13/05/2014 BBC World News

Hello. Our top stories... Nigeria says all options are open to

secure the release and safe return of more than two hundred kidnapped

school girls. We have a special report from the

region where the girls were kidnapped. There's huge anger at the

destruction being wreaked by Boko Haram.

A six-year prison sentence for Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud

Olmert, guilty of taking bribes over a luxury property development.

And .. Erasing the past. A European court says people can request

internet search engines like Google to remove links to old information.

We start in Nigeria, and efforts to recover the teenagers kidnapped

almost a month ago by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. After previously

ruling out a prisoner exchange, the Nigerian government now says all

options are open when it comes to bringing the girls safely home.

Nigeria's military are getting international help as well now. The

US is flying manned surveillance and reconnaissance missions to try to

trace the girls. They're also sharing some satellite imagery with

the Nigerian government. So, what kind of place will they be

searching? Well, it's believed the girls may have been taken into the

vast Sambisa forest - a stronghold of Boko Haram. It's an area of

around 60,000 square kilometres. That's roughly twice the size of

Rwanda Our world affairs editor, John Simpson, has been to the

extreme north-east of Nigeria, where Boko Haram operates. He reports here

from Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.

136 girls, most of whom were Christian, obediently charred the

first part of the Koran. It's the first sighting of them. More than

half the girls who were kidnapped are not here. One of the girls is

led to the front of the crowd and told to give a Muslim name, rather

than her Christian one. She is clearly frightened.

In the video, Boko Haram 's leader, who is said to be flamboyant, clever

and mocking, launches into a long harangue. These girls you are so

concerned with, he says that we have liberated them. They have become

Muslims. They are staying with us. This man is desperate

Muslims. They are staying with us. the girls. He has made the dangerous

journey from where they were kidnapped. No fewer than six of his

relatives were taken, sisters, nieces and cousins. He cannot spot

them on the video. This must be pretty shocking for you to

them on the video. This must be this. It is one of the most shocking

moments I have this. It is one of the most shocking

moments ever found myself in. It is inhumane. It is unfair. There is no

need for them to impose on to them the Islamic religion. Everyone has a

right to choose. This whole part of Nigeria is Boko Haram territory. To

get round it, you need firepower, lots of it. We had 40 official

vehicles packed with armed men to guard us. Going with the local

governor, who is heading off to the scene of one of the worst tax here.

It happened last week. It was scarcely reported, even within

Nigeria. This scarcely reported, even within

normally be very busy. In fact it is normally be very busy. In fact it is

almost empty because no one wants to drive along

almost empty because no one wants to Haram attacks. We will be passing

villages which are deserted because people are scared of Boko Haram.

After a couple of hours, we reach people are scared of Boko Haram.

town where the bridge had been blown up last Wednesday. Two days earlier,

it was hit by an army of Boko Haram men. They arrived at 1:30pm. We

counted hundreds of burned-out cars. counted hundreds of burned-out cars.

Boko Haram did not want anyone following them afterwards. And they

Boko Haram did not want anyone unnoticed, in the outside world. The

town centre was simply destroyed. The sheer scale of the destruction

town centre was simply destroyed. here is quite extraordinary. I

town centre was simply destroyed. remember, all the attention around

the world has been on the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls. This is

going on all the time in this part of Nigeria. The governor came here

to offer help and money of Nigeria. The governor came here

survivors are working themselves up into a frenzy of anger that the

Nigerian government should be doing so little to fight Boko Haram. I

have to ask you, the crowd is getting quite angry. We are going to

compensate them for all their losses and reassure them it'll be important

for the security. IU frightened for the attack? I do not want them here.

But there was no calming them. The governor was lucky

But there was no calming them. The unhurt. This is pretty

extraordinary. The governor and all unhurt. This is pretty

of the rest of us are being thrown out of here by the anger

of the rest of us are being thrown crowd. So, we are having to get back

to our car is pretty quickly. All this anger is not surprising. People

here feel utterly abandoned and they cannot understand why a world which

cares so much about the missing schoolgirls seems to care so little

about the destruction of an entire town.

But what exactly is the Nigerian government doing to secure the girls

release? Our correspondent has said conflicting messages have been

coming from Nigerian officials. The very clear position by the most

senior spokesperson for the Government, the interior minister,

is that they will not be swapping prisoners between the girls and

prisoners which the Government is holding, prisoners of Boko Haram who

they have been holding. The fight between Boko Haram and the

Government has been going on for well over five years. It has been

highlighted by the terrible situation of these teenagers who

have been kidnapped. At the same time, another statement has been

issued by a less senior official saying that all options are open.

So, perhaps, that means there will not be a prisoner swap, girls for

the prisoners that the governor is holding, but there will be other act

channel negotiations. That is the best interpretation I can give

channel negotiations. That is the best interpretation I can you at the

moment. It is confusing but that is not at all unusual. This is a very

serious situation. It is tantamount to a war between Boko Haram and the

Government of Nigeria. Any information with regard to the girls

themselves, their whereabouts, is further ammunition for the

Government. Presumably, the idea of American missions over that part of

Nigeria would be extremely welcome. Yes, I think ordinary Nigerians

would be very pleased to hear. This is the first concrete information we

have had of action from the international community, albeit just

monitoring action, spy planes, and so on. We have heard about teams

from Britain and America are riding here. We have had promises of what

the Nigerian government calls counterterrorism experts from Israel

to come. Also help from China and France and other countries. The news

of spy planes, American spy planes, actually overflying Nigeria now is

the first concrete information we have had something clearly

happening. There has been a lot of frustration amongst Nigerians about

the way their government has appeared to be lethargic, certainly

for the first couple of weeks they were always saying nothing about

what was happening in the north-east. It was only when this

hash tag on twitter bring back our girls, which Nigerians themselves

started, a sort of spread around the world but that is dotted get a

reaction from the international community and the Nigerian

government started to talk. How the mighty fall! The former Prime

Minister of Israel has been sentenced to six years in prison for

corruption. He was convicted of accepting bribes linked to a

property deal while he was mayor of Jerusalem. He has already said he

will appeal it. I asked if people actually expect him to serve the six

years in prison. The sentence is uniquely harsh. It is a

precedent-setting sentence. We can assume that when he appeals to the

Supreme Court we might see the sentence reduced. It is hard to see

a way for him not to actually sit in prison for some period. That would

also break a president. He would be the first Prime Minister in Israeli

history to sit in prison. That says something. Just remind us, briefly,

if you can, about the corruption scandal in which he was enveloped.

He has frankly a list of scandals behind him, doesn't he? He does. He

has had several cases, one very minor conviction. Another couple of

cases have been thrown out. This particular corruption case is,

located. Nine people were indicted with him. Many of them today were

also sentenced two years in prison. They were given very significant

fines. The former primers to himself was given a fine of a million

shackles. He has been sentenced for accepting, not himself accepting,

hundreds of thousands of dollars, but for his brother accepting and

for money changing hands in sum, located ways. It is remarkable that

the case was cracked. -- in some complicated ways. It says a great

deal about the frustration that many Israeli citizens feel and Israeli

law enforcement and the judiciary over a string of corruption trials

in recent years that have seen a finance minister in prison and other

officials. What are the political ramifications, if anything? I

imagine this is curtains on the political career of the former

Israeli Prime Minister. Does it have any political impact? It is hard to

see a political impact. A lot of people were hoping he would return

as the great politician who housed from the right. Also, he went very

far in negotiations with the Palestinians. He is not coming back.

There are other people in that political space. The justice

minister has been the chief ago she Acer for Israel. -- chief negotiator

for Israel. He has tussled a bit with the right wing end of the

coalition. He will probably step into those shoes. It has enhanced

prestige of the person who will take over the political space. Other

politicians will move in. His career is finished and it probably will not

be a shock to the Israeli system. Few people were expecting a recovery

as it is. I wonder how many of you have done this in your time, quickly

pump your name into Google and see what they have got to say about you

on the internet. Perhaps you have seen the odd thing you would sooner

was not there at all. The European Court of Justice says individuals

have the right to ask Google or any other provider to delete personal

data that people should be able to be forgotten when information on

them is excessive or no longer relevant. It has said forcing it

remove date amounts to censorship. This

remove date amounts to censorship. ruling has come as quite a shock to

Google. This is a big surprise. It has gone all the way up the courts.

Google has won a previous stages. They are shocked and surprised about

this ruling. It comes from a Spanish man having gone to his data

protection authority and said, there is an old story about me that keeps

popping up about Social Security debts in the past. I want that taken

down. The court has decided that that is right, it is right to be

forgotten. That is part of EU law. It means that individuals who do not

like information that is held on them on the internet can act to get

it removed. It does not... It appears it does not even have to be

unlawful information. You can imagine, every lawyer and every

content provider, every publisher, will be poring over this ruling and

thinking, what does it mean for us? I thought you were going to say that

every lawyer will be rubbing his hands in glee because this could go

on forever. It is about deciding what is not relevant and what is old

information, compared with what is therefore public interest reasons.

The EU Commissioner has backed very strongly this to be forgotten. She

is saying this is a great triumphal liberty and peoples control over

data. Is not saying much in public yet. You can be sure its lawyers

will be trying to find a way out of this. It could be hugely expensive

for the likes of Google. How many of us do this thing and do not like

what we see? There is an avenue for people to seek redress. That is the

point. The internet is so vast. That is why it will be difficult to

process all of this. In a way, that is not the problem. It is Google

which is most people's route to information so even if that

information is there on that obscure website, people know if they can get

it removed from Google, that is their recourse. There will be some

enthusiasm from people to do this. And Google will say they are just a

facilitator. Google's line all along is we are not the publisher, we just

provide links. That has been an accepted all the way up to this top

court where it has been thrown out. Police in Beijing have detained

a 62-year-old blogger, who's accused of posting fabricated

information on foreign news site. Xiang Nanfu is almost completely

unknown in China, but had posted stories on Boxun,

a Chinese citizen's journalist He's accused of spreading rumours,

including one about Chinese authorities harvesting organs

from living people. The BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai

gave me this update. Here he is detained by the Beijing

police, accused of causing violent harm to the Chinese national state,

and paraded on television confessing to his crimes. I have sneered the

nation and the party, he said. It is extraordinary in some regards but it

is also part of a pattern. He is one of hundreds of journalists, bloggers

and writers who have been detained in recent months as the government

tries to curb the power of social media and the threat it poses to

Communist party control. We can assume that he will almost certainly

be charged at some point but at the moment, as is often the case in

China, his appearance in prison garb and his appearance on TV has come

long before any trial. Stay with us on BBC World News,

still to come: Photographer Stephen Dupont captures

the tribal traditions of How much is the world's

largest blue diamond worth? Well it has a price tag of $22

million dollars hanging off it at Just one of a number of exceptional

stones on display and up for sale, What is your favourite colour? Blue?

Green perhaps? How about pink, or if it is yellow you love, Geneva's

spring collection has it all. Traditionally this is called

daffodil. It weighs over 100 carats. It makes it one of the largest vivid

yellow diamonds in the world. You can also choose your favourite cut,

square and angular or soft, rounded, even pair shaped. This is a fabulous

pair shaped diamond. It is fabulous because it is very vivid blue. It is

the largest, flawless vivid blue diamond in the world. Then there are

necklaces to suit every taste. This one made by Cartier in 1912 has a

central diamond of 34 carats. And there are some unusual pieces. This

was especially designed for one of the world's first female test

pilots. But whatever your preference for colour or cut, it is not your

figure but your wallet which needs to be the right size. As long as you

have got a few million to spare, when it comes to actually wearing

these little access arrays, one size fits all. -- these little

accessories. I think she enjoyed that! You can

get me on Twitter. Nigeria says "all options are open"

to secure the release and safe return of more than two hundred

school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Israel's former Prime

Minister Ehud Olmert is sentenced to six in jail for taking bribes over a

luxury property development. Germany's foreign minister has held

talks with Ukraine's interim prime minister in Kiev, in an attempt to

kickstart a dialogue between He said it was crucial

for the two sides to talk - while reassuring Kiev of continuing

international backing. His next stop is Odessa

in south east Ukraine, where more than 40 people were

killed earlier this month. Richard Galpin reports from the city

of Donetsk, in the heartland In their apartments in the city of

Donetsk, Olga and her daughter read a book by a famous Ukrainian poet.

Olga is a strong supporter of Ukrainian unity and now fears for

the safety of her family. TRANSLATION: If there is a separate

Donetsk peoples of the founded here, I will have to leave. I will not be

able to speak Ukrainian, my native language. A lot of people are

currently selling their houses and moving to west Ukraine. People are

afraid for their lives and their families. The thought of leaving is

scary but freedom is the most important thing for me. When the

official results of the referendum in Donetsk was announced on Monday

by pro-Russian separatist leaders, their plans became very clear. This

man declared that the region was now an independent sovereign state. And

then went further, calling on Moscow to make it part of Russia. For him,

the fears of Ukrainian speaking population seem of little concern.

But what about the impact on the economy of declaring independence?

This region is Ukraine's industrial heartland, covered with mines and

factories, but dating back to Soviet times and in need of much

investment. TRANSLATION: If we became completely independent, it

would be very difficult. Where would the salary payments come from? A

budget has not been worked out. It would be difficult to survive

without Kiev or Moscow. While these ethnic Russians have been

celebrating the declaration of Independence here, they must also be

aware of their absolute dependence now on Moscow. So now two absolutely

critical questions, how will the in Kiev react to this declaration of

independence? And secondly, what will Moscow do? Will it annex this

part of eastern Ukraine? Some astounding pictures coming

from New Hampshire in the US, after a police officer was shot dead

when he was called to The house burst into flames

after the shooting, and then The officer had been responding

to calls from neighbours who One other person was

taken to hospital. Firefighters were initially

held back for safety reasons. His "true and fearsome friend" -

that's how internationally acclaimed photographer

Stephen Dupont describes the Pacific For more than a decade he has been

taking portraits of the country's tribal traditions, capturing

images that outsiders seldom see. Recently Dupont's diaries

and pictures were published Papua New Guinea is known as the

land of the unexpected. You really do feel like you are stepping back

in time sometimes. You feel like you are in the high lines -- the

Highlands and making the first contact. The clash of modernisation

of the West against the Stone Age is set and that is what I have been

drawn to as a photographer. I'm drawn to cover in society and

looking at that clash of cultures. August, this is the heart of Papua

New Guinea. It would be like going to Brazzaville are not going up the

Congo River. Ever since I have picked up a camera I have made

diaries. They have gone from plain old handwritten diaries to more art

books so I am now sketching and putting in clippings and making col

archers. They become very much part of my entire body of work. September

15, a bird of paradise. Every town here feels like a border town. They

all seem to have this frontier feeling, transit places, people

coming and going, and edgy vibe to it. The whole gang thing is quite

new. It is not something which has been around for a long time. It is

something which grew out of urbanisation. 80% unemployment.

something which grew out of not know where anywhere in the world

which has that not know where anywhere in the world

unemployment. The conditions, the poverty, the unemployment has forced

these people into crime, I think. We took the Blackwater River. The water

is so dark and chocolate in colour, it is almost black, reflecting the

sky and the clouds and the approaching foothills of the

Highland mountains. The tribal gatherings in the Highlands, they

are called sing sings. They are cultural festivals, different tribes

coming from all over to compete for fame and glory. It is Stone Age

Woodstock. It is wild. I feel grateful, more than anything, that I

am allowed to go in and capture these moments. You don't take

pictures, you are given pictures. It is a gift.

Powerful pictures, and they? That is BBC World News. Goodbye.