:00:08. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today with me, Daniela Ritorto.
:00:11. > :00:12.Our top story. The ongoing violence in Missouri
:00:13. > :00:17.after police kill an unarmed black teenager.
:00:18. > :00:23.An independent autopsy suggests Michael Brown was in a defensive
:00:24. > :00:27.position when he was fatally wounded. At least six shots, could
:00:28. > :00:32.be more, but at least six. Kurdish forces in northern Iraq move
:00:33. > :00:35.to retake the strategic Mosul dam from Islamic militants -
:00:36. > :00:47.but not without a battle. While we have been here, couple of
:00:48. > :00:57.artillery rounds have, over, there are still some fight left in the
:00:58. > :00:59.Islamic State. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
:01:00. > :01:02.hints he'll be leaving the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where
:01:03. > :01:05.he's been holed up for two years. And we visit a lawless border town
:01:06. > :01:08.in Myanmar, which has become a mecca for Chinese gamblers and traders
:01:09. > :01:16.in endangered wildlife. Hello and welcome.
:01:17. > :01:19.We start in the US where lawyers for the family of a black teenager
:01:20. > :01:22.killed by police, say an independent autopsy confirms he was shot at
:01:23. > :01:25.least six times, twice in the head. It comes after more than a week
:01:26. > :01:31.of violent protests. This was the scene on Sunday night,
:01:32. > :01:39.prompting the Governor of Missouri to extend the curfew and deploy
:01:40. > :01:42.the US National Guard, a reserve military force, to Ferguson in
:01:43. > :01:45.St Louis to try to restore order. 18 year old Michael Brown was
:01:46. > :01:47.unarmed when he was killed by a white police officer on 9th
:01:48. > :01:50.August following an altercation His family are demanding
:01:51. > :01:53.the immediate arrest Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool
:01:54. > :02:09.reports from Ferguson. Chaos once again on the streets of
:02:10. > :02:14.Missouri. Please use tear gas and sound bombs to clear protesters.
:02:15. > :02:19.There was a curfew in place of the midnight. The trouble started much
:02:20. > :02:25.earlier. People in Ferguson say that they feel under siege and would not
:02:26. > :02:31.stand for it. I am going nowhere, I am going to hospital right now but I
:02:32. > :02:34.will be back tomorrow. This would be very calm if it was not like police,
:02:35. > :02:40.acting like were coming here to attack us. Unlike other times when
:02:41. > :02:44.the police acted first against peaceful protesters, this time it
:02:45. > :02:48.was clear that some on the streets had a plan to make trouble. The
:02:49. > :02:52.authorities say that they are now going to deploy troops in the town.
:02:53. > :02:58.It started with prayers and messages. Of peace and justice. It
:02:59. > :03:04.took a very different tone, after dark. Molotov cocktail 's were
:03:05. > :03:12.thrown. There were shootings. Looting. Vandalism. And other acts
:03:13. > :03:16.of violence. It has been more than a week of violence since police shot
:03:17. > :03:22.dead Michael Brown, who was 18 and unarmed. Police say they have video
:03:23. > :03:27.showing in being aggressive and stealing cigars, shop, but they said
:03:28. > :03:31.the officer who killed him was not aware of the robbery. His family
:03:32. > :03:34.said they did not trust the police and have commissioned their own
:03:35. > :03:40.postmortem, which proves he was shot multiple times. He was shot at least
:03:41. > :03:46.six times. The other critical point that I want everyone to be clear on,
:03:47. > :03:52.the arm is a very mobile part of the body, so it could have occurred when
:03:53. > :03:56.he was putting his hands up. When I put my hand up you could see were
:03:57. > :04:01.that wound is at. It could have been when he was crossing his arms in a
:04:02. > :04:04.defensive manner, we don't know. Many have been critical of the
:04:05. > :04:08.tactics used by police since the shooting. The hope is that troops
:04:09. > :04:14.from the National Guard will restore calm, but local people, who say that
:04:15. > :04:22.they have been discriminated against for years, will feel all the more
:04:23. > :04:29.antagonised. In the last few minutes we have had an update. The official
:04:30. > :04:35.autopsy revealing that Michael Brown was shot 6-8 times. This is
:04:36. > :04:39.accounting to the county medical examiner, saying that the autopsy
:04:40. > :04:44.showed that he was hit in the head and the chest. Just one more line to
:04:45. > :04:48.bring you, that has just happened in the last couple of minutes. There
:04:49. > :04:52.has been an announcement from the governor of Missouri, that the
:04:53. > :04:59.curfew for Monday night that we mentioned, has now been lifted. This
:05:00. > :05:10.is very much a developing story. Let's get some opinion and analysis.
:05:11. > :05:14.Joining me from Washington DC is the writer and blogger Garfield Hylton.
:05:15. > :05:21.What is your reaction to the family autopsy revealing that he was shot
:05:22. > :05:29.six times, and now confirmation from the official examiner that he was
:05:30. > :05:35.shot, 6-8 times. I believe that is backed up what we have been told all
:05:36. > :05:39.along, the three or four eyewitness accounts of Michael Brown been shot
:05:40. > :05:44.all said the same thing, that he was in a defensive posture, he was not
:05:45. > :05:50.doing anything at the time. There were cases or of shell cases being
:05:51. > :05:56.35 feet away from the body. Now we can see that he was shot 6-8 times,
:05:57. > :06:01.twice in the head, and we have found on a couple of minutes ago that he
:06:02. > :06:05.was also shot in the chest. They have given us three or four
:06:06. > :06:10.variations as to what has happened, and eyewitness reports have backed
:06:11. > :06:15.up the autopsy reports. I am not sure what remains to be said at this
:06:16. > :06:24.point. Do you think the officer should be arrested? Yes, I do. It
:06:25. > :06:32.does not take 6-8 shots to subdue a person. This leads me to believe
:06:33. > :06:36.that he had an intent to kill. I want to get your reaction to how
:06:37. > :06:41.this has been handled politically by President Obama, particularly. We
:06:42. > :06:46.have heard from Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the UN, wanting
:06:47. > :06:51.restraint from law enforcement officials in Ferguson, and we have
:06:52. > :06:57.not heard from President Obama since last Wednesday or Thursday. Do you
:06:58. > :06:59.think he should be saying more? I read the written statement he
:07:00. > :07:10.released and I saw the speech he did and I thought that the soft sold it.
:07:11. > :07:13.True, Rand Paul, his anger was more about big governance and the
:07:14. > :07:18.militarisation of the police, but he was able to say that black and brown
:07:19. > :07:24.men are being targeted by the police in America and locked up at a higher
:07:25. > :07:28.rate. Lots of people like to say that Balmer is everybody's
:07:29. > :07:31.president, but Michael Brown is an American and he was gunned down by
:07:32. > :07:36.the police. If you're that we should have had a much stronger statement,
:07:37. > :07:40.especially the people protesting peacefully, and the police are at
:07:41. > :07:48.Julie antagonising these peaceful protesters. -- actually
:07:49. > :07:59.antagonising. Some feel that the president has struck a different
:08:00. > :08:02.tone compared with the shooting of Trayvon Martin, and his reaction one
:08:03. > :08:06.year ago after the verdict. But these are very different cases,
:08:07. > :08:14.involving two different sets of circumstances. The thing about
:08:15. > :08:17.Trayvon Martin, when he first spoke about that he said it was somebody
:08:18. > :08:23.who could have been his son. That created a lot of backlash among
:08:24. > :08:28.people who might have been on the side of Trayvon Martin, that was
:08:29. > :08:31.used against President Obama. And I think he must have realised that by
:08:32. > :08:38.him speaking out on Trayvon Martin, it had a negative effect, so he may
:08:39. > :08:41.have decided to play at a little bit safer on this Michael Brown
:08:42. > :08:46.shooting. Are you disappointed by that? I think that there are more
:08:47. > :08:50.things that he could have said, and I know that Rand Paul is not the
:08:51. > :08:56.president, but I feel I know that Rand Paul is not the
:08:57. > :08:58.Obama could have spoken out more strongly as regards the fact on
:08:59. > :09:03.black and brown men in America. Iraqi forces say they're planning
:09:04. > :09:06.an assault on the northern city of Mosul, a stronghold of
:09:07. > :09:08.Islamic State militants. It comes as Kurdish
:09:09. > :09:10.and Iraqi forces claim to have re-captured the strategically
:09:11. > :09:13.important hydroelectric dam just north of Mosul, a claim denied by IS
:09:14. > :09:20.fighters who seized it two weeks ago as part of their campaign
:09:21. > :09:22.across northern Iraq and Syria. The dam is essential
:09:23. > :09:25.for controlling water supplies and, if destroyed, as many feared
:09:26. > :09:27.the militants were planning to do, would have sent millions of tonnes
:09:28. > :09:31.of water crashing through cities Our Correspondent Paul Wood,
:09:32. > :09:53.travelled close to the dam There were US air strikes this
:09:54. > :09:56.morning, on either side of the Mosul damn. Fighting is still clearly
:09:57. > :10:01.going on in the area. The Kurdish and Iraqi military say that they
:10:02. > :10:06.have recaptured the dam complex itself. Special forces are checking
:10:07. > :10:10.for bombs and booby-traps. Who controls this lake controls the
:10:11. > :10:15.water supply for most of the country, and blowing up the dam
:10:16. > :10:22.could send a 20 metre wall of water towards Mosul, washing away a city
:10:23. > :10:26.of 2 million people. So the Kurds, the Iraqi government and the US
:10:27. > :10:34.could not allow the down to remain in the hands of rebel fighters. They
:10:35. > :10:38.are under strict orders not to talk about this operation. We followed
:10:39. > :10:44.the path cleared by the Kurdish forces. A few days ago, this road
:10:45. > :10:51.and the villages either side were in the hands of the Islamic State. The
:10:52. > :10:56.jihad would not leave easily. We reach a Kurdish forward artillery
:10:57. > :11:02.position. Just two weeks ago, Kurdish units were put to flight by
:11:03. > :11:06.Islamic State, and now they are supported by US air power overhead
:11:07. > :11:08.and are pushing them back. They are making steady progress, confident of
:11:09. > :11:14.the eventual success of this operation. Islamic State are just
:11:15. > :11:18.two miles away from this battery, they say. A ground rocket launcher
:11:19. > :11:29.is used to push them back still further. That plume of smoke behind
:11:30. > :11:33.me is a village that the Kurds say was set alight by jihadis as they
:11:34. > :11:41.retreated. The Kurds are confident they are pushing back the Islamic
:11:42. > :11:44.State, but there have been a couple of artillery rounds come at us, so
:11:45. > :11:51.there are still some fight in the jihadis on this part of the front
:11:52. > :11:54.line. The recapture of the dam, if confirmed, would be the most
:11:55. > :11:58.significant victory yet in the battle against the Islamic State.
:11:59. > :12:04.The fight for the city of Mosul will be much harder. But this is just one
:12:05. > :12:15.of many battlefronts against the Islamic State, throughout Iraq. We
:12:16. > :12:21.can talk to Professor Gareth Stansfield who has returned to the
:12:22. > :12:27.UK from northern Iraq. He is speaking to me from our Exeter
:12:28. > :12:33.studio. As we just heard, Kurdish and Iraqi forces are thinking about
:12:34. > :12:40.retaking Mosul, but that is not going to be easy. But they have been
:12:41. > :12:46.posted by Western intervention. Yes, the Kurdish forces had a very
:12:47. > :12:49.difficult time. They found themselves outgunned and
:12:50. > :12:54.outmanoeuvred by the Islamic State forces, but now the American attacks
:12:55. > :13:00.seem to have taken out the heavy armour of Islamic State and a lot of
:13:01. > :13:02.their artillery pieces, and the new abutment and ammunition that has
:13:03. > :13:11.come to the Kurdish forces as emboldened them. Now they are
:13:12. > :13:18.coordinating efforts against Islamic State going forward, but Mosul is a
:13:19. > :13:21.very large city in which Islamic State is firmly rooted, and retaking
:13:22. > :13:28.that'll be a very difficult task indeed. Give us the sense of Western
:13:29. > :13:31.intervention through air strikes, and arming the Kurds, and whether
:13:32. > :13:38.that is working. It is working up to a point. It helps them protect the
:13:39. > :13:51.Kurdish region of Iraq. It takes some pressure off the Yazidi
:13:52. > :13:58.population that had been subjected to genocide. But the removal of
:13:59. > :14:02.Islamic State as a political and military threat, there needs to be a
:14:03. > :14:06.new articulation of what that means and what strategy will be followed
:14:07. > :14:10.to remove them. If you air strikes and encouraging the Kurdish militia
:14:11. > :14:15.and the Iraqi security forces is not going to be enough. What would
:14:16. > :14:19.victory looked like, what would be the end of the mission? I don't
:14:20. > :14:31.think anybody has actually said this, including David Cameron and
:14:32. > :14:36.President Obama. Beyond limiting the activities of ISIS, from the map of
:14:37. > :14:40.the Middle East and reinstate the borders of Iraq and Syria, to
:14:41. > :14:45.rebuild the Iraqi political process so that it incorporates all of its
:14:46. > :14:50.communities, including Sunni Muslims that had been marginalised, then
:14:51. > :14:57.that is an extremely big task, and one that nobody is articulating, but
:14:58. > :15:11.everybody seems to be moving towards. Erbil is the capital of the
:15:12. > :15:14.Kurdish region. If the Kurds manage to fight off ISIS, what is the
:15:15. > :15:19.ultimate reward, is it an independent state? They want to have
:15:20. > :15:22.the right to express self-determination in future.
:15:23. > :15:27.Self-determination can have a variety of outcomes including
:15:28. > :15:32.autonomy, a binational federation between Kurds and Arabs, or the
:15:33. > :15:36.setting up of an independent state. I think they will have to gauge
:15:37. > :15:38.carefully what the region and the international community will allow
:15:39. > :15:45.them to do, whether they will be allowed to move towards secession,
:15:46. > :15:50.whether that would be respected, but ultimately, if they feel that they
:15:51. > :15:54.can be independent and control their own oil exports, and the masters of
:15:55. > :16:01.their own destiny, then independence for the Kurds in Iraq is a very
:16:02. > :16:07.attractive proposition, but it still may be a little time off, as there
:16:08. > :16:13.is a lot of pressure from the Americans to maintain --
:16:14. > :16:16.Now a look at some of the days other news.
:16:17. > :16:18.The United Nations health agency is urging countries affected by Ebola
:16:19. > :16:20.to screen all passengers leaving international ports,
:16:21. > :16:24.The World Health Organisation says anyone suspected of having the virus
:16:25. > :16:27.Israeli troops have demolished the homes of two Palestinians
:16:28. > :16:29.suspected of murdering three Israeli teenagers.
:16:30. > :16:31.The killings triggered the latest conflict in Gaza.
:16:32. > :16:33.The demolition comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continue
:16:34. > :16:39.A ceasefire in Gaza is due to expire in just under three hours.
:16:40. > :16:41.The Pakistan opposition party led by Imran Khan has announced that
:16:42. > :16:43.its members will resign their seats in the national
:16:44. > :16:47.parliament to try to force the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to quit.
:16:48. > :16:53.The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party says last year's national
:16:54. > :17:03.The Ukrainian authorities say a convoy of refugees has been hit
:17:04. > :17:05.by fire from mortars and Grad rocket launchers
:17:06. > :17:07.in the rebel-controlled region of Luhansk, killing many civilians.
:17:08. > :17:10.The rebels said they do not have the military capability to conduct
:17:11. > :17:14.The incident is said to have happened near the village
:17:15. > :17:18.of Novosvitlivka near the rebel held city of Luhansk,
:17:19. > :17:24.which is reported to be surrounded by Ukrainian troops.
:17:25. > :17:27.On the line from Donetsk, a city also controlled by
:17:28. > :17:34.pro-Russian rebels, is Andrew Kramer a reporter at the New York Times.
:17:35. > :17:40.Thank you very much for being with us. Do you have any information
:17:41. > :17:48.about this refugee convoy that appears to be hit? Thank you for
:17:49. > :17:52.having me on. The Ukrainian military is saying that rebels fired rockets
:17:53. > :17:58.at a convoy of minibuses carrying women and children out of Lou Hants.
:17:59. > :18:04.The sceptic test government here denies that they did this and denies
:18:05. > :18:09.that the incident occurred, there was no shelling of a convoy and
:18:10. > :18:13.unfortunately it has taken place in a part of the battlefield here that
:18:14. > :18:18.is inaccessible and there has not been any independent confirmation
:18:19. > :18:22.either way. That seems to be the problem with reporting on Ukraine,
:18:23. > :18:26.you get complete denials and contradictions coming from both
:18:27. > :18:30.sides. Something that cannot be denied is the humanitarian crisis
:18:31. > :18:37.that is happening in the Hants and Donetsk as well. That is right.
:18:38. > :18:42.Things are very dire in this region now. There are long lines for water
:18:43. > :18:45.and bread and people have to wait for four hours in the morning to
:18:46. > :18:51.pick up water and there is no electricity and the hospitals are
:18:52. > :18:57.packed and in the maul the electricity has cut off with the
:18:58. > :19:04.refrigeration is all. Despite the hardships the main problems faced by
:19:05. > :19:10.people here is the shelling in the city which is causing great
:19:11. > :19:18.difficulty to them. The bigger issue of ending the war is really what the
:19:19. > :19:21.people here say that they need. Many thanks for talking us -- talking to
:19:22. > :19:23.us from Donetsk. The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
:19:24. > :19:26.says he will leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London soon,
:19:27. > :19:28.after living there for two years. Mr Assange sought refuge
:19:29. > :19:31.in the embassy as part of a bid to That's where he's wanted
:19:32. > :19:46.for questioning over allegations Back in the limelight again, Julia
:19:47. > :19:50.Assange after 26 months in this gilded confinement. As rumours of
:19:51. > :19:54.ill health 's world, was he planning to leave, the world wanted to know,
:19:55. > :20:10.his spokesman had indicated that he was. I am leaving the embassy soon.
:20:11. > :20:13.There is nothing else. A man who made his career out of exposing
:20:14. > :20:18.state secrets was less than forthcoming when asked to direct
:20:19. > :20:24.questions about himself. None of us are any the wiser about how this
:20:25. > :20:28.extraordinary saga will end. Julian Assange first made headlines in 2010
:20:29. > :20:33.when Wikileaks published military document and he says he fears being
:20:34. > :20:37.extradited to the States to face trial but it is to Sweden he faces
:20:38. > :20:41.extradition after allegations of assault were made by two women there
:20:42. > :20:47.and he denies the allegations. An international arrest warrant was
:20:48. > :20:49.made in November 2010. He made a series of appeals against
:20:50. > :20:54.extradition which he eventually lost. He has been under constant
:20:55. > :20:58.guard since seeking refuge there at this embassy and he was later
:20:59. > :21:15.granted asylum. Police are poised to arrest him the moment he steps out.
:21:16. > :21:17.The police operation has so far cost ?6.4 million, most of it in police
:21:18. > :21:20.salaries, with a further ?1.1 million in extra costs. If I was his
:21:21. > :21:23.lawyer I would advise him to leave and face justice in Sweden. There is
:21:24. > :21:25.nothing he can achieve illegally by waiting any further and there is
:21:26. > :21:29.nothing he can achieve diplomatically either. The only way
:21:30. > :21:33.to resolve this is to face justice in Sweden. Inside the embassy he has
:21:34. > :21:35.a treadmill and a special lamp that mimics sunlight but what he does not
:21:36. > :21:43.seem to have is an exit strategy. Myanmar has a long history
:21:44. > :21:45.of civil war. Some of those past conflicts have
:21:46. > :21:47.left behind a patchwork Special Region Number Four, also
:21:48. > :21:51.known as Mong-La, is one such strip It's existed entirely outside
:21:52. > :21:54.central government control for more than 25 years and
:21:55. > :21:57.the area has evolved into a place Our Myanmar correspondent Jonah
:21:58. > :22:15.Fisher has this exclusive report. We are looking for one of the worst
:22:16. > :22:20.kept secrets in Myanmar. Our official guide refused to take us so
:22:21. > :22:27.we have hired motorbikes and heading deep into the eastern Bernie 's
:22:28. > :22:32.jungle. After half an hour of darkness, there are distant and
:22:33. > :22:38.Gerrish lights. It is a gambling complex aimed exclusively at a
:22:39. > :22:44.Chinese customers. Casinos are illegal, both in Myanmar and in
:22:45. > :22:50.mainland China. The 15 gambling halls here are packed. They are not
:22:51. > :22:57.all tourists. Look closely at the people wearing headphones, they work
:22:58. > :23:01.here, placing bets on behalf of clients back in China. The satellite
:23:02. > :23:07.dish outside makes sure that the connection never drops and that the
:23:08. > :23:13.money keeps coming in. Welcome to Mong-La, a Sin city state of
:23:14. > :23:19.gambling, prostitution and drugs. The dystopian consequence of a peace
:23:20. > :23:23.agreement signed 25 years ago. The deal saw Rebel fighters stopped
:23:24. > :23:28.their insurgency and in return at the Birmingham 's government gave
:23:29. > :23:34.them full control over a small strip of land along the Chinese border.
:23:35. > :23:39.There is no real law enforcement here so Mong-La and this market in
:23:40. > :23:42.particular have become notorious for openly trading in the parts of
:23:43. > :23:47.exotic and endangered animals. openly trading in the parts of
:23:48. > :23:52.filmed secretly and saw stalls of ivory, leopard skins, tortoises and
:23:53. > :23:57.snakes. That is the hide of a scaly anteater which is a danger to --
:23:58. > :24:05.Endangered Species Act its scales are used in Chinese medicine. Not
:24:06. > :24:10.far away we see some that are still alive, just about, their cages are
:24:11. > :24:18.outside a restaurant. If this is not to your taste the menu also includes
:24:19. > :24:22.black bear and Bernie 's python. These small Slue in a Mong-La is
:24:23. > :24:29.also shocking. There was no need for us to fill shocking -- secretly at
:24:30. > :24:42.the souvenir shop. -- this small Slue. A small tiger skull. This is
:24:43. > :24:50.about 1000 US dollars. It is thought there are fewer than 4000 tigers now
:24:51. > :24:55.living wild in the whole world. Though part of Myanmar, it is the
:24:56. > :24:59.relationship of Mong-La and China that really counts. At the moment
:25:00. > :25:05.the Chinese provide electricity and investment and every night bus-loads
:25:06. > :25:11.of thrill-seeking tourists. The government of Burma have very little
:25:12. > :25:15.influence. As long as a blind eye is turned to the gambling the weird
:25:16. > :25:26.world of Mong-La will continue to thrive. The German government has
:25:27. > :25:31.received an angry reaction from Turkey after reports that they spied
:25:32. > :25:34.on their ally. Such practices have been called unacceptable and the
:25:35. > :25:39.German media have claimed that the foreign intelligence agency has been
:25:40. > :25:43.eased dropping on Turkish officials since 2009. German opposition has
:25:44. > :25:46.accused the government of hypocrisy because of its own anger over
:25:47. > :25:48.allegations that it was spied on by the United States.
:25:49. > :25:51.One of London's most famous landmarks is getting a wash and
:25:52. > :25:53.brush-up and, because that landmark is Big Ben, it's a pretty big
:25:54. > :25:56.undertaking. The clock faces on The Elizabeth Tower are being cleaned
:25:57. > :25:59.for the first time since 2010 and that means workers having to abseil
:26:00. > :26:03.down to carry out work on the Great Clock. Big Ben will still chime and
:26:04. > :26:06.keep time but the hands will be temporarily paused with the ongoing
:26:07. > :26:10.work. Each of the four faces are made up of 312 pieces of glass with
:26:11. > :26:13.the work expected to take up to five days. Many people know the landmark
:26:14. > :26:17.as Big Ben, but that is the nickname of the bell and not the name of the
:26:18. > :26:33.A quick reminder of our top story. The governor of Missouri has
:26:34. > :26:37.announced he is ending the curfew in Ferguson where there have been by
:26:38. > :26:41.lit clashes between police and protesters following the fatal
:26:42. > :26:45.shooting of the black teenager Michael Brown by a police officer.
:26:46. > :26:55.Thank you for watching. Goodbye for now.
:26:56. > :27:01.Hello there. For the rest of this week it looks as though we will
:27:02. > :27:05.maintain our wind from the north so there will be an edge to the breeze
:27:06. > :27:09.again tomorrow. It will feel chilly and there will be a mixture of
:27:10. > :27:11.sunshine and showers.