:00:07. > :00:14.Hello, I am Nick Gowing with BBC World News, our top stories: Crimea
:00:15. > :00:18.becomes Ukraine's next potential flash point, Russian flags fly over
:00:19. > :00:25.government buildings, armed men seize the regional parliament.
:00:26. > :00:32.Ukraine's acting president warns Russia against aggression. As the
:00:33. > :00:35.crisis deepens, the former president asks Moscow to guarantee his safety,
:00:36. > :00:41.according to reports emerging from Russia. And the Governor of Arizona
:00:42. > :00:42.vetoes a bill that would have allowed American business owners to
:00:43. > :01:07.turn away customers for being gay. Hello, everyone. A series of
:01:08. > :01:09.fast-moving events in Ukraine. The interim government has put domestic
:01:10. > :01:14.security forces on high alert at the government buildings in Crimea, part
:01:15. > :01:18.of Ukraine, was seized overnight by armed men wearing Russian colours.
:01:19. > :01:24.The Russian flag now flies over the regional parliament building in the
:01:25. > :01:27.capital, Simferopol. The Crimea is a potential flash point, because
:01:28. > :01:34.although part of Ukraine, it is also home to the Russian naval fleet, a
:01:35. > :01:38.massive based on the back-seat in Sevastopol -- a massive based on the
:01:39. > :01:43.Black Sea in Sevastopol. There is a large Russian population as well.
:01:44. > :01:45.And now a new twist, reports from official Russian news agencies
:01:46. > :01:51.signal that Viktor Yanukovych is in Russia after he fled rapidly on
:01:52. > :01:58.Friday. He insists he is still Ukraine's rightful head of state.
:01:59. > :02:02.What has happened in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea? Mark Lowen is
:02:03. > :02:04.there the Russian flag now flies above the Crimean parliament here in
:02:05. > :02:11.Simferopol. We understand that overnight around
:02:12. > :02:21.50 unidentified and gunmen forced their way inside the parliament
:02:22. > :02:26.building, passed those barricades. -- armed gunmen. There is a
:02:27. > :02:30.negotiation under way. If we swing around, you can see that outside the
:02:31. > :02:33.building some pro-Russian demonstrators have gathered. They
:02:34. > :02:38.were further down the square, they pushed through police lines, waving
:02:39. > :02:41.flights, and then they came outside the parliament building here, which
:02:42. > :02:47.was previously cordoned off by police. They are chanting the word
:02:48. > :02:52.Russia. They are saying they have waited for this moment for 20 years,
:02:53. > :02:58.that they want a united Russia. This is, of course, the biggest challenge
:02:59. > :03:00.for the new Ukrainian government. These people they that illegitimate
:03:01. > :03:05.protesters seized the government in Ukraine and they say they intend to
:03:06. > :03:10.do exactly the same now here in Crimea.
:03:11. > :03:16.The situation in Ukraine is the focus of a long planned NATO defence
:03:17. > :03:18.ministers' meeting in Brussels. And as Rasmussen expressed the
:03:19. > :03:22.Alliance's concerns about developments in Crimea specifically
:03:23. > :03:29.this morning. -- Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He urged Russia not to
:03:30. > :03:37.take any action which could create tension. We wish to continue our
:03:38. > :03:44.engagement and confirm our support to Ukraine on the path of democratic
:03:45. > :03:50.and inclusive reforms. We see Defence Reform Bill and military
:03:51. > :03:54.co-operation as key priorities. -- defence reform. We stand ready to
:03:55. > :04:03.support Ukraine as it strengthens democratic control over the defence
:04:04. > :04:10.sector with effective Parliamentary oversight and the robust involvement
:04:11. > :04:21.of civil society. Ukraine is and remains an important partner for
:04:22. > :04:26.NATO. NATO is and remains a friend of Ukraine. And a sovereign, stable
:04:27. > :04:30.and independent Ukraine firmly committed to democracy and the rule
:04:31. > :04:43.of law is and remains the two security. This is why I am extremely
:04:44. > :04:51.concerned by the most recent developments in Crimea. -- remains
:04:52. > :04:56.key to security. This morning's action by an armed group is
:04:57. > :05:00.dangerous and irresponsible. I urge Russia not to take any action that
:05:01. > :05:06.could create tension or misunderstanding. I urge the new
:05:07. > :05:12.Ukrainian leadership to continue its efforts to establish and inclusive
:05:13. > :05:16.political process that reflects the democratic aspirations of the entire
:05:17. > :05:21.Ukrainian people. -- an. Meanwhile, Viktor Yanukovych, until Friday the
:05:22. > :05:28.president of Ukraine, has appeared in print and verbally on television
:05:29. > :05:33.in Russia, saying that he still views himself as the President of
:05:34. > :05:36.Ukraine and Russia has guaranteed his personal safety from actions of
:05:37. > :05:43.what he called the extremists who seized power in Ukraine. This is
:05:44. > :05:46.being quoted by an official Russian government news agency. I asked
:05:47. > :05:51.Bridget Kendall in Moscow what to make of this statement from
:05:52. > :05:55.Ukraine's apparently deposed president, Yanukovych. The statement
:05:56. > :05:59.from Viktor Yanukovych, which was released simultaneously to the three
:06:00. > :06:04.main Russian news agencies and read out on the rolling news TV channel,
:06:05. > :06:08.in which he said he still considers himself Ukraine's legal head of
:06:09. > :06:11.state, and he believes the sessions taking place in the Ukrainian
:06:12. > :06:17.parliament and the decisions they are passing are not legal. And he
:06:18. > :06:22.also said, given, as he put it, extremists had seized power, he had
:06:23. > :06:24.asked Russia for protection, and separately the Russian news agency
:06:25. > :06:29.said they had spoken to sources who said he had had that request
:06:30. > :06:32.granted, which certainly seems to be the case if this statement is being
:06:33. > :06:36.read out over Russian airwaves. He did go on to say that he thought
:06:37. > :06:40.people in southern and eastern Ukraine, in the Crimea, would not
:06:41. > :06:44.accept what the government in Kiev was doing, and therefore he was
:06:45. > :06:47.prepared to step in and work for a compromise according to the
:06:48. > :06:51.agreement he signed with the opposition and Western powers. He
:06:52. > :06:55.seems to be speaking from an unknown location. We assume it is on Russian
:06:56. > :06:58.territory, although his exact whereabouts have not been made
:06:59. > :07:03.clear. What is your reading therefore of the fact that this has
:07:04. > :07:08.emerged through one of the official government news agencies and is
:07:09. > :07:13.quoting him directly? Where does this mean Russia is aligning
:07:14. > :07:16.itself, and what position is Russia taking with the former president,
:07:17. > :07:21.although he says he is still the president? It feels like a pretty
:07:22. > :07:24.significant development. There was a lot of speculation about whether or
:07:25. > :07:28.not Russia would even access him. In fact, a senior Russian
:07:29. > :07:33.parliamentarian in the upper chamber of the Russian parliament only
:07:34. > :07:37.yesterday said, no, Yanukovych was not on Russian soil and he thought
:07:38. > :07:41.it very unlikely that Russia would give him sanctuary. And yet here he
:07:42. > :07:45.is, not only apparently in Russia, being given protection by the
:07:46. > :07:48.Russian authorities, but having his statement that he thinks the
:07:49. > :07:52.authorities in Ukraine are illegitimate read out on Russian
:07:53. > :07:55.airwaves. It is not just the Russian news agency which has released this,
:07:56. > :08:03.Nick, it was read out on Russian television. So it seems, given that,
:08:04. > :08:06.to have some of the authority of the Russian state behind it, these are
:08:07. > :08:10.state-controlled channels and agencies. Quite what it means in the
:08:11. > :08:13.battle that is going on over who should be in control and what should
:08:14. > :08:17.happen in Ukraine is difficult to read, but it is slightly ominous,
:08:18. > :08:22.given the events in Crimea this morning, these armed men who have
:08:23. > :08:30.taken over the parliament and the government in Crimea, not saying
:08:31. > :08:34.very much, but clearly putting up a Russian flag, taking the side of
:08:35. > :08:40.Russian speakers in Crimea. We do not know if these events are linked,
:08:41. > :08:43.but it does seem quite odd that the former Ukrainian President, who,
:08:44. > :08:48.let's face it, has been denounced all over the place, including here
:08:49. > :08:52.in Russia, should suddenly be given airspace on Russian television.
:08:53. > :08:58.Regional and international fears are mounting about that part of Ukraine.
:08:59. > :09:02.It is one in which Moscow has long had a massive strategic interest,
:09:03. > :09:06.and there it is down here, Crimea. When the Soviet Union broke up in
:09:07. > :09:12.1991 and Ukraine became independent, in Sevastopol, Russia retained
:09:13. > :09:18.basing rights for its enormous Black Sea fleet. It has sovereign rights
:09:19. > :09:23.there. In the capital, Simferopol, confirmation that those officers
:09:24. > :09:26.have been seized, and there is an ominous question - how might Russia
:09:27. > :09:33.decides to defend its interests in Ukraine? Remember, in the last 24
:09:34. > :09:39.hours, 150,000 troops have gone on exercises and drills right around
:09:40. > :09:42.the Western district here. There are combat aircraft confirmed as flying
:09:43. > :09:46.in this area, and there are the rights to deploy anything they want
:09:47. > :09:53.down into that enormous naval base in Sevastopol. The BBC correspondent
:09:54. > :10:00.is in Kiev, how are developments down there in Crimea and more widely
:10:01. > :10:05.from Russia being seen there? Well, it seems that the atmosphere here in
:10:06. > :10:11.CF, in the Ukrainian parliament, but also here in Independence Square,
:10:12. > :10:18.people are quite nervous, waiting for news. Russia said it would not
:10:19. > :10:21.intervene any political crisis in Ukraine, but at the same time
:10:22. > :10:27.Russian state media were detecting the situation is almost a military
:10:28. > :10:33.turndown in Ukraine, and that is why it now seems there are concerns that
:10:34. > :10:39.Russia was preparing the soil to step in, to move. Ukraine is a
:10:40. > :10:43.massive country of 46 million people, and enormous pace. Even if
:10:44. > :10:49.they have mobilised 150,000 troops for a drill, and exercise, what
:10:50. > :10:52.about this particular problem that Ukraine has, which those Russian
:10:53. > :10:57.troops in Sevastopol, inside the naval base, which can be
:10:58. > :11:03.supplemented, do have a legitimate right to be there? Yes, they do have
:11:04. > :11:07.a legitimate right to be there, moreover they have a legitimate
:11:08. > :11:11.right to move around Crimea, and let me point your attention to the fact
:11:12. > :11:13.that the troops, which are stationed there, and troops which are
:11:14. > :11:20.stationed close to that side from the Russian border are one of the
:11:21. > :11:24.best forces that Russia has. Russian Navy SEALs are one of the best
:11:25. > :11:29.trained and one of the well equipped parts of the Russian army. Order if
:11:30. > :11:43.she never there in Kiev. -- order -- Olga Ivhsina.
:11:44. > :11:49.The explosion outside the headquarters of the security
:11:50. > :11:52.services in the capital, a BBC correspondent gave me this reading
:11:53. > :11:57.of the security situation in Mogadishu, which has seen a sudden
:11:58. > :12:04.increase in attacks recently. Yes, exactly, and it has been coming
:12:05. > :12:11.back in the past few weeks. Today a car was driven with explosives to a
:12:12. > :12:14.cafe near the headquarters of the Somali intelligence services, one of
:12:15. > :12:18.the heavily fortified areas, and they have attacked the area, and
:12:19. > :12:23.several people, including some of the intelligence forces, were killed
:12:24. > :12:29.in the attack. Some few days ago, a daring attack was launched on the
:12:30. > :12:32.presidential palace in Somalia, where senior people, including
:12:33. > :12:34.government officials, were killed. So these kind of attacks are
:12:35. > :12:39.becoming normal in Mogadishu nowadays, despite two years of a
:12:40. > :12:45.lull after the withdrawal of Al-Shabab, where the attacks had
:12:46. > :12:51.been not this rampant all coming back like this.
:12:52. > :12:54.Off the coast of Italy, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship
:12:55. > :12:59.has returned for the first time to the vessel he is accused of
:13:00. > :13:02.abandoning as it ran aground off the Italian coast. Francesco Schettino
:13:03. > :13:07.is accused of manslaughter over the deaths of 32 passengers and crew.
:13:08. > :13:11.Off the coast of the island of Giglio, the wreck of Costa Concordia
:13:12. > :13:16.was righted in a massive and extraordinary salvage operation last
:13:17. > :13:23.autumn, but it still lies there. Alan Johnston is there.
:13:24. > :13:28.Captain Francesco Schettino is a board that little boat, a sad figure
:13:29. > :13:33.in dark glasses with slicked back hair. He has joined a group of
:13:34. > :13:37.experts, court-appointed, who have been sent out to the wreck to
:13:38. > :13:40.examine evidence in connection with the captain's manslaughter trial,
:13:41. > :13:46.which has been unfolding on the mainland for some months now. On the
:13:47. > :13:49.night of the disaster, Captain Schettino is accused of having
:13:50. > :13:53.abandoned his ship when hundreds of passengers were still aboard,
:13:54. > :13:57.struggling to reach the safety of lifeboats. A furious coastguard
:13:58. > :14:04.commanded again and again, ordered him to get back on the ship, but he
:14:05. > :14:09.refused. Now at last, as you watch, the captain is at last making his
:14:10. > :14:13.return journey to the Costa Concordia. That boat will take him
:14:14. > :14:16.into the battered flank of the wreck, and then we would expect him
:14:17. > :14:22.to go up to the bridge area, his command post, that he last saw amid
:14:23. > :14:30.the chaos of the sinking on that tragic night when more than 30
:14:31. > :14:34.people died in these waters. Alan Johnston there alongside the
:14:35. > :14:39.wreck of the Costa Concordia. Stay with us here on BBC World News,
:14:40. > :14:43.still to come: The Oscars are this weekend, we look at a film that
:14:44. > :14:52.examines love and betrayal in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
:14:53. > :14:57.The Miracle of Third Avenue, that's what they're calling a baby born on
:14:58. > :15:00.the pavement in the heart of New York. Her British mother had just
:15:01. > :15:06.gone into labour, and was standing outside her home, trying to get a
:15:07. > :15:15.taxi to the hospital. Nick Bryant reports from New York.
:15:16. > :15:20.Say hello. Oh, my goodness. The latest attraction in New York, a
:15:21. > :15:25.beautiful baby dubbed a miracle, now safely in her British mother's arms
:15:26. > :15:30.after being delivered in the gutter. Realising she was in labour, Polly
:15:31. > :15:35.tried to hail a cab with the help of a friendly dormant. The start of a
:15:36. > :15:44.future Matic minutes in New York. A lady walked ahead and hailed a cab.
:15:45. > :15:47.I said, I want that cap. This New York nativity scene was captured by
:15:48. > :15:54.a passing newsgroup which watched as Polly gave birth at the start of the
:15:55. > :15:59.rush hour. Stuck in traffic, her husband arrived moments later.
:16:00. > :16:04.I knew instantly it was Polly. I feared the worst, she had been
:16:05. > :16:10.knocked down. The bitterest of New York winters and onlookers started
:16:11. > :16:14.taking off their clothes to keep the newborn baby born. One woman offered
:16:15. > :16:21.up her coat. They have lost her phone number but will always
:16:22. > :16:27.remember her name. You have given her that middle name. Her middle
:16:28. > :16:37.name is now Isabel. We are very happy with it. The baby is oblivious
:16:38. > :16:42.to her fame and surroundings in a city that supposedly never sleeps.
:16:43. > :16:46.Nasa's planet-hunting telescope has found 715 new planets outside our
:16:47. > :16:49.solar system.. This is a huge new haul for scientists using the Kepler
:16:50. > :16:53.telescope. Part of the significance of the latest discoveries is that
:16:54. > :16:54.they are similar in size to earth and could support water in liquid
:16:55. > :17:06.form. This is BBC World News. The latest
:17:07. > :17:09.headlines. Armed gunmen have seized the
:17:10. > :17:13.regional parliament in Crimea, as Ukraine's acting president warns
:17:14. > :17:16.Russia against military aggression. In a statement issued to Russian
:17:17. > :17:18.news agencies, the former president Viktor Yanukovych has asked Moscow
:17:19. > :17:28.to guarantee his safety. The governor of the US state of
:17:29. > :17:31.Arizona has vetoed a draft law to allow businesses to refuse to serve
:17:32. > :17:33.gay people on religious grounds. Governor Jan Brewer, who's
:17:34. > :17:37.Republican, is blocking legislation proposed by members of her own
:17:38. > :17:39.party. It would have given business owners legal protection if they
:17:40. > :17:44.refused to serve same-sex couples, or any other prospective customers.
:17:45. > :17:51.Similar initiatives have been proposed in six other American
:17:52. > :18:00.states. None has yet been passed. Alastair Leithead has more.
:18:01. > :18:04.These are the protesters outside the state capital in Arizona,
:18:05. > :18:09.celebrating a decision by the Governor Jan Brewer not to allow a
:18:10. > :18:13.bill into law. She announced in this letter to the press she would be
:18:14. > :18:18.vetoing a bill which had come through the legislature, landed on
:18:19. > :18:22.her desk, and the reason behind that is that this bill was seen by
:18:23. > :18:28.opponents as being homophobic. In there, it was essentially designed
:18:29. > :18:32.to try and be inclusive in terms of religion, to allow businesses who
:18:33. > :18:38.did not want to serve people who went against their religion, to do
:18:39. > :18:43.that without fear of being taken to court. Now, of course, that would
:18:44. > :18:48.mean people decided they did not want to send someone who is gay,
:18:49. > :18:53.they would be protected in law -- to serve. That is why there has been
:18:54. > :19:01.such an outcry from gay rights protesters, and the Chamber of
:19:02. > :19:06.Commerce who said this would be seen as a law that would be
:19:07. > :19:12.discriminatory. As a result, they didn't want this to be passed. She
:19:13. > :19:16.mulled it over, spent the day in the capital speaking to both sides, then
:19:17. > :19:20.came out saying this bill would be vetoed and would not go into law.
:19:21. > :19:25.One of a number of states where these bills have been in progress
:19:26. > :19:28.but which have been defeated, which protesters are pleased about.
:19:29. > :19:34.It's not long until the Oscars. The 86th Academy Awards take place in
:19:35. > :19:36.Hollywood this weekend. As ever, the foreign film category will be
:19:37. > :19:39.contested by films which deal with some rather gripping issues. One
:19:40. > :19:42.foreign film nominated is the Palestinian film Omar. It tackles
:19:43. > :19:47.the highly sensitive subject of Palestinians who collaborate with
:19:48. > :19:51.Israel. Yolande Knell reports. Omar brings the complexities of the
:19:52. > :19:57.Middle East conflict to this year's Oscars. The Palestinian contender
:19:58. > :20:04.for the Best Foreign Language Film is a love story that becomes a
:20:05. > :20:08.tragedy. After three young Palestinians decide to kill an
:20:09. > :20:12.Israeli soldier, the main character is arrested and beaten. He then
:20:13. > :20:19.comes under pressure to work as a collaborator with Israeli
:20:20. > :20:27.intelligence. The plot turns on betrayals and breakdowns in trust.
:20:28. > :20:31.TRANSLATION: The cinema is used by the director to show one of the
:20:32. > :20:37.issues that Palestinian people have faced. How they deal with betrayals,
:20:38. > :20:43.how the Israeli intelligence works on our young men and puts pressure
:20:44. > :20:47.on them to tell their secrets. Over the decades, the security
:20:48. > :20:51.forces in Israel have relied on information from thousands of
:20:52. > :20:55.Palestinian collaborators. Collaborators can be recruited in
:20:56. > :21:01.different ways. Through coercion, or in exchange for money or medical
:21:02. > :21:05.treatment. Some work for Israel for ideological reasons. But the risks
:21:06. > :21:09.they run are high. They can be disowned by their families, or
:21:10. > :21:17.killed if they are discovered. They are hated by Palestinian society.
:21:18. > :21:22.Many former collaborators now live a precarious existence in Israel. One
:21:23. > :21:27.is beating his lawyer to press for his rights. He is from Hebron in the
:21:28. > :21:31.West Bank and is related to a senior Palestinian political figure. 20
:21:32. > :21:37.years ago, he was imprisoned in Israel and become an -- became an
:21:38. > :21:41.informant. TRANSLATION: Lee contributed a lot
:21:42. > :21:47.to the existence of the state of Israel. It is very dangerous. There
:21:48. > :21:54.is no way back once you are involved.
:21:55. > :21:58.Now, Omar is exposing an international audience to this to be
:21:59. > :22:03.subject. But it's not the only recent movie to take it on. This
:22:04. > :22:08.acclaimed Israeli film Bethlehem also tells the tale of an Israeli
:22:09. > :22:14.secret services agent and his young Palestinian informant. The divided
:22:15. > :22:17.loyalties and moral dilemmas make collaborating so painful to discuss
:22:18. > :22:24.in real life, and bake for gripping drama on the big screen. -- make.
:22:25. > :22:29.In India, efforts are being stepped up to find a man-eating tiger which
:22:30. > :22:33.has claimed the lives of ten people. Most of those who died have been
:22:34. > :22:36.farm workers. But, six weeks after the tiger first struck, hunters are
:22:37. > :22:40.no closer to catching it. Andrew North has been out with one of the
:22:41. > :22:46.hunting teams who are on the trail of the tiger.
:22:47. > :22:56.Getting ready to hunt a man eating tiger. With a licence to kill. The
:22:57. > :23:03.authorities have called in a veteran of more than 40 hunts of big cats
:23:04. > :23:08.which have gone rogue. The tiger he and his team are tracking has
:23:09. > :23:15.already killed ten people. In the village where it last struck, life
:23:16. > :23:20.has come to a virtual standstill. After one man was eaten alive while
:23:21. > :23:26.working in the fields. TRANSLATION: We are living in terror now, even if
:23:27. > :23:31.we -- we see a leaf shape on a tree. They have got to kill the tiger.
:23:32. > :23:35.Tigers do not naturally go after humans. Around the big hillside
:23:36. > :23:41.preserved by this latest man eater is from, the attacks are becoming
:23:42. > :23:44.more common as humans press in. The tiger has often been hiding inside
:23:45. > :23:50.dense fields of sugar cane like this. Even if you feet inside, it is
:23:51. > :23:57.impossible to see anything. Until it is too late, and many of the victims
:23:58. > :24:04.of the tiger have been farm workers. This area is literally covered with
:24:05. > :24:11.dense sugar cane fields. The hunters carry on into the night, using a
:24:12. > :24:18.powerful search beam. Then, they see something. There is movement on the
:24:19. > :24:27.riverbed. But it is not a tiger. A jackal. The next morning, though, a
:24:28. > :24:33.new lead, they have found fresh tiger tracks. Early morning today at
:24:34. > :24:39.5:30am, we became aware of this tiger from the alarm calls given
:24:40. > :24:45.out. They will work out it is -- if it is the man eater using plaster
:24:46. > :24:53.casts of the Prince. This conflict is only likely to grow as humans
:24:54. > :24:58.encroach on territory. 15 years back, forest cover was much bigger.
:24:59. > :25:07.You take somebody's home away, where will it go? It becomes a hobo. With
:25:08. > :25:11.a tiger still on the loose, everyone is on edge, it has a taste for human
:25:12. > :25:17.flesh, which means it is likely to come back for more.
:25:18. > :25:27.An update on our report, the South Korean Defence Ministry says North
:25:28. > :25:33.Korea has fired for short range missiles towards the sea off the
:25:34. > :25:38.east coast of the country. Officials have said they were fired at
:25:39. > :25:42.5:42pm, from a mountainside just north of the border with the South.
:25:43. > :25:54.They provided no information on the reason for the firing. More on that
:25:55. > :25:58.as we get it. And in the Ukraine, the Prime Minister designate has
:25:59. > :26:02.insisted the country will remain a unified country. While expressing
:26:03. > :26:08.concern at the arms seizure of official buildings in Crimea with
:26:09. > :26:15.Russian flag being raised. We are committed to the territorial
:26:16. > :26:22.integrity and unity of my country. And, the new government will do
:26:23. > :26:28.everything, and use all legal means, to stabilise the situation in
:26:29. > :26:33.Crimea. And to convince the entire world, and all Ukrainian
:26:34. > :26:39.neighbours, that Ukraine is a sovereign, united country.
:26:40. > :26:46.Just to tell you, there is evidence of something happening more around
:26:47. > :26:54.Sevastopol in the Crimea, this report saying the former president,
:26:55. > :26:59.President Yanukovych, has been quoted by official news agencies as
:27:00. > :26:59.saying he is still in charge and he blames extremists for introducing
:27:00. > :27:02.instability.