>> welcome to the "france 24" newsroom. guilty of culpable homicide. the judge in the oscar pistorius trial finds the athlete responsible for the negligent murder of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. president francois hollande touches down in baghdad. he meets with the new iraqi government and pledges to support iraq in the fight against islamist extremists. fresh sanctions against russia go into effect. the latest round of punitive measures aimed to keep the pressure on moscow over its involvement in ukraine.

we will have those top stories and more. also coming up, the guns in eastern ukraine have largely fallen silent as a fragile cease-fire remains in effect. the truce has done little to improve the harsh living conditions of local residents. we take a closer look. with a week to go until scotland's independence referendum, one former prime minister warns of the dangers of a yes vote. he was cleared of premeditated murder, but oscar pistorius has been found guilty of culpable homicide. the judge gave her verdict a short while ago. she found the paralympic star guilty of the unlawful and negligent murder of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. she was shot dead on valentine's day last year. here is the judge delivering her

ruling. >> on count one, 50 11 of the criminal law the accused is found not guilty and is discharged. instead, he is found guilty of culpable homicide. >> that was the judge who had previously cleared 827-year-old pistorius of premeditated murder saying the state failed to prove he intended to kill reeva steenkamp. oscar pistorius admits firing through the door at his home but says he mistook her for an intruder. we have more from pedroia. >> oscar pistorius must be released katie has been

cleared of murder and felt guilty of culpable homicide. that means he killed reeva steenkamp through negligence. the judge has dismissed the case that oscar pistorius had the direct intention of killing his girlfriend. she accepted his virgin that -- his version that when he shot and killed her, he generally believed there was an intruder in his bathroom and he fired the shots and he believed his life was in danger. now that the judgment is over sentencing procedures will have to start. before that, there will be evidence in litigation and in aggravation. the defense will have an opportunity to call witnesses family members, psychologists, and even psychiatrists to talk about oscar pistorius' childhood, how he grew up, his mental capacity, and also the effect his disability has had on his life. all of this will take place over the next three to four weeks.

the case has been adjourned until later today. at 12:30, the court will resume. they will talk about bail. in south africa once you have been convicted, you lose bail and have to reapply. the state has already indicated they will oppose bail. the defense is saying there is no reason oscar pistorius' bail should not be extended. >> the south african judge has granted -- we just heard the verdict against oscar pistorius saying he is guilty of culpable homicide. he has met with the new authorities in iraq. the visit aims to reinforce french backing for officials in baghdad. this as global efforts to defeat the hottest fighters in the

country intensifies the best jihadist -- this as global efforts to defeat the jihadist fighters the country intensifies. >> we must ensure terrorism is wiped out in this region. this terrorism is threatening us. jihadists are coming from all sorts of countries. they might subsequently go home and carry out terrorist attacks. >> that was french president francois hollande speaking a short while ago in baghdad. france has said it is prepared to take part in air strikes against the islamic state organization in iraq if necessary. the president's plane is carrying 15 tons of humanitarian aid to be delivered in the kurdish capital later this friday. for more on this story, i am joined by our international

affairs editor. we are seeing francois hollande in iraq. it is quite a strong showing of support for this new iraqi government. >> yes. the strong showing of support should not be understated. it is symbolic seeing him there. this is the first head of state to visit the new prime minister, a prime minister whose country is in the midst of what he says is a deteriorating security situation to say the least. you still have much of the country in thrall to the extremist fighters. there have been recent successes in the efforts to push them back. mostly the u.s. airstrike efforts to regain infrastructure and cities. they're still very much there and have resources. they are very motivated. francois hollande is there to say we will stand by you. it is a show of solidarity saying if necessary we are

willing to help with the airstrikes. let's not forget. france has modest means. there are great ambitions and france does want to play a prominent role. france has about six fighter planes in the united arab emirates, about 1000 military personnel. presumably, those could be involved in an airstrike in pain within iraq -- campaign in iraq. syria equation is a whole another bag of worms. much more complicated. francois hollande has been clear that while he is there with humanitarian and logistical support to the government, he wants to make sure the military component of french support of coalition is going to be done within and internationally acceptable context within the framework of international law. that is one of the things they

will start hashing out of this conference next week in paris. a lot of work to be done. you are right. just his being there any country still at war and under threat is a very strong message. >> thank you for that analysis. that meeting will take place here in paris on monday. we will be covering that event. keeping the pressure on moscow, the european union has expanded the list of sanctions against russia and it has come into effect. it comes as the u.s. appears to announce its own new punitive measures this friday. it is the latest steps in the bid to force russia to change course in ukraine. the u.s. and e.u. accuse moscow a destabilizing its neighbor by backing separatists with troops and arms. >> tightening up the sanctions the e.u. imposed last july. 24 more individuals are now and from european territory and have had their assets frozen.

measures also further restrict russia's access to e.u. capital markets. european nationals and companies are forbidden to give loans to five major russian state-owned banks. it is not just the financial world affected. the sanctions also target russia's defense and energy sectors. statement oil companies -- the statement oil companies are now on the e.u. blacklist. natural gas producers will be left out with europe heavily reliant on russian resources. moscow may be prepared to use its gas exports as a weapon. : complaint they cut deliveries by half -- poland has complained they cut deliveries by half. >> thankfully, our deserves our full to the brim. at the moment, what we received from the western south compensates for the missing supplies. >> moscow has also threatened to

retaliate with new sanctions. the prime minister when he may block imports of european cars and textiles as well as potentially banning western flights from russian airspace, a move which could bankrupt airlines. >> on the ground, the ukrainian government and rebel forces have exchanged dozens of prisoners captured dream be five months of fighting. the transfer took place outside the main rebel stronghold early this friday under the watch of international observers. it is part of the cease-fire deal reached earlier this month. all guns have largely fallen silent, the truce has done little to ease the harsh living conditions of residence in eastern ukraine. robert parsons and jonathan walsh sent us this report from the region. >> in the villages of eastern ukraine, they call the angels. he and his fellow charity workers have driven here from slaviansk, 100 kilometers to the north.

>> we are bringing what we can bread and water, the essentials, so people can feel like human beings again. >> we are entering ukrainian government controlled territory. donetsk is just 30 kilometers away. the fighting in these parts has been ferocious. most people have fled. first, the village where he has sent advance warning of their arrival. word is out quickly they are here. supplies are quickly unloaded into a baptist church. local volunteers have drawn up lists. >> this is really important for us. do you understand? really important. we survived off of this. we have nothing to eat. we do not even have enough money to buy water. we do not have jobs or salaries read nothing. we don't have anything to feed the kids. >> what they bring will not last long.

there are others doing similar work. in the absence of the state there's nothing else. >> this is all bought with private donations. some people give food, others money. we buy what is needed. we package and distribute it to those who need it. >> mission accomplished for today. the villagers return home with their parcels of food and they head off to the next destination. there are more hungry people waiting down the road. >> a closer look at the living conditions as the tenuous cease-fire holds. a warning from nigeria's elders. the influential groups as boko haram fighters on the verge of overtaking the northern city. the form is made up of retired senior civilians and military officials. it has called for military reinforcement. the government has rejected the

warning as alarmist but it comes as analysts say the government risks losing control of the region. >> armed with arrows, machetes, and guns, these civilian militias have been fighting against boko haram for a year, ever since a state of emergency was declared the region. now the population is getting up for an imminent attack. islamist fighters have purportedly -- reportedly surrounded commercial hub in northeast nigeria. it is the capital of borno state with around 2 million inhabitants, a strategic ties for the islamists. >> if it does not fall today, it will fall tomorrow. if not this week, next week. it is going to fall. >> bogomolov has already taken -- boko haram is already taking control of largely muslim cities. last month the leader declared

an islamic caliphate across the region, apparently imitating isis fighters in iraq and syria. thousands of nigerians have fled the violence. most have found refuge in the south. amongst them, this 16-year-old who was any park with her friends when the insurgents opened fire. >> a man said you are all dead whether you're christian or muslim. >> like her these displaced children are struggling. many have found themselves far away from home and separated from loved ones. >> [children singing] >> an american aid worker infected with ebola has been given blood from a fellow dr. who also battled the doctor.

he has been given experimental drugs as well as other treatments. doctors say he is responding well. his recovery is being closely watched as health officials look for an effective way to treat the virus which has no known cure. according to the world health organization, over 2400 people have died from the disease in west africa since march. the world health organization's had has been speaking on the matter in geneva. >> in the three hardest hit countries, the number of new cases is moving far faster than the capacity to manage them in the ebola specific treatment centers. today, there is not one single bed available for the treatment of an ebola patient in the entire country of liberia. we have received reports on 4784 cases and more than 2400 deaths. >> that was margaret chan

speaking in geneva a little while earlier. there are just a few days to go before scotland's independence referendum. according to polls those opting to stick with england are in the lead. that survey did not take into account the undecided voters. all is still in play. scotland's first minister remains confident the yes vote will win in the end saying the arguments of the no campaign can easily be unraveled. here is what former british prime minister and fellow scotsman gordon brown had to say about that. >> in the last two days, john lewis has come out and said the prices will be higher in scotland. the oil companies have said investment will be lower in scotland. we have had the oil experts say yesterday they were exaggerating the oil revenues in scotland.

i say you can try to dismiss some of the warnings some of the time but you cannot dismiss all of the warnings all of the time. >> that was gordon brown making his case for a no vote. pakistani authorities are moving to protect two major cities from floodwaters. explosives are to be used to divert the swollen rivers as authorities seek desperately to help the 1.8 million people now affected by the rising waters. floods and landslides from heavy monsoon rains have now claimed more than 450 lives in pakistan and in india with hospitals struggling to cope with the disaster. colors of light eliminated -- i lluminated new york's skyline on the anniversary of the september 11 attack. as is the case every year, two

beams of light pierced the air be creating the image of the twin towers that used to stand in lower manhattan. president barack obama, his wife and vice president jill biden observed a moment of silence on the white house lawn. flags in washington flew at half mast. nearly 3000 people killed when terrorists launched attacks on the united states in 2001. let's get a check of the headlines we are following. guilty of culpable homicide. the judge in the oscar pistorius case finds the south african athlete responsible for the negligent murder of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. president francois hollande touches down in baghdad. the french leader meets with the new iraqi government and pledges to support isis in its fight -- pledges to support iraq in its fight against islamic extremists. the latest round of measures aim to keep pressure on moscow over its involvement in ukraine. it is time for a look at the

international press. where do we begin? >> we are going to start with the british paper looking at the whole question of the strategy towards iraq and those islamic state militants. the headline screaming at you "the possible war." the piece argues the attacks are on the sunny militant group isis and for sunni communities, they may prefer the lesser evil compared to the return of vengeful government troops. that is a striking comment. we see the picture of the 9/11 commemorations in the united states marking the 13 years since the downing of the twin towers. the message in "the independent" this friday, the plan is more to contain isis rather than

eradicated. let's look at the "nyc" editorial saying congress appears perfectly happy to sit on the fence and advocate one of its most consequential powers, efforting to declare war. "the message from the "new york times" is saying they don't want to have an authorization vote so much. allowing obama free reign, as far as the paper is concerned, sets a dangerous precedent. sticking with this story, we can go to the french press covering the visit by the french president in baghdad. it is headlining this is very much a commando visit. he meeting the new iraqi government specifically to discuss france's participation in the international coalition against the islamist date -- islamic state.

in paris on monday, we will see a big meeting on iraq security. let's go to this editorial on the front page saying, pretty much echoing comments saying it seems when hollande has a frontline to fight, it seems to go well for him. not at all when he has battlegrounds within france itself in terms of domestic politics. the comment piece is saying obama is not relishing going back to iraq. >> let's take a look at other world news. we are seeing more western sanctions being piled on russia. >> is having look at a cartoon which is very funny. we have e.u. sanctions this friday. more u.s. sanctions in the pipeline. kgb-trained vladimir putin has not moved even though the dog of the sanctions is biting.

"it does not hurt." of course not no matter what happens you never changes his facial expression. let's look at analysis in the "moscow times" saying iran could be a winner from the western sanctions in terms of tehran and moscow becoming more suitable economic allies. that is a similar take for the "china daily goes court also say western sanctions against prudent play into the rush against -- western sanctions against putin play into their interests. moscow could be possibly willing to back the yuan against the dollar and transfer energy and military expertise. >> we are running out of time. less than a week to go before

scotland's independence referendum. >> one of the stories is about north korea backing the bid for scottish independence. it is saying that in "the daily telegraph," but it isn't quite a few daily papers. it is saying the leader of north korea loves his whiskey so there may be interest for him to have trade going on with scotland. no embassy in edinboro. that would be too expensive. the north korea people are going to examine and all kinds of problems. the verdict on the decision in scotland is scottish people must decide to vote better together because we want to united kingdom. >> will have to wait until the 18th to find the answer.

thank you very much for that. it is time for a sports update. take a look. >> he hosted the launch at francois hollande's palace in paris yesterday. leaders of football were at the event along with local representatives and the french national coach. he captained france to victory in 1984 playing -- flying the french and european colors. >> we are used to organizing competitions. that is not the most important thing. what is important is that france wins. with france hosting 2016, france is happy to have the tournament because there will be hundreds of thousands of people coming to watch. that was the purpose of francois hollande's meeting today. >> france last won victories in 2000. they are keen to repeat that

in 2016 as he explains. >> there are clear expectations and goals we want to achieve. the our responsibilities and high expectations. we will do our best to live up to them. >> 10 cities across france will host the tournament. the action kicks off in june of 2016. two big guns face off this evening. the visitors have taken just four points from their first quarter matches. leon face champions harris next week and -- paris next weekend. >> we need the results. we have to step up and produce a different kind of game. we need to be more consistent during the whole game.

we know we are going to be facing two favorites for the title so we are going to have to play better than we have up until now. >> monaco finished second last season.