23/05/2014 World News Today

This is BBC News world today. In Ukraine, 20 armed separatists are

killed, and this two days before presidential elections. The Russian

president claims Ukraine is in the grip of a civil war. Ukraine insists

it is not. We speak to the ambassador to the United Nations for

Ukraine. Arrests in Thailand after the military coup. Election what is

among those detained. She's taken to an army camp outside Bangkok. Its

members are immortals, and it is France's most famous institution. We

will talk to the British poet and elected member. A game of two files.

We look ahead to the European Championships. It has divided

loyalties across the Spanish capital. -- a game of two halves.

Hello and welcome. In the past hour, Ukraine's Defence Ministry has

sent up to 500 armed people in a clash lasting several hours. The

ambush happened in a village near done yet is on Thursday. At 220

rebels are now said to have been killed and 30 injured. -- Donetsk. A

second attack then took place. While Russia's president has said Ukraine

has descended into a full-scale civil war, something the interim

government in Kiev denies, but he has also said that Moscow will

respect the outcome of the presidential elections due to take

place on Sunday. Our correspondent is in Donetsk. His report contains

images some people may find upsetting.

He is Ukraine's seventh-richest man, and its wealthiest MP.

A billionaire who earned his fortune making chocolate.

Petro Poroshenko is a political chameleon.

He has worked for two presidents of opposing parties.

It now looks highly likely that this is the man who will knit this

A young country that's already lost Crimea,

and is fighting for the eastern regions of Gdansk and Donetsk.

He is not seen as a saviour, but it is clear that Ukraine needs

a new president fast, and people are voting for him in

the hope that he will win outright in the first round on Sunday.

What can you do to try to bring Ukraine back together

We have accepted in East and West that the most important thing is

The trust between the president and the people.

At least five more people died in fighting at a checkpoint

Shootouts like this one have become a daily

It is the worst kind of atmosphere for a presidential election.

In Donetsk, we found scared officials returning

ballot boxes two days ahead of the vote, too frightened to open

This woman's husband is an election official who was

detained by pro-Russian gunmen opposed to the poll yesterday.

He rushed into the office and said "Stop, some guests are here and you

Later, people saw him taken out in handcuffs and put on a bus.

There was some hope today when the Russian president

Vladimir Putin said he would respect the choice of the Ukrainian people.

But it has been a week of deaths in the east, and

As well as the front runner, let's tell you about other significant

candidates in the presidential elections in Ukraine. The former pro

Minister was jailed under the former president Bob was recently released.

A billionaire from the banking sector. His stronghold is in the

south-east. He wants to see more regional autonomy. There is also a

former defence minister, who wants stronger links with the West. We

will be talking to the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations in

a moment. First, this is what Russia's ambassador had to say in

response to viewers' questions on the BBC programme earlier today. He

was asked about claims by Kiev's interim government that Russia is

continuing to destabilise the situation in Ukraine. They keep

trying to blame Moscow, but they are the ones who launched this military

operation, so they should blame themselves for the consequences.

They felt for two months in the situation after the coup after the

ousting of the President, there was not much trouble in eastern part of

the country. They failed to establish anything, so people became

concerned about their future. They started protesting and organising a

referendum on their status. It is Kiev's fault they could not get

their act together. I hope the presidential election will be excess

and they will be to do that. -- success. I am now joined by

Ukraine's ambassador to the UK -- UN. First the presidential

elections. How can people in the east of Ukraine vote then you have

this insurrection going on in large part of the east? According to the

Central electoral committee, we're ready to organise the elections in

all of the regions, including those in trouble. Not in all the villages

and cities will we be able to organise the election because of the

threat of terrorists, but the majority of cities and villages in

Donetsk, we are ready to give the opportunity to the people to realise

their right to vote. Surely not everybody can vote in the Ukraine,

by your own admission, and therefore the election can't be called

legitimate and reflecting the true will for people? No, according to

the Ukrainian law, it is internationally recognised that if

elections take place and a transparent in a majority of regions

and even partly in the regions in trouble, they will be recognised as

legitimate. But what about is if the armed separatists, and you have said

they don't accept this election, what are you going to do? Apparently

they account for 30% of the population. First of all, who other

separatists and so-called republics? They consist only 100,000 of the

population. They are not legitimate to make this statement. They want to

be in the United Ukraine. If the Russian Federation stopped

supporting the separatists and stopped sending the armed troops in,

we would succeed with these elections. We keep asking Russia not

to interfere and disrupt the elections. But the president said he

would respect the outcome of your presidential election. Apart from

the interference you say the Russians have not withdrawing their

troops from western Russia on the border with Ukraine, what are you

going to do with those Ukrainians who are genuine in their grievances

and say they don't want to remain part of your country? Brush aside,

you have to deal with them. -- Russia aside. We need to define to

the absolute word. There are people who have concern, there are people

who have been misled. That's why they have been three round tables in

the eastern part of Ukraine. They addressed all of the people in those

regions for respect of the minority rights. This is what government is

doing. Unfortunately, they are being inspired by Russian propaganda to do

different things. People in eastern parts of Ukraine are well treated by

the government. We have separated them from the armed separatists who

are performing the crime. Let me ask you about the round table. The

interim president says he will not deal with any separatists who have

blood on their hands. The point I'm trying to make is this. Until you

bring those armed separatists somehow into your national dialogue

of all factions in your country, they will continue their armed

struggle against you. Surely you have to bring them in. What

government is doing is trying to approach not only the official

leaders in that region, but public leaders. It is important to separate

the public leaders from those who are leading these terrorist groups.

How the government could speak, the so-called president of the Donetsk

Republic, or the Minister of defence, who is the officer of the

Russian army. But ambassador, I wasn't saying pro-Russian. Sorry to

interrupt. I was saying there is a body of opinion amongst these

Ukrainians in eastern Ukraine who don't necessarily want to join the

Russian Federation, but I'm not happy with the government in Kiev.

My point is simply this. If you don't deal with them, you accept

they will be continued violence in your country? My understanding is

that we need to speak with everybody who is in favour of the stability

and sustainability of peace in that region, who is for a United Ukraine,

who was looking at a way out of the crisis. We need to approach every

person who could be helpful in the situation. This is obvious. Thank

you very much for joining us live from the UN headquarters.

In Thailand, where the military have detained the former Prime Minister,

Yingluck Shinawatra, and members of her family, a day after

She was among political leaders and government officials summoned to

Soldiers have dispersed hundreds of anti-coup protesters who defied

Jonathan Head reports from the Thai capital.

After the take-over, the big clean-up.

With the seven-month long street protest

in Bangkok dispersed, the tense end stages have been dismantled.

This is what they wanted, the army running the country, an

elected government they condemned for abusing its power thrown out.

The leaders of that government were summoned

Most, including ousted prime minister Yinluck Shinawatra

There has been no talk of the quick return to democratic rule.

82 years ago, Thais erected this monument to commemorate the birth

Yet even now, in the 21st century, it's the soldiers, not the voters,

How much this, the 12th successful coup in modern Thai history, damages

Tourism and most other economic sectors will

Oh, and it took an hour to get from airport because

But this is no answer to Thailsand's deep-rooted political divisions.

It is at best a short truce, or it might inflame the conflict further.

has been sentenced to 12 years for war crimes by the International

crime court. He was convicted of involvement in an attack on a

village in Congo. His only the second person to be sentenced by the

ICC in the Hague. A court in China has sentenced to

death a former mining tycoon, Liu Han. He was charged with running

a gang that shot, assaulted and blackmailed its rivals and bought

protection from the government. Two people are now known to have

died after protests in Thursday in Turkey. Police in Istanbul used tear

gas and water cannon and fired live Turkey. Police in Istanbul used tear

bullet into the air to try to disperse demonstrators who were

angry at the mining disaster last week which killed more than 300

people. The leader of the UK Independence party, Nigel Farage,

has said his party will be serious players at the 2015 general election

after it made gains in council polls across England in the ballots

counted so far. UKIP has gained a quarter of votes in the seat it

contested. UKIP wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union and

has campaigned on strict controls on immigration.

It is a immigration.

hundreds of thousands of immigration.

around the world every year, and there is no known vaccine. Now

scientists in the United States say they are a step closer to just that.

In a part of Tanzania where the disease, malaria, is rife,

researchers found group to children who are naturally resistant to the

disease. This is a common sight in hospitals

in Africa. Where every minute a child dies from malaria. But

scientists have found that some children are naturally resistant to

disease. And they could hold the key to developing an effective vaccine.

Tests have revealed their immune system attacks the parasite,

producing an antibody which tracks the organism inside red bride sells,

preventing it from spreading through the body. Only 6% had this antibody

and worked resistant to severe malaria. They develop it naturally

through being exposed to parasites over the course of their lifetime,

the two years of their life. Some of these children are able to develop

this protective antibody response and the trick was finding what was

the target of the antibody response. The team found that injecting a form

of this antibody into mice protected the animals from malaria. It is

early days, but a vaccine is much needed. Half of the worlds

population, 3.4 billion people, are at risk of malaria. There are more

than 200 million cases reported each year. That results in 600,000

deaths, and 90% of these are in sub Saharan Africa. Experts say they are

optimistic. We have made incredible progress, child deaths from malaria

have cut by half in the last decade. With the current tools we have and

have the potential new tools like vaccine in the pipeline, we see the

very real possibility of being able to enter malaria in my lifetime and

that would be an amazing achievement. This latest study is

one of many avenues being explored. The hope is that by harnessing

natural amenity, it could be a powerful weapon against this deadly

disease. Now, Gustave Flaubert didn't make

it, nor did Marcel Proust, Rene Descartes or Jean-Paul Sartre, yet

a British-born academic who learned French as a schoolboy has achieved

something that eluded some of the best known French writers

and philosophers. Sir Michael Edwards has been

accepted into the prestigious Academie Francaise, the official

guardian of the French langauge. He's become its first British-born

member following in the footsteps of figures like Voltaire,

Victor Hugo and Louis Pasteur. We'll go live to Paris to speak to

him in a moment, but first, what It has 40 members,

who are known as "les immortals". The official uniform is

a green habit, l'habit vert. New members are presented with

a ceremonial sword. The academie rules on French

words and awards literary prizes. In recent years its broadened

its membership, with academicians who were born

in Haiti, Algeria, Lebanon, Let's go live now and speak to Sir

Michael Edwards, a lecturer in literature and he is joining us now

from Paris. First of all, congratulations. Do you see the

irony of a Brit winning this prestigious award? I see the paradox

career. On the other hand, I did it is a sign of great generosity on the

sign of the French Academy and the French media that they have elected

a British person, realising that, while I am entirely English and

wedded to the image language and culture, I am also entirely French,

as it were. Very keen on defending the French language, and enabling it

to evolve and to live. It is not your schoolboy French that got to

where are. I think you have lived in France for a long time, and I

believe your wife is French? My wife is French, we have lived in France

since 2002. I think what got me there, as it were, is the fact that

there was a moment when I decided to write, essentially, in French, both

poetry and prose. Works of literature and philosophy and music

and whatever. And it is that body of work in French which persuaded the

academic should and that I was electable. And the fact that I am

British persuaded them even more, because they like the idea of this,

making a political gesture, an act of Franco British friendship. Is it

friendship, or is it the French saying, look, we have this

Englishman, but he is going to uphold the significance of the

French language, at a time when French is under assault? Last year,

we have the German president saying that English should be the language

of Europe and that you should keep national languages for spirituality,

he said, and perjury. -- and poetry. I think that is wrong. The only true

example of an international language was that of Latin, when it was used

by, let's say, intellectuals, from one country to another. But it was a

dead language, there were no native speakers of Latin. Whereas now,

English is spoken throughout the world by native speakers, by

anglophones. And the idea of it being allowed to swamp Europe, and

indeed, to swamp the world, seems to be very foolish. But it has

happened, hasn't it? You are heckling a steam roller, in a way.

No, no, no. What has taken over so much international Munich -ish and

is not English, it is what the -- International communication is not

English, it is what the Americans called global English. It is

global, said people in Thailand can communicate with people in Hungary,

it is not true English. It has not got the depth or emotion of

English, the intimacy that someone has with their own language. I am

sorry, we're running out of time. I could talk to you for ages. Very

quickly, do you think, in French or English, do you well right in French

as I do in English? I certainly right as well in English as I do in

French. I like to think I write in French. When I write in French, I

think in French, it makes me a different person, I have a different

person in front of me, I have different feelings. When I write in

English, I write as an Englishman. I think it is important to allow the

French to be French and speak their language, which is their way of

being themselves, as they think of themselves, and as they communicate

one with another. Is French the language of love? Is it better to

write about love in French and English? I have no idea! It is

easier to write about adultery and French! -- in French on that

interesting note, thanking the joining of!

-- thank you for joining us. Before the football World Cup gets

going in Brazil, there's still the matter of the European Champions

League to be decided this weekend. The final

of the world's most significant club competition takes place in Lisbon

on Saturday evening and the only thing we can be sure of

is that Madrid will win. It's the first time in footballing

history that two teams from the same city meet in the final

of the major European competition. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid face

off in the final With their home ground,

the Vincente Calderon, here in the south of the city,

Atletico Madrid won the Spanish league title last weekend for the

first time in nearly two decades. The club have never won European

football's top prize. The contrast couldn't be bigger,

because here, just four miles away in the north

of Madrid, at the Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid are hoping to win what

they call la decima. Because if Real win in Lisbon,

the club will take Maria supports Atletico,

her boyfriend Ivan, Real. They go to the games,

sit down quietly , eat snacks, Real Madrid has always been

a club with a great history. And Atletico has always been a club

that's fighting with little money. Once the game is over,

one half of Madrid will celebrate. This is Plaza Cibeles,

and that's the City Hall. And it's here where Real Madrid fans

will hope to be partying come But

if we travel just 500 metres south, We reach Plaza Neptuno,

the place where Atletico Madrid fans hope they will be celebrating late

into the night. If they can overcome

their wealthy rivals Real Madrid in this very unique final

of the Champions League. That was Tom Burridge in Madrid.

That in this edition of the show, next it is the weather. From me, and

the rest of the team, goodbye, enjoy your weekend.

Good evening. It is a bank on the day weekend, so of course, the

weather forecast could not be entirely straightforward. There will

always be some difficulties pinpointing exactly what is

happening, but I can tell you there is something for everyone. Some

sunshine and some stage, some showers as well but when the sun

comes out, it should feel pleasantly warm. Why the uncertainty?

Low-pressure, is currently to the south of the British Isles, will be

moving north and transferring the risk of showers along with