12/08/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Kasia Madera.

Vital supplies including food and water are air-dropped to

Yazidis stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq - but thousands

The move comes as President Obama offers his support to the nations

new leader, but will these pledges and foreign aid be enough for the

Described as a lightning storm of comic genius - he was loved

Actor Robin Williams dies in California at the age of 63.

World health officials give the go-ahead for the use of experimental

drugs in an effort to battle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

They were the women who worked the land during the two world wars,

now the land girls are being remembered through art.

The crisis in Iraq continues in what?s now being called

Tens of thousands of people, mainly minority Yazidis are still

trapped on Mount Sinjar by Islamic State militants.

Helicopters are continuing to drop much needed supplies -

those stranded are so desperate to be rescued, they've clung to

British jets have dropped a second round of aid.

So far they have delivered more than 15,000 litres of water.

The US says its troops have dropped 85,000 meals.

As fierce fighting continues on the ground, some Yazidis have managed

to flee Mount Sinjar, and cross into Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan.

At last, the men and women from the mountain reach sanctuary of a sort.

Yazidi families are streaming over the borders with other

Carrying their children and little else,

The memory of the day that fighters from the Islamic state attacked

their villages is hard to bear, even though this woman and her six

We have tried for 15 years to make a home for us and the minute ISIS

comes and destroys everything, they killed my sister.

And we left them because we could not help them.

They are running from ISIS and they are in the mountains now.

For the youngest, finally a chance to sleep without fear.

And for the oldest, simple relief at this chance to sit

Somehow, these families have survived not only the massacre

by Islamist militants but the next enemies waiting

The families here came down from the mountain and they have walked

for days to get here through Syria and out to the relative safety of

Kurdistan , and as last, they are able to get food and water after

days without, but the aid agencies say that while they are doing their

For now, they are handing out the basics while well-wishers

from local towns have brought clean clothes and food.

This man and his family of nine have walked

They have just heard that there are vehicles ahead

which can take them to a derelict loading in the nearest town.

Others have no idea of where they are going next.

All they know is that they cannot go back.

The village is now dominated by the Islamic State ,

Their fate at the mercy of the shifting realities

Aid missions to reach those still trapped

Just a short time ago we had reports that an aid helicopter crashed

The commander of the helicopter has been killed.

One of two New York Times journalists on board was injured.

As was Iraqi member of Parliament Vian Dakhil, who I interviewed here

She spoke about the suffering of the Yazidis and the kidnapping

She was the one who made an emotional appeal to the

Let's cross to California for the latest information on the death of

Robin Williams. I have prepared statements, and I ask that you hold

questions until the end of this statement. My last name is spelt

BOYD. On August the 11th, Marin County communications received a 911

telephone call that a male adult was not breathing. The caller was

distraught, and indicated at that time that it was an apparent suicide

due to a hanging, and rigor mortis had set in. The Sheriff's Office

were dispatched to the incidents with emergency personnel arriving on

scene at 12pm. The male subjects was pronounced deceased just afterwards,

and has been identified as Robin Williams, a 63-year-old resident.

Preliminary information developed during the investigation has

revealed that Mr Williams had been seeking treatment for depression. He

was last seen alive by his wife at approximately 10:30pm on August the

10th, when she retired for the evening in a room in the home. It is

unknown at this time when Mr Williams retired for the evening to

his bedroom. At approximately 10:30am, on August the 11th, Mr

Williams's wife left the home, believing he was still asleep. The

personal assistant became concerned at 11:45am when he failed to respond

to knocks on his bedroom door. At that time, the personal assistant

was able to gain access to the bedroom and found him clothed, in a

seated position, unresponsive, with a belt secured around his neck and

the other end wedged between a closet door and a frame. His right

shoulder was touching the door, with his body perpendicular to the door

and slightly suspended. Mr Williams was cool to the touch with rigor

mortis present in his body. The inside of his left wrist had some

cuts, and a pocket knife with a blade was located in proximity to Mr

Williams. The knife was examined and a dry read material was identified

on the blade of the knife. It is unknown if the material is his lad

but scientific testing will be done. -- his blood. He was transported

from the scene to the morgue by the coroner, pending a forensic

examination which was conducted this morning prior to this press

conference. The forensic examination did not reveal any injuries

indicating Mr Williams had been in a struggle or a physical altercation

prior to him being located. The preliminary results of the

investigation revealed supporting physical signs that Mr Williams died

due to asphyxia because of hanging. Toxicology tests will be done to

determine if he had any chemicals in his system at the time of death.

Toxicology results will be available... Excuse me, will not be

available for two to six weeks while testing is being performed. Please

note that this is an active investigation into the circumstances

surrounding his death. Work is not complete at this time. Final cause

and manner of his death will not be certified until the conclusion of

the investigation which is several weeks away. When the investigation

is concluded and the final results are available, a press conference

will be scheduled at that time. Additionally, I have received

numerous requests for copies of 911 and this batch recordings. Please

note that each request will be handled in accordance with public

record guidelines and responses will be provided within ten days. Media

enquiries should be directed to me. This should be done on e-mail. I

will respond to these enquiries, time permitting, as I receive them.

Please keep in mind that the coroner is also investigating active cases

from other residents in this community. That includes my written

statement at this time and I will open up to take a few questions,

understanding that this is an active investigation and some information

will be withheld until the final press conference in several weeks.

Do you have a timeline about when this incident took place? Rigor

mortis is a sign that will be evaluated to try and correlate a

time period that the death may have occurred. Understand that there is

no perfect environments when you are talking about the perfect

environments so we will use known facts to surmise when the death

occurred. That was in attendance Keith Boyd, speaking from outside

the Sheriff Office. He is giving Saddam details about the death of

Robin Williams -- sad details. One of the main points he made was that

this was death by asphyxiation. He attached a belt around his neck and

that help was attached to a door. The full investigation will not be

confirmed until they get the toxicology results in around six

weeks' time, and that is when we expect another press conference to

give more details. There was one question from one of the

journalist, asking about rigor mortis and whether a timeline had

been apparent. The wife of Robin Williams had gone to bed without

seeing Robin Williams that evening, and then she had not seen him the

next morning, believing that he was still asleep. It was the actor's

assistant who had tried to wake him, knocked on the door, and got

concerned when he did not answer. She got access to the actor's room.

Some very unpleasant details. There was information about some cut to

the actor's left wrist, and there was a pocket knife, and a dry

substance which could have been blood. It is unknown whether that is

his life. Doctor Joseph Cohen, who studied the body afterwards, was

giving details that there was some cuts to the rest. -- wrist. Very sad

details of somebody who was revered in the acting world. Let's focus on

some of the happier aspects of his life because we are joined by Chris

Hewett from Empire magazine. Some sad details there. It goes to show

how low Robin Williams was feeling at the time. It is a complete

shock, a huge loss to the comedy world and acting world. It came out

of nowhere. It is extraordinary. This is a man who was one of the

funniest people of his generation, if not the funniest. I was thinking

about how inspirational he was two other mediums. Twitter was filled up

with the likes of Billy Crystal and Steve Martin. Other comedians as

well have paid tribute. I was thinking about how influential he

has been, and I think he was one of a kind. Even Monty Python, that was

influential. Robin Williams was a motormouth, he had incredible

energy, he could do impressions. His mind works faster than anybody's

else. It is amazing. He was very influential, even in animations,

like Aladdin. What he did in that movie was astonishing. He was a

brilliant actor in his own right. He was nominated for four Academy

Awards. He was phenomenal. He had a depth and shade as well. Real

sensitivity and the real soul as well. We saw that through many

films, for example, dead poets Society. Yes, an amazing film which

will definitely tug at the heartstrings. And also he injected

it with humour. We had the serious and comedic side. We're seeing

images from good morning Vietnam. Amazing. And so good in family films

as well. He voiced performances as well, for example in the Happy Feet

movies. Not to forget his stand-up. He was brilliant. Of course. Along

with television programmes. Thank you very much for sharing some of

the happier memories of Robin Williams, who has died, by taking

his own life in what we have just heard was by hanging at his home.

Some of the difficult details we heard from the press conference. We

will continue to monitor that and we expect lots of reaction on that. But

we will return now to our main story. The plight of the disease.

Tens of thousands are still trapped on Mount Sinjar. -- the plight of

the Yazidi people. These are difficult circumstances for these

people. We had a helicopter crashed just today. It contained a New York

journalist and a prominent Yazidi MP. Yes. It highlights the

difficulties faced by those trapped on the mountain and those trying to

deliver aid. And to the Yazidi people in particular. What is

happening in terms of fighting on the ground? What is happening in

terms of the Islamic State forces moving back in response to air

raids? What we have seen is that the fighting has moved to other parts of

the country. Of course, control has been regained of two towns which

were lost previously to Islamic State. They were aided by American

intervention. The American army is acting almost like an error force.

It is giving air cover to Kurdish fighters to allow them to catch

their breath. But fighting is also happening in other parts of Iraq,

between the Islamic State fighters and the Iraqi army. Thank you for

that. United Nations medical experts have

cleared the use of experimental drugs on Ebola victims. The World

Health Organisation said it was ethical - given the scale of the

outbreak - to give patients drugs which have not yet been widely

tested on humans. So far the disease has been confirmed in Guinea,

Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. More than 1,000 people are believed

to have died. And at least 1,800 others have been infected. A Spanish

priest who was working in Liberia has become one of the latest to be

killed by the virus. our medical correspondent, Fergus

Walsh, reports. This is Miguel Pajares, a Catholic

missionary. He spent his life among the sick and poor and contracted a

bowler in Liberia. He was flown home to Madrid last week amid the

tightest while security, but died this morning. His body was swiftly

cremated to minimise the chance of a bolus spreading. He is one of just

three people treated with an experimental drug. The others were

an American aid worker and another. In an unusual move, global health

experts said it was ethical to offer untested drugs to a bowler patients.

In the past ten years, we have researched into a bowler

treatments... These support our efforts to control the disease. This

is the only experimental drug which has been used so far. It is created

by exposing mice to Ebola. But there are just 12 doses, all allocated or

used. There will be no more until the end of the year. Another

potential treatment is to use serum from patients who have recovered

from Ebola. There are also anti-viral drugs. As for prevention,

there are two vaccines in developing. But all of these have

only been tested in monkeys. We have to make sure there is no consent

from the patient. If the patient is conscience and able to give it,

otherwise from the family or community. We also must ensure the

patient is properly dealt with and data is collected so that we retain

information on whether these treatments work. Global health

officials said there had been limited research into the Mac to

drugs. The virus can overrun the immune system, but intravenous

fluids, oxygen, modern emergency medicine can help. It will not be

experimental drugs, but better health care. And the early isolation

of infected patients. That is what will bring this nightmare epidemic

to an end. Dr Ben Neuman is a virologist from

the University of Reading. He joins Let's focus on this new drug. With

such limited scope, how should they be used and on who? This is

something the medics will need to decide. It's not so important who

gets these. Anyone who gets these will be very lucky. If I had the

disease I would want it. It is likely to be safe because they are

antibodies that are used in sick people already but we will not know

till this is all over. What about the early testing stage in humans of

another drug? Yes. These are different drugs. The first one is

it's onto part of the virus and then the cell can destroy it. This second

drug is more experimental because there were some adverse effects in

initial trials. We don't know whether it will work. There is a

great work it could cause harm. In this situation, with this disease

being a serious as it is, it is a risk worth taking. When it comes to

vaccines I believe the latest dates are -- the United States are fast

tracking them. Even to fast-track a vaccine it could take months to

develop a full immunity responds. You need to check what kind of

immune response curves. The virus may burn itself out before we have a

vaccine. But it could help with the next outbreak. For those who are in

danger of being affected by this, what is there hope? It will give

people hope to know that there is something out there. We are hoping

this outbreak will be over by Christmas. But the outbreak should

have been over months ago and this has dragged on. We also hope it will

be over soon. Thank you. A Ukrainian security official says a

humanitarian convoy being dispatched to eastern Ukraine by Russia will

not be admitted into the country. A convoy of Russian trucks are heading

for Ukraine after agreement was reached on an international

humanitarian relief mission. But the Red Cross, which is due to

coordinate the operation, said it had no information on what the

trucks were carrying. Some cities, such as Luhansk, for

example have been cut off for any supplies for over the past month. We

know that the situation here is dire, in terms of supplies and

medical supplies. Access to water and electricity, everything. Of

course, we have heard of these Russian initiatives and have

realised that this was an agreement somewhere between the Russian and

Ukrainian authorities - that such a convoy should be a possibility,

provided that the IRC can be on board. We have said we could be on

board but we need clarification first, to implement such an

operation in this kind of environment. We need serious

security guarantees, for example, and direct contact with all the

parties. We don't have that yet. We also need to know what precisely is

in the convoy, the size of it, the various materials that will be

transported. We have heard from the Russian authorities that this convoy

consists of 280 trucks, so it is massive, and has left Moscow this

morning. It is supposed to be at the agreed point of the border tonight.

We are in constant contact with both the Ukrainian and Russian

authorities on this. They know what our requirements are and we are

waiting for their feedback. The Red Ross expressing concern

about that convoy. Just to go back to our breaking news: Robin Williams

has died due to suicide. We were given graphic details of how the

actor had attached a belt around his neck. A lot more detail on our

website. For now, goodbye. Hello. We have the remnants of

Hurricane Bertha sitting to the north of the British Isles, keeping

things breezy and showery. However, it will move further eastwards with

some quieter weather to come. Tomorrow, the showers will be fewer

and further between. Still a breezy day for the