24/02/2014 BBC World News

Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: Ukraine issues an

arrest warrant for ousted President Viktor Yanukovych over the killing

of protesters. Uganda's President Museveni signs a

controversial new law giving homosexuals longer prison sentences.

As the UN condemns both sides in South Sudan for widespread human

rights abuses - we have a special report from the town of Bor. This

trench that they don't is beginner to take 250 bodies, it isn't full

yet. Just over here, there are two of the trenches and they both have

been filled in. And the oldest remaining holocaust

survivor dies in London at 110 years old.

Ukraine's parliament has approved an arrest warrant for former president

Victor Yanukovych. Earlier the interior ministry issued the warrant

for mass murder, saying Mr Yanukovych was responsible for the

deaths of scores of protesters over the past weeks. Meanwhile in an

effort to establish order in the country, the parliament is in

session, discussing the formation of a government of national unity. My

colleague, Tim Willcox, who's in Kiev, says calm has returned to the

capital. There really is a feeling that things are getting back to

normal. Over here, this is the Kiev police station here, people are

going in and on the streets, cars are moving and you are seeing

demonstrators and protesters working alongside traffic police, keeping

the traffic flowing through the centre of Kiev. Here, you can see

the barricades are still in place, the demonstrators are in control,

people are really wanting to start afresh week in a new Ukraine. This

is one of the main routes down to Maidan, Independence Square, if you

look at the streets, cars are driving up and down, children have

gone back to school, people are going back to work. Do you think the

revolution is over now? Do you think things are going to get back to

normal? TRANSLATION: Life is getting back to normal already, right now in

these moments. But will it get back to normal? It depends mostly on the

presidential elections and their outcome, and they are ongoing. Here

in Maidan, Independence Square, the numbers have drained away

significantly. Flowers are still here, a few people are saying

prayers and lighting candles, but the people who have died, but

compare the scene here today to what it was yesterday and a few days ago.

There really is a sense that this revolution now is completely in

control, these are moving forward and now it is down to the

politicians to work out how to take Ukraine and this whole process

forward. The big question remains, where is the former president? That

is still unknown. Our reporter is internets, in the east of Ukraine, a

city where Mr Yanukovych has had a lot of support. The now ex-president

was born close to this city where we are, in southeastern Ukraine, a

couple of hours drive from the Russian border. He was governor of

this region a decade ago, and this is one of his many homes in

Ukraine. The huge gated complex on this great, but call me naive, I

think there are worse places to see where he is. Let's see if there is

any response. Surprise, surprise, nobody home.

This is an area which is predominantly Russian speaking. It

will take very badly indeed to comments from the interim president

to moving Ukraine closer to the EU. Whoever tries to lead the country

forward will have the huge task of uniting a polarised nation, these

people here who look more towards the east and those in the West to

look more towards the EU. In the meantime, the hunt for Viktor

Yanukovych goes on. There are rumours he tried to fly from this

city, Donetsk, to Russia over the weekend but the Customs officials

here stopped his plane. People trying to find where he is, but the

focus has shifted to what happens next and who leads forward this

deeply wounded and fractured country. The former president,

Timmer Schenkel, is one of the people who has been mentioned. The

German Chancellor spoke to her. I asked my colleague if that phone

call and to put the school -- amounted to political endorsement.

Her words were, welcome to freedom, in other words, we have been

concerned about you. She has voiced her concern in the past. But it was

not an endorsement of her as the political leader of Ukraine.

Chancellor Merkel also spoke to President Putin, that was possibly a

more important call. She said, let's get stability, let's make sure that

Ukraine stays together, the territorial integrity is the phrase

that both leaders agreed on. The spectre that has been raised here in

Berlin, which is 900 kilometres from Ukraine, is of a Yugoslavian

situation, where an unstable situation in the into Civil War and

the splitting up of the country. Chancellor Merkel is keen to get

President Putin on board to preserve a situation and stop it sending into

true chaos. In the last half an hour, the Ugandan President signed

into law tough new penalties against homosexuality. The new legislation

now means that homosexuals could be given life long prison terms. Yoweri

Museveni signed the bill during a press conference close to the

capital Kampala. Dennis Wamala is Programme Director

at Icebreaker's Uganda. An organisation that provides education

and support for sexual minority groups. He joins us on the phone

line. Thanks very much for joining us. What is your reaction to the

signing of this Bill? I am very saddened by the actions of my

beloved president. We have been trying to meet him so he can listen

to the voice of the people he is trying to give away to the prisons

and he has refused to meet us over and over again. I'm saddened and

disappointed. How is this going to affect life for people that you

advise and support? Already, it has been very difficult for us, for us,

people being arrested and blackmailed and being kept in jail

for a long time. People are being bitten on the streets, detained

without trial, and now everyone believes they have the right to beat

homosexuals. It is going to mob justice. Also, one of the provisions

of the new law as I understand it is you have two report gay people as

well, it is a crime if you don't. So people who are not gay being

affected by this as well. Mainly councillors and health workers,

because it is confidential, so it means that medical practitioners who

do not report gay people, then it is going to be... They are not going to

want to deal with gay people because they will get themselves in trouble.

The problem is this law is actually popular in Uganda, isn't it? Yes, it

is, because the movement in Uganda hasn't had the possibility of

education in the country are so everybody... We are not like Western

people, so it is popular because people haven't been given the chance

to be educated and listen to the LGB T community. Thank you for joining

us live on the line from Uganda. In the last half hour Egypt's interim

prime minister has announced that his Cabinet has resigned. Hazem

el-Beblawi's government, backed by the military, took office in July,

less than two weeks after the army overthrew the Islamist President,

Mohammed Morsi. Our correspondent has been following events in Cairo.

Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi did not state why he resigned, he didn't

state a clear reason to what pushed his government to make such a

decision at a critical time, when the country is expecting

presidential elections in a couple of months. But his government has

been severely criticised during the past weeks as being weak and

incompetent. We have lots of strikes in Cairo and in the sector of

transportation, in the sector of tech tours. -- textiles. So what the

Prime Minister said, that they came to power at a very critical time and

they managed to get Egypt out of the dark tunnel, that is what he said,

he feels like leaving his post now after the completion of the first

phase of the road map. He is referring here to the Constitution

that has just been written. Stay with us, still to come: China's

fight for fresh egg gets creative. Can art make pollution a thing of

the past? -- fresh air. Professional sport in the US has

broken new ground thanks to this guy, his name is Jason Collins and

has become the first openly gay competitive sportsman in a major

sports league. This is the man who has become the

first openly gay athlete to play in America's professional basketball

league. In fact, he is the first gay athlete to play in any of the

country's four major professional sports leagues, including baseball,

football and hockey. After playing professionally for a dozen years,

she has revealed in April that he is gay in this sport illustrated

article. This is Jason Collins arriving to a state dinner has a

guest of first lady Michelle Obama. When he came out at the end of last

season, he also received support from other players, including Kobe

Bryant, but he was a free agent and had remained unsigned. Today, the

NBA team Brooklyn net tweeted that it has signed into a ten day

contract. In a statement, the team's general manager said:

there is also a lot of attention on this man, a leading American

footballer. He has announced that he is gay as well. He completed a

promising career in current -- college football. He is expected to

be chosen by an National Football League team in May, that would make

in the NFL's first openly gay player next season.

This is BBC world News. The headlines: Ukraine's interim

authorities are seeking the rest of the ousted president Viktor

Yanukovych for what they say is mass murder of peaceful civilians. The

Interior Ministry said he was last seen in Ukraine's Crimean insula.

The President of Uganda has signed a new anti-gay law despite

international protests. The bill could see homosexuals serve longer

prison sentences. In South Sudan, civilians are

continuing to flee the town of Bor, in fear of their lives. Hundreds of

people were killed there during recent ethnic violence. A UN report

accuses both government forces and rebels of committing human rights

abuses including mass killings and rape. The violence began in December

last year when a faction led by the country's Vice President tried to

take control of several key towns. George Alagiah has been to Bor, to

see the impact of the conflict on a population belonging largely to the

Dinka tribe. His report contains scenes you may find disturbing. The

details of what happened here may be disputed, but the consequences are

self evident. It is if a hurricane had ripped through the town, except

this devastation is entirely man-made. We were escorted by

government troops who now control Bor. It has changed hands four times

in the recent fighting with rebel forces. Each time, there have been

hundreds of civilian casualties. It is only now that the bodies are

being collected. This trench that they have dug is big enough to take

250 bodies. It isn't fully aired, but just over here there two other

trenches, and they have both been building. -- it is not full yet. The

mayor of Bor joined us. He said he has evidence of what the rebels left

in their wake. These are crimes against your Mathy which were

committed by the rebel forces. Women were raped, elderly executed. --

crimes against humanity. Tell me, who are the people in this grave?

These are members of the Dinka ethnicity that were targeted by the

rebel forces when NATO over the town. I obviously cannot verify

everything he has said. I have to take it on trust that the vast

majority of people are members of the Dinka tribe, but what is beyond

doubt is that there was indiscriminate killing here in Bor.

The fear that it might happen again, that is still running strong. Even

now, they are leaving, trying to take boats over the river. People in

the newest nation on earth reduced to refugees in their own land.

TRANSLATION: All I want to do is get my child out of danger and take her

somewhere safer, like a camp. I can wait out the danger and come back.

At this church, they remember the two pastors who were among those

killed. Nothing, it seems, is sacred in this conflict. George Alagiah,

BBC News. OK, I want to bring you some other

stories that are making news around the world. A top Pakistani Taliban

commander has been shot dead in the militant stronghold of North

Waziristan according to security sources. Reports say he was ambushed

as he was driving through a village. Two other people also died. It is

unclear who killed them. The head of the army in Thailand

says the military will not intervene with falls in the country's

political crisis despite worsening violence which has left four people

dead, including two children. -- force. He said it was hard to know

who was on which side. Activists in Syria say a senior

rebel commander linked to al-Qaeda has been killed in a suicide attack

in Aleppo. The Islamist commander known as Abu Khaled al-Suri was

among several people believed to have been killed when militants

attacked his group's compound. Italy's new Prime Minister is

setting out priorities. Matteo Renzi will address the country's senate

later, top of his agenda likely to be reforming the economy. It's the

third largest in the eurozone and has 13% unemployment rate.

The new government, which was sworn in on Saturday, will have to win two

confidence votes before it can officially start working.

In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has been celebrating his 90th

birthday over the weekend, making him the world's second oldest

statesman after Shimon Peres. His birthday partys have never been

low-key affairs, and the latest one lived up to expectations. Africa's

Allders leader has been widely criticised for lavish spending in a

country battling a shrinking economy and huge job losses. -- oldest

leader. Thousands turned out to wish Robert

Mugabe a happy birthday. Looking refreshed after an eye operation in

Singapore, Africa's oldest statesman waved at the crowd, which was mostly

made up of schoolchildren. They greeted him enthusiastic in,

chanting his clan name. -- enthusiastic league. The president

and his wife Grace released balloons to mark his birthday. When he

spoke, he did not have any warm words for his former colonial

masters. The British, we don't hate you. We only love our country. We

love our country better. We love ourselves better than we love you.

Robert Mugabe has outfoxed and outlived most of his enemies, and

many rumours about his death. He is in remarkably good shape for a

90-year-old, and his hour-long speech demonstrated his astounding

presence of mind, but not many people can argue about his

contribution to Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, but his

controversial legacy will no doubt follow him to the grave and beyond.

I, Robert Mugabe... He became a hero for leading the struggle to

independence. In the beginning, he preached reconciliation and promised

Zimbabweans prosperity, but Zimbabwe suffered severe poverty and

hyperinflation. The economy collapsed when he ordered the

takeover of white owned farms. There is now a thriving black middle-class

here. That is largely thanks to the scrapping of the local currency in

favour of the US dollar. But the country will need a lot of

investment to get it back on track. The former finance minister never

imagined that things would turn out this way. Certainly, I never

envisaged I would have to dodge potholes in the streets of the city

of Harare, that we would have to spend long hours without power in

our homes and factories and offices. Back at the party, far away from the

country's problems, Mugabe supporters eat cake. But for many

other Zimbabweans, it is not a time to celebrate. They can only

contemplate a post-Mugabe future. In the US, the television network

CNN says it is ending the prime-time talk show posted by Piers Morgan.

The British presenter had infuriated conservatives during his three-year

run on CNN with his support for gun control. Is shown never really

attracted big ratings. He was also recently questioned by local police

in connection with accusations of phone hacking at the Daily Mirror

newspaper. -- his show. Severe smog is smothering many parts

of China once again. To help combat it, the government has sent out

teams of investigators to inspect large factories, including those

producing steel, coal and cement, to ensure they're not breaching rules.

The government wants to be seen improving air quality, amid a

backlash from citizens. One prominent campaign was led by an

artist, as the BBC's Celia Hatton explains.

Inside her freezing, cavernous house just outside Beijing, this artist

stores hundreds of her paintings. They document every chapter in her

personal life. A visual diary, she explains. TRANSLATION: I used to be

a lawyer, then I became an artist. Our society needs genuine

expressions of people's fear and confusion about life. 11 of her

canvases stand apart from the rest. The so-called smog series show her

frustrations with China's poisonous air pollution. And she has taken

them to the streets, setting up impromptu shows and handing out

facemasks last year. Months later, she posed with one of the paintings

in Tiananmen Square. The photos soon appeared on the Chinese version of

Twitter, although many posts were deleted by government censors.

Facemasks like this one are relatively common among Chinese

industrialised areas, particularly when the air is so thick with smoke

that your eyes and the back of your throat burn after spending time

outside. It is pollution like this that infuriated many in China, and

even though political protests are banned in China, some, like the

artist herself, finding creative ways to vent their anger. In

December, students in central China staged an elaborate street

performance. They wanted to illustrate what it feels like to be

choking on smog, they explain. Online, amateur illustrators posed

cartoons, like this one, showing smog essentials. -- post. Those who

comment on China's pollution risk attracting unwanted attention from

the state. The artist is careful to explain the differences between

anti-government protesters and artists like her. TRANSLATION: My

paintings are memories I want to leave for the next generation. In

100 years, I hope people will be inspired by my artwork. She wants to

believe that some day China's pollution problems will be a thing

of the past. Many like her are doing what they can to ensure the

government's ambitious plans to clean up the air are put into

action. Now, a woman who was believed to

have been the oldest remaining Holocaust survivor has died in

London. She was an accomplished pianist, her name was Alice

Herz-Sommer, and she was 110 years old. Death comes just one week

before a documentary about her extraordinary story could win an

Oscar. -- her death. Grainne Harrington looks back at the story

of her life. Until her final days Alice

Herz-Sommer's passion for music never waned. A documentary tracing

her incredible life story has been nominated for an award at next

month's Oscars. My world is music. I am not interested in anything else.

Born into a Jewish family in Prague in 1903, she spent two years in a

Nazi concentration camp in Theresienstadt, where she was

allowed to continue playing her beloved piano. Although she

survived, she suffered terrible losses. Her elderly mother was

killed in Treblinka, and her husband died in Dachau. She said music kept

her alive and the optimism which sustained her through the Holocaust

never left her. Every day, my life is beautiful. Every day. It is

beautiful! Alice Herz-Sommer, who has died aged

110. A reminder of the main news: The Ukrainian interim government has

issued an arrest warrant for Viktor Yanukovych. According to the new

interior minister, he was last seen in the Crimean region of the

country. Meanwhile, the European Union foreign policy chief is

arriving in Kiev to discuss economic support for the country. That is it

for now, I am Rajesh Mirchandani.