20/08/2014 BBC World News

Hello. I'm Dani Sinha with BBC World News.

US officials try to verify the video posted by Islamic State

militants, showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

In Gaza, the wife and child of a Hamas militant leader are reportedly

killed by Israeli air strikes launched in response to rocket fire.

Police say they've arrested 47 people during a night of protests in

the Missouri town rocked by violence over the police shooting of an

And in Japan at least 27 people are killed

after the equivalent of one months rain falls in 24 hours, triggering

Islamic State militants have posted a graphic video online showing

the beheading of American journalist James Foley,

who's been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012.

The militants say it's retribution for recent US airstrikes in Iraq.

US officials say they are trying to establish the authenticity

He was a journalist drawn to war reporting.

Previously in Libya, he was captured and held

Then I was hit several times with the butt of an AK-47,

punched, and dragged into a vehicle with my hands tied behind my back.

On a Facebook site campaigning for

his freedom, James Foley's mother seemed to accept her son was dead.

She urged his kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages.

The militants say they are taking revenge for recent American air

It is one of the few ways that they can hit back.

In a video too graphic to be shown, a man with a British accent is seen

executing James Foley, who went missing in Syria two years ago.

The executioner goes on to threaten that unless

President Obama stops attacking the Islamic State, the life of another

The US first authorised airstrikes against the jihadi fighters earlier

this month, to protect refugees and stop the advance on Kurdish areas.

Since then they have been instrumental

in pushing back the frontiers of the Islamic State, allowing

Peshmerga fighters to recapture the vitally important Mosul Dam.

It has been known for some time that up to 500 British

They have appeared in propaganda videos,

The identity of James Foley's executioner is unknown,

but he appears to kill without a conscience, and says he is more

Matthew van Dyke is a film-maker and journalist from Philadelphia

who knew James Foley. He paid tribute to his friend.

James was a true professional, you know, he was really dedicated to

journalism. He believed in what he was doing, he wasn't going to let

anything stop him. He was captured in Libya and right after he was

released he went back to report on that conflict. Then he went on to

Syria. He knew the risks and the dangers but he knew he believed in

what he did. I saw him a couple of weeks before he went missing, I was

working on a film and he was working as a journalist in Aleppo. I shot

some photos and videos of him, and a couple of weeks later, you just

vanished. There hasn't been much information about what happened. My

Syrians is as were telling me he had been kidnapped and now it appears

that information was correct, because when ISIS was formed, some

people joined them, so they probably took him with them when that

happened. Earlier, the BBC's Jiyar Gol gave me

this update on the killing of James This is the first Westerner beheaded

by this group but it shows why many in the area are afraid of them. Many

people in tribes who have opposed them have been killed in a brutal

fashion. That is why many are afraid of them and obviously this is the

first time they are killing a Westerner. It is apparently a

reaction to American air strikes. Yesterday, one of the most important

areas fell and it would've impossible without the American air

strikes. The video clearly warns America that if they can do need to

help, they may execute more people. They paraded another American

journalist in front of the camera and said his destiny and life would

be dependent on Mr Obama's next move.

The militants from the so-called IS group, who reportedly beheaded

Mr Foley, are seeking to build what they call a 'caliphate' state.

The BBC's Michael Hirst has produced this guide.

Speaking to the BBC, the UK's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond

says the footage posted online appears to be genuine and it's a

matter of serious concern that the killer spoke with a British accent.

We are absolutely aware that there are significant numbers

of British nationals involved in terrible crimes, probably in the

commission of atrocities, making jihad with IS and other extremist

organisations. This is something we've been tracking and dealing with

for many months, and I don't think this video changes anything, it just

heightens awareness of a situation which is very grave and which we've

David Cameron has cut short his holiday to host an emergency meeting

to discuss the latest situation in Iraq and Syria following that

killing. Earlier I spoke to a guest in our studio in Leeds and I asked

why we keep on seeing British men going out to countries such as Iraq

and Syria and becoming Islamic jihadists. If there are British

people involved, that is against the tradition of Islam. The Islamic

State has an ethos requiring compassion, justice and mercy. What

has happened here is completely against that. Secondly, in terms of

what has gone wrong in terms of finding British nationals going out

there, the message is clear from the mosques that whatever is happening

in those conflict areas is not Jihad. It is a complete

misunderstanding if someone is going from Britain to take part in Iraq

and Syria and places where there is conflict thinking they are

contributing to the jihad ethos. That is not the case. We need to

work together with the intelligence services, the police and the

government to work out why it is that young people who perhaps are

manipulated by those who are against the government to organise such

activities where they take young, impressionable Muslims to take

part. Later today, we'll have a special

programme on Iraq and the Caliphate. As well as the latest

from our team on the ground, we'll be looking at what the

Caliphate is and who supports it. And what the consequences

of the fight for it are That's from 3.00pm GMT on

BBC World News. In Japan,

at least 27 people have been killed after a series of landslides struck

the city of Hiroshima. Dozens of houses were buried

when hillsides collapsed A short

while ago I spoke to the BBC's He told me we don't yet know

the full extent of the devastation I think we are still expecting the

death toll to rise a bit further. Rescue services and soldiers are on

the scene going through the smashed houses one by one, but obviously

there is a lot of mud and rock. There were least ten of these

mudslides that came down out of the mountains on the northern edge of

Hiroshima early this morning because of this absolutely enormous rainfall

they got over night. Some of the houses, roads, cars are buried under

very thick mud, so it will take them while to go through all the debris

and perhaps discover people still trapped in houses.

Why did this whether, as a surprise to most residents?

Well, in most part because the government did not issue any

warning. Japan is a country that is well prepared for disasters, there

is a good system in place, but the local government said it simply was

not expecting this. Looking at the radar pictures of the rainfall, it

was relatively light rainfall elsewhere, and then suddenly you see

this very intense red where the rain right over Hiroshima fell during the

night. And it is really just this big blot right over the top of

Hiroshima. Elsewhere, very little rain at all. So it is a very unusual

weather pattern, although I have to say we started to see it more and

more in Japan. Something similar happened last year in which 32

people were killed much closer to Tokyo.

Police in Ferguson, Missouri have arrested 47 people

The town has been rocked by violence over the police shooting

of an unarmed black teenager almost two weeks ago.

Tuesday night saw largely peaceful protests following

Earlier I spoke to our North America correspondent, Rajini Vaidyanathan,

who's been at the protests in Ferguson.

She told me the latest demonstrations have been

Well, the protests are now over but I was down there earlier and mostly

they were very peaceful protests, lines of demonstrators walking along

the street chanting and saying they wanted justice for Michael Brown. Of

course, the unarmed black teenager who was shot by a white police

officer more than a week ago, and whose death has sparked a huge

outrage here. As the evening progressed, most of the protesters

went home, but police helicopters then called on the remaining crowds

to disperse. Things got a bit tense than an police basically forced the

protesters to move on. It is unclear exactly what happened because we

weren't there to see that directly. But I was down there and my team

were told that we had to leave, the media were moved from the scene and

brought here to what is known as the media staging area. So, in the main,

a calm protest which ended with some tension. To my knowledge there were

no rockets thrown or tear gas, none of the violins we've seen in recent

nights. We are expecting a grand jury could meet later today to

discuss whether or not to charge the police officer who shot Michael

Brown. In this particular system it is the grand jury that will listen

and decide whether charges should be pressed.

Still to come: We continue our look at cycling around the world.

Next up, we had to Brazil and Nairobi.

To Pakistan now, where the country's leaders are

meeting, as tens of thousands of protesters gather outside

Armed with wire cutters and cleans, the protesters broke down the

barricades, from the security forces watched on. The area houses state

buildings, foreign embassies and the city government. Leading tens of

thousands of protesters, the former cricket star, Imran can. They are

wanting the Prime Minister Nawaz cricket star, Imran can. They are

the protesters are trying to destabilise democracy. They say will

the Prime Minister Stepstone. The protest will be peaceful. But

the Prime Minister Stepstone. The whether we are hungry or thirsty,

the Prime Minister Stepstone. The will continue. We want all those

requirements to be fulfilled. We want the society to become

democratic in the true sense. We want the democracy to be visible, as

it is in Western countries. Pakistan has a history of violent uprisings

and it has given rise to fear of possible future direction.

The latest headlines. The mother of the American journalist apparently

be headed by Islamic militants said he gave his life trying to help the

people of Syria. In fighting has continued between them forces and

militants in Palestine. We will stay with that story.

Fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants is

continuing for a second day, after the collapse of peace talks

Hamas says an Israeli air strike on Gaza City has killed

the wife and two-year-old daughter of the commander of

It is not known if he survived the attack.

Yolande Knell has the latest from Gaza.

Naftali Bennett, the Israeli Minister for Economy,

is in Jerusalem and I asked him why the ceasefire had ended..

They ended the cease-fire yesterday and really retaliated, which we will

continue to do full. These cease-fires are very peculiar. They

keep breaking them and keep filing honours. If they continue to do

that, we will continue to respond. Some will question the taming of the

ending of the cease-fire. You said they ended the cease-fire, but it

doesn't coincide with an air strike on a top, under the regime. We are

always looking to take out the commanders of these terror groups.

We are both fighting radical Islam. We are talking about radical Islamic

states which want to create one huge fight from Eric, through Tel Aviv

into London. When you identify terrorists, you have to take them

out. Let us talk about the people who are being killed, because

whatever way you look at this, there are eight and equal number of

casualties. 2000 Palestinians killed, mostly civilians, as opposed

to just over 60 Israelis killed, mostly military casualties. Let us

make no mistake, they are firing mostly military casualties. Let us

rockets and missiles into concentrated civilian areas in

Israel. How many Israelis need to die for us to gain your sympathy?

The Palestinians want you to lift the siege. Why can't assume you to

that that as it will bring about peace? We have no siege. In Gazza

every day, there is dozens of shiploads of food, medical supplies

and other strings. The trouble is other stuff that they try to bring

into Gazza, such as weapons and concrete, to build more tunnels to

Israelis, which is acceptable. The general rule is, anything

humanitarian law going, anything which can create weapons to kill

Israelis will not be allowed in. Will you go back to the peace talks

end April? I think the talks are over. Once the Palestinians started

shooting at us once again, we're not going to conduct talks under threat

of shooting. We are facing a very determined and radical Islamic group

and we need to beat them and we will. The New Zealand government has

said it is to ban the practice of removing the funds from dead sharks.

Around 120 tonnes is exported from the country every year. It has been

told cynical and wasteful by environmentalists. Wildlife groups

have welcomed the new state. A Chinese newspaper has demanded

retribution against Australia after a politician described the people of

China as mongrels who shoot each other. They said Australia has a

friendly -- unfriendly attitude towards China.

Cycling is generally seen to be good for our health, but with

the rapid growth of mega-cities across the globe, riding a bike in

All this week, we have been taking you around the world on two wheels.

Let us head to Rio and Nairobi, to see what it is like to be

My name is they are not. I am a cyclist. I cycle to work and to

practice every day. My name is Joshua. I work as a

career. I think Rio de Janiero was a

beautiful city to say Colin, because of the sightseeing

beautiful city to say Colin, because and the beaches. But casting not

respect the bakes. We are trying to change this. I have had a number of

bad injuries. I got a broken arm and one time, a taxi knocked me down.

The traffic is very heavy in Nairobi, which is why a Raider

bicycle. In Nairobi, we do not have cycling lanes. We think of the

Olympic Games. They are going to be 100 kilometres of cycle lanes for

that. My bait is my best friend. I use it for exercise, and for work.

It is a big part of my life. I use my bicycle

movement. Inspiring Olivers to get on our bakes.

of the capital Monrovia in quarantine, as it struggles to

The decision has also affected other airlines which use the city as a

stopping off point. Consider the effect of a single person being

diagnosed with the disease. It could have a devastating effect, at least

$1 billion. This could affect the wider economy of the country,

affecting trade between the country and its neighbours and abroad. The

airport is a vital place of employment for many people. I used

to make 10-12 trips a day when the airport was and fuel use, but no

since the outbreak of the disease, I am making only maybe two or three

trips a day and it is becoming more difficult for me to earn enough to

feed my family. They see the suspension should go beyond the

listed countries.