:00:08. > :00:19.This is BBC World News Today with me Philippa Thomas.
:00:20. > :00:22.It's claimed another journalist held by militants in Syria is killed.
:00:23. > :00:24.The Islamic State militant group says it has killed Steven Sotloff
:00:25. > :00:27.and threatens more deaths unless what it calls
:00:28. > :00:29.the evil alliance of America stops its campaign against them.
:00:30. > :00:31.Ukrainian soldiers trying to stage a retreat
:00:32. > :00:32.in the east claim they were ambushed and shot by pro-Russian rebels
:00:33. > :00:51.while they were waving white flags. We've given the corridor get out.
:00:52. > :00:53.They've given the corridor to exit and they were shot. It a violation
:00:54. > :01:06.of international conventions. successes against IS rebels while
:01:07. > :01:08.a new human rights report accuses Islamic State militants of ethnic
:01:09. > :01:11.cleansing on a massive scale. And from food to fine art
:01:12. > :01:12.and even building materials - we'll explain why China's
:01:13. > :01:38.in the middle of a museum boom. We start with some
:01:39. > :01:41.breaking news this hour. A video has been released
:01:42. > :01:43.on the internet purporting to show the beheading of the American
:01:44. > :01:45.journalist, Steven Sotloff, by Islamic State militants.
:01:46. > :01:48.The video shows Mr Sotloff dressed in a jumpsuit on his knees
:01:49. > :01:49.beside an IS fighter with a knife. The US State Department made
:01:50. > :02:01.this statement a short time ago. This is something that the
:02:02. > :02:07.administration has been watching very carefully since the threat
:02:08. > :02:13.against his life was made a few weeks ago. Our thoughts and
:02:14. > :02:18.prayers, first of all, are with his friends and family. The United
:02:19. > :02:27.States has dedicated significant time and re-sources to try and
:02:28. > :02:32.rescue Steven Sotloff. I am not in a position to confirm the authenticity
:02:33. > :02:36.of that video or the reports. If there is a video that has been
:02:37. > :02:39.released, it is something that will be analysed very carefully by the US
:02:40. > :02:45.government and our officials. this statement a short time ago.
:02:46. > :02:46.Let's get the latest from our North America Correspondent Rajini
:02:47. > :02:56.Vaidyanathan in Washington. Are there any more details coming
:02:57. > :03:01.through? We have heard more details from the
:03:02. > :03:10.state department. A similar message from US officials. They are working
:03:11. > :03:22.to confirm the video authenticity. But if the video is genuine, they
:03:23. > :03:28.would be second by this brutal act. The White House has said they have
:03:29. > :03:37.dedicated research is to try to release Steven Sotloff. His mother
:03:38. > :03:43.made a direct appeal to the fighters asking for his release. We
:03:44. > :03:47.understand that the jihadis are saying they may not stop there.
:03:48. > :03:58.That's right. I have not watched the video, but what I am reading is that
:03:59. > :04:03.in the video they say that this is because of your arrogant attitude
:04:04. > :04:09.towards the Islamic State. At the end of the video, they make
:04:10. > :04:15.to kill a third hostage, believed to be a British national.
:04:16. > :04:17.to kill a third hostage, believed to Now to the crisis in Ukraine.
:04:18. > :04:22.President Petro Poroshenko has signed a new conscription law
:04:23. > :04:25.as Kiev officials say 15 servicemen have died in the last 24 hours
:04:26. > :04:28.in the east of the country, and his defence minister has warned
:04:29. > :04:29.of a great war brewing with neighbouring Russia.
:04:30. > :04:32.Meanwhile, Britain's Defence Minister Julian
:04:33. > :04:36.Brazier has said UK troops may take part in a joint military exercise
:04:37. > :04:37.in Ukraine later this month. And after NATO's announcement that
:04:38. > :04:43.it will establish a rapid reaction force in
:04:44. > :04:47.Eastern Europe, Russia said it will review its military strategy.
:04:48. > :04:50.This ratcheting up of diplomatic tensions comes
:04:51. > :04:54.as the Ukrainian army alleges its forces were attacked while trying
:04:55. > :04:59.to retreat through what was intended to be a humanitarian corridor
:05:00. > :05:03.outside Donetsk on Saturday. The Ukrainian government said
:05:04. > :05:09.its armed forces were surrounded and put under relentless attack by
:05:10. > :05:11.pro-Russian rebels around the town of Ilovaysk, south east of Donetsk.
:05:12. > :05:22.Our Kiev correspondent David Stern has the details.
:05:23. > :05:29.In Kiev, they are demanding changes immediately. The Ukraine government
:05:30. > :05:50.is coming under pressure from all sides. These images show the
:05:51. > :05:57.has the details. Ilovaysk,
:05:58. > :06:02.town of... Ukrainians were promised safe passage
:06:03. > :06:08.town of... Ukrainians were promised they left at the weekend, they say
:06:09. > :06:16.they were ambushed. Maybe as many as 100 died. The rebels deny this. A
:06:17. > :06:19.convoy was captured, everything was taken away. The purpose of this
:06:20. > :06:26.convoy was to take away the injured. But there were too many
:06:27. > :06:29.military vehicles and too many armed men. That is why both convoys were
:06:30. > :06:34.military vehicles and too many armed surrounded and captured, basically
:06:35. > :06:42.without fighting. But the Ukrainians claim it was a war crime. They were
:06:43. > :06:49.given the corridor to get out. Nobody was shot, well they were shot
:06:50. > :06:55.given the corridor to exit and they were shot shot. It is a violation of
:06:56. > :06:59.international conventions. Reports say that hundreds of Ukrainian
:07:00. > :07:03.soldiers may have been taken captive. These images show some of
:07:04. > :07:09.them. The pictures come from the rebels, but they clearly show
:07:10. > :07:16.abuses. A soldier is hit. Others are humiliated. They are told they will
:07:17. > :07:21.be subject to forced Labour. Some of the prisoners have reportedly been
:07:22. > :07:29.released. The fate of others is unknown. Reports of what happened in
:07:30. > :07:34.the town and its aftermath are only now beginning to filter out. Anger
:07:35. > :07:38.is rising at the rebels and at the government who people see abandoned
:07:39. > :07:43.the forces. The Ukrainian president has promised changes to the
:07:44. > :07:50.military. The question is, can he make them fast enough?
:07:51. > :07:53.Vitaliy Shevchenko is a Ukrainian specialist at BBC Monitoring who's
:07:54. > :07:58.been working to verify some of those images we just showed you.
:07:59. > :08:05.What struck you about what you were seeing there? First of all, the
:08:06. > :08:10.brutal nature of what is happening in Ukraine. It is very graphic,
:08:11. > :08:18.shopping in places. We have to watch it because when you are dealing with
:08:19. > :08:23.a crisis like that, it is sometimes the only source of information of
:08:24. > :08:28.what is happening. Because it is a war zone, it is very dangerous
:08:29. > :08:35.there. Few reporters adventure into that part of Ukraine. How did you
:08:36. > :08:40.track down the pictures, or ten point them in terms of geography?
:08:41. > :08:48.Basically, it is a matter of knowing where to look and being able to tell
:08:49. > :08:54.falsehoods from the truth. I am originally from Eastern Ukraine and
:08:55. > :09:01.it helps to know the way people usually speak, the way they dress, a
:09:02. > :09:10.kind of cars they drive, the general feel of the area. We knew from
:09:11. > :09:15.official reports from Kiev and rebel claims that there has been a massive
:09:16. > :09:19.battle there and something major has happened. Then we started seeing
:09:20. > :09:27.video clips posted on you tube of prisoners of war, dead bodies and
:09:28. > :09:33.military hardware that used to belong to the Ukrainian army, burnt
:09:34. > :09:41.out and devastated in the fighting. Thank you for your time.
:09:42. > :09:44.I am going to remind you of our breaking news which is the Islamic
:09:45. > :09:50.State jihadists claiming that they have killed Steven Sotloff. Are
:09:51. > :09:56.making use, the State Department has just said that if the video that was
:09:57. > :10:02.released allegedly showing the killing is genuine, they are second.
:10:03. > :10:04.They say they are second, the White House has said their thoughts and
:10:05. > :10:10.prayers are with the family. Now to the crisis in Iraq where
:10:11. > :10:13.Amnesty International says Islamic State militants have committed
:10:14. > :10:17.a wave of ethnic cleansing across the north of the country accusing
:10:18. > :10:19.the group of turning the region The human rights group says it has
:10:20. > :10:24.evidence IS has committed atrocities against minorities,
:10:25. > :10:27.including mass murder. The report says
:10:28. > :10:32.at least 1,000 Yazidis have been killed in recent weeks with close to
:10:33. > :10:37.2,750 kidnapped or enslaved. And as the Islamic State continues
:10:38. > :10:39.to claim large parts of Northern Iraq and Syria,
:10:40. > :10:42.more than one million people have The United Nations Human Rights
:10:43. > :10:49.Commissioner has also denounced the action of the Islamic State
:10:50. > :10:52.fighters. Joining me via webcam from Geneva
:10:53. > :11:04.is spokesman Rupert Colville. Thank you for being with us. Is this
:11:05. > :11:13.a case of an ethnic cleansing campaign? Yes, that is what we
:11:14. > :11:17.believe. Ethnic and religious cleansing. Widespread and systematic
:11:18. > :11:25.persecution on the basis of religion are there as now sitting -- or their
:11:26. > :11:29.ethnicity. This amounts to crimes against humanity. Atrocities are
:11:30. > :11:35.taking place on an extraordinary scale and on a daily basis. We have
:11:36. > :11:44.heard about the Yazidis, the baby had been pursued and treated. Is
:11:45. > :12:06.this a case of the Islamic State perceiving all who are not of the
:12:07. > :12:15.SUNY faith -- Sunni. Yes, they are perceiving and removing people from
:12:16. > :12:19.areas in Iraq. Many minorities, some of them ancient, and they have all
:12:20. > :12:34.lived together fairly harmoniously for centuries. But Sunnis are also
:12:35. > :12:41.being targeted, we have a report of 19 been executed for not
:12:42. > :12:48.cooperating. Sunni Clerics being killed as well. What can the United
:12:49. > :12:53.Nations do to attract the perpetrators and eventually try to
:12:54. > :12:59.bring them to justice? -- to track. We are doing our utmost. There is a
:13:00. > :13:04.human rights team in Iraq, working with the United Nations operation
:13:05. > :13:13.there. They are doing their best to track and verify reports. There is
:13:14. > :13:18.an horrendous litany of crimes and murder and sexual exploitation of
:13:19. > :13:22.people. After the human rights Council resolution yesterday, they
:13:23. > :13:33.have asked us to send another team in specifically to focus on the
:13:34. > :13:36.region. The spotlight will remain on what they are doing. But they seem
:13:37. > :13:41.to be utterly shameless, they do not hide it. They broadcast and do these
:13:42. > :13:47.horrendous videos showing mass executions. What are your fears for
:13:48. > :13:57.civilians who are still be in cities like Mosul? Are fears are high,
:13:58. > :14:12.especially for the many minorities who are still in the. Particularly
:14:13. > :14:17.in Saint Jarder -- Sinjar. Some groups have been given options to
:14:18. > :14:28.convert, but there have been killings as well. The Yazidis were
:14:29. > :14:31.given no choice, convert or die. Thank you.
:14:32. > :14:33.Now a look at some of the day's other news.
:14:34. > :14:36.Experts who were asked to look at claims that young girls have
:14:37. > :14:39.been systematically sexually groomed and abused in the Yorkshire town
:14:40. > :14:41.of Rotherham have spoken publicly for the first time.
:14:42. > :14:43.They've talked of their frustration after their reports into
:14:44. > :14:46.the 16-year scandal were ignored and their findings suppressed.
:14:47. > :14:50.It finally emerged last week that about 1,400 children were sexually
:14:51. > :14:54.exploited in Rotherham, right up until last year.
:14:55. > :14:57.The US has carried out a military air strike in Somalia on
:14:58. > :15:01.a convoy carrying the leader of the radical Islamist group Al Shabab.
:15:02. > :15:04.It's unclear if Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in the drone strike
:15:05. > :15:07.and a Pentagon spokesman said it was assessing the results
:15:08. > :15:12.The air strike comes days after African Union troops
:15:13. > :15:15.and government troops launched a major offensive aimed at seizing
:15:16. > :15:22.Pakistan's Parliament has held an emergency session over the current
:15:23. > :15:27.The session of both houses is an attempt to rally support behind
:15:28. > :15:32.Clashes between security forces and demonstrators continued
:15:33. > :15:35.for a third day on Monday in the capital Islamabad,
:15:36. > :15:40.with the protesters calling for the Prime Minister to resign.
:15:41. > :15:43.Scientists in Singapore say they've made a breakthrough in hopes
:15:44. > :15:47.of finding a cure for dengue fever, a flu-like illness spread by
:15:48. > :16:00.mosquito bites which tends to kill more than 20,000 people a year.
:16:01. > :16:01.British prosecutors have withdrawn the European Arrest Warrant
:16:02. > :16:04.against the parents of a five-year-old with a brain
:16:05. > :16:06.tumour, parents who are being held in custody in Madrid while
:16:07. > :16:09.Brett and Naghemeh King took their family
:16:10. > :16:12.to Spain last week after taking five-year-old Ashya out of hospital
:16:13. > :16:17.They insist they were taking him to get treatment that's only
:16:18. > :16:34.He has been at the centre than extraordinary week of human and
:16:35. > :16:38.legal drama, but Ashya King's immediate ordeal may now be over.
:16:39. > :16:42.His parents, Brett and now dammit, no longer face an arrest warrant in
:16:43. > :16:46.Spain, after the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew its case. --
:16:47. > :16:50.Naghemeh King. From Britain's point of view, they are free to go and be
:16:51. > :16:57.reunited with their son. That means they focused has turned to the
:16:58. > :17:01.Spanish prison the talkings has been moved to, and the formalities of
:17:02. > :17:04.Spanish bureaucracy to release them. Tonight, in a new video recorded
:17:05. > :17:08.before the arrest warrant was dropped, the family thanked the
:17:09. > :17:11.public for its massive support. I'd just like to say thank you to
:17:12. > :17:14.everyone. So many people spending so many
:17:15. > :17:17.hours in social media, spreading the word, and I'd like to say thank you
:17:18. > :17:21.to everyone. That support included a 100,000
:17:22. > :17:24.strong petition delivered to Downing Street today, calling for the
:17:25. > :17:28.parents to be released. The government said it welcomed the
:17:29. > :17:33.prosecutor's decision to drop its case against the family. I hope we
:17:34. > :17:35.have a good resolution in place, whether to get independent advice
:17:36. > :17:42.that they trust, and that we can make sure the most important thing
:17:43. > :17:46.happens all, which is that Ashya gets the right treatment for the
:17:47. > :17:51.situation he isn't. This letter reveals why Hampshire
:17:52. > :17:54.Police dropped the prosecution. Written by the Chief Constable to
:17:55. > :17:59.legal officials, it says, it is our view that Ashya need of medical
:18:00. > :18:03.treatment and for his parents to be at his side. Our intent was to
:18:04. > :18:09.secure his safety, not to deny him family support in this particularly
:18:10. > :18:12.challenging time in his life. In a separate development,
:18:13. > :18:15.Southampton General Hospital said today it would now be holding an
:18:16. > :18:20.internal enquiry into the events of the past week. It also said they
:18:21. > :18:24.would not object to Test being sent to that clinic in Prague to receive
:18:25. > :18:28.proton beam treatment, which is family have been calling for long.
:18:29. > :18:32.The hospital said it would not recommend it.
:18:33. > :18:37.These events in Ashya's life have been played out across the past six
:18:38. > :18:40.extraordinary days. It was last Thursday his parents took Ashya from
:18:41. > :18:46.hospital, boarded a ferry to France, before police were alerted.
:18:47. > :18:50.On Friday, a European arrest warrant was obtained. Ashya was made a ward
:18:51. > :18:53.of court. And then on Saturday, Ashya was found in Malaga, and
:18:54. > :18:59.admitted to hospital, as his parents were arrested. This delicate, sick
:19:00. > :19:03.little boy has become the subject of claim and counteraccusations.
:19:04. > :19:06.A week of ethics, police searches and a family driven by the need to
:19:07. > :19:09.save his life. A combination of law and love at the
:19:10. > :19:23.heart of this story. Just to remind you of our breaking
:19:24. > :19:27.news, a video has been released on the internet purporting to show the
:19:28. > :19:34.death of the American hostage Steven Sotloff by Islamic State militants.
:19:35. > :19:37.Mr Sotloff, a journalist, was abducted in Syria last August. I
:19:38. > :19:42.will warn you, we are about to show a still from the video of Steven
:19:43. > :19:45.Sotloff before he is killed. We have decided to show you this still, not
:19:46. > :19:50.to broadcast anything else from the video, and while showing you, you
:19:51. > :19:57.can see he is there in an orange jumpsuit. The Islamic State
:19:58. > :20:01.militants have released this video, we think, although the White House
:20:02. > :20:06.has said they haven't been able to establish the authenticity of the
:20:07. > :20:12.video yet. I think we can go to our North American correspondent, in
:20:13. > :20:15.Washington. Obviously, taking great care here about the voracity of this
:20:16. > :20:21.video, but what are you hearing from the White House, from the State
:20:22. > :20:27.Department to macro? What we are hearing that
:20:28. > :20:30.intelligence officials here are working extremely hard to try to
:20:31. > :20:34.determine the authenticity of the video. Any last few seconds, we have
:20:35. > :20:37.heard from the Pentagon, who say they are monitoring the situation as
:20:38. > :20:40.best that they can, and they say they cannot confirm the authenticity
:20:41. > :20:44.of the video, but that their thoughts and prayers continue to go
:20:45. > :20:47.out to the family. A similar message from the White House and the State
:20:48. > :20:50.Department, he said that if the video was genuine, they would be
:20:51. > :20:55.sickened by what they describe as a brutal act. I think once
:20:56. > :20:58.intelligence officials here in Washington are able to confirm the
:20:59. > :21:02.authenticity of the video, that is when we will hear from someone
:21:03. > :21:06.senior in the administration coming out on camera and giving a reaction.
:21:07. > :21:10.That could indeed be President Obama, although he is due to take
:21:11. > :21:14.off for a trip to Estonia, and then, of course, Wales for the NATO
:21:15. > :21:18.summit. His flight is due to leave in about an hour. Intelligence
:21:19. > :21:22.officials can confirm the authenticity before then, there is
:21:23. > :21:25.the possibility, and this is only me guessing, that President Obama could
:21:26. > :21:29.make some kind of statement before he bought apples one.
:21:30. > :21:33.It adds to the pressure, as well, on NATO leaders, over whether they can
:21:34. > :21:40.do anything to halt the rise of Islamic State, which is threatening
:21:41. > :21:43.NATO's borders, almost. That is right, and that is something
:21:44. > :21:48.that President Obama will be discussing with his counterpart when
:21:49. > :21:54.he is in Wales. Last week, President Obama made a statement about whether
:21:55. > :21:57.or not he is considering taking action against Islamic State
:21:58. > :22:02.fighters in Syria. We of course know that more than 100 air strikes have
:22:03. > :22:08.already been carried out by the US against the Islamic State in the.
:22:09. > :22:11.What President Obama said is that he would use the opportunity to meet
:22:12. > :22:17.other allies and discuss a wider act of cooperation, what the US could do
:22:18. > :22:20.in the region, and Secretary of State John Kerry is also planning to
:22:21. > :22:25.visit various countries in the Middle East to also speak to allies.
:22:26. > :22:29.So, that is the next step. We already know the US has carried out
:22:30. > :22:31.surveillance flights over Syria, but no action on that yet from the
:22:32. > :22:37.president. Thank you very much.
:22:38. > :22:40.And now, a different kind of American story. The FBI is
:22:41. > :22:45.investigating allegations that the online accounts of dozens of
:22:46. > :22:48.celebrities have been hacked. This led to explicit photos of some
:22:49. > :22:54.of Hollywood's most famous actresses being posted online. Our technology
:22:55. > :22:59.correspondent reports. It is Hollywood against the hackers.
:23:00. > :23:03.Jennifer Lawrence is just one of the celebrities whose private, sometimes
:23:04. > :23:07.intimate photos were stolen. They are now demanding action, and the
:23:08. > :23:10.FBI is hunting the thieves. It was on this site that the voters were
:23:11. > :23:15.first posted. How they got here still is not clear. One theory is
:23:16. > :23:17.that the celebrities were using Apple's iCloud service to store
:23:18. > :23:24.their pictures, and someone, somehow, found out their passwords.
:23:25. > :23:28.Apple will only say it is investigating. What exactly is the
:23:29. > :23:32.cloud? Here is an example. I taken there with a picture on my phone,
:23:33. > :23:35.and within moments, it appears this tablet computer. It appears this
:23:36. > :23:39.tablet computer. They a bank of computers and could not in the sky,
:23:40. > :23:43.but firmly on the ground. Those computers belong to firms like
:23:44. > :23:47.Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, and in theory, your data
:23:48. > :23:52.should be safe in their clouds, as long as it is protected by good,
:23:53. > :23:56.secure passwords. This man advises celebrities are making their phones
:23:57. > :23:59.and computers safe. He says the emotional impact of being hacked
:24:00. > :24:04.shouldn't be underestimated. We are talking about photographs
:24:05. > :24:09.that are very intimate and very private, and those being published
:24:10. > :24:14.to the wider Web and to anyone who wants to live in and see them as to
:24:15. > :24:16.have a massive psychological impact on the people that
:24:17. > :24:19.have a massive psychological impact Millions now use the cloud to store
:24:20. > :24:29.and share personal data, but Hollywood stars have shown
:24:30. > :24:31.China, as you know, is a growing economic superpower,
:24:32. > :24:34.but it's also keen to spread its influence on the cultural scene.
:24:35. > :24:36.As a result, many more museums are springing up there.
:24:37. > :24:39.In fact, a new museum opened in China almost every day last year.
:24:40. > :24:42.Some have rather unusual themes, as our Beijing correspondent
:24:43. > :24:48.You would be forgiven for thinking it is a joke, but welcome to
:24:49. > :24:52.Beijing's latest cultural offering. A museum devoted to roast duck. That
:24:53. > :24:57.is right. A history of the capital's most famous dish. It was
:24:58. > :25:01.built by a Chinese restaurant chain, and most of the visitors here
:25:02. > :25:07.are actually peckish customers, waiting to be fed. TRANSLATION:
:25:08. > :25:12.Young people don't know much about history, so when we visit museums,
:25:13. > :25:16.we learn about our past. It is like travelling back in time.
:25:17. > :25:16.Roasting travelling back in time.
:25:17. > :25:21.all rubber. If you think travelling back in time.
:25:22. > :25:30.fashion, there is fruit, you can go to the watermelon
:25:31. > :25:36.museum. If you fruit, you can go to the watermelon
:25:37. > :25:40.museum for that as well. China's cultural scene has
:25:41. > :25:49.flourished in recent years. One of the big success stories here in
:25:50. > :25:52.Beijing's Art district. Across China, a new museum opened its door
:25:53. > :25:57.almost every day last year. TRANSLATION:
:25:58. > :26:02.This curator tells me the building boom is all part of improving the
:26:03. > :26:07.country's image. TRANSLATION: The government realises
:26:08. > :26:10.that economic success is not enough. Soft power and the creative
:26:11. > :26:17.industries must now play an important role improving
:26:18. > :26:20.industries must now play an There is a huge appetite for museums
:26:21. > :26:26.here, with more than 100 new ones expected to open their doors this
:26:27. > :26:29.year. But if, in China, censorship is always at play, if there is
:26:30. > :26:34.anything controversial, those museums will be forced to shut down.
:26:35. > :26:39.And that means it is fine to serve up plastic food. But anything
:26:40. > :26:44.politically sensitive is strictly off the menu.
:26:45. > :26:50.You can also talk to me about this or any other of our