this is bbc america, and now live from london, "bbc world news." hello, i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news." our top stories. despite intensive efforts to save him, a united nations doctor dies of ebola in a german hospital where he was taken for treatment. after warnings by the world health organization that the ebola epidemic threatens the very survival of societies, we have the latest on the international response. oscar pistorius is back in court for a second day in south africa, to be sentenced for killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. and absent without explanation, the north korean leader makes his first public

appearance for 40 days. hello. it's been confirmed that a member of the united nations medical team who is being treated for ebola in germany has died. the 56-year-old man whose name has not been released was being treated at a clinic. he was a sudanese doctor. these pictures show the health workers helping the infected man to board an balance when he arrived in the country just last week. he is the third ebola patient to be flown to germany for treatment. let's get the very latest from berlin. jenny hill is there for us. what details do we have about this particular patient? >> reporter: well, the sudanese doctor was part of a team from the u.n. working in liberia when

he contracted ebola. he's the second member of that team now to die from the virus. he was, as you say, flown to a clinic here in germany last week for treatment. staff at the clinic say they tried experimental, so far unlicensed drugs in an attempt to save his life. he was treated in a highly specialized isolation ward, but their attempts were in vain and he died overnight in the clinic. now, he's the third aid worker to be treated here in germany for ebola. one man has now been released from hospital in hamburg, having made a full recovery, but another patient, another aid worker is still being treated in hospital in frankfurt. >> given what's happened in spain and the u.s., is there any concern about this being transmitted to other health workers in germany? >> reporter: you would think so, but the health authorities here are extremely confident. they say there is no risk of

infection to the public, to health care workers, or to visitors to the hospital. they say that's because the training and infection control here is very stringent. they also point to the facilities. the clinic, for example, boasts a highly technical isolation ward. staff have to enter it through a series of air locks. they wear protective suits. the air and fluids, apparently, are filtered as they go in and out of that ward. so the authorities say there is simply no risk. in the words of one official, what's happened in spain simply can't happen here in germany. >> let's hope so. jenny hill, thanks a lot there in berlin. well, of course, with huge fears still globally about ebola spreading, one of the world's biggest airports, london heathrow, is beginning screening patients for ebola to try to prevent the disease from reaching uk. those arriving from at-risk countries will have their temperatures taken, complete a risk questionnaire and have

contact details recorded. the virus has so far killed more than 4,000 people in liberia, sierra leone, and guinea. that is thought to be a conservative estimate, and as the crisis escalates, calls for the global response to be dramatically escalated. we know the u.s. is topping the list, pledging almost $114 million dollars. that's followed by the eu offering 55.5 million, and canada offering 31.9 million. further down the list, india comes in at fifth, offering $12.5 million to the united nations. at the bottom of the list, we have japan, which has pledged $3 million, and china, a country that has done huge amounts of business in africa, that is giving even less. just $2.3 million. russia, meanwhile, hasn't even made the list of the top 16 donors. it's estimated overall that $998

million u.s. dollars is needed immediately to pay for health care workers, for treatment units and for mobile laboratories, and so far we have just $681.8 million pledged to this cause. that leaves a short fall of just over $306 million. social media is playing a vital role as a source of information. people are using services like what's app and facebook to get their message across. let's take a look.

there is much more, of course, on the website. let's move on now, because the sentencing hearing of oscar pistorius is under way for day two. the athlete's longtime manager has been on the witness stand. he's been outlining the charity work done by his client, and now the court is hearing from a probation officer about a separate firearms offense. the athlete was found guilty of the culpable homicide of reeva steenkamp last month, but he was cleared of murder. let's get the latest. my colleague karin giannone is in pretoria just outside the courtroom. the arguments for and against a jail term are very interesting, and of course, the witnesses being cross-examinationed. >> reporter: yes, in the last few moments, we have the witness number four for the defense, a social worker, former probation officer employed by the defense and she has been outlines her view for her report that a custodial sentence would not be appropriate in the case of oscar pistorius. she said it would be excessive. and she said he does not appear

to be a danger to society. and he was a productive member of society before. she also outlined the difficulties of sending somebody like oscar pistorius with his disabilities to prison in practical terms. the facilities are not there to accommodate his needs. but watching very closely is martin hood, a lawyer here in south africa. martin, what has struck you about what we've been hearing? >> this is textbook. they've got one of the most experienced probation officers in the country to come along and say my evidence is independent. i've done my own research. these are my conclusions. she has a very good reputation with all of our higher and lower courts in this country. she's the perfect person to reinforce the evidence that we heard yesterday. >> reporter: what is so good about her evidence in terms of what the defense want to bring out? >> i think we have to look at the evidence as a totality. so we've got to look at yesterday's evidence of the psychologist, the social worker.

they are trying to prevent him from going to jail. they're saying he's disabled, there's no resources in jail for him, he must be rehabilitated as opposed to being punished. retribution is not a factor to be taken into account. because of that, he's a good guy, he's done a lot of charitable things. and i think those are uncontested. he's not a case for being put in prison. he's a person that must be given specialized treatment outside of prison, and he's a person that is a candidate for what we call in this country correctional supervision. no jail time. >> reporter: where does that take into account the family of the victim and their wishes to see the killer of their daughter brought to justice? >> well to look at this objectively. he's been convicted of a crime of negligence, not an intentional crime. it's not murder. it's culpable homicide. and we have various sentencing precedents for people that have been convicted of culpable homicide. and it's only in relatively unusual cases in this country

that a person goes to jail, directly to jail in cases of culpable homicide. so we have precedent and we have to look then at a person's specific circumstances, and we must bear in mind that we're dealing with a disabled person here and we're dealing with a person that needs specialized care and we're dealing with a person that has done many, many things in his community and outside in the big wide world of a charitable nature. he's not a candidate, objectively speaking. he's not a candidate for jail time. >> when gerrie nel gets to work on this particular witness, do we expect a dismantling of what she's saying, or you're saying it's so robust, it should hold up under cross-examination? >> absolutely. i don't think gerrie nel can dispute the facts. the facts are who and what oscar pistorius is and what he's done. the facts are that he's disabled. he's got very good witnesses to come along and give evidence that highlight our present conditions. and the reality is our present conditions are lacking in many, many respects. they don't have specialized

facilities, and to put someone like pistorius in those sort of conditions, and i'm sure this will be argued in due course, will be an infringement of his constitutional rights. so we have a textbook case of evidence in mitigation that will lead to him not going to jail. >> so in one sentence, you do not believe he'll be going to jail? >> no, i don't. >> with that, we will hand back to you as we continue to watch events here in court in pretoria. >> thank you very much indeed. oscar pistorius in court. of course, along with the family of reeva steenkamp, and if you want to find out what is going on inside court and outside, just follow our correspondents on the ground. they are on twitter. okay, aaron is here, and an amazing number, i'm reading here. the price of crude oil down 25% since june. >> you going to take my story away from me? you've just taken the wind out of my sails. >> i'm sorry.

>> great news for consumers. especially those for those big four-wheel drive vehicles. hello there. the world's top oil producers are watching their incomes slide because prices for that black gold -- i tell you what, they continue to fall. yesterday monday, global oil prices hit levels not seen since 2010. of course, we have an abundant supplies of oil around the globe, and we've got weak demand, and many are now wondering if we're looking at oil selling at around 70 bucks a barrel in the not too distant future. let me show you some numbers. oil prices, they peaked in june at $115 a barrel. but since then, as geeta said, prices have fallen some 20%. and yesterday, the price of a barrel of oil in london fell to -- it's not working, is it? fell to just under -- there it is. $88 a barrel. some experts also predict it could fall to as low as $77 a barrel. but that would be a level that will pressure certainly the

economic viability of much of the crude being produced in the likes of russia and the united states. we're going to have more on this coming up on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. so stay tuned for that. hey, how about this one? the battle for control of your living room, that's when play station tv launches. in the united states today. and then it's going to be launched in europe next month. it's not actually a television. you just saw it behind me. what it is, it's a tiny little box that attaches to your existing tv set and then lets you play station games as well as stream video and you don't need a play station console to do so. so all of you out there who have got those play station consoles, they're now obsolete. you can still play games on them, of course. it may not surprise you that geeta, my dear colleague, loves some bling. she's covered in it. rings, necklaces, you name it. so here's an interesting one. because it does seem that the luxury goods market is taking a bit of a hit. leading luxury conglomerates, including lvmh, who owns gucci

as well as brands like prada, are reporting disappointing financial numbers. earlier today, mulberry announced a profit warning. they're all pointing a collective finger at china, where 1/3 of the luxury goods is coming from. so are the chinese developing a resistance to ostentatious western brands? they're probably just buying less. we've got more coming up on "gmt" on that one. you can tweet me @bbcaaron. that's it. >> i'm going to take you shopping. >> we'll go in a big four-wheel drive. you'll have your prada handbag. >> harrod's, here we come. thanks very much, aaron. now we are going to move on to north korea. we have been covering it this week. keeping lots of people guessing for weeks. it is the apparent disappearance of the north korean leader kim jong un. there's been speculation about his health. some have been even wondering whether he's in charge anymore.

but pictures have emerged showing him at his first public appearance in weeks. from seoul, steve evans reports. >> reporter: he's back, all smiles. kim jong un in public view for the first time in 40 days. so ending speculation about who's in charge. su the north korean leader now has a walking stick. these are still pictures, so it's impossible to say how easy he finds it to walk. before he disappeared from public view, he was filmed hobbling with difficulty, his limp very pronounced. it's impossible to say if he's had surgery between then and now. and it's impossible to say how fast he'll recover. ten days ago, his inner circle arrived in south korea, prompting speculation if these were the new men in charge. today's pictures show that they were not. their leader was back in

pyongyang. on friday, balloons with messages against the north korean leader were launched from south korea over the border. prompting north korea to shoot at them. it's a relationship which blows hot and cold. kim jong un remains the focus of anger from the united states and the west. he is clearly not fully physically fit, but his power is undiminished. stephen evans, bbc news, seoul. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." we've got much more ahead. just weeks to go until midterm elections in america. we will be in tennessee where some of the key issues affecting voters are appearing in country music songs. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team are constantly monitored for threats. outside and in. that's why hp reports and helps neutralize more intrusions than anyone... in the world.

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this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest headlines. hospital officials in the german city of leipzig say a united nations employee being treated there has died of ebola.

the south african athlete oscar pistorius has returned to court for a second day of sentencing arguments over whether he should face prison for killing his girlfriend. now, could more have been done to prevent the rise of islamic state militants in iraq and syria? catty kay has been speaking to former secretary of defense leon panetta. he said he was surprised by the group's rapid rise. >> i would not have believed it would have been as bad as it is. i didn't believe that some of that resulted in some of these foreign fighters going into syria and becoming part of isis. and i think it's fair to say that although we knew that there were extremists in syria, that there are very few that kind of looked at isis as that larger threat that it became in terms of invading iraq. >> you've run the cia, you've run the pentagon. do you think that this is an enemy that america can defeat?

>> i do, i do. i have tremendous confidence in our ability to defeat isis. and i'll tell you why. because, you know, we declared war against al qaeda after 9/11. and this was very similar kind of enemy. as fanatical and as dangerous as terrorist as isis was and more. i think what's going to be needed here, though, is a very long and sustained effort, this is going to be much longer in terms of our ability to ultimately disrupt and destroy them, and it's going to take time. and that's going to be the issue. the question that the american people are going to have to face, the question the world is going to have to face in terms of the coalition we've put together, is whether or not we will stick with it and make sure that we follow through and take this to the final victory. >> leon panetta, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> leon panetta there, the former u.s. secretary of

defense. of course the fighting continues across iraq and syria. the bbc is in baghdad. sally, the u.s. administrations have admitted before that they underestimated the spread of islamic state. i just want to ask you first, how surprising will these admissions come to people there? because i know that it featured heavily in the bulletins at the beginning of this year. it started to become apparent, but in the way the western agenda only started to catch up with it much later. >> reporter: in fact, the people here in baghdad seem to be surprised to how rapidly isis is achieving advances in the northern province of anbar. anbar is the largest province in iraq. isis now controls around 70% of this sunni province after yesterday. it managed to take full control of the military base. if this happens, if isis manages to control anbar fully, the way

will be open to baghdad. yesterday, i've spoken to a member of the defense committee, the parliamentary defense committee, and he said that the iraqi government and the iraqi army will be in a very tight situation if isis manages to control anbar. anbar has one of the largest dams in the city, and it has only one military base left under the control of the iraqi army, so the situation here is pretty critical. just sunday night, isis managed to reach 20 kilometers away from the baghdad airport, and but for the u.s. air strikes using the apache helicopter, perhaps the airport would have fallen into the hands, according to martin dempsey, the u.s. military chief of staff, so the situation is getting pretty critical here. according to some of analysts i've spoken to, they said the world is paying attention now to what's going on in kobane on the turkish-syrian border, whereas the serious battle going here is

in anbar. >> sally, that's very alarming. thanks very much indeed for bringing us up to day. to the u.s. itself, because the midterm elections there are now just three weeks away. our bbc north america correspondent is on a road trip down the so-called blues highway looking at some of the big domestic election issues and how they're being reflected in music. he stopped off in the home of country music, tennessee, where the election is being closely followed by women's rights campaigners. >> we're here to see grammy nominated country singer gretchen peters, who's spoken out about women's rights in a state where she feels they're under threat. >> what scares me about what's happening in the midterms right now in tennessee is that there's definitely a movement to try and restrict women's access to abortion, to birth control. it's draconian. the amendments on the ballot

would actually not provide for abortion even in the case of rape or incest or the potential death of a mother. and i think no matter how you feel about the issue of abortion, that is extreme. ♪ not much time to reminisce >> we're on the outskirts of memphis to visit this mobile women's health clinic, but it's not the kind of family planning clinic that you traditionally think of. this is a pro life clinic. the main aim of the practitioners in there is to convince women not to have an abortion. >> we are in what is known as the bible belt of the united states. i think from a christian perspective, we do not agree with abortion. i believe that life begins at conception. and so i don't think that anyone

has the right to take the life of another human being. >> even under circumstances of rape? >> i've actually had a couple of opportunities to speak with young women who were raped and going to have an abortion as a result of that. and, you know, what i would say to them is they're going to be victimized twice. once when they were raped, and then when they have to suffer the consequences of the decision of having an abortion. ♪ let freedom ring let the white dove sing ♪ >> but with the largely conservative fan base, it can be risky for a country singer in tennessee to come out in favor of a woman's right to have an abortion. >> well, i got hate mail. for a period of several weeks, i got some pretty ugly hate mail. and i didn't really enjoy being in the spotlight in that way too much. but i also felt really strongly

that -- i feel strongly about women's issues. >> ali there in tennessee. we are all on twitter. i'm back in about five minutes with the latest top stories.

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i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news." our top stories. despite intensive efforts to save him, a united nations doctor dies of ebola in a german hospital where he was taken for treatment. oscar pistorius is back in court for a second day in south africa to be sentenced for killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. and absent without explanation. the north korean leader makes his first public appearance for 40 days.

hello, and welcome. it's been confirmed that a member of the united nations medical team who was being treated for ebola in germany has died. the 56-year-old man whose name hasn't been released was being treated at a clinic in leipzig. he was a sudanese doctor. these pictures show health workers actually helping the infected man to board an ambulance when he arrived in the country just last week. he's the third ebola patient to be flown to germany for treatment. just a short time ago, i spoke to the bbc's jenny hill, who is in berlin. she updated me on this latest death. >> reporter: well, the sudanese doctor was part of a team from the u.n. working in liberia when he contracted ebola. he's the second member of that

team now to die from the virus. he was, as you said, flown to a clinic in leipzig here in germany last week for treatment. staff at the clinic say they tried experimental, so far unlicensed drugs in an attempt to save his life. he was treated in a highly specialized isolation ward, but their attempts were in vain and he died overnight in the clinic. now, he's the third aid worker to be treated here in germany for ebola. one man has now been released from hospital in hamburg, having made a full recovery, but another patient, another aid worker is still being treated in hospital in frankfurt. >> given what's happened in spain and the u.s., is there any concern about, you know, this being transmitted to other health workers in germany? >> you would think so, but the health authorities here are extremely confident. they say there is no risk of infection to the public, to health care workers, or to

visitors to the hospital. they say that's because the training in infection control here is very stringent. they also point to the facilities. the clinic in leipzig boasts a very highly technical isolation ward. they have to enter it through air locks. the air and fluids apparently are filtered as they go in and out of that ward. so the authorities here say there is simply no risk. in the words of one official, what's happened in spain, simply can't happen here in germany. >> that's certainly the hope, of course, but the fear of ebola spreading is still huge, and that's why london heathrow, one of the world's biggest airports, has now started to screen passengers from today for ebola to try to prevent the disease from reaching the uk. well, those arriving from at-risk countries will have their temperature taken. they will complete a risk questionnaire and they'll also have their contact details recorded. the virus has now killed more

than 4,000 people since march, and that's thought to be a conservative figure. the worst affected countries are liberia, sierra leone, and guinea, and as the crisis escalates, there are urgent calls now for the global response to be dramatically increased. we do have some numbers. i'm afraid none of our graphics are working, as you might be able to see. it's all supposed to be on the screen for you. but i have got some numbers for you. i'm going to quickly try and tell you them. the u.s. tops the list. they are pledging almost $114 million u.s. dollars, the eu is behind that, 55 million. canada 31 million. india is fifth, offering $12.5 million to the united nations. now, at the bottom of this list, japan has pledged 3 million and china, a country that we all know has done lots of business for years now in africa, that is giving even less, just $2.3 million u.s. dollars. russia hasn't even made the list of the top 16 donors.

and i don't know whether you can take this in without the numbers in front of you, but i'm going to try. $998 million u.s. dollars is needed now to pay for health care workers and all the rest of it, but there is a short fall because only $681.8 million has been pledged, leaving $306 million still to be pledged and delivered on the ground. social media is a huge role of information. public health officials, victims, and campaigners and everyday people are using services like what's app and facebook to try and get their message across. let's hope they're more successful than our graphics. let's have a look.

much more, of course, on our website on ebola. let's move on now, because the sentencing hearing of oscar pistorius is on for day two, and the athlete's longtime manager has taken the witness stand. the court is hearing at the moment from a social worker and former probation officer, about why she thinks a custodial sentence is not appropriate for oscar pistorius. the athlete was found guilty of the culpable homicide of reeva steenkamp last month, but he was cleared of murder. let's get more now from our colleague karin giannone, who is in pretoria just outside the courtroom. it's been an interesting couple of days, karin. >> reporter: yes, geeta, and jerje prosecutor is cross-examing the independent probation officer to give a report on oscar pistorius.

we've been watching judge masipa intervening, as she does very rarely. she said this may take days on the witness stand if you don't listen to the questions, and gerrie nel was pressing a point of detail, which he didn't understand. he said he didn't understand. judge masipa has just intervened. but this particular witness has been telling the court that she doesn't believe that prison would be punishment that is constructive. she said it would be not appropriate and excessive and he does not appear to be a danger to society. so she is very much saying that custodial sentence, as far as oscar pistorius is concerned, is inappropriate and is not recommended. but with me, listening to this, martin hood, a lawyer here in south africa. martin, you remarked to me a few minutes ago that gerrie nel had met his match with this witness. >> nearly 50 days in court.

i think the judge's comment is as much a reflection on nel as it is on her because he wasn't making himself clear. the judge intervened. she gave a two-sentence answer that was as crisp as daylight. so they've been going backwards and forwards here. i don't think that gerrie nel has been making any traction at all. she's given clear, concise, very, very direct evidence. she's very experienced. she's been doing this for nearly 30 years. she's been in the witness box many, many times. she's not being intimidated or pushed around by nel. she's pushing back. >> when she recommends a noncustodial sentence, what does that say about the seriousness of oscar pistorius's crime, that a woman has been killed and the impact on the family as well? >> we have to see everything in context. we have a body of decisions in this country that have given custodial sentences through to correctional supervision along with a final perhaps suspended sentence. so the court has to take into account the facts here, and it

has to take into account the circumstances, and it has to take into account previous judgments. and her decision, if she decides not to send him to jail, would not be out of our context in terms of the sentence and appropriate sentence for culpable homicide. there are many examples where have not gone to jail after they've been convicted of culpable homicide. >> and yet, one could imagine the reaction in this country. the high-profile nature of the trial. how much does that count in a judge's mind? >> i have no doubt that the judge will take all of the circumstances into account, but we mustn't forget objectively speaking, he is disabled, he needs therapy, our prisons do not have facilities for him. these are all very pertinent considerations. against that is the prevalence of the crime, how often it happens in this country, and the need for retribution. and i think unfortunately that gerrie nel is going to have a very difficult time convincing the court that the need for

retribution and the need to address the prevalence of the crime outweighs the particular circumstances of pistorius. >> reporter: in just a couple of words, no prison sentence you believe? >> i don't think he's going to go to jail for this offense. >> reporter: thank you very much, martin hood. and we're expecting that at some point in the next few minutes, the court will adjourn for lunch. it's been a long and grueling morning, just looking at reeva steenkamp's parents there sitting in court, looking drawn and rather exhausted by what has been going on there. we'll be back with more coverage from here in pretoria. it's back to you, geeta. >> karin, thanks very much indeed. if you want to get the very latest on all that's going on in pretoria, karin is on tweeter it tweeter @karinbbc. the human rights group amnesty international says government-backed shia militias in iraq have carried out execution-style killings against

sunni civilians, which amount to war crimes. amnesty says they appear to be revenge for attacks by islamic state militants who control large parts of iraq and syria. phillip hammond has been to kurdistan in northern iraq where british soldiers have begun training the kurdish peshmerga. jim muir reports from erbil. >> reporter: british boots on the ground in northern iraq. >> and gents, it's as simple as that. we'll now show you how to put the equipment back on to the tripod. >> reporter: but this isn't a combat mission. these soldiers, who asked us not to film their faces, are training kurdish peshmerga troops on the heavy machine guns britain has given them. >> the british weapon has some special features on it. they improve the accuracy and the range of the weapon. >> reporter: this course began at the weekend and ends on thursday, but there will be other groups to be trained, 40 men at a time, before the guns are sent out to the battle

front. so british soldiers here on the ground in northern iraq. is this the end of the wedge? is this the beginning of mission creek? they say not. these are just a dozen soldiers or so training kurdish peshmerga soldiers on a very limited thing, using the machine guns that britain have given them. once the training is finished, they'll be going home. the foreign secretary philip hammond was shown this british effort to help forces on the ground to face the militants of isis. the raf has joined the americans and others in launching air strikes, but that's not substitute for fighting men on the ground. >> you can't roll back the isil presence on the ground. you can't destroy the organization with air power alone. that will take time, and it will take the local forces, boots on the ground, iraqi, kurdish, to do the job. in the meantime, we will use air power and our technical superiority to hold isil in

check. >> reporter: meanwhile, the kurds in the north are the only cohesive fighting force against the militants in either iraq or syria. getting the iraqi army and the syrian opposition groups into shape is going to take much more time and effort. jim muir, bbc news in erbil, northern iraq. turkish war planes have bombed kurdish pkk rebel targets near the iraqi border. it's the first major air raid on the pkk since the group declared a seas-fire in march last year. the raid coincides with anger amongst kurds at turkey's refusal to help defend the advance of i.s. militants on its border with syria. let's get more now from mark lowen, our correspondent in istanbul. it seems quite a development that these raids have taken place by turkey. >> reporter: yes, geeta. we're still waiting for a statement from the government. it would be a significant attack on the pkk if this is confirmed by the government.

it will be the first such significant attack since the start of the peace process two years ago, a peace process in which the government has invested significant political capital. what the turkish media is saying is that the government launched its own attacks on the pkk after the pkk had attacked a military outpost in the village near the iraqi border. now there were apparently three days of attacks by the pkk on that military outpost using -- they attempted assassination, armed incidents, and attacked on security bases, according to the turkish media. the turkish army then sending two fighter jets, two types of fighter jets, f-16 and f-4 war planes in to attack the pkk targets. now, if this is confirmed by the government, all the eyes, all the focus will be on the reaction from the kurdish politicians and from the leader of the outlawed pkk here, who is still in prison. if they call for calm and if

they try to calm spirits here, calm tensions, it could be seen as an isolated incident. otherwise, it could be the start of the beginning of the end of the peace process and a return to the dark days of the armed conflict. >> and what would that mean playing into the conflict as it is now? because it's already so complex. >> reporter: yes. it could mean that turkey is facing, in addition to the threat from islamic state in syria, it could mean a return to armed conflict on its own territory and that could plunge turkey into a very, very dire situation. the situation with the pkk had been relatively quiet for the last year and a half. if there is a return to regular armed conflict, then really turkey is in unchartered territory again. it would mean that the situation with the kurdish militia in syria would flare up again. it would mean there could be cross-border incursions between the kurdish militia in syria. it could be very, very dire indeed. i think the turkish government

will try to say look, we were simply responding to an attack on our military outpost. kurdish politicians are quite likely to call for calm. neither side wants to see this flaring up into something far, far more serious, but of course, the threat is there and that could lead turkey into very dark days indeed. >> okay, mark in istanbul. good to speak to you, thanks. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." much more to come. sri lanka's rail link is officially reopened 53 years after the civil war closed it. ♪ find yourself.

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this is "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest top stories for you. hospital officials in the german city of leipzig say a united nations employee being treated there has died of ebola. and the south african athlete oscar pistorius has

returned to court for a second day of sentencing arguments over whether he should face prison for killing his girlfriend. catholic bishops have signaled a radical shift in tone about accepting gay people into the church. a preliminary statement released in the middle of a vatican meeting on family life said gay people had gifts and qualifies to offer and the church has recognized some positive aspects of civil unions. but conservative roman catholics have rejected the report as a betrayal. the special secretary of the general assembly in the senate of bishops explained the reasoning behind the catholic church's edict. >> i guess that what i want to express is that we must respect the dignity of every person. and the fact to be homosexual doesn't mean that this dignity must be not recognized and promoted. so the fundamental idea is the

centrality of the person independently, of different sexual orientations. >> now, let's move to north korea, a story that's been keeping lots of people guessing for weeks, the apparent disappearance of the north korean leader kim jong un. there's been speculation about his health and some have been wondering if he's even in charge any more. but pictures have emerged showing him at his first public appearance in weeks. with me is paul french, author of "north korea: state of paranoia." let's have a look at those photos first of all. because he has certainly reappeared after 40 days of public absence. what do these photos tell us? >> they tell us that he's back. he's maybe been for some medical treatment. and now he's back in control. because he is an infallible and omnipotent leader to the north korean leader, the idea of showing him in a hospital bed or going in and out of an ambulance is unthinkable, so he has to disappear during that period. >> do we know exactly what is

the trouble? >> we can assume it's something wrong with his leg. >> he was walking with a limp basically. >> and there's lots of speculation that it's due to a lush lifestyle, just as it was around his father when he was unwell, kim jong il. but the truth is we don't really know. >> he's been seen now with a walking stick. it matters because no one wants a power vacuum, i suppose. and yet we're not quite sure whether it's him or a cabinet of people around him that are most in charge. >> yes. i think that there has been some sort of shift with his involvement, which is that in terms of dealing with the outside world, particularly with seoul and the south korea issue, that we may now see him as quite a young man, devolving some responsibility. it could be a positive move. >> why do you think it's happening? it's a very different leadership style compared with his family predecessors. >> and his family predecessors got basically nowhere on relation with the outside world. he is less experienced. he knows this.

no one really wants to talk to him personally, but being able to send in emissaries while he remains the supreme leader for all the north korean people to witness means that we perhaps now have someone to talk to. >> so who are the key people around him? does this mean that there could be a warmer relationship with south korea and the west or not? >> i think so. particularly with south korea. it's an issue of sending in people who have some experience, who are senior members of the military and what's called the ogd, the organization and guidance director, propaganda ministry. these are senior people who have been around a long time. they're very loyal as far as we know to kim. otherwise they probably would have been purged, as was his uncle at the start of his reign of north korea. but these are people, the politicians in seoul, in tokyo, in beijing can sit down and talk to and have substantive discussions rather than trying to run everything through the supreme leader. >> just briefly, if i can. the danger of north korea, what risk does it pose to the outside world in terms of who it

traffics with and who it trades with and so on? >> obviously, there are problems particularly around the fact that they are a nuclear power and so on and there are still threats around the east china and east asia region with missile launches and so on. but if we have someone to talk to, someone that we can actually get on the phone and call, i think the north koreans know this, it can ratchet down tensions. >> thanks very much for coming in. thank you. now the president of sri lanka has officially reopened a renovated railway more than two decades after it went out of service because of the civil war. the train will run from the capital colombo all the way to jaffna. it's hoped it will restore national unity after years of conflict, although tamils are still very scarred by so many killings by the government. laura westbrook reports. >> reporter: the queen of jaffna has arrived. thousands crowded the station to

welcome the train. the first to arrive in the tamil north in over 20 years. for many of these children, the first time they've ever seen a train. they welcomed the president, the first official passenger. his government brought an almost 30-year civil war with the rebels to an end in 2009. he hopes this train connecting the tamil majority north and the minority in the south will help unite the country. >> translator: what is left to us is to win over hearts and minds. i think this train journey will help connect hearts and minds once again. >> reporter: the train links the capital colombo to jaffna and takes about six hours. it used to be a lifeline for people and goods, but that ended in 1990 when it closed during the civil war. >> for the last 20 or 30 years, we didn't have any railway station here and no train

service. but now we are very happy that these things are going on. >> reporter: there is peace here now, but the scars of war remain. the united nations is estimated about 40,000 tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the civil war. mostly by the army. it is investigating allegations of war crimes against the government and tamil rebels. while many tamils feel projects like this alone won't bring true ethnic reconciliation, many believe this symbol of unity goes a step towards bringing the country together again. laura westbrook, bbc news. >> that's one take on that train. many tamils will take a very different view. more, of course, on our website. we are going to leave you with these pictures. absolutely extraordinary. the idea of gate crashing a pool party, you might not think of this. but have a look, because a group of american base jumpers in kuala lumpur decided they were

going to arrive at a nearby pool party in style. they launched themselves off the 330-meter-haiku cue tower, landing, as you can see, with a splash in a nearby skyscraper rooftop in true james bond style, met with cheers from fellow swimmers. amazing pictures. we're back soon. kind of service plan can you get? well right now if you select the 15 gig plan we'll double your data and make it 30 gigs for the same price. well that- great! you'll take it. in head * are you inside my mind right now? nope where was... albuquerque who was the porcupine what is my fave- hollandaise sauce no way... the new iphone is here and now you get 30 gigs of data to share starting at $160 dollars a month. and for grandpa moving in with us for a few, uh, months. he's such a wonderful role model for little jimmy. and, uh, i think we're all very excited. [ male announcer ] kraft macaroni & cheese. you know you love it.

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hello, you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news" with me, david eads. our top stories, the u.n. steps in as health workers in liberia say they're not getting fairly paid in the fight against ebola. as the workers call for danger money, the u.n. says they'll ensure that staff across west africa do get their wages. >> the united nations is going to work with the government to make sure that the people on the front line of this effort, the front line of this war are getting the pay that they deserve. six month