24/03/2014 BBC World News

Hello. On Geeta Guru-Murthy. This is BBC World News. Our top stories:

More sightings of potential debris of missing flight MH370 - Malaysia

says objects could be retrieved "within hours". A few minutes ago,

the prime minister received a call from the prime minister of

Australia, who informed him that an Australian search aircraft had

located two objects in the Australian search area, one circular

and one rectangular. More than 500 supporters of former

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi are sentenced to death for attacking

police - their relatives protest outside court.

Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of its armed forces from Crimea.

Russian troops have seized most of Ukraine's bases there.

And it is the 70th anniversary of the Great Escape . Commemorations

are taking this in Poland for the 76 Allied officers who tunnelled their

way out of a high security Nazi prisoner of war camp.

Australian search planes have found two new objects in the vast search

area in the Indian Ocean - one circular, and one rectangular. It's

hoped they can be retrieved in the coming hours.

It's not yet clear if these are the same as the possible debris spotted

earlier by a Chinese aircrew. Ten aircraft are taking part in the

latest search operations for the Malaysia Airlines plane which went

missing 16 days ago, with 239 people on board. A short while ago, the

Malaysian authorities gave this update at a press conference. A few

minutes ago, the prime minister received a call from the prime

minister of Australia, who informed him that an Australian search

aircraft had located to objects in the Australian search area, one

circular and one rectangular. HMAS Success is in the vicinity, and it

is possible that the objects could be received within the next few

hours or by tomorrow morning at the latest. These three search areas,

totalling approximately 20,000 square nautical miles, have been

identified for operations today. Australia's prime minister, Tony

Abbott, says an Australian navy ship may be able to retrieve these items

within the next few hours. The Australian Maritime safety authority

has advised that objects have been located by a royal Australian air

force Orion. I can advise the house that HMAS Success is on scene is

attempting to locate and recover these objects. The objects were

spotted in a search area about 2500 kilometres south-west of birth at

about two .45 p.m., our time. The crew on board the Orion said two

objects, the first a grey or green circular object and the second and

orange, rectangular object. These are separate to the objects reported

earlier today by a Chinese search aircraft. We have just received

these pictures from one of Australian planes which have been

searching for flight MH370. The smoke you can see from the waves is

from a marker dropped to mark where an object were spotted. It in turn

helps determine the wind speed and the current, which then makes it

easy for a ship to make contact with the object. It is not yet clear what

the debris is. That can only be determined once it is retrieved. But

it gives an idea of how the search is being carried out. Our

correspondent is in Kuala Lumpur. Quite a few developments today.

Obviously for the families, the wait goes on. Very difficult if the plane

has gone down in this very deep waters? It is very difficult,

because it seems as if we are almost on the verge of a breakthrough,

never more so than now. There is an Australian ship in the area, trying

to pick up whatever was by the Australian aircraft crew and bring

it back for assessment. If what was seen is part of this airliner, that

will be a breakthrough, because it will mean that we know where it

ended up, which will help the search for the black box that could tell us

the story of what happened. None of that is certain yet. More than two

weeks after this plane went missing, the families are still waiting to

know what happened to it and whether they will ever know what happened.

Do we have an idea of how many ships are in the area? We have heard from

the Australians that their ship could retrieve the objects in the

next few hours, or possibly by tomorrow morning. There are several

ships en route to the area, although progress can be quite slow. A

British ship is en route from the Maldives. There is an American ship

with specialist equipment that is designed to trace the black box

recorder. Various other countries are sending vessels as well. At the

moment, the focus is on the Australian ship, because if in the

next few hours, they can retrieve these objects, it will put us on the

path to understanding whether we are searching in the right area.

More now on our story from Egypt, where preliminary death sentences

have been given to 528 supporters of the former president, Mohammed

Morsi. A court in Minya - south of Cairo - convicted them of

involvement in the murder of a policeman and attacking police last

August. Murad Batal Shishani from BBC Arabic

is here. Only about 150 or so were in court, but they have been given

death sentences and family are protesting, perhaps unsurprisingly?

It seems a significant point in Egyptian politics. There is a

mention of legal procedures which many people are now raising. As you

mentioned, people are protesting. But more significantly, there is the

political aspect of this court verdict. Egyptian authorities seem

to be sending a strong political message about the way they are going

to solve issues. The reaction of the Muslim Brotherhood may or may not be

violent. All these questions are now being raised after the verdict.

There is still a chance for appeal and we don't know if the grand mufti

will appeal the sentence as yet. And a lot of people are on the run, so

they may not be found at all. In terms of the political reaction,

what is the position of the Muslim Brotherhood now? Obviously the fear

is that as you say, you provoke and radicalise more people and you get

more violence. But there has been such a tough crackdown by the

military. Indeed. The Muslim Brotherhood is the biggest

elliptical movement in the Arab world -- the biggest political

movement. However, this group have historically used victimhood. They

have never been in power apart from after the Arab Spring. Having said

that, they can now recruit more youngsters by saying, we are victims

of what is going on. We have seen a younger generation who feel isolated

and frustrated, and the Muslim Brotherhood has not responded to

their political needs. Having said that, they might be more politicised

in the longer run. We believe the Muslim Brotherhood will stick to the

old statements, saying that we are a non-violent group and we will carry

on with protests. There will be a tilt in power between the new

generation or whether they carry on more protests.

Within the last few hours, the acting president of Ukraine has

ordered the withdrawal of its forces from Crimea. President Turchynov

said the decision had been taken because of threats to the lives of

service personnel and their families. We have just confirmation

from a Ukrainian official that every military base in Crimea is now under

Russian control. Earlier today, Russian troops stormed the Feodosia

naval base, using automatic weapons and stun grenades. A defence

ministry spokesman in Kiev said members of the Ukrainian forces were

led out with their hands tied. President Obama is in the

Netherlands to meet the G7 group of industrialised countries to discuss

Ukraine. The group are to hold talks on the sidelines of a nuclear

security summit. Not long after arriving in the country, President

Obama gave a news conference where he reaffirmed his support to the

people of Ukraine. Europe and America are united in our support of

the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people. We are united in

imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far. Growing sanctions

will bring significant consequences to the Russian economy. I will be

meeting my fellow G7 leaders today and we will continue to coordinate

closely with the Netherlands and our European partners. We can go live

now to Moscow, from where our correspondent Daniel Sandford joins

us. It is not clear how far the West will go in terms of sanctions, but

already I see that Russia's SNP back were saying today that 9 billion

rubles have been withdrawn by deposit since US sanctions were

announced last week. How much is Russia hurting already and how much

more are they willing to take? I think they are willing to pay a very

great price. That was part of the calculation that the Russian

government made when they decided to annex Crimea. They knew there would

be consequences. So far, none of the consequences that the West Ham

brought about have surprised anyone -- the consequences that the West

have brought about. I think people are probably moving their money out

of banks which are likely to have robins with sanctions -- problems

with sanctions. There will still be free-flowing money between the West

and Russia. That is what they will be hoping for now. President Obama

was talking about punishment for the actions that Russia have taken so

far. There is still there for concern from America and the West

that there might be further action by the Russians. The Russian defence

minister has just turned up in Crimea. He is the first Russian

cabinet ministers to turn up there. One of his first actions was to

appoint as deputy leader of the Black Sea fleet a Ukrainian naval

commander who had effectively betrayed the Ukrainian Navy by

trying to persuade Ukrainian sailors to come over to the Russian side.

Now that the Ukrainian government has ordered all its troops to leave

Crimea, its future looks unclear. Our correspondent looks at some of

the ways in which Crimea will change as it becomes part of Russia. A

lovely cup of Crimean coffee. Today it costs about 25 Ukrainian, the

equivalent of $2 50, but soon it will become 100 rubles as the

Russian currency gradually replaces the Ukrainian one. A week ago, there

was a sign nailed to this local parliament building, reading, the

Parliament of the autonomous republic of Crimea, written in

Russian but also Ukrainian. Now the new letters simply read, the

Republic of Crimea State Council, written only in Russian, with the

Russian trickle or flying proudly above. For now, most Crimean is like

Natasha still have their Ukrainian passport. As of next month, if they

want to keep that, I will have to officially declare it to the Russian

Federation and be termed foreigners here in Crimea. Otherwise, they will

automatically be issued with a Russian passport. Their

nationalities will be officially changing within a matter of weeks.

If you want to watch Ukrainian television now in Crimea, you have

to get it via cable or satellite. If you are just watching analogue or

terrestrial TV, you will only get the Russian channels. The media here

has already made the shift. For now, it is the same time in Crimea as in

mainland Ukraine, 2:40pm. But in a few weeks' time, that will zoom

forward by two hours as Crimea adopts the Moscow Times on. Prepare

to adjust your watches in the new Russian republic of Crimea.

In other news, officials in Yemen say 20 soldiers have been killed in

an attack on a military checkpoint. They died during a gun battle in the

east of the country. Yemen has been in turmoil since President Ali

Abdullah Saleh resigned in 2012. Al-Qaeda has been waging a campaign

against the Western backed government. The United States is

sending more special forces to Uganda to bolster the search for the

Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony.

A US spokesman said African Union led forces would remain in charge of

the operation, with US working in and did buys a reroll.

The far right National Front in France has done better than expected

in the first round of voting in municipal elections. The party won

and outright majority in a Northern town, and went through to the second

round in some 200 places across the country. The vote is being seen as a

sign of disenchantment with the governing Socialist Party of

President Francois Hollande. Much more to come. A neighbour of

Oscar Pistorius says she heard screaming followed by gunshots on

the night he killed his girlfriend. Protests in Taiwan's capital,

Taipei, have turned violent as riot police clashed with student

demonstrators. Officers have been trying to evict several hundred

protesters who broke into the Government's central headquarters.

Our reporter managed to get inside the building and sent this report.

I am inside the parliament. Students have occupied this chamber. At any

given time, 400 students are here. Some of them are having lunch

because it is lunchtime. Many of them have camped out and catching up

on sleep. The students are organising themselves into

committees. This committee is in charge of eight entrances to the

chamber, which are blocked. They have pushed shares against the

entrances. 700 other students tried to storm into the building

yesterday. Police drove them away. The Government has also asked the

students to leave, saying it is necessary to restore the normal

functioning of democracy. The students believe what they are doing

is important to protect the hard-fought democracy that Taiwan

is. With me is a student spokesperson. Why do you believe

what you are doing is so important? We can see the Government has failed

to reflect the voices of people. We are calling for a constitutional

conference to establish monitoring mechanisms for potentially harmful

agreement with China. The Government has insisted the trade agreement

should allow Taiwanese company is much greater access to China and

this will create jobs for young people. Many people here do not

agree with this. This is BBC World News. The latest

headlines... Australian search planes have found new potential

debris in the bar search area in the Indian Ocean for missing flight,

MH370. The missing objects will be recovered in the next few hours, it

is hoped. Supporters of Muhammad -- Mohammed more sea have been

sentenced to death. Returning to our main story this hour, the news that

teams searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may

have located two objects in the Indian Ocean which could be debris

from a plane. Ships have been sent to pick the objects up that could

happen within hours. It could mean an end, finally, to the waiting

which the families and relatives of the 239 people board have been

subjected to. There's been an outpouring of support in Malaysia,

where one of the organisers is the prominent social activist and

daughter of a former Prime Minister, Marina Mahathir. She spoke with the

BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur: it is a hard time for many of us,

especially the families affected. We all do feel sort of band together

with this plane. It is kind of a national tragedy. There have been a

lock of criticism as to how Malaysian officials had been

handling it. Other countries have been very critical, like China. Your

father was leader of this country before, what do you think of the

criticism of the nation? I think they are just being very cautious.

The worst thing is to give people hope and then Dash it immediately.

If the rest of us already feel like that, imagine what the families

feel. I think they are doing the best they can. More than two thirds

of the passengers on board from China. A lot of them are very angry.

They seem to think that the Malaysian government is hiding

something. I suspect there is a cultural problem here. Without being

undiplomatic, perhaps they are used to a certain form of government and

they think that everyone else is the same. A moment of silence... At this

juncture, I am praying for some evidence to be found of where it is.

Then we will have a clue of what might have happened and then we can

take it from there. I think it will be a long process. Our correspondent

is in Perth, where the search operation is being coordinated. We

have some details about what has been spotted by the Australians,

haven't we? Two pieces of debris that have been spotted by an

Australian surveillance plane. One is a grey or green circular piece

and the other an orange rectangle. These pieces were found 2500

kilometres south-west of Perth. On their way to try to locate these

bits of debris are sailors on board HMS success, an Australian naval

vessel. They are being assisted because the Australian aircraft that

spotted this debris dropped flares and GPS equipment into the ocean.

That should help to narrow down the search. What the sailors on board

the Australian naval ship are contending with it are some of the

roughest seas in the world. Until that debris is in the hand of

investigators, we will not know how significant this particular find

is. How long we'll set the could it be before the ships reach it? It

could be tomorrow morning, I understand. Here, in the west of

Australia, it is approaching 8pm. Only time will tell when the

Australian naval vessel is able to get to the precise area and, of

course, trying to find these relatively small pieces of debris in

the ocean could take them all night, it could take them all day.

They may not find them. That is another unanswered question. If they

do manage to retrieve them, it could take several days to make the long

journey back to Perth in Australia, given they are having to contend

with those icy and unpredictable waters in the southern Indian Ocean.

Thank you. The BBC transport correspondent and a former British

Airways pilot will answer some of your questions about the missing

flight in a live twitter Q at 1:30pm today. You can tweet your

question to @BBCwestcott using the hashtag #AskBBCRichard. E-mail

[email protected] or text your question.

Many, many questions. We will keep you up to date as far as we can. An

eight car commuter train derailed at Chicago 's O'Hare Airport overnight,

injuring 32 people on board when it failed to stop at the airport's

underground station. Police officials say the train hit the

buffers then mounted the pavement, ending up on the escalators to the

airport - one of the busiest in the US. The exact reason for the crash

is still being investigated. A neighbour of Oscar Pistorius says

she heard screaming followed by gunshots on the night he killed his

girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The trial has entered its fourth week.

Oscar Pistorius denies intentionally shooting Reeva Steenkamp, saying he

mistook her for an intruder. Thanks to the famous Hollywood movie, most

of us are a bit familiar with the story of the great escape. -- the

Great Escape when Allied officers tunnelled their way out of a

high-security Nazi prisoner of war camp in Poland. Today marks the 70th

anniversary of that escape. Moss covered brick and concrete provide

the only remaining links to the wartime story which spawned a

Hollywood blockbuster the story of an ambitious plan to tunnel out of

what was billed as an escape route camp and allow Allied airmen to head

for home. It was audacious. It was quite remarkable. When you think

that tunnel was dug by people without tools, with the security and

secrecy. We knew it was being planned because there was work going

on in the room next to me. Three tunnels were dug and only one was

used. The film-makers did their best to portray the claustrophobic and

dangerous conditions ten metres down in the unstable sound. The prisoners

excavated 200 tonnes of sand and used 4000 of their own boards to

shore up the cramped passages. The final tunnel, codenamed Harry,

stretched over 100 metres under the outer fence. It still lies beneath

the feet of those who visit the spot where more than 70 men made a break

for freedom. It was only the following day that we heard roughly

how many had got through. The Germans we counted us to try to

establish how many people were missing and, admittedly much they

got little help from us because we kept moving around to confuse the

counting. Today, veterans will remember those executed by the

bizarre purge. Only three managed to return to the UK. -- the Gestapo.

You escaped, you are caught, you are put into solitary confinement, you

were released, you got a round of applause. After The Great Escape, it

stopped being a game, it became, literally, deadly serious. Service

volunteers have reconstructed the guard tower just a few feet from the

tunnel. Veterans know they may not return but they are confident this

story will be passed on. The Ait makes me emotional. What is

interesting now, there was a gap when there was little interest in

it. There is very much more interest in it now. It should be remembered

what people sacrificed during