:00:00. > :00:10.Hello. Welcome to BBC World News. Our top stories.
:00:11. > :00:14.Iraq's highest court upholds Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's calls to
:00:15. > :00:22.form a new government. But the US voices concerns over the process.
:00:23. > :00:30.There will be little international support of any kind whatsoever for
:00:31. > :00:33.anything that deviates from legitimate constitutional process
:00:34. > :00:37.that is in place and being worked on now.
:00:38. > :00:40.As a three-day ceasefire in Gaza continues, an Israeli delegation is
:00:41. > :00:44.in Cairo for talks on a longer term solution to the conflict.
:00:45. > :00:46.Turkey's newly elected president the outgoing Prime Minister Recep
:00:47. > :00:50.Tayyip Erdogan calls for a new period of social reconciliation.
:00:51. > :00:56."We did not abandon our son." The Australian couple accused of
:00:57. > :00:58.turning their backs on a baby born in Thailand with Down's syndrome
:00:59. > :01:24.Iraq's highest court has ruled in favour of the caretaker prime
:01:25. > :01:28.minister, Nouri al-Maliki, in a dispute with the president.
:01:29. > :01:31.The court said that Mr Maliki could retain his position.
:01:32. > :01:35.The president must now ask him to form a new government or he
:01:36. > :01:41.This ruling comes as Iraq continues its battle with
:01:42. > :01:43.Islamic State militants in the country's north and west.
:01:44. > :02:00.Another US airdrop to those in desperate need sheltering those
:02:01. > :02:03.exposed on Mt Sinjar in northern Iraq.
:02:04. > :02:05.There have been for such missions to deliver urgently needed supplies.
:02:06. > :02:08.The plight of those on the mountain, mainly from the minority Yazidi
:02:09. > :02:11.sect has refocused international concern on the threat
:02:12. > :02:16.from fighters from what is now known as the Islamic State.
:02:17. > :02:19.In Baghdad heightened security because the political crisis
:02:20. > :02:26.The Prime Minister announced that he was taking the President to court as
:02:27. > :02:35.Our final illegal complaint against the president
:02:36. > :02:40.of the Republic for committing a clear violation of the Constitution
:02:41. > :02:54.That Parliament has backed the Prime Minister and will ask him
:02:55. > :03:14.John Kerry has urged Nouri al-Maliki not too stirred tensions.
:03:15. > :03:16.Washington sees the Iraqi Prime Minister as an obstacle
:03:17. > :03:19.to a broad-based government in Baghdad that is necessary to
:03:20. > :03:24.There will be little international support of any kind whatsoever
:03:25. > :03:30.for anything that deviates from the legitimate constituency
:03:31. > :03:33.process that is in place and being worked on now.
:03:34. > :03:36.They need to finish that now and give a new government an opportunity
:03:37. > :03:42.On the front line in northern Iraq fighters are ready to defend
:03:43. > :03:50.It is reported that Washington is directly supplying
:03:51. > :04:01.There are reports that Islamic State militants have captured the town
:04:02. > :04:03.of Jalawla, northeast of Baghdad after weeks
:04:04. > :04:13.The seizure of Jalawla, about 115 kilometres from the Iraqi capital,
:04:14. > :04:18.comes a day after a suicide bomber killed 10 Kurdish fighters there.
:04:19. > :04:25.With me in the studio is Mohamed Yehia of BBC Arabic.
:04:26. > :04:37.Let's begin with that court ruling in favour of Nouri al-Maliki. At the
:04:38. > :04:42.moment details are still unclear. This court ruling was announced on
:04:43. > :04:46.HEV channel controlled by the military government. In the last few
:04:47. > :04:53.minutes we have heard a denial of that from the spokesman of the court
:04:54. > :04:56.saying that they have suggested to the president that the biggest bloc
:04:57. > :05:01.should form the government but they say that they did not name which is
:05:02. > :05:07.the biggest bloc so there is a bit of confusion about this news and we
:05:08. > :05:16.need to treat it with caution. We are hearing about the deployment of
:05:17. > :05:19.troops in Baghdad. What is the significance of that? Is Nouri
:05:20. > :05:28.al-Maliki trying to shore up his position? We have heard this from
:05:29. > :05:33.inside and outside. Nouri al-Maliki is insisting that he wants to form a
:05:34. > :05:39.new government and get a third term. But there are voices even from
:05:40. > :05:44.within the Shia community which want to see a replacement because he is
:05:45. > :05:54.accused of adopting sectarian policies that favour shears at the
:05:55. > :05:59.expense of Sunni Muslim. That is one of the reasons that Isis has made
:06:00. > :06:04.these games. He denies that. He says that he is the protector of the
:06:05. > :06:11.country against the Islamic State militants. He has been accused of
:06:12. > :06:17.alienating both Sunni Muslims and Kurds in the past. What do you make
:06:18. > :06:25.of this statement by the Islamic militants? It is another expression
:06:26. > :06:29.of the fluidity of the situation. You have the militants from this
:06:30. > :06:33.group the Islamic State nicking and choosing targets across a large
:06:34. > :06:38.swathes of land that they have captured within the last few days.
:06:39. > :06:50.They have several towns in the north. Sinjar mountains and
:06:51. > :07:00.Qaraqosh. Hundreds of people have fled from them, including the Zaidi.
:07:01. > :07:21.Now we hear this report of the Islamic State capturing Joe Marler.
:07:22. > :07:22.-- Jalawa. The more the ability of the government to confront this
:07:23. > :07:34.security threat is necessary. Israeli negotiators are in Cairo for
:07:35. > :07:38.indirect talks with Palestinian groups, aimed at finding a long-term
:07:39. > :07:42.solution to the conflict in Gaza. The three day ceasefire
:07:43. > :07:59.between Israel These are live pictures from Gaza.
:08:00. > :08:04.In fact, the latest pictures, not life pictures. As you can see, there
:08:05. > :08:06.are signs of normal life returning to the streets after weeks of
:08:07. > :08:10.fighting. The ceasefire should allow more
:08:11. > :08:12.humanitarian aid into the territory, where thousands have been left
:08:13. > :08:14.homeless. And there's also growing hopes of a
:08:15. > :08:17.long term deal to end the fighting. But the diplomacy in Cairo
:08:18. > :08:20.remains dependent on the current Figures suggest more than 1,900
:08:21. > :08:28.Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a month of fighting with 67
:08:29. > :08:33.Israelis also losing their lives. Many Israeli homes
:08:34. > :08:38.near to Gaza were evacuated, but in the last few hours, some
:08:39. > :08:41.Israelis have been taking advantage For more on the situation
:08:42. > :08:47.in Gaza go to the BBC News website. There's full background
:08:48. > :09:18.and analysis. Let's have an update now on Ukraine.
:09:19. > :09:21.Fighting is continuing between government forces and pro-Russian
:09:22. > :09:28.rebels in the east of the country. This is Donetsk in the last few
:09:29. > :09:30.hours. Shortly after a Ukrainian military spokesman said government
:09:31. > :09:36.forces were preparing for the final stage of recapturing the city. The
:09:37. > :09:40.spokesman said that Donetsk was now cut off from the other main rebel
:09:41. > :09:46.held area. We will bring you more on the developing situation. The newly
:09:47. > :09:52.elected president of Turkey says he wants to start a new Eire of social
:09:53. > :09:57.reconciliation after becoming the country 's first directly elected
:09:58. > :10:01.head of state. He has already served three terms as the country's Prime
:10:02. > :10:07.Minister. He told thousands of supporters in Ankara that his
:10:08. > :10:15.victory was for all Turks. TRANSLATION: I speak from all of my
:10:16. > :10:24.heart, today is the day that we initiate a social reconciliation
:10:25. > :10:30.process. Please leave aside the old discussions, old disputes, old
:10:31. > :10:37.tensions in the old turkey. Let others leave all these virtual
:10:38. > :10:59.problems and conflicts in the old Turkey. We just heard their heard
:11:00. > :11:04.there from the new president using a previously unknown reconciliation
:11:05. > :11:12.tree tone of voice. He has used a conciliatory tone but nobody
:11:13. > :11:18.believes that there is going to be social reconciliation with him in
:11:19. > :11:25.office. He remains a divisive character. How much power will a
:11:26. > :11:31.president have? In the past, it has been a largely ceremonial role. Yes,
:11:32. > :11:36.it has. Before the election he was really excited to have much more
:11:37. > :11:41.power than the previous presidents in Turkey. Now everybody is
:11:42. > :11:46.expecting, waiting to see what he is going to do. He can change the
:11:47. > :11:50.constitution to have more power but the percentage of votes that he got
:11:51. > :12:00.may not be enough to change the constitution. He remains a divisive
:12:01. > :12:06.character and huge swathes of Turkey remain sceptical about what he will
:12:07. > :12:10.bring to the country as president. Actually, it is maybe a little bit
:12:11. > :12:14.early to say that but we will all see what is going to happen. They
:12:15. > :12:19.should decide about the Prime Minister and ten months later we
:12:20. > :12:29.have a general election. It is going to be a very tricky process.
:12:30. > :12:32.Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:
:12:33. > :12:40.How Uganda has resisted an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus
:12:41. > :12:46.Chinese people around the world are beginning to celebrate the hungry
:12:47. > :12:54.ghost Festival, a time when I'm friendly spirits are released from
:12:55. > :12:59.the underworld and cause just -- cause mischief. But a fashion
:13:00. > :13:05.designer in Hong Kong is challenging those traditions. In the seventh
:13:06. > :13:10.month the Chinese often burn paper offerings for the dead. It is meant
:13:11. > :13:15.to come evil spirits who might otherwise cause trouble during the
:13:16. > :13:21.hungry ghost Festival. Just to be safe, the living maintain many
:13:22. > :13:25.traditions including elaborate operas to entertain wandering souls.
:13:26. > :13:30.They are giving the best music, food and gifts. Belief in the
:13:31. > :13:34.supernatural is so strong that this month is considered a bad time to
:13:35. > :13:40.get married, sign contracts or even go swimming. To challenge traditions
:13:41. > :13:46.based on fear, for the first time, a fashion show featuring female
:13:47. > :13:52.clothes. The organisers of the event believe that Hong Kong people are
:13:53. > :14:00.too superstitious. This show is meant to give the agent hungry ghost
:14:01. > :14:03.Festival a very modern update. The models are showing off classical
:14:04. > :14:09.Chinese clothing with a contemporary twist. The woman behind the show
:14:10. > :14:16.tells me that she believes the ghost Festival is taken too seriously. Why
:14:17. > :14:22.do we need to be scared of a custom? A Chinese traditional
:14:23. > :14:26.festival. I have no idea. I thought, why not just throw a party, a
:14:27. > :14:33.fashion show to cause interest and inspire people to more discussions.
:14:34. > :14:37.The models are not worried about upsetting ghosts. They say it is
:14:38. > :14:49.time to shake up the age old Festival. Welcome back. The latest
:14:50. > :14:54.headlines: Iraq's Supreme Court upholds interim
:14:55. > :14:56.Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's It says Mr Maliki could retain
:14:57. > :15:17.his position. Egypt's state news agency said that
:15:18. > :15:21.talks between Israeli and Palestinian representatives have
:15:22. > :15:25.begun. They are aimed at trying to bring an end to the conflict in
:15:26. > :15:30.Gaza. We will bring more on the outcome of the talks as soon as we
:15:31. > :15:33.have it from correspondence on the ground.
:15:34. > :15:35.The Ebola outbreak continues to spread in West Africa,
:15:36. > :15:41.with the Nigerian authorities having just confirmed a new case,
:15:42. > :15:48.The virus kills between fifty and 60% of those who catch it and there
:15:49. > :15:53.Uganda is not affected by the current outbreak
:15:54. > :15:56.but has had to deal with dozens of cases in the last decade.
:15:57. > :16:06.Catherine Byaruhanga is in Kampala and sent this report.
:16:07. > :16:14.On the lookout for Ebola. The authorities are worried the outbreak
:16:15. > :16:19.could spread. At the International airports, passengers are screened
:16:20. > :16:26.for the virus. These peacekeepers have arrived from the Democratic
:16:27. > :16:34.Republic of Congo. Since 2000, Uganda has had the highest number of
:16:35. > :16:39.outbreaks. This history has made the country a centre for Ebola experts.
:16:40. > :16:47.Over 20 health workers are being sent to west Africa to help with the
:16:48. > :16:51.epidemic. This doctor is one of them. With years of experience
:16:52. > :16:59.handling the disease, he knows what needs to be done. You need to accept
:17:00. > :17:07.that Ebola is with you at the beginning, that is important. It has
:17:08. > :17:13.spread out. It is like a bush fire. We are going to do firefighting. An
:17:14. > :17:19.outbreak centred in the north of Uganda in 2000 killed more than half
:17:20. > :17:25.of the people infected. Like the epidemic in west Africa today, the
:17:26. > :17:31.authorities found it hard to react. That picture has changed. In the
:17:32. > :17:36.first outbreaks, samples were sent to the United States for cases to be
:17:37. > :17:43.confirmed. Now it takes 24 hours at this American funded laboratory. I
:17:44. > :17:47.am in an airtight room. I am not allowed to cross over. Some of the
:17:48. > :17:53.most dangerous diseases are being tested for, including Ebola. This is
:17:54. > :18:03.one of a handful of laboratories on the continent. This man is a lead
:18:04. > :18:09.scientist and worked on the 2000 outbreak in Uganda. He thinks
:18:10. > :18:24.education is key. First of all, Ebola is real. They need to report.
:18:25. > :18:29.People cannot survive Ebola. Government campaigns have raised
:18:30. > :18:33.awareness about the virus. Uganda is not wealthy, but it has made the
:18:34. > :18:34.most of what it has to stop widespread outbreaks. This should
:18:35. > :18:45.give hope to others. The Ebola outbreak - the worst ever
:18:46. > :18:48.- is centred on Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but has spread to
:18:49. > :18:51.other countries in recent months. Nearly 1,000 people have died
:18:52. > :18:54.and 1,800 have become infected. Liberia's information minister has
:18:55. > :18:56.admitted that the country's health With me is Cokie Van Der Velde,
:18:57. > :19:07.a water and sanitations specialist with the medical charity
:19:08. > :19:08.Medecins Sans Frontieres. She's just returned from Liberia,
:19:09. > :19:22.and has recently spent a month Thanks for joining us. Your
:19:23. > :19:26.organisation has described the situation in library area with
:19:27. > :19:35.regard to the health service as falling apart. -- Liberia. The
:19:36. > :19:43.situation is dire. Statistics do not show how bad it is. You were in
:19:44. > :19:48.Guinea, as well, how would you describe your experience and compare
:19:49. > :19:52.the two countries? The situation in Guinea seems to be improving with
:19:53. > :19:58.not as many new cases coming forward. In Liberia, there were only
:19:59. > :20:04.a few cases in July. When I left at the end of July, they were
:20:05. > :20:09.overflowing with patients. Tell me some of the things you saw. What are
:20:10. > :20:16.people dealing with? There is great fear. Some people do not want to
:20:17. > :20:25.accept it exists and deny it exists and as a result, come late to the
:20:26. > :20:29.clinics. If they come early, there is a chance of survival and the
:20:30. > :20:38.fatality rate is 50%. If they come late, it is 95%. What are the main
:20:39. > :20:45.challenges? Is it raising public awareness, education as to how it is
:20:46. > :20:51.spread? Said many aspects need to be covered. We do not have the number
:20:52. > :20:55.of people on the ground to do this. There is community education and
:20:56. > :20:59.mobilisation and alert and response to new cases. The setting up of
:21:00. > :21:05.treatment units and training staff. So much needs to be done. What are
:21:06. > :21:10.your thoughts on the experimental drug we are hearing about, which has
:21:11. > :21:13.not been tested, but which has been used on the experimental drug we are
:21:14. > :21:16.hearing about, which has not been tested, but which has been used onto
:21:17. > :21:20.American aid workers? If there is the possibility of a treatment it
:21:21. > :21:28.would be great but there needs to be a proper framework so it is tested
:21:29. > :21:30.and results are made known. We wish you and your organisation luck in
:21:31. > :21:35.tackling this awful outbreak. The Australian couple accused
:21:36. > :21:37.of abandoning their baby with his Thai surrogate mother because he
:21:38. > :21:40.was born with Down's Syndrome have David and Wendy Farnell deny
:21:41. > :21:44.the accusations saying they felt they had little choice
:21:45. > :21:46.but to leave Thailand with The case has drawn international
:21:47. > :22:08.attention to the lack of regulation Baby Gammy surrogates mother has
:22:09. > :22:13.accused the couple of callously turning their backs on a child born
:22:14. > :22:19.with Down's syndrome and returning to Australia with his healthy
:22:20. > :22:23.sister. Not so, say the couple, who, in an interview on Australia's
:22:24. > :22:29.Channel nine, alleged that the surrogates mother refused to let
:22:30. > :22:37.them take Gammy home. We wanted to bring him and things were happening
:22:38. > :22:46.that we could not bring him. We asked her... Can you please give us
:22:47. > :22:54.back... Please give us our boy, we want our boy. She got very angry.
:22:55. > :22:59.They say they left Thailand in a panic, fearing they would not be
:23:00. > :23:06.able to leave with the twin sister. The surrogates mother wanted to take
:23:07. > :23:14.our girl. -- surrogates. We were getting scared we were going to lose
:23:15. > :23:21.her. We had to try to get out as fast as we could. The story of claim
:23:22. > :23:25.and counterclaim has another twist. The woman who gave birth to the
:23:26. > :23:31.twins in December admits she did not let the Australians take baby Gammy,
:23:32. > :23:36.because she feared they would not look after him. TRANSLATION: I never
:23:37. > :23:42.said I wanted to keep their babies. I did not allow Gammy to go with
:23:43. > :23:47.them. That is the truth. It is because they would put him in an
:23:48. > :23:53.institution. I just hope my daughter is safe and they will keep their
:23:54. > :23:56.word. Authorities in Western Australia are
:23:57. > :24:01.investigating the safety and well-being of the other baby because
:24:02. > :24:08.of David Farnell's convictions for abusing young girls. He was jailed
:24:09. > :24:11.for offences in the 1990s. The 56-year-old was rigorously challenge
:24:12. > :24:19.during the TV interview about his criminal past. He insisted he was no
:24:20. > :24:23.longer a danger to children. The case has prompted a review of
:24:24. > :24:34.surrogacy laws in Thailand but it remained smothered in confusion. Now
:24:35. > :24:40.to a roller-coaster ride that did not turn out as expected. Passengers
:24:41. > :24:43.on the ride in Maryland in the US were left stranded at the top when
:24:44. > :24:56.it wrote down. They were rescued four hours later. This is the jokers
:24:57. > :25:04.jinx, an ironic name if you are one of these people. Passengers trapped
:25:05. > :25:09.at 23 metres in the air, for several hours. Emergency officials said the
:25:10. > :25:14.roller coasters malfunctioned, leaving them stuck near the highest
:25:15. > :25:19.point of the ride on Sunday. If hanging precariously was not
:25:20. > :25:25.enough, the scorching heat meant that rescue workers had to give out
:25:26. > :25:33.umbrellas for protection. The company said it is not clear what
:25:34. > :25:39.caused the ride to stop, but it has a computerised safety system that
:25:40. > :25:42.performed as designed. It comes after passengers were freed from a
:25:43. > :25:47.roller-coaster as another part in California. In this latest incident,
:25:48. > :25:52.the ups and downs of the roller coasters have ground to a halt in
:25:53. > :26:05.definitely. The company said it will complete a thorough investigation.
:26:06. > :26:11.Stargazers in the northern hemisphere have been taking images
:26:12. > :26:15.of a supermoon. The Moon appears 40% bigger and brighter than normal as
:26:16. > :26:21.it reaches the point in its orbit closest to the Earth. It is a
:26:22. > :26:27.perigee moon. If you missed it, the next is due in early September.
:26:28. > :26:32.Before we go, an update on breaking news. Talks between Israeli and
:26:33. > :26:37.Palestinian representatives to try to end the conflict in Gaza are
:26:38. > :26:45.reported to have started. The news come from the Egyptian run state
:26:46. > :26:47.news agency. More on that and all of the stories we are covering on the
:26:48. > :27:07.BBC website. That is all this hour. So far, the Scottish referendum
:27:08. > :27:10.has focused on whether independence is good or bad
:27:11. > :27:14.for Scotland.