18/08/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Daniela Ritorto.

Our top story. The ongoing violence in Missouri

after police kill an unarmed black teenager.

An independent autopsy suggests Michael Brown was in a defensive

position when he was fatally wounded. At least six shots, could

be more, but at least six. Kurdish forces in northern Iraq move

to retake the strategic Mosul dam from Islamic militants -

but not without a battle. While we have been here, couple of

artillery rounds have, over, there are still some fight left in the

Islamic State. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

hints he'll be leaving the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where

he's been holed up for two years. And we visit a lawless border town

in Myanmar, which has become a mecca for Chinese gamblers and traders

in endangered wildlife. Hello and welcome.

We start in the US where lawyers for the family of a black teenager

killed by police, say an independent autopsy confirms he was shot at

least six times, twice in the head. It comes after more than a week

of violent protests. This was the scene on Sunday night,

prompting the Governor of Missouri to extend the curfew and deploy

the US National Guard, a reserve military force, to Ferguson in

St Louis to try to restore order. 18 year old Michael Brown was

unarmed when he was killed by a white police officer on 9th

August following an altercation His family are demanding

the immediate arrest Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool

reports from Ferguson. Chaos once again on the streets of

Missouri. Please use tear gas and sound bombs to clear protesters.

There was a curfew in place of the midnight. The trouble started much

earlier. People in Ferguson say that they feel under siege and would not

stand for it. I am going nowhere, I am going to hospital right now but I

will be back tomorrow. This would be very calm if it was not like police,

acting like were coming here to attack us. Unlike other times when

the police acted first against peaceful protesters, this time it

was clear that some on the streets had a plan to make trouble. The

authorities say that they are now going to deploy troops in the town.

It started with prayers and messages. Of peace and justice. It

took a very different tone, after dark. Molotov cocktail 's were

thrown. There were shootings. Looting. Vandalism. And other acts

of violence. It has been more than a week of violence since police shot

dead Michael Brown, who was 18 and unarmed. Police say they have video

showing in being aggressive and stealing cigars, shop, but they said

the officer who killed him was not aware of the robbery. His family

said they did not trust the police and have commissioned their own

postmortem, which proves he was shot multiple times. He was shot at least

six times. The other critical point that I want everyone to be clear on,

the arm is a very mobile part of the body, so it could have occurred when

he was putting his hands up. When I put my hand up you could see were

that wound is at. It could have been when he was crossing his arms in a

defensive manner, we don't know. Many have been critical of the

tactics used by police since the shooting. The hope is that troops

from the National Guard will restore calm, but local people, who say that

they have been discriminated against for years, will feel all the more

antagonised. In the last few minutes we have had an update. The official

autopsy revealing that Michael Brown was shot 6-8 times. This is

accounting to the county medical examiner, saying that the autopsy

showed that he was hit in the head and the chest. Just one more line to

bring you, that has just happened in the last couple of minutes. There

has been an announcement from the governor of Missouri, that the

curfew for Monday night that we mentioned, has now been lifted. This

is very much a developing story. Let's get some opinion and analysis.

Joining me from Washington DC is the writer and blogger Garfield Hylton.

What is your reaction to the family autopsy revealing that he was shot

six times, and now confirmation from the official examiner that he was

shot, 6-8 times. I believe that is backed up what we have been told all

along, the three or four eyewitness accounts of Michael Brown been shot

all said the same thing, that he was in a defensive posture, he was not

doing anything at the time. There were cases or of shell cases being

35 feet away from the body. Now we can see that he was shot 6-8 times,

twice in the head, and we have found on a couple of minutes ago that he

was also shot in the chest. They have given us three or four

variations as to what has happened, and eyewitness reports have backed

up the autopsy reports. I am not sure what remains to be said at this

point. Do you think the officer should be arrested? Yes, I do. It

does not take 6-8 shots to subdue a person. This leads me to believe

that he had an intent to kill. I want to get your reaction to how

this has been handled politically by President Obama, particularly. We

have heard from Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the UN, wanting

restraint from law enforcement officials in Ferguson, and we have

not heard from President Obama since last Wednesday or Thursday. Do you

think he should be saying more? I read the written statement he

released and I saw the speech he did and I thought that the soft sold it.

True, Rand Paul, his anger was more about big governance and the

militarisation of the police, but he was able to say that black and brown

men are being targeted by the police in America and locked up at a higher

rate. Lots of people like to say that Balmer is everybody's

president, but Michael Brown is an American and he was gunned down by

the police. If you're that we should have had a much stronger statement,

especially the people protesting peacefully, and the police are at

Julie antagonising these peaceful protesters. -- actually

antagonising. Some feel that the president has struck a different

tone compared with the shooting of Trayvon Martin, and his reaction one

year ago after the verdict. But these are very different cases,

involving two different sets of circumstances. The thing about

Trayvon Martin, when he first spoke about that he said it was somebody

who could have been his son. That created a lot of backlash among

people who might have been on the side of Trayvon Martin, that was

used against President Obama. And I think he must have realised that by

him speaking out on Trayvon Martin, it had a negative effect, so he may

have decided to play at a little bit safer on this Michael Brown

shooting. Are you disappointed by that? I think that there are more

things that he could have said, and I know that Rand Paul is not the

president, but I feel I know that Rand Paul is not the

Obama could have spoken out more strongly as regards the fact on

black and brown men in America. Iraqi forces say they're planning

an assault on the northern city of Mosul, a stronghold of

Islamic State militants. It comes as Kurdish

and Iraqi forces claim to have re-captured the strategically

important hydroelectric dam just north of Mosul, a claim denied by IS

fighters who seized it two weeks ago as part of their campaign

across northern Iraq and Syria. The dam is essential

for controlling water supplies and, if destroyed, as many feared

the militants were planning to do, would have sent millions of tonnes

of water crashing through cities Our Correspondent Paul Wood,

travelled close to the dam There were US air strikes this

morning, on either side of the Mosul damn. Fighting is still clearly

going on in the area. The Kurdish and Iraqi military say that they

have recaptured the dam complex itself. Special forces are checking

for bombs and booby-traps. Who controls this lake controls the

water supply for most of the country, and blowing up the dam

could send a 20 metre wall of water towards Mosul, washing away a city

of 2 million people. So the Kurds, the Iraqi government and the US

could not allow the down to remain in the hands of rebel fighters. They

are under strict orders not to talk about this operation. We followed

the path cleared by the Kurdish forces. A few days ago, this road

and the villages either side were in the hands of the Islamic State. The

jihad would not leave easily. We reach a Kurdish forward artillery

position. Just two weeks ago, Kurdish units were put to flight by

Islamic State, and now they are supported by US air power overhead

and are pushing them back. They are making steady progress, confident of

the eventual success of this operation. Islamic State are just

two miles away from this battery, they say. A ground rocket launcher

is used to push them back still further. That plume of smoke behind

me is a village that the Kurds say was set alight by jihadis as they

retreated. The Kurds are confident they are pushing back the Islamic

State, but there have been a couple of artillery rounds come at us, so

there are still some fight in the jihadis on this part of the front

line. The recapture of the dam, if confirmed, would be the most

significant victory yet in the battle against the Islamic State.

The fight for the city of Mosul will be much harder. But this is just one

of many battlefronts against the Islamic State, throughout Iraq. We

can talk to Professor Gareth Stansfield who has returned to the

UK from northern Iraq. He is speaking to me from our Exeter

studio. As we just heard, Kurdish and Iraqi forces are thinking about

retaking Mosul, but that is not going to be easy. But they have been

posted by Western intervention. Yes, the Kurdish forces had a very

difficult time. They found themselves outgunned and

outmanoeuvred by the Islamic State forces, but now the American attacks

seem to have taken out the heavy armour of Islamic State and a lot of

their artillery pieces, and the new abutment and ammunition that has

come to the Kurdish forces as emboldened them. Now they are

coordinating efforts against Islamic State going forward, but Mosul is a

very large city in which Islamic State is firmly rooted, and retaking

that'll be a very difficult task indeed. Give us the sense of Western

intervention through air strikes, and arming the Kurds, and whether

that is working. It is working up to a point. It helps them protect the

Kurdish region of Iraq. It takes some pressure off the Yazidi

population that had been subjected to genocide. But the removal of

Islamic State as a political and military threat, there needs to be a

new articulation of what that means and what strategy will be followed

to remove them. If you air strikes and encouraging the Kurdish militia

and the Iraqi security forces is not going to be enough. What would

victory looked like, what would be the end of the mission? I don't

think anybody has actually said this, including David Cameron and

President Obama. Beyond limiting the activities of ISIS, from the map of

the Middle East and reinstate the borders of Iraq and Syria, to

rebuild the Iraqi political process so that it incorporates all of its

communities, including Sunni Muslims that had been marginalised, then

that is an extremely big task, and one that nobody is articulating, but

everybody seems to be moving towards. Erbil is the capital of the

Kurdish region. If the Kurds manage to fight off ISIS, what is the

ultimate reward, is it an independent state? They want to have

the right to express self-determination in future.

Self-determination can have a variety of outcomes including

autonomy, a binational federation between Kurds and Arabs, or the

setting up of an independent state. I think they will have to gauge

carefully what the region and the international community will allow

them to do, whether they will be allowed to move towards secession,

whether that would be respected, but ultimately, if they feel that they

can be independent and control their own oil exports, and the masters of

their own destiny, then independence for the Kurds in Iraq is a very

attractive proposition, but it still may be a little time off, as there

is a lot of pressure from the Americans to maintain --

Now a look at some of the days other news.

The United Nations health agency is urging countries affected by Ebola

to screen all passengers leaving international ports,

The World Health Organisation says anyone suspected of having the virus

Israeli troops have demolished the homes of two Palestinians

suspected of murdering three Israeli teenagers.

The killings triggered the latest conflict in Gaza.

The demolition comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continue

A ceasefire in Gaza is due to expire in just under three hours.

The Pakistan opposition party led by Imran Khan has announced that

its members will resign their seats in the national

parliament to try to force the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to quit.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party says last year's national

The Ukrainian authorities say a convoy of refugees has been hit

by fire from mortars and Grad rocket launchers

in the rebel-controlled region of Luhansk, killing many civilians.

The rebels said they do not have the military capability to conduct

The incident is said to have happened near the village

of Novosvitlivka near the rebel held city of Luhansk,

which is reported to be surrounded by Ukrainian troops.

On the line from Donetsk, a city also controlled by

pro-Russian rebels, is Andrew Kramer a reporter at the New York Times.

Thank you very much for being with us. Do you have any information

about this refugee convoy that appears to be hit? Thank you for

having me on. The Ukrainian military is saying that rebels fired rockets

at a convoy of minibuses carrying women and children out of Lou Hants.

The sceptic test government here denies that they did this and denies

that the incident occurred, there was no shelling of a convoy and

unfortunately it has taken place in a part of the battlefield here that

is inaccessible and there has not been any independent confirmation

either way. That seems to be the problem with reporting on Ukraine,

you get complete denials and contradictions coming from both

sides. Something that cannot be denied is the humanitarian crisis

that is happening in the Hants and Donetsk as well. That is right.

Things are very dire in this region now. There are long lines for water

and bread and people have to wait for four hours in the morning to

pick up water and there is no electricity and the hospitals are

packed and in the maul the electricity has cut off with the

refrigeration is all. Despite the hardships the main problems faced by

people here is the shelling in the city which is causing great

difficulty to them. The bigger issue of ending the war is really what the

people here say that they need. Many thanks for talking us -- talking to

us from Donetsk. The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

says he will leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London soon,

after living there for two years. Mr Assange sought refuge

in the embassy as part of a bid to That's where he's wanted

for questioning over allegations Back in the limelight again, Julia

Assange after 26 months in this gilded confinement. As rumours of

ill health 's world, was he planning to leave, the world wanted to know,

his spokesman had indicated that he was. I am leaving the embassy soon.

There is nothing else. A man who made his career out of exposing

state secrets was less than forthcoming when asked to direct

questions about himself. None of us are any the wiser about how this

extraordinary saga will end. Julian Assange first made headlines in 2010

when Wikileaks published military document and he says he fears being

extradited to the States to face trial but it is to Sweden he faces

extradition after allegations of assault were made by two women there

and he denies the allegations. An international arrest warrant was

made in November 2010. He made a series of appeals against

extradition which he eventually lost. He has been under constant

guard since seeking refuge there at this embassy and he was later

granted asylum. Police are poised to arrest him the moment he steps out.

The police operation has so far cost ?6.4 million, most of it in police

salaries, with a further ?1.1 million in extra costs. If I was his

lawyer I would advise him to leave and face justice in Sweden. There is

nothing he can achieve illegally by waiting any further and there is

nothing he can achieve diplomatically either. The only way

to resolve this is to face justice in Sweden. Inside the embassy he has

a treadmill and a special lamp that mimics sunlight but what he does not

seem to have is an exit strategy. Myanmar has a long history

of civil war. Some of those past conflicts have

left behind a patchwork Special Region Number Four, also

known as Mong-La, is one such strip It's existed entirely outside

central government control for more than 25 years and

the area has evolved into a place Our Myanmar correspondent Jonah

Fisher has this exclusive report. We are looking for one of the worst

kept secrets in Myanmar. Our official guide refused to take us so

we have hired motorbikes and heading deep into the eastern Bernie 's

jungle. After half an hour of darkness, there are distant and

Gerrish lights. It is a gambling complex aimed exclusively at a

Chinese customers. Casinos are illegal, both in Myanmar and in

mainland China. The 15 gambling halls here are packed. They are not

all tourists. Look closely at the people wearing headphones, they work

here, placing bets on behalf of clients back in China. The satellite

dish outside makes sure that the connection never drops and that the

money keeps coming in. Welcome to Mong-La, a Sin city state of

gambling, prostitution and drugs. The dystopian consequence of a peace

agreement signed 25 years ago. The deal saw Rebel fighters stopped

their insurgency and in return at the Birmingham 's government gave

them full control over a small strip of land along the Chinese border.

There is no real law enforcement here so Mong-La and this market in

particular have become notorious for openly trading in the parts of

exotic and endangered animals. openly trading in the parts of

filmed secretly and saw stalls of ivory, leopard skins, tortoises and

snakes. That is the hide of a scaly anteater which is a danger to --

Endangered Species Act its scales are used in Chinese medicine. Not

far away we see some that are still alive, just about, their cages are

outside a restaurant. If this is not to your taste the menu also includes

black bear and Bernie 's python. These small Slue in a Mong-La is

also shocking. There was no need for us to fill shocking -- secretly at

the souvenir shop. -- this small Slue. A small tiger skull. This is

about 1000 US dollars. It is thought there are fewer than 4000 tigers now

living wild in the whole world. Though part of Myanmar, it is the

relationship of Mong-La and China that really counts. At the moment

the Chinese provide electricity and investment and every night bus-loads

of thrill-seeking tourists. The government of Burma have very little

influence. As long as a blind eye is turned to the gambling the weird

world of Mong-La will continue to thrive. The German government has

received an angry reaction from Turkey after reports that they spied

on their ally. Such practices have been called unacceptable and the

German media have claimed that the foreign intelligence agency has been

eased dropping on Turkish officials since 2009. German opposition has

accused the government of hypocrisy because of its own anger over

allegations that it was spied on by the United States.

One of London's most famous landmarks is getting a wash and

brush-up and, because that landmark is Big Ben, it's a pretty big

undertaking. The clock faces on The Elizabeth Tower are being cleaned

for the first time since 2010 and that means workers having to abseil

down to carry out work on the Great Clock. Big Ben will still chime and

keep time but the hands will be temporarily paused with the ongoing

work. Each of the four faces are made up of 312 pieces of glass with

the work expected to take up to five days. Many people know the landmark

as Big Ben, but that is the nickname of the bell and not the name of the

A quick reminder of our top story. The governor of Missouri has

announced he is ending the curfew in Ferguson where there have been by

lit clashes between police and protesters following the fatal

shooting of the black teenager Michael Brown by a police officer.

Thank you for watching. Goodbye for now.

Hello there. For the rest of this week it looks as though we will

maintain our wind from the north so there will be an edge to the breeze

again tomorrow. It will feel chilly and there will be a mixture of

sunshine and showers.