:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK
:00:00. > :00:11.I'm Alpa Patel - here are the headlines.
:00:12. > :00:18.Is Austria about to choose Europe's first hard-right head of state?
:00:19. > :00:21.With nearly all the votes counted - the independent Green candidate
:00:22. > :00:25.is neck and neck with the leader of a far-right party.
:00:26. > :00:28.Pakistan says that a US drone strike which killed the leader
:00:29. > :00:31.of the Afghan Taliban is a violation of its sovereignty.
:00:32. > :00:35.Get out: that's the message to the residents of
:00:36. > :00:37.the Iraqi city of Falluja - ahead of a major offensive
:00:38. > :00:57.After a campaign featuring fear of migrants and loathing of elites -
:00:58. > :00:59.exit polls in Austria's run-off election put far right leader
:01:00. > :01:03.Norbert Hofer as running neck and neck with his rival
:01:04. > :01:06.Alexander Van der Bellen, who is backed by the Greens.
:01:07. > :01:08.The final result will not be known until Monday,
:01:09. > :01:15.when the hundreds of thousands of postal votes will be counted.
:01:16. > :01:18.Mr Hofer, seen here on the right, insisted that his party wasn't
:01:19. > :01:20.a far-right organisation and described himself
:01:21. > :01:34.It's all down to the postal votes now. The Austrians are going to go
:01:35. > :01:37.to bed tonight without knowing who the next incumbent of the
:01:38. > :01:45.presidential palace behind me in Vienna is. They will, the postal
:01:46. > :01:50.votes, there is about 14% of the votes cast, we understand, they'll
:01:51. > :01:55.be counted tomorrow. We expect to have a result sometime in afternoon.
:01:56. > :02:00.Then it will become clear whether in fact it was Norbert Hofer of the far
:02:01. > :02:04.right Freedom party or Alexander Van der Bellen who has won this race. Do
:02:05. > :02:12.we have any idea what turnout was like in this election? Quite high.
:02:13. > :02:19.Well over 70%. Higher than the first round of voting back in April when
:02:20. > :02:23.Norbert Hofer scored a clear victory when he got 35% over the other
:02:24. > :02:27.candidates that were standing, then. In this run-off vote, more people
:02:28. > :02:31.turning out, and it's been quite interesting looking at the way the
:02:32. > :02:37.vote has been split. Alexander Van der Bellen has profited very much
:02:38. > :02:42.from support from big urban centres in Austria, some of the big cities.
:02:43. > :02:46.Whereas Norbert Hofer's support comes very much from the
:02:47. > :02:51.countryside. So we are getting a very, very split picture of Austria
:02:52. > :02:56.here at the moment. Whatever happens in the result, the far right have
:02:57. > :03:01.really proved a point here, and that is the dissatisfaction of voters in
:03:02. > :03:04.Austria. Very much so indeed. There's a great deal of
:03:05. > :03:08.disillusionment with the parties of the centre-left and centre-right.
:03:09. > :03:12.The establishment parties. The parties that have ruled this country
:03:13. > :03:18.on and off for decades. They were both knocked out of this race back
:03:19. > :03:24.in the first round in April. And what the voters said they wanted was
:03:25. > :03:27.either the far right or the Green party. There was this real sense of
:03:28. > :03:31.people protesting against the status quo. And of course the far right as
:03:32. > :03:37.well has been fuelled in recent months by the migrant crisis here in
:03:38. > :03:43.Austria. 90,000 people claimed asylum here last year. 100,000 more
:03:44. > :03:46.transited through to Germany. So this is also something that has
:03:47. > :03:48.encouraged people to vote for the Freedom party.
:03:49. > :03:51.Pakistan has described a US drone strike, which targeted the leader
:03:52. > :03:54.of the Afghan Taliban, as a violation of its sovereignty.
:03:55. > :04:02.Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in the Pakistani province
:04:03. > :04:03.of Baluchistan, close to the Afghan border.
:04:04. > :04:06.A US official described him as an obstacle to peace talks.
:04:07. > :04:10.Several drones were apparently used in the strike, said to have been
:04:11. > :04:17.In the burnt out car which had been travelling close to Pakistan's
:04:18. > :04:20.border with Afghanistan were two men, among them Mullah Mansour.
:04:21. > :04:23.He has been the official leader of the Taliban since last summer,
:04:24. > :04:31.and he has been busy trying to tighten his grip on the movement.
:04:32. > :04:33.Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel
:04:34. > :04:41.in Afghanistan, to Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces.
:04:42. > :04:44.Since he took over, the Taliban stepped up its campaign of violence
:04:45. > :04:47.This was the aftermath of a suicide bombing
:04:48. > :04:55.The Americans say that Mullah Mansour had been actively involved
:04:56. > :05:08.The Afghan government says he rebuffed repeated calls to end war.
:05:09. > :05:10.TRANSLATION: He was a barrier for the peace talks,
:05:11. > :05:13.and from the date he was announced as the Taliban leader,
:05:14. > :05:15.he was behind lots of violence against the Afghan people.
:05:16. > :05:21.The ultimate authority for the Tower bank, Mullah Mansour officially took
:05:22. > :05:31.over when it was announced the reclusive founder had died two years
:05:32. > :05:35.earlier. His main deputy has a $5 million bounty on his head, he is
:05:36. > :05:39.seen as more hostile and hardline. It is not clear who will succeed
:05:40. > :05:45.Mullah Mansour, or the direction the Taliban will take. Under Mullah
:05:46. > :05:49.Mansour's leadership, the Taliban extended territory. But they are
:05:50. > :05:52.likely to be caught up in a battle for succession, and there are fears
:05:53. > :05:56.that could give militants from so-called Islamic State the chance
:05:57. > :06:01.to extend their influence. The question for all weary Afghans is
:06:02. > :06:02.what impact his death will ultimately have on their desperate
:06:03. > :06:07.hopes for security. Well for more analysis on this -
:06:08. > :06:10.I've been speaking to Ali Jalali who is a former Afghan Interior
:06:11. > :06:12.Minister. He joined me from the Afghan
:06:13. > :06:25.capital, Kabul and gave me his view Mullah Mansour was one of the
:06:26. > :06:30.leading figures in the Taliban. He was elected as a leader of the
:06:31. > :06:34.Taliban last year when the death of Malawi Omar was disclosed.
:06:35. > :06:49.He was the de facto leader of the Caliban from 2030. When Mullah Omar
:06:50. > :06:51.died. He faced a dispute over his leadership, and to polish his
:06:52. > :06:57.credentials he intensified war inside Afghanistan. When he is gone
:06:58. > :06:59.I think there will be immediately, although there might be some
:07:00. > :07:06.intensification why his followers, but in the long run I think it is a
:07:07. > :07:10.major blow to the Caliban. How would the US have been able to track this
:07:11. > :07:17.man, and would they have needed the knowledge and intelligence from
:07:18. > :07:25.Afghan security services? Well, he was apparently coming from Iran,
:07:26. > :07:31.where he spent some time, and he was moving in Baluchistan. I have no
:07:32. > :07:36.information whether Afghanistan intelligence was or not. But for
:07:37. > :07:43.years they were asking the United States that the Caliban bases inside
:07:44. > :07:45.Afghanistan, they were attacking Afghanistan army, allies from across
:07:46. > :07:55.the border, they were asking to do something. Therefore this is the
:07:56. > :08:07.first time that the US has targeted a major senior Taliban leader. And
:08:08. > :08:14.how could this impact on future peace talks? Could it backfire on
:08:15. > :08:22.the Afghan government and the US? Yes, I think in the immediate future
:08:23. > :08:24.in the short term, it will create problems for the peace talks,
:08:25. > :08:33.because there is no unified leadership. Although they appointed
:08:34. > :08:38.one of the deputies to Mullah Mansour as acting, but it will take
:08:39. > :08:46.some time for the Taliban to get their forces together. In that time
:08:47. > :08:50.it is not expected that they will come to the negotiating table.
:08:51. > :08:56.However, in the long-running, I think this also undermines the power
:08:57. > :09:02.of the Taliban. And probably some factions eventually will be willing
:09:03. > :09:08.to come and deal in peaceful talks. Turkey's President Erdogan has asked
:09:09. > :09:11.a close ally to form Binali Yild-irim will replace
:09:12. > :09:16.the former Prime Minister. He was forced out for disagreeing
:09:17. > :09:19.with President Erdorgan's plans to increase the powers
:09:20. > :09:21.of the presidency. Critics say the President is trying
:09:22. > :09:24.to tighten his grip on power, by overseeing the choice of a more
:09:25. > :09:30.compliant Prime Minister. Speaking at the AKP party congress
:09:31. > :09:32.where he was elected, Mr Yildirim said he was in favour
:09:33. > :09:42.of more powers for the presidency. TRANSLATION: We need a new
:09:43. > :09:50.constitution. Turkey needs the new constitution. And are you ready to
:09:51. > :10:03.bring forth the executive presidency system? Are you ready for that?
:10:04. > :10:12.After the president was elected by the nation, now nothing will be the
:10:13. > :10:16.same for Turkey, because our president has received the approval
:10:17. > :10:25.and the votes of millions of our citizens. He is carrying the
:10:26. > :10:30.responsibility of this. However much one may claim, some may claim that
:10:31. > :10:39.the president has no responsibility, he is burdened with the love of the
:10:40. > :10:40.nation. And he carries the responsibility of the issues of the
:10:41. > :10:44.nation. For more on this story,
:10:45. > :10:46.the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet has this
:10:47. > :10:54.report from the AK Party This extraordinary party conference
:10:55. > :11:00.in this sports stadium was very much a celebration of President Erdogan,
:11:01. > :11:05.even though he wasn't here. And as president he is meant to be above
:11:06. > :11:08.party politics. Turkey is now very much about his leadership and that's
:11:09. > :11:13.why he's brought in one of his long-time political allies, Binali
:11:14. > :11:18.Yildirim, to be the next party chairman and the Prime Minister. In
:11:19. > :11:21.his remarks today he made it clear where he believes Turkey should
:11:22. > :11:26.head, and that includes moves towards a more presidential type of
:11:27. > :11:29.system. Everyone we spoke to hear back-to-back move, saying that
:11:30. > :11:34.Turkey's Parliamentary democracy no longer suited Turkey. But many
:11:35. > :11:38.questions are being asked whether it will only concentrate even more
:11:39. > :11:43.power in the hands of President Erdogan. A lot of talk over what is
:11:44. > :11:45.described as the war on terror. In other words, moves against the
:11:46. > :11:52.Kurdish insurgency in the south-east of Turkey, and questions as to
:11:53. > :11:55.whether that could include even more pressure on journalists and civil
:11:56. > :12:01.society here in Turkey as well as against members of the pro-Kurdish
:12:02. > :12:05.political party since the immunity for politicians has been lifted.
:12:06. > :12:10.These are questions being asked in Turkey and in many capitals across
:12:11. > :12:15.Europe, which very much wants to work with Turkey, with President
:12:16. > :12:19.Erdogan, to resolve some key ongoing crises. The war in Syria next door,
:12:20. > :12:26.and the refugee crisis where Turkey is expected to play an important
:12:27. > :12:29.role. So this is a moment today not just for AKP, but for Turkey itself.
:12:30. > :12:32.The British film director, Ken Loach, has won top
:12:33. > :12:38.His film, "I, Daniel Blake," was awarded the Palme d'Or
:12:39. > :12:40.for Best Picture at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.
:12:41. > :12:42.It's his second Palme d'Or for Best film.
:12:43. > :12:47.Jacyln Jose - a 'soap' star in the Philippines -
:12:48. > :12:50.won the best actress award for her role in Ma Rosa,
:12:51. > :12:52.portraying a mother who's forced to sell drugs to survive.
:12:53. > :12:57.And Shahab Hosseini from Iran won best actor award,
:12:58. > :13:05.for his part in "the Salesman" - which also won best screenplay.
:13:06. > :13:10.Stay with us on BBC News, still to come:
:13:11. > :13:19.On her feet again. The Revolutionary walking stick bringing back mobility
:13:20. > :13:27.for people with Parkinson's disease. This morning and Indian air force
:13:28. > :13:32.plane carrying Mr Gandhi's body landed. The president walked to the
:13:33. > :13:39.plaintiff solemnly witness his return. The first truly free
:13:40. > :13:42.elections in Romania's history. It was a remarkable climax to what was
:13:43. > :13:49.surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer.
:13:50. > :13:53.It's been a peaceful demonstration so far but suddenly the police are
:13:54. > :13:59.tear gas in the crowd, we don't yet know why. The prelaunch ritual is
:14:00. > :14:02.well established here. Helen is said to be in good spirits but just a
:14:03. > :14:07.little apprehensive. In the last hour east to Moore has become the
:14:08. > :14:12.world's newest nation. The challenges ahead are daunting but
:14:13. > :14:23.for now at least it is time to celebrate.
:14:24. > :14:29.With nearly all the votes counted Austria's presidential election
:14:30. > :14:35.Former Green leader Alexander Van der Bellen and far right leader
:14:36. > :14:39.Pakistan says that a US drone strike which killed the leader
:14:40. > :14:47.of the Afghan Taliban is a violation of its sovereignty.
:14:48. > :14:58.Manchester United are finalising minor details in Jose Mourinho's
:14:59. > :15:00.contract before appointing the former Chelsea boss
:15:01. > :15:04.Earlier today current Louis Van Gaal left the team hotel in London today
:15:05. > :15:06.following yesterday's FA Cup win over Crystal Palace,
:15:07. > :15:09.without having been told by the club that Mourinho is set to succeed him.
:15:10. > :15:20.Five months after he was sacked by Chelsea, Jose Mourinho
:15:21. > :15:22.is set for a sensational return to management.
:15:23. > :15:24.It might be news to the man he'll replace.
:15:25. > :15:30.This morning, Louis van Gaal left Manchester United's London hotel
:15:31. > :15:32.without being told by the club that it was time to say goodbye.
:15:33. > :15:36.Just 12 hours earlier he was celebrating victory in the FA Cup.
:15:37. > :15:38.A trophy that will now be a parting gift.
:15:39. > :15:40.Despite spending millions on players, he had failed to qualify
:15:41. > :15:47.United have expectations he just couldn't meet.
:15:48. > :15:50.While all this unfolded, Mourinho was watching boxing at the O2.
:15:51. > :15:52.It is understood an agreement with United had
:15:53. > :16:03.It's quite exciting, especially with the whole thing, Pep
:16:04. > :16:06.The naughty side of me thinks it will be spicy.
:16:07. > :16:09.Although he has gone out with winning a trophy I think it
:16:10. > :16:12.needed change and with a manager at this moment in time,
:16:13. > :16:14.I think Mourinho is the best man for the job.
:16:15. > :16:17.Sir Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies in nearly three
:16:18. > :16:19.Mourinho's record doesn't suggest that type of longevity,
:16:20. > :16:22.but he is a proven winner and won't be overawed
:16:23. > :16:24.by the challenge of trying to step out of Ferguson's shadow.
:16:25. > :16:28.Mourinho made his name at Porto, by winning the Champions League.
:16:29. > :16:34.That brought him to the attention of Chelsea, where he won three
:16:35. > :16:37.Premier League titles in his two spells with the club.
:16:38. > :16:40.He's also won major trophies in Italy with Inter Milan
:16:41. > :16:46.He will make it exciting, the Premier League.
:16:47. > :16:48.This season, since he has gone, press conferences have
:16:49. > :16:52.If nothing else it gives us something to talk about.
:16:53. > :16:54.Many will view Mourinho is a controversial appointment.
:16:55. > :16:57.He left Chelsea in December after a spectacular slump in form
:16:58. > :17:00.and a public fallout with medical staff.
:17:01. > :17:07.United however have decided he's a risk worth taking.
:17:08. > :17:09.Barcelona have already won the Spanish title -
:17:10. > :17:12.can they make it a league and cup double?
:17:13. > :17:15.They're taking on Sevilla in the final of the Copa del Rey.
:17:16. > :17:18.Sevilla will also be hoping to make it a double.
:17:19. > :17:20.It's just four days since they lifted the Europa League
:17:21. > :17:24.trophy in Basel with a 3-1 win over Liverpool.
:17:25. > :17:30.And there's been high drama at the Vicente Calderon stadium.
:17:31. > :17:33.Javier Mascherano has been sent off, so Barcelona are down to ten men.
:17:34. > :17:35.Just approaching half time and it's still goalless.
:17:36. > :17:37.Despite it raining much of the morning in Paris,
:17:38. > :17:41.There were wins for two of the world's top players.
:17:42. > :17:44.Petra Kvitova is through to the second round after a tough
:17:45. > :17:54.Australian Nick Kyrgios overcame a first set code violation to defeat
:17:55. > :17:59.But the rain came back and washed out day one.
:18:00. > :18:01.Only 10 of 32 matches were completed.
:18:02. > :18:10.Rory McIlroy won the rain delayed Irish Open at the K Club.
:18:11. > :18:12.It's the world number three's first victory of the season.
:18:13. > :18:16.A final round of 69 got him to 12 under par, a three shot victory,
:18:17. > :18:21.and a first win at his home tournament.
:18:22. > :18:27.It means an awful lot. This is a tournament I've grown up watching as
:18:28. > :18:33.a kid. Then playing in the amateur. And been dreaming about since my
:18:34. > :18:37.first time at the golf club. To win it today and win it in the fashion
:18:38. > :18:44.that I did, and being host as well, it means an awful lot. Finally,
:18:45. > :18:47.Canada retained their ice hockey World Championship title after
:18:48. > :18:52.beating Finland 2-0 in the final in Moscow. Thank you.
:18:53. > :18:59.That's the warning for residents in the Iraqi city of Falluja,
:19:00. > :19:02.just over an hour's drive from Baghdad.
:19:03. > :19:05.The Iraqi army is planning to retake the city from Islamic
:19:06. > :19:07.state militants, who have held it since 2014.
:19:08. > :19:10.It was in fact the first Iraqi city to fall to the group.
:19:11. > :19:12.Falluja is domminated by Sunnis and was once favoured
:19:13. > :19:17.The city increasingly resented the American-supported
:19:18. > :19:24.If you remember in 2003, resistance against the American
:19:25. > :19:28.And US Marines were accused of targeting civilians
:19:29. > :19:36.During that invasion - toxic munitions were blamed
:19:37. > :19:38.for a surge in the number of birth defects in Falluja
:19:39. > :19:41.Anger grew under former President Nouri al Maliki.
:19:42. > :19:44.And Falluja became a base for Al-Qaeda in Iraq,
:19:45. > :19:53.The government has been battling to retake it ever since.
:19:54. > :19:56.I was joined earlier by Firas Abi Ali from
:19:57. > :19:59.the think tank IHS - and he told me how Islamic State
:20:00. > :20:00.militants are expected to react and prepare
:20:01. > :20:07.Isis will try to stop people from thinking, others will be hesitant
:20:08. > :20:11.about surrendering themselves to Shia militias who in anyway suspect
:20:12. > :20:18.them of being collaborative with the Islamic State. So for these reasons
:20:19. > :20:22.you can expect a pretty high civilian death toll from this
:20:23. > :20:26.operation. The Iraqi army will be supported by the Iranians
:20:27. > :20:29.Revolutionary guard and Hezbollah. Will that complicate the mission on
:20:30. > :20:36.the ground? It reflects the disagreements between the Iraqi
:20:37. > :20:38.militias and the Iraqi government, and reflects the disagreements
:20:39. > :20:46.between the Iranians and the United States. It can be quite negative in
:20:47. > :20:49.terms of dealing with the Sunni population, there have been various
:20:50. > :20:52.atrocities documented. And the participation of the Iraqi militias
:20:53. > :20:57.is their way of saying to the Baghdad government that we can
:20:58. > :21:03.secure it, keep in mind this offensive is happening after a
:21:04. > :21:06.series of suicide bombings targeting Baghdad, a major penetration for the
:21:07. > :21:10.Islamic State. The militias have pretty much forced the government
:21:11. > :21:15.into engaging in this offensive, and this is their way of asserting their
:21:16. > :21:19.supremacy. The uranium's way of showing they are the real supporters
:21:20. > :21:23.of the Iraqi people rather than the United States. If they are able to
:21:24. > :21:28.retake it, how significant will that be? It will be a major blow to the
:21:29. > :21:32.Islamic State in that it is one of their key centres, and where some of
:21:33. > :21:38.their leaders and some of their families have been situated. That
:21:39. > :21:42.will be a major blow to them. It will be one of the loss of the
:21:43. > :21:45.congregations that they control in Anbar province. And as the Iraqi
:21:46. > :21:52.government and the militias allied with it clear and bar province, the
:21:53. > :21:55.sort of hotbed of Sunni rebelliousness will have been
:21:56. > :22:02.pacified. It will make political compromise much harder. Because the
:22:03. > :22:06.Sunnis would be much less likely to compromise with the Shia militias if
:22:07. > :22:12.they see them taking the lead in this operation, or engaging in
:22:13. > :22:17.atrocities. Are Islamic State on the run in Iraq? They are being
:22:18. > :22:23.gradually defeated. But ultimately the conditions that allow for the
:22:24. > :22:27.degradation of the Islamic State, the Shia Sunni disagreements, the
:22:28. > :22:33.Kurdish disagreements, these have not gone away. And the Islamic State
:22:34. > :22:37.had been in the past defeated and managed to re-emerge by exploiting
:22:38. > :22:43.these divisions. So until we see some kind of stable secondary
:22:44. > :22:44.democratic rule, we will still have the problem of militancy and
:22:45. > :22:46.insurgency. President Obama has arrived
:22:47. > :22:48.in Vietnam beginning an Asian trip that will also see him
:22:49. > :22:51.travel to Hiroshima. His first stop is Hanoi where he's
:22:52. > :22:53.keen to build stronger The spotlight is likely to be
:22:54. > :23:02.on his visit to Hiroshima where the US dropped
:23:03. > :23:10.the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people and ushered
:23:11. > :23:12.in the nuclear age. It may look just like any other
:23:13. > :23:15.walking stick, but a new aid for people with Parkinson's
:23:16. > :23:17.is helping them to retain The stick can sense when a user's
:23:18. > :23:26.limbs have seized up, and then vibrates in a way that
:23:27. > :23:29.helps them to regain their rhythm, and start walking again,
:23:30. > :23:30.here's Andrew Plant From the outside it's a walking
:23:31. > :23:38.stick like any other. But inside the handle
:23:39. > :23:41.is an invention helping people with Parkinson's disease to get
:23:42. > :23:43.a grip on their condition. Sufferes can seize up
:23:44. > :23:53.when they walk and this can help I suddenly realise I'm not walking
:23:54. > :23:58.and sometimes a little bit Or I count slowly and then
:23:59. > :24:10.try to start walking again. You turn the device
:24:11. > :24:12.on and it is basically sensing that People with Parkinson's sometimes
:24:13. > :24:19.freeze up, but the beat in the handle helps them remember
:24:20. > :24:22.how to move and can It's the brainchild of this Bristol
:24:23. > :24:29.student who watched her grandfather Since I kept going to the patients
:24:30. > :24:36.and talking to them, With Parkinson's they have a classic
:24:37. > :24:44.Parkinson's posture which you can just recognise,
:24:45. > :24:47.that they have this walking problem. She came up with the idea
:24:48. > :24:49.when she was a student at She has now been given a grant
:24:50. > :24:55.to get the idea up and running. The NHS and Parkinson's charities
:24:56. > :25:02.have expressed interest. She hopes it could one day help more
:25:03. > :25:16.people like Marcia to keep on moving Mexicans have been treated to the
:25:17. > :25:21.site of some rare and beautiful old cast. More than 100 vintage cars
:25:22. > :25:26.dating back as far as 1922 took part in a 1200 kilometre rally along
:25:27. > :25:35.Mexico's Riviera mayor. He rallied past several cities on the Yucatan
:25:36. > :25:38.Peninsula. The goal was to promote tourism, and it was organised by
:25:39. > :25:43.several vintage car associations. Fantastic cars, there.
:25:44. > :25:53.The outcome of Austria's election is too close to call. The former Green
:25:54. > :25:56.party leader and the far right candidate are neck and neck.