:00:00. > :00:11.3 is people have died in western Ukraine. A building held by
:00:12. > :00:15.3 is people have died in western pro-Russian gunmen was set on fire.
:00:16. > :00:17.How can Kiev avoid a violent retaliation from the Kremlin? Also
:00:18. > :00:21.tonight, when a war ends without a retaliation from the Kremlin? Also
:00:22. > :00:25.winner, you don't usually get to arrest the enemy. So why is Gerry
:00:26. > :00:28.Adams about to spend a third night in custody? Was there an assumption
:00:29. > :00:32.the price of peace was whitewashing in custody? Was there an assumption
:00:33. > :00:36.the past? And if that no longer applies what does that mean for
:00:37. > :00:43.peace itself?ly ask the former police Watchdog in Belfast Nuala
:00:44. > :00:48.O'Loan. And Will Self on death of the serious novel. And the big
:00:49. > :01:00.internet mystery of the day. What is this? We may have ran answer.
:01:01. > :01:03.-- an answer. Good evening. Tensions in Ukraine that have been simmering
:01:04. > :01:08.for the past few weeks explode today, with deadly consequences. 31
:01:09. > :01:15.people are reported dead in a fire that broke out in the western city
:01:16. > :01:20.of who December is a during a clash between pro Russia demonstrators and
:01:21. > :01:24.porter of the Government. In Sloviansk, Ukrainian helicopters
:01:25. > :01:32.were shot down, and as the UN Security Council met in an emergency
:01:33. > :01:37.session, Moscow's add ambassador warned of catastrophic consequences.
:01:38. > :01:43.Our diplomatic editor is here with us. Mark, what has been going on
:01:44. > :01:47.today? Well, the most dangerous situation, this disturbance that
:01:48. > :01:52.happened in the port city, in the west. A crowd of people about 1,000,
:01:53. > :01:58.pro Ukrainian Government, the interim Government, were set upon by
:01:59. > :02:03.pro-Russian, we can see them in the distance there, the pro Kiev group
:02:04. > :02:07.closer to the camera. Shots were exchanged and slowly the Russian
:02:08. > :02:12.side realised they had been overmatched. They retreated to this
:02:13. > :02:15.building, the centre of the trade union movement, where they were then
:02:16. > :02:21.attacked. The police were not able to hold back, the pro Kiev mob, and
:02:22. > :02:25.Molotov cocktails were thrown. The building was set on fire and dozen
:02:26. > :02:31.of Russians died inside that building. The official Kiev
:02:32. > :02:34.Government figure is 31, with four pro Kiev demonstrators also killed
:02:35. > :02:37.on streets beforehand, but some Russian sources are saying more than
:02:38. > :02:41.50 dead. For some weeks now we have known there are many troops on the
:02:42. > :02:46.Russian board e could this be the vent that triggers the invasion? It
:02:47. > :02:51.has to look much more likely tonight. One Russian journalist I
:02:52. > :02:56.saw tweeting earlier if not now, for Putin, it is never. There is a lot
:02:57. > :03:00.feeling that this could be the trigger, equally I would differ with
:03:01. > :03:03.the never part of that analysis. Russian troops can stay there for
:03:04. > :03:06.weeks if they have to, to maintain this, but a couple of key things
:03:07. > :03:12.have happened today, if we look at the map. The first as you mentioned
:03:13. > :03:16.earlier, this anti-terrorist operation long promised. It seemed
:03:17. > :03:20.to is have petered out. That I that two of their hecks shot down,
:03:21. > :03:26.several people killed there today, we know, but the events not clear.
:03:27. > :03:32.Then tonight's awful events in the town. A few weeks ago in Crimea,
:03:33. > :03:36.people were pointing to us as it is a likely flash point. You might
:03:37. > :03:39.think why? If Russian troops want to go there they have to go the whole
:03:40. > :03:43.way across Ukraine. Well, that is the point. If they advance to the
:03:44. > :03:49.town to protect the Russian community on the back of tonight's
:03:50. > :03:55.events they create a land connection to Crimea, they also connect to a
:03:56. > :03:59.Russian break away enclave there in the west and they cut off Ukraine's
:04:00. > :04:03.access to the sea. It is a dangerous moment. As things stand tonight, do
:04:04. > :04:07.you sense there is any diplomatic way out of this without further
:04:08. > :04:12.violence? Well, there were attempts tonight in the Security Council, the
:04:13. > :04:17.13th meeting on Ukraine, but with no clear eresult, Russia saying this
:04:18. > :04:22.Geneva process that was launch two weeks' ago to deescalate the crisis
:04:23. > :04:25.is now over, it has failed. I think there will be attempts still to
:04:26. > :04:28.struggle for some international solution to this, but clearly, a
:04:29. > :04:31.significant risk tonight, that this will tip the Russians over into
:04:32. > :04:36.invasion. Thank you.
:04:37. > :04:40.Gerry Adams is right now spending a third night in a police cell. After
:04:41. > :04:46.detectives asked for more time to question him over the abduction and
:04:47. > :04:50.murder of Jean McConville in 1972. His arrest could throw policing in
:04:51. > :04:54.Northern Ireland into chaos, as his friend and colleague the Deputy
:04:55. > :04:57.First Minister Martin McGuinness hinted that Sinn Fein might look
:04:58. > :05:02.again at whether they will continue to support the Northern Irish Police
:05:03. > :05:05.Service. Last night, Jean McConville daughter
:05:06. > :05:09.told Newsnight she didn't fear the IRA any more and would disclose the
:05:10. > :05:13.names of those she believes to be responsible for her mother's death.
:05:14. > :05:17.But that conviction is not shared by her brother, or many others in the
:05:18. > :05:21.community. If fear survive, 16 years after the
:05:22. > :05:26.Good Friday Agreement, what does peace really mean the people on the
:05:27. > :05:33.ground? From Belfast here is Jim Reed.
:05:34. > :05:38.Mod developer Belfast. Young, vibrant and growing fast, with new
:05:39. > :05:44.towers and shopping centres poking up across the city. The fruits of
:05:45. > :05:50.the Good Friday Agreement, and the cash that flowed from the
:05:51. > :05:56.Government, then the private sector. On the surface, a long way from this
:05:57. > :06:02.Troubles of the past. In 1972, Jean McConville was taken from her home
:06:03. > :06:06.in the flat, a working class Catholic neighbourhood. The leader
:06:07. > :06:13.of Sinn Fein is still in police custody, answering questions about
:06:14. > :06:18.her disappearance. A new wall praising him was taking shape a
:06:19. > :06:22.stone's throw from the same estate. Things have moved on, you can tell
:06:23. > :06:27.by the nature of people in the streets. There are still a few
:06:28. > :06:32.dinosaurs about. Unfortunately on both side, and, but there are in a
:06:33. > :06:35.small minority, people are worried about social and economic issues
:06:36. > :06:41.now. The big national questions we use to paint stuff on this wall
:06:42. > :06:44.about political issues, we seldom do it because the issues have been
:06:45. > :06:48.dealt with for the first time in our lifestyles through a normal
:06:49. > :06:53.democratic process. This is the modern side of West Belfast the
:06:54. > :06:57.authorities want you to see. Smiling musician, happy sportsmen. That
:06:58. > :07:02.means a thousand Westminster welcome, but walk round the corner
:07:03. > :07:08.and there are signs things haven't completely changed.
:07:09. > :07:12.In parts of Belfast, there is still deep hatred of anyone who passes
:07:13. > :07:18.information to the police. Informant or tout in this part of the city is
:07:19. > :07:24.still a dirty word. And this idea of grassing of a tout
:07:25. > :07:28.in Northern Ireland, this still persists That persist, particularly
:07:29. > :07:30.in the Republican camps that anybody who gives evidence against another
:07:31. > :07:34.Republican, they would be classed as a tout and they have been shot
:07:35. > :07:39.because of that. That is a fact within our history, in this part of
:07:40. > :07:44.the world. Even if we are talking about historical crimes? Even very
:07:45. > :07:51.historical crime, yes. That suspicion stretches across sectarian
:07:52. > :07:58.line, in Protestant neighbourhoods new purr rams have sprung up. They
:07:59. > :08:02.still hold sway here. Just reseently this road was the
:08:03. > :08:07.scene of violent clash, full of angry young men, after Belfast City
:08:08. > :08:12.Hall passed a vote to stop the Union Jack flying all year round.
:08:13. > :08:15.People working in this community say that peace itself might have
:08:16. > :08:19.stripped some of their sense of identity.
:08:20. > :08:25.The reality is that for most people that I spoke to, and listened to
:08:26. > :08:31.more importantly, they all seem to have one common denominator, that
:08:32. > :08:36.was they felt known was listening to hem or no-one knew where they were
:08:37. > :08:42.or who they with. What is causing that? I think, it is an identity
:08:43. > :08:48.crisis, people trying to figure out indeed where they stand in this
:08:49. > :08:52.whole new regime that they exists in our country.
:08:53. > :08:54.These walls might feel like a tourist attraction, like something
:08:55. > :08:59.out of the history books but this week is a reminder that in Belfast,
:09:00. > :09:04.the ghosts of the past can still upset the present.
:09:05. > :09:08.Well, with us now from Belfast is the former police ombudsman for
:09:09. > :09:13.Northern Ireland Nuala O'Loan. Thank you for being with us. You
:09:14. > :09:17.investigated what happeneded in the Jean McConville case, how difficult
:09:18. > :09:22.was it to get at the truth in these very tight-knit communities. I think
:09:23. > :09:28.it can be profoundly difficult to get at certainly the documentation
:09:29. > :09:33.relating to these cases, I mean Jean McConville was abducted so long ago,
:09:34. > :09:37.1972, and because of that, and because of the difficulty we have
:09:38. > :09:41.round the various categories of people who have suffered, you know,
:09:42. > :09:46.people are still very much afraid of the IRA I am afraid. It is still
:09:47. > :09:50.part and there are fears about loyalist paramilitaries to. That is
:09:51. > :09:54.part of the reality here, for people who live outside the areas which
:09:55. > :09:59.were dominated and remain to a degree dominated by paramilitaries,
:10:00. > :10:03.it is different. It is very different but for people who live
:10:04. > :10:07.there it is still very tense, think, and although there is, there is one
:10:08. > :10:11.kind of a peace, there isn't a total peace yet. This has exposed then
:10:12. > :10:16.that people are way beyond being haunted by the past, there are still
:10:17. > :10:19.people who fear for their lives. I think there are people who fear,
:10:20. > :10:25.there are people who suffer terribly, there are people who were
:10:26. > :10:29.injured, decades ago, and who have no real way of earning their living,
:10:30. > :10:32.because of their injury, and yet who have no proper pension, there are
:10:33. > :10:38.still the bodies of the disappeared, Jean McConville was one of 16 people
:10:39. > :10:42.who were disappeared during the troubles, there are still seven
:10:43. > :10:48.missing, they were all taken by the IRA, and they, or other Republican
:10:49. > :10:52.paramilitary organisations, and those families need to get the
:10:53. > :10:57.bodies back, so there is a huge amount still to be done. Can the
:10:58. > :11:01.Police Service of Northern Ireland really cope with all of this?
:11:02. > :11:05.Especially today, they stand accused by Martin McGuinness now, a senior
:11:06. > :11:11.figure in the Government of being a cabal who are acting politically.
:11:12. > :11:14.Can they deal with all of this? I am fairly confident, I would say that
:11:15. > :11:16.the Police Service of Northern Ireland will have thought very
:11:17. > :11:21.seriously before they took the action which they took. They are
:11:22. > :11:25.duty bound to investigate crime where they have reasonable ground
:11:26. > :11:30.for suspecting it, and clearly, that is the position in which they have
:11:31. > :11:35.found themselves. Do you have any... Sorry? Do you have any sympathy with
:11:36. > :11:41.this suggestion that they are a political service? Can they be
:11:42. > :11:45.impartial? I don't accept they are a political service, think that
:11:46. > :11:48.nothing is perfect, and certainly in a post-conflict situation there are
:11:49. > :11:52.problems with every aspect of society, but I don't think they are
:11:53. > :11:55.a cabal. That is inappropriate language to use, I think that what
:11:56. > :12:00.we need above all in Northern Ireland is that the rule of law
:12:01. > :12:06.should apply equally throughout the country. But in... I think that for
:12:07. > :12:09.people to suggest that, you know, some people perhaps shouldn't be
:12:10. > :12:15.arrested, is perhaps a little questionable. But in the peace
:12:16. > :12:20.process though, was there not an imme it is bargaining chip that it
:12:21. > :12:26.was almost worth leaving some crimes go unpunished for the sake of peace?
:12:27. > :12:29.A number of arrangements were made, which the effect of by was that
:12:30. > :12:34.evidence which might otherwise have been used could no be used. If
:12:35. > :12:38.example guns were decommissioneded, if paramilitaries gave up their gun,
:12:39. > :12:43.any evidence that was found could not be used. If they gave
:12:44. > :12:47.information leading to the recovery of the bodies of the Disappeared the
:12:48. > :12:52.evidence associated with recovery can't be used. If somebody is
:12:53. > :12:56.convicted of a crime which was committed before the goof agreement
:12:57. > :13:01.was signed, in 1998, the maximum period in jail is two years. So
:13:02. > :13:08.there are all sorts of arrange.s, there have been a number of Royal
:13:09. > :13:12.Prerogatives royal pardon, there are all sorts of arrangements which have
:13:13. > :13:16.been made, in a way to try and move us on the a degree. But it is
:13:17. > :13:19.profoundly important, I think that we continue to operate within the
:13:20. > :13:23.rule of law and that we do investigate and prosecute. We must
:13:24. > :13:30.leave it there. Thank you for being with us tonight.
:13:31. > :13:33.Now, if ?63 billion isn't enough, what will tempt the UK
:13:34. > :13:38.pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to give into the advances of the
:13:39. > :13:43.American Viagra maker Pfizer? The US company wants to buy the British
:13:44. > :13:48.firm to create together the biggest drug company in the world. But there
:13:49. > :13:51.are fears that such a megamerger would mean job cuts and damage to
:13:52. > :13:56.the UK's standing in science and research, but as for the firm's
:13:57. > :14:01.board and shareholders, they are yet to be convinced.
:14:02. > :14:04.Under the microscope, examining the Pfizer bid for AstraZeneca is what
:14:05. > :14:08.is occupying politicians and shareholders. The AstraZeneca board
:14:09. > :14:13.has already pronounced the current bid of ?50 a share nowhere near
:14:14. > :14:16.enough. In a statement, the company said, the financial and other terms
:14:17. > :14:25.described in the proposal are inadequate...
:14:26. > :14:31.But should a takeover go ahead at any price? A former Science Minister
:14:32. > :14:35.says Pfizer has form in taking over companies and then cutting back on
:14:36. > :14:39.vital research. Its strategy is basically not to do
:14:40. > :14:46.the R which takeover companies do and get their pipeline and drugs up
:14:47. > :14:50.that way. -- but to take over companies. Now, if you let that
:14:51. > :14:53.happen, it sends absolutely the wrong signal to industry, which
:14:54. > :14:57.says, don't put money into long-term research, just shovel assets around
:14:58. > :15:01.among yourselves. And if we do that in this country, we will not survive
:15:02. > :15:05.long-term as a great industrial power.
:15:06. > :15:10.AstraZeneca, on its own, accounts for a full 2% of UK exports. A
:15:11. > :15:17.potential takeover of such a significant company is not something
:15:18. > :15:20.the government can ignore. The decision on any merger is a
:15:21. > :15:24.decision for the two companies and a decision for their shareholders. My
:15:25. > :15:28.job is to protect the United Kingdom's interests. I want to see
:15:29. > :15:32.great science here in Britain, I want to see great medicines
:15:33. > :15:37.delivered, I want to see great jobs in these industries here in Britain.
:15:38. > :15:41.And that is why we have sought and received robust assurances from
:15:42. > :15:44.Pfizer, were a deal to go ahead. But is the Prime Minister right to
:15:45. > :15:48.describe those commitments on R and location of the company's
:15:49. > :15:50.headquarters as robust? In a letter to the Prime Minister, setting out
:15:51. > :16:09.the commitments, Pfizer says... That means at any time, they can
:16:10. > :16:13.say, we have a responsibility to increase profits to our
:16:14. > :16:22.shareholders. On that basis, we are closing this research facility or
:16:23. > :16:27.platform. So it is absolutely meaningless. That is what happened
:16:28. > :16:30.when Kraft took over Cadbury in 2010. Assurances not to close a
:16:31. > :16:33.plant near Bristol, only to announce its closure a week after the bid
:16:34. > :16:36.went through. Meanwhile, opposition politicians and others are
:16:37. > :16:41.questioning why the Government has become so involved in the details of
:16:42. > :16:44.Pfizer's bid. Industry insiders have reacted with nothing short of
:16:45. > :16:46.outrage that the board here at AstraZeneca has been sidelined,
:16:47. > :16:54.whilst the Government apparently negotiates directly with Pfizer. And
:16:55. > :16:57.there is concern that although David Cameron says it is a matter for
:16:58. > :17:00.shareholders to decide, the Government has already made up its
:17:01. > :17:05.mind that a Pfizer takeover should not be resisted.
:17:06. > :17:09.But does it really matter what nationality a company is?
:17:10. > :17:15.AstraZeneca is not perhaps as home-grown British as it may seem.
:17:16. > :17:18.AstraZeneca is not really a British company, it is a typical global
:17:19. > :17:21.multinational. It was formed from combining a British company, a
:17:22. > :17:25.Swedish company and an American company. Its CEO is French, its
:17:26. > :17:30.chairman is Swedish, and it operates in a global marketplace. That is
:17:31. > :17:34.great and terrific that it has a base in the United Kingdom, but that
:17:35. > :17:40.is for the market to end up deciding and, actually, for the shareholders
:17:41. > :17:43.of AstraZeneca to decide. What matters, agree ministers and
:17:44. > :17:47.science leaders, is that expertise and research stays in the UK and
:17:48. > :17:53.that it is not sold off, packed up and sold overseas.
:17:54. > :18:00.Where are they? More than 200 teenage girls were taken from their
:18:01. > :18:03.school in Nigeria more than two weeks ago, abducted by the terrorist
:18:04. > :18:06.group Boko Haram and spirited away to an unknown location, possibly out
:18:07. > :18:12.of their country. Efforts so far to find them by the Nigerian government
:18:13. > :18:18.have failed. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is travelling to
:18:19. > :18:23.Nigeria. I spoke to him earlier and we will hear how he is asking the
:18:24. > :18:29.Foreign Office to help. The agonising wait. It is more than
:18:30. > :18:33.two weeks since the girls were taken from their school in the middle of
:18:34. > :18:39.the night and as time passes, anger with the government has grown. On
:18:40. > :18:43.Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators marched through the Nigerian capital
:18:44. > :18:49.Abuja demanding the release of the girls. Their parents criticised the
:18:50. > :18:54.search and rescue efforts, troops do not seem to be equipped for the
:18:55. > :19:03.mission, they say. It is not just a group of five, it is over 200. How
:19:04. > :19:07.will somebody tell me they do not know where they are? They give
:19:08. > :19:12.reasons for information to know whether girls are. Who is given
:19:13. > :19:18.information on the girls are taken to Cameron room? Who? There is no
:19:19. > :19:21.such information, what have they done about it? -- Cameron room.
:19:22. > :19:29.Abducted from their boarding school, the girls are mostly between
:19:30. > :19:30.16 and 18. They are thought to have been taken by the Islamist
:19:31. > :19:36.16 and 18. They are thought to have Boko Haram. It is believed they are
:19:37. > :19:43.in a forest region near the border with Cameron room but some -- near
:19:44. > :19:48.Cameroon but there are suggestions they may have left the country. The
:19:49. > :19:53.name of the group means Western education is forbidden, it has grown
:19:54. > :19:58.in prominence and an estimated 1,500 people have been killed by their
:19:59. > :20:02.attacks. Boko Haram has not yet made a response to the accusation but
:20:03. > :20:07.their leader Abubakar Shekau has previously threatened to treat
:20:08. > :20:12.captured women and girls as slaves. The group is also suspected of
:20:13. > :20:17.involvement in the bomb attack in Nigeria's capital on Thursday which
:20:18. > :20:21.killed at least 19 people and injured dozens more.
:20:22. > :20:26.Gordon Brown, you are travelling to Nigeria, what are you hoping to
:20:27. > :20:31.achieve? This is a terrible atrocity. You
:20:32. > :20:34.have got 200 girls who have been abducted from their school,
:20:35. > :20:37.kidnapped by a terrorist group. Their parents don't know whether
:20:38. > :20:41.they are alive, they don't know if they are being made into sex slaves,
:20:42. > :20:44.they don't know if they have been trafficked into the rest of Africa
:20:45. > :20:47.and dispersed. And if this had happened in Europe or America,
:20:48. > :20:51.people would be up in arms demanding action, and knowing that there was
:20:52. > :20:54.something we could do to help these girls. I would like to see some air
:20:55. > :20:58.support given internationally so that we can scan the jungle area,
:20:59. > :21:06.the forest area, to see if we can find these girls.
:21:07. > :21:10.What should the British Government do? You say you want air support,
:21:11. > :21:13.but should the British Government be involved?
:21:14. > :21:17.I am not talking about British forces in the traditional way you
:21:18. > :21:20.describe them. I have been in touch with the Foreign Secretary about
:21:21. > :21:22.whether there could be some help with air support. The Nigerian
:21:23. > :21:27.government have a difficult problem. It is a huge land area. This is a
:21:28. > :21:30.huge forest area right in the North of Nigeria, very inaccessible, and
:21:31. > :21:33.if they are going to be able to track the girls before they are
:21:34. > :21:37.dispersed throughout Africa, which is a possibility, then we do need
:21:38. > :21:55.some air support to be able to do that. In the longer run, however, we
:21:56. > :21:59.need to make these girls safe. -- schools. So I am really talking to
:22:00. > :22:03.the President in Nigeria, when I go there, about what we can do to help
:22:04. > :22:07.immediately, but what we can do so that ten million boys and girls are
:22:08. > :22:09.not discouraged from going to school in Nigeria.
:22:10. > :22:12.What did William Hague say to that request?
:22:13. > :22:15.I have been in touch with him and I am hoping that he will look at this
:22:16. > :22:19.very carefully. I am also obviously talking to the United Nations,
:22:20. > :22:22.because I am a Special Envoy, about what they can do to persuade other
:22:23. > :22:25.countries to help. But clearly, it is initially the responsibility of
:22:26. > :22:27.the Nigerian government, and they are under pressure obviously,
:22:28. > :22:31.because there are demonstrations in the streets now. There is a petition
:22:32. > :22:35.that has been signed by 120,000 people around the world, and that is
:22:36. > :22:39.only in a day, and that has gathered support. I think one of the sad
:22:40. > :22:42.things is that we've had to wait for two weeks before attention has been
:22:43. > :22:46.given to this outside Nigeria, and we have got to find a way of helping
:22:47. > :22:49.the Nigerian authorities stop schools being used as weapons of war
:22:50. > :22:53.in a terrorist battle. In that terrorist battle, a couple
:22:54. > :22:56.of years ago, you described this as being a single narrative, from the
:22:57. > :23:00.slums of Asia, to huts in Africa, to every industrial city in the Western
:23:01. > :23:04.world. Do you see this attack as part of a global ideology? I don't
:23:05. > :23:07.think I put it that way. What I did say was that there is a single
:23:08. > :23:10.demand emerging throughout the world, whether it's the Pakistani
:23:11. > :23:13.girls that supported Malala when she was shot, whether it's girls
:23:14. > :23:16.campaigning against child marriage in Bangladesh, or whether it's the
:23:17. > :23:19.protests in Africa where people are demanding education. This is a civil
:23:20. > :23:24.rights issue. Girls are demanding education, girls in particular.
:23:25. > :23:27.What hope do you think you will be able to give to these Nigerian
:23:28. > :23:30.families who, right now, don't know if they will ever see their
:23:31. > :23:32.daughters again? This is unimaginable for a parent
:23:33. > :23:36.because they don't know whether their girls are dead or are now
:23:37. > :23:39.becoming sex slaves or married off, and they don't know whether they've
:23:40. > :23:49.been trafficked into another country and can never be found again. So we
:23:50. > :23:54.have got to do what we can to help them. Of course, there is only a
:23:55. > :23:57.certain amount we can do, but we have got to reassure people that
:23:58. > :24:00.schools will be protected zones in the future, that the United Nations
:24:01. > :24:05.law about hospitals and schools and UN buildings can be observed, and it
:24:06. > :24:09.may be that we have got to be far more visible in the way we identify
:24:10. > :24:12.schools, so that they can never be targets for terrorism again. But
:24:13. > :24:15.what is happening in Nigeria, if there is no international protest,
:24:16. > :24:19.is that this will go on and on. We have got to stand up to terrorism
:24:20. > :24:23.here and we have got to support the families.
:24:24. > :24:29.Now, are you more likely to be found with a copy of Ulysses, Bringing up
:24:30. > :24:33.the Bodies, or, well, Fifty Shades of Grey? Or, actually, are you just
:24:34. > :24:37.as likely to have one eye on the TV screen, the other on your phone, and
:24:38. > :24:41.have given up reading anything with fibre in it years ago? As we choose
:24:42. > :24:49.to read more and more online, are we also increasing, just picking the
:24:50. > :24:51.easy stuff? -- in increasingly. The writer Will Self believes that
:24:52. > :24:57.serious works, 'difficult books', are under serious threat. He is with
:24:58. > :25:01.us now. You say that the literary novel is dying, does it really have
:25:02. > :25:10.no future? I think it definitely has a future that it is a future as a
:25:11. > :25:17.minor artwork. An easel painting or on a good day, probably classical
:25:18. > :25:25.music. That is still evolving, people are writing classical music.
:25:26. > :25:31.But it would be very unusual for a Premier to gain the same attention
:25:32. > :25:37.as that of a movie. What is wrong with people choosing the box more
:25:38. > :25:43.for pleasure? Do you want people to read books that good for them that
:25:44. > :25:50.they might not enjoy? -- people choosing books. This is not about
:25:51. > :26:00.content and difficult verses easy. It is not directly. It is an
:26:01. > :26:07.argument about the impact of the Internet. This is the question you
:26:08. > :26:13.have to ask yourself if you do not believe that the serious novel is
:26:14. > :26:17.under threat. Do you believe that in 20 years' time, the majority of text
:26:18. > :26:22.will be read digitally, and I think most people agree that will be the
:26:23. > :26:28.case and it is going that way very rapidly. Secondly, do you believe it
:26:29. > :26:32.will be read on devices that can connect to the web? Yes,
:26:33. > :26:39.undoubtedly. Do you believe that people will follow Terry disable
:26:40. > :26:44.their web connection to read prose fiction? -- involuntarily. People
:26:45. > :26:51.not concentrating on a serious book because they are reading yet on
:26:52. > :26:58.their Kindle? And e-book sales fell in America last year and hard book
:26:59. > :27:03.sales went up. That may be a status thing. It is not that I think people
:27:04. > :27:15.are not capable of concentrating. Actually, it is! In your injured up
:27:16. > :27:22.soon, it you cited Joyce's Ulysses. Even a well educated, intelligent
:27:23. > :27:25.reader will not understand things on the first, second, even third
:27:26. > :27:32.reached through the novel. Most editions come with footnotes, but
:27:33. > :27:39.when you read it in analogue form, there is a limited amount of looking
:27:40. > :27:46.got you can do and there is a degree of deep absorption in the text that
:27:47. > :27:52.requires concentration that is prepared not to understand. --
:27:53. > :27:56.looking up. It will encounter a point of information they do not
:27:57. > :28:00.immediately comprehend and they will discover it in context. The web
:28:01. > :28:09.connection introduces the idea it you could solve that problem. -- the
:28:10. > :28:16.idea that you could. So is digital media making a stupid? No, I am not
:28:17. > :28:21.attacking digital media, it is more profound about it -- of more
:28:22. > :28:29.profound than that, it is about the human psychology. Each major
:28:30. > :28:33.technical change in media rings a different psychology. The psychology
:28:34. > :28:44.that produced the novel is not the same as the psychology we will
:28:45. > :28:53.have... -- brings. You said you are reading 150 box at a time, are you
:28:54. > :28:58.guilty as charged? -- 150 books. Are you incapable of reading without
:28:59. > :29:04.getting distracted? Chatting to people on Facebook? I do not
:29:05. > :29:13.necessarily do that and I have my problems. In 2003, 2004, those of us
:29:14. > :29:18.a tiny bit older remember the dial-up connection noise and that
:29:19. > :29:22.switch to wireless broadband, I stopped writing my own fiction on a
:29:23. > :29:27.computer because I registered that being able to switch from labouring
:29:28. > :29:32.on your careful prose to buying reindeer of gloves or seeing what it
:29:33. > :29:40.looks like when somebody does something ridiculous is to tempting.
:29:41. > :29:45.-- ovengloves. One critic is very disappointed in you and says
:29:46. > :29:49.everybody is delivering the death sentence to the novel and he wants
:29:50. > :29:55.to know what deathbed novel you are writing? I have just finished a
:29:56. > :29:58.sequel to my last novel. On brow. The serious novel will continue to
:29:59. > :30:08.be read. -- umbrella. The serious novel will continue to
:30:09. > :30:12.not have the same range as it used to.
:30:13. > :30:15.That is it for tonight. We leave you with the internet mystery that has
:30:16. > :30:17.got tech journalists the world over scratching their heads. Last
:30:18. > :30:20.September, a mysterious French YouTuber began uploading 11 second
:30:21. > :30:24.videos of uniquely shaped red and blue blocks, each one lasting just
:30:25. > :30:27.one second, each one with a different accompanying computer
:30:28. > :30:35.tone. 80,000 videos later, the uploading just stopped. It has all
:30:36. > :30:37.led to some pretty wild speculation. Is it a spy code? A video test
:30:38. > :30:40.signal? A Is it a spy code? A video test
:30:41. > :30:42.conspiracy theorists can now sleep easy,
:30:43. > :30:45.conspiracy theorists can now sleep for them. See if you can spot it.
:30:46. > :30:49.Good night.