:00:14. > :00:32.The US targets Islamic State militants in a fresh round
:00:33. > :00:34.of air strikes - the first under a new international
:00:35. > :00:39.It's parliament has signed the EU deal which sparked off
:00:40. > :00:42.the current crisis - and given the separatist east limited self rule.
:00:43. > :00:44.President Obama will announce later that America is to send
:00:45. > :00:46.3000 troops to Liberia - to help fight
:00:47. > :00:50.And we'll tell you the incredible story of George, the Australian
:00:51. > :01:00.goldfish who is recovering after a life-saving operation.
:01:01. > :01:03.The United States has taken the first step in its wider battle
:01:04. > :01:08.The military says it's launched airstrikes near Baghdad in support
:01:09. > :01:14.The attack is part of President Obama's strategy to
:01:15. > :01:24.The shaded yellow parts of the map here show the areas that
:01:25. > :01:27.Islamic State militants now control across Syria and Iraq.
:01:28. > :01:29.On the eastern side of Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga troops continue
:01:30. > :01:32.their fight against Islamic State militants near Irbil.
:01:33. > :01:39.Our correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse is with them and sent this report.
:01:40. > :01:42.It is on these fighters that the statesmen in Paris are pinning
:01:43. > :01:48.many of their hopes. This is one
:01:49. > :01:51.of the Peshmerga's front lines. That town in the distance is held
:01:52. > :01:54.by Islamic State. It was specifically Britain's
:01:55. > :01:57.support for Kurdish forces that the black masked murderer of
:01:58. > :01:59.David Haines cited The UK is flying weapons
:02:00. > :02:06.and ammunition into northern Iraq The weapons we are getting from
:02:07. > :02:14.Britain and the others are good and It is not enough
:02:15. > :02:18.against the terrorist state. We need more to win a war
:02:19. > :02:21.against IS. The Kurds have made
:02:22. > :02:24.modest advances against the jihadists here at Jalawla, which is
:02:25. > :02:27.less than 100 miles from Baghdad. Many of their weapons are old
:02:28. > :02:32.and stocks are depleted. They say they are yet to receive any
:02:33. > :02:34.of the guns or This is about as far east as IS
:02:35. > :02:45.goes. We are almost
:02:46. > :02:47.on the border with Iran. The jihadist state now stretches
:02:48. > :02:50.west across Iraq, into Syria, Each time another Western hostage is
:02:51. > :02:55.brutally beheaded on camera, so the pressure grows in Western
:02:56. > :03:02.capitals to do more. We drove towards a second Peshmerga
:03:03. > :03:06.position. In Paris,
:03:07. > :03:09.leaders from 30 countries including Arab governments were pledging
:03:10. > :03:13.the support for a co-ordinated Concrete details were
:03:14. > :03:21.in short supply. In 1991, British,
:03:22. > :03:24.French and American air support helped the Peshmerga defeat Saddam
:03:25. > :03:27.Hussein's army in northern Iraq. Now, they say they are ready to take
:03:28. > :03:30.on Islamic State There's no sense here
:03:31. > :03:36.of preparations If there were, that would be of
:03:37. > :03:42.little comfort to the second British hostage whose life is now in danger,
:03:43. > :03:47.as are the many others who are being IS is waiting just over a mile
:03:48. > :03:52.from here. Its fighters could come charging
:03:53. > :03:57.back up this road at any moment. Neither the Syrian government nor
:03:58. > :04:01.its principal backer, Iran, was invited to join the coalition
:04:02. > :04:07.of the willing in Paris. In the absence of a unified strategy
:04:08. > :04:11.across Iraq and Syria, it is far from clear whether more bombing will
:04:12. > :04:22.have the desired results. Our correspondent Paul Wood is
:04:23. > :04:24.in Beirut. He says there's still little sense
:04:25. > :04:32.of what this new strategy will mean. We had an announcement from the US
:04:33. > :04:37.military last night that the first of a new face of attacks against
:04:38. > :04:41.Islamic State have been embarked upon and that was some air strikes
:04:42. > :04:47.about ten or 15 miles south-west of Baghdad. This is not shock and awe,
:04:48. > :04:55.these small-scale strikes, a tank here, a tank there, some armoured
:04:56. > :05:01.Humvees on a hilltop. The Americans have sensed as part of this new
:05:02. > :05:07.strategy, about 500 personnel to Baghdad to rebuild the Iraqi army's
:05:08. > :05:12.command and control. -- have sent. They will not send ground troops,
:05:13. > :05:17.this will be airpower, plus the Kurds and the Iraqis on the ground.
:05:18. > :05:22.As Gabriel said this will be a slow and incremental process. Is there
:05:23. > :05:27.any real likelihood of military support from other countries in your
:05:28. > :05:35.view? What is the scale of the task facing those pitted against IS? It
:05:36. > :05:40.is a 30 nation coalition. I believe United Arab Emirates has said they
:05:41. > :05:45.made contribute strike aircraft, they helped in the air war over
:05:46. > :05:51.Libya along with Britain and France, possibly catalogue may contribute.
:05:52. > :05:54.Saudi Arabia not hinting at any contribution before, it could be one
:05:55. > :06:01.of the places that Syrian rebels are trained. There are ten Arab nations
:06:02. > :06:05.in the coalition. The coalition that went to Paris yesterday. I do not
:06:06. > :06:09.think they will make a significant military contribution either in the
:06:10. > :06:14.air or on the ground, but it is vitally important for the propaganda
:06:15. > :06:18.war. Islamic State has tried to draw in the Americans. For them a battle
:06:19. > :06:26.in Syria, a battle in Iraq is part of a holy war, they are attracting
:06:27. > :06:34.new recruits. The Americans have to show they have many allies, Sunni
:06:35. > :06:39.Arab Muslim allies. If the West is refusing to engage with the Assad
:06:40. > :06:44.regime, but it wants to take on IS, is there a ground of moderate
:06:45. > :06:47.militants that can be put in place? The United States and Britain would
:06:48. > :06:52.say there have always been moderate levels. The rebels would say they
:06:53. > :06:57.have been promised a lot and little has been delivered. That may be
:06:58. > :07:04.about to change if what President Obama is acted upon. It may now be
:07:05. > :07:09.more overt, in other places like Saudi Arabia. It takes a long time
:07:10. > :07:13.to affect events on the ground and Islamic State have made gains. We
:07:14. > :07:16.are hearing stories about rebels who are previously fighting them, and
:07:17. > :07:19.key about whether to swear allegiance to them. Things are
:07:20. > :07:29.changing on the ground. In the past half hour, the Ukrainian
:07:30. > :07:32.and European parliaments have ratified a controversial association
:07:33. > :07:39.agreement strengthening economic The Ukrainian President Petro
:07:40. > :07:41.Poroshenko said the ratification of the treaty would be a
:07:42. > :07:44."historic day". The debates are going on as
:07:45. > :07:46.separatists in Donetsk have continued their assault
:07:47. > :07:48.on the government-held airport Local authorities report that 10
:07:49. > :07:51.civilians have been killed Under peace moves put forward by
:07:52. > :07:55.President Poroshenko, the Ukrainian parliament has passed laws granting
:07:56. > :08:02.limited self-rule for eastern Our correspondent is in Kiev. Those
:08:03. > :08:05.who have not followed the legalities, this is quite a big
:08:06. > :08:10.deal. This whole agreement sparked off the crisis and it is about trade
:08:11. > :08:18.and politics and where Ukraine is stuck between East and West full.
:08:19. > :08:22.Exactly. It is a historic day. As many officials have said, the
:08:23. > :08:27.question is how historic and what will happen next. The fact that this
:08:28. > :08:30.agreement which set off the Ukrainian crisis back in November
:08:31. > :08:36.last year when the former president Viktor Yanukovych prompted the
:08:37. > :08:43.signing of the agreement, that drove them from power, it created the
:08:44. > :08:48.situation of disturbance in Ukraine. We had a annexation of Crimea, the
:08:49. > :08:51.fighting in the east and now the Ukrainian parliament as well as the
:08:52. > :08:56.European Parliament have ratified these agreements. It is also
:08:57. > :09:00.controversial. The agreement has two parts, political, making the Ukraine
:09:01. > :09:05.stick to a reform programme for politics, and also trade. Part of
:09:06. > :09:12.the trade agreement has been postponed. The implementation has
:09:13. > :09:15.been postponed. Crucially, the fourth section which requires
:09:16. > :09:21.Ukraine to drop its tariffs to European goods to introduce European
:09:22. > :09:29.technical standards, other things like laws on public tenders, in
:09:30. > :09:35.general this is being seen as a major move forward as the president
:09:36. > :09:39.has promised that the reform process in Ukraine will go forward. Is it
:09:40. > :09:47.not fair enough Russia to say how long we do not want our markets to
:09:48. > :09:52.be flooded by EU goods? Yes, but the EU has said that their markets will
:09:53. > :09:58.not be flooded by EU goods. In fact, I watched a very remarkable speech
:09:59. > :10:01.by Jose Manuel Barroso over the weekend here in Kiev where he said
:10:02. > :10:07.the Russians were well informed of the agreement. The EU went through
:10:08. > :10:11.it from the very beginning about what this agreement meant and that
:10:12. > :10:17.they were not in danger. He used the word lying when the Russians said
:10:18. > :10:21.they were not informed. There is some question about what exactly the
:10:22. > :10:25.Russians object to. Some people think it is because they do not want
:10:26. > :10:32.Ukraine to introduce reforms at all, become more democratic and move
:10:33. > :10:39.away from the corruption and undemocratic system which has
:10:40. > :10:44.plagued it for the last 23 years. Thousands of people are still
:10:45. > :10:46.thought to be stranded in Kashmir nearly
:10:47. > :10:49.thought to be stranded in Kashmir floods there. At least 200 people
:10:50. > :10:56.have died and many people are missing. There are fears of disease
:10:57. > :11:04.as criticism grows of the government support. This report comes from the
:11:05. > :11:09.Kashmiri capital. The centre of the town after its worst flood in living
:11:10. > :11:18.memory. Some are calling it Kashmir's Katrina. When the
:11:19. > :11:23.government was totally overwhelmed. We found a way in on foot as the
:11:24. > :11:28.waters begin to recede. It is just incredible devastation around here,
:11:29. > :11:34.this whole road has been completely washed away. Other head I am hearing
:11:35. > :11:39.things are even worse. -- up ahead. This was once a better offer
:11:40. > :11:42.neighbourhood. Many have lost everything and this man says he
:11:43. > :11:49.feels abandoned by the government. TRANSLATION: We made a makeshift
:11:50. > :11:53.bridge ourselves and we have been trying to drain the water out.
:11:54. > :11:58.Nobody came to help us, you are the first person from outside we have
:11:59. > :12:03.seen here. The centre of town has been utterly destroyed by this
:12:04. > :12:07.flood. Everywhere we go we find buildings flattened, roads washed
:12:08. > :12:11.away, but what is most striking about the disaster is the amount of
:12:12. > :12:16.anger that is and increasingly that is becoming a backlash against the
:12:17. > :12:20.authorities. After decades of strife between Kashmir's Muslim majority
:12:21. > :12:28.and the government, the flood has brought old resentments back to the
:12:29. > :12:36.surface. We have not seen this state. We are angry. Really, we are
:12:37. > :12:44.angry. They dropped water bottles and biscuits, they were expired.
:12:45. > :12:51.Water bottles, they were 2009. Biscuits, 2009, 2008. More aid is
:12:52. > :12:54.starting to come in, like this mobile drinking water service. The
:12:55. > :13:00.authorities insist they are doing all they can. The government is not
:13:01. > :13:05.capable and will never be capable of reaching 100% of all affected areas
:13:06. > :13:09.immediately and therefore we have tried to reach those areas that are
:13:10. > :13:13.most in need of it will stop if you have been able to reach an area, it
:13:14. > :13:17.is accessible and if people are able to take care of themselves, how
:13:18. > :13:21.resources are better tasks in areas where you cannot reach. Where there
:13:22. > :13:26.is still four or five feet of water accumulating. Indians are well used
:13:27. > :13:30.to fending for themselves, get in the heart of this historic city,
:13:31. > :13:31.many people feel their government has taken their resilience for
:13:32. > :13:43.granted. President Obama is expected to
:13:44. > :13:49.unfurl a plan later today to boost US involvement in fighting the Ebola
:13:50. > :13:54.outbreak in West Africa. He has going -- is going to outline further
:13:55. > :13:59.details when he visits Atlanta. He will send 3000 troops to Liberia.
:14:00. > :14:04.They will be responsible for training as many as 500 health care
:14:05. > :14:09.is each week. They will be building 17 medical facilities with at least
:14:10. > :14:13.100 bed each. 50,000 home health care kits will be sent out to
:14:14. > :14:17.households in Liberia. The World Health Organisation says the
:14:18. > :14:24.outbreak has now killed more than 2400 people since it began in March.
:14:25. > :14:28.For more than six months, Ebola has rampaged through part of west
:14:29. > :14:35.Africa, infecting thousands regardless of age and killing well
:14:36. > :14:40.over 2000 people, including health workers battling against the odds to
:14:41. > :14:45.help those most in need. For months, the international community have
:14:46. > :14:50.been accused of not doing enough. Now ahead of two key meetings of the
:14:51. > :14:56.United Nations and the UN Security Council, the US ambassador made this
:14:57. > :15:01.play. We can contain this, we know how to do it and we must avoid panic
:15:02. > :15:05.and fear, but our collective response to date has not been
:15:06. > :15:10.sufficient. We must move forward aggressively in a quarterly to
:15:11. > :15:13.fashion and together. It is highly an usual for the United Nations
:15:14. > :15:17.Security Council to meet together and discuss public health issues,
:15:18. > :15:23.but this is unprecedented and has become the deadliest on record. One
:15:24. > :15:27.factor is blamed on the rapid spread of the virus is a shortage of
:15:28. > :15:31.protective equipment. The United Nations is calling the $600 million
:15:32. > :15:36.to deal with the crisis and is asking countries to send supplies
:15:37. > :15:39.including trucks, birds and doctors to the worst affected areas. The
:15:40. > :15:45.latest move is said to come from President Obama his -- who is
:15:46. > :15:49.expected to send 3000 troops to help build hospitals and health trained
:15:50. > :15:53.doctors. International efforts to combat the virus have been welcomed
:15:54. > :15:58.by the President of Ghana who has been critical of the response so
:15:59. > :16:04.far. With Ebola, it is a scary disease and when it started, getting
:16:05. > :16:08.people to come in and assess has not been easy. I do believe that
:16:09. > :16:13.international response was slow, but happily it is picking up now. But in
:16:14. > :16:15.countries where health systems were already fragile, the promise of help
:16:16. > :16:23.could not come soon enough. One person has been killed and
:16:24. > :16:25.another seriously injured in a shooting inside a court in
:16:26. > :16:27.Denmark. Police say shots were fired
:16:28. > :16:29.at the Bailiff's court in A suspect has been arrested and a
:16:30. > :16:33.shotgun has been seized. The shooting happened in the past
:16:34. > :16:35.few hours. Stay with us on BBC World News,
:16:36. > :16:38.still to come: This man is serving
:16:39. > :16:41.life in prison for rape and murder and has just been given permission
:16:42. > :16:45.to have doctors end his life. This time on Friday, we should be
:16:46. > :16:55.very close to knowing if Scotland voted for independence. The three
:16:56. > :16:59.main party leaders in Westminster have signed a pledge promising more
:17:00. > :17:08.powers for Scotland, if it decides to stay part of the United
:17:09. > :17:10.Kingdom. Both the Yes and No campaigns have
:17:11. > :17:13.been busy trying to persuade Prime Minister David Cameron has
:17:14. > :17:17.made an impassioned appeal to the Scottish people to stay in the
:17:18. > :17:19.Union. But Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has
:17:20. > :17:22.been focussing on the economy, dismissing fears about the country's
:17:23. > :17:26.future. Well, Scotland's not the first place
:17:27. > :17:28.to make a breakaway bid. Here's a roundup of other
:17:29. > :18:57.referendums held around the world. The US military has launched its
:18:58. > :19:05.first air strikes against Islamic State militants under its
:19:06. > :19:08.new strategy to combat the group. The Ukrainian and European
:19:09. > :19:11.parliaments have ratified a landmark agreement that strengthens their
:19:12. > :19:17.economic and political ties. sentenced to death for mutiny and
:19:18. > :19:22.attempted murder after shots were fired at their commanding officer in
:19:23. > :19:32.the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, in May. The soldiers were angry
:19:33. > :19:35.after a convoy was ambushed on a road frequently targeted by
:19:36. > :19:40.Islamist Boko Haram militants. All denied the charges at a court
:19:41. > :19:51.martial in Abuja. Our reporter is in Lagos. Is it too
:19:52. > :20:00.simplistic to say these soldiers were worried about taking on ISC
:20:01. > :20:07.militants? -- IS. The Boko Haram fighters are well and
:20:08. > :20:11.determined and many are brainwashed. So they hardly fear death. For the
:20:12. > :20:16.Nigerian soldiers, they are always going to face a difficult challenge
:20:17. > :20:21.and what they have always said is, we need better equipment. This
:20:22. > :20:25.particular case goes back to May when there was an extraordinary
:20:26. > :20:29.outburst of anger by the soldiers. They were upset because some of
:20:30. > :20:36.their colleagues had gone out on this journey and they saw that road
:20:37. > :20:39.is very dangerous. They were reluctant and they were forced to
:20:40. > :20:43.go. When the dead bodies were brought into the barracks, these
:20:44. > :20:48.soldiers were so angry, they shot into the air and they even shot at
:20:49. > :20:52.the commander of the forces in the region. So turning your own guns on
:20:53. > :20:57.your commander would be punished very severely anywhere in the
:20:58. > :21:05.world. But it points to some real key issues in the Nigerian military,
:21:06. > :21:09.issues of low morale. And we have had a lot of complaints from
:21:10. > :21:13.soldiers telling the BBC that they do not have the equipment to fight
:21:14. > :21:17.Boko Haram. And we have had to demonstrations by waves of soldiers
:21:18. > :21:24.saying, do not send our husbands to the front line, they do not have the
:21:25. > :21:28.equipment -- wives. It is a severe problem the Nigerian military faces
:21:29. > :21:33.and the military is saying that this tribunal is a sign it is a
:21:34. > :21:39.professional army that has rules and regulations, but for many Nigerians,
:21:40. > :21:43.it is a very public example of the problems undermining the fight
:21:44. > :21:47.against Boko Haram. That is the place where the 200
:21:48. > :21:52.schoolgirls were abducted this year, sentencing these men to death, you
:21:53. > :21:55.can understand it from a military point of view to show they are
:21:56. > :22:02.taking it seriously, but there will surely be a massive reaction?
:22:03. > :22:08.I understand the sentences can be appealed by the soldiers who denied
:22:09. > :22:11.the charges. But it is likely to send shock waves through the
:22:12. > :22:18.military. There have been other examples of soldiers almost staging
:22:19. > :22:23.a mutiny. Some of them have refused to go to the front line. There are
:22:24. > :22:27.clearly problems that need to be addressed and this will send out a
:22:28. > :22:31.shock wave. But from the militarily's point of view, they had
:22:32. > :22:40.to take a stronger line to ensure such incidences did not happen again
:22:41. > :22:48.-- the military. This is an extreme case but other examples show the
:22:49. > :22:51.problems are undermining the fight against Boko Haram. And reports of
:22:52. > :23:00.hundreds of soldiers on the way to the North East who were ambushed in
:23:01. > :23:07.a state of the South even than the capital. A scion of the problems --
:23:08. > :23:15.that is a sign of the problems taking gone Boko Haram.
:23:16. > :23:19.Alarming for any government. Can you update us on the news of the girls
:23:20. > :23:25.who have disappeared, is there a sign of a return?
:23:26. > :23:32.I am afraid no news whatsoever from the Nigerian military. They say, we
:23:33. > :23:35.are still determined to find them. The parents are still desperate for
:23:36. > :23:40.any news but all we are hearing is that we were divided into much
:23:41. > :23:45.smaller groups and they were spread out possibly over a large area, so
:23:46. > :23:49.it will be difficult to get them back even now. And no news from the
:23:50. > :23:51.international forces that have been trying to help the Nigerian
:23:52. > :23:57.military. Thank you very much.
:23:58. > :23:59.A Belgian man serving a life sentence for rape and murder
:24:00. > :24:02.has been granted permission to have doctors end his life.
:24:03. > :24:04.The ruling is the first involving a prisoner
:24:05. > :24:06.since the assisted dying law was introduced in Belgium.
:24:07. > :24:18.50-year-old Frank Van Den Bleeken argued
:24:19. > :24:20.he would never be freed because he is unable to control
:24:21. > :24:21.his violent sexual urges.
:24:22. > :24:24.Van den Bleeken's lawyer says he requested euthanasia due to
:24:25. > :24:26.what he described as his 'unbearable psychological suffering'.
:24:27. > :24:32.A number of psychiatrists and Doctors have said my client's Lovell
:24:33. > :24:37.of suffering is long-standing and there is nothing that can alleviate
:24:38. > :24:42.that -- level. More on that on the website.
:24:43. > :24:45.A suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed at least
:24:46. > :24:49.three members of the NATO-led military forces and injured many
:24:50. > :24:51.others. The explosion targeted a convoy on the airport road near
:24:52. > :24:54.the US embassy. The Taliban says that it carried out the attack.
:24:55. > :24:57.The explosion is the first major bomb attack in the city in weeks.
:24:58. > :25:00.BBC Persian's Kawoon Kamoosh was near the explosion when it happened.
:25:01. > :25:11.I was standing on the roadside and just a big last happened. I saw a
:25:12. > :25:16.lot of people shocked -- a big explosion happened. People were
:25:17. > :25:21.escaping from the area as the suicide happened at the busiest time
:25:22. > :25:27.of the day. At eight o'clock in the morning when the people come from
:25:28. > :25:32.their houses and go to work. I saw a lot of women and children escaping
:25:33. > :25:47.from the area. Also, a number of vehicles destroyed in the area. It
:25:48. > :25:50.happened near a resident area, where a lot of people come out of their
:25:51. > :25:59.houses in the morning. The attack was huge and I saw Adi parts of
:26:00. > :26:05.people. -- body parts. It was on the street.
:26:06. > :26:07.The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says a vote on recognising
:26:08. > :26:09.Indigenous Australians in the constitution would need to have
:26:10. > :26:11.overwhelming support or it would fuel existing racial tensions.
:26:12. > :26:14.Speaking from a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory,
:26:15. > :26:17.Mr Abbott said a vote would help to bring the country together. But if
:26:18. > :26:20.the result was close or defeated, it would be a step back.
:26:21. > :26:23.Mr Abbott has spent a week every year working as
:26:24. > :26:29.a volunteer in Aboriginal communities since 2008.
:26:30. > :26:32.A pet goldfish, called George, is recovering after emergency surgery
:26:33. > :26:34.to remove a life-threatening tumour on his head. Vets in Melbourne,
:26:35. > :26:41.Australia, decided to operate on the ten-year-old fish, which was having
:26:42. > :26:44.trouble eating and getting around his tank.
:26:45. > :26:46.The procedure, which lasted 45 minutes, saw George
:26:47. > :26:49.sedated in a bucket of water laced with anaesthetic.
:26:50. > :26:52.Owner Pip Joyce said George is a beloved pet and he
:26:53. > :26:54.and his partner were "quite attached" to their fishy friend.
:26:55. > :27:00.He is expected to live another 20 years!
:27:01. > :27:04.So it was worth it! That is it from me, thank
:27:05. > :27:10.or to stay part of the United Kingdom?
:27:11. > :27:16.The BBC's online coverage will keep you up to date with every development