27/05/2014 World News Today

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

Crunch talks are getting under way between European leaders in Brussels

As the leaders gather after populist parties gain seats

across Europe, they are saying it cannot be business as usual.

Brussels has got too big, too bossy, too interfering.

We need more power for nation states.

It should be nation states wherever possible,

The missing Nigerian schoolgirls, now the military claims it knows

where they are, but it's too dangerous to rescue them.

The human cost of the Ukrainian military's operation to retake

Donetsk airport becomes clear, dozens of pro-Russia separatists

And ahead of the Tour de France's arrival in Yorkshire,

lessons on the effects of endurance cycling from the first

The leaders of European Union states, including Britain's David

Cameron, are dining together in Brussels, their first chance to

talk about the EU's priorities, after the weekend's surge in support

Mr Cameron said as he arrived that Brussels needs to

"change" because it has become "too big, too bossy, too interfering".

The French President Francois Hollande says new efforts are needed

to tackle the problems of unemployment, inequality and fear.

Our Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, reports from Brussels.

Late afternoon, the leaders began sweeping into Brussels for an

inquest into an election that saw huge increases for Eurosceptic

parties. David Cameron pushed an agenda for change. The EU cannot

shrug off these results and carry on as before, we need change, we need

an approach that recognises Europe shall concentrate on what matters,

growth and jobs, and not do so much. Brussels has got too big, it has got

too bossy and interfering. The French resident Holland Micro said

he was looking to reorientate economic policies -- policy towards

growth and protect jobs -- President. In Perth -- in Brussels,

Angela Merkel is now more influential than ever, will she back

and EU doing less but better? Will she responds to voters turning

against austerity? -- respond. Some of the winners have been setting out

their approach in the new European Parliament. This is the French far

right leader Le Pen. Our objective is to block all

harmful developments by the European Union which involves defending the

interests of friends and the French. And in a sign of the new tension,

the powerful German Finance Minister today denounced her party as

fascist. Another Victor, Nigel Farage, was back in Brussels looking

for allies but rejecting any alliance with Le Pen. There is

absolutely no chance of any accommodation, of any kind, been

found between UKIP and the French National front. There is a sense of

politicians and leaders scrambling to adjust to a political earthquake.

What do they need to get out of this meeting?

It is ironic because there are two forces at work in the EU. One is

that within the Eurozone, the 18th countries using the single currency,

there is a feeling that maybe not this week, but over the next couple

of years, there needs to be closer integration if the single currency

is to survive -- 18 countries. If you are saying to voters that you

hear the message that the union needs to do less, that has to,

within the European Union, involving 28 members -- that has to come

within. They look at a country like Italy where a new young fresh centre

(Minister did very well, Matteo Renzi, he had a mandate. -- French

sent -- fresh centre Prime Minister. Some leaders need to take account of

what voters were saying. At when prop -- but when people say the

usual do less, what does that mean? In the UK, that means rather more

than in France where Holland Micro would not go along with some of what

he would see as the more radical proposals -- Holland Micro.

-- Francois Hollande. We heard Nigel Farage saying he is

not going to do any deal with Spain Micro, is there a sense they cannot

form an effective block in European politics. -- with Le Pen.

The majority of the next Parliament will be broadly European, they have

to find compromise. There will be several locks of five Micro who do

not agree with the status quo. -- locks. -- blocks of MEPs. There will

be a lot of competition to win friends and allies because to form a

group, you have to have 25 MEPs from seven countries, that brings more

funding, more influence, more speaking time, to get your message

out and win more votes in the next election. To do that, it you could

see different parties competing for some of the newer MEPs arriving

here, a lot of horse trading going on. The parties on the centre ground

but wants to forge a new legislative agenda. -- will want to forge.

We have had reports on more attacks in northern Nigeria.

Senior military leaders in Nigeria claim that they know where

the Islamist group Boko Haram is holding more than 200 schoolgirls.

But they won't reveal the exact location and they have

The schoolgirls were taken six weeks ago from their school in Chibok

It is thought they are being held somewhere

in the Sambisa forest reserve, an area 16 times the size of London,

The BBC's Will Ross reports from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

addicted -- abducted girls since this video was released two weeks

ago, very embarrassing for the military which has deployed ground

troops and planes. When it crowd turned up in support of the much

criticised military, it was announced the girls had been

located. The good news is that we know where they are but we cannot

tell you. Just leave us alone, we are working, we will get the girls

back. He did suggest using force would be too risky. This is what is

left of the school from where the girls were seized in Chibok. There

were taken in the middle of the night and loaded onto trucks. A

Father whose two daughters are missing told us what he made of the

news. I used to be completely downhearted but now we have some

information about their whereabouts, we are beginning to feel comforted.

The government should do everything it can to secure their

The government should do everything alive. The news may be seen as a

breakthrough, but plenty here reluctance to take official

statements at face value. In churches and mosques, Nigerians keep

praying for the return of the girls and an end to the relentless

violence. Almost 500 people have been killed by Boko Haram since the

girls were abducted six weeks ago. Using the military is not the only

option for the government. We have learned negotiations have an

attempted with Boko Haram and eight deal was almost struck that would

have seen 50 girls released in exchange for setting free Boko Haram

prisoners -- a deal. The government backed out at the 11th hour.

More marches and demonstrations are planned, and on the city streets

across Nigeria, the calls to bring back our girls are alive will still

ring out. -- alive. Meanwhile, Cameroon has deployed

some 1,000 troops and armoured vehicles to its border region with

Nigeria to counter a rising threat To discuss all of this,

I'm joined by our security First, that claim the government

knows where the girls are. I would project a note of

scepticism. I know the girls are in north-east Nigeria, an area twice

the size of Rwanda. Do they mean they note the exact grid

references? It is likely. -- do they know. They had been split into

smaller groups and moved around, some of them are in caves. Even US

droves sweeping the area do not know for certain. So that statement came

in response to a pretty righteous anger either friends and families

who doing daily marches to the defence Ministry in Abuja saying,

where are our girls? What are you doing to bring them back? Reports

say not very much activity is going on, there is not much coordination

between the federal government in Abuja and the regional authorities

in the north-east. Is that a lack of willpower or is the militarily

scared to go after Abuja? -- Boko Haram. They are under resourced. The

Nigerian military does not have the capacity to go into that area and to

affect a cost free hostage rescue. As the military have said, they are

not going to do that because it would end up in a bloodbath. Some

reports say they do not have night-vision goggles, they do not

know that area. Boko Haram does, they will no escape routes, they

have been operating there for some period and they are well motivated.

They hold the cards because they have got these abducted girls, they

have got them at gunpoint effectively, but they have proved

they are not afraid, they have no qualms about slaughtering civilians.

In the attacks in the last 24 hours, they have gone just for security

personnel but they have slaughtered lots of civilians and some of their

die-hard militants are not afraid to die so it is a tough option to going

even when British special forces went in two years ago, it did not

result in hostages. So our Cameroon trying to protect itself -- so is

Cameroon train to protect itself? It is a spin off from the Paris

conference where Nigeria and neighbouring countries declared war

on Boko Haram which is making it difficult for Goodluck Jonathan

because he is being asked privately to negotiate. The only way they will

come out unharmed is through negotiation and he said they will

not free the militants. A negotiation was nearly done to free

some of the girls for some of the militants and that is tough to curse

those militants will rejoin Boko Haram. Cameroon, 1,000 soldiers, it

is a drop in the ocean in a long border, it is to shore up the border

to stop spilling over and establishing camps. Thank you very

much. Ukraine's new president,

Petro Poroshenko, has vowed to stop The government

in Kiev says it has recaptured Donetsk airport in the east from

pro-Russian separatists, following This is the aftermath of that

intense firefight around the airport yesterday, this truck is burnt out.

The windows have bought holes and around the base of the truck, there

is plenty we cannot show you because it is too graphic -- bullet holes.

We have seen body parts and blood from the fighting that took place

yesterday. We have been here this morning and there have been some

gunshots from the airport but not the same intensity as yesterday.

There was sporadic gunfire from inside the airport compound and we

understand the Ukrainian troops are largely in control of the airport

base. But it seems there was some kind of clear out operation to try

to flush out the last elements of rebel control from the airport. Kiev

is determined the airport does not fall to the insurgents, or the

terrorists, as they put it. It would really give the separatist groups

here a real advantage in trying to access this region. And there is the

Crimea factor, back in February when pro-Russian insurgents launch their

income of Crimea which led to the annexation by Moscow a month later.

When they took the airport, that was the first key based they took

control of, so Kiev determined the first key based they took

cow -- to clamp down. -- the first key based. Petro Poroshenko is

elected and he said yesterday key based. Petro Poroshenko is

and the negotiation would be over within a matter of hours

and the negotiation would be over months, and you see the impact of

that in this area around the Donetsk.

Some of the day's of the news. The blast happened as worshippers

were gathering for midday prayers in Police said at least 34 people

were injured in the blast. The attack comes as Iraq's

Shiite-led government struggles Lawyers for a Sudanese woman

sentenced to death for apostasy, The woman who is married to

a Christian was convicted earlier this month after she refused to

renounce Christianity. The woman who is married to

a Christian was convicted earlier US President Barack Obama is

expected to announce in the next half hour, plans to leave nearly

ten thousand American troops in Afghanistan even after most of the

soldiers pullout later this year. They will train the Afghan army and,

when necessary, British prime minister,

David Cameron, says any US announcement would not

affect any British decision. They may not have to risk death on a

foreign field. These are the additions to the mightiest military

ever known. Fresh Marines where the president has ordered men to follow.

We can claim all the discipline that we have lost over the years. But for

somebody reluctant to use force, the president has docked a few

challenges. President Obama was only in the job for a few months when he

was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Many question how it has worked out.

His desire for a new relationship with Islam has had few results. The

US seemed a bystander in the Islamic revolutions. Israel has been able to

defy without any retribution. There was a crisis in Ukraine and the

presidential pivot has -- to Asia has seen a rise in Chinese

aggression. There are questions today about the United States that

have not been there at times in the past and I think that creates a

vacuum. In that vacuum, other people stepped in. So I am very concerned.

There is a lack of a clear-sighted foreign policy in my country.

Training on the job can be tough. Pity those poor Marines stuck unable

to move up or down. While the President's opponents say that he

sometimes seems frozen by indecision, even some friends will

admit that he sometimes stumbles and he does not use the immense power of

his office to dazzle all sweet talk otherworldly does. There is this

widespread perception across the world that President Obama has not

been leading with as much energy and vigour has its predecessors. Some of

their criticism is unfair but the White House needs to deal with it.

It president proud of bringing the truth home seems stung by criticism

that he looks weak. He is about to fight back. The White House says

that this is time to him to set out how the Americans can leave the rest

of the world. India's newly elected prime

minister, Narendra Modi, has held bilateral talks with

his Pakistani counterpart. Following the 40-minute meeting,

Nawaz Sharif said the two sides had an historic opportunity to turn

a new page in relations. Mr Modi urged Mr Sharif to crack

down on attacks by militants these are a reminder of the main

contentious chapters in their history.

It's been announced in the last few hours that voting

in Egypt's presidential election will be extended for a third day.

Turnout has been unexpectedly low across the country

The front-runner, former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is hoping

He's standing against only one other candidate,

The frontrunner is Abdul Alf -- Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Day two of the election. No rush of voters. At this Cairo polling

station, staff were left idle. State employees were suddenly given the

day off and Egyptians were threatened with fines for staying

away. But many seems to have ignored all that. At this polling station,

voters are still coming and going, but it is far from crowded.

Officials were not keen for us to show that. Also the authorities have

not had the numbers they wanted and turnout is critical. The low 80s,

the weaker the mandate. But Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's retreat is not in

doubt his supporters remain in doubt -- remain sanguine. I believe in

him, 1 million times over. Not 100%, 1,000,000%. This is one person

refusing to vote, saying he has blood on his hands. This is the last

photo off a husband, taken at a mosque last August as security

forces were moving in. They brutally cleared a Muslim Brotherhood

sitting, killing at least 600 protesters. But as we filmed at

Yasmin, angry neighbours gathered outside, intimidating her children.

They prevented us from leaving, claiming we were spies. A small

example of the mistrust and bitter divisions in Asia. When the police

came, we were detained, along with Yasmin, and held for almost two

hours. Supporters of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi say that he will save this

troubled nation but not all the nation is convinced and admit

concerns about a low turnout, voting has now been extended into a third

day. The greatest cycle race in the

world. What effect does it have on the human body. Our correspondent

has been trying to find out and he began by meeting one of Britain's

cycling greats. Yorkshire born and bred, Ryan

Robinson is still cycling at the age of 83. He is a true sporting icon,

the first Briton to finish the Tour De France. Great, isn't it? This was

Brian in 1959, finishing 20 minutes ahead of the rest of the field after

a gruelling 150 mile stage. One of the biggest winning margins into

history. More than half a century later, the tour is coming to

Yorkshire. Brian will be there and hopes that he has more years of

cycling to come. I can recommend it. They say that it puts ten years on

your life. If it gives me another ten years, I will be very happy!

Elite cyclists are among the fittest people on the planet. One small

study suggested that they live eight years longer than the general

population. But the same may not be true for the growing army of Lycra

clad climbers. A climate this does not feel that good for your health.

But what does this kind of injuries exercise have on the body. At the

University of Kent, scientists measured my physiology by

University of Kent, scientists to the limit on the

University of Kent, scientists of -- INO Chris

University of Kent, scientists results show that my heart health is

good. results show that my heart health is

cardiovascular disease results show that my heart health is

also have a lower risk of mortality. So your advice to the

middle aged men is to keep cycling? Keep doing what you're doing. That

is my best win. Ryan Robinson is living proof of the benefits of

cycling. He says that is only health problems have been when he has

fallen off his bike. A reminder of our main news. The

leaders of European states are dining together tonight in

Brussels, their first chance to talk through the EU's priorities. Where

does it go from here after the weekend's surge in support of -- for

anti-EU charity -- anti-EU parties. Mr Cameron says that the EU has

become too big and too interfering and we need an approach that

recognises that Europe should concentrate on what matters. The

French president, who was also hit by the National front in France,

to tackle instability, unemployment to tackle instability, unemployment

and fear. That meeting happening in Brussels tonight. It may be more of

a meeting of minds we may not expect any particular pronouncements.

Also, within the last hour, we have had news of more attacks in northern

Nigeria. Militants are believed to have killed many people in two

attacks on Monday night. Senior military people say that they know

where the missing girls are, where Boko Haram is holding them. But they

don't intend to go to the rescue. Thank you for joining me on

programme-macro. -- on world news today.

It will continue into the next few days. A bit brighter further west

and the weather is coming from the east. This area of low pressure

dominating Eastern Europe. These weather funds will bring persistent

rain across