11/03/2014 BBC World News


11/03/2014

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Hello. This is BBC World News. Our top stories: Interpol have named two

:00:00.:00:10.

passengers who boarded a missing Malaysian airliner using stolen

:00:11.:00:14.

passports. Both were Iranian nationals. Neither of these

:00:15.:00:27.

passports were reported stolen on listed in Interpol's databases.

:00:28.:00:31.

Crimea will ask to join Russia if this weekend's referendum decides

:00:32.:00:34.

for independence. European and American officials will

:00:35.:00:37.

meet in London to discuss possible sanctions against Russia.

:00:38.:00:41.

Ukraine's ousted leader, Viktor Yanukovych, says he's still in

:00:42.:00:50.

charge. As soon as the circumstances allow me, I'm sure it will not be

:00:51.:00:57.

long, I will be back in Kiev. People in Iran are hoping the Persian New

:00:58.:01:00.

Year will herald a time of change. Hello. Interpol has named two men

:01:01.:01:21.

who boarded the missing Malaysian airliner using stolen passports.

:01:22.:01:27.

Both the men, whose pictures have also been released, were Iranian

:01:28.:01:33.

nationals - one a 19-year-old, the other aged 29. The younger man was

:01:34.:01:40.

thought to be trying to me a -- migrate to Germany. The search has

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been widened to include the Straits of Malucca, west of the Malay

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peninsula, as well as the South China Sea, the last known location

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of the plane. Interpol's head, General Ronald Noble, says the pair

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were unlikely to have links to terrorism, but that people

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travelling on stolen passports is still concerning. There has been

:02:10.:02:12.

great, great speculation ever since it was revealed that two passport

:02:13.:02:20.

holders were carrying passports that were lost or stolen. There has been

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speculation over whether this was a terrorist attack and suddenly people

:02:28.:02:30.

seem to be concerned for the first time over whether it is good or bad

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that people are travelling the world using stolen passports. People have

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understood how dangerous it is. Already in the last 24 hours you see

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the story changing, as the belief becomes more certain that these two

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individuals were probably not terrorists. The interest seems to be

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dying down because they might just be people who were being smuggled or

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trafficked. From Interpol's perspective is -- the fear is that

:03:05.:03:18.

people are travelling without having passports in our database. With me

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is security correspondent Frank Gardner. We have the names of these

:03:24.:03:39.

two men - Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad and Delavar Seyed

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Mohammadreza, and an appeal for information. Yes, the flurry of

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interest over these two passengers, what were they up to, why did they

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have stolen passports, we now know the reason. They flew to Kuala

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Lumpur on their own genuine passports and once they were there

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they used stolen passports, an Italian and an Austrian passport,

:04:07.:04:09.

with the intention, it is believed, of seeking asylum, essentially,

:04:10.:04:18.

economic asylum in probably Germany and Denmark. That explains what they

:04:19.:04:22.

were doing. He used the press conference to say that this is a

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wake-up call to the rest of the world about people travelling around

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the world. Four out of ten passengers, he said, are using

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stolen or lost documents. He pointed out that in the first World Trade

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Center bombing, the bomber got into the United States using a stolen

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passport. The so-called white widow, the widow of one of the 7/7

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London bombers who went missing in Kenya two years ago, she managed to

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escape capture because she was using a stolen South African passport, and

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there are plenty of other instances. He is saying, we have this huge

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database, and it takes a short time to scan a passport through

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departures against that database, and he said please do it. Some are

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questioning whether there is a cost to doing that. Their resentment. One

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other question because we have the Malaysian police giving a press

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conference earlier, and they said they were looking at sabotage,

:05:36.:05:41.

hijacking, personal problems or psychological problems with the

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passengers. When asked to explain, they said, imagine there is someone

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on board who has a lot of money to leave to family members, a slightly

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unusual explanation. I cannot read inside the mind of investigators.

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Several agencies are investigating this, and one thing Mr Noble pointed

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out was the good level of cooperation they have heart from the

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Chinese authorities who have shared all of the intelligence they had.

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They haven't completely ruled it out, as far as I know, but it is

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looking very unlikely. The way the investigation is leaning is toward

:06:31.:06:39.

some mechanical problem. The nearest parallel I can think of was the Air

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France passenger plane disappeared over the Atlantic five years ago. It

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went down due to a catastrophic thunderstorm at high altitude, it

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went down in a place without radar coverage, but then several days

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later debris started to appear. The recorder was recovered from the

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bottom of the ocean, it was incredible that they found it. On

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the map we saw earlier, they have shifted or expanded the search box

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to include a completely different part of south Asia which shows how

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desperate they are. Are you being told it is possible for a plane to

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go missing like this? I don't know, but it is a good question to put to

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Edward Snowden! Thank you. We have now got our correspondent in Kuala

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Lumpur on the line. Jennifer, I don't know if you can't tell us

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whether there has been much reaction over there to this press conference

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that we had from Interpol, where we saw pictures and the names released

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of the two people travelling on stolen passports, but a clear steer

:08:02.:08:11.

away from terrorism motive? Malaysian officials have already

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identified one of the passengers that got on with a stolen European

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passport and they say they believe he doesn't have links to terrorism.

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They have not identified the other person but a lot of people here are

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too busy trying to verify information. It has been chaotic

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because at times Malaysian officials have been giving information but not

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expanding on it. Today they have expanded the surge from the South

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China Sea further out west, further than there -- they originally

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thought. It is understood the plane was trying to turn back. They were

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not able to explain further why that is. Information is trickling down,

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it has been frustrating trying to piece things together and figure out

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what it means. Officials have said they have narrowed it down and they

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are looking at possibilities of reasons why the aircraft has

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disappeared, including that it was hijacked, it was sabotaged, and also

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that as they put it, people on board might have had psychological or

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personal problems that caused the plane to veer off course. There was

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a report that radar had detected something in the waters. Any

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information on that? We do not have confirmation and we are trying, but

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Malaysian officials have restricted the access in the terms of they are

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only allowing journalists to get information from officials and any

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kind of government department through this centre so that they can

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centralise the information, through the army, the Navy, Malaysia

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Airlines, so that everyone can get the same information. That means you

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have an unnamed resources like the Reuters report giving out details,

:10:18.:10:21.

but officials here not willing to say much. As of today we will not be

:10:22.:10:27.

having any more press conferences and the next one will be tomorrow.

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There have been a lot of reports in general about sightings of the

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aircraft, pieces of debris, and officials have said it was not true

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and they have cautioned the rest. Thank you. The Crimean

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parliament has decided to declare independence if its residents vote

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in a referendum on Sunday to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.

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Olexiy Solohubenko is the former head of the BBC Ukrainian service

:11:24.:11:26.

and still a senior editor here and he joins me now in the studio. We

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have had a number of pieces of information coming in during the

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last hour, but essentially the Crimean vote goes ahead on Sunday,

:11:35.:11:40.

Crimean joins Russia, what then? Is the west able to do anything about

:11:41.:11:46.

it, or should they? There is a meeting on Monday trying to address

:11:47.:11:52.

exactly that issue. How effective that will be, the list of

:11:53.:11:58.

sanctions, asset arrests, or things like this, some of the Ukrainian

:11:59.:12:03.

officials may be on the list, how effective that would be is too early

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to say. What is going on in Crimea is interesting because there doesn't

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seem to be any letup of this frenetic activity about declaring

:12:15.:12:18.

independence, putting the referendum together. The questions that are

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offered to the voters in Crimean don't really give them any choice.

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There are two questions and whichever they answer, that will

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result in Crimea being independent. It is not a yes no vote? Know,

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either of the questions does not believe people to keep the status

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quo. Observers have been trying to reach Crimea three times, each time

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they have been stopped. Now the Crimean authorities are saying they

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will invite genuine observers, who they are we don't know. There will

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be a big must and Russian delegation to observe the vote. Has there been

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any activity in eastern Ukraine? There have been demonstrations but

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so far the situation seems to be under control of the central Kiev

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authorities. Today Viktor Yanukovych said he will be back in Ukraine when

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the conditions are right, he didn't say exactly what that means. With

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Putin's sanctioning? He didn't say, he just repeated a lot of things

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that were coming out of Kremlin earlier, I am the legitimate

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president and everyone should agree with me. Thanks for joining us. The

:13:57.:14:08.

seventh day of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is underway in

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Pretoria. The court has heard more evidence from Reeva Steenkamp's

:14:12.:14:14.

postmortem report, after deciding to ban live broadcasting of it

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yesterday. Oscar Pistorius denies intentionally killing his

:14:25.:14:28.

girlfriend. What has happened today? Despite the constant grilling

:14:29.:14:36.

from defence, the pathologist was adamant that Reeva Steenkamp had

:14:37.:14:41.

something to eat two hours before she died. That contradicts the

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statement that Oscar Pistorius made when he was applying for bail and

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that works in the favour of the prosecution because that is quite

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crucial because it contradicts that statement. After that, we heard from

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character witness brought in by the prosecution, a friend of Oscar

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Pistorius. He told the court that he was with Oscar Pistorius when shots

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were fired at the restaurant, in a restaurant two months before Reeva

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Steenkamp was shot, and also another incident when Oscar Pistorius

:15:20.:15:22.

allegedly fired a shot through the sunroof of a car because he was

:15:23.:15:26.

angry that a police officer have stopped him and asked him to put his

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gun away. The kind of evidence Fresco is telling the court portrays

:15:35.:15:41.

Oscar Pistorius is a man who uses guns recklessly and would go as far

:15:42.:15:45.

as making up lies to protect himself. He said after the gun was

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fired at the restaurant, Oscar Pistorius asked him to take the

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blame because there was too much media attention on him. Is still a

:15:55.:16:03.

lot of public attention focused on this trial? -- is there still?

:16:04.:16:10.

Definitely so. Simply because yesterday we saw a very emotional

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Oscar Pistorius, like we have never seen him before, when the state

:16:15.:16:18.

apologist was giving graphic details of the injuries that Reeva Steenkamp

:16:19.:16:28.

injury. Many thanks. -- ensured. Stay with us on BBC World News.

:16:29.:16:33.

Still to come... UNICEF says the last 12 months of this early and war

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have been the worst for children. -- the Syrian war. There's confusion in

:16:39.:16:46.

Libya over the fate of a North Korean-flagged oil tanker that

:16:47.:16:50.

docked at a port in the east to buy oil from former rebels occupying it.

:16:51.:16:53.

Libya's legislative body, the National Congress, claims the army

:16:54.:16:56.

and other forces loyal to them have seized it but the rebels deny that

:16:57.:17:00.

claim. The BBC's Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli. The military and the

:17:01.:17:05.

Libyan Congress are claiming they have intercepted the oil tanker

:17:06.:17:08.

carrying an illegal ship and of crude oil from Libya. They say the

:17:09.:17:12.

escorting to a state-controlled port. TRANSLATION: The oil tanker

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has been controlled and it will sail to one of the ports. Those on board

:17:21.:17:24.

will be detained and we are studying all of the options. The eastern oil

:17:25.:17:29.

port, blockaded since July by former rebels, described the latest claims

:17:30.:17:34.

to the BBC as government lies. They say the ship is still docked in the

:17:35.:17:40.

east of the country. Neither of the two claims can be independently

:17:41.:17:44.

verified. The Libyan Congress also announced it was forming a special

:17:45.:17:48.

military force that will lift the eight-month long blockade on both

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terminals in the eastern region. The stand-off twinkled sides escalated

:17:54.:17:56.

at the weekend when the rebels loaded a North Korean-flagged

:17:57.:18:02.

vehicle with crude oil and claimed they had sold their first shipment.

:18:03.:18:09.

The New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, wants a referendum to change

:18:10.:18:15.

the country's flag. He said it represents a colonial era that has

:18:16.:18:18.

passed. Supporters of change also say the flag is too similar to

:18:19.:18:21.

Australia. One popular alternative would be a silver fern against a

:18:22.:18:24.

black background - the national emblem used by the All Blacks rugby

:18:25.:18:33.

team. There has been a lot of discussion in New Zealand. Tell me

:18:34.:18:38.

what you think. You can get in touch on Twitter. We are also on Facebook.

:18:39.:18:52.

This is BBC World News. Interpol have named two passengers who

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boarded a missing vision airlines plane using stolen passports. Both

:18:57.:19:02.

were Iranian nationals. The Crimean parliament has voted to declare

:19:03.:19:04.

independence, saying it were asked to be part of Russia if the

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referendum approves breaking away from Ukraine. UNICEF says the last

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12 months of the Syrian war have been the worst for children. 5.5

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million are now in need of assistance - that's more than double

:19:21.:19:24.

the figure of last year. The UN agency warns the situation is worst

:19:25.:19:27.

for the one million children trapped in besieged areas. Juliette Touma is

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regional spokesperson for UNICEF. She joins us from Jordan. Children

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are the most vulnerable, how much worse hazard got? -- has it got? It

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has become pretty grim. The number of children killed, the number of

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Children in Need, has tremendously gone up and we are concerned about 1

:19:57.:20:02.

million children who are not just in areas under siege but in areas where

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it is three difficult for UNICEF to reach. Pretty grim, the report

:20:06.:20:13.

highlights the suffering of these children and it calls for an end to

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the suffering of these children. It is very important to remember that

:20:18.:20:21.

the report says that behind every statistic is an actual child. And

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they have the right to life and happiness. One of the shocking

:20:27.:20:34.

things is the x-ray vision of an embryo shop there by a sniper in the

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womb. The levels of barbarity we have seen are absolutely haunting.

:20:40.:20:47.

Indeed. This is a war that is claiming the lives of children even

:20:48.:20:51.

before they are born. We had conversations with doctors who

:20:52.:20:55.

confirmed that snipers have indeed been targeting children, pregnant

:20:56.:21:02.

mothers and children are paying the heaviest price with their lives. We

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have 10,000 children who have been killed but also children who are

:21:09.:21:15.

falling ill, polio is returning to Syria after disappearing for 40

:21:16.:21:19.

years. 3 million children out of school. It is a grim picture but

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amid all of that, it is important to note that the children we

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interviewed for this report showed a great amount of resilience. Even

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children who have been injured, for example a girl that we interviewed

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in the camp in Jordan who was injured because her house was

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bombed, and she was carried in her father's arms across the border

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between Syria and Jordan and she is learning to walk on crutches and she

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is back in school. That is great news to see any progress and of

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people watching the say they want to help, I'm not interested in

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politics, UNICEF has raised only 8% of the funding it needs, so what can

:22:09.:22:16.

people do? People can donate on the website. And they can help us to

:22:17.:22:23.

vaccinate children but we want to vaccinate and put children in

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schools and provide families with clean water. This is the least we

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can do, to help these children and help us to collectively put pressure

:22:32.:22:35.

on the parties in the conflict, on member states, to put an end to this

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violence and make 2014 the last year of suffering for the sake of the

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children in Syria and the region. Many thanks. People in Iran are

:22:47.:22:53.

preparing for the start of the Persian New Year, Nawroz, on the

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21st of March. Years of crippling sanctions are affecting most

:22:57.:23:02.

people's lives. But Iranians are still hoping the New Year will bring

:23:03.:23:05.

change. The BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse

:23:06.:23:09.

Doucet, is in Tehran. Iranian markers are such a visual treat,

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just look at the colours that are on sale in this fruit and vegetable

:23:14.:23:18.

market. Part of the traditional bazaar in North Carolina. The

:23:19.:23:22.

fragrances are wonderful. Herbs and spices. -- Tehran. They look good

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but the prices have tripled in the years that Iran has lived under

:23:32.:23:35.

sections so a lot of people tell us they have to make do with the little

:23:36.:23:43.

they have. How are you? Very good. Your buying this fish, this is a

:23:44.:23:49.

good luck symbol? Every year they have new stuff coming up and stop

:23:50.:23:54.

explain to us all of these things. We can see a song sale, candles?

:23:55.:24:00.

Exactly. We have a tradition to put different things together for the

:24:01.:24:08.

New Year so that we have fish, goldfish, eggs, every single thing

:24:09.:24:15.

is a symbol for us. For the coming New Year. To have happiness, love,

:24:16.:24:24.

goodwill for everybody. Is this a time of happiness in Iran? I hope

:24:25.:24:29.

so, I think so. We are hopeful. What gives you hope? When Iran is talking

:24:30.:24:36.

to the West about a nuclear deal and greater engagement? Of course, this

:24:37.:24:40.

is a new beginning for us. We are all positive towards this change.

:24:41.:24:47.

How do you want your own life to change? Our own lives, we have a lot

:24:48.:25:00.

of new hope and we have a lot of hope for our children. We emphasise

:25:01.:25:04.

a lot for the education of the new generation. For the children, we

:25:05.:25:09.

want them to have good jobs, good opportunities. Are you worried for

:25:10.:25:17.

your children? They are doing OK. We hope everything will be fine. We

:25:18.:25:23.

hope so also. Have a good time. Thank you. Come here and we can show

:25:24.:25:35.

you some of the Nawroz shopping. You are happy? Happy as well? Very good,

:25:36.:25:44.

very good. We can see so many things over here. You can see such a

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mixture of modern things, objects are making to celebrate Nawroz.

:25:51.:25:55.

Mixing with traditional. They have this ceremony, we can see the

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garlic, this traditional spice, beautiful display. And this is meant

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to symbolise the beginning of something new. You hear it from Sony

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people here, they want to start something new. But when life is

:26:15.:26:20.

difficult, some fear it will not get better any time soon. This is

:26:21.:26:24.

tempered with the realism that this is what life is like. But that does

:26:25.:26:35.

not mean they will not celebrate. A reminder of our top story. Interpol

:26:36.:26:41.

have shown and named two passengers who boarded the missing Malaysian

:26:42.:26:44.

Airlines plane using stolen passports. Both were Iranian

:26:45.:26:46.

nationals, one aged 18, the other 29, and they entered Malaysia on

:26:47.:26:49.

Iranian passports. Malaysian police have said they believe one was

:26:50.:26:52.

trying to migrate to Germany. They say this makes it less likely that

:26:53.:26:56.

the plane's disappearance was a terrorist incident. Goodbye.

:26:57.:26:59.

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