09/05/2014 BBC News at Ten

Gunned down on the streets of Ukraine - at least 20 people are

reported killed as the army clashes with pro-Russian separatists. The

violence erupted in the eastern city of Mariupol as pro-Russians tried to

seize the police headquarters. TRANSLATION: It's only Russia that

can protect us, no one else. Everyone else is against Ukraine.

Why hasn't President Putin come here yet? But President Putin did appear

in Crimea in front of jubilant crowds, for the first time since it

was annexed from Ukraine by Moscow America has called it a provocative

and unnecessary visit. Also tonight: The veteran entertainer Rolf Harris

goes on trial over alleged sexual offences against young girls.

Mothers of the kidnapped schoolgirls - new claims that Nigerian

authorities were warned the school would be targeted, but failed to

act. An investigation's launched after

graphic pictures appear to show British servicemen posing with a

dead Taliban fighter. He's got it through. It's Sergio

Aguero! Can Manchester City do it again? A dramatic end to the Premier

League ahead this weekend, as the club vies with Liverpool for the

title. Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News,

Peter Moores is back at the helm and England's cricketers are back to

winning ways. They beat Scotland in a rainy one-day international.

Good evening. There's been another major escalation in the crisis in

Ukraine, with more serious clashes in the east of the country. The

Ukrainian government says its troops engaged pro-Russian activists in a

firefight after they tried to storm a police headquarters in the port

city of Mariupol. Ukraine says more than 20 people were killed. Most are

thought to be pro-Russian activists. The clashes came as Vladimir Putin

arrived in Sevastopol for his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed

the peninsula in March. More on that in a moment. First, this report from

Richard Galpin, who was at the scene during the clashes in Mariupol. This

report contains images you may find distressing.

Video which the BBC believes shows Ukrainian troops fighting a pitch

battle with pro-Russian separatists in the centre of Mariupol. The

military sending in reinforcements, they say needed to dislodge a group

of separatists who had earlier occupied the police headquarters.

But hearing the gunfire, other pro-Russian activists rushed onto

the street, trying to stop the reinforcements getting through. This

man's venture into the road proves disastrous. He is shot in the

chest. It is not known if he survived. At the police

headquarters, the epicentre of the battle, evidence of the intensity of

the fighting. There was no one left inside. The fighting at the police

station seems to be the most serious incident so far in this city. There

are still bodies on the streets, waiting to be taken away. This man

showed me one of the bodies here. Apparently, it was that of a

policeman. He was one of ours, he says. He was on the side of the

people. The pro-Russian crowds here said that is why the military had

attacked the police station. They claimed it had not been stormed by

separatist rebels. This woman tells me only Russia, no one else, can now

protect them. Why hasn't President Putin come here so far, she says.

The Ukrainian military is now bracing itself for further

fighting, with reports tonight but more separatists gunmen are heading

towards this city. Ukraine is moving ever closer to civil war. Richard

Galpin, BBC News, in Mariupol. The clashes in Mariupol were

happening as President Putin was on his first visit to the Crimean

peninsula since it was annexed from Ukraine in March. The government in

Kiev called it a "gross violation of Ukraine's sovereignty". His visit

was also condemned as provocative by NATO, the United States and the EU.

Daniel Sandford reports from Sevastopol.

President Vladimir Putin, the first Russian leader in almost 70 years to

expand his territory, arriving today in Sevastopol Harbour, as Russian

air force jets roared overhead in triumph, beaming live pictures to

viewers across the world. It was the first time he had come here to

Crimea since he annexed the peninsula less than two months ago.

TRANSLATION: I am sure that 2014 will be written into the history of

this city and our whole country as the year when the people who live

here made a firm decision to be together with Russia. Then he

stepped out into the crowd of tens of thousands of delighted Sevastopol

residents, many of them now proud owners of Russian passports. This is

Crimea's most Russian city. It was a display of defiance by President

Putin, coming to Sevastopol in the face of international opposition to

his annexation of Crimea, knowing full well that the people here

supported what he did. The United States described President Putin's

trip as provocative and unnecessary. Today was Victory Day in Crimea and

across the old Soviet Union, the day people celebrate the defeat of Nazi

Germany. But in Kiev, the Victory Day ceremonies were much more

sombre. Ukraine has lost Crimea, and the East is in flames. TRANSLATION:

69 years ago, we fought alongside Russia against fascism, but now

Russia has started to fight us. So history is repeating itself, but in

a different form. But tonight, with the Russian warships lit up in

Sevastopol Harbour, they were celebrating, with little concern for

Kiev or the minority in Crimea who had wanted to remain part of

Ukraine. Daniel Sandford, BBC News, Sevastopol.

With me now is our diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall.

Iniesta Ukraine, the situation on the ground seems to be going from

bad to worse -- in eastern Ukraine. Where is the crisis heading?

Everyday, the stakes seem to get higher and what happens more

shocking. Today, the Ukrainian army brought heavy armour into a city

centre for a chaotic shoot out. It does feel as though it is heading

towards a fully fledged civil war. Devastating for Ukraine, but also

worrying for everyone if it leads to a chasm between the rest and Russia.

Hats precisely for that reason, there seems to be intense activity

going on behind the scenes to try and get some sort of peaceful

resolution to this. It is not straightforward. On the one hand,

there was President Putin in the Crimea today, very triumphant. On

the other hand, there have been a few hints from him, making it sound

as though perhaps he wants to take his foot off the accelerator. ABC

wants to dodge crippling western sanctions and war on his border.

Firstly, he has distanced himself from the rebels' referendums which

Judy be held in eastern Ukraine. Secondly, he has hinted that he will

not block the presidential election in Ukraine at the end of May. If

certain conditions are met. And thirdly, he is hinting that he might

go to the D-day celebrations in Normandy in June. Does that mean

that he thinks I then, he will have found a way to de-escalate the

tensions? It would be very difficult. There is almost no

trust. Things could have spiralled out of control already.

One of the best known faces on British television, Rolf Harris, has

gone on trial, accused of sexual offences against four young girls

between 1968 and 1986. The jury was told that one of his alleged victims

was a friend of his daughter's. The prosecution described him as a

Jekyll and Hyde character who used his fame to abuse children. The

84-year-old denies 12 charges of indecent assault. Our correspondent

David Sillito reports. In court, he was described as

famous, charming, talented, but also a man with a side. But Harris walked

into court today to hear accusations that he had used his fame to

sexually assault children. One of the central allegations is that he

repeatedly abused a girl, a friend of the worn on the left, his

daughter Bindi. These allegations go back to his heyday as a children's

entertainer on television. He and his wife Alwyn lived at the time at

this house in Sydenham in south London. It is claimed he indecently

assaulted the girl, his daughter's friend, when she was 13, abuse that

she says went on for years. In court, Rolf Harris, wearing a

hearing loop as he listened, heard the woman said she -- he treated her

like a toy. Years later, Rolf Harris sent a letter to the girl's father.

He admitted they had had a relationship, said it began when she

was 18 and added: your Majesty, lovely to you meet

you. The prosecution reminded the jury that this was a man who had

been given a CBE. He had painted picture of the Queen. Children were

in awe of him. In the 60s, he was accused of assaulting an 11-year-old

autograph hunter. He is only on trial for event said to have taken

bracing Britain, but there are other accusations, relating to events in

Malta, New Zealand, Australia. Altogether, eight women have come

forward. The prosecution said none of them know one another, but

together they present a pattern of behaviour and abuse of young girls.

He left court not having yet had the chance to say anything in his

defence. He denies all the charges, charges that the prosecution said he

is only facing now because at the time, he was too famous, too

powerful, untouchable. David Sillito, BBC News.

The Nigerian military have been accused of ignoring warnings about

the raid last month by Islamist extremists in which more than 200

schoolgirls were kidnapped. The human rights group, Amnesty

International, claims the security services were warned that the

militants were heading for the school hours before the attack. And

one man, whose daughters were seized, has told the BBC that some

teachers sent their own children home before the raid began in the

northern town of Chibok. Our World Affairs Editor John Simpson reports

from Nigeria's capital, Abuja. We need our daughters, she says. If

Amnesty International is right and the Nigerian army failed to act on

the information it had received, these families in Chibok would not

be suffering like this. Those who were closest to the girls feel they

have been badly let down. Boko Haram is experienced and has plenty of

local sympathisers, but the Nigerian army by contrast is not particularly

efficient and is at a real disadvantage in the area. This was

one government minister's response to the amnesty allegation. It would

really be outrageous if our security forces received a report. We are

going to investigate this report. Other allegations are starting to

surface. I met the father of two of the kidnapped girls, a Christian

minister just arrived from Chibok. He believes that teachers from the

school were tipped off about the raid beforehand. The staff who are

working there, they have daughters who are at school there, and none of

their daughters were kidnapped because they had the information

earlier and they sent their daughters home and left the rest of

the daughters there. Then Boko Haram came and kidnapped them. So you

think the teachers were in contact with Boko Haram? There was

information that Boko Haram were coming to the town. The girls were

taken from their burned-out school to the vast Sambisa Forest, 60,000

kilometres in size. Locating them will be hugely difficult. Foreign

help is starting to arrive, but it is pretty small scale. The Americans

are bringing in eight new advertisers. The British High

Commissioner says there will be an extra ten British once, but what

hope is that's the battle is always between heart and head. One hopes

they will come back. It is possible that some will escape. Some may find

their way out some other way. What is the fact, however, is that the

trail is four weeks old, the Touraine is rough and the tools at

hand, at least at the moment, are limited. None of Boko Haram's asked

attacks have affected Nigeria like this one. Some people here now feel

the best hope will be that wood will feel so pressured that it will just

let the girls go -- Boko Haram. The UK economy has almost returned

to levels not seen since its peak just before the recession in 2008,

according to the latest figures. Manufacturing output grew at its

fastest pace in nearly 15 years during the first few months of this

year. And export figures were also strong. Our Chief Economics

Correspondent, Hugh Pym, reports now from the London Gateway docks.

The economic horizon looks brighter. Figures on overseas trade and

manufacturing today underlined that and a crucial milestone is in sight

a return to where we were before the recession.

During the boom years, UK economic output accelerated. By early 2008.

It had reached a peak. Then came a plunge and deep recession. It has

been slowly recovering since then and is now within a whisker of

getting back to pre-recession level. Well, we're probably just about

there now, in May. Our figures today show that in April we were within

about 0.1 or 0.2% off where we were in January 2008, so we are very

nearly there. For a balanced recovery to take hold, selling more

goods and services is required. The number of goods leaving British

ports like this is growing faster than the amount coming in, so the

oversea trade deficit was lower. They are keeping busy at this major

new port complex in the River Thames in Essex. Mini are being exported to

Brazil. We have the gateway servicing industries in Brazil and

South America. These are the exciting trade lines now. But it

hasn't been a painless recovery. Before the recession, real wages,

before being taken account of inflation, shown by the blue line,

kept pace with economic output or GDP, the white line, but then they

fell back and even when the economy started growing, real wages up to

the beginning of this year, carried on falling.

There is some way to go before real incomes with back to where they were

and while the UK may be about to move ahead of the pre-recession

peak, the US, Germany and France have moved past that point, the

economic downturn still casts a long shadow. In the last hour, a

ceasefire has been agreed in South Sudan with a view to signing a

Searle Nant peace deal. The United Nations have been trying to prevent

fighting that has seen thousands killed.

Let's speak to our Africa correspondent Andrew Harding in

Johannesburg. The question is, what chances of the ceasefire holding?

Well, it's certainly progress, Sophie. This is an intensely

personal conflict between two key rivals. They have finally sat down

and fleshed out the broad outlines of a possible agreement. I think it

is much too early to see this as any sort of lasting, final breakthrough

but above all, it is a reminder of how cynical, how unnecessary this

conflict has been. We are talking about a million people homeless.

Thousands of people killed and for what? For essentially a political

dispute within a ruling party. If, though, this breakthrough, this deal

does stick, it will at least be proof that concerted international

diplomacy, in a chaotic messy world, can at least sometimes make a real

difference. Thank you. The Ministry of Defence has been an investigation

after photographs emerged which appear to show one or two British

service personnel posing with the dead body of an enemy fighter. The

aimages were taken in the aftermath of an attack on the main British

base in Afghanistan in September 2012. Two members of the RAF

regiment have been suspended from frontline duties. A British soldier

kneels beside the bloody dead body of a Taliban fighter. The MoD shows

us not to show faces but there are smiles as well as thumbs up. Images

that have only now come to light but taken two years ago, after a brisen

raid by insurgents on Camp Bastion. As well as millions of pounds of

damage the attack left a marine dead and eight British soldiers injured

and now the possibility that a war crime was committed. The Geneva

Convention requires that detainees and bodies be treated humanly. It

requires the corpses be treated with respect and this is certainly a

violation of that prohibition. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence

said it had a zero tolerance policy on the mistreatment of those enemy

killed in action, adding that it was taking this incident extremely

seriously. Military police have launched an investigation and two

members of the RAF regiment have now been withdrawn from frontline

duties. This isn't the first time it has happened. Trophy photos of Iraqi

prisoners, abused at Abu Ghraib by American soldiers are seared in the

memory. That was premeditated torture but this latest incident

involving British personnel took place in the heat of a battle and

those who serve on the frontline say it is not the same My gut reaction

is that it is disgusting, you look at the photos and they are horrible

but as someone who has been there, I can understand the place from which

those photographs come and I think they are probably more stupid than

they are depraved. It is still damaging, as is the

timing. Just as the curtain falls on Britain's long military presence in

Afghanistan. This isn't how they want to be remembered. One of

Europe's most controversial parties launched its campaign today for the

European elections, which are less than three weeks away. Many regard

Golden Dawn in Greece as a neo-Nazi party. Despite having several of its

MPs in prison, it could win seats in the European Parliament. Greece was

at the centre of the eurozone crisis and saw its economy collapse and

that is benefiting both the extreme right and the radical left. Our

Europe Editor, Gavin Hewitt, reports from Athens. In an Athens hotel this

evening, chants of "we will stand our ground", as one of Europe's most

controversial parties, Golden Dawn, introduced its candidates for the

European election. Many in Greece regard it as a neo Nazi party. After

five years, when the economy had shrunk 25%, anti establishment

parties from the far right and the far left are poised to do well in

the polls. This is Golden Dawn on the streets just three months ago.

They have been accused of attacking migrants. Their leader and some of

their MPs have been arrested, but they could end up with seats in the

European Parliament. We are not Nazis, we are not fascists but if

somebody in this country sets off patriotic ideas, he will be

considered as a fascist, it is terrible. The economic crisis hangs

over this campaign. Yes, unemployment is edging down, but

parties from the far right and far left say Greece became a laboratory

for austerity, to save the euro. The government says that an economic

corner has been turned with the deficit down and growth on the

horizon. But the reality for tens of thousands of Greeks is that life

continues to be a battle for survival. This family, like many

Greeks, has seen its income slashed and debts increase. How much did

your salary go down? Since 2010? It is about 50%. TRANSLATION: We can't

afford to do anything, to go on vacation or out to dinner. We have

cut down on all that. We only pay the banks. In this climate, the

radical left party Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras is ahead of the main

government party in some polls, by blaming the austerity measures. This

is not a success story. This is a disaster story and everybody should

understand that the only way to overcome the crisis is to stop the

austerity measures. Here is the unknown will Greek voters put their

faith in the recovery, or will they turn to the radical left? Or even

the far right? If It's the final weekend of the

English Premier League football season, with Manchester City's

narrow lead making them hot favourites to win the title. But the

club is facing a record ?50 million fine for breaking new rules about

how much their wealthy owners have been spending on the club. Tonight a

deadline passed for the club to accept their punishment, with no

resolution. The Financial Fair Play rules, introduced by European

football's governing body UEFA, are meant to stop the richest clubs

gaining an unfair advantage through unlimited spending. Our Chief Sports

Correspondent, Dan Roan, looks at how that might affect Manchester

City's ambitions. COMMENTATOR: Balotelli. He's got it through. It's

Sergio Aguero! It was the ultimate finale to a

Premier League season, having claimed the title in dramatic

fashion two years ago, Manchester City are once again on the verge of

winning English football's biggest prize but all this success could now

come at a cost. Even the richest clubs involved in European

competitions, like Chelsea who won the Champions' League in 2012, must

now adhere to Financial Fair Play rules. These were introduced by

governing body UEFA to tackle reckless spending. Here at City,

huge losses in recent years mean they're now facing a fine of ?50

million, and fans at the training ground this morning weren't happy.

United have been spending money for decades to win. Now we get it and we

are getting punished for it. My own personal opinion is, it is a

vendetta. City's unprecedented ?1 billion spending spree under the

ownership of Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour is now on the verge of

bringing more footballing success here to the Etihad Stadium. But that

kind of expenditure is under more scrutiny than ever. For example,

UEFA will have looked closely at the club's ?350 million stadium and

shirt sponsorship deal with the airline, Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi.

City say they are on course to break even by the end of this year, and

point to the investment they have made in these facilities in a

deprived part of east Manchester. Some believe they deserve sympathy.

It is a shame, really, that Manchester City haven't quite got

themselves organised perhaps in a way that keeps them on the right

side of those rules but, I think there might be a some way to go on

this particular one yet. All I would say, in defence of Manchester City,

I find it hard to sit here and come with up a view that what Manchester

City has done is "wrong." After a recent blip, Liverpool need

City to lose on Sunday to have any chance of the title. They know

that's unlikely, but point to an uneven financial playing field.

Cometh Sunday, we will fight to the very end. If we win the game and we

end up not winning the title, I think to finish second to the

richest team in the history of sport, really shows the measure and

the progress we've made here. The most severe fine in footballing

history would wipe out the money City would make from winning the

title for a second time in three years. That, as well as limits on

their squad size, would be a penalty that even the new dominant force in

the English game couldn't ignore. That's all from