:00:13. > :00:27.Hello. Our top stories... Crisis in Ukraine. Armed activists take
:00:28. > :00:30.control of two airports in Crimea fuelling greater fears of Moscow's
:00:31. > :00:33.intentions. Because of Crimea, the Ukrainian parliament calls on the UN
:00:34. > :00:36.Security Council to monitor the crisis after the Interior Minister
:00:37. > :00:39.describes it as an armed invasion. Uganda says it is being blackmailed
:00:40. > :00:42.by the international community, as the World Bank decides to postpone a
:00:43. > :00:45.multi-million dollar loan because of the new Ugandan anti-gay laws. And
:00:46. > :00:49.it is believed to be the biggest ever international crackdown on the
:00:50. > :01:02.fraud. Over 100 people are arrested for selling bogus shares.
:01:03. > :01:07.We begin with a growing sense of crisis in Ukraine, where the
:01:08. > :01:13.Interior Minister has described this as an armed invasion. Groups of
:01:14. > :01:16.armed men have taken over two airports in Crimea, a largely
:01:17. > :01:28.Russian-speaking part of Ukraine which is also home to a massive
:01:29. > :01:33.Russian naval base. This is Simferopol, Crimea's capital. But
:01:34. > :01:36.who are the armed men in battle fatigues with no insignias? They are
:01:37. > :01:39.saying nothing to reporters. But flights are still operating in and
:01:40. > :01:42.out of the civilian airport as normal. The situation is less clear
:01:43. > :01:45.at nearby Sevastopol. It is a military airport which belongs to
:01:46. > :01:53.Ukraine. But the country's Interior Minister says it has been taken over
:01:54. > :01:58.by unidentified armed men. You can see here close up some of the
:01:59. > :02:04.Ukrainian operated defence warplanes sitting there on the tarmac. Our
:02:05. > :02:11.world affairs correspondent as the latest. Unsettling images for the
:02:12. > :02:14.new authorities in Kiev and for many more looking anxiously in the
:02:15. > :02:21.outside world. Armed men on guard at the airport at Simferopol in
:02:22. > :02:30.Crimea. They are in uniform but without identifying markings. With
:02:31. > :02:33.word of similar developments at the military airport at Sevastopol
:02:34. > :02:39.whether Russian Black Sea fleet is based, the new Interior Minister has
:02:40. > :02:46.spoken of an armed invasion. Outwardly, it looks calm in
:02:47. > :02:49.Simferopol. The airport has been operating more or less normally.
:02:50. > :02:52.Whoever they are they are making clear their unhappiness with the
:02:53. > :02:58.upheavals that have taken place elsewhere in Ukraine.
:02:59. > :03:03.TRANSLATION: Radicalism and fascism are not
:03:04. > :03:12.welcome. This is our slogan and we do not want radicals to visit us in
:03:13. > :03:20.Crimea. This is fuelling fears of increasing frictions between the
:03:21. > :03:22.regions of Ukraine. In Kiev, the Ukrainian parliament has just
:03:23. > :03:27.installed a new pro-Western government. It has appealed to the
:03:28. > :03:34.UN Security Council to monitor the situation. On the streets of Kiev,
:03:35. > :03:39.new unease among protesters. The situation is very complicated. If we
:03:40. > :03:43.look at the law seriously, we have to take strict measures and this
:03:44. > :03:50.might stir up trouble. On the other hand, if we take a very soft
:03:51. > :03:55.approach, we might lose Crimea. Word of the Kremlin really stand? It has
:03:56. > :04:01.made clear its unhappiness with the turn of events in Kiev and tensions
:04:02. > :04:10.have been rising. It has given sanctions to be formally Ukrainian
:04:11. > :04:14.president. He is talking of cooperation with international
:04:15. > :04:21.bodies on much needed financial support. We will be hearing from our
:04:22. > :04:31.reporter at Sevastopol Airport shortly. An armed invasion says the
:04:32. > :04:34.Interior Minister. This indication there are Russian elements who are
:04:35. > :04:43.taking over Ukrainian facilities at their airports. Let me tell you what
:04:44. > :04:47.Russian authorities are saying. A spokesperson for the Black Sea fleet
:04:48. > :04:51.has denied they are involved in any way in the arcade of the military
:04:52. > :04:54.airport near to where they are. In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry and the
:04:55. > :04:59.Defence Ministry have been asked to comment. They have said nothing. Up
:05:00. > :05:03.until now, the position of the Russian government has been rather
:05:04. > :05:08.ambivalent when it comes to Ukraine. With the new government in Kiev,
:05:09. > :05:13.they have said, we will wait and see who is nominated and what policies
:05:14. > :05:17.are. They have always been very supportive of Russian speakers in
:05:18. > :05:21.the Ukraine and the Crimea. This morning, President Putin is later
:05:22. > :05:25.today going to have a meeting with senior parliamentarians. He has kept
:05:26. > :05:30.his distance. He has not said anything in public. He said Ukraine
:05:31. > :05:34.would not be top of the agenda with those talks. One senior
:05:35. > :05:38.parliamentarian, who was close to the Kremlin, and sometimes act as
:05:39. > :05:42.the foreign policy envoy of the Prime Minister, has come up with
:05:43. > :05:50.comments which do sound rather hostile. Certainly antagonistic. He
:05:51. > :05:56.says it is not clear the decision to removed the president was valid nor
:05:57. > :06:02.that the new government is legitimate. He argued that crowd
:06:03. > :06:06.rule in Kiev and the self-styled militias who support the opposition
:06:07. > :06:11.could lead to a change of government. Also a change in the
:06:12. > :06:19.country 's future. Why could Crimea not do the same thing? If that
:06:20. > :06:27.reflects the policy formulated in the Kremlin, it could mean that
:06:28. > :06:31.Vista Putin and his Foreign Minister had been in touch with Western
:06:32. > :06:34.governments throughout the crisis and have been trying to reassure
:06:35. > :06:38.them that the Kremlin has no negative intentions towards Kiev. It
:06:39. > :06:43.is a little difficult to read what is coming. The way it is moving, the
:06:44. > :06:51.omens are not encouraging. The interim government in Kiev has said
:06:52. > :06:56.it will ask for the president to be extradited from Russia. This is an
:06:57. > :07:02.hour before he appears just north of the Ukraine order to put his
:07:03. > :07:08.position. I do not suppose the Russian authorities will respond to
:07:09. > :07:13.that favourably. The fact that they have given sanctuary here in Russia,
:07:14. > :07:17.have allowed him to have a statement read on Russian television, in which
:07:18. > :07:22.he declared he is still the lawful president of Ukraine. There is this
:07:23. > :07:26.press conference being organised and that does suggest they are
:07:27. > :07:29.sympathetic towards him, and are prepared to look after him.
:07:30. > :07:33.Reportedly they have said they would give him protection from what he
:07:34. > :07:38.says are extremists in Kiev. I do not think they will respond to a
:07:39. > :07:43.request for extradition from the Kiev authorities. Thank you for that
:07:44. > :07:50.insight from Moscow. Let's return to Sevastopol, to what is essentially a
:07:51. > :07:54.Ukrainian military airport, outside the north of the city. It is being
:07:55. > :08:01.patrolled by men reported to be wearing Russian military uniforms.
:08:02. > :08:09.Our porter tried to get through one of the barriers earlier. -- our
:08:10. > :08:13.reporter. The control tower is behind me. There looks to be a
:08:14. > :08:18.military base around it. On the road, we are 500 metres from the
:08:19. > :08:22.main gate, there are barriers stopping anyone from entering.
:08:23. > :08:26.Another couple of hundred yards on, a very professional looking unit.
:08:27. > :08:31.These men are carrying high-powered assault rifles. They are in Kevlar
:08:32. > :08:37.uniforms, Kevlar protected gear and helmets. There are soft skinned
:08:38. > :08:40.personnel carriers as well. They have not talked to us so we do not
:08:41. > :08:45.know who they are. Clearly we are not allowed to go beyond this
:08:46. > :08:50.point. Let me show you what is in front of the barriers. This is what
:08:51. > :08:55.he would call a civilian home card. This man says he is a Ukrainian who
:08:56. > :09:01.speaks Russian. He says he is here to protect the status quo. The flags
:09:02. > :09:09.that of flying on the roadside after lines of Russian sympathisers. They
:09:10. > :09:11.do not want to talk to us at all and do not particularly like the
:09:12. > :09:17.presence of the Western media here. We are seeing a pattern across the
:09:18. > :09:22.Crimea region, we came to a roadblock last night. It was quite a
:09:23. > :09:27.significant roadblock. They were stopping all cards coming to
:09:28. > :09:34.Sevastopol. There was an unknown unit within the Simferopol
:09:35. > :09:44.Parliment. There has been a takeover of the airport in Simferopol. It is
:09:45. > :09:48.a sense of sabre rattling. No one is saying who they are. The difficulty
:09:49. > :09:52.is there is no insignia on the uniforms of these men and no
:09:53. > :09:55.insignia on the vehicles. Looking at the Facebook page of the Interior
:09:56. > :09:59.Minister, he is under no illusions as to who they are. They are working
:10:00. > :10:07.to the Russian Federation and, in his words, this is a military
:10:08. > :10:13.takeover. To find out why Crimea is such a focal point of this crisis,
:10:14. > :10:18.you can go to our website where you'll find special reports and
:10:19. > :10:21.analysis on Ukraine. More than 100 people have been arrested across
:10:22. > :10:24.Europe and the US, in a massive police operation against so-called
:10:25. > :10:27.boiler room scams. That's where criminal gangs trick people into
:10:28. > :10:31.investing in bogus stocks and shares. Thousands of people get
:10:32. > :10:35.caught out each year by Boiler Room frauds. Many are elderly and are
:10:36. > :10:39.persuaded to part with their life savings. Robert Hall reports from
:10:40. > :10:45.Spain, where many of the fraudsters are based.
:10:46. > :10:57.On a quiet street in the centre of Barcelona, the Spanish fleet serious
:10:58. > :11:01.crimes unit target the scam which has ruined many lies. This team is
:11:02. > :11:06.working with colleagues from the financial crimes unit in London.
:11:07. > :11:11.They have gone to an anonymous office, the base what they believe
:11:12. > :11:16.is a boiler room. This is a fragment of an operation extending across
:11:17. > :11:21.Europe and the antic. There are 300 Spanish officers deployed across
:11:22. > :11:25.their country. -- the Atlantic. There are further arrests taking
:11:26. > :11:36.place in the UK, the United States and Serbia. The city of London force
:11:37. > :11:40.has 40 officers in Barcelona. Boiler room scams involve individuals cold
:11:41. > :11:44.calling and using high-pressure sales techniques to persuade victims
:11:45. > :11:52.to buy into bogus investments. Most never see their money again. This
:11:53. > :11:58.pensioner from the Midlands says he was groomed to part with his
:11:59. > :12:03.savings. Or we want is 22,000. For the next three weeks, we were
:12:04. > :12:11.devastated. We were in a comfortable position and now we are broke. We
:12:12. > :12:15.are broke. City of London force has played a major part in this
:12:16. > :12:29.crackdown. The aim, they say, is to decimate boiler room Ford by --
:12:30. > :12:32.fraud. This is a crime which ignores global boundaries. It ignores
:12:33. > :12:38.international borders and operate across the world. We have shown we
:12:39. > :12:44.are able to do that as well. In Barcelona, five people were taken
:12:45. > :12:49.away to join more than 100 others arrested in simultaneous raids. This
:12:50. > :12:54.scan has not been eradicated. It will offer reassurance to victims
:12:55. > :13:02.and severely damage the ability of the boiler room to operate. Stay
:13:03. > :13:07.with us on BBC World News. An audience with the Pope. Sending the
:13:08. > :13:11.president to your movie. We show you the extra length taken to try to
:13:12. > :13:21.obtain that all-important Oscar win on Sunday evening.
:13:22. > :13:32.A famous cave in Spain is again open to the public. People will be able
:13:33. > :13:39.to marvel at the ice age paintings again. Dozens of sensors will be
:13:40. > :13:45.monitoring the changes in the temperature of the cave to see if
:13:46. > :13:49.more visitors will be allowed in. It is not a lottery ticket but it is a
:13:50. > :13:54.chance to secure a rare opportunity to see some of the world 's oldest
:13:55. > :14:01.art. These are the lucky few who got their chance to make history and see
:14:02. > :14:07.it. The first visitors in 12 years to the Altamira cave. The drawings
:14:08. > :14:15.within are so delicate, even human breath could damage them. You could
:14:16. > :14:19.see this wonderful, local bisons. Artists have used the humps and
:14:20. > :14:29.bumps to create the shoulders and big hindquarters of these animals.
:14:30. > :14:33.When it was first Darren, it was in the flickering lights of fat lamps
:14:34. > :14:43.and torches. In the moving night, the animals could almost read. --
:14:44. > :14:50.breeze. It makes your hair stand on end. I have been impressed by the
:14:51. > :14:58.colours. It is as if they were painted yesterday. This replica in a
:14:59. > :15:01.museum nearby is the closest many will come to these paintings. Very
:15:02. > :15:06.small groups will be allowed to visit the cave until August when it
:15:07. > :15:10.will be reassessed for any damage. This really is an opportunity of a
:15:11. > :15:12.lifetime for a handful of people to get to see some of mankind 's oldest
:15:13. > :15:27.and best preserved art. You are with BBC World News, with
:15:28. > :15:31.me, Nik Gowing. The headlines: Ukraine accuses Russia of carrying
:15:32. > :15:38.out an armed invasion as two of its airport are guarded by unidentified
:15:39. > :15:41.men. The Ukraine's Parliament calls for a special session of the UN
:15:42. > :15:49.Security Council to monitor the changing situation in Crimea.
:15:50. > :15:51.Uganda says it is being blackmailed by the international community after
:15:52. > :15:58.the postponement of a multi-million dollar loan from the World Bank. The
:15:59. > :16:01.bank decision comes just days after the Uganda president signed new laws
:16:02. > :16:07.which govern the penalties against, sexuality. The bank says it needs to
:16:08. > :16:15.consider whether the health projects it finances could be harmed by a
:16:16. > :16:20.clause which criminalises homosexuality. Joining me on the
:16:21. > :16:25.line from Kampala is a government spokesman, Ofwono Opondo. Why do you
:16:26. > :16:33.think this decision is blackmail? Thank you so much. First of all,
:16:34. > :16:40.Uganda is a sovereign country, and we should be allowed to enact laws
:16:41. > :16:53.which we think are right for Uganda. Secondly, Uganda should be treated
:16:54. > :17:00.fairly. Three, the law was not introduced last night, it was
:17:01. > :17:15.introduced in 2009. All stakeholders had the opportunity to engage on the
:17:16. > :17:26.proposed law. There is no reason why we should be exposed to blackmail.
:17:27. > :17:31.But let me put this to you, though, that there are certain conditions
:17:32. > :17:35.always attached to any loan from any bank in any part of the world. It
:17:36. > :17:41.does not matter if it is West, east, North or South, and what they are
:17:42. > :17:44.saying is that this law is not conducive to balanced, equitable
:17:45. > :17:55.development, and that is the role of the World Bank. Well, first of all,
:17:56. > :18:01.this is about the single issue of gay rights, and we think it is
:18:02. > :18:12.inappropriate for the World Bank to single out one kind of issue, gay
:18:13. > :18:17.sex, and then they withheld the loan. And we think that is the
:18:18. > :18:22.reason why we call it blackmail. Uganda will not accept it. If
:18:23. > :18:30.anybody has a reason, they should take it to the court of Uganda.
:18:31. > :18:34.Ofwono Opondo, spokesman for the Ugandan government, thank you for
:18:35. > :18:39.joining me here on BBC World News. In Turkey, after the emergence of a
:18:40. > :18:45.recording of an alleged phone call in which Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells
:18:46. > :18:49.his son to dispose of millions of euros in cash, he says it was
:18:50. > :18:55.fabricated. It is one of a string to emerge since December when a number
:18:56. > :18:58.of the Prime Minister's allies were detained on suspicion of corruption.
:18:59. > :19:01.James Reynolds reports from Istanbul.
:19:02. > :19:07.In Turkey, you can spend your life on the phone. For the country's
:19:08. > :19:12.Prime Minister, that has now become a personal problem. In the Istanbul
:19:13. > :19:20.neighbourhood of Bishop Das, many condemn their leader's alleged
:19:21. > :19:26.private words. -- Besiktas. It was not a big surprise, because we were
:19:27. > :19:32.being asked why the right-wing parties are always involved? It was
:19:33. > :19:36.not a surprise, I was expecting this, they have not done anything to
:19:37. > :19:42.stop corruption. I am really sad, because a country like Turkey
:19:43. > :19:45.doesn't deserve this. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dominated life in this
:19:46. > :19:50.country for more than a decade, and his supporters wanting to keep
:19:51. > :19:54.going. They want to run for president in this summer's
:19:55. > :19:58.elections. But the wiretapping allegations might complicate that
:19:59. > :20:03.ambition. You would not know it from seeing the Prime Minister at work.
:20:04. > :20:09.In front of a loyal crowd in central Turkey he told supporters that the
:20:10. > :20:16.wiretapping was fabricated by a network inside the police. He,
:20:17. > :20:22.police, he taunted, which country are you working for? The Prime
:20:23. > :20:25.Minister has taken his counteroffensive here to the private
:20:26. > :20:29.gardens of the parliament in Ankara. He has used his majority to
:20:30. > :20:37.win greater control of the police and the judiciary. This worries
:20:38. > :20:43.opposition MPs. The government is trying to cover the allegations of
:20:44. > :20:46.corruption, and by doing so Turkey is getting further away from
:20:47. > :20:51.democracy, Turkey is becoming more and more authoritarian. That is as a
:20:52. > :21:03.result of the measures taken by the government to cover up the lateral
:21:04. > :21:08.allegations. -- collateral. Those allegations have prompted new
:21:09. > :21:13.demonstrations, so far a small echo of last year's protests. Their Prime
:21:14. > :21:21.Minister might be facing trouble, but he refuses to give way.
:21:22. > :21:28.In me and Mark, the government has suspended the operations of Medecins
:21:29. > :21:36.Sans Frontieres, one of the biggest agencies working in the troubled
:21:37. > :21:42.Rakhine state. -- Myanmar. MSF is the biggest provider of health care
:21:43. > :21:47.in the area. Rakhine state has seen frequent outbreaks of violence
:21:48. > :21:50.between Buddhists and the rest of the publishing.
:21:51. > :21:55.Something different now, and when the trophies are handed out at the
:21:56. > :22:00.Oscars, they will in theory go to those who have displayed excellence
:22:01. > :22:03.in the eyes of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but the
:22:04. > :22:08.outcome of some awards races might be determined by campaigns. This
:22:09. > :22:14.year, efforts to influence Oscar voters have been intense, with
:22:15. > :22:16.claims that even President Obama and Pope Francis have been drawn into
:22:17. > :22:23.campaigning activities. Ron was Angeles, Tom Brook has the details.
:22:24. > :22:26.-- from Los Angeles. It was international news, the Pope
:22:27. > :22:31.granting an audience to Philomena Lee, whose story has inspired the
:22:32. > :22:35.Oscar nominated film Philomena starring Dame Judi Dench. In the
:22:36. > :22:38.1950s, she had been forced to give up her child for adoption by Irish
:22:39. > :22:42.nuns, which caused great anguish, but she has always maintained her
:22:43. > :22:48.fate. Meeting the Pope was a big moment. In the US, Philomena is
:22:49. > :22:52.distributed by the Weinstein Company, and Avi Weinstein is seen
:22:53. > :22:58.as the master of aggressive campaigning. -- Harvey Weinstein.
:22:59. > :23:01.Having an audience with a powerful person like the Pope finishes the
:23:02. > :23:05.story that you are compelled to be part of it, and that will translate
:23:06. > :23:09.the boats no question that he engineered the meeting with the
:23:10. > :23:13.Pope, no question. The man is very political. But Harvey Weinstein has
:23:14. > :23:17.been adamant in stating that he had nothing to do with Philomena Lee
:23:18. > :23:24.meeting the Pope, pointing out that it was set up by her charity. For
:23:25. > :23:31.Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, it is not the probe but the President.
:23:32. > :23:34.He reportedly presented Barack Obama with a copy of The Wolf Of Wall
:23:35. > :23:36.Street. He has been appearing at screenings, making television
:23:37. > :23:39.appearances and talking to journalists, but he does not think
:23:40. > :23:44.the campaigning makes much difference. I don't think you can
:23:45. > :23:49.change anyone's mind, I really don't. My mind is set on what I
:23:50. > :23:53.think is good and what is not, what is deserving of an award, and no
:23:54. > :24:00.amount of campaigning is going to change that. Any Academy member who
:24:01. > :24:07.says that they are not influenced by these campaigns is probably saying
:24:08. > :24:12.something that they are hopeful for all they wish would happen. But
:24:13. > :24:16.there is no question that you are influenced by these. The big
:24:17. > :24:20.question is, has campaigning now reached a point where you can
:24:21. > :24:24.effectively by an Oscar? In other words, if you have a lot of money
:24:25. > :24:27.and a good strategic campaign, can you guarantee that a sufficient
:24:28. > :24:33.number of academy members will pass their votes your way? I asked Harvey
:24:34. > :24:37.Weinstein about that, and he said, I can spend a lot of money to make
:24:38. > :24:42.people want to see my movie, I can make them see my movie, but I cannot
:24:43. > :24:45.make them like it, and I think that is true, I don't think anybody ever
:24:46. > :24:50.voted for a film they didn't feel good about. The movie-going public
:24:51. > :24:54.might like to believe that it is really because of talents that
:24:55. > :24:58.people end up on the red carpet. Talent certainly plays a big role,
:24:59. > :25:02.but some contenders are there because of multi-million dollar
:25:03. > :25:07.campaigns, and campaign is clearly believe that in a close race these
:25:08. > :25:15.tactics can be decisive in bringing about a victory.
:25:16. > :25:19.Many people pay a lot of money to go to Norway or Iceland to see the
:25:20. > :25:22.Northern Lights, but clear skies across many parts of Britain have
:25:23. > :25:27.given a glimpse of the phenomenon. Viewers have sent us their own
:25:28. > :25:31.pictures of the aurora borealis. It is unusual to see the lights this
:25:32. > :25:36.far south, look at those amazing colours. The display is caused by
:25:37. > :25:41.electrically charged particles from the sun, entering the earth's
:25:42. > :25:44.atmosphere. The particles are usually pulled towards the north
:25:45. > :25:48.pole, but if there are enough of them, they will travel further down
:25:49. > :25:58.towards the equator, causing these lights. Wonderful! The main news of
:25:59. > :26:02.this hour: From Ukraine and Crimea, the parliament has called for a
:26:03. > :26:06.special session of the UN Security Council to discuss what is a new
:26:07. > :26:11.dimensions to the crisis. That is after unidentified armed men took
:26:12. > :26:15.over two airports in Crimea, which is an autonomous region of Ukraine.
:26:16. > :26:19.It has been described by the Ukrainian interior ministry as an
:26:20. > :26:24.armed invasion. No-one knows quite who the men are, they have no
:26:25. > :26:29.insignias on their shoulders. These pictures show the civilian airport
:26:30. > :26:32.outside of Simferopol, 50 armed men carrying Russian flags took over at
:26:33. > :26:39.the airport in the middle of the night. Flights are still operating
:26:40. > :26:43.in and out, the situation is less clear at a military airport in
:26:44. > :26:45.nearby Sevastopol. The Ukrainian interior ministry has accused the
:26:46. > :26:52.Russian military of stationing trucks outside the base which houses
:26:53. > :26:58.some of Ukraine's 29 fighter jets. The Ukrainian prosecutor general has
:26:59. > :27:01.reportedly said that it wants Russia to extradite Viktor Yanukovych, who
:27:02. > :27:02.will be giving a press conference in an hour.