:00:13. > :00:15.The United States and its Arab allies have launched the first air
:00:16. > :00:18.and missile strikes against Islamic State targets inside Syria.
:00:19. > :00:21.The militants' stronghold of Raqqa was hit, along with other targets
:00:22. > :00:23.which the Pentagon says aimed to disrupt an "imminent attack"
:00:24. > :00:29.Within the last hour, Syria says it received advance warning of the
:00:30. > :00:32.attacks, in the form of a letter from the US Secretary of State.
:00:33. > :00:35.Jordan has confirmed to the BBC that their planes took part
:00:36. > :00:40.Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
:00:41. > :01:08.The US has launched a series of air and missile strikes
:01:09. > :01:10.against Islamic State targets in Syria with the active
:01:11. > :01:16.A Jordanian government spokesman has confirmed that it's been involved
:01:17. > :01:19.in the attacks, saying it was necessary to ensure the stability
:01:20. > :01:24.Other Arab nations involved in the US-led operations include
:01:25. > :01:29.Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
:01:30. > :01:32.The targets hit included the eastern city of Deir Ezzor
:01:33. > :01:41.and the city of Raqqa, where Islamic State has its headquarters.
:01:42. > :01:44.The US Central command said it launched the strikes from warships
:01:45. > :01:47.in international waters in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
:01:48. > :01:49.The targets included Islamic State training compounds,
:01:50. > :01:56.The first amateur footage from the aftermath of the airstrikes
:01:57. > :02:02.This was taken overnight in the province of Idlib -
:02:03. > :02:05.people showing what they believe to be remains of a missile.
:02:06. > :02:09.And this is the sort of scene that people there have been
:02:10. > :02:29.We had this statement a couple of hours ago from the US military,
:02:30. > :02:35.giving us quite a few details about this operation. Yes, talking about
:02:36. > :02:40.two different aspects of the attack. First of all saying that 14 strikes
:02:41. > :02:48.were carried out by US planes and war ships, together with five Arab
:02:49. > :02:52.allies who participated in the air strikes and helps to support them.
:02:53. > :02:56.These were against Islamic State target as you mentioned, including
:02:57. > :03:01.Islamic State fighters, storage sites, command and control centres,
:03:02. > :03:06.vehicles, and that these were destroyed and damaged in the
:03:07. > :03:13.strikes. The statement also said that the campaign in Syria and Iraq
:03:14. > :03:17.would continue. Secondly, the statement talked about a separate
:03:18. > :03:23.strike carried out just by US forces against a group of Al-Qaeda
:03:24. > :03:28.militants, a network of Al-Qaeda veterans, it said, that was using
:03:29. > :03:32.Syria as a base to plot imminent attacks against Western interests,
:03:33. > :03:36.against the United States. This group was recruiting Westerners to
:03:37. > :03:39.carry out these attacks and was experimenting with explosives, and
:03:40. > :03:45.using this ungoverned space to have an international, global jihadi
:03:46. > :03:51.agenda. The US attacked those separately from the other strikes
:03:52. > :03:55.against Islamic State. In terms of the legality, one suspect there will
:03:56. > :04:01.be a lot of arguments about that. John Kerry has been talking about
:04:02. > :04:05.the right of hot pursuit. What about the political reaction that will
:04:06. > :04:10.unfold now across America? The US has almost switched sides, hasn't
:04:11. > :04:15.it? We are hearing that a letter was delivered to the Syrian government
:04:16. > :04:18.warning them of these strikes. Yes, the Americans have said all along
:04:19. > :04:22.that they do not want to cooperate with the Syrian government in the
:04:23. > :04:27.fight against Islamic State because they consider it to be beyond the
:04:28. > :04:31.pale, it has lost legitimacy because of the violence it has carried out
:04:32. > :04:35.against its own citizens during the Civil War, but at the same time,
:04:36. > :04:40.Washington does not want a conflict with the Syrian government over this
:04:41. > :04:44.campaign. According to a government statement in Damascus, John Kerry
:04:45. > :04:49.did send a letter to the Syrians via an intermediary telling them that
:04:50. > :04:55.the strikes would take place. The Syrians received a few hours
:04:56. > :04:59.warning. It was mentioned that they supported any international effort
:05:00. > :05:05.against Islamic extremists on their territory and that they were
:05:06. > :05:10.coordinating closely with Baghdad. That suggests that they are not
:05:11. > :05:14.going to raise a great deal of fuss when this issue is brought, not only
:05:15. > :05:18.to the United States, but in particular to the UN because
:05:19. > :05:22.President Obama is heading to the UN for the General Assembly, during
:05:23. > :05:27.which time he will explain his campaign and the bubbly explained
:05:28. > :05:32.the legal reasoning behind it. He will put forward the fact that he
:05:33. > :05:35.has support from the region. These five nations that have supported
:05:36. > :05:40.America. He will also get opposition. The Russians have said
:05:41. > :05:43.it is not good enough just to notify the sovereign state that you are
:05:44. > :05:48.going to carry out attacks might you have to get consent. You have to
:05:49. > :05:52.operate within the bounds of international law. You can see where
:05:53. > :05:57.this debate is going to go at the United Nations over the last couple
:05:58. > :06:01.of days. We will see what the US reaction is as America wakes up.
:06:02. > :06:06.Stay with us through the early hours. We move now to Beirut and to
:06:07. > :06:14.our correspondence that. Can you give us a sense of reaction there?
:06:15. > :06:18.Officially, the government has not issued any reaction to what happened
:06:19. > :06:25.overnight in Syria. I was talking this morning to some Syrian refugees
:06:26. > :06:29.in Lebanon. Most of them were extremely sceptical about what
:06:30. > :06:33.happened. They did not feel that this would make a big difference to
:06:34. > :06:37.their day-to-day lives. This will get them back home. They were
:06:38. > :06:42.sceptical that any solution to their suffering might come from the
:06:43. > :06:50.Americans, or that Isis can be defeated by military means only.
:06:51. > :06:54.This will be a split opinion, but is there a sense that air strikes would
:06:55. > :06:58.be enough? We have had repeated refusals of the idea of sending in
:06:59. > :07:05.ground troops. What about this Arab coalition in support? The way that
:07:06. > :07:15.the Syrians see this is that Syria has become, for many, a proxy war
:07:16. > :07:19.between different parties. The parties are divided. People are
:07:20. > :07:24.divided as to whether these countries might be wanting some good
:07:25. > :07:29.for Syria, or if they are only seeking their own interests. The
:07:30. > :07:33.Syrians I spoke to were extremely lost as to how to assess what is
:07:34. > :07:38.happening in their country, and whether this might lead to any
:07:39. > :07:43.positive result to the situation over there. Would you say that
:07:44. > :07:49.generally there is still a huge suspicion of any US intervention in
:07:50. > :07:54.the region, because resident Obama has been reluctant to go in, fearful
:07:55. > :08:01.of reprise of, fearful of this hostile reaction. This is what the
:08:02. > :08:07.Syrians have been telling me. They are not very optimistic about this
:08:08. > :08:13.intervention. They have been telling me about an ulterior motive behind
:08:14. > :08:17.this military action in Syria. They asked me why now? They have been
:08:18. > :08:22.asking for assistance for years and it did not come. Why now? Why has
:08:23. > :08:29.resident Obama decided to interfere at this point? Is it for the good of
:08:30. > :08:38.Syria itself, or is it going to make things worse? Many thanks.
:08:39. > :08:42.Syria's Foreign Minister says it had been given prior notice of the
:08:43. > :08:49.strikes from the United States. This is how it was confirmed on Syrian
:08:50. > :08:52.state television a short while ago. TRANSLATION: Yesterday, the Foreign
:08:53. > :08:57.Minister received a letter from his American counterpart John Kerry via
:08:58. > :09:00.the Iraqi Foreign Minister in which he informed him that the United
:09:01. > :09:05.States would target a terrorist group in Syria. The military said
:09:06. > :09:12.that Syria would continue to attack ISIS in Raqqa and other areas mezzo
:09:13. > :09:30.coordination with the most and directly affected countries would
:09:31. > :09:37.include a rock. -- Iraq. As we have found with military
:09:38. > :09:48.forces, aeroplanes have tried to find the positions of ISIS within
:09:49. > :10:01.the Syrian borders, and we have taken action in light of continuous
:10:02. > :10:04.attempts to attack our borders. We need to stop them attacking our
:10:05. > :10:08.borders. We will continue with this effort. We will continue with
:10:09. > :10:19.whatever steps are necessary in order to target the positions of the
:10:20. > :10:24.terrorist organisation ISIS. Can you tell me exactly what aircraft are
:10:25. > :10:38.being used by Jordan, and how many aircraft are being used? All
:10:39. > :10:42.military details will be given at the appropriate time, and military
:10:43. > :10:48.officials will announce them at the appropriate time. Our aeroplanes are
:10:49. > :10:59.targeting the positions of ISIS. We will not talk about any military
:11:00. > :11:05.details at this point. We release information as we see fit. That was
:11:06. > :11:13.a Jordanian government spokesman telling me a bit about their role in
:11:14. > :11:18.this assault. We can show you the latest pictures released by the
:11:19. > :11:22.Pentagon. This is an image of the missiles being launched by the U.S.
:11:23. > :11:30.Navy. To carry out these strikes, we know that the US has employed 47
:11:31. > :11:37.Tomahawk missiles launched from the US ships operating in international
:11:38. > :11:46.waters. Missiles are also being launched by the US air force,
:11:47. > :11:51.remotely piloted aircraft. These images from the US military as you
:11:52. > :11:57.can see, show the very first pictures of the air strikes launched
:11:58. > :12:02.on Syria. Not only by the US, but with military support and political
:12:03. > :12:06.backing from Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab
:12:07. > :12:09.Emirates. I am joined now by associate fellow
:12:10. > :12:16.at the Royal United services Institute. This is a formidable
:12:17. > :12:19.alliance. How surprising is it that the US has been calling for the
:12:20. > :12:23.support of these Arab nations, but we have also got potential
:12:24. > :12:30.cooperation with Orion and previous foes now coming on board to tackle
:12:31. > :12:35.IES is remarked it is a huge coup that the United States has rallied a
:12:36. > :12:42.whole host of Sunni allies to counter ISIS. In 2007, having the
:12:43. > :12:48.Sunni alliance was essential in the insurgency strategy. The Sunni on
:12:49. > :12:53.the ground felt reassured that US presence would be maintained to
:12:54. > :13:03.undermine and counter Al-Qaeda. Today, it is important that we
:13:04. > :13:05.maintain that support of the Sunni people, and the Iranians membership
:13:06. > :13:11.of the alliance could perhaps undermined that support. We saw a
:13:12. > :13:14.statement yesterday saying that the Saudi and Iranians, there has been
:13:15. > :13:19.some sort of discussion, and also, what about the actual role of these
:13:20. > :13:25.Arab Sunni states question what do we know exactly what they are doing?
:13:26. > :13:29.Currently, we do not know exactly the role that these Arab countries
:13:30. > :13:34.have forged for themselves, but we need to understand that these Arab
:13:35. > :13:38.states are increasingly willing to take the initiative. Just the other
:13:39. > :13:42.month, the United Arab Emirates took initiative in Libya. The very fact
:13:43. > :13:46.that America had not been so involved in the region, had to a
:13:47. > :13:49.degree withdrawn from the region, that demonstrated an increasing
:13:50. > :13:56.willingness on the part of Gulf states to intervene. But are the
:13:57. > :14:00.Gulf states fairly accused of facing at least two directions at the same
:14:01. > :14:02.time because there have been a lot of speculative reports that
:14:03. > :14:10.individuals within countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are funding
:14:11. > :14:14.and supporting, and Turkey of course supporting Islamic State for their
:14:15. > :14:19.own political cause, and now they are involved in this alliance. You
:14:20. > :14:23.are right, and I think that as part of this alliance, the United States
:14:24. > :14:28.is going to have to calibrate its approach, and coordinate closely
:14:29. > :14:33.with Gulf allies in order that they won't play aged visitors roll on one
:14:34. > :14:37.hand to counter the ISIS fighters on the ground, and on the other hand to
:14:38. > :14:42.allow individuals from those regimes to fund them. What does it say
:14:43. > :14:45.actually, that we see this huge apparent coalition, even a statement
:14:46. > :14:49.from Russia yesterday saying they might cooperate in some way? What
:14:50. > :14:58.does it say about the perceived threat of Jihad is to groups like
:14:59. > :15:02.Islamic State? It is clearly targeting Gulf regimes. They want to
:15:03. > :15:07.undermine Gulf monarchies. They perceive them as illegitimate. When
:15:08. > :15:12.you look at the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, they share it
:15:13. > :15:16.exactly the same strategic interests as the United States. The problem
:15:17. > :15:21.that the US has is it is only beginning to formulate a strategy in
:15:22. > :15:25.that it is targeting ISIS members in Iraq and Syria, and it is key that
:15:26. > :15:32.it targets Syria because two thirds of ISIS fighters are based in Syria.
:15:33. > :15:39.We seen the missile strikes, we know that we will see images of civilian
:15:40. > :15:45.casualties, sadly. When pictures of children and women, who are
:15:46. > :15:47.innocently killed, come in in Muslim countries on the television sets,
:15:48. > :15:52.how will those countries still maintain support for this military
:15:53. > :15:58.attack? These all states are going to have to appreciate the fact that
:15:59. > :16:01.war is tragic, and you do have collateral damage, you do have
:16:02. > :16:06.civilian casualties, and that is part of war, and it is tragic. The
:16:07. > :16:13.choice that they face is to avoid that and in turn to allow ISIS to
:16:14. > :16:17.spread its tentacles and effectively target golf regimes. The spread that
:16:18. > :16:23.ISIS has had over the past couple of months has been exponential due to
:16:24. > :16:28.their funding capability. It is not only the wealthy Gulf individuals
:16:29. > :16:31.funding ISIS, you have... Why haven't Saudi and tata been worried
:16:32. > :16:36.about the threats to their instability at the beginning? They
:16:37. > :16:39.have been worried, but they wanted American leadership. The real
:16:40. > :16:47.question is why did it take America so long to actually Upshaw
:16:48. > :16:51.pro-Western moderates and Syrian opposition numbers, why did it
:16:52. > :16:55.allowed to funding to go to the radical ones, allowing them to be a
:16:56. > :16:59.more appealing alternative for Islamist? The problem America has is
:17:00. > :17:03.that it does not have a rollback strategy for ISIS. It is targeting
:17:04. > :17:09.them using air power alone. What is to say that ISIS cannot regain the
:17:10. > :17:14.initiative, or the Assad regime cannot regain the initiative? What
:17:15. > :17:19.comes afterwards, yes. You need to have greater ground troops to
:17:20. > :17:23.achieve that. There are so many questions about how long this plays
:17:24. > :17:26.out for. Many thanks indeed. There is much more at our website,
:17:27. > :17:30.you have got all of the latest developments plus the background and
:17:31. > :17:35.analysis, it is an incredibly complex picture, of course. Also the
:17:36. > :17:39.latest video that we get into the newsroom which we have put online
:17:40. > :17:42.for you. And you can the discussion, these do, and it become news and
:17:43. > :17:48.information please share that with us.
:17:49. > :17:53.Stay with us at BBC world News. Much more to come. We will look at some
:17:54. > :17:56.other stories, is school with no classes or students, we will hear
:17:57. > :17:57.how this school along with many in Pakistan came to house hundreds of
:17:58. > :18:02.police officers. The Rockefellers, the family that
:18:03. > :18:05.made its vast fortune from oil, has announced their multi-million
:18:06. > :18:08.dollar philanthropic organisation is planning to sell investments
:18:09. > :18:10.from fossil fuels and reinvest The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is
:18:11. > :18:15.the most significant organisation to join a campaign to reduce
:18:16. > :18:17.investments in fossil fuels because The announcement came on the eve
:18:18. > :18:23.of the United Nations climate change summit, which will take place
:18:24. > :18:25.in New York later. Roger Harrabin looks
:18:26. > :18:30.at the issues on the table. The warnings get louder
:18:31. > :18:32.but emissions keep on rising. The UN is asking national leaders to
:18:33. > :18:36.pledge to curb the greenhouse gases that have warmed the atmosphere
:18:37. > :18:40.and made the seas more acidic. One solution may lie
:18:41. > :18:45.in future cities. An extra billion people will
:18:46. > :18:47.be moving into urban areas. A report says cities
:18:48. > :18:50.in developing countries must be Public transport is clean,
:18:51. > :18:57.and you have to pay to drive The suburban trains are
:18:58. > :19:02.massively improved, too. This line runs from the Docklands in
:19:03. > :19:08.the east of London right out to be It doesn't go anywhere
:19:09. > :19:16.near the central business district at all, but it's cheap, it's quick,
:19:17. > :19:20.and, typically, it's packed. But big infrastructure costs money,
:19:21. > :19:22.and rich nations haven't kept their promises to transfer finance
:19:23. > :19:25.to poor countries There is some good news,
:19:26. > :19:31.the costs of renewable energy are plunging since subsidies created
:19:32. > :19:35.a mass-market. But reducing the overall risk to
:19:36. > :19:48.the climate will be very hard. There's plenty more on climate
:19:49. > :19:51.change on the BBC News website. Find out how it's affecting
:19:52. > :19:54.your part of the world and read the latest blogs from our science
:19:55. > :20:02.and environment correspondents. You'll find all that
:20:03. > :20:16.at BBC.com/news. The top stories: The United States
:20:17. > :20:19.and its Arab allies have launched air and missile strikes for the
:20:20. > :20:24.first time against Islamic State militants in Syria.
:20:25. > :20:28.A stronghold was hit, along with other targets which the Pentagon
:20:29. > :20:35.says aim to disrupt an imminent attack against Western interests.
:20:36. > :20:37.France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius has confirmed that
:20:38. > :20:40.one of its citizens, Herve Gourdel, has been kidnapped in Algeria.
:20:41. > :20:48.Mr Fabius said a video on the internet was genuine,
:20:49. > :20:50.and that the Islamic State was behind it.
:20:51. > :20:52.The kidnappers are demanding that France ends its attacks
:20:53. > :20:57.The BBC's Lucy Williamson gave us more details on the kidnapping.
:20:58. > :21:05.We think that it happened on Sunday. The kidnappers released a
:21:06. > :21:10.video, as you mentioned, on Monday, and in it the hostage, Mr Gourdel,
:21:11. > :21:14.appears to put forward the kidnappers' demands that France
:21:15. > :21:19.should stop its involvement in the campaign against Islamic State.
:21:20. > :21:22.France has said it has started to carry out air strikes against the
:21:23. > :21:27.group in Iraq, although it said it won't send ground troops and won't
:21:28. > :21:31.get involved in Syria. It has a gun air strikes in Iraq and that is
:21:32. > :21:35.seemingly what has prompted this threat from the kidnappers.
:21:36. > :21:40.The French government line is that there will be no negotiation, no
:21:41. > :21:43.handing any kind of victory to Islamic State, but of course there
:21:44. > :21:47.has been lots of discussion in recent weeks about which countries
:21:48. > :21:53.do negotiate to try and rescue those who are taken hostage.
:21:54. > :21:57.That's right, and there is a lot of pressure, a lot of reports here
:21:58. > :22:00.saying the kidnappers are giving different government 24 hours before
:22:01. > :22:07.they carry out their threats to kill the hostage. The French Prime
:22:08. > :22:11.Minister has told a French radio station that the French government
:22:12. > :22:14.will have no discussion, no negotiation with the kidnappers. We
:22:15. > :22:19.don't give in to blackmail, you said, if you give them an inch you
:22:20. > :22:23.hand them victory. That has been the government line for a long time,
:22:24. > :22:26.there has been speculation that the countries or proxies perhaps get
:22:27. > :22:30.involved and help to secure the release of some hostages in the
:22:31. > :22:33.past, but the details of that are not completely clear and certainly
:22:34. > :22:38.the French government has always held to its line that it does not
:22:39. > :22:40.pay Branson is, it does not engage in prisoner exchanges. -- it does
:22:41. > :23:05.not pay ransoms. Israel says it has brought down a
:23:06. > :23:06.Syrian jet over the Golan Heights. Syria calls it an aggressive move.
:23:07. > :23:09.The Israeli army says it has killed two Palestinians suspected
:23:10. > :23:11.of involvement in the kidnapping and killing
:23:12. > :23:14.The kidnapping triggered an escalation of tensions with Hamas,
:23:15. > :23:17.culminating in the Gaza conflict, in which more than 2,200 people
:23:18. > :23:21.An Israeli army spokesman says the men were killed in an exchange
:23:22. > :23:28.of fire with Israeli special forces in Hebron, in the West Bank.
:23:29. > :23:34.Hong Kong's students have taken their protests to the government in
:23:35. > :23:39.the centre of the city, they are protesting against plans to vet
:23:40. > :23:43.candidates for the next election in 2015. Scuffles broke out as students
:23:44. > :23:44.ran towards the chief executive as the game out of a government
:23:45. > :23:49.building. Weeks after the start of the term
:23:50. > :23:52.in Pakistan, many state schools in the capital Islamabad are still
:23:53. > :23:54.closed, leaving thousands Many of the schools have been take
:23:55. > :23:59.over by police drafted in to deal And that's bad news for students
:24:00. > :24:02.and teachers. Our Pakistan correspondent
:24:03. > :24:15.Shaimaa Khalil went to one school Armed police at the entrance of the
:24:16. > :24:22.school. Not an everyday sight, even for Islamabad. Instead of students
:24:23. > :24:26.coming for the lessons every day, this school is now home to thousands
:24:27. > :24:30.of officers. They have been bussed in from hundreds of miles away. The
:24:31. > :24:35.courtyard where the children would normally have their assemblies is
:24:36. > :24:43.now used to drive the washing. TRANSLATION: The headmistress shows
:24:44. > :24:47.me around. Having more than a thousand policeman here has taken
:24:48. > :24:54.its toll on both the school and the students. I should not say angry,
:24:55. > :24:58.but I am desperate. I just want to open my school as normal. I wanted
:24:59. > :25:04.to open and the students to come. I want them to leave as soon as
:25:05. > :25:08.possible. I want them to leave as soon as possible. If they have to
:25:09. > :25:13.stay in as lamb are bad, they should find some other... They should leave
:25:14. > :25:17.the school 's -- if they have to stay in Islamabad. After a long
:25:18. > :25:22.shift on the streets, it is downtime for these men. Many have spent weeks
:25:23. > :25:26.away from home and want the protests to be over so they can return to
:25:27. > :25:29.their families. We are in a school auditorium, where children would
:25:30. > :25:34.normally come for school concerts and plays, but instead you can see I
:25:35. > :25:37.am surrounded by off-duty policeman. This has been turned into a
:25:38. > :25:41.makeshift living quarters for them. They sleep here, the ET, and they
:25:42. > :25:49.always have their riot gear next to them, ready for action. Look called
:25:50. > :25:52.-- a local journalist has come to pay school fees for lessons his
:25:53. > :25:56.daughter hasn't received. You can imagine for the last five to six
:25:57. > :26:01.weeks this college, not only this college, there are about 40 colleges
:26:02. > :26:08.and schools that have enclosed. Are you angry? Yes, I'm angry. I'm angry
:26:09. > :26:13.at the present government. It is the incompetence of the present
:26:14. > :26:17.government. They have put at stake the future of the children. For a
:26:18. > :26:21.country with some of the worst education rates in the world,
:26:22. > :26:30.Pakistan can't afford for any of its schools to be shut for long.
:26:31. > :26:35.Let me remind you of our top story and show you the latest pictures we
:26:36. > :26:49.have had here: These are the missile strikes from the US, launched from
:26:50. > :26:55.two carriers in the red Sea in the North Arabian Gulf, supported by
:26:56. > :27:00.Bahrain, Saudi, Qatari, and the UAE. These are the pictures of the
:27:01. > :27:00.aftermath of one of those strikes in Syria.
:27:01. > :27:02.This is BBC Well, BBC iWonder
:27:03. > :27:17.is full of great questions