:00:20. > :00:31.its allies. 25 countries have now joined the search for the missing
:00:32. > :00:32.Malaysian airlines passenger jet. And in Melbourne, the new Formula
:00:33. > :00:50.One season gets under way. Good afternoon. Two million people
:00:51. > :00:52.in Crimea, most of them ethnic Russians, have been voting in a
:00:53. > :00:56.controversial referendum. They're being asked whether they want to
:00:57. > :00:59.rejoin Russia or continue to be part of Ukraine. The referendum has been
:01:00. > :01:02.organised by Crimea's new pro-Russian administration. Ukraine
:01:03. > :01:04.and its western allies have condemned the vote as illegal. Ben
:01:05. > :01:16.Brown is in Simferopol. We are inside one of the polling
:01:17. > :01:21.stations here, one of the 1200 polling stations in Crimea. It is
:01:22. > :01:26.quiet here right now but earlier, there were hundreds of people coming
:01:27. > :01:29.to vote. They were very keen to vote earlier. It does look as though,
:01:30. > :01:32.from all the people we've spoken to just after they cast their ballots,
:01:33. > :01:41.that all of them have been voting for Crimea to rejoin Russia and to
:01:42. > :01:45.leave Ukraine. People flocked to vote the moped went the polling
:01:46. > :01:51.stations opened this morning. Among the first to cast his ballot,
:01:52. > :01:57.Crimea's Prime Minister, the man whose opponents say is Moscow's
:01:58. > :02:02.puppet. He, though, insists today's referendum is legal, free and fair.
:02:03. > :02:07.TRANSLATION: There's no pressure on people, you can see for yourself.
:02:08. > :02:11.People are free to vote. Personally, I don't see or hear any press. All
:02:12. > :02:15.the predictions were that the turnout in this referendum would be
:02:16. > :02:17.extremely high. Judging by the number of voters who come here to
:02:18. > :02:21.vote at this polling station, it looks like those forecasts were
:02:22. > :02:27.accurate. It seems there's going to be a landslide in favour of Crimea
:02:28. > :02:32.rejoining Russia. Russians make up 58% of the population here in
:02:33. > :02:35.Crimea. Ukrainians and Tatars are the minority, and many of them are
:02:36. > :02:40.boycotting this referendum, denouncing it as an illegal sham.
:02:41. > :02:44.The results should be known within two or three hours of the polls
:02:45. > :02:48.closing tonight. But the outcome is hardly in any doubt. As far as
:02:49. > :02:54.President Putin is concerned, Crimea is already his. These are
:02:55. > :02:59.pro-Russian troops today surrounding a Ukrainian military base on the
:03:00. > :03:02.peninsula. Tomorrow it is expected the West will punish Russia for this
:03:03. > :03:07.referendum with a raft of sanctions. The most serious East-West crisis
:03:08. > :03:14.since the end of the Cold War is about to get even worse. As you said
:03:15. > :03:17.in your report, the result of this poll is almost a foregone
:03:18. > :03:24.conclusion. But what isn't certain is what happens after the polls
:03:25. > :03:28.close. That's right. One thing we do know is we are going to have those
:03:29. > :03:31.sanctions almost certainly by the United States, European Union travel
:03:32. > :03:35.bans and asset freezes an unnamed Russian individuals who the West
:03:36. > :03:41.blames for this intervention in Crimea. As far as the rest of the
:03:42. > :03:46.world is concerned and indeed Ukraine, there is so little they can
:03:47. > :03:50.do about this. Militarily, Crimea is now in Russian hands. Now, after
:03:51. > :03:53.this referendum and a forthcoming vote at the Russian parliament,
:03:54. > :03:56.politically it will be part of the Russian Federation very soon as
:03:57. > :04:00.well. There really isn't anything people can do about it around the
:04:01. > :04:05.world. The question I suppose that follows is, what is President Putin
:04:06. > :04:10.wanting to do next? If he does have Crimea, does he have designs on
:04:11. > :04:14.Russian speaking areas other you Russian speaking areas of Ukraine.
:04:15. > :04:20.Cities like Donetsk, for example. Does he want to give those Russians
:04:21. > :04:27.in those areas referendum as well to leave Ukraine and join Russia? 25
:04:28. > :04:30.countries are now involved in the search for the Malaysian airliner
:04:31. > :04:33.that disappeared over a week ago, ranging from Pakistan to Australia.
:04:34. > :04:36.The authorities have now re-focused their investigation on the 239
:04:37. > :04:39.passengers and crew, as well as ground staff, after it emerged that
:04:40. > :04:42.the plane's communications systems had been deliberately switched off
:04:43. > :04:48.during the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. From Kuala Lumpur, Jonah
:04:49. > :04:53.Fisher sent this report. For a second day the police were at the
:04:54. > :04:57.home of chief pilot is Hari Shah, as the investigation continues to focus
:04:58. > :05:01.on those on board. They are now examining his flight simulator, seen
:05:02. > :05:05.here behind him in a video he posted on YouTube. So far there has been
:05:06. > :05:11.nothing to suggest that either him or his co-pilot were involved. But
:05:12. > :05:15.whoever did take control of the plane must have had detailed
:05:16. > :05:21.knowledge of both its communication systems and navigation. The search
:05:22. > :05:26.for MH370 is now focused far away from where the flight first went
:05:27. > :05:31.silent eight days ago. Military radar tracked it turning west and
:05:32. > :05:34.flying across the Malaysian peninsula into the Malacca Straits.
:05:35. > :05:39.From there, it is thought to have flown for up to six hours more.
:05:40. > :05:43.Satellite data has narrowed its location down to two corridors, in
:05:44. > :05:49.the southern Indian Ocean and north across Central Asia. At a press
:05:50. > :05:52.briefing in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysians said they were now
:05:53. > :05:57.repositioning their ships and planes for a new focus to the West. As the
:05:58. > :06:04.Prime Minister said yesterday, the operation has entered the new phase.
:06:05. > :06:09.The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort. It
:06:10. > :06:13.has now become even more difficult. The challenge for the Malaysians is
:06:14. > :06:16.now in part a diplomatic one. They must persuade countries across
:06:17. > :06:21.central and southern Asia to share with them sensitive radar and
:06:22. > :06:28.satellite data, in the hope that it just might show some trace of flight
:06:29. > :06:31.MH370. For the families of those on board, most of them Chinese, it has
:06:32. > :06:38.been a week of frustration and mounting anger, aimed mainly at the
:06:39. > :06:42.Malaysian led investigation. Despite a massive multinational effort, no
:06:43. > :06:48.one seems any closer to finding out what really did happen to flight
:06:49. > :06:55.MH370. Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Kuala Lumpur. The Chancellor, George
:06:56. > :06:58.Osborne, has announced plans to build a new garden city at Ebbsfleet
:06:59. > :07:02.in Kent. Mr Osborne said 15,000 homes would be created at the site,
:07:03. > :07:05.part of a drive to build 120,000 new houses. But Labour said the
:07:06. > :07:10.Government's announcement was made two years ago. They say they are
:07:11. > :07:14.committed to building even more. We are in a garden city in
:07:15. > :07:18.Hertfordshire, in its time a pioneer town. Garden cities such as Welwyn
:07:19. > :07:22.and Letchworth were supposed to blur the line between rural and city
:07:23. > :07:26.living. It was an ambition the current Chancellor wants to see
:07:27. > :07:29.realised. There is the land available, fantastic infrastructure
:07:30. > :07:33.with a high-speed line, it's on the river, it's in the south-east of
:07:34. > :07:37.England where a lot of the housing pressure has been. And, crucially,
:07:38. > :07:44.you got local communities and local MPs who support the idea. And this
:07:45. > :07:47.is where the Chancellor wants to build. 25 miles from London, the
:07:48. > :07:50.Kent region of Ebbsfleet is still -- is very well connected. There's even
:07:51. > :07:55.a high-speed rail line going through the area. It is hard to imagine now,
:07:56. > :08:00.but this place could soon be a hive of activity as tens of thousands of
:08:01. > :08:03.new homes are built in Ebbsfleet, as part of the Government's plan to
:08:04. > :08:10.build the first new garden city in half a century. But even with 15,000
:08:11. > :08:14.new homes, it's just scratching the surface. An estimated 250,000 new
:08:15. > :08:20.homes are needed in Britain every year. Daily Ebbsfleet, 15,000 homes
:08:21. > :08:26.built at, say, 1500 homes per annum is a good first step. If we
:08:27. > :08:30.designated 40 Ebbsfleets, then we would make a significant
:08:31. > :08:33.contribution to meeting the nation's housing needs. Mr Osborne
:08:34. > :08:38.also said he'd be extending the first phase of the Help To Buy for
:08:39. > :08:43.newly built homes until 2020. The aim, he said, was to support the
:08:44. > :08:46.construction of the new homes by the end of the decade. Labour said that
:08:47. > :08:50.the growing housing shortage was central to the cost of living
:08:51. > :08:52.crisis, and that the coalition had proper -- sided over the lowest
:08:53. > :08:58.level of house-building since the 1920s. The Chancellor will remind us
:08:59. > :09:02.on Budget Day that the economy is recovering, but he will also
:09:03. > :09:05.conceded is not a balanced rope he would prefer. Whether he can
:09:06. > :09:08.rebalance the economy by building a lot more homes instead of depending
:09:09. > :09:16.on consumer spending remains to be seen. Job line, BBC News. Syrian
:09:17. > :09:19.state media say government forces, backed by Hezbollah fighters, have
:09:20. > :09:22.taken control of a rebel-held town on the Lebanese border. Yabroud, in
:09:23. > :09:28.mountains between Damascus and Homs, lies on an important supply line for
:09:29. > :09:31.the rebels from Lebanon into Syria. French authorities are imposing
:09:32. > :09:33.restrictions on motorists in Paris as part of efforts to tackle
:09:34. > :09:37.dangerous levels of air pollution. From tomorrow, drivers will be able
:09:38. > :09:43.to use their cars only every other day. It's only the second time that
:09:44. > :09:47.the restriction has been enforced. The new Formula One season got under
:09:48. > :09:51.way today. If you don't want to know the result of the Australian Grand
:09:52. > :09:53.Prix, you know what to do. And Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took
:09:54. > :09:56.the race in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton, who'd been on pole
:09:57. > :10:02.position at the start, retired early because of mechanical problems. Nick
:10:03. > :10:07.Parrott was watching the action. A new season and a new era for Formula
:10:08. > :10:12.One didn't get off to the best of starts. The first was aborted when a
:10:13. > :10:16.car wouldn't move off the grid. With Lewis Hamilton on pole, they lined
:10:17. > :10:19.up again. His Mercedes team dominated pre-season testing, making
:10:20. > :10:23.Britain favourite to win a second world title. But a raft of rule
:10:24. > :10:26.changes to make racing will open a seen the introduction of smaller,
:10:27. > :10:31.more fuel efficient engines. Unfortunately, they are not yet
:10:32. > :10:35.reliable. Hamilton's was misfiring from the start and he slipped to
:10:36. > :10:39.fourth place before retiring at the end of the third lap. The gremlins
:10:40. > :10:42.claimed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel soon after. There
:10:43. > :10:46.were no such problems for Hamilton's team-mate, Nico Rosberg.
:10:47. > :10:50.He claimed the chequered flag almost 25 seconds ahead of Daniel
:10:51. > :10:54.Riccardo, who was later disqualified for breaking new rules on fuel
:10:55. > :10:58.limits. Nico Rosberg has tasted victory before, but McLaren's Keven
:10:59. > :11:04.Magnusson stepped onto the podium after his debut race, hinting at an
:11:05. > :11:08.unpredictable season to come. You can see more on all of today's
:11:09. > :11:11.stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC One is at 5:50pm.
:11:12. > :11:26.Bye for now. It has been largely dry and settled
:11:27. > :11:28.week, and there's been some glorious spring sunshine around during the
:11:29. > :11:32.course of the weekend. More of that on the way for the rest of the
:11:33. > :11:35.afternoon. The high pressure that has been in charge will slip away
:11:36. > :11:39.towards the south later, as we go through the coming week. Low
:11:40. > :11:40.pressure becoming in charge. For the rest of