:00:16. > :00:18.top stories. America considers expanding
:00:19. > :00:22.operations against Islamic State militants. Is it time to take them
:00:23. > :00:27.on in Syria? They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry
:00:28. > :00:31.ideology, sophistication of strategic and tactical military
:00:32. > :00:37.prowess, this is beyond anything that we have seen. A Russian aid
:00:38. > :00:41.convoy enters Ukraine without permission, after what the Kremlin
:00:42. > :00:46.calls "intolerable delays" on the border.
:00:47. > :00:48.Five weeks after the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine, Malaysia
:00:49. > :00:53.brings home the first of its victims.
:00:54. > :00:57.And would you drench yourself on camera for charity? The ice bucket
:00:58. > :00:58.challenges flooding the Internet, but has President Obama got cold
:00:59. > :01:13.feet? The US has warned the threat
:01:14. > :01:17.from Islamic State militants is the most dangerous it's faced
:01:18. > :01:19.in recent years, and there is a growing recognition
:01:20. > :01:22.in the West that efforts to defeat them will need to extend to Syria,
:01:23. > :01:25.the heart of their power base. The US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel
:01:26. > :01:28.has described the threat as imminent While the US Army's senior general,
:01:29. > :01:43.Martin Dempsey, said efforts to defeat the militant group would have
:01:44. > :01:46.to extend into Syria, describing the border between the two countries
:01:47. > :01:48.as essentially "non-existent." Tom Esslemont reports
:01:49. > :01:52.from Washington. How should America and its
:01:53. > :01:55.allies tackle the Islamic State? During recent months,
:01:56. > :02:00.militants have been gaining ground in Syria and Iraq, seizing towns
:02:01. > :02:07.and killing those who refuse to Britain and America are now hunting
:02:08. > :02:11.for the man who killed The jihadists have threatened
:02:12. > :02:16.another hostage, Steven Sotloff, and his fate hinges on what America
:02:17. > :02:19.does next. At a news conference,
:02:20. > :02:21.US defence officials said two weeks of American air strikes had helped
:02:22. > :02:26.break the Islamic State's advance. But they gave a bleak picture
:02:27. > :02:29.of the threat they pose. They are
:02:30. > :02:37.beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology,
:02:38. > :02:40.a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess,
:02:41. > :02:46.they are tremendously well-funded. This is
:02:47. > :02:50.beyond anything we have seen. And the only way you do that is you
:02:51. > :02:56.take a cold, steely, So far, the US has focused
:02:57. > :03:07.on containing the militants in The Pentagon is now hinting
:03:08. > :03:14.at a wider strategy, This is an organisation
:03:15. > :03:22.which has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategy, which will
:03:23. > :03:24.eventually have to be defeated. To your question,
:03:25. > :03:26.can they be defeated without addressing that part of
:03:27. > :03:30.the organisation residing in Syria? The answer is no,
:03:31. > :03:34.it will have to be addressed on both President Obama has described it
:03:35. > :03:41.as a cancer. The question is, how to cure it,
:03:42. > :03:44.when there is so little domestic Officials say they are
:03:45. > :04:09.not ruling anything out. After days waiting at the border, a
:04:10. > :04:13.steady procession of some 70 Russian trucks with food, water and
:04:14. > :04:17.generators on board have crossed into the Ukraine. The latest reports
:04:18. > :04:21.we have said around 90 tracks were heading towards the rebel held city
:04:22. > :04:25.of Luhansk. The convoy itself was supposed to be travelling with the
:04:26. > :04:27.International Red Cross, but the agency has said that security
:04:28. > :04:33.concerns are preventing them from accompanying it. We have got these
:04:34. > :04:37.pictures for you of those lorries, heading on their way towards Luhansk
:04:38. > :04:44.full stop as we look at those, I'm joined by the BBC's Ukraine analyst.
:04:45. > :04:48.It has taken an awful long time for them to start rolling, but there is
:04:49. > :04:52.huge attention straightaway that they have gone. Yes, and the tension
:04:53. > :04:56.is no longer about what is inside the trucks, but the way the convoy
:04:57. > :05:00.was put together and the potential risks it creates. It goes through
:05:01. > :05:04.territory which is partly controlled by the rebels and partly controlled
:05:05. > :05:07.by the Ukrainian army. It is not clear what sort of guarantees the
:05:08. > :05:12.Russian Federation has got from the rebels. The Ukrainian side is saying
:05:13. > :05:21.that it is not the rebels' guarantees and their responsibility,
:05:22. > :05:23.the responsibility is on the Russian side. This convoy creates a lot of
:05:24. > :05:25.potential risk. If anything happens to it, the Russian government has
:05:26. > :05:28.already indicated it will blame the Ukrainian side for something
:05:29. > :05:34.untoward which may happen with the convoy. The Ukrainian side, I am not
:05:35. > :05:38.sure it has formulated its position. What are the choices, are they going
:05:39. > :05:42.to stop it, escorted, and if it is going to the city of Luhansk itself,
:05:43. > :05:48.there is very, very severe fighting reported in the city. There is
:05:49. > :05:51.shelling, certainly the rebels and the Russian media are blaming the
:05:52. > :05:56.Ukrainian side, the Ukrainians are saying the rebels are shelling. That
:05:57. > :05:59.is typically the problem, isn't it, because we cannot know the sure
:06:00. > :06:03.whether a full verification has been carried out or not, whether the
:06:04. > :06:07.Ukrainian authorities are holding it back a bit or if Russian authorities
:06:08. > :06:10.are pushing it through come what may. I think the Russian line,
:06:11. > :06:15.certainly from the statement of the Foreign Ministry, is that this is
:06:16. > :06:18.pure humanitarian aid. The Ukrainian position is that this is a
:06:19. > :06:22.humanitarian invasion, and they are very fearful that this could be a
:06:23. > :06:30.pretext to something more sinister. I think the timing is also very,
:06:31. > :06:33.very important. August 24 is Independence Day in Ukraine, and the
:06:34. > :06:36.Ukrainians want to have a big parade in the city centre. The Russian
:06:37. > :06:40.ministry says that probably this is the reason they are preventing the
:06:41. > :06:44.convoy from entering Luhansk. They want to finish the operation there.
:06:45. > :06:47.Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming to Kiev tomorrow, and there is a
:06:48. > :06:52.meeting planned between President Putin and President Poroshenko, or
:06:53. > :06:58.at least, there is talk about this meeting, in Minsk on Tuesday.
:06:59. > :07:01.Politically, it creates a very big area of tension, when many people
:07:02. > :07:05.thought that, at least diplomatically, there could be some
:07:06. > :07:09.sort of movement. Our focus on this convoy, it is a very visual element
:07:10. > :07:13.of the story, which slightly takes our right off the ball of what is
:07:14. > :07:19.going on around Donetsk and Luhansk. What is the situation
:07:20. > :07:22.there? Extremely tense. There is heavy fighting reported in a place
:07:23. > :07:30.called in a vice, which is halfway through this corridor which cuts
:07:31. > :07:34.Donetsk from Luhansk. -- ill advice. There is very heavy loss of life,
:07:35. > :07:38.including civilian life. Roughly 60 people a day are dying in the area,
:07:39. > :07:42.and there is a lot of loss for them and that -- the Ukrainian military.
:07:43. > :07:46.Today they reported the downing of another military helicopter, with
:07:47. > :07:50.the crew being killed. This happened two days ago but was only reported
:07:51. > :07:55.now. There are also reports of a lot of regular Russian troops spotted in
:07:56. > :08:01.the area. There is very little hard -- hard evidence to prove this. But
:08:02. > :08:05.at least the Ukrainian officials have produced some of the evidence
:08:06. > :08:07.of armoured personnel carriers, with Russian documents, with driving
:08:08. > :08:13.licences, with military cards inside. The Russian defence Ministry
:08:14. > :08:17.dismisses that as yet another provocation. One more illustration
:08:18. > :08:20.to the blame game, and one more illustration of how tense the
:08:21. > :08:25.situation is and how difficult it is to resolve it. The convoy does not
:08:26. > :08:28.act as a resolution. It may not alleviate the aid situation, but it
:08:29. > :08:34.creates an additional area of tension.
:08:35. > :08:39.Malaysia is observing a national day of mourning to mark the return home
:08:40. > :08:46.of the first 20 victims from the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine.
:08:47. > :08:50.43 Malaysians in all were amongst the 298 passengers and crew killed
:08:51. > :08:53.in the crash. The remaining bodies are still in the process of being
:08:54. > :09:02.identified by experts in the Netherlands, where most of the
:09:03. > :09:06.victims were from. Finally home. These were the first
:09:07. > :09:12.Malaysian victims of Flight MH17 to be identified. They were welcomed
:09:13. > :09:17.back with a full state ceremony, reflecting the sorrow felt here not
:09:18. > :09:20.just for these 20 passengers and crew and their families, but also
:09:21. > :09:22.over the extraordinary double tragedies which have struck this
:09:23. > :09:28.country's aviation industry this year. Malaysia's top leaders were
:09:29. > :09:34.all here, along with politicians and diplomats. Later, the bodies were
:09:35. > :09:38.reunited with their families. In some cases, flown by military
:09:39. > :09:42.aircraft to home towns in more distant parts of the country. Ten
:09:43. > :09:48.more bodies are due to come back this weekend. The task of
:09:49. > :09:51.identification has been complicated by continuing conflict in eastern
:09:52. > :09:56.Ukraine. Investigators have been unable to get to the crash site for
:09:57. > :10:02.the past two weeks. The remains of some victims have yet to be
:10:03. > :10:07.recovered and identified. The families of Flight MH17's victims,
:10:08. > :10:11.though, can at least start to mourn their loss. For those who lost
:10:12. > :10:14.family members on board the earlier Malaysian airline, flight and made
:10:15. > :10:24.370, which vanished without trace in March, there is as yet no closure.
:10:25. > :10:27.-- flight MH370. Some forlorn faces for you here,
:10:28. > :10:31.because heavy rain is delaying the search for more than 50 people
:10:32. > :10:36.believed to have been buried under a landslide at the edge of Hiroshima.
:10:37. > :10:39.The official death toll stands at 39, but that is expected to rise.
:10:40. > :10:45.Rescue workers fear the continuing rain could set off though the
:10:46. > :10:47.landslide in the area. Our correspondent is in Tokyo with the
:10:48. > :10:53.latest on the number of people missing.
:10:54. > :10:57.This changed dramatically overnight. Yesterday at this time we were
:10:58. > :11:03.talking about 39 people dead, at only a few more, maybe six or seven
:11:04. > :11:06.more, were recorded as missing. Now, authorities are talking about more
:11:07. > :11:11.than 50 people still being missing. So it seems that they have, or they
:11:12. > :11:14.had, yesterday, is usually underestimated the extent of this
:11:15. > :11:19.disaster. And it is only as they are going through, house-to-house, that
:11:20. > :11:23.they are realising that entire families are buried under these
:11:24. > :11:27.mudslides. Nobody had reported these people missing before. They had been
:11:28. > :11:31.waiting for relatives and so on to turn up at these mudslides and tell
:11:32. > :11:37.the authorities who lives in these houses, and that has made these
:11:38. > :11:42.numbers go up very dramatically. So now we are starting to hear just how
:11:43. > :11:47.fast, dramatic and awful these mudslides were on Wednesday morning.
:11:48. > :11:53.One description of people seeing a mother standing outside her house,
:11:54. > :11:57.as frantic digging took place to get her children out, but then bringing
:11:58. > :12:01.at least two small children, won two years old, one in 11 years old, both
:12:02. > :12:04.of them lifeless. And then the description of a father who handed
:12:05. > :12:08.his small child to a rescuer, thinking that the rescuer was going
:12:09. > :12:11.to be able to take the child to safety, but in fact the rescue and
:12:12. > :12:14.the small child were then engulfed by a secondary landslide, swept
:12:15. > :12:20.away, and both of them were killed as well. Really horrific stories of
:12:21. > :12:24.these people trying to escape, but having no time to do so, as this
:12:25. > :12:30.enormous volume of mud and rock swept down the mountainside.
:12:31. > :12:34.Still to come on the programme, could the oceans be helping to slow
:12:35. > :12:36.down the pace of climate change? We will take a look beneath the surface
:12:37. > :12:48.in a moment. Venezuelans may soon have to provide
:12:49. > :12:52.their fingerprints in order to buy their bread. President Nicholas
:12:53. > :12:55.Majuro wants to introduce fingerprinting to stop people buying
:12:56. > :13:03.Venezuelan food, which is heavily subsidised, and then selling it on
:13:04. > :13:06.at a profit in Colombia. The weekly shop at Venezuelan
:13:07. > :13:11.supermarket can be difficult enough. A shortage of basic goods and a lack
:13:12. > :13:15.of imports make life complicated. Soon, these shoppers will have to do
:13:16. > :13:18.have their fingerprints scanned at the till, to stop them making
:13:19. > :13:24.repeated visits or buying unusually large amounts of food. Is this
:13:25. > :13:30.rationing, or a against smuggling? TRANSLATION: These are populist
:13:31. > :13:34.measures to mislead people, to distract them from shortages caused
:13:35. > :13:37.by the government due to its poor public administration of the
:13:38. > :13:42.country. It's not going to stop smuggling. It won't stop anything.
:13:43. > :13:50.It's a tragedy, because it leads to even more radical control than what
:13:51. > :13:56.we've experienced so far. The president announced the plan earlier
:13:57. > :14:00.this week. The idea for a biometric system, he said, will be like the
:14:01. > :14:04.fingerprint readers in the electoral system. It is a blessing against
:14:05. > :14:08.fraud. And there clearly is a problem. The authorities claim up to
:14:09. > :14:12.40% of government subsidised goods are smuggled to neighbouring
:14:13. > :14:15.Colombia, where they can be sold at much higher prices. Earlier this
:14:16. > :14:20.month, Venezuelan began to close its border with the country at night to
:14:21. > :14:23.try to combat smuggling. And the Venezuelan economy is suffering,
:14:24. > :14:29.with chronic shortages and an annual inflation rate of more than 60%.
:14:30. > :14:33.Critics say it is the government's meddling in the economy which is
:14:34. > :14:36.causing the problems, and left-wing president interfering with the free
:14:37. > :14:38.market. But ministers insist they are helping the poor by providing
:14:39. > :14:47.food at a reasonable price. The United States says
:14:48. > :14:54.the jihadist group Islamic State is the most dangerous threat
:14:55. > :14:58.the US has faced in recent times. Trucks from a Russian aid convoy
:14:59. > :15:04.stream into Ukraine without permission after Russia accuses
:15:05. > :15:08.Ukraine of obstructions. For the last 15 years or so,
:15:09. > :15:12.scientists have been puzzled as to why average global temperatures have
:15:13. > :15:15.been going up more slowly. A number of theories have been put
:15:16. > :15:18.forward to explain the so-called "pause" - ranging from
:15:19. > :15:22.volcanic activity, to pollution. But new research,
:15:23. > :15:25.published in the journal Science, has found it might actually be
:15:26. > :15:28.current of the seas and those of Let's get the thoughts of
:15:29. > :15:33.Piers Forster, a Professor of Climate Change at Leeds
:15:34. > :15:47.University, who joins me from Oslo. If it is the oceans, is it a bad
:15:48. > :16:09.thing if they're taking up the slack? I do think it... Heat in the
:16:10. > :16:16.oceans could be giving us a respite from global warming. When you say of
:16:17. > :16:20.respite, does that mean it is a good thing in itself or is this something
:16:21. > :16:29.that will turn around to bite us again later?
:16:30. > :16:36.Yes, it is a good thing for the time being so it has been keeping the
:16:37. > :16:45.surface relatively cool for the last 15 year period but we expect that
:16:46. > :16:55.might reverse within the next couple of decades. We can expect
:16:56. > :16:58.accelerated global warming. Given it was difficult to work this
:16:59. > :17:03.out, what gives you the confidence to say we can forecast it will
:17:04. > :17:08.reverse over the next couple of decades?
:17:09. > :17:18.Yes, in fact I think this is where the work is interesting because it
:17:19. > :17:24.really does indicate that we are looking at something that is quite
:17:25. > :17:31.distinct from our estimates of long-term global warming and we have
:17:32. > :17:42.a relatively robust understanding of the long-term global warming trend,
:17:43. > :17:50.this is more to do with the ocean mixing the heat internally so I
:17:51. > :17:56.think this work is a real indication that we are looking at quite a
:17:57. > :18:03.different mechanism done this overall long-term temperature trend
:18:04. > :18:07.caused by our activities. An intriguing new study. Sorry to
:18:08. > :18:14.interrupt you, Professor, we must leave it there. Thank you for
:18:15. > :18:16.joining us. As we have heard, the advance of the Islamic State has
:18:17. > :18:19.sent ripples across the region. In Lebanon, people are anxiously
:18:20. > :18:21.monitoring the group's expansion. Just two weeks ago, groups
:18:22. > :18:24.affiliated to IS and other jihadist movements clashed with the army -
:18:25. > :18:27.raising fears that the Islamic State, which already controls large
:18:28. > :18:42.swaths of territory between Syria From these mountains across the
:18:43. > :18:48.Lebanese Syrian border, the first battle between the Lebanese army and
:18:49. > :18:55.jihadi groups was launched. Just two weeks ago, the border town, saw
:18:56. > :18:59.fierce battles between the army and jihadi fighters followed the arrest
:19:00. > :19:06.of a jihadi leader who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
:19:07. > :19:09.This lady from the town is still traumatised by the bomb that hit her
:19:10. > :19:14.house. She fears the threat is not over.
:19:15. > :19:21.TRANSLATION: I did not see it coming, Moore is
:19:22. > :19:27.yet to happen. The Lebanese army has found itself joining other armies in
:19:28. > :19:32.the region in the fight against jihadi groups. Western powers,
:19:33. > :19:40.including the USA and the UK, have pledged military aid to bolster the
:19:41. > :19:44.army arsenal. Lebanon faces a new wave of Islamist terror which is a
:19:45. > :19:49.mounting challenge creating great anxiety here. In that context, we've
:19:50. > :19:54.decided to prioritise what we can do to support the Lebanese state but
:19:55. > :19:59.also the Lebanese army, one of the uniting groups in the country and an
:20:00. > :20:03.army that has proved effective so far. But the army is not the only
:20:04. > :20:10.Lebanese force fighting groups such as the Islamic State. Long before
:20:11. > :20:16.the Lebanese army confronted Sonny J Hardy groups, the sheer party has
:20:17. > :20:25.Boller went to fight alongside the Syrian regime. -- Shia Muslim party.
:20:26. > :20:30.They say they had to fend them off. Today, the fight against the Islamic
:20:31. > :20:35.State is central to the party's narrative. Scores of has Boller
:20:36. > :20:43.members have been battling jihadis. Has Boller sees them as a threat for
:20:44. > :20:48.Lebanon and the wider region. -- has blah. From Iraqi came hundreds of
:20:49. > :20:51.Christians fleeing the onslaught of the Islamic State. They became
:20:52. > :20:56.refugees in Lebanon on. Their plight, the recent battle and the
:20:57. > :21:06.images of atrocities coming from Syria and Iraq have also sent shock
:21:07. > :21:10.waves across Lebanon on. Just adding to the situation in Syria,
:21:11. > :21:12.The United Nations says more than 190,000 people have been killed
:21:13. > :21:15.during the three year conflict in Syria, more than double
:21:16. > :21:21.The figure is the first issued by the UN's human rights office
:21:22. > :21:24.since July 2013, when it documented more than 100,000 killed.
:21:25. > :21:26.And just a reminder that you can find much
:21:27. > :21:29.more on the conflicts in the Middle East - including a special report on
:21:30. > :21:44.the background of the militant group Islamic State on the BBC website.
:21:45. > :21:46.It was once a leper colony, and then became one
:21:47. > :21:49.These days Big Island, or Il-ya Grande,
:21:50. > :21:52.off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, is a popular tourist destination.
:21:53. > :21:59.Julio de Almeida arrived on the island in 1958, aged just 27.
:22:00. > :22:04.Now 83, after serving his time reportedly for multiple
:22:05. > :22:06.murders, he was given a conditional release to remain until this year.
:22:07. > :22:09.BBC News went to meet Julio at home in the shadow
:22:10. > :24:58.To something very wet and cold now - the ice bucket challenge,
:24:59. > :25:01.which has fast become a worldwide internet phenomenon.
:25:02. > :25:06.In case you've missed it - you drench yourself on camera - to raise
:25:07. > :25:12.Getting wet here - former Manchester United footballers
:25:13. > :25:20.And here's Justin Timberlake with his tour team - and singer
:25:21. > :25:27.You're then allowed to nominate someone else to repeat the feat.
:25:28. > :25:30.But it seems even the ice bucket challenge has reached its limit -
:25:31. > :25:36.with President Obama saying he's not going to drench himself for charity.
:25:37. > :25:51.He has tried his hand at most things.
:25:52. > :25:53.But when it comes to the Ice Bucket Challenge, President
:25:54. > :26:01.The President's predecessor was not so shy, however.
:26:02. > :26:06.George W Bush was soaked by his wife Laura.
:26:07. > :26:12.It is unclear exactly whose challenge the President is refusing.
:26:13. > :26:15.Now I nominate Ellen, Barack Obama...
:26:16. > :26:22.Justin Bieber was the first to nominate him.
:26:23. > :26:31.And 86-year-old Kennedy family matriarch Ethel also named him,
:26:32. > :26:34.Mr Obama won't be alone in staying dry.
:26:35. > :26:36.The US government says an ethics code means officials are
:26:37. > :26:42.So the White House won't become the Wet House.
:26:43. > :26:53.The charity says the President has donated an undisclosed sum.
:26:54. > :27:00.pretty much everyone else is at it. Nominations for the challenge, get
:27:01. > :27:01.in touch with us on