:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas.
:00:00. > :00:09.John Kerry says there is no military solution in Iraq - the US Secretary
:00:10. > :00:17.of State tells Iraqi leaders there has to be a unity government.
:00:18. > :00:19.On the ground, Isis-led fighters are repelled by
:00:20. > :00:24.the Iraqi army west of Baghdad but continue their advance elsewhere.
:00:25. > :00:27.Prime Minister David Cameron apologises for employing as his
:00:28. > :00:30.communications chief Andy Coulson - today found guilty of conspiring to
:00:31. > :00:36.hack mobile phones while editing Britain's best selling newspaper.
:00:37. > :00:39.President Putin talks peace on Ukraine, calling for a longer
:00:40. > :00:43.ceasefire, but reports are coming in of a Ukrainian army helicopter shot
:00:44. > :01:02.And we'll have all the latest World Cup news from Rio.
:01:03. > :01:15.I will be live from Rio de Janeiro bringing you the World Cup today.
:01:16. > :01:20.Iraq's biggest oil refinery is the subject of intense struggle between
:01:21. > :01:27.The Sunni militant group Isis says they've taken it.
:01:28. > :01:30.But the Iraqi airforce is also reported to have launched
:01:31. > :01:36.The refinery has been under siege for ten days with militants
:01:37. > :01:42.The rebels say they're allowing local tribes to oversee
:01:43. > :01:45.the complex which supplies a third of Iraq's refined fuel.
:01:46. > :01:49.The Isis-led fighters have been strengthening their positions -
:01:50. > :01:56.after taking over key border crossings with Syria
:01:57. > :01:59.and Jordan - tightening their grip on the north and west of Iraq.
:02:00. > :02:02.And that's the focus of crisis talks between the US Secretary of
:02:03. > :02:08.State John Kerry and Kurdish leaders in the city of Irbil today.
:02:09. > :02:10.including the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani.
:02:11. > :02:12.Mr Kerry has promised 'intense support for Iraqi security forces'
:02:13. > :02:15.But as Fergal Keane reports from Irbil,
:02:16. > :02:19.the government's challenge might in fact be on a far bigger scale.
:02:20. > :02:22.In the shadow of its ancient citadel,
:02:23. > :02:29.And it was here that we met with Sunni fighters who travelled to
:02:30. > :02:38.They very rarely talk to Western media
:02:39. > :02:46.Baghdad will soon fall, they told me.
:02:47. > :02:49.It is a matter of time, less than one month.
:02:50. > :02:53.Now they are asking young Shia to fight against us, but we will
:02:54. > :03:00.be there very soon and Baghdad will fall under the revolution.
:03:01. > :03:02.And they say that Prime Minister Malachy will be
:03:03. > :03:09.Sharia law says the killer must be killed.
:03:10. > :03:16.The fighters are from Sunni tribes, spurred on to radicalism
:03:17. > :03:20.by a government crackdown in their hometown of Falluja.
:03:21. > :03:25.One reason they may have decided to talk to us is a drawing resentment
:03:26. > :03:31.A feeling that the Sunni revolution has been taken over.
:03:32. > :03:35.I want to say to America and the world that this is not
:03:36. > :03:41.We ask the EU and America to support the Sunni people.
:03:42. > :03:50.The Iraqi army is still striking at insurgents
:03:51. > :03:54.Latest reports suggest the country's biggest oil refinery
:03:55. > :04:00.Now America is pressing for a new Iraqi government,
:04:01. > :04:07.Without an adequate transformative decision
:04:08. > :04:12.by the leaders of Iraq, anything that the US for others or allies do
:04:13. > :04:19.to try to fight back is going to be limited, if not impossible.
:04:20. > :04:22.John Kerry was speaking here in Irbil where Iraq's ethnic groups
:04:23. > :04:26.coexist peacefully under the Kurdish majority.
:04:27. > :04:28.It is a dream, but only that, of what
:04:29. > :04:34.Iraq is a complex catastrophe and the idea that there will be one
:04:35. > :04:40.outright winner to control the whole country is a fallacy.
:04:41. > :04:43.What we've heard from the Sunni fighters suggests
:04:44. > :04:47.a growing resentment of their Isis allies, so even if the insurgents
:04:48. > :04:57.win it could only be the first phase in a much longer war.
:04:58. > :05:00.With me is Harlan Ullman, senior adviser at the international affairs
:05:01. > :05:05.He was the principal author of the military strategy of
:05:06. > :05:08."shock and awe" employed during the opening stages of US action
:05:09. > :05:25.Wellcome. What can John Kerry achieved in Iraq? He can be an
:05:26. > :05:30.instrument to try to resolve some of the various factions. He is talking
:05:31. > :05:34.to the currency were very important because they will continue to
:05:35. > :05:39.understand their opposed Isis militants, so having them onside is
:05:40. > :05:43.important. The interesting issue is that we talk about the militants. It
:05:44. > :05:48.is a mixture of TNT and nitroglycerin. Various groups get
:05:49. > :05:55.together because they oppose the Sunni governments. They are army
:05:56. > :06:02.people who were thrown out and present the government. And there
:06:03. > :06:06.are also the tribal Sunni who want revenge against the governments. You
:06:07. > :06:09.have this horrible mixture which is not coherence. At some stage they
:06:10. > :06:17.will turn against the really radical jihadists.
:06:18. > :06:21.This push towards Baghdad does not make sense to me.
:06:22. > :06:25.You think they've gone as far as they can get?
:06:26. > :06:30.I'm not sure. But they have been able to do with a small number of
:06:31. > :06:35.troops is to rally the Sunni who are opposed to the administration. It is
:06:36. > :06:46.a mass grouping of people. Lawrence of Arabia in 1947, 2% of men led the
:06:47. > :06:49.98%. I think that is a good formula. 2% of the insurgents are then
:06:50. > :06:53.rallying the Sunni and then that becomes the issue. It becomes an
:06:54. > :06:58.seeding -- exceedingly difficult for the government to deal with this
:06:59. > :07:02.because it is a people's revolution, more than just jihadis trying to
:07:03. > :07:10.take over and establish new rule. What about the currents? If one of
:07:11. > :07:16.the reasons that John Kerry is talking to the Kurdish people to
:07:17. > :07:23.say, hold on and have Iraq as a state, as an entity? We have to rely
:07:24. > :07:26.on the international community. Talking to the Saudis, talking to
:07:27. > :07:32.the Israelis, and even the Russians, as difficult as that may
:07:33. > :07:41.sound. This is connected to Syria. Iran, he was opposed to Isis and
:07:42. > :07:50.militants, who are favouring basher al-Assad in Syria. Secretary John
:07:51. > :07:53.Kerry is very sophisticated, very knowledgeable and the United States
:07:54. > :08:01.could not have a better man in the job.
:08:02. > :08:06.John Kerry me know that Iran and Iraq have to be dealt with, but look
:08:07. > :08:10.at Congress where Republican congressmen have said that in no
:08:11. > :08:16.circumstances do we deal with Iraq. I would remind people that in 1972,
:08:17. > :08:19.Richard Nixon went to China and I dare say if he was a Democrat, the
:08:20. > :08:23.Republicans would have been up in arms.
:08:24. > :08:28.Republicans have to take hold of themselves and take a breath.
:08:29. > :08:33.Resolving that issue is far more important than resentment against
:08:34. > :08:36.Iran because in 1979 they held hostages and because they support
:08:37. > :08:44.Hezbollah and I ran my Israeli. These are bigger stakes. -- anti-in
:08:45. > :08:49.Britain -- anti-Israeli. You are talking about the importance
:08:50. > :08:54.of talking. You are of course very well known for formulating shock and
:08:55. > :09:00.awe, the military strategy. Do you have any regrets about that US
:09:01. > :09:06.emphasis on the military 's sustained regulation?
:09:07. > :09:10.People are talking about shock and awe as a slogan, a sound and light
:09:11. > :09:17.show. The shock and we developed is far away from the shock and awe that
:09:18. > :09:23.was used in March 20 -- March 2003. Shock and awe was entirely
:09:24. > :09:27.different. Starting from the outcome, what did you want to
:09:28. > :09:33.achieve? Did you want to achieve a stable Iraq? That is where you
:09:34. > :09:40.start, not just with the Iraqi army. We never used shock and awe, we used
:09:41. > :09:44.to Desert Storm and then left. Thank you.
:09:45. > :09:46.The British Prime Minister David Cameron has apologised today
:09:47. > :09:48.after his former director of communications, Andy Coulson,
:09:49. > :09:50.was found guilty of conspiring to hack mobile phones.
:09:51. > :09:53.The offences took place while he was editor of the News
:09:54. > :09:56.of the World, once Britain's best-selling newspaper.
:09:57. > :10:00.The phone hacking trial at London's Old Bailey heard 130 days of
:10:01. > :10:04.evidence about allegations relating to hacking dating back 15 years.
:10:05. > :10:08.Mr Coulson - who went on to become the Prime Minister's official
:10:09. > :10:12.spokesman - was found guilty of conspiring to intercept voicemails.
:10:13. > :10:16.The former News International chief executive, Rebekah Brook,
:10:17. > :10:18.who was also Coulson's former lover, was cleared of 4 charges, including
:10:19. > :10:21.hacking voicemails, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
:10:22. > :10:24.The court case resulted in Rupert Murdoch having to shut down News
:10:25. > :10:28.of the World - after 168 years of publication The Prime Minister has
:10:29. > :10:31.said he took "full responsibility for employing Andy Coulson".
:10:32. > :10:35.David Cameron said he was "extremely sorry", and admitted it
:10:36. > :10:48.A warning that there is flash photography in this report.
:10:49. > :10:55.It started with the hacking of a murdered schoolgirl's phone. It
:10:56. > :11:00.became a wider scandal about the power of the media, it's cosy
:11:01. > :11:04.relations with senior politicians and it even close the News of the
:11:05. > :11:08.World, which had been around for over 150 years. It has ended in a
:11:09. > :11:15.differing fates for the two main characters. Rebekah Brookes, a
:11:16. > :11:19.house, friend and body of an assortment of prime ministers,
:11:20. > :11:23.walked free from court. Andy Coulson, her former colleague and
:11:24. > :11:30.lover, was convicted of hacking, prompting an extraordinary apology
:11:31. > :11:35.from a man who once employed him. I take full responsibility for
:11:36. > :11:38.employing Andy Coulson. I did so on the basis of undertakings I was
:11:39. > :11:41.given by him about phone hacking, as does turn out not to be the case. I
:11:42. > :11:43.always said that if they does turn out not to be the case. I
:11:44. > :11:48.always said that if turned out to be wrong I would make a full and frank
:11:49. > :11:51.apology, and I do that today. I am extremely sorry that I employed him.
:11:52. > :11:58.It was the wrong decision and I am very clear on that. You must have
:11:59. > :12:04.had suspicions -- he must've had suspicions and yet he refused to
:12:05. > :12:07.act. This taints David Cameron's governments because we now know that
:12:08. > :12:13.he put his relationship with Rupert Murdoch ahead of doing the right
:12:14. > :12:17.thing when it came to Andy Coulson. The damage to the British by
:12:18. > :12:23.Minister is likely to be limited to short term embarrassment. It will be
:12:24. > :12:28.soon be seen as old news. Rupert Murdoch offered his apologies when
:12:29. > :12:34.the scandal first broke in 2011. He somehow feels less of a force here
:12:35. > :12:39.in the UK badly once was. The whole hacking scandal has shaken Britain,
:12:40. > :12:44.quite literally in the case of the old headquarters of the News of the
:12:45. > :12:45.World. Damaging the reputation of tabloid journalists, newspaper
:12:46. > :12:51.owners and politicians alike. The Ukrainian authorities say
:12:52. > :12:53.a military helicopter has been shot down near the rebel-held eastern
:12:54. > :12:56.city of Sloviansk, just a day after pro-Russian insurgents said
:12:57. > :12:58.they had agreed to a ceasefire. The news came just hours
:12:59. > :13:00.after the Russian president Vladimir Putin took
:13:01. > :13:04.a step to reduce tensions - asking parliament to REVOKE the power it
:13:05. > :13:07.had given the Russian military to intervene in Ukraine, the power that
:13:08. > :13:12.was used to annexe Crimea. But he urged Kiev to hold
:13:13. > :13:31.substantive talks with the rebels Cancelling the mandate to use troops
:13:32. > :13:36.in Ukraine does not mean we. Paying attention to what is going on. It
:13:37. > :13:40.will always defend the rights of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and those
:13:41. > :13:45.Ukrainians who have ethnic, cultural and linguistic connections to
:13:46. > :13:49.Russia. We will be following events closely and we will react
:13:50. > :13:56.accordingly. I hope that the use of force won't be necessary.
:13:57. > :13:58.Joining me from Moscow is Dimitry Babich, political analyst
:13:59. > :14:09.I wanted your opinion on what President Putin had to say. How
:14:10. > :14:14.significant is this? It just shows one more time that Russia is not
:14:15. > :14:21.going to occupy eastern Ukraine, these two regions. Sloviansk and
:14:22. > :14:26..net. Which are part of this insurgency and obviously at least a
:14:27. > :14:35.big part of the population there once these regions to become
:14:36. > :14:38.independent of Ukraine. Russia sympathises with this people and
:14:39. > :14:41.understand they don't want to live under the new government in Kiev but
:14:42. > :14:47.Russia is not going to go as far as deploying troops there. And yet we
:14:48. > :14:52.have heard today from the self-declared Prime Minister in the
:14:53. > :14:55.Donestk People's Republic saying that he thinks that President
:14:56. > :15:01.Putin's words do not apply to his republic. He said he is still
:15:02. > :15:04.appealing to the Russian republic to sending peacekeepers. It is not so
:15:05. > :15:11.easy for the separatists to stand down. That is true. Unfortunately,
:15:12. > :15:16.despite the announced cease-fire from the government side in Ukraine,
:15:17. > :15:21.you heard that the helicopter was shot down near Sloviansk. It was
:15:22. > :15:27.obviously not an attack by the separatists, there was another fight
:15:28. > :15:31.going on near the scene. This helicopter brought some
:15:32. > :15:34.paratroopers, that is what the authorities in Sloviansk say. And it
:15:35. > :15:40.was shot down by the separatist fighters. The fighting continues.
:15:41. > :15:44.President Putin reiterated it during his trip to Vienna today and
:15:45. > :15:49.certainly it would be much better if Russia helped militarily. Even if
:15:50. > :15:53.Russia does not, it is quite clear already that hundreds of people in
:15:54. > :15:58.the east of Ukraine where killed by the Ukrainian troops, millions of
:15:59. > :16:05.people herd the Ukrainian planes bombing there are cities or towns
:16:06. > :16:11.nearby. So I am afraid the scars of this war are going to last for a
:16:12. > :16:16.very long time. Civil wars are very painful and the scars the safety of
:16:17. > :16:20.the nation much deeper than with foreign countries. Is a key positive
:16:21. > :16:24.move that any new Ukrainian president has talked about giving
:16:25. > :16:31.the East Timor autonomy? -- is it a positive move. Yes. He stopped short
:16:32. > :16:34.of saying they will be able to elect their own governors without
:16:35. > :16:40.influence from Kiev. He said Kiev would recommend head of the
:16:41. > :16:47.elections in the next and that is not going to reassure a lot of
:16:48. > :16:51.people. -- the elections in Donestk. There was a positive this
:16:52. > :16:56.signal yesterday when there was the first negotiation between the
:16:57. > :17:02.president and officials from the republics. The former president of
:17:03. > :17:05.Ukraine acted as a representative of Kiev in this negotiation is all that
:17:06. > :17:09.is a very important first step. Talks have begun. Thank you for your
:17:10. > :17:11.time. Egypt's President Abdul Fattah
:17:12. > :17:14.al-Sisi has said he won't intervene to cut or quash the jail sentences
:17:15. > :17:18.given to Al-Jazeera journalists Today, BBC journalists were joined
:17:19. > :17:21.by colleagues from other news organisations in a one-minute
:17:22. > :17:24.protest outside this building, Similar protests have been
:17:25. > :17:30.staged around the world. Peter Greste, an Australian reporter
:17:31. > :17:34.who used to work for the BBC, and Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy
:17:35. > :17:38.each received seven year jail terms. Producer Baher Mohammed was
:17:39. > :17:41.sentenced to ten years. They had all denied the charges
:17:42. > :17:59.of spreading false news, and aiding Expressing outrage in silence.
:18:00. > :18:02.Outside New Broadcasting House, journalists from the BBC and other
:18:03. > :18:07.news organisations united in protest. The ECB hajj prison
:18:08. > :18:14.sentences on the al-Jazeera team as a fundamental attack on freedom of
:18:15. > :18:18.speech. Many of the journalists here identify closely with the jailed
:18:19. > :18:24.men. Some know them personally. Others feel they could easily be in
:18:25. > :18:31.the same predicament. -- they feel the prison sentences. There were
:18:32. > :18:36.silent protest as well in Islamabad and other BBC offices around the
:18:37. > :18:41.road from Johannesburg to Baghdad. In Australia, Peter regressed's
:18:42. > :18:58.family are still reeling from the verdict. I know Peter has been very
:18:59. > :19:14.strong. Sorry. -- Bela Horizonte. -- Bela Horizonte. Journalism is not a
:19:15. > :19:23.crime, it is as simple as that. This man, our son, Peter, is an
:19:24. > :19:29.award-winning journalist. He is not a criminal. -- Peter Greste. Even
:19:30. > :19:36.after the international outcry, the Egyptian president is refusing to
:19:37. > :19:39.intervene. I called the Justice Minister and told him in one
:19:40. > :19:43.sentence that I would not interfere in the judicial matters because the
:19:44. > :19:48.Egyptian judiciary is independent and solid. We should not harm or
:19:49. > :19:53.pass comment on the state institutions. If we are serious
:19:54. > :19:57.about building state institutions, we have to respect judiciary
:19:58. > :20:02.rulings. I'm not condemning them. Saw no immediate pardon for Peter
:20:03. > :20:06.Greste and other journalists. The feast at least seven years in jail
:20:07. > :20:08.while there are legal teams scramble to launch an appeal.
:20:09. > :20:11.We brought you the news yesterday of the release of Sudanese woman
:20:12. > :20:14.Meriam Ibrahim, who had been sentenced to death for converting
:20:15. > :20:18.Well in an extraordinary development it's been reported that
:20:19. > :20:21.the 27-year-old mother has been detained whilst trying to leave
:20:22. > :20:29.With me is James Copnall, author and former BBC Sudan correspondent.
:20:30. > :20:45.The Foreign Ministry has told the BBC she will be released soon. Do we
:20:46. > :20:48.think she is free? Not yet. That is what the Foreign Ministry appears to
:20:49. > :20:51.be saying. There is a lot of confusion. That comes from the
:20:52. > :20:57.competing elements within the Sudanese ruling elite. You have the
:20:58. > :21:03.military and security. The national security team to have reacted in a
:21:04. > :21:06.lay-by area resting Meriam Ibrahim and her family members that have
:21:07. > :21:11.surprised the Sudanese government. One senior politician did not know
:21:12. > :21:14.she had been arrested. Or what she had been arrested for. The Foreign
:21:15. > :21:17.Ministry is saying she will be released soon but we have to see
:21:18. > :21:24.what the national security are going to do. There is pressure from her
:21:25. > :21:28.own family, from her brother. Yes. Her brother brought the charges
:21:29. > :21:30.against her. That is what the Sudanese officials keep stressing
:21:31. > :21:33.when they want to defend the rule of sedan in all of this because they
:21:34. > :21:38.think sedan has been unfairly criticised. The judiciary has done
:21:39. > :21:42.its bit. A lot of people will be sceptical about that. There is
:21:43. > :21:45.pressure and competing pressures on that Sudanese government also.
:21:46. > :21:50.Religious conservatives who would have been in favour of the original
:21:51. > :21:54.sentence against Meriam Ibrahim and will not be happy about the fact
:21:55. > :21:57.that she was released. There is pressure within society, there is
:21:58. > :22:01.different pressures within the Sudanese ruling elite. It is a
:22:02. > :22:07.contributed situation. If they thinking that she will try to leave
:22:08. > :22:12.the country? Perhaps then is a US citizen? That's right. They were at
:22:13. > :22:15.the airport when they were released. There is some suspicion that
:22:16. > :22:18.national security objected to the documents they were travelling with
:22:19. > :22:22.and that has to be confirmed. Certainly the intention seems to be
:22:23. > :22:26.for the family to get out of sedan after they are released and that is
:22:27. > :22:33.being thwarted by this dramatic rearrest. How closely had this been
:22:34. > :22:36.followed within sedan itself? There has been interest, because this is
:22:37. > :22:40.the great debate within Sudanese society, how do you want the country
:22:41. > :22:45.governed? A strict interpretation of Islamic law, something that human
:22:46. > :22:49.rights campaigners and women's activists have been against? It is a
:22:50. > :22:55.broad debate in Sudanese society and is being followed closely.
:22:56. > :22:58.Time to update you on the football World Cup, and two of today's much
:22:59. > :23:01.anticipated matches are over - but there's still more to come.
:23:02. > :23:03.Italy have been knocked out of the tournament after a controversial
:23:04. > :23:06.incident involving Luis Suarez. Let's go to Peter Okwoche in Rio -
:23:07. > :23:15.what news? Thank you. It was a game that both
:23:16. > :23:22.sides needed to win if they were going to progress to the round of
:23:23. > :23:27.16. In the end, Uruguay triumphed. 1-0 with a goal scored late in the
:23:28. > :23:31.second half. Two major incidents and that game. A red card for an Italian
:23:32. > :23:34.defender earlier in the second half meant they played most of the second
:23:35. > :23:40.half with ten men. There was this alleged biting incident I Luis
:23:41. > :23:47.Suarez on the shoulder of another player. After that, Uruguay quickly
:23:48. > :23:53.went to the other end and scored their goal from a corner. The player
:23:54. > :23:59.who had been bitten try to show the bite marks to the referee who waved
:24:00. > :24:05.him away. But you remember that two seasons ago, Luis Suarez served an
:24:06. > :24:19.eight-week ban in the Premier League for biting Chelsea's divan of it. --
:24:20. > :24:25.Ivanovic. FIFA might want to look at this. The referee did not see it and
:24:26. > :24:27.waved their Italian player away. The family want to look at it
:24:28. > :24:33.retrospectively and if they define Luis guilty, he makes be in a spot
:24:34. > :24:39.of trouble. There has been another match of course involving the
:24:40. > :24:46.England team. Some more to come as well? That's right. It has been a
:24:47. > :24:50.woeful World Cup so far for England. It had ended for them. We thought
:24:51. > :24:54.they might restore some of their prey to the West may be a good
:24:55. > :25:00.performance against Costa Rica. That game ended in a drawer, it meant
:25:01. > :25:04.Costa Rica progress as winners of that group and England just confirm
:25:05. > :25:08.their flight back home. Later tonight, two more games, Ivory Coast
:25:09. > :25:12.will be bidding to qualify or the red of 16 for the first time in
:25:13. > :25:16.their history, they require a victory against Greece. If Greece
:25:17. > :25:22.win the game, they will progress to the next round. In the other match,
:25:23. > :25:26.it is Colombia versus Japan. Colombia have already won that
:25:27. > :25:31.group. Just briefly, we are getting down to the final 16. Now we are so
:25:32. > :25:35.far into the tournament itself, you think the key thing problems are
:25:36. > :25:41.over? That Brazil is coming out of this pretty well? You would have to
:25:42. > :25:44.say that. At the beginning of this tournament, we kept on saying that
:25:45. > :25:48.the authorities were hoping that once the football started, there
:25:49. > :25:53.would be no more protests. We have seen a couple of protest. Today
:25:54. > :25:57.there was a small protest before the Brazil game, but I think the
:25:58. > :26:01.authority so far will be happy with the way the World Cup is going at
:26:02. > :26:03.the moment and they will hope it continues that way. Caregiver
:26:04. > :26:07.bringing us up to date. For more on the World Cup, you can
:26:08. > :26:11.join the conversation on Twitter You can also talk to me
:26:12. > :26:26.about this or any other Iraq's biggest oil refinery is the
:26:27. > :26:32.subject of intense struggle between the Iraqi military and rebel forces.
:26:33. > :26:36.The Sunni militant group said it had taken it but the Iraqi air force is
:26:37. > :26:37.also reported to have been in action.
:26:38. > :27:05.across some parts of England. Tomorrow, a slightly fresher feel to
:27:06. > :27:07.the day will stop quite cloudy but with continuing sunny