26/08/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

The headlines: A new line in the sand

as a French court rules against the ban on full-body

But at least three mayors in the south of France say

After four years living under siege civilians and rebels are evacuated

from Darraya, a symbol of the uprising against Assad -

Protestors demand electoral reform in Zimbabwe, the police

And Brazilian police ask for former President Lula

to be charged with corruption over an apartment deal.

One campaigner described it as a drawing

of another line in the sand - France's highest administrative

court has suspended a ban on full-body "burkini" swimsuits -

that was imposed in a town on the Mediterranean coast.

The ruling is expected to set a precedent for up to 30 other towns

But local news agencies in France are reporting that many of those

mayors say they will continue with the ban in defiance

Friday's court ruling stated the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet "seriously

and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms".

This is Saira and her family, and the moment we told them

that the burkini ban had been lifted.

She is Muslim, originally from Tunisia, and she told me that

if it were not for the ban, she would have been wearing

a burkini or something like it on the beach today.

Now that the news has come from Paris, she will be

back, covering herself more fully tomorrow.

TRANSLATION: It has been really hard because we all felt

Even though I have been covered for 30 years,

In the last two weeks, I felt awkward.

It is the way people were looking at me.

Before, people did not show how they felt towards us,

now they say they don't like it and that really hurts.

One woman in Nice knows what it feels like.

She was photographed apparently being told by police to remove

That made the burkini ban not just a French but an international story.

But now the State Council in Paris has reversed

the local banning orders, which were issued over the last two

weeks by some 30 towns, mainly along the Riviera.

The towns had said that after the Nice lorry attack,

there was a risk to public order from outward signs of Muslim

It is based on the principle of the freedom of religion,

the freedom to express religion and to be able to wear whatever

Of course, not everyone in France will agree with

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants a burkini ban

And the polls suggest that a majority of the French

They want to stop what they see as the gradual encroachment

of Islamic lifestyle and symbols into the public sphere.

Outside France, such arguments seem to cut little ice.

The burkini ban sparked protests outside French embassies

in London and Berlin, and campaigns on the internet urged

the French to let women wear what they want.

Things that might seem obvious in other places

Like letting women wear religiously-inspired

After four years of brutal siege by Syrian government forces,

civilians and rebel fighters have begun to leave a suburb

Government soldiers in Darayya celebrated as the buses left.

The deal, which wasn't brokered by the United Nations, has raised

serious concerns about the fate of the civilians

from one of the first areas to come out against President Assad

A senior UN official has stressed that the evacuation must be

voluntary and described the situation there

After a four-year siege, the first busloads of civilians

finally left Darayya today with a Syrian army escort.

As well as families, this bus also contains some

of the rebels who have been promised safe passage in return

Today marks a major victory for the government's forces.

A bitter defeat for those who sought to overthrow them.

Around 8,000 people are thought to remain in this suburb.

Many are being taken to shelters in Damascus.

In four years only one food aid convoy has reached them.

The UN said some were forced to eat grass.

In much of Darayya there is an eerie quiet.

Though just a 15 minute drive from the centre of Damascus, it's

been a rebel stronghold since 2012 - a thorn in President Assad's side,

that he has now removed with unrelenting bombardments.

The last hospital here was destroyed a week ago.

The outgoing UN Humanitarian Envoy to Syria told the BBC for too long

the world's major powers have lacked the one prerequisite

Political guts and courage on the part of the international

community, including the Security Council,

before you come down to the local players.

This was allowed to happen for far too long and now it is really

a struggle to get it turned in the right direction again.

In Geneva today, the sound of diplomacy in action

as the American Secretary of State and his Russian counterpart met

to finalise a cooperation agreement on Syria.

The aim is to clear the ground for a ceasefire, begin a process

of political transition, and tackle Islamic

It's good that these two powers are coming together,

there are points of convergence, they want to concentrate

They also want to work against the Al-Qaeda franchise

in Syria, which is the biggest of the rebel groups.

As they talk, though, this brutal war continues.

This is the aftermath of a barrel bombing in Aleppo yesterday.

With limited diplomatic progress so far, President Assad

There is no guarantee he will accept any international deal

At least nine people have been killed in an attack on a seaside

restaurant in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

A car bomb exploded outside a beach club in the Lido area.

Police say two of the attackers were killed and another

The Islamist group Al Shabaab stages regular attacks in Mogadishu.

A suicide bomber driving a truck laden with explosives has hit

a police headquarters in south-east Turkey, killing 11 policemen

The huge explosion targeted a checkpoint in Cizre

and left the nearby riot police HQ in ruins.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim blamed the banned Kurdish

PKK militant group and vowed to retaliate.

US President Barack Obama has announced plans to dramatically

expand a marine reserve off the coast of Hawaii.

The World Heritage-listed site - which encompasses the northwestern

Hawain Islands - is home to many rare and endangered sea creatures.

The expansion will effectively quadruple the size of the reserve -

But some Hawaiians had argued against the move -

arguing it would hit the local fishing community.

Brazilian Federal Police have indicted former president

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as part of a massive corruption

investigation nicknamed "Operation Car Wash".

The investigation into the popular predecessor and mentor

of President Dilma Rousseff - who faces an impeachment trial -

forms part of a sweeping anti-corruption probe

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool joins us now from Rio de Janeiro.

He is a towering political figure in a recent history, what is he charge

with? You said in your introduction he was very popular but that

popularity has taken a big hit in the last two years as his name has

been sullied with these implications he was involved in corruption or

knew things were going on. The latest accusation comes from police

who recommended prosecutors charged him, he has not been charged yet,

but it is to do with that apartment he was buying at a resort and the

police are saying he accepted work done by a construction company on

this apartment to the tune of $800,000, in return for giving that

construction company government contracts. For his part, lawyers for

Lula Da Silva says he had not completed a purchase of that

apartment, but there are other cases against him including one in which

he was charged for obstruct thing that investigation into corruption

that is going on, but this is the latest damaging hit to him and all

this while his protege, Dilma Rousseff, is going through her own

tough times. And on Dilma Rousseff, where are we on those impeachment

proceedings? It looks to be the final chapter for her. She could be

being told she has to leave the presidential palace within a week

because her impeachment trial started just 24 is ago, it had to

break up for a couple of hours to date because senators got into a row

over it, but it looks like they are set to vote, it will be interesting

on Monday when she gets to answer questions from senators and it looks

like that will be her last time. She insisted all along this is not about

corruption wrong doing, this is a political, what she is calling a

coup, but there are those who say she may not have been implicated

directly into corruption but she did over a seek a terrible time in terms

of the economy and was a bad politician in many people's use, not

to be able to create allies within the government who stood beside her

and we are now seeing a lot of rats jumping from a sinking ship. Thank

you. In Italy, hopes of finding any more

survivors following Wednesday's The official number of people

killed stands at 267. The 6.2-magnitude quake hit

in the early hours of Wednesday, 100km north-east of Rome,

as you can see here, it had the most impact

in mountainous central Italy. Rescue and recovery efforts

at the epicentre of the disaster remain centred on three small towns

- Pescara del Tronto, As a state funeral is being

organised for Saturday, we're beginning to find out more

about those confirmed dead. Many were enjoying summer breaks in

the mountains. Amongst

them were three foreign tourists from Britain,

including a 14-year-old boy. This is the road to

the village of Sommati. Two British families,

the Henniker-Gotleys and This is the house in which both

British families were staying. You can see that the damage

is dramatic. Both families have paid tribute

to the work of those relief workers Their neighbour, Nando Bonnani,

was the first to reach them. TRANSLATION: I shouted and called

out for Maria and Will, There was nothing we could do

with our bare hands. They were sleeping in a room

on the ground floor, The Burnett family from London

lost their 14-year-old son Marcos. His school called him a much

loved and admired boy. 50-year-old Maria Henniker-Gotley

and her 55-year-old They were from Stockwell

in south London. They were always fun,

you could always have a laugh It's just shocking that you go off

on a lovely summer holiday and, you know, we won't ever see

them again, really. Many survivors are left

with a simple, powerful question - why did so many buildings fall,

and so many people die? 11-month-old Elena-Sophia has no

idea that she too was nearly killed. She and her mother, Sonia,

are recovering in hospital. TRANSLATION: I was buried in rubble,

only my face wasn't covered. I could hear my baby

crying, I was terrified. I freed myself and started asking

for help, but everyone So I went back and with my hands

I freed my daughter from the rubble. I could only see her little foot

and I just pulled her out. The worst hit town, Amatrice,

will soon begin to hold funerals for its victims,

but its cemetery has been damaged. This town, and others,

will have to find new grounds And you can keep up to date

with the latest with regard to the Italian earthquake

by visiting our website. We have reports, analysis,

and the latest casualty figures. US Secretary of State John Kerry

and his Russian counterpart Still to come, reunited, the story

of a man and man's best friend, a friend who helped him crossed the

finishing line in one of the world's most gruelling races.

He is the first African-American to win the nomination of eight major

party, as 45 years ago Martin Luther King declared, I have a dream. An

orange glowing disc appears in the south-eastern sky, are in

neighbouring planet, Mars. The selection is an important milestone

in the birth of East Timor as the world's newest nation. It will take

months and billions of dollars to repair what hurricane Katrina

achieved in just ours. Three weeks is the longest the great clock has

been of duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that

clockmaker John Vernon swung the pendulum to get the clock going

again. Our latest headlines... France's highest admitted of court

suspends a ban on full body swimsuits or Bertini 's.

And so -- Syrian civilians trapped for years by a government siege

negotiate their departure. Let's get more on our top story, the

suspension of that ban on her kidneys.

Earlier I spoke to Rim-Sarah Alouane -

a researcher in religious freedom at the University of Toulouse.

Today we celebrate this declaration of human rights. Does it fit with

the principles on which the French state were founded? Yes, this ban,

it protects freedom of religion and respect individuality and the judge

just told the law, that is how it is, and said this ban infringed

fundamental liberties of freedom of conscience, freedom to come and go

and personal liberties. It is a small victory but still a victory.

Zimbabwe's riot police fired tear gas and beat up opposition

The protestors were demanding urgent electoral reforms ahead

The High Court had issued an order sanctioning the march to go ahead.

This is part of a growing wave of streets protests in the past

months against President Robert Mugabe's rule.

The riot police cordoned off a space in the capital early morning. They

fired at protesters and used tear gas. There were running battles and

a number of shops were looted. The police continued to maintain a heavy

presence, patrolling the streets and with water cannons. Organisers of

the march say anger is growing and this could be the beginning of worse

things to come. Anger and desperation are very deep and I

think in my view, it must not relent. It must continue to express

itself, and the level of desperation. It appears that when

people succumb to fear and intimidation, people think that is

the end but I am very glad that Zimbabweans are beginning to enough.

We have learnt that scores of people were injured in skirmishes and many

are receiving treatment at a local clinic. It is not clear why do

police defied a High Court order. Organisers say they will not be

discouraged and will continue with protests until fundamental reforms

are affected ahead of elections. New files released at

The National Archives here in London, show that

thousands of British people who were persecuted by the Nazis

were refused compensation Most were from the Channel Islands

who were arrested and deported Nick Higham reports

from St Peter Port on Guernsey. Final scenes of the long drama

of the Channel Islands... May 1945 and Guernsey has been

liberated after almost five Far away in Germany,

Channel Islanders too were being freed from often

brutal imprisonment. Paul and Phil's father

Gerald was one. He had been caught with two sacks

of stolen German coffee At the war's end, he had been

at risk of death. They were actually on their way

to Dachau, they didn't know it at the time, the Allies

were advancing and the German army I understand they were

shooting at prisoners Gerald's health was ruined

by his imprisonment. A couple of letters,

one from the Foreign Office... In the mid-1960s he was one of 4000

people who applied for compensation Gerald got ?2100, around ?28,000

today. The files are now being released

at the National Archives, those of other Channel Islanders

make harrowing reading. Frank Tuck describes being beaten

with a pick handle and flogged "The fear that ruled us

was indescribable", he wrote. He saw a fellow Guernsey man

die of his treatment. Jack Harper was sometimes chained

in a standing position without food all night,

by a sadistic German guard. And Thomas Gordian describes working

in clothes soaked through that dried on one's back,

sometimes frozen stiff. Thomas, one of 17 Guernsey policemen

sentenced for sabotage, was so weak by the end

he couldn't stand. Do you think he felt that the money

was sufficient or do you think I think they thought

it was meagre, yes. Today Guernsey is a peaceful place,

these files a reminder that even here, some people suffered terribly

under Nazi Germany. It is a man has been reunited with

one of man's best friends, that helped them complete a gruelling

marathon race. He was taking part in the race in the Gobi Desert.

It's a story of, well, dogged determination.

As Dion Leonard took part in the gruelling ultramarathon -

a 150 mile run across China's forbidding Gobi Desert -

he was joined by a surprise companion, and it was love

She ran half the race with me, we spent the whole week together.

And literally by my side running, or in the evening she was

in my arms overnight, sleeping and eating with me.

So I knew before I had left the race that I would bring her back.

While he flew back to Scotland, just before the dog

was due to go into Chinese quarantine, she escaped.

So, Dion flew back to China and began what seemed

Looking for Gobi in the place she was last seen, Urumqi -

a city of 3 million, where very few people speak English.

So, today is day two of trying to find Gobi.

I've been handing these out since 6am this morning.

Looking around the parks and local areas, looking out for dogs

and speaking to a lot of locals who actually think that they have

seen Gobi, but unfortunately it isn't Gobi.

But China's Internet came to the rescue.

The dog hunt spread like wildfire on social media, with messages

of support and cash to fund the quest pouring in.

Before long, Dion had a few 'leads', and Gobi was found.

I got some imagery through of her on my phone and a phone call

saying these people, this lovely father and son

I went to see her, and she ran across the lounge room

I just walked through the door, I hadn't said a word to her,

and she knew it was me straight away.

So, Gobi is once again preparing for a few months in quarantine,

and then Dion expects to have her home before Christmas.

Presumably, the first command he will want to teach her is "stay".

A reminder of our main news, that France's highest admitted of court

has suspended a ban on full body Bertini swimsuits that was imposed

in a town on the French Mediterranean. You can stay in touch

with all the news on our website, or on Twitter. From me and the team,

goodbye on Twitter. From me and the team,

goodbye for now. As