about timelessness where

people can't be placed that really draws me to that. I started putting

photographs on Instagram two years ago and I got a really good

response. The fact I press a button and what ever I saw goes to 52,000

people is incredible. It's unheard of and bizarre. An April Fools' Day

last year, I quit a job at Nickelodeon. My occupation at this

point is to go and wonder. -- wander. I asked people to send me a

shot on Instagram and I would give them money. Instead of having to

figure out how to eat tomorrow, Ali sold -- I sold lots of pictures.

Once people start paying attention to my work, they see things

differently. That is so cool. I have been able to translate those first

more personal successes into some traditional work. I have got several

editorial jobs and done commercial work. The assignment is go and do

your thing, do what you do. Back to the World Cup now,

and some schools in Brazil are using the upcoming tournament to motivate

pupils to learn more geography. In several Brazilian cities

which are hosting national football teams, classes are now focusing on

those countries - some of which were completely

unknown to the students before now. TRANSLATION: I had never heard of

Bosnia but I decided to research its government to learn more. They have

three presidents, representatives from Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.

TRANSLATION: So I started to learn about Mexico here at the

storytelling room. We learned about Frieda Callow -- Frida Kahlo.

TRANSLATION: Yesterday I learned about their language. Football and

their lives overall. It is quite interesting, though difficult. They

speak a bit differently. But it is really interesting. I even learned a

little word. Welcome in Algerian. It is Algerian, right?

Iraq's Prime Minister has put the country on maximum alert

and urged parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist

militants effectively took control of the city of Mosul.

Nouri Maliki acknowledged "vital areas" of the country's second

Today, with sunshine in East Anglia, we nearly got to