04/08/2014 BBC World News

World representatives remember and reflect, 100 years

after Germany invaded Belgium and Britain entered World War One.

These are the live pictures from a ceremony

Among the very first victims were the people of Belgium, whose

resistance was as gallant as their suffering was great.

Funerals take place in Gaza, during a unilateral, partial pause

The truce comes a day after an Israeli strike on a UN refuge

killed ten Palestinians, sparking United Nations condemnation.

And why a mystical branch of Islam is under threat

from extremists - and how its followers have pledged to save it.

It's 100 years to the day since a conflict

in the Balkans became a global war that was to last four years.

On 4th August 1914 Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Britain

Commemorative events are being held to mark the anniversary

of the war which left almost 17 million people dead.

One of the main ceremonies at the Cointe memorial in Liege in

Germany's President and Britain's Duke of Cambridge were among

Before they made their remarks, King Philippe of Belgium recalled

He said it was important to remember not just the losses of

The war brought the people of different countries together

We may be commemorating that suffering today, but we are also

remembering the distance that has been covered since then.

This commemoration is of vital importance for building

TRANSLATION: Ladies and gentlemen, those were bitter and very horrible

lessons that we had to learn as a result of the two world wars. We

should not only demonstrate without words, but also through our everyday

activities and actions that we have learned our lessons. The peace that

we enjoy here together as allies and partners does not simply mean no

more bloodshed. It means something deeper than that. The fact that the

presidents of Germany and Austria are here today, and that other

nations, then enemies, I hear too bears testimony to the power of

reconciliation. -- are here. Not only is war between us unthinkable

that we have spread and entrenched democracy the three generations

across Europe and promoted our shared values around the world. We

were enemies more than once in the last century and today we are

friends and allies. We salute those who died to give us our freedom. We

will remember them. Prince William speaking about one hour ago in

Liege. Another ceremony is taking place at the St Symphorien Memorial

Cemetery. What do we expect to see in Mons? It was due to start at

8:30pm local time. Edner Cherry from around the world attending this

including Prince Harry and David Cameron. There are VIPs as well as

family members of those who lost their lives on the 21st of August in

that year. A combination of German and Commonwealth soldiers buried

just a few metres apart from each other. The theme tonight very much

one of reconciliation remembering the millions of people, 9.5 million

soldiers who lost their lives and the people who were badly wounded in

that war. They will be readings and speeches but the theme is very much

reconciliation. This is a beautiful cemetery just outside Mons. Looking

around here the immaculate parkland, immaculately kept

tombstones, why is this such an important place? As you pointed out

this is the cemetery where we had our first and last casualties of the

First World War, we had the first Victoria Cross here and

reconciliation as friend and foe were buried together in cemeteries

throughout France and Flanders, this is an important cemetery of where it

started and finished. It encapsulates, in a way, the futility

of war. This is worth one of the first battles of the First World War

was fought and they had to retreat to Paris and then they came back and

there was another British casualty there. We visit battle sites here in

pilgrimages to see exactly those sites of action and the enormous

cost to all nations, but particularly to our own nation. We

were talking only about the collective memory that exists in

Belgium about what happened, even though there are no veterans left

from the great War. Do you get a sense there are new generation is

coming through remembering the great War and there is still a real

interest in what happened? Indeed. Through our school programmes we

have many pilgrimages coming from our schools. If you went there on

any night during the week there are hundreds of people. A few years ago

they would have been nine or ten of us there. On a windy night may be

just the buglers and one or two. But now every evening throughout the

year thousands of people come just to remember. You are based over here

in the Somme, down on the Somme. The actual maintaining of these war

cemeteries, is that something that is guaranteed for ever. Is there a

fund and other finances to keep them in this pristine condition? These

are the works of the Commonwealth commission. They committed a

significant amount of money and this is the debt of honour in perpetuity

that we owe to our fallen and that is greatly done by the Commonwealth

War Graves commission and each Commonwealth country pays

proportionally into that fund each year. Thank you very much indeed. We

will be broadcasting here throughout the afternoon and this evening from

a special ceremony that will last just over an hour beginning at

8:30pm. We will take in the speeches. As the world leaders and

VIPs leave they will light hurricane lamps and leave them at the big

obelisk in this cemetery here as a sort of moving, flaming tribute to

all of those millions of soldiers who lost their lives. Thank you for

joining us. Back to you of course Thurau the day.

With me is historian Lynelle Howson from the Commonwealth War

There has been a ceremony on the back of the Commonwealth Games

because it is important to remember that people died from many nations

and continents. Indeed it is and it is very fitting for the British that

our first ceremony should take place in Britain, but very specifically to

look at the service and sacrifice of all of the members of our

Commonwealth. Anthony people lost their lives? I know that many in

India from the Punjab lost their lives. This is a very big war. It is

very hard to express in simple words and numbers. -- how many people. I

would say for the British and Empire we are looking at about 9 million

lost in the First World War. The range of countries involved? It

ranged from every corner of the world, from China, from Singapore,

from undivided India, all of those nations that are separate today,

from many countries in Africa like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Is

there a sense when you speak to the families involved that those

soldiers understood what they were getting into? There are almost as

many answers as there are people. For many of these people from

Commonwealth countries they may not have had literacy to write to their

families and they may not have had the ability to leave those sorts of

records that we can then interpret now 100 years later. But there were

many who did it for idealistic reasons and many who did it for

pragmatic and practical reasons. It is different from person to person.

We are seeing those scenes in Glasgow of Prince Charles in the

procession in the church. Of course, there has been a raging debate

historically for a long time about the question of the futility of the

war, was this a wasted war because so many people died, many people say

needlessly when you look at the divisions in the Middle East and

what happened the Second World War, is that all was going to be there,

do you think? I think you have made a good point by connecting it to the

Second World War. Futility is very much a judgement of hindsight will

stop it is quite unfair to use hindsight when you judge people in

the past because they didn't know what the outcome of the war was

going to be. They only knew that they had to try and make it. There

are ways in which the ideals which were hoped for when not reached but

they didn't know that at the time. Does that mean the effort they put

in was futile? Does that devalue the service and sacrifice of the people

that we should be commemorating? We are just seeing the King of Belgium

in Liege just about an hour ago standing in front of one great

wreath. Why is it just one wreath? They have chosen symbolically to use

only one wreath as a sign of Europe's togetherness at this point

of commemoration, instead of the separateness that was the story

before and during the war. Lynelle Howson, many thanks. You will be

with us throughout the day that we will leave it there for now. We

return to Gaza where of course it has been a very difficult few days

and weeks. In Gaza,

a seven-hour pause in Israel's military operation is now underway,

but only in parts of the territory. There are reports that a child died

in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City minutes after the lull

in hostilities came into effect. The pause doesn't apply to

the southern town of Rafah where Nor is it recognised by Hamas have

accused Israel of trying to divert attention away from asking what

they call "Israeli massacres". I spoke earlier to the BBC's Martin

Patience who's in Gaza and I began by asking Martin about

the latest incident in Gaza city. I heard the explosion and it

happened minutes after this cease-fire went into effect. The BBC

team has been down to the scene and a house has been destroyed.

Palestinians there say it was carried out by an Israeli air

strike. At least one person has been killed and we understand 12 others

are injured. Just to be clear, this happened in a part of the Gaza Strip

where the cease-fire was supposed to be effective. We are waiting for

word from the Israeli military. But this is a serious incident here in

the Gaza Strip, which was supposed to be safe during this seven hour

lull in the fighting. It is yet another allegation by the

Palestinians that they do not trust Israel on the cease-fires that they

announce and they don't believe any part of Gaza is safe. Bethany Bell

injuries alone, there are reports that Israel is scaling back some of

its military activity. Well, we have heard from the Israeli army that it

is redeploying some of its troops. We understand there is a pull-back

towards the Gaza border area in certain parts of the Gaza Strip.

Although, crucially not down south around Rafah. The operations, the

Army say, are continuing down there. But there is some speculation here

that Israel may be considering some type of unilateral withdrawal from

Gaza without an agreed negotiated cease-fire with Hamas. But I think

there is little sign that people are expecting the fighting to end soon.

The Israeli army said it will respond to rocket fire from Gaza.

There have been at least ten rockets fired from Gaza into Israel today.

And there may also be more cross-border tunnels the Army has

not identified yet. It said that it destroyed most of those that it has

identified but it is likely that intelligence will be trying to scour

the area along the border to see you there are more of them. Martin

Patience in Gaza, when Israel says it is pausing for humanitarian

purposes and then we see a strike like this after the strike over the

weekend, obviously it is going to add to the criticism of Israel. But

also, is this a humanitarian pause, or does it fit in any case with what

Israel's strategy on the ground in Gaza is? What we are seeing on the

ground is people are being told they cannot go back to their

neighbourhoods because they have been heavily bombed. Israel says

they will be used by Palestinian militants to fire out rockets.

People don't want to go back because they fear they will face Israeli

shelling. I think what we have to remember is the reason is Israeli

soldiers were in Gaza was to destroy the tunnels which had been dug by

Hamas to launch attacks inside Israel. That has been finished, so

there is no reason for the soldiers to remain inside the territory. We

asked Dean signs, particularly in the north and central Gaza, that

Israeli troops have pushed out. But they are still on the ground in

southern Rafah. That is where it is believed an Israeli soldier was

kidnapped, now he has been killed in the fighting. There is activity down

there. Elsewhere, across to the Israeli border, it does appear that

many Israeli soldiers have left the territory.

A rescue operation is underway in China

after a strong earthquake struck a remote area of Yunnan province,

in the south west of the country, killing at least 400 people .

President Xi Jinping has called for "all-out efforts" to find

survivors as he dispatched thousands of troops to the disaster region.

From Beijing, our correspondent Celia Hatton reports.

A massive rescue operation is swinging into place. But emergency

crews are struggling to reach thousands who need help. Landslides

are blocking the only roads leading to the epicentre and unrelenting

rain is making the situation worse. This region is used to regular

tremors, but this earthquake was different, the local say. Brick

homes that had stood the decades were destroyed. Rescuers and

survivors are digging through piles of rubble to find the missing and

the dead. The local hospitals are overwhelmed.

TRANSLATION: all the houses had already collapsed. Their bodies were

everywhere and there were a lot of injured people.

Medical teams are asking for emergency blood donations. The

government is calling for healthy volunteers, anyone to hand out

supplies and help crews discover the final death toll.

Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:

Why a mystical branch of Islam is under threat from

extremists and how its followers from extremists and how its

Rescue workers in northern Italy say four people were killed

were swept away by a flash flood during a village festival. Eight

The torrent of mud and water, caused by a ten-minute thunderstorm

inundated streets in Refrontolo, north of Venice.

A desperate search for survivors. The aftermath of a flash flood so

powerful, it picked up cars like this one and hurled them down the

river. It swept over the banks of this rule by an old Mill house where

a village festival was being held. Suddenly more than 100 people found

themselves engulfed by a racing, raging torrent. Some managed to

cling to trees but others were swept to their deaths. All that is left of

the tents but up to how's the festival.

TRANSLATION: I was here last night and I left in our V4 the water. I

had set up an exhibition that should have been inaugurated today. I have

never seen such a thing in the 50 years since I have been here.

This was a flood capable of ripping out big trees and piling them on a

bridge, high above the normal water level. In its wake, it left the sea

of mud which became the scene of a major rescue effort amid the chaos.

In the matter of a few moments, this normally peaceful setting had become

a place of terror and sudden death. In the US, wildfires have been

raging on the west coast. In California a number of homes have

been destroyed and hundreds of others are threatened by the fires.

In Washington state 300 homes have been destroyed in a fire that has

been burning for nearly three weeks. High temperatures and severe drought

conditions have made for a Representatives from 50 countries

have been attending commemorations in Belgium, 100 years after Germany

invaded the country and Britain A unilateral pause in Israel's

military operation is under way But there are already reports

of breaches. A British Royal Navy ship helping to

evacuate foreign nationals caught up in the fighting

in Libya has arrived in Malta. Most of those on board HMS

Enterprise are British citizens; More than 200 people have died

in violence between rival militia groups

in Libya over the past two weeks. Foreign nationals are leaving in

droves, worried Libya is going up in flames. In Tripoli, smoke like this

is a familiar part of the skyline. At least eight oil depots have been

set on fire I rebel forces who are battling for control for the

International Airport. At least 20 people died at the weekend bringing

the total number of people killed here and in Benghazi over the last

two weeks to over 200. The escalating violence is too much. On

Saturday Greek naval ship evacuated around 180 people, most from Greece

and China. Then the UK Government said the HMS enterprise to Tripoli.

It has taken 110 people to Malta. Most of them British. It was not

seen as a rescue mission, there are still some commercial flights

available. But now the operation is complete, the British embassy will

close its doors. It will be one of the last Western embassies to leave.

The British ambassador tweeted: But for some, it must be hard to

hang onto any hope the descent into chaos can be stopped. Libya is

seeing its worst violence since Colonel Gaddafi was ousted in 2011

and now it is up to these men and women to do something about it. They

make up the newly elected parliament which met for the first time on

Saturday. It needs to do what the previous government could not, find

a way to gain control of a country which is overrun by heavily armed

rival militias. With no effective army, it must be a daunting task as

politicians, firefighters and police do what they can to tackle this

country's burgeoning problems. Thousands head in the opposite

direction getting as far as they can away from Libya's burning skies.

Fighters from the militant group ISIS have taken control of two Iraqi

towns, an oil field and the main dam near the city of Mosul.

The black flags of ISIS have been seen flying over Zumar and nearby

Sinjar where the UN said a humanitarian tragedy was unfolding.

Thousands of people have been fleeing

the violence and crossing into the autonomous Kurdistan region.

And at least one person has been killed after a river in north

of people following weeks of torrential rain. The government says

the situation remains critical with two dams overflowing.

For centuries the Indian subcontinent was a place where

the mystical Islamic concept of Sufism thrived.

Its adherents are known as Sufis and the concept still has millions

But with the spread of a more hardline type of Islam

Our correspondent, Kim Ghattas has travelled to Bhit Shah, a small

They come at dusk, eating their drums and praising their saint.

Swirling and chanting, they are hoping to achieve a trance that will

bring them closer to God. Families have travelled hours, if not days to

pray at the shrine of the Saint, the saint. Men and women coming together

to dance and play music with passion and read them in a place of worship.

These are scenes unthinkable in most of Pakistan to date, except at Sufis

shrines like this. But the Taliban are furious, the shrines and the

devotion to Saints are heresy, they say and Sufis are coming under

attack. This man is the 12th descendant of the saint. His car was

fired up recently but he escaped unscathed. Security has been

increased after the shrine received threats. I am worried, but I am not

hopeless. I believe sufism has two stay for ever. There is no way

terrorism could stand in the way of sufism. Sufis believe their

practices of the purist form of communicating with God. But the

pushback against sufism is ideological also. In an madras are

just a few hours away in Karachi, they spend hours memorising the

Koran. This is a purist they spend hours memorising the

brand of Islam and is being taught at thousands of religious seminaries

across the country, many inspired by Saudi Arabia.

TRANSLATION: we reject sufism. We also reject violence. We are the

ones teaching true Islam. But Sufis feel vulnerable and the barriers

have come up. In Karachi, this lady says it is a cultural war. When you

come from outside and come into a culture that is is accepting and

welcoming as Sufis culture is and you start telling them your way of

life is wrong, it is sinful and you should be punished, not just in the

next world, but in this one by girls for Pratt to sing your culture and

your traditions. I see that as psychological violence. At the

shrine, the celebrations continue, the devotees keep coming undaunted

for now. The Taliban might have their guns, one of them told me, but

we have truth and are drums. That is it from others, we up back

tomorrow and we hope you can join as then. Thanks for watching.