01/04/2014 BBC World News

to Ukraine as tensions remain high over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

Approval is given by Ukraine for a series of joint military exercises

with NATO that would put western forces in direct proximity to

Russian troops. Malaysia's authorities release the

transcript of the final voice transmission from the cockpit of

missing flight 370, saying they reveal nothing abnormal.

The new Prime Minister of France, Manuel Valls. Who is he and what can

he do to help the President? Plus a special day of freedom here

on the BBC, exploring how your idea of freedom compares with reality.

Hello. Less than one month after Russia's annexation of Crimea, a

series of military exercises with NATO have been approved. This could

see tensions rising further. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Reports

from Kiev suggest that the Ukrainian Parliament has approved two sets of

exercises with United States, which has caused friction with Russia in

the past. David is in Kiev and he told me it remains to be seen how

the Russians will react. We will see about whether it is inflammatory or

not. The Parliament has approved a series of military exercises with

NATO countries, including the United States. There are two exercises with

the US. One in particular, C Breeze, has been conducted in the past and

the Russians have objected to it. This took place on the Crimean

peninsula. Obviously this time around that will not be happening

but it will be taking place near Crimea in Odessa, is also on the

Black Sea, and apparently taking place in the Black Sea. It remains

to be seen how Russia will react this time but obviously this is

something that they very likely will not luck on positively. Of course

President Putin said last week that the last thing they wanted to see

was NATO anywhere near Sevastopol, the home of the Russian Black Sea

fleet. We have seen the tension in the last few weeks, the idea of

having a lot of troops from opposing sides in close proximity. There is a

danger in that, isn't there? Yes, that is. Exactly. NATO membership,

NATO proximity, is very much an issue for Russia. One of the things

they are calling for, now whether they will push for this, is that

Ukraine becomes a neutral country. That they get assurances that

Ukraine will never become a part of NATO. Ukraine is not a member of

NATO, but NATO troops in Ukraine conducting exercises, whether this

is within Ukraine's writes or not, Russia will probably see this as

something they would rather not see, and might even take some sort of

political or diplomatic action. In the last few minutes we have been

hearing from the NATO Secretary-General, who said today's

meeting of foreign ministers will make it clear that Russia's actions

over Ukraine are not acceptable. They said NATO cannot carry on doing

business as usual and they cannot confirm that Russia has pulled some

troops back from the border with Ukraine.

Inside Ukraine itself, the price paid for Russian gas will go up. The

energy supplier Gazprom is putting up its prices by almost one third,

$2 billion. Until now, the gas has come at a very heavily discounted

rate. This will be another headache for politicians, because up until

now consumers have paid just a quarter of what the gas actually

costs. Much more on all of that on the website.

The man coordinating Australia's part in the search for the missing

Malaysia Airlines passenger jet has warned it could take weeks to

produce results. It is now 24 days since the aeroplane disappeared

shortly after take-off from Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, the final

communication between the cockpit and air traffic controllers was not

all right, good night, but good night Malaysia 370. Theo Leggett

says this adds to the impression that everything was normal just

before the aeroplane disappeared from radar. From the moment the crew

and the cockpit have their first communication with the Kuala Lumpur

control tower until they signed off out of Malaysian airspace at 19

minutes past one, there was nothing suspicious. In fact the previously

recorded conversation all right, good night, may have seemed overly

casual, but good night Malaysia 370 is exactly what you would expect.

The fact remains that within minutes of this conversation taking place,

and before the aircraft had made contact with Vietnamese air-traffic

control, where it was supposed to be going, it had disappeared from radar

screens. The transponder had been turned off. The beacon which sends

information about the aeroplane to ground stations had also been turned

off. We have this strange picture of an apparently normal flight to which

something very dramatic happened shortly afterwards. A relatively

small detail that you think would be easy to check has been changed and

after this length of time it really knocks confidence in the whole

investigation. Whether we have been told the truth, and conspiracy

theorists are given more weight, are they? You are right. The cockpit

conversations are verifiable information. So if the authorities

cannot get that right, what else is being distorted or not coming out?

The Malaysians have come under pressure over the last few weeks, it

is fair to say. There have been concerns from critics that they were

slow to respond to information from satellites which suggested that the

aircraft had been flying for several hours longer than thought, and the

surge in the South China Seas may not have been necessary because it

is thought the aeroplane had gone beyond there. -- the search. The

transcript looks normal but a planned switch off would have been

deliberate. There is something key in what the Malaysians have said

today. They remain of the opinion that up until the point when it left

primary military radar coverage, which was far into the flight,

MH370's movements were consistent with deliberate action by somebody

on the aeroplane. They are sticking to the idea that somebody did

something on the aeroplane after it disappeared, air-traffic control's

screens. Thank you. To the USA, because

millions of people have scrambled to sign up to President Obama's

flagship health care programme ahead of the deadline. It is thought that

7 million Americans have now signed up for medical insurance. That was

the initial target set by the White House. A last-minute surge in

applications saw 2 million people visiting the website, and a

temporary glitch on the site added to the numbers having to go to

enrolment centres. I think it will be a rocky start. A lot of people

get kind of scared. The idea of everybody having something to fall

back on if something happens, obviously that is good. I want to

sign up because I do a lot of sport and I can get injured. If I don't

have the right coverage, then I could get a lot of bills. If I get

covered now, I am good. The Affordable Care Act, also known as

Obamacare, was intended to extend health insurance to the roughly 48

million Americans who don't get any, either through employers or the

Government or through privately purchased plans. The law offers

subsidies to make it more affordable for people to sign up. It bans

insurance companies from denying health coverage to people who might

have pre-existing health conditions. Those who don't sign up will face a

tax penalty. Of course this is all deeply political. The Republican

party has vigorously fought its introduction and it is set to become

a major campaign issue in the mid-term elections later this year.

The launch in October last year was marred by technical problems on the

website of course, which made signing up online difficult for some

people originally, which proved an embarrassment for President Obama.

No excuse for it. I take full responsibility for making sure it

gets fixed ASAP. We are working overtime to improve it everyday.

Well, President Obama speaking in October. The surge this week in

enrolments saw a more upbeat tone from the White House. While there

has been focused on glitches, what is important is that there has been

a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November, which

has resulted in a situation where here on the last day of enrolment,

we are looking at a number substantially larger than 6 million.

Jay Carney on Obamacare. To France next because he has been

described as their answer to Tony Blair and he has just been named as

the new French Prime Minister, following a crushing defeat for the

Socialist Party during the weekend's elections. Manuel Valls's

first job will be to name his cabinet, but he faces an uphill

battle including this trust within his own party. Christian Fraser told

me why. He is a divisive figure within the Socialist Party. I have a

selection of newspapers for you. There he is, Manuel Valls, and he is

seen in the guise of Tony Blair. Many of the mantras and the things

he has said in the past are quite new Labour. That becomes quite

divisive on the left of the party. This is a smart headline. Jean-Marc

Ayrault was the former Prime Minister and that is the word for

waltz, meaning to correct somebody off the dance floor. This rivalry

has ended with Valls coming out on top. They are talking about the

problems at the left of the party. And this one, bets on Manuel Valls.

They pull out three important things. This will be a convert if

Government in the words of Francois Hollande, given the problems France

is facing. --, combat heavy Government. They missed the deficit

target of 4.3% which they had pledged to Brussels, which means

more cuts and spending issues. How will that be sold to the electorate

after a poor defeat in the opinion polls? And this one, Francois

Hollande throws it in with Manuel Valls. And Valls in the background

does have presidential ambitions of his own. It is a gamble for Francois

Hollande, if Valls pulled it off in the future as a challenger. And they

ask you, is it a mission impossible? This is an old quote

from President mitt to a former Prime Minister under Pompidou. When

I look at you, I don't doubt your sincerity but when I look at your

majority, I doubt your success. Pointing to the difficult balancing

act that Valls must to do the next few months and he has to get to

grips with it quickly because the European elections will be upon us

at the end of May. The French President has been written up here

and in many parts of Europe as waging a war on the wealthy. Huge

taxes that he talked about, and we have seen the flight of many big

names from France. But to does he have to win over? The people in the

middle? The poorer end of society? Were here is he struggling now? Both

sides, I think is the answer. -- where is he struggling? The staunch

socialist voters are not coming out to vote for them. He have to keep

them onside but he also host to speak to the business community. We

talk about businesses walking away, and foreign direct investment fell

in 2013 by 70 7%. If you have unemployment continuing to rise and

31,000 new job-seekers, one of the biggest jumps, you have to get money

and employers in, so you have to speak to both sides of the

community. Stay with us on BBC World News.

705, new research suggests we should be eating more fruit and veg to keep

healthy. -- seven and not five. It is the second day of joint US and

South Korean military exercises. Rupert sent us this rare

behind-the-scenes report. I'm on board an osprey aircraft, we are

over the Sea of Japan and are about to land. On board this ship there

are several thousand US Marines that are about to invade career.

Of course, it's not a real invasion I'm talking about, it's a mock

invasion. It's one of the biggest joint exercises that has been

carried out in this part of the world for more than 20 years. From

here, about 7500 US Marines are being taken ashore on these aircraft

and also a board landing craft, 30 miles inland.

This ship doesn't just fly aeroplanes off the top of it. We are

down in the basement of it, the parking garage. You can see there

are a lot of trucks parked, more than 60 trucks. How do they get

these from here to shore? They can't do it by aeroplane. What they do is

down here, this is called the well deck. They completely flood this

with water. That big door at the back of the ship will be lowered and

then landing craft can come inside here, they drive these trucks on and

off they go. This is BBC World News. The Russian

energy company Gazprom has increased the price it charges Ukraine for gas

by more than a third, as tensions remain high over Moscow's annexation

of Crimea. Ukraine's parliament has approved holding a series of joint

military exercises with NATO countries that would put them in

direct proximity to Russian forces in the Black Sea. Five a day is what

we've always needed apparently, but a new study says we need more. We

are now being told that seven portions of fruit and vegetables is

the magic number to keep you healthy. The BBC's health

correspondent Dominic Hughes reports. Do you want some in a bad?

A good diet with lots of fruit and veg can have a significant impact on

our health. Now research suggests the more you eat, the greater the

benefit. Up to seven portions a day seemed to reduce the risk of cancer

and heart disease. But could we managed to eat that much? It is

doable, it's just getting into the habit of doing it. I like fruit and

I like vegetables but I don't eat them every day. This study seems to

tell us something we already know, that eating five portions of fruit

and veg each day is good for you. And it seems that there's greater

benefit to eating vegetables compared to fruit. The only problem

is not that many others are currently hitting five-a-day target.

The World Health Organisation recommends we eat at least 400

grams, roughly five portions, of fruit and veg each day. On average

we managed just two portions of fruit and one and a half portions of

vegetables. Every additional portions of fruit and vegetables

gives an added health benefit. The people eating one to three portions

did significantly better than people eating up to one portion. Then the

most health benefit were those eating seven plus portions of fruit

and vegetables every day. The research also questions whether

sugar rich fruit juice should count as part of the five-a-day target,

but many experts say five-a-day at least feels achievable. Asking

people to do more maybe too much. A pretty tall order. Some other news.

Masked protesters clashed with police in Venezuela's capital on

Monday night following a resumption of anti-government protests.

Protesters cheered as they set fire to a police motorcycle and launched

rocks and bottles at officers in the neighbourhood of Chacao. Venezuela

has been shaken by a month and a half of demonstrations protesting

against high inflation, shortages and crime. An official with Medecins

Sans Frontieres has said the Ebola outbreak in Guinea that has killed

78 people is "unprecedented". Cases have been reported in areas that are

hundreds of kilometres apart which is making it difficult to control.

Construction work has been suspended at a Brazilian World Cup stadium

where a builder was accidentally killed on Saturday. The death was

the third at the Itaquerao ground in Sao Paulo, which is due to host the

first match of the cup in June. The chief executive of one of the US'

biggest car firms has been called before Congress, to explain why it

took so long to recall more than 2.5 million cars with faulty ignition

switches. General Motors has also recalled more than one million cars

to fix power steering issues. And, as Michelle Fleury reports from

Washington, it's not just lawmakers who want answers. So do the families

who've lost loved ones. Amber Marie was 1620 died in a crash in 2005 in

AGM cobalt. Sarah was 19 when she passed away in 2009. For their

families, their young age makes the loss even harder to bear. In fact,

many of the victims of General Motors' delayed recall were

first-time buyers. I never got to say goodbye, I never got to touch a

warm hand, I never got to give her a hug that she loved. This just

reconfirms everything. To the pains I have been going through. For

them, GM's recall of 2.6 million cars isn't enough. They want these

vehicles off the road so that nobody else is at risk. It's got to stop

now. Not until we have so many more deaths and fatalities. These are our

young people, our future. They wanted a great life, a great

future. Now they've lost that. What do you want to hear from Mary Barra

when she testifies before Congress? We want answers. We want to know

exactly what happened and, going forward, I want to know

specifically, how are they going to prevent this from happening again?

In a statement, the company said Mary Barra has expressed GM's regret

and deep sympathy for all those affected by the recall. We are

determined to earn our customers' trust and to take action is

necessary to make our safety processes world-class. This is for

her, this is for all of our children. We are here for them. Not

for us, but we are representing them because they can't represent

themselves. When GM's boss, Mary Barra, testified before Congress,

she will apologise to the families who've lost loved ones in crashes

linked to faulty ignition switches. But for them, GM's promised to do

the right thing is too little too late. We will breed bringing you

coverage of Mary Barra's appearance in Congress for you on BBC News

later in the day. For the past few months here on BBC World News, we've

been asking - what does freedom mean to you? Now, to mark the end of our

special season we're reporting on how free you actually feel. The

results of our poll from 17 countries around the world may

surprise you. The survey was conducted by the polling

organisation Globescan between December 2013 and February 2014. It

asked, do people's perceptions of freedom correspond to how free they

really are? The BBC's Nick Higham takes a look at its findings.

Freedom has never been a simple notion, but what does it mean in our

modern, digital age? The internet and social media mean we can

communicate more freely than ever, but we are also under more

surveillance than ever before from government and commercial

organisations. Our BBC World Service poll began by asking people about

freedom and the internet. More than two thirds of those we questioned

told us they thought the internet means they have greater freedom. Of

more than half also told us they thought it was an unsafe place in

which to say what they think. Edward Snowden's revelations about

widespread surveillance by the US Government have really had an impact

on the public consciousness in terms of their understanding of the fact

that anything they do online can potentially be monitored. These

days, the prying eyes of the state seem to be everywhere. Governments

say they need surveillance to fight terrorism and crime. But what do the

public think? In our survey we asked people whether they felt free from

monitoring by their own governments. The results were

surprising. In countries like the United States and Germany, which

like to think of themselves as bastions of freedom and democracy,

fewer than half those surveyed said they felt free from government

surveillance. In China and Russia the picture was very different. A

sizeable majority said they didn't think they were subject to online

surveillance. We have about 80% of American and German households who

do have access to internet in their homes. But less than half this

proportion does in Russia and China. It seems as the people in countries

with high internet connectivity, they naturally feel more exposed to

the Edward Snowden era of online surveillance. But that seems to be

much less the case for people in countries with lower internet

connected homes. Finally, we asked about freedom and the media. Here at

the BBC we like to boast about our freedom from government and other

outside influences. There are other global organisations that do the

same. But, according to our survey, only 40% of people around the world

believe their own media are free to report the news accurately,

truthfully and without undue bias. Here in the UK, that figure is 45%.

But in the United States, with its first Amendment commitment to free

speech, it is just 42%. How free you feel, it seems, is not necessarily a

reflection of how free the society in which you live is supposed to be.

As part of our Freedom 2014 season we asked you to send in pictures to

show us what freedom looks like to you. We're going to end the

programme with some of the most striking photos we've received. What

does freedom look like to me? Freedom is living your life acting,

speaking and thinking with no limits. Being able to do the

impossible. Being able to step anywhere bare feet, like animals do.

Freedom to me is risk-taking. I just wanted to show everyone that that

was my freedom. I made it to the other side of the world in a

wheelchair. You have to set your mind free. The world around you

suddenly stops. Kids just don't need that much to be

happy.