:00:00. > :00:00.The US said it targeted militants from the Islamic State group
:00:00. > :00:00.near the Kurdish-held city of Irbil - just hours after President Obama
:00:00. > :00:09.The World Health Organisation says West Africa can not manage the Ebola
:00:10. > :00:11.outbreak alone - and declares an international public
:00:12. > :00:18.A ten-year old boy is killed in Gaza,
:00:19. > :00:22.as Israel and Palestinian militants resume cross-border attacks.
:00:23. > :00:25.Together again - an Indonesian girl feared killed in the 2004 tsunami
:00:26. > :00:50.Almost three years after withdrawing its troops from Iraq, the United
:00:51. > :00:52.States has carried out military action against Islamist militants
:00:53. > :00:57.Just hours after President Obama authorised their use -
:00:58. > :01:02.the US launched an airstrike targeting fighters
:01:03. > :01:04.from the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, who now control large
:01:05. > :01:12.The attack hit artillery used by the militants near Irbil.
:01:13. > :01:13.Earlier this week, the Islamists took Qaraqosh,
:01:14. > :01:20.Meanwhile tens of thousands of people from the minority Yazidi sect
:01:21. > :01:23.remain surrounded and trapped on Mount Sinjar, without food or water.
:01:24. > :01:26.Today, the government here said British forces would assist
:01:27. > :01:28.in carrying out air drops as part of the humanitarian effort
:01:29. > :01:34.In a moment we'll get the latest from Washington,
:01:35. > :01:40.but first here's our Diplomatic Correspondent James Robbins.
:01:41. > :01:51.For months, the extremists of ISIS, now calling themselves simply
:01:52. > :01:56.Islamic State have been pumping out video
:01:57. > :01:58.as they seize more and more of Iraq, threatening
:01:59. > :02:02.Now for the first time, the Islamists have come under
:02:03. > :02:05.The Pentagon says two FA18 aircraft dropped laser-guided bombs on
:02:06. > :02:11.These are thought to be first pictures of the American strike.
:02:12. > :02:14.America acted because this city of Irbil is now under threat.
:02:15. > :02:17.There are US personnel there but President Obama is stressing
:02:18. > :02:23.To stop the advance on Irbil, I directed
:02:24. > :02:25.the military to target strikes against ISIS terrorist convoys
:02:26. > :02:35.But Washington is also committed to helping religious minorities
:02:36. > :02:41.These pictures of the Yazidi people fleeing for their lives
:02:42. > :02:46.on to a barren mountain without food or water shocked the world.
:02:47. > :02:49.And today, speaking from the mountain, one of their leaders
:02:50. > :02:56.The clash is now very close to where I stand.
:02:57. > :02:58.There are now clashes on the final line of resistance.
:02:59. > :03:05.They will kill all of us and we do not think we have enough time.
:03:06. > :03:07.Now the first supplies have reached some of the Yazidi.
:03:08. > :03:09.Iraqi authorities say these pictures, impossible to verify,
:03:10. > :03:18.The Yazidi religion is older than Christianity or Islam and that is
:03:19. > :03:24.enough to make them targets of the extremists who overrun their town.
:03:25. > :03:27.When we face a situation like we do on that mountain with
:03:28. > :03:31.innocent people facing the prospect of violence on horrific scale,
:03:32. > :03:35.and we have a mandate to help - in this case a request from the Iraqi
:03:36. > :03:38.government - and when we have the unique capabilities to help
:03:39. > :03:46.overcome a massacre, then I believe the USA cannot turn a blind eye.
:03:47. > :03:48.Let's look at the plight of the Yazidi people,
:03:49. > :03:51.forced to flee their homes and seek refuge on the barren slopes
:03:52. > :03:58.As this map shows, they took what?s really the only
:03:59. > :04:01.road up the mountains and we now have reports that some essential
:04:02. > :04:03.supplies including food and water have been delivered from the air
:04:04. > :04:13.But what if the extremists try to pursue them up the mountain?
:04:14. > :04:16.The hope must be that they can be spotted and attacked by American
:04:17. > :04:21.The other religious minority under threat is the Christian community.
:04:22. > :04:25.Their major centre, Qaraqosh, has fallen.
:04:26. > :04:32.Among those who escaped, some have reached Irbil.
:04:33. > :04:40.As Christian refugees streamed into Irbil, passing Kurdish forces,
:04:41. > :04:42.Iraq's persecuted minorities are urging the outside world to do more
:04:43. > :04:48.In Brussels, some of the extended families of the Yazidi
:04:49. > :04:58.trapped on the mountainside appealed to action to end the genocide.
:04:59. > :05:00.In London, an emergency meeting of ministers is authorised.
:05:01. > :05:02.Military involvement in relief missions is to drop aid,
:05:03. > :05:10.Our focus is on assisting the humanitarian
:05:11. > :05:14.mission and using our military in support of the Americans in terms
:05:15. > :05:25.of refuelling, surveillance and underpinning their mission, and to
:05:26. > :05:27.add to it with food drops of our own.
:05:28. > :05:31.The focus of aid drops will be the Yazidi, still out on the mountain.
:05:32. > :05:33.Their desperate plight has come to symbolise the wider threat to
:05:34. > :05:40.The BBC's David Willis is at the White House.
:05:41. > :05:48.We saw that Obama was adamant that this will not be a prolonged attack.
:05:49. > :05:55.Is anyone buying that? I have come from a briefing and the president 's
:05:56. > :06:01.spokesman was asked about the end date and how long this action will
:06:02. > :06:04.continue. He said there was no specific end date and it will be
:06:05. > :06:10.driven by the security situation on the ground. He added that military
:06:11. > :06:17.involvements, over a prolonged period, was not on the table at the
:06:18. > :06:20.moment for top that said, of course, these fighters are known to be well
:06:21. > :06:27.armed, well equipped and well trained. They are capable of going
:06:28. > :06:31.for the long haul as far as this conflict is concerned and this
:06:32. > :06:40.raises the possibility of mission creep, if you like. The President's
:06:41. > :06:47.spokesman has said he is adamant that this will not involve boots on
:06:48. > :06:53.the ground. America is back in Iraq but for how long? America wants to
:06:54. > :06:59.suggest that this is in need of a political resolution in Iraq. Yes.
:07:00. > :07:06.It is a situation that requires solving by the Iraqis themselves.
:07:07. > :07:12.That means getting our representative in place who is
:07:13. > :07:19.representative of all of the abuse. They see the Iraqi Prime Minister as
:07:20. > :07:26.the chief culprit for the deteriorating security situation in
:07:27. > :07:30.Iraq. Nobody is making the secret that they would rather he left.
:07:31. > :07:33.With me now is an expert on US foreign policy and the
:07:34. > :07:36.Middle East Majid Rafizadeh - he's an American political scientist
:07:37. > :07:49.The fact that once again the USA is engaged militarily in Iraq, does
:07:50. > :08:02.that mean US foreign policy has failed? What you are seeing here is
:08:03. > :08:12.the remarkable advancement of the Islamic States,
:08:13. > :08:25.the remarkable advancement of the towns in northern Iraq, particularly
:08:26. > :08:32.in Mo is all -- Mosul, and this has proposed strategic and political
:08:33. > :08:35.threats to the USA. I think, back to your question, the United States has
:08:36. > :08:45.definitely failed to diplomatically push the government to allow some
:08:46. > :08:50.kind of power-sharing government, an inclusive government, and to remove
:08:51. > :09:00.the corruption and authoritarianism in the states, and that is the in
:09:01. > :09:06.delaying -- the underlying reason. The United States was meant to leave
:09:07. > :09:16.behind a strong army in Iraq, and it is obvious they cannot cope with the
:09:17. > :09:25.ISIS extremists. That is correct. This will not put an end to the
:09:26. > :09:30.civil war or the sectarian war, or the atrocity we are witnessing. The
:09:31. > :09:38.military intervention from the United States is going to lead,
:09:39. > :09:59.probably, to another Civil War. The USA is sides with the government,
:10:00. > :10:03.and they are giving the Islamic State the tall to fight against what
:10:04. > :10:09.they would call American imperialism. There was some support
:10:10. > :10:20.for the insurgents in Iraq, and what is important is really finding a
:10:21. > :10:30.political solution in Baghdad and is getting a power-sharing government
:10:31. > :10:39.there. Widening this out, Islamic State fighters are fighting against
:10:40. > :10:46.Assad in Syria. We are in a complicated scenario here. Exactly.
:10:47. > :11:00.What is interesting is that you can see the emergence of the realignment
:11:01. > :11:11.of interest, Iran, Saudi Arabia, these countries are considered to be
:11:12. > :11:17.rivals. They have created a lot of adversity in the region. The one
:11:18. > :11:22.thing that the USA could have done was to be a facilitator or
:11:23. > :11:26.arbitrator between these countries in the Middle East who are trying to
:11:27. > :11:36.take a collective action against ISIS. You are correct, I think the
:11:37. > :11:46.remarkable advancement they had is a milestone in the movement, which was
:11:47. > :11:52.started after the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003. OK, I figure we will
:11:53. > :11:58.be speaking to you again, but for the time being, thank you very much
:11:59. > :11:59.for sharing your thoughts. We will continue to monitor that situation
:12:00. > :12:04.for you. Let's move on. "An extraordinary event" and an
:12:05. > :12:06.international health emergency - that's what the World Health
:12:07. > :12:08.Organisation are calling The agency also predicts that
:12:09. > :12:12.the outbreak is likely to go on for months and things are likely to
:12:13. > :12:15.get worse before they better. Almost 1000 people have already
:12:16. > :12:18.died as a result of the disease. Our Health Correspondent Feargus
:12:19. > :12:22.Walsh reports. How do you defend the world
:12:23. > :12:25.against ebola? It is starts with more help for
:12:26. > :12:30.West Africa. The worst affected
:12:31. > :12:33.communities lack the basics. Adequate protective clothing,
:12:34. > :12:36.trained medical staff The World Health Organisation says
:12:37. > :12:46.only international support will This is an infectious disease
:12:47. > :12:51.which can be contained. This is something
:12:52. > :12:58.which can be stopped. This depends
:12:59. > :13:05.on identifying everybody who has an Ebola infection,
:13:06. > :13:09.and making sure they receive the right treatment and making sure
:13:10. > :13:11.we stop the chain of transmission. Ebola is a viral infection
:13:12. > :13:13.which originates in animals, It spreads between humans through
:13:14. > :13:17.direct contact with blood The virus has an incubation period
:13:18. > :13:22.of up to 21 days More than half
:13:23. > :13:27.of those infected have died. Pneumonia kills 3,000 children a day
:13:28. > :13:42.- more than Ebola has in 40 years. The number of people who have died
:13:43. > :13:45.so far in this Ebola outbreak are dwarfed by those who died from
:13:46. > :13:51.Tuberculous every day for example. The numbers are small
:13:52. > :13:54.but the potential for an outbreak like this to go out of control
:13:55. > :13:58.and to spread, and the numbers to The threat to countries
:13:59. > :14:07.like Britain remain low. Even if Ebola did come here via
:14:08. > :14:10.a sick air passenger, health authorities are confident
:14:11. > :14:12.they can contain it with isolation The WHO has not called
:14:13. > :14:16.for travel bans but is urging greater health surveillance
:14:17. > :14:22.at airports in West Africa. In Liberia, soldiers are patrolling
:14:23. > :14:25.roadblocks, limiting travel It all adds to the fear
:14:26. > :14:30.among communities wondering It's been a day of renewed violence
:14:31. > :14:40.in Gaza today after a three-day Israel is again attacking Gaza,
:14:41. > :14:44.blaming Hamas for firing rockets And Israel has now pulled out
:14:45. > :14:50.of talks in Cairo, saying it won't James Reynolds reports from
:14:51. > :15:27.Gaza City. apart. The hospital may be the
:15:28. > :15:32.safest place in this strip of land. These families, who have lost their
:15:33. > :15:38.homes, have camped out in the hospital's grounds. This man sleeps
:15:39. > :15:45.here with his wife and their seven children. There are so many dead
:15:46. > :15:53.bodies in my neighbourhood, so I decided to take my family and come
:15:54. > :15:59.here. Shoppers at the market have taken their chance to go and get
:16:00. > :16:04.supplies. If there are rockets falling, we will have to stay at
:16:05. > :16:10.home. We would be able to work any more. Here, this man shops for the
:16:11. > :16:21.27 members of his immediate family. Stop this war, if you come and see
:16:22. > :16:27.my home, my home was for flaws, but now it is on the land. The
:16:28. > :16:32.cease-fire has been broken, so people here are going back to living
:16:33. > :16:35.day by day. They have to buy as much as they can right now, because they
:16:36. > :16:40.don't know what will happen tomorrow. The immediate future of
:16:41. > :16:46.the people of Gaza may be decided through further truce talks in
:16:47. > :16:55.Egypt. Before then, I have to prepare for anything.
:16:56. > :16:58.With me now is Ed Husain from the American think tank
:16:59. > :17:15.The conflict has two end and we have seen previous situations where after
:17:16. > :17:21.three or four weeks, matters come to ahead and there is a short term
:17:22. > :17:27.cessation of violence, but in the medium to long-term, they will come
:17:28. > :17:32.again and again to this violence until the Israelis realise they
:17:33. > :17:38.cannot contain 2 million people in this open-air prison in Gaza, and
:17:39. > :17:43.when Hamas realise they cannot secure long-term peace by rocketing
:17:44. > :17:47.innocent civilians in Israel. Unless both sides come to a recognition
:17:48. > :17:54.that the current mindset leads them to mutual destruction, there would
:17:55. > :17:57.be an end to this awful violence. You are talking about a complete
:17:58. > :18:04.rethink of what Hamas is all about. Yes, we often make the mistake of
:18:05. > :18:09.seeing Hamas as simply a terrorist organisation, but it is larger than
:18:10. > :18:13.that. I have had the good and bad fortune of meeting their people in
:18:14. > :18:18.various countries and they run a huge operation, from hospitals to
:18:19. > :18:24.orphanages, they care for the widows of their fighters. Israel is at the
:18:25. > :18:29.helm of pushing this image of Hamas as being only a terrorist
:18:30. > :18:34.organisation. In this country, one of the benefits the Irish peace
:18:35. > :18:39.process has offered globally is that yes, Sinn Fein had a terrorist flank
:18:40. > :18:44.that was the IRA, but there was also the political wing with which the
:18:45. > :19:01.Irish and British governments cut a deal.
:19:02. > :19:03.they be embraced as the solution it when they fire the rockets first
:19:04. > :19:10.like today. Israelis say Hamas when they fire the rockets first
:19:11. > :19:15.abandon violence and give up their arms, but in the UK, we found you
:19:16. > :19:16.abandon violence and give up their often had to turn a blind eye to the
:19:17. > :19:19.armed men and top to politicians, reaching a stage when
:19:20. > :19:24.the politicians can force politicians, reaching a stage when
:19:25. > :19:33.armed men to hand over their weapons. If we continue to ignore
:19:34. > :19:37.the political wing of Hamas, then what happens if the armed wing of
:19:38. > :19:40.Hamas have the strength they continue to have, because they are
:19:41. > :19:46.the guys that are fighting and they are the guys who have the strength
:19:47. > :19:51.to say they are fighting the resistance. So the psychological
:19:52. > :20:00.terms of approaching this conflict means to change. -- needs to change.
:20:01. > :20:03.Now a look at some of the day's other news.
:20:04. > :20:05.The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has ended.
:20:06. > :20:07.The judge announced she would deliver her verdict on the 11th
:20:08. > :20:11.In his closing remarks, his lawyer said Mr Pistorius should have faced
:20:12. > :20:13.a charge of culpable homicide, not murder, over the shooting
:20:14. > :20:26.An investigation's underway after nine surrogate babies were
:20:27. > :20:30.They are believed to share the same Japanese father.
:20:31. > :20:32.The recent case of an Australian couple alleged to have abandoned
:20:33. > :20:35.a baby with Down's syndrome, has prompted efforts to overhaul
:20:36. > :20:38.Malaysia Airlines is to be removed from the stock exchange,
:20:39. > :20:40.taken over by the state and completely overhauled.
:20:41. > :20:43.The disappearance of a passenger jet in March and the crash of another
:20:44. > :20:46.airliner in Ukraine last month have added to the company's already
:20:47. > :20:58.Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates have signed
:20:59. > :21:01.a deal to form a government of national unity, four months
:21:02. > :21:03.Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani had both claimed
:21:04. > :21:07.victory and accused the other of electoral fraud.
:21:08. > :21:09.The US Secretary of State John Kerry,
:21:10. > :21:12.who helped to broker the agreement in Kabul, called it an Afghan
:21:13. > :21:17.Our correspondent in Kabul, David Loyn, says there's optimism
:21:18. > :21:23.John Kerry, you'll remember, has been here before, and they said
:21:24. > :21:28.similar things three or four weeks ago when he came to really broker
:21:29. > :21:32.a deal at a time when it looked as though there may be a coup and
:21:33. > :21:34.genuine armed violence breaking out because
:21:35. > :21:40.But certainly the mood today was very different, very conciliatory.
:21:41. > :21:41.Abdullah Abdullah said it is a win-win situation.
:21:42. > :21:45.Ashraf Ghani said the time for competition was over,
:21:46. > :21:47.the time for campaigning was over, now they needed to cooperate
:21:48. > :21:56.together in order to build this government of national unity.
:21:57. > :21:59.And John Kerry, who put the deal together,
:22:00. > :22:09.said they have now agreed what he called the rules of the road.
:22:10. > :22:10.On Sunday, Turkey will hold a presidential election.
:22:11. > :22:14.It's the first time in the country's history that the position will be
:22:15. > :22:16.chosen, not by parliament, but by the Turkish public.
:22:17. > :22:18.Leading the race is the current Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip
:22:19. > :22:20.Erdogan, a politician with Islamist roots who has divided Turks.
:22:21. > :22:25.The star of Turkish politics continues to soar.
:22:26. > :22:27.Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aiming for glory in Sunday's presidential
:22:28. > :22:35.His firebrand rhetoric hits out at Israel and foreign interests.
:22:36. > :22:38.The rockstar politician pulls the crowds.
:22:39. > :22:46.Three times Prime Minister, Erdogan dominates the campaign.
:22:47. > :22:48.Islamist leaning, he's accused of mixing religion
:22:49. > :22:58.But fans of all ages can't get enough.
:22:59. > :23:01.He is working for Turkey, for everyone, for us, for women like me.
:23:02. > :23:04.Before women couldn't work in universities or other places, but
:23:05. > :23:22.This election has become a referendum about the man who's
:23:23. > :23:25.His backers say he has transformed this country politically
:23:26. > :23:32.His critics call him authoritarian and intolerant and say the cult
:23:33. > :23:39.Istanbul's skyline tells of his success.
:23:40. > :23:45.With massive infrastructure projects and EU candidate status, he says he
:23:46. > :23:50.But huge protests last year against a construction project
:23:51. > :23:58.Rage boiled over human rights and Erdogan's apparent autocracy.
:23:59. > :24:04.Eight died, including a 14-year-old, Berkin Elvan.
:24:05. > :24:07.His father says he went to buy bread,
:24:08. > :24:24.Without Berkin, we don't even know if we're alive or dead.
:24:25. > :24:26.The next target was an Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen.
:24:27. > :24:30.Erdogan baming his followers for leaks implicating the
:24:31. > :24:36.Critics say he is using a smokescreen.
:24:37. > :24:39.He is the victim and always, there are some certain enemies
:24:40. > :24:42.Enemies, foreign and interior, who are under trying to undermine
:24:43. > :24:53.Adored and hated in equal measure, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has polarised
:24:54. > :25:00.His ambition is lofty, but can he take a divided Turkey with him?
:25:01. > :25:13.A miraculous story now of a young girl seemingly back from the dead.
:25:14. > :25:16.A mother and father in Indonesia say that they've been reunited with
:25:17. > :25:19.their daughter ten years after she was swept in to the sea during
:25:20. > :25:26.Finally back together again after 10 years apart, this is the moment
:25:27. > :25:29.14-year-old Raudhatul Jannah and her family never thought would happen.
:25:30. > :25:34.Her parents gave up hope of ever finding her alive
:25:35. > :25:37.after she was swept from their home in West Aceh during the devastating
:25:38. > :25:44.According to Indonesian media, she was found more than 100
:25:45. > :25:49.kilometres away and raised by a family of fishermen.
:25:50. > :25:52.A decade later, a family member spotted a girl in a village
:25:53. > :25:55.walking home from school who bore a striking resemblance to lost girl.
:25:56. > :26:01.Raudhatul's parents visited her in late June.
:26:02. > :26:07.When I saw her, I knew she was the one and we also saw her photos from
:26:08. > :26:16.A remarkable reunion for one little girl and her family,
:26:17. > :26:19.One of Raudhatul's brothers, who disappeared when the tsunami
:26:20. > :26:59.But for now from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.
:27:00. > :27:00.Warnings are still in force. But things are settling