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world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying cleaner-burning natural gas to generate electricity. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol, a biofuel made from renewable sugar cane. >> a minute, mom! >> let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. >> and now, "bbc world news." saysan israeli court its army was not at fault when a bulldozer crushed to death a 23- year-old the american activist. her family says the israeli military was protected and cost of civilians. >> it was a bad day not only for

our family but for human rights, for humanity, for the rule of law. >> hello and welcome to gmt. korea was hit by the strongest typhoon in a decade. on the gulf coast, tropical storm isaac gathers strength. a flight was ripped off a car carrying the japanese ambassador in china. it's midday in london, 7:00 in the morning in washington, to look like in the afternoon in jerusalem. an israeli court has rejected a lawsuit forcing its military by the parents of u.s. activist who was crushed to death by an army bulldozer.

23-year-old rachel corrie was killed while trying to stop the demolition of palestinian houses in 2003. the court ruled that her death was accidental because the driver of the bulldozer had not seen her. let's get more from don donaldson -- john donaldson. it has been nine years since she was killed in gaza. she has become a high-profile symbol of the palestinian cause. for almost a decade apparent have been making the journey from the united states to israel and back, trying to get an explanation they could accept as to what happened to their daughter if. but today in court they did not get what they wanted to hear. rachel corrie, on the day she died, a human shield trying to stop the israeli army from demolishing palestinian property in gaza. the tactics seen here being used by other pro-palestinian activists is clearly risky.

it cost rachel corrie her life. pressed to death by an israeli bulldozers. nine years later her parents arrived in court today is looking for what they could call justice. seeking to sue the israeli ministry of defense for damages. but the judge ruled her death was accidental, but the bulldozer driver had not seen her, and that she had taken a risk going into what was a war zone. the judge said the activists were protecting terrorists, palestinian militants operating in the area. pour rachel corrie's family, but it's tough to accept. >> it's outrageous. we brought a lot of material to court, a lot of evidence. and we demanded that the israeli government bring evidence to court. some of that they did not bring. you can find information that

the israeli government said it did not exist. >> the family has already spent ofer the hundreds of thousands dollars fighting the case. they have said they will appeal the ruling is rail's supreme court. >> what happens now? >> the family will is real's supreme court to appeal. they said that america opposing position had been that the army investigation was not credible, not transparent, and not sufficient. so it will be interesting to see what america, one of its strongest allies, pastors say in the coming days. say.a-- has to

>> severe disruptions. korea has been hit by the strongest typhoon in nearly a decade in the area. five crew members from two chinese ships have been killed and many more missing after the ships capsized. strong warnings have been issued for the capital of seoul, south korea. now it's headed towards north korea, a country in suffering from drought followed by floods. tropical storm isaac being upgraded to a hurricane as it moves toward the united states. it could be to land as early as tonight as a category one hurricane. there could be winds up to 150 kph, battering buildings. as the storm travels to the gulf coast, a state of emergency has been declared in florida, mississippi, alabama, and

louisiana. seven years ago this week it was hurricane katrina devastating new orleans. now this report. >> they know how to prepare for storms in new orleans. it was seven years to the day that people were doing a similar thing as hurricane katrina was approaching across the gulf of mexico. the city was woefully unprepared back then. the levees which were built to protect the people failed. much of the city flooded. more than 1800 people died here and along the gulf coast. since then the levees have been strengthened. the storm is not expected to be as powerful, but they were still putting the finishing touches of the city's defense as isaac approached. i am not very worried. it does not seem like it's a powerful storm like katrina was. but you never know. >> it is 200 miles across and

moving at 10 miles an hour, strengthening over the warm gulf of mexico. it is expected to strike land somewhere along the coast as a category 2 hurricane with the wind up two thirds the strength of katrina. >> we are staged. we are battle ready. we will be prepared to handle what comes our way. >> in mississippi the wind will soon pick up as the first squall's reached the coast. a surge in the tide could also cause widespread flooding. in alabama, people were stocking up, preparing to batten down for the storm. some were leaving, but many people and decided to skip this one out and hopes for the best. bbc news, new orleans. get toe's more when we gulfport, mississippi. the arrival of that tropical storm could not have come at a worse time for the republican

party, holding a national convention in tampa, florida. this carefully staged event will formally put forward mitt romney as the presidential candidate for the party, that will get underway later after being delayed by a day. now this report. >> it is my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and call to order the. it was an anticlimactic start, and a half full convention call to order and then immediately declared in recess because of the weather. but it will take more than a tropical storm to dampen the spirits of these republicans who are convinced the white house is there for the taking. >> we will nominate romney and paul ryan and they will win in november and will turn the country around. we can put the last four years behind us. >> this will be a more in-depth

introduction into his background, his family. he is the king midas. everything that he has touched has turned to gold. >> it's not the sunshine for the backdrop republicans were hoping for. instead they will try to get the focus on their man. today they will formally nominate mitt romney for the presidency. all this week they will try to get a skeptical american public to warm up to him as a candidate and as a person. organizers have turned to the candidates biggest fan. ann romney has already appeared in campaign ads for her husband for. >> you can never predict what kind of tough conditions will come in front of the president's desk, but you can trust they will do the right thing? . >> painting a softer portraits of the multi millionaire who is often seen as aloof and not in touch with the struggles of ordinary people. tonight she will tell america that darman is caring and decent

and trustworthy. but the jury is still out. he has been a serial slipslop per onerial flip-flop policies over the years. steve kingston, bbc news, florida. >> one person has been killed as rioting address its second day in mombasa. groups are accusing police of being involved in the shooting of a controversial and islamic cleric accused of being a key recruiter for muslims fighting in somalia. yulia tymoshenko has taken her case to the european court of human rights. they have argued she was detained illegally during her trial and that the prosecution was politically motivated. rover has senty

back astonishing images from mars. one of the images is this 360 degree view of the landing site including a mountain. japan poses foreign minister has demanded an investigation into an incident in which a man in beijing route to the japanese flag off a car carrying the country's ambassador to china. this comes amid rising diplomatic tensions and anti- japanese protests over disputed islands in the east and japanese sea. more tensions between these two countries. this is not going to help, martin>> that's right. both countries want to try to play this down. we understand a japanese enovoy has -- a japanese envoy has

been sent. they want to make sure this does not get out of hand. what happened was the japanese ambassador was returning to the embassy. his car was stopped by two other vehicles. a man from one of those vehicles stole the flag. he has not been identified. the background of this is a heated dispute over a chain of islands in the east china sea in. in china in recent weeks we have seen mass protests over this issue. this incident, which has been condemned by but chinese foreign ministry, will inflame tensions further between the two countries. >> does this seem to be -- does there seem to be any end in sight? from the pictures running now, the citizens of china are not happy. >> that's right. there is deep anger over those

islands. the demonstrations in other areas, or condoned by authorities. anti-japanese protests are allowed to go on. there is a deeply held anti- japanese sentiment in china. that dates back from the second world war when the japanese army committed atrocities. on the issue of these islands, both countries claim these islands as their own. so i don't think this dispute will go away anytime soon. >> i think i agree. thanks very much. we will speak with you more about this in the future. still to come, where access to mali's military as it controls

its northern border against islamic militants -- rare access. wildfires continue raging through the balkans. hundreds of soldiers have joined firefighters been battling a blaze that has ravaged a national park in serbia. in croatia, forecast a strong wind threatens to intensify fires near the southern coast. now this report. >> pine forests on fire up. no one has been killed so far, but the damage caused to the national park is extensive. >> the situation is better than yesterday as we were able to put out some of the fires with the help of a helicopter and airplanes. but there are burning embers in a big part of the area. we have to continue to extinguish from the air. >> the effort has been stepped up since russia sent two

firefighting planes to serbia. the emergency services received a visit from the serbian prime minister on monday and have been working to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby villages. >> helicopters and two planes are helping. the situation is still very difficult. >> neighboring croatia is also battling several wildfires on the southern coast. the farmers already caused the closure of a key road to the capital. firefighters and volunteers have been doing all they can to protect houses. it is thought the fire may have been started deliberately. >> it cannot be happening just by accident, because there are so many fires at one time in such a big area. we are not being as effective as we could be in putting them out. >> an emergency effort that is not being helped by forecasts of strong wind which could spread the fire even further. bbc news reporting. >> if you want to get more on

the continuing dry weather in the balkans, go to our web site for forecasts for the remainder of the week. bbc.com/news. this is gmt from "bbc world news. here are the headlines. an israeli court has ruled an american activist crushed to death while trying to stop and army bulldozer in gaza was killed accidentally. five players killed in the korean peninsula after the strongest typhoon in nearly a decade. -- five persons killed. the storm approaching the southern united states is on the verge of being upgraded to a hurricane. time to get the business news with aaron. with talk about the u.s. housing markets, because it's nice to be optimistic about the economy.

they're not in many reasons to be so. >> recently, yes. we are getting a crucial indicator. it is watched closely. it should indicate that finally the u.s. housing market is on a path of recovery. it is important to say that this housing market in the u.s. has always been the ball and chain around the u.s. economy. people either have lost their homes or they are scared of losing row homes, so that affects consumer confidence. if consumer confidence is down, that hurts the economy because people don't make purchases. between 2007 and 2011, 14.5 million homes were taken aback by the banks.

-- taken back. that's one home in every 10 seconds. reason number is in the past few months suggest we could been in the turnaround. home prices nationwide in the u.s. have risen four consecutive month. house builders are building more homes that are being sold, so that's a good sign. things are looking up. let's listen to what u.s. housing expert. >> the worst housing markets we have seen in seven decades. the last four years or five years is been pretty tough, but for this year we are actually seeing a recovering, the beginning of recovery. >> they are through the pipeline. but there are still a large number of foreclosures, houses that have been repossessed by banks. they have to feed through the pipeline to solidify prices even

more. that will come through eventually. >> people are not really in the market for luxury cars. when we talk luxury-car as, i don't think of ford. >> you and many others, but they did have some big luxury brands. >> that was back in the day. >> ford has big plans. in plans no surprise that it is going full throttle into the world's second-largest economy. china is now the no. 1 car market in the world. let me break that down. one car out of every four sold last year globally was sold in china. for that reason, has announced today it is re-launch in its iconic a luxury lincoln.

>> that was before my time. >> the lincoln brand will tap into china's wealthy buyers. the luxury market for cars in china is the second fastest growing segment in terms of car sales. so that's good news. they are also wanted a low-cost model for consumers. all this is to try to play catch-up. its lagging well behind general motors and volkswagen. it's all of this a little too late? >> you been here 10 years. the opportunity for us is to bring a full portfolio of products to the market and showcase all of our product line to the chinese customers and let them decide what kind of market share we get. 65% of chinese buyers are first- time buyers. they're looking at all the brands and all the options. >> that's a big market.

>> are you in the market at the moment? >> no. and i'm not in china. >> and people who smoked cannabis run the risk of reducing their intelligence and their memory according to a new study. an international team found proposal started using cannabis before they reached the age of 18 separate a drop in their iq. now more. >> heavy canada's use has been linked to an increase in the risk of developing mental illnesses like schizophrenia. but now an international team of researchers have found that those who regularly a smoked it at a young age and risk reduction in their iq, the way intelligence is measured. this significant studding had researchers following the lives of one of thousand people over a period of more than 20 years. they assessed them as children and interview them repeatedly up

to the age of 38. those who consistently used canada suffered a decline in their iq. the more that people smoke, the greater the loss. the effect was most marked in those who started smoking cannabis as adolescents. researchers believe that's when the brain is undergoing critical development and they warn there's no sign that cutting back or stopping canada's use will restore the lost iq. -- stopping the use of cannabis. >> the government of mali is asking on the international community to help it as islamist extremists are trying to take over. they have introduced sri lanka in much of the best. they control and are increasing their highly lucrative trade in drugs. we have that very rare access to the mali army trying to regain

control from extremists. >> this heavily-armed convoy is trying to battle islamist insurgents. there's humiliation and shame. for shame. their commander admits the morale of his men is low but he insists his nation will win the fight. >> without any external assistance we cannot fully deal with this situation. >> retaking the north without guns and equipment, it is way off target. the patrol has stopped because beyond this point the land is under the control of al qaeda- linked islamic extremists. in the capital, politicians

doubt the country can face extremists alone. >> they have not been trained to face this situation. we don't have the numbers or the equipment or training. we need help from the outside. >> there's little to sing about it, but this volunteer militia is driven by revenge. many of these 400 men and women fled their homes in the north. now they want them back. what they lack in weapons they make up for with enthusiasm. >> i'm here for my country. i would like to help our fathers and mothers and sisters and brothers in the north. i don't worry about being killed, because the blood that has already been shed is part of my blood. >> the west african region is offering to put three cows and

goats on the ground, but it lacks international funding to get them there. a spokesperson said this should worry the world. >> it is in danger and all africa is in danger. >> 200,000mali residents fleeing to neighboring countries. this is already a regional problem. if negotiations fail, military intervention could be necessary. bbc news, mali. >> and american servicemen was disciplined for to be incidents that provoked outrage in afghanistan earlier this year. this was after burning copies of the koran and urinating on the bodies of dead taliban insurgents. it may involve demotions a cut of pay.

the egyptian president has a right in beijing for three-day visit. there are expected to discuss crucial issues facing the arab world including the conflict in syria. the egyptian leader is hoping to boost bilateral ties with the world's second-largest economy as well. plenty more to come in a on gmt.