17/03/2014 BBC World News

following the referendum, the Crimean parliament declares

independence from Ukraine. Ministers meet to declare possible sanctions

against Russia, saying the boat was illegal. Russia calls on the

European Union to recognise Crimea's right to the side its own

future. The Malaysia and varieties save the search for the missing

plane has become a global operation. And why is the smallest planet in

our solar system shrinking further? -- Malaysians authorities.

The parliament in Crimea has declared independence from Ukraine

following the referendum. The Prime Minister is travelling to Moscow to

formally request it becomes part of Russia. The parliament has also

announced that all Ukrainian property is to be nationalised. In

response, Ukraine has approved a partial mobilisation of troops.

Foreign ministers are meeting to decide what sanctions they could

impose on Russia and Crimea, saying the vote was illegal. Russia insists

the poll was in line with international law. The Russian

Foreign Ministry has called on the European Union and the United States

to recognise Crimea's right to decide its own future.

Wild scenes in simpler poll last night as people who have longed to

rejoin Russia took a huge step towards their dream. -- Simferopol.

We will come back to Russia. We are happy. We are all happy. The people

here in the centre of town have got what they wanted, but how it came

about is going to have a lasting impact on international relations.

The referendum produced an overwhelming vote in favour of

leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. Although the Russian president,

Vladimir Putin, insists it was consistent with international law,

it remains hugely controversial. It was organised in less than a

fortnight, while Russian troops were already in effective military

control of Crimea, and it is not recognised by the fledgling

Ukrainian government or the vast proportion of the International can

unity. If Vladimir Putin moves to join Crimea on to Russia, it will

trigger immediate sanctions. The fallout could escalate over the

weeks ahead. With pro-Russian protesters in eastern cities in

mainland Ukraine, relations between Russia and the West could be about

to go from bad to disastrous. With me is the BBC's Ukrainian

affairs analyst. Tell me about troop build-ups on both sides. We have

been getting reports of more activity today. The latest we hear

from the Ukrainian defence ministry, their calculation is 60,000 Russian

troops on the border. It is not a huge increase. We are also hearing

reports about troop movement, armour on the Ukrainian side towards the

Russian border. The defence Minister announced partial mobilisation,

20,000 more reservists, 20,000 on top of that to the National Guard.

Politically, it looks different. The Russian foreign minister has come

out with a proposal of how to resolve the crisis. There are

several points about a contact group, about Ukraine being given the

neutral status, not member of any military blocs, enshrined by the

United nations security council. Quite an interesting thing, and it

comes as a last minute thing. Is your sense that Russia wants to stop

any further action? It is difficult to say, yesterday, the

demonstrations in Donetsk were not very numerous but quite focal and

tenacity. In other cities of Ukraine there was not really too much

presence. -- four: Nastily -- vocal and nasty. On the other hand, there

is a little bit more movement on the the half of the Ukrainian

government. They are sending police to the protests. But there is a

political offer to talk rather than brandish weapons. We are seeing

threats from the European Union and the United States, but

realistically, will we get any sanctions taken out by countries

such as Germany? This is debatable, the policy of the European Union

seems to be more coherent. Countries like Germany, Poland, the Baltic

states are pushing for tough sanctions. We will see what those

sanctions are. Will Russia be worried? I think so, but it is

difficult to say how much worried it will be. Whether the sanctions touch

the top edge along of ministers -- top group of ministers. Could be

even more tough sanctions. Tomorrow we will from Vladimir Putin himself,

he is addressing the National Assembly. This will be the first

time we hear from him on his positions and how he will respond to

the referendum. Thanks. 26 countries are now involved in a vast search

over a wide area for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane which

disappeared over a week ago. Authorities have revealed they think

it was the co-pilot who said the last words to ground control before

the plane disappeared. It is not clear if those words were uttered

before or after one of the tracking devices was switched off. Of

course, the wait continues for the desperate families, most of them in

China. The BBC's correspondent is in Beijing. We have seen ongoing

frustration from the Chinese, what is their reaction to the press

conference we had earlier in Malaysia and the weekend's dramatic

news about the communication system being deliberately turned off? What

the Chinese authorities have called for is greater clarity from the

Malaysians authorities. They have also asked for them to step up their

search. Many of the families are in hotels in Beijing, close to the

airport. There is a real sense of desperation, anger, and grief, as

you can imagine, more than one week after this plane simply disappeared.

Many of them just one cancers. They want to know what happened. -- want

answers. While a majority were from China, the attention this story will

get will remain incredibly high until we get some kind of

resolution, for what has been a big mystery. We heard in the news

conference that the investigation is going on, they will all be

interested to see who is investigated, but also the Chinese

government is involved in the search. That is right, the Chinese

government has been involved in the search, and we have seen a widening

of the search along to corridors, one jutting into Central Asia, the

other jutting downwards through the Indian Ocean. China, until now, has

been wasted, because the focus has been the South China Sea, and the

authorities have asked them to call off the search in that part of the

ocean with this new information I think that will deepen frustration

in China that it took them so long to inform them of these updates.

Others will say, this is an unprecedented situation, the

Malaysia not authorities are under enormous pressure, the information

is coming in but it is slowly coming in, and when they have informed

other countries, they have done it on an up-to-date fashion, that is

certainly what the Malaysians authorities are saying, but China

just want a resolution, they want to know what happened. You said you had

spoken to some of the relatives, what are they saying to you? They

are getting press conferences or briefings from Malaysia Airlines,

but it is becoming apparent they do not know any more than the media

do. So people are following it through newspapers. There is a

deep-set sense of despair, there is anger towards Malaysia Airlines, and

one man I spoke to, his cousin was on board this plane, he had been

returning from Singapore, had been a construction worker, and he says

that Malaysia Airlines knows more than it is letting on. That belief

is shared with many of the Chinese families waiting in Beijing. Thank

you very much. With me in the studio is our security correspondent, Frank

Gardner. A dramatic turn over the weekend, what are you hearing about

that? How can they be sure this can indication system was deliberately

turned off as opposed to failing? There has been two phases of this

investigation and we are into the second one. The first phase, which

lasted until Saturday morning, the investigators were keeping an open

mind but largely basing their assumptions on some kind of

catastrophic mechanical failure. Engine failure, electrical torture

could -- short circuit, an accident, basically. On Saturday

morning, the discovery, going back over the records, that both of these

communication systems on board were deliberately turned off. That

changed it to a suspicion of foul play, because there was no

subsequent communication. It is possible that, initially, they could

have looked at whether there was a medical emergency on-board, did they

have to turn back if somebody had had a cardiac arrest. Then there

would have been a three digit code that would have been transmitted by

the pilot. That did not take place, so we are in a completely different

area now in terms of the investigation, some of the initial

measures that were taken quite quickly are now having to be gone

back over. All the data is being re-examined. That will take some

time, it involves a great many countries. We are in the realms of

open speculation. I have read, Rupert Murdoch tweeted about his

thoughts, a former US government has said the plane has been taken off to

hit some city in India. How easy is it, no, for 26 countries to

cooperate on Security and intelligence? Everybody has a vested

interest in finding out what has happened to this plane. It is quite

absurd that in the 21st century, this digital age in which we live,

in which we are hacked and tracked every minute of the day, something

the size of a Boeing 777 can go missing. It is much easier for it to

go missing over the ocean. That is the harsh reality of this. For it to

go missing over land, for long, is very difficult. It would be picked

up by somebody. Somebody would pick it up. More likely, the National air

defence radars of those countries it has gone over, especially if it has

gone as far as Kazakhstan, it could not have entered their territory and

Passover places like Pakistan without being detected. To go over

the ocean is possible. -- pass over. I know you can speculate but is

anyone giving you any guidance at all as to why anyone would want to

do this? Absolutely none. I have spoken to a number of government

agencies, unless they are really hiding something and really

bluffing, they have got no idea. I don't think they know anything more

than you and me on this one. Was there any kind of break chatter?

Apparently no. They would not necessarily tell the media, but

Washington is notoriously leaky on this. If there was a hint of a

terrorist plot it would have come out through Washington. The US press

tends to get hold of these things. I have not seen anything about this. I

will not say which way it is but the things they are looking at our

mental stress, Break Down, suicide, pilot error, some kind of family

issue, then there is the idea, was it possibly interfered with from

outside? That is being investigated as well. In other news, US naval

commandos have taken control of an oil tanker flying the North Korean

flag that had loaded crude oil at a port held by rebels in eastern

Libya. A statement from the Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John

Kirby, said no-one was hurt in the operation, which was carried out at

the request of the Libyan and Cypriot governments. The ship,

Morning Glory, was boarded in international waters south-east of

Cyprus and is now returning to Libya.

A car bomb attack on a barracks has left at least five soldiers dead in

the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, medical sources say. One report says

the attack targeted people leaving a graduation ceremony for officers.

Benghazi is often the scene of attacks by Islamist groups and

separatists. A convicted Mafia boss will not be

eased sent back to his home country. He was found guilty of Mafia

association and extortion in Italy in 1999 and given a seven-year jail

term. Much more to come on BBC World News. We will have a special report

on attempts to get messages across the Syrian border.

The French authorities are imposing restrictions on motorists in Paris

as part of efforts to tackle dangerous levels of air pollution.

From today, drivers will only be allowed to use their cars every

other day. The capital has been shrouded in haze for for nearly a

week. It's only the second time the restriction has been imposed.

Earlier I asked our Paris correspondent, Hugh Schofield, why

it was happening. It is happening because these are dangerous levels

of pollution which we saw peaking at the end of last week. Even though

the scientists say that the levels should be going down anyway today,

it was still high, and it was decided over the weekend to bring

into play this extraordinary measure. Only odd number plates are

allowed to drive today, tomorrow it will be even number plates. There

are exceptions, you see people breaking the rules and UC police

with controls, pulling over cars with even number plates and so on.

If they are electric, hybrid, or if they have three or more passengers

it is fine, if not they have to pay a fine. It seems that the resumes

are playing the game, and figures from the traffic monitors show that

the levels of traffic is down about half than an ordinary day. The

problem will be working out whether it is that which is effective or

whether the pollution was going down anyway because the predictions were

that the peak has passed and it was due to decline today anyway. The

Government, certainly the Green party in government, is very happy

with this because they say this should kick in automatically when

these thresholds have been passed, when the number of air particles

reaches a dangerous level. This is BBC World News. The headlines: After

the celebrations, Crimea 's Department declares independence

from Ukraine following the referendum on Sunday. The region's

de facto Prime Minister is travelling to Moscow, formally to

request that it becomes part of Russia.

26 countries are now involved in the search for the missing Malaysia

Airlines plane. The pilots of the missing airliner have come under the

spotlight after authorities revealed that they think it was the co-pilot

who spoke the last words to ground controllers before the plane

disappeared. North Korea's ambassador to the UN

has walked out of a hearing on human rights violations in his country,

when a Japanese representative began to speak. The meeting is discussing

a UN report which describes North Korea's crimes as being as chilling

as those of the Nazis or Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. But North Korea's ally

China has described the document as divorced from reality. A number of

people who managed to escape from North Korea have travelled to Geneva

for the meeting. Imogen Foulkes reports.

The journey from North Korea to the United Nations in Geneva has been

long and difficult. Kim Jung Il can't forget the regime he escaped

from 17 years ago, a regime which the UN investigation claims uses

terror, violence, and starvation to control its people. TRANSLATION: Our

family had a bit of corn because my mother had a small business but my

friend's family lived off acorns. My friend in high school died of

starvation. I watched him die. Deliberate famine is just one

chilling allegation in the 400-page investigation. There are also

horrific details of prison camps, even drawings made by former

prisoners of the living lying with the dead and inmates forced to eat

snakes and rats to survive. The investigators believe the UN must

act. Too many times in this building there are reports and no action.

Well, this is a time for action. We can't say we didn't know. We now all

do know. Anyone who wants to know can read the report. The report

recommends sanctions against North Korea's leaders, even referral to

the International Criminal Court. The North Korean defectors who have

travelled to Geneva are pinning their hopes on action from the UN

Human Rights Council. TRANSLATION: There is no chance of change with

the current regime but I have faith in the UN to put pressure on.

Eventually the current system will collapse. The Government has to

change, we need a new system. Those hopes may be disappointed. The Human

Rights Council can advise but only the UN Security Council can refer

North Korea to the International Criminal Court. There, China, which

says it prefers dialogue to sanctions, has a veto. So today the

world's top human rights body will have to consider what it can

possibly do about one of the most detailed accounts of atrocities ever

produced, atrocities which the victims hope surely cannot be

ignored. Three years into the war, exiled

Syrians are trying to reach back into their own country. One Syrian

opposition radio station, US-backed Watan FM, broadcasts to Syria from

Istanbul. James Reynolds has spent the day at the station. From this

rooftop, they present Good Morning Country. This woman used to read the

news on Syrian state TV but she got fed up with being told what to say

social went into exile. People in Syria changed. We were afraid so

much last time but now we want to be free to speak. We want to say what

we want and we are not afraid of anyone. The station has sent radios

to Syria, and it asks its listeners to phone in. Some of them are very

tired, they just want to finish at any price. They don't want to come

back, they want to bring him to the prison and to the court and to get

the right from him. The other one to make a deal with President Assad to

stop destroying the country. They arrange the music. At the start of

the war inside Syria, this man did the same thing for the Government.

Five months after the revolution, our -- I made songs. You made songs?

Yes, it is a famous song in Syria. If I didn't still work now, I would

kill myself. At night, he plays with the opposition. In this war, his

music is used to inspire both sides. It is the smallest planet in our

solar system and it is getting even smaller according to NASA scientists

who say that Mercury has shrunk in diameter by about 14 kilometres,

since it was formed more than four billion years ago. Pallab Ghosh

explains. The planet Mercury, dwarfed by the sun. It is the

smallest planet in our solar system and over the years, it has become

smaller. NASA's Messenger spacecraft has spent the past three years

photographing the planet. And this is the result, the first complete

picture of Mercury. On the ground, chemicals, known as volatiles, that

simply shouldn't be there anymore. Now, NASA has published, in the

journal Nature Geoscience, that the planet has shrunk by 4.5 miles from

its centre to the surface. We are learning more every month, we are

nearly three years into NASA's orbital mission around Mercury and

there's still a year to go. And I think there are more surprises to

come. I am staggered already, it is rich in volatile elements that it

shouldn't have, it has recent volcanic activity, it has ice in the

craters near the poles and it is shrinking, as we expected - but in

ways we hadn't expected. I am sure there is more to come. The mission

is showing that what many thought to be the dullest planet in our solar

system is more interesting and interesting than astronomers had

imagined. Doing at least two and a half hours of vigorous exercise each

week cuts the chances of developing flu, according to new data. The

findings were made by the online gloom survey run by the London

School of hygiene and tropical medicine, but the downer is that

researchers said that moderate exercise did not appear to have the

same protective effect. Two and a half hours of vigorous exercise a

week is necessary. A reminder of the top story: The parliament in Crimea

has declared independence from Ukraine following Sunday's

referendum. This is BBC World News. Back tomorrow, see you then.