02/05/2014 Newsnight

3 is people have died in western Ukraine. A building held by

3 is people have died in western pro-Russian gunmen was set on fire.

How can Kiev avoid a violent retaliation from the Kremlin? Also

tonight, when a war ends without a retaliation from the Kremlin? Also

winner, you don't usually get to arrest the enemy. So why is Gerry

Adams about to spend a third night in custody? Was there an assumption

the price of peace was whitewashing in custody? Was there an assumption

the past? And if that no longer applies what does that mean for

peace itself?ly ask the former police Watchdog in Belfast Nuala

O'Loan. And Will Self on death of the serious novel. And the big

internet mystery of the day. What is this? We may have ran answer.

-- an answer. Good evening. Tensions in Ukraine that have been simmering

for the past few weeks explode today, with deadly consequences. 31

people are reported dead in a fire that broke out in the western city

of who December is a during a clash between pro Russia demonstrators and

porter of the Government. In Sloviansk, Ukrainian helicopters

were shot down, and as the UN Security Council met in an emergency

session, Moscow's add ambassador warned of catastrophic consequences.

Our diplomatic editor is here with us. Mark, what has been going on

today? Well, the most dangerous situation, this disturbance that

happened in the port city, in the west. A crowd of people about 1,000,

pro Ukrainian Government, the interim Government, were set upon by

pro-Russian, we can see them in the distance there, the pro Kiev group

closer to the camera. Shots were exchanged and slowly the Russian

side realised they had been overmatched. They retreated to this

building, the centre of the trade union movement, where they were then

attacked. The police were not able to hold back, the pro Kiev mob, and

Molotov cocktails were thrown. The building was set on fire and dozen

of Russians died inside that building. The official Kiev

Government figure is 31, with four pro Kiev demonstrators also killed

on streets beforehand, but some Russian sources are saying more than

50 dead. For some weeks now we have known there are many troops on the

Russian board e could this be the vent that triggers the invasion? It

has to look much more likely tonight. One Russian journalist I

saw tweeting earlier if not now, for Putin, it is never. There is a lot

feeling that this could be the trigger, equally I would differ with

the never part of that analysis. Russian troops can stay there for

weeks if they have to, to maintain this, but a couple of key things

have happened today, if we look at the map. The first as you mentioned

earlier, this anti-terrorist operation long promised. It seemed

to is have petered out. That I that two of their hecks shot down,

several people killed there today, we know, but the events not clear.

Then tonight's awful events in the town. A few weeks ago in Crimea,

people were pointing to us as it is a likely flash point. You might

think why? If Russian troops want to go there they have to go the whole

way across Ukraine. Well, that is the point. If they advance to the

town to protect the Russian community on the back of tonight's

events they create a land connection to Crimea, they also connect to a

Russian break away enclave there in the west and they cut off Ukraine's

access to the sea. It is a dangerous moment. As things stand tonight, do

you sense there is any diplomatic way out of this without further

violence? Well, there were attempts tonight in the Security Council, the

13th meeting on Ukraine, but with no clear eresult, Russia saying this

Geneva process that was launch two weeks' ago to deescalate the crisis

is now over, it has failed. I think there will be attempts still to

struggle for some international solution to this, but clearly, a

significant risk tonight, that this will tip the Russians over into

invasion. Thank you.

Gerry Adams is right now spending a third night in a police cell. After

detectives asked for more time to question him over the abduction and

murder of Jean McConville in 1972. His arrest could throw policing in

Northern Ireland into chaos, as his friend and colleague the Deputy

First Minister Martin McGuinness hinted that Sinn Fein might look

again at whether they will continue to support the Northern Irish Police

Service. Last night, Jean McConville daughter

told Newsnight she didn't fear the IRA any more and would disclose the

names of those she believes to be responsible for her mother's death.

But that conviction is not shared by her brother, or many others in the

community. If fear survive, 16 years after the

Good Friday Agreement, what does peace really mean the people on the

ground? From Belfast here is Jim Reed.

Mod developer Belfast. Young, vibrant and growing fast, with new

towers and shopping centres poking up across the city. The fruits of

the Good Friday Agreement, and the cash that flowed from the

Government, then the private sector. On the surface, a long way from this

Troubles of the past. In 1972, Jean McConville was taken from her home

in the flat, a working class Catholic neighbourhood. The leader

of Sinn Fein is still in police custody, answering questions about

her disappearance. A new wall praising him was taking shape a

stone's throw from the same estate. Things have moved on, you can tell

by the nature of people in the streets. There are still a few

dinosaurs about. Unfortunately on both side, and, but there are in a

small minority, people are worried about social and economic issues

now. The big national questions we use to paint stuff on this wall

about political issues, we seldom do it because the issues have been

dealt with for the first time in our lifestyles through a normal

democratic process. This is the modern side of West Belfast the

authorities want you to see. Smiling musician, happy sportsmen. That

means a thousand Westminster welcome, but walk round the corner

and there are signs things haven't completely changed.

In parts of Belfast, there is still deep hatred of anyone who passes

information to the police. Informant or tout in this part of the city is

still a dirty word. And this idea of grassing of a tout

in Northern Ireland, this still persists That persist, particularly

in the Republican camps that anybody who gives evidence against another

Republican, they would be classed as a tout and they have been shot

because of that. That is a fact within our history, in this part of

the world. Even if we are talking about historical crimes? Even very

historical crime, yes. That suspicion stretches across sectarian

line, in Protestant neighbourhoods new purr rams have sprung up. They

still hold sway here. Just reseently this road was the

scene of violent clash, full of angry young men, after Belfast City

Hall passed a vote to stop the Union Jack flying all year round.

People working in this community say that peace itself might have

stripped some of their sense of identity.

The reality is that for most people that I spoke to, and listened to

more importantly, they all seem to have one common denominator, that

was they felt known was listening to hem or no-one knew where they were

or who they with. What is causing that? I think, it is an identity

crisis, people trying to figure out indeed where they stand in this

whole new regime that they exists in our country.

These walls might feel like a tourist attraction, like something

out of the history books but this week is a reminder that in Belfast,

the ghosts of the past can still upset the present.

Well, with us now from Belfast is the former police ombudsman for

Northern Ireland Nuala O'Loan. Thank you for being with us. You

investigated what happeneded in the Jean McConville case, how difficult

was it to get at the truth in these very tight-knit communities. I think

it can be profoundly difficult to get at certainly the documentation

relating to these cases, I mean Jean McConville was abducted so long ago,

1972, and because of that, and because of the difficulty we have

round the various categories of people who have suffered, you know,

people are still very much afraid of the IRA I am afraid. It is still

part and there are fears about loyalist paramilitaries to. That is

part of the reality here, for people who live outside the areas which

were dominated and remain to a degree dominated by paramilitaries,

it is different. It is very different but for people who live

there it is still very tense, think, and although there is, there is one

kind of a peace, there isn't a total peace yet. This has exposed then

that people are way beyond being haunted by the past, there are still

people who fear for their lives. I think there are people who fear,

there are people who suffer terribly, there are people who were

injured, decades ago, and who have no real way of earning their living,

because of their injury, and yet who have no proper pension, there are

still the bodies of the disappeared, Jean McConville was one of 16 people

who were disappeared during the troubles, there are still seven

missing, they were all taken by the IRA, and they, or other Republican

paramilitary organisations, and those families need to get the

bodies back, so there is a huge amount still to be done. Can the

Police Service of Northern Ireland really cope with all of this?

Especially today, they stand accused by Martin McGuinness now, a senior

figure in the Government of being a cabal who are acting politically.

Can they deal with all of this? I am fairly confident, I would say that

the Police Service of Northern Ireland will have thought very

seriously before they took the action which they took. They are

duty bound to investigate crime where they have reasonable ground

for suspecting it, and clearly, that is the position in which they have

found themselves. Do you have any... Sorry? Do you have any sympathy with

this suggestion that they are a political service? Can they be

impartial? I don't accept they are a political service, think that

nothing is perfect, and certainly in a post-conflict situation there are

problems with every aspect of society, but I don't think they are

a cabal. That is inappropriate language to use, I think that what

we need above all in Northern Ireland is that the rule of law

should apply equally throughout the country. But in... I think that for

people to suggest that, you know, some people perhaps shouldn't be

arrested, is perhaps a little questionable. But in the peace

process though, was there not an imme it is bargaining chip that it

was almost worth leaving some crimes go unpunished for the sake of peace?

A number of arrangements were made, which the effect of by was that

evidence which might otherwise have been used could no be used. If

example guns were decommissioneded, if paramilitaries gave up their gun,

any evidence that was found could not be used. If they gave

information leading to the recovery of the bodies of the Disappeared the

evidence associated with recovery can't be used. If somebody is

convicted of a crime which was committed before the goof agreement

was signed, in 1998, the maximum period in jail is two years. So

there are all sorts of arrange.s, there have been a number of Royal

Prerogatives royal pardon, there are all sorts of arrangements which have

been made, in a way to try and move us on the a degree. But it is

profoundly important, I think that we continue to operate within the

rule of law and that we do investigate and prosecute. We must

leave it there. Thank you for being with us tonight.

Now, if ?63 billion isn't enough, what will tempt the UK

pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to give into the advances of the

American Viagra maker Pfizer? The US company wants to buy the British

firm to create together the biggest drug company in the world. But there

are fears that such a megamerger would mean job cuts and damage to

the UK's standing in science and research, but as for the firm's

board and shareholders, they are yet to be convinced.

Under the microscope, examining the Pfizer bid for AstraZeneca is what

is occupying politicians and shareholders. The AstraZeneca board

has already pronounced the current bid of ?50 a share nowhere near

enough. In a statement, the company said, the financial and other terms

described in the proposal are inadequate...

But should a takeover go ahead at any price? A former Science Minister

says Pfizer has form in taking over companies and then cutting back on

vital research. Its strategy is basically not to do

the R which takeover companies do and get their pipeline and drugs up

that way. -- but to take over companies. Now, if you let that

happen, it sends absolutely the wrong signal to industry, which

says, don't put money into long-term research, just shovel assets around

among yourselves. And if we do that in this country, we will not survive

long-term as a great industrial power.

AstraZeneca, on its own, accounts for a full 2% of UK exports. A

potential takeover of such a significant company is not something

the government can ignore. The decision on any merger is a

decision for the two companies and a decision for their shareholders. My

job is to protect the United Kingdom's interests. I want to see

great science here in Britain, I want to see great medicines

delivered, I want to see great jobs in these industries here in Britain.

And that is why we have sought and received robust assurances from

Pfizer, were a deal to go ahead. But is the Prime Minister right to

describe those commitments on R and location of the company's

headquarters as robust? In a letter to the Prime Minister, setting out

the commitments, Pfizer says... That means at any time, they can

say, we have a responsibility to increase profits to our

shareholders. On that basis, we are closing this research facility or

platform. So it is absolutely meaningless. That is what happened

when Kraft took over Cadbury in 2010. Assurances not to close a

plant near Bristol, only to announce its closure a week after the bid

went through. Meanwhile, opposition politicians and others are

questioning why the Government has become so involved in the details of

Pfizer's bid. Industry insiders have reacted with nothing short of

outrage that the board here at AstraZeneca has been sidelined,

whilst the Government apparently negotiates directly with Pfizer. And

there is concern that although David Cameron says it is a matter for

shareholders to decide, the Government has already made up its

mind that a Pfizer takeover should not be resisted.

But does it really matter what nationality a company is?

AstraZeneca is not perhaps as home-grown British as it may seem.

AstraZeneca is not really a British company, it is a typical global

multinational. It was formed from combining a British company, a

Swedish company and an American company. Its CEO is French, its

chairman is Swedish, and it operates in a global marketplace. That is

great and terrific that it has a base in the United Kingdom, but that

is for the market to end up deciding and, actually, for the shareholders

of AstraZeneca to decide. What matters, agree ministers and

science leaders, is that expertise and research stays in the UK and

that it is not sold off, packed up and sold overseas.

Where are they? More than 200 teenage girls were taken from their

school in Nigeria more than two weeks ago, abducted by the terrorist

group Boko Haram and spirited away to an unknown location, possibly out

of their country. Efforts so far to find them by the Nigerian government

have failed. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is travelling to

Nigeria. I spoke to him earlier and we will hear how he is asking the

Foreign Office to help. The agonising wait. It is more than

two weeks since the girls were taken from their school in the middle of

the night and as time passes, anger with the government has grown. On

Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators marched through the Nigerian capital

Abuja demanding the release of the girls. Their parents criticised the

search and rescue efforts, troops do not seem to be equipped for the

mission, they say. It is not just a group of five, it is over 200. How

will somebody tell me they do not know where they are? They give

reasons for information to know whether girls are. Who is given

information on the girls are taken to Cameron room? Who? There is no

such information, what have they done about it? -- Cameron room.

Abducted from their boarding school, the girls are mostly between

16 and 18. They are thought to have been taken by the Islamist

16 and 18. They are thought to have Boko Haram. It is believed they are

in a forest region near the border with Cameron room but some -- near

Cameroon but there are suggestions they may have left the country. The

name of the group means Western education is forbidden, it has grown

in prominence and an estimated 1,500 people have been killed by their

attacks. Boko Haram has not yet made a response to the accusation but

their leader Abubakar Shekau has previously threatened to treat

captured women and girls as slaves. The group is also suspected of

involvement in the bomb attack in Nigeria's capital on Thursday which

killed at least 19 people and injured dozens more.

Gordon Brown, you are travelling to Nigeria, what are you hoping to

achieve? This is a terrible atrocity. You

have got 200 girls who have been abducted from their school,

kidnapped by a terrorist group. Their parents don't know whether

they are alive, they don't know if they are being made into sex slaves,

they don't know if they have been trafficked into the rest of Africa

and dispersed. And if this had happened in Europe or America,

people would be up in arms demanding action, and knowing that there was

something we could do to help these girls. I would like to see some air

support given internationally so that we can scan the jungle area,

the forest area, to see if we can find these girls.

What should the British Government do? You say you want air support,

but should the British Government be involved?

I am not talking about British forces in the traditional way you

describe them. I have been in touch with the Foreign Secretary about

whether there could be some help with air support. The Nigerian

government have a difficult problem. It is a huge land area. This is a

huge forest area right in the North of Nigeria, very inaccessible, and

if they are going to be able to track the girls before they are

dispersed throughout Africa, which is a possibility, then we do need

some air support to be able to do that. In the longer run, however, we

need to make these girls safe. -- schools. So I am really talking to

the President in Nigeria, when I go there, about what we can do to help

immediately, but what we can do so that ten million boys and girls are

not discouraged from going to school in Nigeria.

What did William Hague say to that request?

I have been in touch with him and I am hoping that he will look at this

very carefully. I am also obviously talking to the United Nations,

because I am a Special Envoy, about what they can do to persuade other

countries to help. But clearly, it is initially the responsibility of

the Nigerian government, and they are under pressure obviously,

because there are demonstrations in the streets now. There is a petition

that has been signed by 120,000 people around the world, and that is

only in a day, and that has gathered support. I think one of the sad

things is that we've had to wait for two weeks before attention has been

given to this outside Nigeria, and we have got to find a way of helping

the Nigerian authorities stop schools being used as weapons of war

in a terrorist battle. In that terrorist battle, a couple

of years ago, you described this as being a single narrative, from the

slums of Asia, to huts in Africa, to every industrial city in the Western

world. Do you see this attack as part of a global ideology? I don't

think I put it that way. What I did say was that there is a single

demand emerging throughout the world, whether it's the Pakistani

girls that supported Malala when she was shot, whether it's girls

campaigning against child marriage in Bangladesh, or whether it's the

protests in Africa where people are demanding education. This is a civil

rights issue. Girls are demanding education, girls in particular.

What hope do you think you will be able to give to these Nigerian

families who, right now, don't know if they will ever see their

daughters again? This is unimaginable for a parent

because they don't know whether their girls are dead or are now

becoming sex slaves or married off, and they don't know whether they've

been trafficked into another country and can never be found again. So we

have got to do what we can to help them. Of course, there is only a

certain amount we can do, but we have got to reassure people that

schools will be protected zones in the future, that the United Nations

law about hospitals and schools and UN buildings can be observed, and it

may be that we have got to be far more visible in the way we identify

schools, so that they can never be targets for terrorism again. But

what is happening in Nigeria, if there is no international protest,

is that this will go on and on. We have got to stand up to terrorism

here and we have got to support the families.

Now, are you more likely to be found with a copy of Ulysses, Bringing up

the Bodies, or, well, Fifty Shades of Grey? Or, actually, are you just

as likely to have one eye on the TV screen, the other on your phone, and

have given up reading anything with fibre in it years ago? As we choose

to read more and more online, are we also increasing, just picking the

easy stuff? -- in increasingly. The writer Will Self believes that

serious works, 'difficult books', are under serious threat. He is with

us now. You say that the literary novel is dying, does it really have

no future? I think it definitely has a future that it is a future as a

minor artwork. An easel painting or on a good day, probably classical

music. That is still evolving, people are writing classical music.

But it would be very unusual for a Premier to gain the same attention

as that of a movie. What is wrong with people choosing the box more

for pleasure? Do you want people to read books that good for them that

they might not enjoy? -- people choosing books. This is not about

content and difficult verses easy. It is not directly. It is an

argument about the impact of the Internet. This is the question you

have to ask yourself if you do not believe that the serious novel is

under threat. Do you believe that in 20 years' time, the majority of text

will be read digitally, and I think most people agree that will be the

case and it is going that way very rapidly. Secondly, do you believe it

will be read on devices that can connect to the web? Yes,

undoubtedly. Do you believe that people will follow Terry disable

their web connection to read prose fiction? -- involuntarily. People

not concentrating on a serious book because they are reading yet on

their Kindle? And e-book sales fell in America last year and hard book

sales went up. That may be a status thing. It is not that I think people

are not capable of concentrating. Actually, it is! In your injured up

soon, it you cited Joyce's Ulysses. Even a well educated, intelligent

reader will not understand things on the first, second, even third

reached through the novel. Most editions come with footnotes, but

when you read it in analogue form, there is a limited amount of looking

got you can do and there is a degree of deep absorption in the text that

requires concentration that is prepared not to understand. --

looking up. It will encounter a point of information they do not

immediately comprehend and they will discover it in context. The web

connection introduces the idea it you could solve that problem. -- the

idea that you could. So is digital media making a stupid? No, I am not

attacking digital media, it is more profound about it -- of more

profound than that, it is about the human psychology. Each major

technical change in media rings a different psychology. The psychology

that produced the novel is not the same as the psychology we will

have... -- brings. You said you are reading 150 box at a time, are you

guilty as charged? -- 150 books. Are you incapable of reading without

getting distracted? Chatting to people on Facebook? I do not

necessarily do that and I have my problems. In 2003, 2004, those of us

a tiny bit older remember the dial-up connection noise and that

switch to wireless broadband, I stopped writing my own fiction on a

computer because I registered that being able to switch from labouring

on your careful prose to buying reindeer of gloves or seeing what it

looks like when somebody does something ridiculous is to tempting.

-- ovengloves. One critic is very disappointed in you and says

everybody is delivering the death sentence to the novel and he wants

to know what deathbed novel you are writing? I have just finished a

sequel to my last novel. On brow. The serious novel will continue to

be read. -- umbrella. The serious novel will continue to

not have the same range as it used to.

That is it for tonight. We leave you with the internet mystery that has

got tech journalists the world over scratching their heads. Last

September, a mysterious French YouTuber began uploading 11 second

videos of uniquely shaped red and blue blocks, each one lasting just

one second, each one with a different accompanying computer

tone. 80,000 videos later, the uploading just stopped. It has all

led to some pretty wild speculation. Is it a spy code? A video test

signal? A Is it a spy code? A video test

conspiracy theorists can now sleep easy,

conspiracy theorists can now sleep for them. See if you can spot it.

Good night.