08/05/2014 BBC World News

Hello, I am Geeta Guru-Murthy with BBC World News, our top stories: A

massive bomb blast in Aleppo has destroyed a hotel being used by

government forces. Pro-Russian activists in eastern

Ukraine will go ahead with Sunday's referendum on independence despite

Vladimir Putin's call to postpone it. The kidnapping of more than 200

schoolgirls in Nigeria, could it mark the beginning of the end in

terrorism in the country? Hello. Reports from Syria say there

has been a huge explosion on the fringes of a government-held area of

the northern city of Aleppo. Syrian state television says the explosion

has caused widespread damage. Reports suggest it flattened a hotel

used by government troops. It is called the Calton Hotel next to the

medieval citadel. This picture has been published by opposition

activists reportedly showing smoke rising from the old city. Rebels

apparently planted explosives in a tunnel underneath the hotel. With me

is the BBC's regional editor, Sebastian Usher. What can you tell

me about what might have happened here? As you were saying, the

reports are from activists and the group who carried out the attack,

which gives a sense of the scale of the explosion, if it is accurate.

This is an area which would once have been full of tourists, this is

a very prestigious Hotel, one of the most beautiful in Aleppo next to the

old citadel, which is a World Heritage Site. It shows just how bad

the situation has been in Aleppo over the past two years since the

stalemate is set in between rebel fighters and government forces. Now,

both sides have tried to intensify their attacks in the past few

months, trying to break that stalemate. The government has

intensified its air strikes with the barrel bombs which it uses, these

improvised TNT devices which can cause terrible carnage. There have

been suicide bomb attacks, just last week two big suicide bomb attacks by

the rebel fighters. The rebel fighters are mostly Islamists,

radical Islamists, this Islamist group. Now, it is not the first time

that we have heard of tunnels underneath this particular hotel

being targeted by rebels. Back in February, the government said it had

stopped an attempt to launch a major explosion like this one in exactly

the same place. Why would they want to blow this up? Well, they want to

show that they are still there, still a force to be reckoned with.

They want to show that they can have a propaganda coup, in a sense,

because in the past two or three months, the report that we have been

getting have given a sense that President Assad's forces are gaining

momentum in some of the key areas in the country. Around Homs, Damascus,

along the Lebanese border. Aleppo, like I say, has not shown any real

movement between the two sides, it is one of the areas which is very

much contested between them, where the rebels want to show they are

still a major force. It is more that than anything else. But as you were

saying, we believe that government forces were potentially... Well, not

the government forces, the paramilitary group which is most

hated by the rebels. Just in broader terms, it has become so

complicated, hasn't it? In terms of which side the West might want to

win now. We saw reports several months ago about people going to

talk to the Assad government from the British Government's security

agency, because the threat from Islamist as cause real concern.

Russia's arguments were maybe finding more favour. Who is getting

support from where? Well, berries Islamist groups are still getting

support from various sources. -- various. The West has stepped back

to some extent in direct support for fighters on the ground. They are

trying still to back up the exile opposition outside, which emerged

from the peaceful opposition is originally, but the problem

from the peaceful opposition is that is that they have no real say

from the peaceful opposition is on the ground. The West is in a

bind, because they completely with the rebels against

the government that fractured and completely with the rebels against

President Assad hoped that was his only way out, being the only bad

guy, and that has made it very difficult for the West. Even

countries like Saudi Arabia, which had given some of the strongest

support to Islamist rebel fighters, has now pulled back and brought in

strong penalties against their nationals to fight in Syria.

Sebastian Usher, thank you for joining us.

Within the last half an hour, pro-Russian separatists in eastern

Ukraine have decided to go ahead with a referendum on independence

this weekend. They have been asked to postpone the vote by Vladimir

Putin. There are widespread fears that it could set Ukraine on the

path to civil war. Sarah Rainsford is in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

How surprising is it, Sarah, that the separatists are deciding to go

ahead with the referendum? Well, I think not really surprising,

ahead with the referendum? Well, I things have developed so far here,

ahead with the referendum? Well, I and passions have been inflamed so

far, so I think not and passions have been inflamed so

many people still want this to go and passions have been inflamed so

ahead. The people who are organising it

ahead. The people who are organising things here. Again, a point that

people are keen to stress, things here. Again, a point that

along that this is a local issue, things here. Again, a point that

not something things here. Again, a point that

Russia. So in a way, boating to continue with the Rendon is proof of

that. But yes, a lot of strong feelings here. A lot of activists

want the chance to express their anger with Kiev, a government that

they say came to power illegitimately and which they say

does not represent them. On the other hand, of course, the

government in Kiev making the point that is vote is unconstitutional and

will not be recognised. So a difficult moment, but among

pro-Russian activists, a lot of people saying, look, if we don't

have this vote, what have these last few weeks and months of tensions

here been for? And yet, Sarah, we have seen an apparent shift from

Vladimir Putin, haven't we? Some of what he said and why we think we

have had this change in tone. Well, we have, and there are big questions

about what that means and we have, and there are big questions

was trying to achieve. President Putin called on pro-Russian groups

to postpone the referendum, suspecting they might ignore him and

to postpone the referendum, showing they are not being

controlled by Russia, or was he genuinely trying to postpone it

because he thinks it is ratcheting up tensions here in eastern Ukraine.

In a way, his motives we will never know, but the result is that the

referendum will go ahead, and the situation is extremely tense. There

has been fighting around Sloviansk, and in other cities there are armed

men, many groups in control of tea buildings in this city. We went to

another city in the south of Donetsk yesterday, and there is now a

Ukrainian military checkpoint on the main roads into the city. Armoured

personnel carriers and Ukrainian military on the leading role into

one of the big cities here in this region. So it is a very difficult

situation, and nobody really knows where it is going. Also very wet,

Sarah, as we can see! The weather looks miserable, as is the mood.

Thank you very much. Barclays says it will cut 19,000

Thank you very much. jobs over the next three years

following a string of disasters, including the LIBOR rate rating

scandal. 7000 posts are to go in investment banking as it tries to

retreat from more risky areas. Barclays will also set up a

so-called bad bank to eventually sell or rundown non-core operations.

Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has told a meeting of the

World Economic Forum in Abuja that the kidnapping of more than 200

schoolgirls could mark the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria.

The United States, Britain and France are sending specialist teams

to the north-east of the country to help with the search for the

schoolgirls who were abducted last month by Islamist militants in Borno

State. Of course, since yesterday, we have been joined by

representatives from the government of China, who promised our sisters

assistance that will come almost immediately. The government of the

United States of America, the United Kingdom and France have also spoken

with me, and have expressed their commitment to help us resolve this

crisis in Nigeria. I believe that the kidnap of these girls will be

the beginning of the end of terror in Nigeria.

Vice president Goodluck Jonathan. We have also been getting details today

of other suspected attacks by Boko Haram. It is now thought that

several hundred people have been killed when they stormed a town,

Boko Haram, in Borno State near the border last week. Tommy Allan Depo

in Abuja knows more about the attack. -- Tommy Oladipo.

We are hearing more from residents of the town, as well as a local

politician representing the area that gunmen arrived in the town on

Monday evening, driving trucks, fully armed, they came in and opened

fire on the public, said buildings and cars alight. Many people were

able to escape, but hundreds were unlucky and lost their lives.

Do we know exactly where this happened and has anyone been able to

speak to anyone who was involved or witnessed the attacks? Well, this

happened in a border town, close to the border between Nigeria and

Cameroon. Now, it is thought that the manner in which this attack was

carried out is similar to the way Boko Haram militants to carry out

their attacks. Now, there is no confirmation yet as to whether they

were the ones involved, but Boko Haram has been carrying out attacks

in this area for a long time. Also, you know, the news came at a very

late because this place is very remote, and it would usually take a

long time not just for the news to filter out, but also for reports to

get through to the security forces who should be able to counter

whatever attack is going on. Tommy, people will be perhaps quite

horrified, obviously, to hear about yet another attack, even when there

is a focus in security terms on the area. Do we know exactly who is

funding and supporting Boko Haram? Why are they able to carry out these

attacks at all? That is a question many people are asking, because

these are sustained attacks for the past four or five years now. This

year we have seen almost daily attacks across north-eastern

Nigeria, and this doesn't appear to be just a regular group, you know,

despondent people where they appear to have serious funding. Look at

their videos, they have lots and lots of brand-new vehicles, they

have armoured personnel carriers, full ammunition on them. So they

definitely do have some huge funding coming from somewhere, but you know,

so far it is not clear where that is. Tommy Orla Depo in Abuja.

Early results from the South African election suggests the ruling ANC has

taken the lead with around half of the votes counted. They are running

at close to 60%. We will not get the final result until Saturday. Zeinab

Badawi is at the national results centre in Pretoria. Lovely to see

you, what results do you have for us at the moment? Well, I will tell you

very quickly that we have something like 46% of the national vote

counted, and the ANC seems to be on 63% of the vote. The official

opposition, the democratic alliance, is on 23%. They will be pleased with

that, that is what they were hoping for. Last time they had around 70%.

But the real surprise has been the success of the Economic Freedom

Fighters, on around 4.7%, which could give it around 15 or 20 seats

in the National Assembly, the Parliament, which is quite a

substantial presence for them. 70% is the turnout, we have 72% in fact,

last time it was 77%, so again people worried that people wouldn't

show up, register their disaffection by not voting, but they did. Let's

cut through the figures, I have got Marie Harris with me from a pollster

in the country, I gave a quick rundown of the figures, but in terms

of outcome, everyone was saying, look, the ANC, corruption

allegations swirling around the leadership and that kind of thing,

but what is the headline message in terms of the ANC performance in this

election? Over the ANC will not get the two thirds majority they were

hoping for. It will be marginally less than they were last time, but

they will take eight of the nine provinces in the country. So they

will only see a couple of the centage points dropped in the vote,

so they going to pronounce themselves quite pleased with that,

given the doom and gloom in some of the predictions? I think they will

be quite happy with that, although they said that the votes that they

were losing to the Economic Freedom Fighters, they were gaining again

from one of the other political parties, the new kid on the block in

2009. They have largely disappeared in that election. A lot of their

representatives actually crossed the floor to the ANC. I should remind

everyone, that was standing in 2009, started by disgruntled members

of the ANC. So apart from them, what about the EFF, led by Julius Malema?

Will they be a substantial force in South African politics, and if so,

in what way will it be apparent? South African politics, and if so,

my view, I think they will form the nucleus of the Labour Party to the

left of the ANC. Not that this will happen tomorrow or next month. This

is something which happen tomorrow or next month. This

the next few years. So really I think the EFF will deliver a simple

the next few years. So really I message and they knew exactly what

they wanted to target. They basically had

they wanted to target. They targeting in their campaigns. On the

one side, people who are unemployed, more urban black people

who are unemployed, and on the other side, people who do more manual

labour. Regardless of colour they had further appeal there. Very

quickly, the picture as we have it now, 46% of the votes counted, is

that picture going to change radically by the time we get the

full results? I hope not. Because our predictions were 63% for the

ANC, 23 for the VA and 4.7 for the EFF. So I will hope this is what the

election will be like. Sounds like you got it spot on. I hope so.

election will be like. Sounds like you have it. Only half of the votes

counted you have it. Only half of the votes

experts, they are saying similar things and the picture is not likely

to change radically. So the overall idea we are getting now is that the

ANC will only see a drop of a couple of percentage points also in its

support from the last elections of percentage points also in its

2009, when it got of percentage points also in its

Staying in South of percentage points also in its

Wednesday because of the elections. The defence team has called an

expert witness to challenge evidence that

expert witness to challenge evidence had eaten shortly before she was

killed. Vietnamese naval ships have collided

with a Chinese vessel in a disputed part of the South China Sea.

with a Chinese vessel in a disputed incident happened as Vietnam was

trying to prevent China from establishing an oil rig in an area

claimed by both nations. establishing an oil rig in an area

officials said their ships had been blasted with water

officials said their ships had been deliberately rammed by the Chinese

ship. deliberately rammed by the Chinese

Stay with us. Much more to come. Six months after the devastating

typhoon, we return to Tacloban, to meet survivors trying to rebuild

their city and their lives. It's the newest state in the world,

but already, Amnesty International is warning that South Sudan is on

the brink of humanitarian disaster. The campaigning group says both

sides in the country's civil war have carried out atrocities,

including ethnically motivated attacks on civilians. Our

correspondent, Alastair Leithead, is in the South Sudanese capital Juba,

and explains the main points made in the report.

What this does is pull together the various reports of massacres, of

killings on ethnic lines, on sexual violence committed since the crisis

began in the middle of December last year. And for the first three months

of this year up to March. We have heard of things that have been

happening since then but this is based on more than 100 witnesses and

victims who have been interviewed, who, as you say, paint a very grim

picture of some of the atrocities that have been carried out. The UN

special commission has only been here and said that this constitutes

crimes against humanity. -- has already been here. It lists things

that happened here in Juba, the day after the crisis began. Mass

killings based on who was from which tribe. It goes through a list of

churches, mosques, hospitals, UN compounds where people have been

killed. And it really goes into detail about this cycle of attacks

and revenge killings that we have seen here.

Federal police in Brazil have gone on strike over pay and threaten to

continue their protest during the football World Cup next month. Many

police walked out for 24 hours across the country, including some

of the cities that will host tournament matches. Last month,

thousands of soldiers were deployed to Bahia to maintain order after

police went on strike for two days over pay.

Much more on the World Cup preparations in Brazil on the

website. Do have a look. This is BBC World News. These are

the headlines: A huge bomb blast has destroyed a

hotel in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo that was being used by

government forces. Pro-Russian activists in eastern

Ukraine going ahead with Sunday's referendum on autonomy, ignoring a

call by Vladimir Putin to postpone it.

It's six months since the biggest typhoon ever to hit land swept

across the city of Tacloban in the Philippines. The storm surge

destroyed almost everything in its path and killed more than 6,000

people. Here's our correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. He has been

finding out what has happened to the survivors of Tacloban.

On the beach to the south of Tacloban city, they have come to

remember San Francisco cruise. They were lost when a huge wave smashed

into the side of their house. Today would have been her son's 31st

birthday. I cannot describe the pain. It's really painful. Sometimes

I wake up early in the morning but I pray and pray and I thank God she

left my daughter with me. I cannot stand on my own without them. Six

months after Typhoon higher and ripped this city apart, I have come

back to see what happened and try to see some of those I met. -- Typhoon

Haiyan. How are you? Fine! Good to see you. Last time I saw him, this

is what it looked like. His wife's body was up under a fallen coconut

tree. Close by, a mass grave was being filled with dozens of bodies.

Today, the scene is much more peaceful. But he is clearly still

struggling. I try not to... Bring back the memory. Because it's very

painful. I just forget. Just move forward. You know, if I start to

remember her again... I don't know. What will happen. What is ready

striking coming back year after six months is seeing how hard it is for

people in developing countries like the Philippines to recover after a

major disaster like this. Unlike in Britain or America, people here had

no insurance, and so they lost their homes, their cars, their fishing

boats, and now they have nothing, no means with which to start over

again. Getting people back to work and earning money is the key. This

scheme is run by Oxfam, with money donated by people from Great

Britain. 20,000 fishing boats were destroyed by the typhoon. With help,

people here are slowly getting back on their feet. But on our last day,

we come across a story almost too painful to tell. It is the story of

this little girl. The wave took away her whole family. Mother, father and

her five siblings. This man managed to grab her from the raging waters,

but in the same moment, he lost his own wife and three children.

TRANSLATION: Sometimes, even when I'm drunk I still can't sleep. I see

my children's faces calling out to me for help. In my nightmares, they

are asking, why was I not able to save them? I was able to save

others. Why not them? Without her parents, she faces a precarious

future. Without his wife and children, he says he has no future.

Before we go, they are the sort of viewing figures the producers of The

Voice, or America's got talent could only dream of. Millions and millions

are expected to watch the final of Eurovision this Saturday. We have

been to meet one fan who -- to find out why he books tickets year after

year. My name is Simon and I work in the

City. I've been involved in internal audit and control for the last 28

years. And there's a dark side to me, yes I'm Eurovision fan! The

first time I went was 98, which was in Birmingham. 2000, Stockholm,

Sweden, Tallinn, Riga, Athens, Helsinki, Belgrade, Moscow, Oslo,

Dusseldorf, Malmo in Sweden and then this year, Copenhagen. I think it's

just fun. It's a competition and it's fun. It's like sport but

without the sport. Borderline obsession, yes! Time to pack,

really. Got to put the essential Eurovision equipment in the case.

The main thing is loads Finally, we have arrived in

Copenhagen. All through the centre of the city there are stages that

have been set up and through the day the acts performing for the public.

Just creating the great Eurovision atmosphere that always comes to town

in a host city. Everybody sing! We are in the Euro cafe, which is set

up every year by the fan club. are in the Euro cafe, which is set

year, we meet up with the same people. I've made friendships across

Europe from Eurovision. Oh, no, when it's over, we all go through post

Eurovision depression. You can let me know by tweeting me

whether you are a fan or not! Thank you for watching today.

Sorry, what? I gotta get off the show.

..galling things you have done in the short time that we have known you...!