22/04/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas.

Is the Geneva peace deal on Ukraine collapsing? Ukraine's president has

said he's relaunching what Kiev calls its "anti-terror" operation

against separatists in the east. The flash point is here - Sloviansk -

where funerals were held today for three pro-Russian activists, and

where Ukraine's president says one of his local politicians was today

found brutally tortured to death. One week on - more than 180 girls

still missing. We have the first pictures of the burnt-out school in

Northern Nigeria where they were snatched by the Islamist group Boko

Haram. And a special report on the militant threat throughout the

region. Also coming up: More bodies are

pulled from the stricken South Korean ferry, as it's revealed the

first distress call came not from the crew, but from a schoolboy on

board. And sacked after just ten months -

Manchester United removes David Moyes as manager after the club's

tenth defeat in 22 matches. Hello and welcome.

Brutal torture and murder - that's the accusation levelled within the

last hour by Ukraine's acting president, who says two bodies have

been discovered near the city of Sloviansk - the site of the fiercest

pro-Russian uprising in the east of the country. One of the bodies was

that of Vladimir Rybak, a local politician from the president's own

party. We'll have a live update for you from Ukraine, but first, our

correspondent Daniel Sandford in Sloviansk reports on what was

already a day of high emotion at the funerals of three pro-Russian men

shot dead at a checkpoint. The uncontrolled sorrow of a wife

mourning today in the most militant town in eastern Ukraine. Her husband

was one of three men shot by unknown gunmen while manning a rebel

checkpoint. The deaths have only further

increased the strong feelings and tensions in a region which has

already brutally exposed the rifts opening up in Ukraine. Rifts that

will get harder to breach each time blood is shed. The rebel gunmen are

accused by the new pro-Europe Ukraine Government of being backed

by a Russia determined to see them fail.

Today in Kiev, the US Vice President was giving the struggling prime

minister his very public support, though his words would have

antagonised Russia further. No nation should stoke instability

in its neighbour's country. We call on Russia to stop supporting men

hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms, sowing unrest in eastern

Ukraine. But it is still not clear how much

influence Russia has on men, like the self-appointed mayor of

Sloviansk, fired up with hatred for the far-right activists of western

Ukraine. TRANSLATION: With the Nazis and

fascists we will have only one kind of dialogue. We will destroy them.

This is not a civil war yet. But as the number of deaths mounts on both

sides, the time to resolve the crisis is running out.

Let's get more for you on this dramatic statement from the acting

president of Ukraine. He appears to be determined to re-launch what Kiev

terms its anti-terrorist operation. The BBC's Natalia Antelava is in the

eastern city of Donetsk, and joins me now.

This statement by the acting president just came out. In it, he

calls on his Armed Forces to relaunch the anti-terrorist

operation that was taking place not very successfully, I must add, in

the eastern regions of Ukraine just before Easter. It is not a surprise

they are starting it again. We were always anticipating the relaunch,

but what is a surprise is the news that two bodies have been found in

Sloviansk. That is the most militarised town in the region.

These are the bodies of two men, one identified as local politician and

member of the President's party. In a statement, the president said that

both men had been brutally tortured. Thank you.

It's a week since 230 girls were snatched from their classroom in

broad daylight in Northern Nigeria. More than 180 are still missing.

We're bringing you the first pictures we have from the scene of

the attack - a school where the girls, aged between 16 and 18, were

preparing to sit their final exams. As you can see it was a violent

assault - there was a lot of damage done. The girls were abducted from

the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok in

Borno State - that's an hour's flight away from the capital Abuja.

It's thought they are being held by members of the Islamist group Boko

Haram in the Sambisa Forest. Boko Haram-related violence killed 1,500

in the first three months of this year alone. A state of emergency has

been declared but Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan last

visited the region more than a year ago.

The BBC's Nigeria Correspondent Will Ross is in Lagos with more.

As you say, a particularly brutal few months in the north-east of

Nigeria. This abduction of over 200 schoolgirls has caused an

extraordinary amount of shock throughout the country. Perhaps for

the first time, people are realising the level of violence and just how

vulnerable some of the communities are in the north-east. There have

been many attacks on schools in recent months, thousands of students

are unable to go to school now in the north-east. The region is in a

way heading backwards. As I have been finding out, the people of this

place are left just praying and fasting for news of missing

children. Another destroyed school in Nigeria.

This area is promoted and dangerous it to a whole week to get the first

pictures out. Many schools have been attacked by Islamist notes, but this

midnight raid was different. Gunmen forced all the female students out

of their dormitories and they were then torched. Insurgents are

believed to be from the group known as Boko Haram, and let girls onto

lorries. One girl said she at first mistook the attackers for people who

are going to protect them. We have had her identity.

We thought they were soldiers and they asked us to get on the vehicle.

We ran back home because they did not look innocent.

15 spoke to by phone and pleaded Boko Haram to show mercy. There is

nothing between us and them. I plead with Boko Haram to have mercy.

The Islamist extremists are believed to be holding the teenagers in the

vast forest in this region. Some of the parents of the missing girls

have searched the forest themselves, but found it too dangerous. Boko

Haram translates as western education is forbidden, and attacks

on Government schools have forced thousands of students home.

Christians and Muslims are all saying the same prayers, for the

girls to be set free. The Nigerian military last week said it was doing

all it could to locate and free the girls, who we believe are being held

by the Islamist militant group. Since last week, we have had no word

from the military or Government. Many people in that area, especially

the parents and relatives, are left praying and hoping for good news.

But they are folding their arms and saying there is nothing they can do

themselves, but they are calling on the Government to do more and on

Boko Haram to show mercy and released the girls.

It seemed the military had got the figures wrong in the first place. It

is hard for the families to have been in the military in that case,

is it not? There was a lot of confusion last

week over the number of girl that had been taken. That's partly

because this raid happened in the middle of the night, when the school

was only open for a few days for exams. It was not a regular term

time period of the educational system. But, yes, there was

confusion and some people thought the military were downplaying the

scale of the attack on purpose. At the moment, the focus is on how on

earth are those girls going to be freed. It is a difficult job for the

military. The forest is huge and covers about 100 kilometres across

from west to east. It will be difficult to locate them and even

harder to set them free. These are well armed Islamist militants

holding these girls. Thank you.

The reach of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram appears to be

spreading beyond Nigeria. The BBC has spoken to a local gang in

neighbouring Niger, which says it's collaborated with the group, in

return for money. Nigeria's neighbours have feared for

some time that the Boko Haram insurgency could spread. Thousands

of people have already fled violence in the country. Thomas Fessy, sent

this report from across the border in Diffa in southeastern Niger. In

the Sahara, there is little cover to take from a sandstorm. For this

village in Nigeria, the fourth attack by Boko Haram meant it was

time to leave. The border, the river between Niger and Nigeria. On either

side of it, people have enjoyed strong links for centuries, sharing

ethnicity and culture. Is your village over the? This man believes

the border will keep them safe for now. On Lake Chad, Nigerians are

fleeing by boat. The UN estimates 500 cross into Niger each week. This

man arrived last month with his family. TRANSLATION: I was going to

bed when we heard the first gunshots. As we ran to escape, your

little girl was shot as she fled her burning house. We counted 15 dead in

the streets. It is a growing refugee crisis but

without camps. Authorities argue they could become new targets, or

worse, recruitment centres for Boko Haram. Boko Haram have shown they

can hit the Nigerian state in different ways. Bomb attacks,

raiding villages, attacking schools and abducting children. For now,

Nigeria's neighbours are dealing with the consequences of this

violence. The prospect of the same violence billing over is becoming

more of a question of, not if, but when they may strike here.

Mitigating the threat means daily patrols along the border. Several

attacks have been foiled over the last months and dozens of men

expected to be linked to Boko Haram have been arrested. We have made

contact with a local gang, whose members claim they are collaborating

with Boko Haram. They agreed to talk to us but we cannot show their

faces. The gang members are in their early 20s and told us that five of

their group have joined Nigerian militants. Two have already been

killed. TRANSLATION: Some of our members are

with them now. We hear information. They come to us.

If they tell you to launch an attack, would you do it?

TRANSLATION: Yes. We are ready. That is why we are there.

Boko Haram, they say, have paid them $3000 to join their insurgency. It

is the cash they want, they have no interest in defending sharia law.

Drought and hunger have made communities in this area vulnerable.

Events have made unstable and this fragile state is now threatened by a

crisis next door, fuelled by poverty and neglect. Both conditions exist

here. Now a look at some of the day's

other news: A court in Russia has found the

opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, guilty of libel. Mr Navalny was

accused of referring to a local politician as a drug-addict on

Twitter. Mr Navalny - a critic of the Kremlin who stood for election

as mayor of Moscow last year - was fined about $8,000. He's already

under house arrest, accused in a separate case of embezzlement. Mr

Navalny has always insisted accusations against him are

politically motivated. The military in South Sudan says

it's engaged in heavy fighting with rebel forces in several parts of the

country. The United Nations has accused rebels loyal to the former

vice president Riek Machar of hundreds of ethnic killings last

week in the oil town of Bentiu. The rebels have denied involvement,

blaming retreating government forces.

A court in Egypt has been holding the latest hearing in its trial of

three journalists working for the Al Jazeera news channel. They're

accused of spreading false news and aiding the banned Muslim

Brotherhood. The prosecution has presented photos and news reports

which it says support its case. The journalists have now been held for

more than 100 days. In South Korea, 108 bodies have now

been recovered from the ferry that capsized last Wednesday. Nearly 200

- mainly schoolchildren - are still missing. Our correspondent Lucy

Williamson has been speaking to one of the survivors and sent this

report from the island of Jeju, the ferry's scheduled destination.

Day and night, they are bringing in the bodies. Each one precious, even

after life. But these new arrivals are too late to spark anticipation.

No miracles here now, just the joyless reunions of families with

their dead. This was where it was meant to end. South Korea 's holiday

island, Jeju. Its beaches and volcanoes a treat for teenagers

before their final school year. They never saw it. Just before 9am last

Wednesday, traffic controllers picked up the boat's distress call.

It was the second request for help that morning. Moments earlier, a boy

on board had called emergency services shouting, save us, we are

on a ship and I think it is sinking. Workers at the ferry company here on

shore were rushed in to the office, but there was little they could do.

One of them who was here that they told me he cannot even walk down the

street now without people blaming him. His colleagues on board, he

said, should have done more. This person was on board the ferry. A

truck driver who had made the same journey hundreds of times. He had

just had breakfast and had gone up on deck for a smoke. TRANSLATION:

All of a sudden, the ship tilted and started to sink. Containers fell

into the sea. I realised we were going to capsize. I was clinging on

to the handrail. I tried to save some of the students in the

cafeteria. They were sliding around on their knees. I threw them a fire

hose. The boat was tilting too much. Then the water started coming in. My

friend managed to save a six-year-old child who was trapped

inside. I think the parents and others inside were the heroes. They

were passing children to each other over their heads. The ship was

capsizing. All those people were swept away in the water. He is still

haunted by the students he could not save. They were all the same age as

my daughter, he said. The memories of them will not go away.

It's one of the biggest football clubs in the world, and one of the

best-known global brands, with millions of loyal fans. But, today,

Manchester United is in disarray. After ten months at the helm,

manager David Moyes has been sacked. It's been a very poor season for the

man who was personally chosen by the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson

to lead the club in July last year. By January, United had been knocked

out of the FA Cup after losing at home in the third round. And on

Sunday the Red Devils suffered its 11th Premier League defeat of the

season at Everton. Sunday's defeat means it's impossible for the club

to qualify for next season's Champions League - the first time

since 1995. Ryan Giggs will now take over as caretaker manager for the

final four games of the season. And what happens at the club next will

certainly be watched with great interest. The Reds have a total

following of 659 million adults worldwide.

Just ten months ago he was the chosen one, the hand-picked heir to

the Manchester United throne. But, for David Moyes, the Theatre of

Dreams has become the stuff of nightmares. Morales scores! Everton

two, Manchester United zero. Saturday's defeat at Everton was to

prove the final whistle. This morning, as his players arrived at

the training ground, Moyes was sacked. Manchester United has

announced that David Moyes has left the club, they said in a statement

on Twitter. But for the fans it's still sinking

in. I think it is a shame. He could've done with a bit more time.

But seventh is just not good enough. He didn't do as well as everybody

expected, for a club like Manchester United. They should have finished at

least in the top four. After Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, this

would always be the toughest of acts to follow, but Moyes was his choice,

arriving with a plea for patience. When we have had bad times here, the

club has stood by me. All my staff stood by me, the players stood by

me. Your job now is to stand by our new manager. But Moyes could never

escape the shadow of his predecessor. He began badly with the

flop signing of Fellaini and was soon struggling on the pitch too.

The style was as stodgy as the results. Defeats to Liverpool and

Manchester City prompted an aerial protest last month, and now the

club's American owners have acted. The failure to qualify for the

riches of the Champions League perhaps the biggest concern. I think

it's largely driven by finances, the finances of not being in the

Champions League, and also driven by the finances of making sure that

when they enter the transfer market this summer they will be able to

spend a lot of money and trust the person they will give the money to

spend. So who will they turn to next? Among the favourites are

Holland coach, Louis van Gaal. But in the short term, they have asked

Ryan Giggs to take temporary charge. He already helps with coaching at

United, so could he be the long-term solution? He knows every player in

the last 25 years, and he's won more than any other player in the league.

Is there anybody more suitable for the job and knows more than him? He

knows how to do it himself. But now, United, who just a year ago were

celebrating the title, are in turmoil. Following this man was

often described as the impossible job, and for David Moyes, that is

exactly how it has proved. Jim White is the author of

Manchester United: The Biography and is a columnist with the Daily

Telegraph newspaper. He joins me from our studio in Oxford. Welcome

to the programme. So much analysis in the hours since we have heard

this, but where you think David Moyes went wrong? I think it went

wrong from the start. The first thing he did was to get rid of Alex

Ferguson's backroom staff and bringing his own guys over from

Everton. They were the people who ran Manchester United. They

understood the players and knew what they needed in training. They knew

how to motivate them. I think the new guys came in, the players took

one look at them and thought, what have you want? That was a position

they could never answer. You could see anybody would have failed to

shine in the wake of Alex Ferguson CHEERING AND APPLAUSE It was always

going to be hard. Is working space, the office if you like, is the

technical area. Then in ten foot letters opposite you is the name

Alex Ferguson. It was always going to be difficult. When you get to the

point where the players want you gone, you are toast? That is right.

You have to trust the players and they have to trust your. My

understanding is that things started to deteriorate around Christmas

time. You could see that on the pitch. Players who had won the title

the year before suddenly looked second rate. Of course this is not

just an English story or off the ball story, this is a global

business story. It is. That is principally why David Moyes was

sacked. The business requires a constant triumph on the pitch in

order to feed the huge number of global commercial partners it has

two keep bringing fans involved. All of those people demand constant

successful stop David Moyes did not provide that. He was gone. Is one of

the reasons to sack him that they didn't want him in charge of the

purse strings over the summer? That is right. I think he probably had a

clause in his contract which said if you don't qualify for the champions

league you are out. It was mathematically impossible to qualify

on Sunday. As you see, there is a huge rebuilding job to be done.

Someone has to come in and attract players to a club that will not be

in the champions league. They have to change that vicious cycle. It

will not be fun. Who do you think is likely to get the job? Who do the

players need? The romantic in me, the man who believes in the kind of

glory of football, would want Ryan takes to get the job. He has four

games in charge at the moment, he understands the club, he has been

there since he was a small boy. He absolutely gets what Manchester

United is about. But the club have said they will not offer him the

job. I think they will go for one of the big beasts of the game. If they

go for Louis van Hal, the most likely candidate, they will have an

equal problem similar to other big managers in the premiership. I don't

think anything could be one next year possibly the year after. I

think it will take very long to get out of this mess thank you for your

time and your insight. A reminder of our main news.

The Ukrainian president has said that the time has come for them to

relaunch their power in the east of the country. Joe Biden has said that

he fears the Geneva agreement could collapse.

That's all from the programme. Next the weather. From me and the rest of

the team, goodbye. We will find some spells of sunshine

developing tomorrow. One weather front will provide focus for

possibly longer spell of rain or slide its way into the south-west by

the morning, heading up into Northern Ireland as well. A bit of a

misty to Wednesday. Many central