22/09/2014 World News Today

This is World News Today. 130,000 Kurdish refugees have fled north

from Syria to Turkey. The biggest single exodus since Syria's war

began. Some of these refugees say they are escaping massacres at the

hands of Islamic state fighters. The UN at UG agency says they urgently

need food and winter clothing. Tesco admitted overstating its profits,

but will check out that we the share prices are flat.

Gushing oil, America's black gold, was the foundation of his empire.

Today the giants of the oil industry stand as monuments to Rockefeller,

The Rockefeller family which made its name and its fortune in oil,

says it is switching to clean energy. Plus searching for the

secrets of the dead world. NASA 's latest mission to mask is into orbit

around the red planet. -- mission to Mars.

single exodus of refugees from Syria. As could escape north across

the Turkish border, Turkey is no closing its border crossings against

those getting away from Islamic State fighters. In the last three

days, more than 130,000 Kurds across the border into Turkey on top of the

million-plus Syrian refugees who are already there. Most of the recent

influx of come from the predominately Kurdish towns which

are being threatened by Islamic State militants, but to the it's

also clashing with Kurds try to get back into Syria to fight Islamic

State. Our reporter has been speaking to refugees. They took what

they could and headed north. Away from the danger of militant

fighters, and towards the sanctuary of Turkey. 130,000 Syrian Kurds have

now arrived carrying remnants of their lives. Even the weakest forced

to flee. At a Turkish government facility, they are registered and

attempt to take control of the influx. Outside we met this woman

with her baby, born yesterday before crossing the border. Imagine the

terror that drove her to leave on the day she gave birth. She had not

yet given him a name. TRANSLATION: No country helped us,

no country cares. They attacked us, killing our people, livestock and

burning our homes. Fierce bans the generations. This woman says does

not know her age but thinks she is 78. She fled with 28 members of

their family. TRANSLATION: I cannot go back to my

village because we lost everything. We are on our own and no one is left

there. Anyone who escaped could and those who stayed, were killed.

Turkish authorities that our provision for 100,000 people to come

over but that's already been far exceeded. The numbers in the space

of four days alone would overwhelm any country. Officials say another

200,000 could still come. As Islamic State fighters closing. Their

target, the Syrian Kurdish cities powerless leak close to the Turkish

border. They have attacked dozens of nearby villages. Today, Kurdish

fighters pushed them back. But the Islamic State spokesman said Kurds

would be killed because they are allied with the West.

TRANSLATION: Our war with code that religious war, not a nationalistic

war for that we do not fight them because they are Kurds. Rather be

fight the disbelievers amongst them, the allies of the Crusaders.

On the border, clashes the game between Turkish troops and local

Kurds, blocked from crossing into Syria to battle Islamic State.

Turkey fears the fighting may spread into its own territory. The tension

here has boiled over. As Turkey tries to find a home for the new

arrivals, they take refuge in the local mosque. This country are

struggling to cope as more waves are prepared to come, seeking solace

from a growing threat. Let's go live now to our reporter.

You said the Turkish forces have also been involved in some clashes

with Kurdish would-be fighters, a lot of history here, of course. A

lot of history, Philip, and a lot of simmering tension which has come to

the surface. With this influx of Kurdish refugees. Kurds and Turks

fought a long and bloody civil war, and there was a fragile peace which

is still just about holding but it is shaken by this refugee influx, so

as tens of thousands of come across the border, that has led to Kurds on

the side wanting to go the other side into Syria to help fight with

the Kurdish militia against the Islamic State, but Turkey fears they

would then join them on the other side in Syria, and that could lead

to fresh attacks here in Turkey, so that just shows you the sensitive

allegiances in this region which are very much coming to the surface.

Tension is boiling over as the Islamic State onslaught continues

and the refugees continues to come over. You have humanitarian impulses

I suppose and national security needs, as it perceives them? I'm

sorry, I missed that. You have Turkey's humanitarian impulses take

me in the Syrians but also have their own national security

concerns, competing instincts? Yes, that is the challenge Turkey faces.

Country but already over 1 million refugees, along and vulnerable

border with Syria and rock. 900, does with Syria, 600 with a rock. So

it knows any sort of wrong moves could lead to a serious security

threat -- Iraq. Syria did not sign up to the USA led fight against

Islamic State because it feared retaliatory strikes here, so a lot

of competing problems. On one hand, massive refugee wave, and on the

other hand, real security issues and security tensions to deal with, and

that is the very tight balance they have got to strike. Thank you for

your report. Staying in Syria, the former British prime ministers Tony

Blair has said sending in ground forces to fight Islamic State should

not be ruled out. President Obama repeated promise that no combat

troops would be deployed against Islamic State but Tony Blair said

without boots on the ground, Islamic State can be defeated. It needs

someone's boots on the ground, for sure, could be the local fighters.

Iraqi forces. The Kurdish forces, people who could do this may be, so

that's why I'm not saying necessarily in this situation, it

has to be the USA or the UK, but what I am saying is if you look at

the responses that we have, we are already giving significant help on

the ground. We the broad alliance of nations. If necessary, we should not

rule out the use of some particularly special for scalability

is. My point there was very simple. All of our experience teaches us

that unless you are prepared to fight these people on the ground,

you are going to contain them. Eat them. Let's hear more about what's

happening on the ground because with me is our reporter. -- not beat

them. What are you hearing? I talked to the Kurdish government president

and he said himself, his entire cabinet are picking up arms and

joining the fight. It shows how dire the situation is. Honestly, there is

fighting going on between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants

and he told there have been able to push them back but in the worst area

there is fight going on and many villages have been found in the

hands of Islamic State, which is why many refugees flocking to the

Turkish border and trying to get to the other side. Its international

communities don't help them, if the city 's fall, it's a great boost for

Islamic State militants, because the city has been cutting off the route

between those under the control of Islamic State militants full if they

capture the city, they could move from one side to the other side.

That's why, we are seeing fighters, Kurdish men, queueing to get back

into John Battle, but are they also add matched in terms of weaponry?

What does Islamic State have against them? In the past few months,

Islamic State has been able to get their hands on very sophisticated

heavy weapons, given to the Iraqi armies, and they capture them. With

the air attack on them, many of them, with those weapons, moved back

to Syria, and have been attacking the Kurdish reason. -- region. They

have heavy weapons on the other hand. The Kurdish fighters just have

AK-47s. I was there in Syria and they are fighting with a basic

military weapons at this moment. The people you have been speaking to in

that situation today, what do they want from the international

community? Air strikes? Ground troops coming in? What I was hearing

for them, they said they had people on the ground, they need help, most

likely, what they need is air strikes. Something like what

happened in Kurdistan. A few weeks ago, almost last month, it wasn't

the American air strikes, IIS militants could have taken over the

capital. If they take over the militants could have taken over the

it would be a great boost for militants could have taken over the

the militants, and they will be more powerful. That's why the local

leaders are pleading for help from the international community,

possibly air strikes. Thank you so much for giving us those details for

some real watch what's happening there. The supermarket giant Tesco

has suspended four senior executives including its UK managing director

and launch an independent investigation after was found to be

massively overestimated its profits ride ?250 million. Tesco is the

world 's second biggest retailer with stores across Asia and Europe.

Here is our business correspondence, Emma Simpson. Never mind the prices,

it turns out Tesco has been getting its own figures wrong. A huge

accounting error has come to light. The new boss has only been in the

job for three weeks at Tesco HQ, and his first interview today was not

the starting would have wanted. The early indications are 250 million,

based on that, that's the guidance we have given Boro must stress at

this point in time, until I've done a full investigation, I don't know

that it was happening. It's obviously a very serious issue but I

will investigate and we will speak to anybody who can help me

understand exactly what's gone on. The news stunned the city. Tesco's

share price was already on the slide and today it fell to its lowest

level in more than a decade. Confidence in this company is taking

a huge knock. A warning like this is extremely rare because it's the

heart of the city, the premise that when we are told members, we can

rely on those numbers. Here we have a company telling us that a

fundamental mistake. This accounting error is not down to business at

the, Tesco thinks it is countless commercial income earlier than it

should have done, making profits look higher. It is hugely damaging

and the last thing this company needs. Sales of been falling, and

so, too, have profits. It is still a biggest retailer in Britain by far

the Tesco has been losing shoppers, squeezed by the likes of Waitrose at

the top and the discounters of the bottom. This is a business under

huge pressure. The new CEO has moved quickly. He has suspended four

executives including this man, Tesco's UK boss. They are stepping

aside to allow a full investigation. It is yet more

turmoil for Tesco. Is this financial error a one-off or part of a wider

problem? Questions the new boss has to deal with, as well as winning

customers back. With me as Graham, from the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

I know you have been writing this all day full somehow Du character

rise this mistake? Mistake, error, no one is saying this before. It's

one of Britain's biggest companies. The second biggest retailer in the

world and a ?250 million, to seemingly disappear from profits, is

unprecedented, really. The key is how complex Tesco is. It has

hundreds of suppliers, dealing with them on a daily basis. And what has

happened here is somewhere along the line, deliberately or accidentally,

the way their kind for the dealings with their suppliers has gone very,

very wrong indeed. You are seeing it could have been a series of honest

mistakes. This is a company under pressure. This is the third time

that they have warned on profits in the last two months. Tesco in the UK

is losing sales. This is a business is desperately trying to protect

itself and protect its profits. At the least it has misled shareholders

and the city. There is big followed in Britain. In terms of Tesco as a

global brand is this damaging? As a brand that is disastrous. Tesco's

brand in the UK is already under pressure. Globally it does not

reflect very well. In terms of overseas it could have far reaching

consequences. Tesco now has ?250 million missing that it's not that

hard. A lot of analysts are speculating that the company might

have to sell some overseas assets. This is very bad news for the person

at the top who is one month into the job. He joined a month early because

trading was so bad. He has come in and on Friday we were appalled that

he was informed by the General Counsel of Tesco that there was this

problem. He has now got to find out whether what happened was a one off

ever off whether there is something inherently wrong in Tesco. He wants

to focus on getting the stores right and this issue has come out of the

blue. Tens of thousands of students

in Hong Kong have begun a week of strikes and rallies

against the government in Beijing. They're angry at China's plans to

vet candidates ahead of Hong Kong's Demonstrators say China is backing

out of a commitment to give The BBC's Juliana Liu reports

from Hong Kong. The

beginning of the boycott. Thousands of students have gathered at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong to take part in a week-long strike.

Students from more than two dozen universities and vocational

schools are here. They say it's much more than just skipping classes.

They've organised a series of rallies and public lectures on the

future of democracy in Hong Kong. Their main goal is to put pressure

on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to loosen restrictions

on who can run for the position of Chief Executive in three years. The

Chinese Government outlined those rules at the end of August. Everyone

in Hong Kong will be able to vote, but the candidates must be approved

by more than half of the nominating body that is expected to be filled

with Beijing loyalists. Only two or made their decision it crushed the

dreams of some Hong Kong people who have been fighting hard for

democracy for the past 30 years. But

not all are convinced the boycott will achieve very little, maybe

nothing. I think after the Chinese Government made its decision it will

not be affected by Hong Kong's The city is deeply divided

between those who want greater democracy and those who do not wish

to antagonise the Chinese Government. Some believe having any

kind of say at the ballot box is better than having no say at all.

The striking students don't agree. Many support a civil disobedience

campaign called Occupy Central which plans to stage a sit-in in the

central business district as early as October after the week-long

strike ends. Now a look at some

of the day?s other news. In Ukraine the army says it's

preparing to withdraw heavy artillery in the east of the

country, in line with an agreement reached last week to set up a buffer

zone with the pro-Russian rebels. Although a truce is still in place,

clashes have continued around the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol.

The World Health Organisation says the overall number of deaths from

the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has now risen to almost 2,800. In

Sierra Leone, the head of the Ebola emergency operations centre says a

three-day curfew designed to contain the outbreak of the virus has been

largely successful. During the lockdown 130 new Ebola cases were

recorded. There's no end

in sight to the to the eight day Air France pilots? strike, after

an offer by the airline aimed at resolving the dispute was rejected.

The main union wants guarantees on pay and work conditions

before Air France begins to operate low-cost Transavia flights

from other European countries. The Rockefellers, the family which

built its multi-million dollar philanthropic organisation from oil,

is set to announce that it's selling its investments in fossil fuels,

and reinvesting in clean energy. The Rockefeller Fund is one

of a number to join a coalition pledging to rid

themselves of more than $50 billion of assets tied to fossil fuels.

It comes ahead of the opening of the UN climate change summit on Tuesday.

With me is Tom Burke, the Chairman of

the environmental organisation E3G and former adviser to the British

Government on climate change. How significant is this? It is of

enormous symbolic significance. Substantively it will take a lot

more organisations to make the difference to the investments of oil

companies. But that reinforces the political pressure that is building

up on governments simply because events are driving the public to get

more concerned about what is happening to the environment. We are

seeing tens of thousands on the streets. Yes. But this because

things are happening in their lives that make sense to them about a

change in climate. What we are seeing now from all the investment

banks is a huge message that the cost of removals is going through

the floor. Rockefeller is shifting their money out of fossil fuels into

clean technology. That is smart as well as right. This could be a

tipping point in business terms? I think outside of the traditional

energy countries there is a major transformation going on that the

politicians have not yet cottoned onto. If that is driven by smart

economics and laws the risk of them doing stronger things on climate

change. It gives them more scope to address the problem on a political

level. China's emissions now equal those of the European Union and the

United States combined. So even if US culture changes direction... ?

The Chinese are changing faster than the Americans or the Europeans. They

are about to announce an emissions trading scheme. They already invest

more in renewables than Europe and the native States combined. We

cannot say that we will not do anything until they do something. We

have to catch up with what they are doing.

When you look at the thinking of the Rockefeller foundation are they

worried about public pressure? Or is it about business? It is two things.

Because it is a philanthropic financial organisation they are

worried about what is the right thing to do. They also worry because

they have two sustain the legacy. They also want to do the smart

thing. Will it change the tone of conversation? You have got to see

this as ten in a complex opera. But it will help to change. They are the

people who started it all. It could be a significant catalyst. It is not

the complete game changer but it is catalytic. We will hear more in the

next few days about why it might not be a good idea to keep your

investments in call. You are seeing these things over. It is not a cup

final. It will not be all over on the day. But we are getting to the

bottom of the Valley of death Andrea Shashi decline out. -- Valley of

death. We have managed to climb out.

NASA's latest mission to Mars has arrived in orbit around the

The Maven spacecraft is there to study how Mars transformed

from a planet with water and a thick atmosphere to the dry,

Scientists think it may have happened

because the planet lost its magnetic field around four billion years ago

as our Science Correspondent, Pallab Ghosh, now explains.

NASA's latest mission to Mars. After a ten month journey the Maven

spacecraft is now in orbit around the Red Planet.

Much to the delight of the Mission

We are in orbit of Mars. It is a cliche. People walk

around going, it is not rocket science. Well, sometimes it is

This is what Mars was like four billion years ago. A

world with flowing water and thick clouds, similar in many ways to the

Earth. Maven's mission is to find out how it ended up like this, the

The climate has changed on Mars

significantly over the past few billion years. We are trying to

understand what the cause of that climate change has been. In essence

that's our goal, to answer the question, where did the water go,

time by an Indian spacecraft which will also be

analysing the atmosphere. And with NASA's Curiosity Rover on the

ground scientists will know more about the Red Planet than ever

All our missions really add up to enabling us to figure out

how humans will be able to go to Mars, survive for long periods of

The spacecraft will spend a year in orbit around Mars, taking detailed

of the atmosphere that is still escaping from the planet.

That is all. Thank you for joining us. Monday turned out to be a decent

day for many parts of the British Isles. It could be a cold night.

They will be some patchy fog