21/03/2014 BBC News at Ten

absorbed into Russia. President Putin signs a declaration

formally making Crimea Russian, a move condemned by Europe. A sham and

a leap - Crowe illegal referendum has taken place at the barrel of

Kalashnikov. This is a flagrant breach of international law and

something we will not recognise. We'll be looking at what lies ahead

for those in Crimea who who wanted to stay in Ukraine and now fear for

their future. Also tonight: The first ever

prosecution in connection with female genital mutilation, of a

London hospital doctor. Campaigners welcome the move. Today

is one of the best days of my life in campaigning, and I feel like

standing on top of the roof and shouting. That's how I feel about

it. The mother of ten from Belfast who

was abducted in front of her children, never to be seen again -

40 years on a man is charged. A vaccine to protect children

against a dangerous strain of meningitis is likely to be made

available on the NHS. And tributes to Arsene Wenger, as he

clocks up 1000 games in charge at Arsenal.

In Sportsday, Robin Van Persie is ruled out for up to six weeks with a

sprained knee - he'll miss the Champions League quarterfinal.

Good evening. Ukraine looked both east and west

today, as the diplomatic standoff between Europe and Russia became

further entrenched. Today in Moscow, the Russian president, Vladmir

Putin, completed the incorporation of Crimea into Russia, describing it

as a "remarkable event''. In Brussels, at almost exactly the same

time, the European Union was signing a deal with Ukraine on closer

political and economic ties. The EU also released the names of Russians

who will face sanctions. Our Europe Correspondent, Gavin Hewitt,

reports. A day of signing. Two worlds, East

versus West, different leaders with different patterns. In Moscow,

President Putin sealed the absorption of Crimea into Russia by

signing the legal documents. The Russian anthem played. The president

saluted what he called a serious, momentous event. 1400 miles away in

Brussels, a very different signing. The EU took the symbolic first step

of signing a political agreement with Ukraine, bringing the nation of

46 million people closer to the heart of Europe. No anthem here,

just a ripple of applause. At a summit in Brussels, Europe's leaders

adopted new sanctions against 12 Russian officials, including the

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, after the referendum in Crimea which led

to the region breaking away. Since we last met, a sham and illegal

referendum has taken place at the barrel of a Kalashnikov. This is a

flagrant breach of international law and something we will not recognise.

Among the new people targeted today is the head of the Russia today news

agency and a cheerleader for President Putin. A man who recently

said that Russia was the one country that could turn America into a

nuclear ash. So after this summit here, 33 Crimean 's and Russians now

face travel restrictions and a freeze on their assets. Most

significantly, the summit agreed that if the crisis escalates, they

are prepared to move to some form of economic sanctions, and the

commission has been tasked with exploring potential targets. But how

much impact would any of this have on Russia? Well, the stock market is

down 20% since the stock market began. Two ratings agencies have

downgraded Russia, and its finance minister has warned that economic

sanctions would raise rush-hour's borrowing costs. Back in the

corridors in Brussels, the atmosphere was spiced with warnings

about Russian intentions. This was the Ukrainian Prime Minister. What

is happening in the world today? Russia decided to actually impose a

new post-Cold War order and revise the results of the Second World

War. This is the truth. For the moment, President Putin is

undeterred, but the economy is vulnerable and Europe's leaders are

determined to reduce their dependency on Russian energy.

In Crimea, Russian troops have continued their takeover of

Ukrainian military bases. Many Ukrainian troops in Crimea have been

packing up, after becoming foreign forces in what had been their own

territory. Our correspondent Ian Pannell sent this report from the

Crimean city of Sevastopol. The final fragments of Ukrainian

rule in Crimea are being destroyed. Its troops burned military papers

today to keep them from Russian hands. Some of them bowed to the

inevitable and abandoned their posts. Moscow's forces already

occupy most of this air base, and this morning they told the

Ukrainians to leave. This has been a largely bloodless affair. But it has

divided friends, families and neighbours. One of the military

wives accused this family of being traitors, of deserting their posts.

Soldiers must now choose who their allegiance belongs to. For many, it

is a deeply personal and difficult time, as families must decide

whether to stay or to leave Crimea. My wife's dream now is just that

time should turn back. Just one month ago, everything was fine,

everything. But now we are under huge pressure. There is an eerie

calm about this place. As many as half of the troops stationed here

are thought to have left already. Others, like you can see here, are

sitting around waiting for orders, and crucially waiting to decide

whose side they are on. Russia has now taken over more than 70 bases

here, and the hardware that used to belong to Ukraine. Leaving the

troops with just a handful of memories of the generations of

service to Crimea. It is very hard for me. Because we are alone here.

You feel you have been abandoned? Yes. By your government, by the

West, by whom? By all the world. We are alone here.

But most are celebrating the events of the last week. Tonight, hundreds

gathered for a firework display courtesy of their new president,

Vladimir Putin. Today, he ratified the takeover of this peninsular. And

whatever the outside world says or does, the future of Crimea now

belongs to Moscow. A doctor and another man have become

the first people in Britain to be charged in connection with

performing female genital mutilation. It's alleged the offence

took place on a woman at the Whittington Hospital in north

London. FGM has been banned since 1985 but it's taken until now to

bring the first prosecution. It's thought over 60,000 women in the UK

have been mutilated and more than 20,000 girls are at risk. Reeta

Chakrabarti reports. Tonight, at the Whittington Hospital

in north London, staff are absorbing the fact that one of its doctors is

part of the first prosecution to be brought in this country for female

genital mutilation. Dr Dhanoun Dharmasena is alleged to have

restored a mutilation on a patient who gave birth here in 2012. Another

man, Hasan Mohamed, faces charges of encouraging and abetting him. Female

genital mutilation has been outlawed for three decades but prosecutors

have found it difficult to bring cases to court, partly because the

victims are usually very young girls. It is only in recent years

that it has gained mainstream attention, thanks to the persistence

of campaigners, who hailed today's news as a breakthrough. Today is one

of the best days of my life in campaigning, and I feel like

standing on top of the roof and shouting. That's how I feel about

it. FGM is, to most people, and unimaginable practice, involving

cutting off a girl's external sex organs. In the UK, it is carried out

by communities originally from Africa, Asia and the Middle East,

with girls taken home during the holidays to have it done. This

family, who I interviewed last month, are victims and campaigners.

Fatima and her daughter have had if GM. Her granddaughter has not. --

FGM. To tamper with our natural given body is completely wrong, and

you are doing it to your children who actually have no idea. At the

last count, an estimated 66,000 women and girls in the UK were

victims, although experts think the true figure is higher. Figures

obtained by the BBC is just almost 4000 FGM patients have been treated

since 2009. -- they suggest. The Metropolitan Police say they have

had 161 referrals since 2010, but how to get more cases to court?

There are other things we can look at, for example anonymity for

victims. It is abuse of a woman's body in a place where women might

not want to openly discuss what has happened. If they come forward and

we take charges, their identity at the moment is not a non-eyes. The UK

record on prosecutions is in contrast to France, where at least

35 cases have reached the higher courts. The two men charged today

would appear in court next month. The second day of searching a remote

part of the southern Indian Ocean for debris that may be linked to the

missing Malaysian airliner has concluded without any sightings.

Flight MH370 vanished shortly after take-off from Kuala Lumpur two weeks

ago with 239 people on board. Our correspondent John Donnison is in

Perth in Western Australia. A fortnight on, and tonight we've seen

the transcript of the last 50 minutes of communication aboard the

flight before the plane disappeared. What light does it shed?

It is an interesting development. This is the Daily Telegraph

newspaper that says it has got hold of the transcript of the last 54

minutes of the conversation between the co-pilot, the pilot and Malaysia

on air traffic control. Basically, aviation experts say that it looks

pretty regular. Nothing out of the ordinary about their communication

back to their traffic control. The transcript suggests against the idea

of the involvement... For the aircrew is leading this

operation, it is a daunting mission. Just getting to the search area and

back is an 11 hour round trip across the vastness of the Southern Indian

Ocean. The planes are fitted with high-tech radar equipment, but

sometimes it just comes down to looking out the window. It is

monotonous and exhausting work. It is about the most inaccessible spot

you can imagine on the face of the earth. But if there is anything down

there, we will find it. We owe it to the families of those people to do

no less. This is what they are looking for, two objects amid the

waves, one thought to be 24 metres long, the other five. But the

satellite pictures that intensified the search this week are now five

days old. What may or may not turn out to be debris from the missing

Malaysia and plane could have drifted hundreds of miles by now.

The search planes are dropping data boys to try and seek clues as to

where they should be looking. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, officials

acknowledge that the long wait for the families of the missing could be

far from over. The focus is to reduce the area of search and

possible rescue. As the planes return to base, the world's media

lined up for any news of a breakthrough. Despite better weather

conditions, it did not come. Compared to what we saw yesterday,

visibility was great. There was no rain in the area. We have a lot of

hope and if conditions remain as they are hopefully we will find

something soon. The Sun is far from setting on this operation. Over the

weekend, more planes and ships from around the world are expected to

join the search. It remains one of the most notorious

unsolved crimes of Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. Jean

McConville, a mother of ten, was dragged by the IRA from her home in

Belfast in front of her children and never seen alive again. Now, over 40

years on, a man has been charged with aiding and abetting her murder.

Let's talk to our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler. What

more can you tell us? Jean McConville was one of the people

known as the disappeared. They were killed and buried in secret by

Republican pal Eric trees. She was taken by an IRA gang. --

paramilitary 's. Her children did not know what had happened to her

for many years. It was claimed she was a British army informant. It was

years before the IRA even acknowledge it had been involved in

her death. It is ten years since her remains were discovered on a beach.

For decades after she disappeared, a man is to be charged in connection

with her killing. Either Bell is a veteran Republican. He was involved

in talks in the 1970s. That was alongside Martin McGuinness and the

Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams. Tomorrow, he will appear in court in

Belfast, charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of Jean

McConville. A killing from 1972 of a single mother which still haunts

Republicans today will stop Jean -- today. Some of the day's other

other news stories... Official estimates of the cost of unpaid

student loans suggest they could cancel out most of the money made

from the tripling of university tuition fees. The Government now

believes that 45% of graduates won't earn enough to repay the money. That

is close to the threshold at which experts calculate more money will be

lost by the Government than is gained from the increased fees. Mary

Konye, a 22-year-old student from East London, has been jailed for 12

years after an acid attack on her friend. It left Naomi Oni scarred

for life. The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court described the attack as

a premeditated and callous plan to disfigure the victim. Children's

services at a council which was criticised for failings over the

death of four-year-old Daniel Pelka are still inadequate. Daniel was

starved and beaten to death by his mother and stepfather two years ago.

But an Ofsted report has warned that too many children in Coventry remain

at risk of harm. A new vaccine to protect infants against meningitis B

is likely to be made available on the NHS across the UK. The

announcement reverses a decision last year rejecting the jab as too

expensive. About 1,760 people contract meningitis B each year,

with babies under one most at risk. It leads to death in a tenth of

cases. Of those who survive, one in three is left with disabilities such

as brain damage, losing a limb or deafness. Our health correspondent,

Dominic Hughes, went to County Durham, to meet one young survivor.

I put my arm in there. Tilly is learning to use her new prosthetic

hand. Meningitis B robbed the eight-year-old of both hands, some

toes and nearly her life when she was just a baby. Now she is glad

that, in the future, other children should be safe from the infection

that nearly killed her. I do not want people losing their hands and

feet and dying. Tilly's mother, Sarah, believes the introduction of

a vaccine for meningitis B is long overdue. It will have a massive

impact. So many children will be saved. Thank you for finally saying

yes. Meningitis B is one of the most feared childhood infections in

Britain. Developing a vaccine has taken 20 years. Now the expert panel

has changed its mind as to whether introducing a vaccine would be cost

effective. We have redone the analysis on cost effectiveness and

found the vaccine could be cost effective, as long as it is a fairly

low price. Tilly and her friends have already benefited from one of

the world's most comprehensive childhood immunisation programmes.

The UK is now the first country to add meningitis B to that list. The

great benefit of this vaccine is it has the potential to offer

protection, not just to individuals but to children across the United

Kingdom. It offers a defence against an infection that can have a

devastating effect on the lives of children and their families. Around

700,000 children a year will be eligible for the vaccination. At the

moment, it costs ?75 a shot and the full treatment involves three

injections. The NHS will demand a big discount. There is negotiation

between the Department of Health and the manufacturer to ensure we can

obtain the vaccine at a cost effective price. Today, the experts

charged with the tough job of striking the balance between the

cost of a vaccine and the value of a child's life recognise they do not

always get it right first time. Hundreds of thousands of Twitter

users in Turkey have defied a ban on the social media website today. The

Prime Minister, Rechep Tayyip Erdowan, had vowed to wipe out

Twitter after it was used to circulate allegations of government

corruption. Mr Erdogan denies that audio recordings being shared by

activists prove he is guilty of any wrongdoing. But the country's own

president joined those flouting the ban today, calling the Prime

Minister's actions unacceptable, as James Reynolds reports from

Istanbul. So much for a complete Twitter

blackout. Students here at this University have found their way

straight back onto the website and even to their prime minister 's own

Twitter page. It is almost like everyone became hackers. People

started immediately through other social media sites, telling everyone

out how to access Twitter when it is banned. These students are part of

the 10 million strong twitter class. The Prime Minister may have

underestimated their technical skills. If you tinker with computer

settings for ten, 15 seconds, you can find an easy back door into

twitter. Even the president has managed to evade the ban. He has

posted messages from his own account, criticising the block. The

Prime Minister, campaigning yesterday, it sees known need to

this than to any of his critics, at home or abroad. He believes that the

working class is still with him and they outnumbered the twitter class.

TRANSLATION: We have a court order and we will

wipe out all the sites. The international community can say this

and that. I do not care at all. He tells his supporters, a vision of

Turkey and attack. The faceless enemy tries to come down on the

nation 's flag. The country rises to defend it. The opposition

demonstrated last week, after the death of a teenage protester, has

its numbers. It has formed no lasting movement. Demonstrators may

know plenty about twitter but their opponent, the Prime Minister, still

knows more about winning elections. Now he's 999 not out and tomorrow

Arsene Wenger will take charge of his 1,000th game in charge of

Arsenal. When he arrived, at what was then Highbury back in 1996, he

was relatively unknown. And while he's still waiting for his first

trophy since the Gunners moved stadium to the Emirates, his sheer

staying power puts him among the greats of the game, as Joe Wilson

reports. Hardly a surprise party for a man

who has been there 999 games. Still, Arsenal provided their own token of

appreciation for Arsene Wenger today, a trophy, just like the old

days. They have won three titles, four FA Cups. Since 2005, nothing.

The manager has been balancing the books. Do you feel satisfied with

what you have achieved in 1,000 games? Is satisfaction something you

find difficult? Satisfaction is not one of my greatest qualities. This

club has given me a chance. As well, at an important period of life span

of this club, I have shown loyalty and turned many things down and

accepted to work with restricted potential.

Viera! The captain during Wenger's golden Arsenal era remains fiercely

loyal to his former manager. What he achieved at Arsenal was fantastic.

When you look at Arsenal where it was 15, 20 years ago and where it is

now, he has contributed to the football club massively. When Arsene

Wenger walks out to the touchline at Arsenal he can see the legacy. This

new stadium was built on financial prudence. That is rare enough in

football. The relationship between Arsenal and Arsene is almost unique.

He is in his 18th year with Arsenal. Alan Pardew is the next longest

serving manager with three years. Sam Allardyce, at West Ham, the only

other man with two years at a club. As for the Chelsea manager, Jose

Mourinho marvels at the patience of Arsenal. It is not possible to have

1,000 matches unless the club is also a fantastic club, in the way

they support the manager, especially in the bad moments and especially

when the bad moments are quite a lot. Yes. Doubtless inspired by such

a compliment, Arsenal play Chelsea tomorrow lunchtime. Prepare for a

1,000 game stare. That's all from us. Don't forget a

first look at the papers over on the BBC News