:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today, with me, Philippa Thomas.
:00:00. > :00:09.The Islamist march through Iraq gathers pace - a day after its
:00:10. > :00:17.second biggest city fell, violence edges closer to the capital Baghdad.
:00:18. > :00:24.And raised the stakes in Mosul by seizing the Turkish consulate there.
:00:25. > :00:27.Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are fleeling their homes -
:00:28. > :00:43.the Iraqi Prime Minister has urged civilians to fight back.
:00:44. > :00:47.We have declared a state of high alert.
:00:48. > :00:50.Lessons of history - will the Georgian enclave of South Ossetia be
:00:51. > :00:53.next to go the way of Crimea and join the Russian Federation?
:00:54. > :00:55.We'll speak to Georgia's Prime Minister - Irakli
:00:56. > :01:01.With the World Cup almost upon us, we'll go to the city that stages
:01:02. > :01:14.Brazil take on Croatia in just over 24 hours time. The Brazilian
:01:15. > :01:17.president says the country is ready. And taxi drivers across some
:01:18. > :01:19.of Europe's biggest cities strike in protest at the smartphone app
:01:20. > :01:34.they say steals their fares. In only 24 hours,
:01:35. > :01:40.Iraq has undergone violent change. One key city was taken over
:01:41. > :01:43.by Islamists on Tuesday. Today, armed radicals have swept
:01:44. > :01:47.through one town after another. With
:01:48. > :01:51.the Islamists' black flag flying across swathes of the country,
:01:52. > :01:54.it looks as if the Baghdad-based Let's just take you through
:01:55. > :02:04.this fast developing story. Latest pictures
:02:05. > :02:07.from the road towards Tikrit suggest more heavy fighting as the Islamic
:02:08. > :02:12.militants of ISIS overwhelm Iraqi Reports suggest the Sunni fighters
:02:13. > :02:20.have taken Tikrit, Now they apparently control another
:02:21. > :02:29.city soon after seizing Mosul. Iraq's second city Mosul
:02:30. > :02:32.is still emptying out. These are some
:02:33. > :02:39.of the half a million people who have fled across the Tigris River to
:02:40. > :02:48.escape fighting on the other side. Thousands of families are fleeing
:02:49. > :02:51.and seeking refuge elsewhere. They have two options, really,
:02:52. > :02:53.either to find family members who live in the countryside or to try
:02:54. > :02:58.and survive in the wilderness. Mosul has fallen,
:02:59. > :03:02.a disaster for Iraq's government, but also for the wider world, too,
:03:03. > :03:06.as Islamist extremists take more It is humiliating for Iraq's Prime
:03:07. > :03:17.Minister vowing to fight back. We're not going to allow this to
:03:18. > :03:23.carry on, regardless of the price. We are getting ready, we are
:03:24. > :03:27.organising, we are restructuring the armed units that we cleanse Ninevah
:03:28. > :03:31.province from these terrorists. They are Sunni Muslim jihadist
:03:32. > :03:39.group, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, formed a year ago and pledged to
:03:40. > :03:43.create an Islamic state across Iraq, They're are now in control of
:03:44. > :03:49.significant parts of Syria, where Westerners, including some British
:03:50. > :03:52.Muslims, are fighting with them. It is all helping to increase ISIS's
:03:53. > :03:55.power in Iraq, too. Now they have Mosul
:03:56. > :04:00.and appear to have taken the city This is their leader -
:04:01. > :04:06.Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - seen as a brilliant commander and tactician,
:04:07. > :04:08.battle-hardened since joining the Some blame the American-led
:04:09. > :04:20.invasion for all this. Others say it as Iraq's failed
:04:21. > :04:24.political system which cannot stop the daily bloodshed,
:04:25. > :04:27.but increasingly it is Islamist In the last half hour, Turkey has
:04:28. > :04:36.called for an emergency NATO meeting It comes
:04:37. > :04:41.as ISIS militants have taken dozens of Turkish nationals hostage,
:04:42. > :04:45.including the Consul-General and some children, in their takeover
:04:46. > :04:48.of Turkey's embassy in Mosul. James Reynolds is in Istanbul
:04:49. > :05:01.and joins me now. What more do we know about who has
:05:02. > :05:10.been taken? 49 people in its diplomatic compound were seized,
:05:11. > :05:15.abducted. Those 49 includes diplomats and family members, that
:05:16. > :05:22.may be women and children as well. The consul general was amongst those
:05:23. > :05:28.seized. I think we losing the sound they from James. We will have to try
:05:29. > :05:30.and get back on that. Sorry about that.
:05:31. > :05:33.During talks brokered by the European Union today,
:05:34. > :05:36.Russia and Ukraine failed to reach agreement over the price of gas.
:05:37. > :05:41.The Russian gas giant Gazprom has threatened to cut off supplies if
:05:42. > :05:43.Kiev fails to pay what's demanded. It's just one example
:05:44. > :05:46.of the continuing tension between the two, but while global attention
:05:47. > :05:49.is focussed on Ukraine, Russia also has a tense relationship with other
:05:50. > :05:52.former Soviet Republics - notably Georgia, with whom it fought a brief
:05:53. > :05:58.war in 2008 over the disputed territory of South Ossetia.
:05:59. > :06:02.Since then, Russia has been supporting that breakaway
:06:03. > :06:06.region with money and arms. And last week the de-facto president
:06:07. > :06:10.hinted South Ossetia might ask to join the Russian Federation.
:06:11. > :06:11.Could it go the way of Ukraine's Crimea?
:06:12. > :06:16.Rayhan Demytrie reports. This is the administrative boundary
:06:17. > :06:19.line between Georgia and its The sign over their reads,
:06:20. > :06:23.the republic of South Ossetia. This is the demarcation of what
:06:24. > :06:27.the South Ossetians and their allies, Russia, that are patrolling
:06:28. > :06:33.this area, call the state border. But is of course,
:06:34. > :06:36.not recognised by Georgia, because Georgia and the international
:06:37. > :06:40.committee believe that this And on the Georgian side it is
:06:41. > :06:48.the EU monitoring mission that has been patrolling
:06:49. > :06:52.since the 2008 ceasefire agreement. With me here is one of the EU
:06:53. > :06:58.monitors here, Marek. Marek, what sort
:06:59. > :07:03.of problems do people face here? People go to areas close to
:07:04. > :07:10.the borderline to proceed with their work,
:07:11. > :07:16.but more and more they are being Russia's annexation of Crimea has
:07:17. > :07:22.fuelled speculation about whether post-Soviet breakaway regions such
:07:23. > :07:26.as South Ossetia might follow suit. In fact, south Ossetians held
:07:27. > :07:30.parliamentary elections last Sunday and it looks like the party that won
:07:31. > :07:34.the majority of seats was saying in its pre-election campaign that
:07:35. > :07:37.it wants to hold a referendum This is the village of Terra Vanni
:07:38. > :07:45.that was built by the Georgian There are rows and rows
:07:46. > :07:51.of identical cottages that house some of the thousands of people who
:07:52. > :07:56.were displaced by this conflict. She is here with her mother
:07:57. > :08:01.and children. Her house is now
:08:02. > :08:04.in the territory which is under You were not able to take part
:08:05. > :08:11.in the Sunday elections in The elections were held without our
:08:12. > :08:25.participation and we do not expect With no solution to the conflict
:08:26. > :08:36.in sight, and with politicians back in South Ossetia raising the
:08:37. > :08:40.prospect of joining Russia, there is very little hope for people here of
:08:41. > :08:46.ever returning back to their homes. The Prime Minister of Georgia,
:08:47. > :08:59.Irakli Garibashvili is with me now. Welcome to World News Today. South
:09:00. > :09:20.the Sethi, is it your fear that it could go the way of Crimea and be
:09:21. > :09:25.absorbed? -- South Ossetia. When we describe the situation in South
:09:26. > :09:39.Ossetia with crime union -- with Crimea, I think it is a mistake.
:09:40. > :09:46.Russia has recognised these de facto states. Since then there has been
:09:47. > :09:49.these problems. These two territorial his -- territories have
:09:50. > :10:01.been part of Georgia. According to my knowledge, Russia is not
:10:02. > :10:06.interested in annex and these two de facto territories. Let's look at
:10:07. > :10:11.Russia's interests. There has been a warning from the foreign minister
:10:12. > :10:17.that if you sign the European Association, which you intend to do
:10:18. > :10:21.later this month, it has serious consequences. When we came into
:10:22. > :10:32.power after the elections in 2012, we changed our attitude to Russia.
:10:33. > :10:42.We made a number of constructive steps. We appointed a special envoy,
:10:43. > :10:50.a representative for Russian nations. We made a lot of progress I
:10:51. > :10:58.would say in terms of trade, communication. Just recently they
:10:59. > :11:09.opened a market for agricultural products. I think we have proved
:11:10. > :11:16.that we would like to have a normalised relationship with them. A
:11:17. > :11:23.month ago, the official person, we had a statement that Russia does not
:11:24. > :11:29.intend to interfere with Georgia's European agreement. Do you think you
:11:30. > :11:42.can succeed where Ukraine failed in signing a European succession
:11:43. > :11:48.agreement? Georgia is unique. We are moving towards the European Union,
:11:49. > :11:54.we made this clear in November that this process became irreversible. At
:11:55. > :11:57.the same time we are trying to normalise the relationship with
:11:58. > :12:03.Russia. I think we are creating an interesting precedent in the
:12:04. > :12:09.region. On the one hand we would like to become of the European Union
:12:10. > :12:14.and we will sign the agreement in this June, on the 27th of June. At
:12:15. > :12:22.the same time we are normalising our relationship with Russia. We have
:12:23. > :12:32.found the perfect balance, I think. You might be suggesting -- setting
:12:33. > :12:41.is precedent for other states. We are confident. What about Georgia
:12:42. > :12:45.and NATO? That was one of the problems that led to the war a few
:12:46. > :12:54.years ago. Would that be a step too far? We made it clear that Georgia
:12:55. > :12:59.is keen to become a member of the European union and NATO, this is an
:13:00. > :13:08.irreversible process. We understand it takes time. But Georgia made a
:13:09. > :13:16.tremendous effort. They have made progress. We had fear and proper
:13:17. > :13:20.Parliamentary representations. Last year we had unprecedented free and
:13:21. > :13:30.fair presidential elections. As far as I know, Georgia remains the
:13:31. > :13:38.largest nonmember NATO states in Afghanistan. We are committed to
:13:39. > :13:44.stay there after 2014. At a point where the US has made it clear to
:13:45. > :13:49.states such as Poland and the Baltic republics that it has its interests
:13:50. > :13:53.at heart. It does not want to see any further Russian expansionism. Do
:13:54. > :14:00.you feel you are close to Washington? Georgia and the US
:14:01. > :14:06.administration? I had a successful trip in Washington several months
:14:07. > :14:11.ago. I had a meeting with the president and the vice president. We
:14:12. > :14:17.have excellent relationships with the United States. United States are
:14:18. > :14:24.our main partner, our strategic partner to keep strong ties with the
:14:25. > :14:31.United States. Our aspiration to be a part of the European Union does
:14:32. > :14:34.not conflict with them. Peaceful and street -- a peaceful and stable
:14:35. > :14:41.Georgia means a peaceful and stable Georgia because Georgia is unique
:14:42. > :14:45.and has a strategic location. Everybody should be entrusted and
:14:46. > :14:47.having accessibility in that region. Prime Minister, thank you for coming
:14:48. > :14:52.in and speaking with us. Now a look at some
:14:53. > :14:54.of the day?s other news. The European Commission has opened
:14:55. > :14:56.investigations into decisions by three countries, on how much tax is
:14:57. > :14:59.paid by the multinational companies The Commission says it's important
:15:00. > :15:02.that large multinationals pay their fair share at a time
:15:03. > :15:05.of tight public budgets. It's part of
:15:06. > :15:07.a wider push to stop multinationals The US Secretary of Defense,
:15:08. > :15:16.Chuck Hagel, has told lawmakers that last month's prisoner swap with
:15:17. > :15:19.the Taliban may have been the last and best chance to secure the
:15:20. > :15:21.release of sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Mr Hagel became the first official
:15:22. > :15:24.to testify publicly Republicans
:15:25. > :15:26.and some Democrats have criticized the administration for not informing
:15:27. > :15:30.Congress in advance of the swap. Police in the northern Indian state
:15:31. > :15:33.of Uttar Pradesh say a woman's body was found hanging from a tree in a
:15:34. > :15:37.village in the district of Bahraich. An autopsy has failed to establish
:15:38. > :15:41.whether she had been raped - authorities are going to conduct
:15:42. > :15:44.more tests. Rescue workers in Germany say
:15:45. > :15:47.an injured explorer trapped in the country's deepest cave is able
:15:48. > :15:50.to walk, and could be brought to The 52-year-old man is stuck nearly
:15:51. > :15:56.four miles from the entrance. He was hit by falling rocks
:15:57. > :16:03.on Sunday. It's just one day to go
:16:04. > :16:06.before the start of the World Cup's By hosting such
:16:07. > :16:08.a popular international event, the country wanted the tournament
:16:09. > :16:11.to show off its potential. But so far it's tended to be poor
:16:12. > :16:14.planning and protest marches which Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff
:16:15. > :16:20.has insisted her country is ready. She's said the pessimists
:16:21. > :16:22.and critics Let's hear from our man
:16:23. > :16:45.at the scene - Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian
:16:46. > :16:49.president, was insistent the World Cup will leave a good legacy behind
:16:50. > :16:56.for Brazil and the people of Brazil and its economy.
:16:57. > :17:02.But it has been marked. All types of protest have been going on. Some
:17:03. > :17:05.have taken to the streets and ugly clashes with police, others have
:17:06. > :17:06.done it through the internet and others still have picked up cans of
:17:07. > :17:10.spray paint. It sometimes feels that every square
:17:11. > :17:13.centimetre of every wall in Some of it, it has to be said,
:17:14. > :17:17.better than others. What I want to show you know is this
:17:18. > :17:23.picture, an image created by Paolo, It has gone viral, it has gone
:17:24. > :17:32.around the world, and it is being seen as one of the most important
:17:33. > :17:36.comments on the World Cup. What did you want this
:17:37. > :17:39.picture to convey? I was trying to show some other
:17:40. > :17:42.points of view of the Brazilian The football is presumably
:17:43. > :17:48.representing food and you can't It is about what is a priority and
:17:49. > :18:02.what people must be concerned about. Do you think Brazil would be better
:18:03. > :18:06.off not having the World Cup? I guess the advantage we have
:18:07. > :18:15.in the World Cup is that all the world is looking at us
:18:16. > :18:19.and it is also an opportunity to show a little more about
:18:20. > :18:48.our reality and forget this also. If you have been watching you will
:18:49. > :18:51.know that Paolo has been doing part two. It looks fantastic and I can
:18:52. > :18:59.see which you have done. He has got angry and he has put his knife and
:19:00. > :19:04.fork through the football. Yes, he is revolted with the situation. That
:19:05. > :19:07.is the finished work, part two. Thank you for doing it. It has been
:19:08. > :19:20.great having you with us, really good fun. I want to talk to an
:19:21. > :19:26.entrepreneur in Sao Paulo. Thank you for being with us. How do you see
:19:27. > :19:28.the World Cup? Do you think it is great for Brazil or do you
:19:29. > :19:33.understand the concerns of the protesters? It is a great
:19:34. > :19:38.opportunity for Brazil to show what they are capable of doing. They have
:19:39. > :19:41.big ambitions and they are doing a lot of upgrades to the structure.
:19:42. > :19:45.Not all the upgrades are complete but overall it has potential for
:19:46. > :19:49.Brazilian business and foreign business, to Brazil in years to
:19:50. > :19:52.come. I know you do a lot of foreign businesses coming to Brazil. Have
:19:53. > :19:57.they been impressed by what they have seen or have they been alarmed?
:19:58. > :20:02.They are concerned with things being at last minute but there are its
:20:03. > :20:06.focus on infrastructure and there has been an increase in skills and
:20:07. > :20:11.knowledge from the workforce, which is relevant for the years to come.
:20:12. > :20:15.In general they are interested in Brazil and see the opportunities.
:20:16. > :20:22.After the World Cup we should not be counting the time away, then it is
:20:23. > :20:26.the Olympic Games. Do you think Brazil will be a different place on
:20:27. > :20:35.the world map as a result of hosting these events? It is going to be a
:20:36. > :20:39.different place. As to global ambition, I am not sure. There is a
:20:40. > :20:45.lot to be done in Brazil and a lot of infrastructure that needs to be
:20:46. > :20:48.created that is necessary for the next 5100 years. Businesses doing
:20:49. > :20:53.work in Brazil there is a a huge difference. If you bring foreign
:20:54. > :20:57.investors to the contrary, what would you show them? What would you
:20:58. > :21:02.say, this is proof that Brazil is a different country from it was? You
:21:03. > :21:07.would show them the new railway systems, the new electricity grid,
:21:08. > :21:12.the new airports. The general upgrade has been enormous. There
:21:13. > :21:15.have been more than 100 projects across the country on
:21:16. > :21:19.infrastructure. Are those infrastructure projects working and
:21:20. > :21:24.making the difference? A lot of them have just finished or will be
:21:25. > :21:27.finished in the next couple of years, so there is still a lot to
:21:28. > :21:34.see. The airports are definitely working and you can see the increase
:21:35. > :21:42.in these security and the stable electricity supply. Have you managed
:21:43. > :21:45.to get tickets for the World Cup? I have not, unfortunately. I was
:21:46. > :21:50.hoping you would say yes and you would sell me some! I have a
:21:51. > :21:56.colleague with a ticket for Nigeria against Bosnia and that is the
:21:57. > :22:01.closest I can get. Lovely to meet you. Thank you for being with us. We
:22:02. > :22:06.will be live throughout the day tomorrow when the noise will be
:22:07. > :22:13.intense as Brazil get ready to take on Croatia in the opening match of
:22:14. > :22:17.the 2014 World Cup. The day is finally going to arrive.
:22:18. > :22:20.Traffic in several major European cities was disrupted today as taxi
:22:21. > :22:23.drivers protested against the use of mobile apps to book rides.
:22:24. > :22:25.They say apps like Uber are affecting their
:22:26. > :22:31.Here in London, black cab drivers gridlocked part of the city by
:22:32. > :22:39.Berlin, Rome and Milan were among cities affected.
:22:40. > :22:42.These are French taxi drivers protesting in Paris,
:22:43. > :22:45.including Orly airport, and several motorways.
:22:46. > :22:47.The action has coincided with a major train strike
:22:48. > :22:52.against proposed reforms for the French rail industry,
:22:53. > :22:56.making the disruption particularly severe.
:22:57. > :23:04.Simon Calder is a presenter on the Travel Show on BBC World News.
:23:05. > :23:11.If we start in London, the black cab is an iconic site in London and they
:23:12. > :23:16.have been protesting today. It's history passing them by? Quite
:23:17. > :23:22.possibly. I was meeting the drivers today. The whole of the city centre
:23:23. > :23:28.was gridlocked for a couple of hours and you had a very annoyed driver of
:23:29. > :23:31.the other London icon, the double-decker bus, fed up that you
:23:32. > :23:35.could not get anywhere from Buckingham Palace to the City
:23:36. > :23:39.because of the traffic. The problem is that the black lab in London, the
:23:40. > :23:45.yellow cab in New York, is an icon but also an extremely useful form of
:23:46. > :23:49.transport - OnDemand transport - and in the 20th century that was great
:23:50. > :23:56.but now many of us have a smartphone and an app to summon a car to where
:23:57. > :24:01.we need at a price lower than what you would pay. That is the issue,
:24:02. > :24:06.especially here. Yellow cards in New York, not as expensive as a black
:24:07. > :24:12.habit in London, which you could say is for the wealthy. -- a black cab.
:24:13. > :24:17.Or a distress purchase for people. Black taxi drivers say, you should
:24:18. > :24:21.see the training we have to go through. They have the knowledge.
:24:22. > :24:27.Within a six mile, ten kilometre radius of the centre of London they
:24:28. > :24:32.have to know the fastest point to get from every single street to
:24:33. > :24:37.another in the area. Drivers of other vehicles will say, well, wake
:24:38. > :24:42.up, we are in the 21st-century and you can have satellite navigation to
:24:43. > :24:46.wherever you need to go. It is not just the London Black cabbies. In
:24:47. > :24:52.Madrid the taxi drivers were out in force. We also saw it in Berlin and
:24:53. > :24:59.other cities. There have been protests in the US as well. They
:25:00. > :25:06.say, we are safer, if you summon someone by smartphone who knows what
:25:07. > :25:09.you will get. There is definitely a place for people who want to ensure
:25:10. > :25:14.maximum security when they are travelling. There is nothing like
:25:15. > :25:20.just stepping out of your studio and flagging down a black cab. Of course
:25:21. > :25:24.I will be getting onto my bicycle because it is a lot cheaper and more
:25:25. > :25:31.environmentally friendly! There will always be a place for that service
:25:32. > :25:35.but I fear there will not be a need for so many drivers and that is
:25:36. > :25:39.where they were protesting. A lot of people will say this is the best
:25:40. > :25:45.publicity that these various apps have. They said today that since
:25:46. > :25:51.Uber launched in Britain it is the day when it has been downloaded most
:25:52. > :25:58.times. I expressed to taxi drivers this was the best publicity the app
:25:59. > :26:01.could have and it would annoy motorists from Madrid to London
:26:02. > :26:07.because they simply can't get around. We shall see how it
:26:08. > :26:11.develops. We have talked about the unstoppable march of technology
:26:12. > :26:15.before and I fear we will again. Thank you for joining us and talking
:26:16. > :26:17.about the black cabs and the future of the industry.
:26:18. > :26:21.Reports from Iraq say that jihadists have seized their second city
:26:22. > :26:24.A convoy of ISIS fighters is reported to have
:26:25. > :26:27.taken control of the city of Tikrit, the administrative capital
:26:28. > :26:31.of Salaheddine province and the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.
:26:32. > :26:34.ISIS, a breakaway faction of Al-Qaeda,
:26:35. > :26:37.which is also fighting in Syria, is reported to have freed hundreds
:26:38. > :26:40.of prisoners after it took control of the northern city of Mosul,
:26:41. > :27:03.It feels like summer is getting into its stride.
:27:04. > :27:09.Plenty of warm sunshine to come tomorrow. Not so good if you are a
:27:10. > :27:13.hay fever sufferer because pollen levels are high across many areas.
:27:14. > :27:18.High pressure has got it settled at the moment. No pressure trying to
:27:19. > :27:21.push in. These low France will just brush across the far north-west so
:27:22. > :27:22.maybe