16/03/2014 BBC Weekend News


16/03/2014

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its allies. 25 countries have now joined the search for the missing

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Malaysian airlines passenger jet. And in Melbourne, the new Formula

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One season gets under way. Good afternoon. Two million people

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in Crimea, most of them ethnic Russians, have been voting in a

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controversial referendum. They're being asked whether they want to

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rejoin Russia or continue to be part of Ukraine. The referendum has been

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organised by Crimea's new pro-Russian administration. Ukraine

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and its western allies have condemned the vote as illegal. Ben

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Brown is in Simferopol. We are inside one of the polling

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stations here, one of the 1200 polling stations in Crimea. It is

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quiet here right now but earlier, there were hundreds of people coming

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to vote. They were very keen to vote earlier. It does look as though,

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from all the people we've spoken to just after they cast their ballots,

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that all of them have been voting for Crimea to rejoin Russia and to

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leave Ukraine. People flocked to vote the moped went the polling

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stations opened this morning. Among the first to cast his ballot,

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Crimea's Prime Minister, the man whose opponents say is Moscow's

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puppet. He, though, insists today's referendum is legal, free and fair.

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TRANSLATION: There's no pressure on people, you can see for yourself.

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People are free to vote. Personally, I don't see or hear any press. All

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the predictions were that the turnout in this referendum would be

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extremely high. Judging by the number of voters who come here to

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vote at this polling station, it looks like those forecasts were

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accurate. It seems there's going to be a landslide in favour of Crimea

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rejoining Russia. Russians make up 58% of the population here in

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Crimea. Ukrainians and Tatars are the minority, and many of them are

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boycotting this referendum, denouncing it as an illegal sham.

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The results should be known within two or three hours of the polls

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closing tonight. But the outcome is hardly in any doubt. As far as

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President Putin is concerned, Crimea is already his. These are

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pro-Russian troops today surrounding a Ukrainian military base on the

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peninsula. Tomorrow it is expected the West will punish Russia for this

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referendum with a raft of sanctions. The most serious East-West crisis

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since the end of the Cold War is about to get even worse. As you said

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in your report, the result of this poll is almost a foregone

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conclusion. But what isn't certain is what happens after the polls

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close. That's right. One thing we do know is we are going to have those

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sanctions almost certainly by the United States, European Union travel

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bans and asset freezes an unnamed Russian individuals who the West

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blames for this intervention in Crimea. As far as the rest of the

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world is concerned and indeed Ukraine, there is so little they can

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do about this. Militarily, Crimea is now in Russian hands. Now, after

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this referendum and a forthcoming vote at the Russian parliament,

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politically it will be part of the Russian Federation very soon as

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well. There really isn't anything people can do about it around the

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world. The question I suppose that follows is, what is President Putin

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wanting to do next? If he does have Crimea, does he have designs on

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Russian speaking areas other you Russian speaking areas of Ukraine.

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Cities like Donetsk, for example. Does he want to give those Russians

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in those areas referendum as well to leave Ukraine and join Russia? 25

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countries are now involved in the search for the Malaysian airliner

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that disappeared over a week ago, ranging from Pakistan to Australia.

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The authorities have now re-focused their investigation on the 239

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passengers and crew, as well as ground staff, after it emerged that

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the plane's communications systems had been deliberately switched off

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during the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. From Kuala Lumpur, Jonah

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Fisher sent this report. For a second day the police were at the

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home of chief pilot is Hari Shah, as the investigation continues to focus

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on those on board. They are now examining his flight simulator, seen

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here behind him in a video he posted on YouTube. So far there has been

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nothing to suggest that either him or his co-pilot were involved. But

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whoever did take control of the plane must have had detailed

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knowledge of both its communication systems and navigation. The search

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for MH370 is now focused far away from where the flight first went

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silent eight days ago. Military radar tracked it turning west and

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flying across the Malaysian peninsula into the Malacca Straits.

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From there, it is thought to have flown for up to six hours more.

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Satellite data has narrowed its location down to two corridors, in

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the southern Indian Ocean and north across Central Asia. At a press

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briefing in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysians said they were now

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repositioning their ships and planes for a new focus to the West. As the

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Prime Minister said yesterday, the operation has entered the new phase.

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The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort. It

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has now become even more difficult. The challenge for the Malaysians is

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now in part a diplomatic one. They must persuade countries across

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central and southern Asia to share with them sensitive radar and

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satellite data, in the hope that it just might show some trace of flight

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MH370. For the families of those on board, most of them Chinese, it has

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been a week of frustration and mounting anger, aimed mainly at the

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Malaysian led investigation. Despite a massive multinational effort, no

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one seems any closer to finding out what really did happen to flight

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MH370. Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Kuala Lumpur. The Chancellor, George

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Osborne, has announced plans to build a new garden city at Ebbsfleet

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in Kent. Mr Osborne said 15,000 homes would be created at the site,

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part of a drive to build 120,000 new houses. But Labour said the

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Government's announcement was made two years ago. They say they are

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committed to building even more. We are in a garden city in

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Hertfordshire, in its time a pioneer town. Garden cities such as Welwyn

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and Letchworth were supposed to blur the line between rural and city

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living. It was an ambition the current Chancellor wants to see

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realised. There is the land available, fantastic infrastructure

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with a high-speed line, it's on the river, it's in the south-east of

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England where a lot of the housing pressure has been. And, crucially,

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you got local communities and local MPs who support the idea. And this

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is where the Chancellor wants to build. 25 miles from London, the

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Kent region of Ebbsfleet is still -- is very well connected. There's even

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a high-speed rail line going through the area. It is hard to imagine now,

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but this place could soon be a hive of activity as tens of thousands of

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new homes are built in Ebbsfleet, as part of the Government's plan to

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build the first new garden city in half a century. But even with 15,000

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new homes, it's just scratching the surface. An estimated 250,000 new

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homes are needed in Britain every year. Daily Ebbsfleet, 15,000 homes

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built at, say, 1500 homes per annum is a good first step. If we

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designated 40 Ebbsfleets, then we would make a significant

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contribution to meeting the nation's housing needs. Mr Osborne

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also said he'd be extending the first phase of the Help To Buy for

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newly built homes until 2020. The aim, he said, was to support the

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construction of the new homes by the end of the decade. Labour said that

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the growing housing shortage was central to the cost of living

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crisis, and that the coalition had proper -- sided over the lowest

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level of house-building since the 1920s. The Chancellor will remind us

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on Budget Day that the economy is recovering, but he will also

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conceded is not a balanced rope he would prefer. Whether he can

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rebalance the economy by building a lot more homes instead of depending

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on consumer spending remains to be seen. Job line, BBC News. Syrian

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state media say government forces, backed by Hezbollah fighters, have

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taken control of a rebel-held town on the Lebanese border. Yabroud, in

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mountains between Damascus and Homs, lies on an important supply line for

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the rebels from Lebanon into Syria. French authorities are imposing

:09:29.:09:31.

restrictions on motorists in Paris as part of efforts to tackle

:09:32.:09:33.

dangerous levels of air pollution. From tomorrow, drivers will be able

:09:34.:09:37.

to use their cars only every other day. It's only the second time that

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the restriction has been enforced. The new Formula One season got under

:09:44.:09:47.

way today. If you don't want to know the result of the Australian Grand

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Prix, you know what to do. And Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took

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the race in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton, who'd been on pole

:09:54.:09:56.

position at the start, retired early because of mechanical problems. Nick

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Parrott was watching the action. A new season and a new era for Formula

:10:03.:10:07.

One didn't get off to the best of starts. The first was aborted when a

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car wouldn't move off the grid. With Lewis Hamilton on pole, they lined

:10:13.:10:16.

up again. His Mercedes team dominated pre-season testing, making

:10:17.:10:19.

Britain favourite to win a second world title. But a raft of rule

:10:20.:10:23.

changes to make racing will open a seen the introduction of smaller,

:10:24.:10:26.

more fuel efficient engines. Unfortunately, they are not yet

:10:27.:10:31.

reliable. Hamilton's was misfiring from the start and he slipped to

:10:32.:10:35.

fourth place before retiring at the end of the third lap. The gremlins

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claimed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel soon after. There

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were no such problems for Hamilton's team-mate, Nico Rosberg.

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He claimed the chequered flag almost 25 seconds ahead of Daniel

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Riccardo, who was later disqualified for breaking new rules on fuel

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limits. Nico Rosberg has tasted victory before, but McLaren's Keven

:10:55.:10:58.

Magnusson stepped onto the podium after his debut race, hinting at an

:10:59.:11:04.

unpredictable season to come. You can see more on all of today's

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stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC One is at 5:50pm.

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Bye for now. It has been largely dry and settled

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week, and there's been some glorious spring sunshine around during the

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course of the weekend. More of that on the way for the rest of the

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afternoon. The high pressure that has been in charge will slip away

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towards the south later, as we go through the coming week. Low

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pressure becoming in charge. For the rest of

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