16/09/2014 BBC World News


16/09/2014

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The US targets Islamic State militants in a fresh round

:00:14.:00:32.

of air strikes - the first under a new international

:00:33.:00:34.

It's parliament has signed the EU deal which sparked off

:00:35.:00:39.

the current crisis - and given the separatist east limited self rule.

:00:40.:00:42.

President Obama will announce later that America is to send

:00:43.:00:44.

3000 troops to Liberia - to help fight

:00:45.:00:46.

And we'll tell you the incredible story of George, the Australian

:00:47.:00:50.

goldfish who is recovering after a life-saving operation.

:00:51.:01:00.

The United States has taken the first step in its wider battle

:01:01.:01:03.

The military says it's launched airstrikes near Baghdad in support

:01:04.:01:08.

The attack is part of President Obama's strategy to

:01:09.:01:14.

The shaded yellow parts of the map here show the areas that

:01:15.:01:24.

Islamic State militants now control across Syria and Iraq.

:01:25.:01:27.

On the eastern side of Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga troops continue

:01:28.:01:29.

their fight against Islamic State militants near Irbil.

:01:30.:01:32.

Our correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse is with them and sent this report.

:01:33.:01:39.

It is on these fighters that the statesmen in Paris are pinning

:01:40.:01:42.

many of their hopes. This is one

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of the Peshmerga's front lines. That town in the distance is held

:01:49.:01:51.

by Islamic State. It was specifically Britain's

:01:52.:01:54.

support for Kurdish forces that the black masked murderer of

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David Haines cited The UK is flying weapons

:01:58.:01:59.

and ammunition into northern Iraq The weapons we are getting from

:02:00.:02:06.

Britain and the others are good and It is not enough

:02:07.:02:14.

against the terrorist state. We need more to win a war

:02:15.:02:18.

against IS. The Kurds have made

:02:19.:02:21.

modest advances against the jihadists here at Jalawla, which is

:02:22.:02:24.

less than 100 miles from Baghdad. Many of their weapons are old

:02:25.:02:27.

and stocks are depleted. They say they are yet to receive any

:02:28.:02:32.

of the guns or This is about as far east as IS

:02:33.:02:34.

goes. We are almost

:02:35.:02:45.

on the border with Iran. The jihadist state now stretches

:02:46.:02:47.

west across Iraq, into Syria, Each time another Western hostage is

:02:48.:02:50.

brutally beheaded on camera, so the pressure grows in Western

:02:51.:02:55.

capitals to do more. We drove towards a second Peshmerga

:02:56.:03:02.

position. In Paris,

:03:03.:03:06.

leaders from 30 countries including Arab governments were pledging

:03:07.:03:09.

the support for a co-ordinated Concrete details were

:03:10.:03:13.

in short supply. In 1991, British,

:03:14.:03:21.

French and American air support helped the Peshmerga defeat Saddam

:03:22.:03:24.

Hussein's army in northern Iraq. Now, they say they are ready to take

:03:25.:03:27.

on Islamic State There's no sense here

:03:28.:03:30.

of preparations If there were, that would be of

:03:31.:03:36.

little comfort to the second British hostage whose life is now in danger,

:03:37.:03:42.

as are the many others who are being IS is waiting just over a mile

:03:43.:03:47.

from here. Its fighters could come charging

:03:48.:03:52.

back up this road at any moment. Neither the Syrian government nor

:03:53.:03:57.

its principal backer, Iran, was invited to join the coalition

:03:58.:04:01.

of the willing in Paris. In the absence of a unified strategy

:04:02.:04:07.

across Iraq and Syria, it is far from clear whether more bombing will

:04:08.:04:11.

have the desired results. Our correspondent Paul Wood is

:04:12.:04:22.

in Beirut. He says there's still little sense

:04:23.:04:24.

of what this new strategy will mean. We had an announcement from the US

:04:25.:04:32.

military last night that the first of a new face of attacks against

:04:33.:04:37.

Islamic State have been embarked upon and that was some air strikes

:04:38.:04:41.

about ten or 15 miles south-west of Baghdad. This is not shock and awe,

:04:42.:04:47.

these small-scale strikes, a tank here, a tank there, some armoured

:04:48.:04:55.

Humvees on a hilltop. The Americans have sensed as part of this new

:04:56.:05:01.

strategy, about 500 personnel to Baghdad to rebuild the Iraqi army's

:05:02.:05:07.

command and control. -- have sent. They will not send ground troops,

:05:08.:05:12.

this will be airpower, plus the Kurds and the Iraqis on the ground.

:05:13.:05:17.

As Gabriel said this will be a slow and incremental process. Is there

:05:18.:05:22.

any real likelihood of military support from other countries in your

:05:23.:05:27.

view? What is the scale of the task facing those pitted against IS? It

:05:28.:05:35.

is a 30 nation coalition. I believe United Arab Emirates has said they

:05:36.:05:40.

made contribute strike aircraft, they helped in the air war over

:05:41.:05:45.

Libya along with Britain and France, possibly catalogue may contribute.

:05:46.:05:51.

Saudi Arabia not hinting at any contribution before, it could be one

:05:52.:05:54.

of the places that Syrian rebels are trained. There are ten Arab nations

:05:55.:06:01.

in the coalition. The coalition that went to Paris yesterday. I do not

:06:02.:06:05.

think they will make a significant military contribution either in the

:06:06.:06:09.

air or on the ground, but it is vitally important for the propaganda

:06:10.:06:14.

war. Islamic State has tried to draw in the Americans. For them a battle

:06:15.:06:18.

in Syria, a battle in Iraq is part of a holy war, they are attracting

:06:19.:06:26.

new recruits. The Americans have to show they have many allies, Sunni

:06:27.:06:34.

Arab Muslim allies. If the West is refusing to engage with the Assad

:06:35.:06:39.

regime, but it wants to take on IS, is there a ground of moderate

:06:40.:06:44.

militants that can be put in place? The United States and Britain would

:06:45.:06:47.

say there have always been moderate levels. The rebels would say they

:06:48.:06:52.

have been promised a lot and little has been delivered. That may be

:06:53.:06:57.

about to change if what President Obama is acted upon. It may now be

:06:58.:07:04.

more overt, in other places like Saudi Arabia. It takes a long time

:07:05.:07:09.

to affect events on the ground and Islamic State have made gains. We

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are hearing stories about rebels who are previously fighting them, and

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key about whether to swear allegiance to them. Things are

:07:17.:07:19.

changing on the ground. In the past half hour, the Ukrainian

:07:20.:07:29.

and European parliaments have ratified a controversial association

:07:30.:07:32.

agreement strengthening economic The Ukrainian President Petro

:07:33.:07:39.

Poroshenko said the ratification of the treaty would be a

:07:40.:07:41.

"historic day". The debates are going on as

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separatists in Donetsk have continued their assault

:07:45.:07:46.

on the government-held airport Local authorities report that 10

:07:47.:07:48.

civilians have been killed Under peace moves put forward by

:07:49.:07:51.

President Poroshenko, the Ukrainian parliament has passed laws granting

:07:52.:07:55.

limited self-rule for eastern Our correspondent is in Kiev. Those

:07:56.:08:02.

who have not followed the legalities, this is quite a big

:08:03.:08:05.

deal. This whole agreement sparked off the crisis and it is about trade

:08:06.:08:10.

and politics and where Ukraine is stuck between East and West full.

:08:11.:08:18.

Exactly. It is a historic day. As many officials have said, the

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question is how historic and what will happen next. The fact that this

:08:23.:08:27.

agreement which set off the Ukrainian crisis back in November

:08:28.:08:30.

last year when the former president Viktor Yanukovych prompted the

:08:31.:08:36.

signing of the agreement, that drove them from power, it created the

:08:37.:08:43.

situation of disturbance in Ukraine. We had a annexation of Crimea, the

:08:44.:08:48.

fighting in the east and now the Ukrainian parliament as well as the

:08:49.:08:51.

European Parliament have ratified these agreements. It is also

:08:52.:08:56.

controversial. The agreement has two parts, political, making the Ukraine

:08:57.:09:00.

stick to a reform programme for politics, and also trade. Part of

:09:01.:09:05.

the trade agreement has been postponed. The implementation has

:09:06.:09:12.

been postponed. Crucially, the fourth section which requires

:09:13.:09:15.

Ukraine to drop its tariffs to European goods to introduce European

:09:16.:09:21.

technical standards, other things like laws on public tenders, in

:09:22.:09:29.

general this is being seen as a major move forward as the president

:09:30.:09:35.

has promised that the reform process in Ukraine will go forward. Is it

:09:36.:09:39.

not fair enough Russia to say how long we do not want our markets to

:09:40.:09:47.

be flooded by EU goods? Yes, but the EU has said that their markets will

:09:48.:09:52.

not be flooded by EU goods. In fact, I watched a very remarkable speech

:09:53.:09:58.

by Jose Manuel Barroso over the weekend here in Kiev where he said

:09:59.:10:01.

the Russians were well informed of the agreement. The EU went through

:10:02.:10:07.

it from the very beginning about what this agreement meant and that

:10:08.:10:11.

they were not in danger. He used the word lying when the Russians said

:10:12.:10:17.

they were not informed. There is some question about what exactly the

:10:18.:10:21.

Russians object to. Some people think it is because they do not want

:10:22.:10:25.

Ukraine to introduce reforms at all, become more democratic and move

:10:26.:10:32.

away from the corruption and undemocratic system which has

:10:33.:10:39.

plagued it for the last 23 years. Thousands of people are still

:10:40.:10:44.

thought to be stranded in Kashmir nearly

:10:45.:10:46.

thought to be stranded in Kashmir floods there. At least 200 people

:10:47.:10:49.

have died and many people are missing. There are fears of disease

:10:50.:10:56.

as criticism grows of the government support. This report comes from the

:10:57.:11:04.

Kashmiri capital. The centre of the town after its worst flood in living

:11:05.:11:09.

memory. Some are calling it Kashmir's Katrina. When the

:11:10.:11:18.

government was totally overwhelmed. We found a way in on foot as the

:11:19.:11:23.

waters begin to recede. It is just incredible devastation around here,

:11:24.:11:28.

this whole road has been completely washed away. Other head I am hearing

:11:29.:11:34.

things are even worse. -- up ahead. This was once a better offer

:11:35.:11:39.

neighbourhood. Many have lost everything and this man says he

:11:40.:11:42.

feels abandoned by the government. TRANSLATION: We made a makeshift

:11:43.:11:49.

bridge ourselves and we have been trying to drain the water out.

:11:50.:11:53.

Nobody came to help us, you are the first person from outside we have

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seen here. The centre of town has been utterly destroyed by this

:11:59.:12:03.

flood. Everywhere we go we find buildings flattened, roads washed

:12:04.:12:07.

away, but what is most striking about the disaster is the amount of

:12:08.:12:11.

anger that is and increasingly that is becoming a backlash against the

:12:12.:12:16.

authorities. After decades of strife between Kashmir's Muslim majority

:12:17.:12:20.

and the government, the flood has brought old resentments back to the

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surface. We have not seen this state. We are angry. Really, we are

:12:29.:12:36.

angry. They dropped water bottles and biscuits, they were expired.

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Water bottles, they were 2009. Biscuits, 2009, 2008. More aid is

:12:45.:12:51.

starting to come in, like this mobile drinking water service. The

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authorities insist they are doing all they can. The government is not

:12:55.:13:00.

capable and will never be capable of reaching 100% of all affected areas

:13:01.:13:05.

immediately and therefore we have tried to reach those areas that are

:13:06.:13:09.

most in need of it will stop if you have been able to reach an area, it

:13:10.:13:13.

is accessible and if people are able to take care of themselves, how

:13:14.:13:17.

resources are better tasks in areas where you cannot reach. Where there

:13:18.:13:21.

is still four or five feet of water accumulating. Indians are well used

:13:22.:13:26.

to fending for themselves, get in the heart of this historic city,

:13:27.:13:30.

many people feel their government has taken their resilience for

:13:31.:13:31.

granted. President Obama is expected to

:13:32.:13:43.

unfurl a plan later today to boost US involvement in fighting the Ebola

:13:44.:13:49.

outbreak in West Africa. He has going -- is going to outline further

:13:50.:13:54.

details when he visits Atlanta. He will send 3000 troops to Liberia.

:13:55.:13:59.

They will be responsible for training as many as 500 health care

:14:00.:14:04.

is each week. They will be building 17 medical facilities with at least

:14:05.:14:09.

100 bed each. 50,000 home health care kits will be sent out to

:14:10.:14:13.

households in Liberia. The World Health Organisation says the

:14:14.:14:17.

outbreak has now killed more than 2400 people since it began in March.

:14:18.:14:24.

For more than six months, Ebola has rampaged through part of west

:14:25.:14:28.

Africa, infecting thousands regardless of age and killing well

:14:29.:14:35.

over 2000 people, including health workers battling against the odds to

:14:36.:14:40.

help those most in need. For months, the international community have

:14:41.:14:45.

been accused of not doing enough. Now ahead of two key meetings of the

:14:46.:14:50.

United Nations and the UN Security Council, the US ambassador made this

:14:51.:14:56.

play. We can contain this, we know how to do it and we must avoid panic

:14:57.:15:01.

and fear, but our collective response to date has not been

:15:02.:15:05.

sufficient. We must move forward aggressively in a quarterly to

:15:06.:15:10.

fashion and together. It is highly an usual for the United Nations

:15:11.:15:13.

Security Council to meet together and discuss public health issues,

:15:14.:15:17.

but this is unprecedented and has become the deadliest on record. One

:15:18.:15:23.

factor is blamed on the rapid spread of the virus is a shortage of

:15:24.:15:27.

protective equipment. The United Nations is calling the $600 million

:15:28.:15:31.

to deal with the crisis and is asking countries to send supplies

:15:32.:15:36.

including trucks, birds and doctors to the worst affected areas. The

:15:37.:15:39.

latest move is said to come from President Obama his -- who is

:15:40.:15:45.

expected to send 3000 troops to help build hospitals and health trained

:15:46.:15:49.

doctors. International efforts to combat the virus have been welcomed

:15:50.:15:53.

by the President of Ghana who has been critical of the response so

:15:54.:15:58.

far. With Ebola, it is a scary disease and when it started, getting

:15:59.:16:04.

people to come in and assess has not been easy. I do believe that

:16:05.:16:08.

international response was slow, but happily it is picking up now. But in

:16:09.:16:13.

countries where health systems were already fragile, the promise of help

:16:14.:16:15.

could not come soon enough. One person has been killed and

:16:16.:16:23.

another seriously injured in a shooting inside a court in

:16:24.:16:25.

Denmark. Police say shots were fired

:16:26.:16:27.

at the Bailiff's court in A suspect has been arrested and a

:16:28.:16:29.

shotgun has been seized. The shooting happened in the past

:16:30.:16:33.

few hours. Stay with us on BBC World News,

:16:34.:16:35.

still to come: This man is serving

:16:36.:16:38.

life in prison for rape and murder and has just been given permission

:16:39.:16:41.

to have doctors end his life. This time on Friday, we should be

:16:42.:16:45.

very close to knowing if Scotland voted for independence. The three

:16:46.:16:55.

main party leaders in Westminster have signed a pledge promising more

:16:56.:16:59.

powers for Scotland, if it decides to stay part of the United

:17:00.:17:08.

Kingdom. Both the Yes and No campaigns have

:17:09.:17:10.

been busy trying to persuade Prime Minister David Cameron has

:17:11.:17:13.

made an impassioned appeal to the Scottish people to stay in the

:17:14.:17:17.

Union. But Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, has

:17:18.:17:19.

been focussing on the economy, dismissing fears about the country's

:17:20.:17:22.

future. Well, Scotland's not the first place

:17:23.:17:26.

to make a breakaway bid. Here's a roundup of other

:17:27.:17:28.

referendums held around the world. The US military has launched its

:17:29.:18:57.

first air strikes against Islamic State militants under its

:18:58.:19:05.

new strategy to combat the group. The Ukrainian and European

:19:06.:19:08.

parliaments have ratified a landmark agreement that strengthens their

:19:09.:19:11.

economic and political ties. sentenced to death for mutiny and

:19:12.:19:17.

attempted murder after shots were fired at their commanding officer in

:19:18.:19:22.

the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, in May. The soldiers were angry

:19:23.:19:32.

after a convoy was ambushed on a road frequently targeted by

:19:33.:19:35.

Islamist Boko Haram militants. All denied the charges at a court

:19:36.:19:40.

martial in Abuja. Our reporter is in Lagos. Is it too

:19:41.:19:51.

simplistic to say these soldiers were worried about taking on ISC

:19:52.:20:00.

militants? -- IS. The Boko Haram fighters are well and

:20:01.:20:07.

determined and many are brainwashed. So they hardly fear death. For the

:20:08.:20:11.

Nigerian soldiers, they are always going to face a difficult challenge

:20:12.:20:16.

and what they have always said is, we need better equipment. This

:20:17.:20:21.

particular case goes back to May when there was an extraordinary

:20:22.:20:25.

outburst of anger by the soldiers. They were upset because some of

:20:26.:20:29.

their colleagues had gone out on this journey and they saw that road

:20:30.:20:36.

is very dangerous. They were reluctant and they were forced to

:20:37.:20:39.

go. When the dead bodies were brought into the barracks, these

:20:40.:20:43.

soldiers were so angry, they shot into the air and they even shot at

:20:44.:20:48.

the commander of the forces in the region. So turning your own guns on

:20:49.:20:52.

your commander would be punished very severely anywhere in the

:20:53.:20:57.

world. But it points to some real key issues in the Nigerian military,

:20:58.:21:05.

issues of low morale. And we have had a lot of complaints from

:21:06.:21:09.

soldiers telling the BBC that they do not have the equipment to fight

:21:10.:21:13.

Boko Haram. And we have had to demonstrations by waves of soldiers

:21:14.:21:17.

saying, do not send our husbands to the front line, they do not have the

:21:18.:21:24.

equipment -- wives. It is a severe problem the Nigerian military faces

:21:25.:21:28.

and the military is saying that this tribunal is a sign it is a

:21:29.:21:33.

professional army that has rules and regulations, but for many Nigerians,

:21:34.:21:39.

it is a very public example of the problems undermining the fight

:21:40.:21:43.

against Boko Haram. That is the place where the 200

:21:44.:21:47.

schoolgirls were abducted this year, sentencing these men to death, you

:21:48.:21:52.

can understand it from a military point of view to show they are

:21:53.:21:55.

taking it seriously, but there will surely be a massive reaction?

:21:56.:22:02.

I understand the sentences can be appealed by the soldiers who denied

:22:03.:22:08.

the charges. But it is likely to send shock waves through the

:22:09.:22:11.

military. There have been other examples of soldiers almost staging

:22:12.:22:18.

a mutiny. Some of them have refused to go to the front line. There are

:22:19.:22:23.

clearly problems that need to be addressed and this will send out a

:22:24.:22:27.

shock wave. But from the militarily's point of view, they had

:22:28.:22:31.

to take a stronger line to ensure such incidences did not happen again

:22:32.:22:40.

-- the military. This is an extreme case but other examples show the

:22:41.:22:48.

problems are undermining the fight against Boko Haram. And reports of

:22:49.:22:51.

hundreds of soldiers on the way to the North East who were ambushed in

:22:52.:23:00.

a state of the South even than the capital. A scion of the problems --

:23:01.:23:07.

that is a sign of the problems taking gone Boko Haram.

:23:08.:23:15.

Alarming for any government. Can you update us on the news of the girls

:23:16.:23:19.

who have disappeared, is there a sign of a return?

:23:20.:23:25.

I am afraid no news whatsoever from the Nigerian military. They say, we

:23:26.:23:32.

are still determined to find them. The parents are still desperate for

:23:33.:23:35.

any news but all we are hearing is that we were divided into much

:23:36.:23:40.

smaller groups and they were spread out possibly over a large area, so

:23:41.:23:45.

it will be difficult to get them back even now. And no news from the

:23:46.:23:49.

international forces that have been trying to help the Nigerian

:23:50.:23:51.

military. Thank you very much.

:23:52.:23:57.

A Belgian man serving a life sentence for rape and murder

:23:58.:23:59.

has been granted permission to have doctors end his life.

:24:00.:24:02.

The ruling is the first involving a prisoner

:24:03.:24:04.

since the assisted dying law was introduced in Belgium.

:24:05.:24:06.

50-year-old Frank Van Den Bleeken argued

:24:07.:24:18.

he would never be freed because he is unable to control

:24:19.:24:20.

his violent sexual urges.

:24:21.:24:21.

Van den Bleeken's lawyer says he requested euthanasia due to

:24:22.:24:24.

what he described as his 'unbearable psychological suffering'.

:24:25.:24:26.

A number of psychiatrists and Doctors have said my client's Lovell

:24:27.:24:32.

of suffering is long-standing and there is nothing that can alleviate

:24:33.:24:37.

that -- level. More on that on the website.

:24:38.:24:42.

A suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed at least

:24:43.:24:45.

three members of the NATO-led military forces and injured many

:24:46.:24:49.

others. The explosion targeted a convoy on the airport road near

:24:50.:24:51.

the US embassy. The Taliban says that it carried out the attack.

:24:52.:24:54.

The explosion is the first major bomb attack in the city in weeks.

:24:55.:24:57.

BBC Persian's Kawoon Kamoosh was near the explosion when it happened.

:24:58.:25:00.

I was standing on the roadside and just a big last happened. I saw a

:25:01.:25:11.

lot of people shocked -- a big explosion happened. People were

:25:12.:25:16.

escaping from the area as the suicide happened at the busiest time

:25:17.:25:21.

of the day. At eight o'clock in the morning when the people come from

:25:22.:25:27.

their houses and go to work. I saw a lot of women and children escaping

:25:28.:25:32.

from the area. Also, a number of vehicles destroyed in the area. It

:25:33.:25:47.

happened near a resident area, where a lot of people come out of their

:25:48.:25:50.

houses in the morning. The attack was huge and I saw Adi parts of

:25:51.:25:59.

people. -- body parts. It was on the street.

:26:00.:26:05.

The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says a vote on recognising

:26:06.:26:07.

Indigenous Australians in the constitution would need to have

:26:08.:26:09.

overwhelming support or it would fuel existing racial tensions.

:26:10.:26:11.

Speaking from a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory,

:26:12.:26:14.

Mr Abbott said a vote would help to bring the country together. But if

:26:15.:26:17.

the result was close or defeated, it would be a step back.

:26:18.:26:20.

Mr Abbott has spent a week every year working as

:26:21.:26:23.

a volunteer in Aboriginal communities since 2008.

:26:24.:26:29.

A pet goldfish, called George, is recovering after emergency surgery

:26:30.:26:32.

to remove a life-threatening tumour on his head. Vets in Melbourne,

:26:33.:26:34.

Australia, decided to operate on the ten-year-old fish, which was having

:26:35.:26:41.

trouble eating and getting around his tank.

:26:42.:26:44.

The procedure, which lasted 45 minutes, saw George

:26:45.:26:46.

sedated in a bucket of water laced with anaesthetic.

:26:47.:26:49.

Owner Pip Joyce said George is a beloved pet and he

:26:50.:26:52.

and his partner were "quite attached" to their fishy friend.

:26:53.:26:54.

He is expected to live another 20 years!

:26:55.:27:00.

So it was worth it! That is it from me, thank

:27:01.:27:04.

or to stay part of the United Kingdom?

:27:05.:27:10.

The BBC's online coverage will keep you up to date with every development

:27:11.:27:16.

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